This time, I won't be the devil.

At first everyone was very vigilant, but two days passed quickly and nothing happened.

This relic seems to be a safe zone, and monsters outside will not approach.

The ceremony to reinforce the seal is expected to take three days, and they will be able to return after another day.

Thinking of this, all the adventurers became excited.

Tonight, it is the turn of Sabi and his group to keep watch.

“I didn’t expect it to be so easy.”

"Luckily, we followed you, President, to join the expedition. We really made a lot of money this time."

"I have to show it off when I get back, so that those wimps who didn't dare come can see it..."

The adventurers, led by several YG members, gathered around Zabi and started chatting.

"Pay attention and don't let your guard down," a Holy Light Knight warned.

Zabi knew the Holy Knight, he was Leonard, the security captain of the Labyrinth City.

This guy was the top leader of the city not long ago, but since Priest Mono took office, he immediately turned into a small security captain.

After all these ups and downs, everyone realized that Leonard was not valued.

Naturally, Sabi wasn't afraid of him, so he continued chatting, laughing, and bragging with the adventurers.

At first, everyone was a little worried about the unknown depths of the maze.

But now it seems that there is nothing to be afraid of, and the smooth journey makes them very proud.

Seeing this, Leonard went to stand guard at the entrance of the ruins alone.

After a while, the timid swordsman standing next to Zabi suddenly said:

"President, why are you touching me all of a sudden?"

"Who touched you? Besides, you're a man, why would I touch you?"

Hearing what Zabi said, the adventurers around him burst into laughter.

The swordsman lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly. Perhaps it was his own illusion, but he felt as if something had just touched his chest.

Just as the swordsman was thinking this, a "sharp blade" pierced his heart from behind.

The severe pain made the swordsman unable to make a sound for a while. It was not until a few seconds later that Zabi beside him noticed something was wrong.

"what happened to you?"

Zabi looked at the cowardly swordsman, and saw a palm-sized hole in his back, with blood gushing out of it.

But there were clearly no attackers around.

"Hey, what's going on!?"

This strange scene threw all the adventurers into confusion, and then they found that a faint black mist seemed to be floating in the space.

At this moment, only the swordsman himself could see the enemy's appearance clearly when he was about to die.

They were a group of black ghosts.

Chapter 86 It’s not necessary

On February 2th, the night before Frey ended his retreat, Noelle was practicing swordplay.

"That's it for today."

In the backyard of the tavern Gensokyo, Van Dam neutralized Noel's slash with an uppercut and then announced the end of the training.

"I'm not tired yet, I can still continue practicing!"

Noelle, sweating profusely and panting, exclaimed loudly.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Van Dam showed an admiring expression.

While coaching Noelle, Van Dam discovered that she actually had an outstanding talent for swordsmanship.

At the beginning, because she had no basic skills, she even made stupid mistakes like swinging the sword with her eyes closed.

But after two weeks of practice, she has mastered the key points of sword swinging and the technique of exerting force, which is something that ordinary swordsmen would take months or even a year or two to achieve.

Such amazing progress is also due to her hard work.

The child started practicing basic skills in the early morning, and in the afternoon, Van Dam would spar with her.

After the sun sets, she will practice until she can no longer lift the sword, and only then will she be willing to go home and rest.

Especially in the past few days since Frey began his retreat, the kid has become even more desperate.

Noelle ignored her fatigue and tried to grip the hilt of the sword again, but Van Dam stopped her.

"Continuing to practice will no longer be effective."

"Ugh?"

"I mean, there's nothing more I can teach you about swordsmanship."

"Go back and have a good rest. Tomorrow morning, I will give you one last lesson at the training ground in the city..."

After explaining, Noelle left the tavern and returned to Sakurasou.

After her figure disappeared, Van Dam stretched his arms tiredly.

Although he looks like a middle-aged man, Van Dam is actually in his 60s.

Thanks to the demon blood in his body, his lifespan is longer than that of ordinary humans, but he has long passed his peak and his body functions have begun to deteriorate.

Van Dam was born on the southern border of the Akira Empire, bordering the Forest Kingdom.

As the hometown of the Dragon Slayer Sword Saint, the Empire is the place with the largest number of swordsmen in the entire continent.

