I Returned with the Cheat Holy Sword

Among all units within the Imperial Army, the Capital Defense Forces would be counted on one hand no matter which standard you used.

They were the military force stationed where the Imperial Palace—the heart of the Empire—was located. It would be strange if they weren’t competent.
And precisely because they were so capable, they could respond faster than anyone else when an unusual situation arose in the Capital.
“Duke Chasefield. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Brigadier General Albert, commander of the Defense Command, greeted Lionel with solemnity as he entered the command center.
If something abnormal happened in the Capital, this was the man who should be summoned before anyone else.
Excluding Headmaster Sior, who was stationed at Yoram, and the Hero, Lionel was the most trustworthy individual within the Empire.

“No need to thank me. What’s the situation?”
“A report came from the Orthodox Church. A demon has been summoned in Kagenoff District of the Capital. We're assembling a deployment team to dispatch immediately.”
“…Those damn bastards finally caused an incident.”

Rumors had circulated several times before that demon-worshippers were becoming more active in the Capital.
But to think they would go so far as to blatantly summon a demon in the heart of the Capital…
“Where exactly?”

“Near the National Guesthouse.”
“…”
…That’s where his daughter was.

Lionel’s expression stiffened.
“…My apologies. Can you show me the current state of that area?”
“I’ll transmit it right away.”

As Lionel asked this of the aide working the tactical map, an image began to play inside the large round table in the command center.
A massive swarm of small undead blanketed the sky. And within them moved two demons.
And when Lionel identified what was lying in their path of advance, his jaw clenched.
…They were moving directly toward where Gray was.

“Commander. I’m sorry, but may I be deployed into combat immediately?”
“I understand how you feel, Duke Chasefield. But we are dealing with demons. We need to respond with utmost caution.”
“…”

…He was right.
The threat of demons was beyond imagination. Even someone ranked among the Empire’s top warriors like Lionel couldn’t recklessly charge in without risking his life.
“I understand your urgency to protect your family. But let’s have some faith. She is the Hero, isn’t she?”

“…Yes. Understood.”
Lionel responded, clenching his fist tightly.
Gray was stronger than even himself. Even if the enemy was a demon, she should be able to protect herself.

“First, evacuate the people inside the National Guesthouse as quickly as possible. We might not save everyone, but we must save those we can.”
“Uh, Brigadier General. The people inside the Guesthouse were already evacuated some time ago.”
Just as Albert issued his grave command, a voice immediately interrupted him with that bombshell.

“…”
Albert stood dazed for a moment before clearing his throat and asking,
“Who carried that out…?”

“It was by order of the Gray Cardinal of the Orthodox Church, who is currently cooperating with the Hero!”
“…So he was there. We owe him a great deal.”
Albert smiled.

What an incredible stroke of luck. To think they had such a reliable ally present at a time of national crisis.
“Good. That means we can focus all efforts on subjugating the demons.”
Following Albert’s direction, the aide adjusted the display to show footage near the Guesthouse.

The Hero was in the middle of combat. Opposite her stood a demon exuding visible grotesqueness even through the screen.
“—Is she seriously fighting a demon alone? That’s reckless—”
Before the sentence could be finished—

[DIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!]
With blood vessels bulging across her forehead and eyes, Gray’s sword strike cleaved the demon clean in two.
“…Target signal lost.”

“…"
“…The Hero has successfully subdued the demon.”
“…”

“…”
An awkward silence settled over the command room.
It was a relief, sure.

But still, they had gone to all this trouble preparing a major confrontation with the demon.
They’d even summoned Duke Chasefield in a hurry, holding emergency deliberations on how to subdue the threat with minimal casualties—and now it all seemed somewhat ridiculous…
“As expected of the Hero. Thanks to her, our work just got easier.”

Albert was the first to recover and speak.
“But don’t get complacent. There’s still one more left.”
He pointed to the other side of the screen.

“…That one won’t be so easy.”
That side was, after all, the source of the massive undead swarm blanketing the skies.
Even for the Hero, who had made such short work of the first demon, there was no guarantee she could handle that one just as easily.

At a time like this, what was needed was calm, rational command.
“Summon the deployment unit. Send them to assist the Hero—”
But again.

Before he could even finish that sentence—something happened.
A flash.
A blinding light burst from beyond the screen.

And at the same time—
—
—!!!!!!!!!!
—
A thunderous explosion rang out from the command room, followed by the shattering of all magitechnical observation equipment monitoring the scene.

Screams rippled through the room, and Albert, eyes wide, bellowed like thunder:
“Report! What just happened?!”
“O-Overload in the magi-core! A massive mana explosion detected at the target location!”

“…What…?”
For them to classify it as a “mana explosion” meant it wasn’t just any attack. No ordinary human could possibly generate that kind of power.
The only logical conclusion—

“That demon…! It’s far more powerful than it looked…!”
“…It wasn’t the demon.”
“…What?”

