ALL NOVEL Chapter 80: True Name Liberated
"How tenacious of you to survive even that."
A hint of seriousness gradually appeared on Luna's calm expression when she saw Alice climbing out of the rubble. This was the first time her attacks had met with successive failures ever since she acquired the Demon King's Power.
"My desire to live is particularly strong, so it is only natural that I am tenacious," Alice said as she tightened her grip over the Hero's Sword.
Currently, the Hero's Sword was already covered with dust and dirt, so it had become difficult for others to discern its identity. This was also why Alice had dared to reveal herself to Luna.
Although Luna had only been launching blunt attacks with her spiked club thus far, Alice was certain that the silver-haired maid was capable of attacking with magic as well. She was working as an intelligence agent for the kingdom's intelligence department, after all. Such a risky job definitely required one to have the means to defend oneself.
Meanwhile, so long as Luna was under the misconception that Alice was merely a mind magician and not the Hero, there was a high chance that she would continue underestimating Alice and hold back her power.
"You are definitely not an ordinary mind magician. Seeing as the king trusts you so much, you might even have some means to stabilize his mind," Luna said as she glanced at the dirt-covered longsword in Alice's right hand. Although she found the sword somewhat familiar, she didn't put too much thought into it. Instead, she continued revealing her malice toward Alice.
Luna's plan was to worsen King Hatter's mental condition using the Demon King's Power to a point where he had no choice but to ask the Hero for help. If King Hatter managed to stabilize his condition before that, the Hero might not show himself.
Meanwhile, although the dark mana Luna planted in King Hatter was powerful, it wasn't omnipotent. If Alice really did possess the power to strengthen King Hatter's mind to a point where he could resist the Demon King's Power's influence, it would ruin her plan.
"I cannot let you live for the sake of my plan," Luna coldly said as she raised the spiked club in her right hand.
Immediately, under Alice's gaze, dark mist started enveloping the gigantic spiked club. Then, the spiked club began rapidly shrinking in size and changing in shape until it eventually transformed into a pitch-black longsword.
"I see... That weapon is made of mana..."
Thanks to her strengthened mind, Alice quickly perceived the true nature of Luna's weapon. The weapon in Luna's hand wasn't a physical object at all. Instead, it was a construct composed of incredibly dense and pure dark mana. It was something akin to Aird's War God's Lock.
This also explained why the spiked club did not suffer even the slightest deformation after shattering the entire mansion. The weapon had retained its shape not because it was made of superior materials. Instead, it was because it was made of mana. Even if the weapon got damaged during Luna's attacks, the maid could quickly mend the gaps by pouring more mana into the weapon.
"Since wide area destruction seems to have no effect on you, I'll go with this weapon instead," Luna flatly commented. Her spiked club had destroyed the entire mansion already, yet Alice remained completely unharmed. She'd be an idiot to continue using the spiked club after all that. Thus, she decided to mimic Alice and transform her weapon into a longsword as well. "This area is reserved as a mansion district for nobles. Not many people visit this place normally, so I have more than enough time to slowly deal with you."
"In that case, I'd better end the fight as soon as possible," Alice said. She never intended to wait for reinforcements. Luna was the Demon King, after all. She doubted that there was anyone in the kingdom capable of beating the silver-haired maid.
"Oh? Are you finally ready to retaliate?" Luna raised her eyebrows in slight surprise, her feet stopping their advance. She had never seen Alice take the initiative to attack, so she immediately heightened her vigilance when she heard Alice's words. "Are you going to use your mind magic against me?"
Alice naturally wouldn't be attacking Luna with mind magic. Firstly, the Demon King should have a similar buff as the Hero's Fearless Will, which helped to negate mental attacks. Secondly, Alice suspected that Luna's secondary magic was mind magic, which was what allowed the silver-haired maid to twist Chris's mind.
Most importantly, Alice didn't know any mind magic...
Holy Cross Slash.
After taking a deep breath, Alice called out the name of a skill in her mind. Since she didn't know any magic, the only way she could fight was to rely on her weapon's active skill.
Holy Cross Slash's skill description was "releases a cross slash composed of light to shatter the target's soul." It sounded like a powerful skill, similar to the skills that appeared on the panties Alice used. However, unlike those panties, the Hero's Sword wouldn't disappear after Alice activated its active skill.
In this regard, the Hero's Sword was much stronger than the panties. The only troublesome aspect was that it wasn't as convenient to bring around as panties.
Meanwhile, as soon as Alice used Holy Cross Slash, a torrent of light mana flooded out of the Hero's Sword, shaking off all the dust and dirt covering the weapon. Fortunately, before Luna could get a good look at the Hero's Sword's true appearance, intense light shrouded Alice's body and hid the Hero's Sword again.
However, Luna didn't care what Alice's sword looked like as she had much more pressing matters to deal with.
As someone working for the kingdom's intelligence department, Luna had access to information on many of the kingdom's light magicians. She had even seen quite a few of them in action. However, even if she combined every one of these light magicians, they wouldn't have light mana as dense as what Alice currently emitted.
However, Luna didn't have any more time to think as Alice's attack had already materialized.
Going by common sense, one would shout out the name of their attack when using a powerful move to increase one's morale. However, Alice was a transmigrated individual, and she hadn't adapted to this world's strange combat culture yet, so she had no intentions of shouting out her attack's name. Instead, after mentally activating Holy Cross Slash in her mind, she promptly tried to release the torrent of light mana at Luna.
However, just when the concentrated light mana was about to separate from the Hero's Sword, Alice suddenly felt a compelling force spreading from her heart and to her mouth. Then, her mouth began opening against her will...
Wait!! Don't tell me this skill forces me to say its name when activated?!
Alice grew flustered when she realized what was going on. However, she didn't panic too much over the situation. Although shouting "Holy Cross Slash" out loud sounded a little childish, it shouldn't look too strange considering this world's cultural norms.
While Alice was having such thoughts in her mind, her mouth moved under the compulsion of the mysterious force. Then, in a deafening tone, she shouted:
"Okay!!!"
Fuck! It's not the skill's name, but the weapon's true name instead?!
Amidst Luna's bewilderment, a gigantic cross made out of light slammed into her. The silver-haired maid remained in a daze even until the attack landed on her, probably because she was wondering why Alice had shouted "Okay" all of a sudden.