The story of the Sword Saint Noven is well-known throughout the empire. Although Van Dam himself is not a swordsman, he has been influenced by this culture to some extent.

Therefore, long before meeting Frey, Van Dam had already noticed the girl who called herself "Noven".

Van Dam first met Noelle at the end of May. She had just become an adventurer and came to the tavern for dinner as a guest.

At that time, like many newcomers, she knew nothing about maze exploration and chose to become an adventurer out of passion alone.

Because Van Damme silently guards the public security of the New Nippori District, under his careful care, this child who lacks common sense has not been seriously harmed, but in his opinion, Noelle does not have the potential to become an adventurer.

As expected, Noelle's adventurer career went very badly afterwards. He made no progress for three whole months and his life became increasingly difficult.

Just when Van Dam thought Noelle was about to give up, Frey invited her to join the team, and then the series of stories to this day happened.

At that time, Van Dam would never have expected that he would now be teaching Noelle swordsmanship, which made him sigh at the fickleness of fate.

With Noelle's level and strength panel, coupled with the hard training in recent days, she already has the basic conditions to reach [Swordsmanship Lv1]. Reaching Swordsmanship Lv1 means becoming a true swordsman.

But in Van Damme's opinion, she was still missing something.

For a swordsman, in addition to sufficient strength and skills, what is more important is the mentality. It is the courage and determination to wield the sword in his hand without hesitation or fear and kill the enemy amidst the flash of swords and the threat of death.

Only by achieving this can one be called a true swordsman.

If one wants to improve further and reach level 2 in swordsmanship, one needs to choose a swordsmanship school to practice specifically. Van Dam is not very clear about the details.

After all, his swordsmanship was only at Level 1, and his understanding of swordsmanship was not very advanced.

But since he has accepted the commission to teach swordsmanship, he will do his best to complete it.

This is also the principle taught to him by the person who taught him swordsmanship.

This can also be considered a kind of inheritance.

The next morning, Van Dam brought Noelle to the northern part of the city.

Unlike Shin-Nippori in the west, the north is where elite adventurers above the silver level gather, so there are facilities such as training grounds.

The training ground also serves as an arena, and adventurers occasionally come here to compete.

Although Van Dam did not actively publicize it, as a tavern owner, the fact that he taught Noel swordsmanship had already spread among the drinkers.

Hearing that the former King Kong-class adventurer, the famous Van-sama, was going to show off his skills today, many people came to the training ground to watch.

After getting ready, Noelle and Van Dam walked onto the training ground.

Normally, both sides should use wooden swords during training, but now they both hold real swords with sharpened blades.

This is because Van Dam is confident that he will not hurt Noelle and will not be hurt by her.

"You have to treat this as a real battle and swing your sword with the intention of killing me." Van Dam said after the battle began.

"I understand."

Van Dam's expression immediately turned cold when he heard Noelle's answer.

"A true swordsman wouldn't waste time answering my questions!"

After saying this, Van Dam immediately released a strong murderous intent.

Noelle's heart trembled violently, and murderous aura rushed towards her like a raging wave.

The warm-hearted and kind tavern owner seemed to have turned into a bloodthirsty demon in an instant.

This sudden change caught Noelle off guard. Murderous intent surged in his mind like a black turbid current, and his body instinctively fell into a state of stress.

Due to the intense fear, the hand holding the sword kept shaking and the tip of the sword was shaking like crazy.

"Is that all?"

Van Dam's disappointed voice sounded particularly harsh.

The reason why his murderous intent had such a strong effect was because of the Dark Knight's professional ability.

But the essence of training has not changed. If you can't even overcome your fear, you naturally cannot become a qualified swordsman.

In order to further test Noelle's will, Van Dam used a new skill.

The moment the skill was activated, Noelle immediately saw the scene of himself being killed.

However, Van Dam didn't even raise his sword, he just stood there. Everything that happened just now was just Noel's illusion.

If Noelle had been more perceptive, she would have noticed that Van Dam wasn't motionless, but was making subtle movements with his gaze and the tip of his sword. This hint alone was enough to give her the illusion that she was under attack.

Skill [Confusion Sword]: Use feints to confuse the opponent and create an illusion.