Albert stared, stunned, at his aide, who had hastily reconnected some equipment and was giving the report.
“…The demon’s signal has vanished. The mana explosion was a strike launched from the Guesthouse toward the demon.”
“…”

A heavy silence fell once again.
No, seriously—what the hell was this?
“…Have we checked the equipment properly?”

“…I understand your reaction, General. But this isn’t a malfunction.”
They’d spent days doing all-night maintenance. There was no way the machines all failed at once.
And more importantly, how would poor maintenance cause a simultaneous blowout of every machine?

The aide’s frustrated voice said it all, and Albert closed his mouth.
He stayed silent for a while, gripping his throbbing head.
“Then… tell me.”

He looked at the screen, which was crackling as it recovered, and continued in a voice that was losing its grasp on reality.
From the Guesthouse direction, the lingering afterimage of a massive mana strike was captured on screen.
It stretched high.

So high, it pierced the sky.
Like a colossal pillar erected toward the heavens—no, like it was trying to split the sky itself—multiple rings of power extended endlessly upward.
It had an almost divine majesty to it.

“…What in the world is that?”
“The most reasonable answer is…”
The aide responded, his voice equally hollow,

“…The residual trace of an attack launched at the demon.”
“…Were there any tactical weapons in the area, Lieutenant?”
“I sincerely doubt they’d leave something like that in the Capital, General.”

Then that meant—
This was the aftershock of an attack launched by a human.
…There was no other explanation.

“……”
“……”
An even heavier silence fell than before.

***
To start with the conclusion—
The moment I landed the blow that killed the demon, I blacked out.

“……”
Carlyle stared silently at the stark white ceiling.
Hm.

He remembered the demon being split in two by the Hero’s strike, but right after that, he fainted and remembered nothing else.
[...Weakling.]
“Shut up.”

How many humans are even physically capable of withstanding your attacks?
Groaning, he sat up and fumbled to gather the Holy Sword.
[All the demons have been eradicated. It was Cardinal Felix who brought you here.]

“…Well, yeah. It’d be weird if that didn’t kill them.”
[It was nothing special. If anything, I felt a little off—I haven’t swung like that in a while.]
“……”

Ah. Of course you did.
Carlyle gave a bitter smile.
Still, that attack had confirmed one thing beyond all doubt.

Even in a world crawling with superhumans, she was simply in a class of her own.
“But… what was that, anyway?”
[Hm?]

“You came into my body and said something weird.”
He remembered the sensation—how their bodies overlapped, and he spoke a line completely out of his control.
Was it some kind of Holy Sword activation chant?

[Didn’t it feel nice? Saying stuff like that gets me hyped, so I always do it mid-battle.]
“…Excuse me?”
[If it sounds cool, you can just say so. I actually spend time crafting those lines, you know.]

“……”
…You’re telling me you said that ridiculous line for style?
“I didn’t think it was that cool, to be honest.”

[⋯⋯.]
The Holy Sword fell silent.
From the feel of the silence she sent over, she seemed pretty damn shocked.

“You almost wasted the whole three seconds we had just to say that weird line.”
[W-weird—? That’s a little harsh.]
“I mean, do you really need to pull that kind of dramatic crap in the middle of combat?”

[⋯⋯.]
“Let’s just be efficient next time, alright?”
[⋯⋯⋯⋯.]

The silence she sent now was clearly sulking.
Judging by the mood, she had genuinely thought it was cool.
[…You’re hopeless. No sense of flair whatsoever.]

“……”
[Just you wait. Next time, I’ll come up with a line so moving it’ll make even your heart throb—]
“If I tell you to cut it out, then cut it out, seriously.”

…The scarier part was that she still didn’t seem to have given up.
Well, that aside.
“Hero, there aren’t any side effects, right?”

It was the first time they had mentally merged. He needed to know if there were any risks.
[…Nothing noticeable. We were only connected for three seconds—what danger could there be? At least for now.]
“For now?”

She said it like there could be something later.
[When I entered your body and our minds linked… I did sense something kind of dangerous.]
“Dangerous how?”

[Like we’d end up knowing everything the other person wants to keep hidden. Down to the absolute depths.]
“……”
[In other words, we might come to know each other’s memories to their very foundations. I’m not sure it would lead to loss of identity, but that is a potential side effect.]

“Yeah, no thanks…”
[…Agreed.]
Seriously.

Revealing everything about his past to her?
Even the embarrassing parts—the things he wanted to keep buried?
He’d rather die. Gray would probably feel the same.

“…Let’s only do that ‘fusion’ thing in actual emergencies, okay?”
[Mm.]
Having reached that consensus, both Carlyle and the Holy Sword let out a deep sigh.

[Though to be fair, we ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) are kind of in an emergency right now.]
“…What?”
[How do you plan to explain to everyone that you just swung humanity’s strongest sword?]

“……”
[A furious version of me in this timeline and a very curious Gray Cardinal are both waiting to interrogate you.]
…Right.

Now came the real problem—cleaning up the aftermath.
***
[System Message]

▶ Main Event “Twin Clowns” has been completed.
▶ Joint event with target “Gray” and target “Felix” is now pending.
▶ Your choices will alter relationship dynamics!