The story of the black silk female knight

"Let me recount the events from beginning to end."

Valensa thought for a moment and then added:

"The key point is how you obtained this complete Mist Demon core... As far as I know, a humanoid high-level Mist Demon can only be defeated by destroying its core, right? How did you manage to defeat the humanoid high-level Mist Demon without damaging its core at all?"

"That matter... actually, it was a coincidence."

Without the slightest hesitation, Chiba Rui immediately began to tell her story:

"At that time, I had just been through a fierce battle and my weapons were badly damaged, so I took them to the Vado workshop for repairs. I also planned to rest in Chuyun City for a while... His Majesty even gave me two days off that time, although I knew that it was actually my sister's way of vying for favor."

"Cough cough!"

Under the amused gazes of Valensa and Tia, Himiko merely coughed twice, her expression unchanged and her heart pounding, and said:

"Actually, it's nothing. Xin'er got some interesting-looking toys and great-looking new clothes that time. She said she would serve me well for two days so I could enjoy myself, but she also wanted me to send Rui'er away... This is a common tactic used by the two sisters to compete for favor, so I didn't refuse."

I originally planned to give Rui'er a task to keep her occupied for two days, but she had just completed a rather difficult task and must be quite tired, so I simply gave her two days off and strictly ordered her to rest well outside and not to return to Jade Island.

"Yes, that's right. I certainly won't disobey His Majesty's orders, so I've decided to take advantage of those two days to have some fun in Chuyun City and relax."

Chiba Rui smiled and nodded, then continued her story:

"But somehow the Imperial Household Agency found out about this order... I am also considered one of His Majesty's people, and the Imperial Household Agency, which is good at managing relationships, would certainly not let go of this opportunity to treat me well in order to gain my favor."

So, Yuki Tei-do... well, she's the only daughter of the current head of the Tei-do family, and also the cousin of the Tei-do Ayumi you all know, Miss Duchess. She also trained in the Ninja Village for a few years when she was young, and we have a pretty good relationship. So she took the opportunity to invite me to have some fun.

I had no reason to refuse, so I agreed.

The first day's activities were mostly within Chuyun City. We spent our days shopping and our evenings watching performances, just like any other wealthy young lady – relaxed, enjoyable, and quite happy.

But the next day, for some reason, Ditang Xue actually took a few chefs and a small boat and went out to sea, saying that she wanted to enjoy the sea view and eat delicious food with me...

I really don't know what kind of vacation that is... Years of fighting have long since detached me from the life of a normal young lady or noblewoman.

However, if I were to go on vacation by myself, I would most likely just stay at my place or wander aimlessly around the streets. Besides, Teidou Yuki's small boat is near Mirror Island, and I'm on board, so even if we encounter any danger, it won't be a big problem... So I ultimately accepted her invitation.

But unexpectedly, something really went wrong during that sea feast... Among the maids who came with the Ditang family, one of them was actually a high-level mist demon in disguise. Her original plan was to take this opportunity to replace the eldest daughter of the Ditang family, but she didn't expect that the guest invited by Ditang Xue was me... She didn't recognize me because I was dressed in casual clothes and not carrying a sword, and she treated me as an ordinary rich young lady.

As a result, naturally, we fought at sea, and I won. Her advanced fog demon core became my spoils of war.

This is the key reason why I said this was actually a coincidence—it was probably the first time I fought a humanoid high-level mist demon without any weapons on me… Lady, you must have heard about my Noble Phantasm, right?”

"Ah."

Valensa nodded:

"I've heard Cao Cao mention it a few times, and you even told me yourself last time... Your Noble Phantasm is the Heart Sword, which has no physical form?"

"Yes."

Chiba Rui took a deep breath:

"That's the key... For my Noble Phantasm to be effective, it must be attached to something that I can use as a sword. But my own sword was under repair at the time, and the battle broke out rather suddenly. I didn't have anything suitable to attach my Noble Phantasm to, so... in the end, I attached my Noble Phantasm to a part of the enemy's body and won that battle."

Chapter 21: Is the core the true essence?

"Attach a Noble Phantasm to a part of the enemy's body?"

Valensa immediately realized that this must be the key point, and quickly asked:

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"Ah."

Chiba Rui nodded gently, then recalled for a moment, her face still slightly flushed:

"That high-level mist demon disguised as a maid of the Imperial Household Department fought by conjuring many translucent tentacles, about the thickness of a sword hilt, from the mist under her skirt... She made the first move and immediately bound many people present with her tentacles, including me."

Of course, I will not lose to her because of this. After all, I am a sword saint. Even if I have no weapon in my hand, as long as I have a sword in my heart, I can still use sword energy.

After the sword energy burst from my body and severed the tentacles binding me, I wanted to find a stick or something similar to replace the sword so that my Noble Phantasm could be attached to it for combat, but there really wasn't anything suitable in that environment.

So I had no choice but to use whatever I had... I chose an enemy tentacle that I had previously severed with my sword energy, attached my Noble Phantasm to it, and began fighting the enemy.

I didn't expect the enemy to suddenly become so strange... That high-level mist demon could disguise herself as a maid of the Imperial Household and mingle in human society; there's no way she wouldn't recognize me. Even if she didn't recognize me before, she definitely would after I unleashed my sword aura.

I am, after all, a demon ninja of the Chiba family... Compared to your infamous reputation among various cultists, Miss, I may be far inferior, but I have still killed many mist demons, including those high-ranking humanoid mist demons.

Normally, if a high-level fog demon encountered me without the support of other fog demons, she should have run away immediately... At that time, we were at sea, and I had to protect others. She could have escaped successfully by jumping off the ship.

But instead of running away, she launched a fierce attack on me, seemingly determined to kill me at all costs.

I felt a little strange at the time, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, I was secretly pleased... The more anxious the enemy is, the easier it is for them to reveal their weaknesses, which would make it even easier for me to kill her.

The battle went even more smoothly than I had anticipated, which surprised me even more.

As everyone knows, the only way to defeat a Fog Demon is to shatter its core, whether it's a high-level or low-level Fog Demon. Otherwise, the Fog Demons' misty bodies can quickly recover no matter how badly they are injured.

In battle, my goal was naturally to destroy the enemy's core and kill them, but that was, after all, a high-level mist demon... The core of a high-level mist demon is not fixed in its location within its body. Even for an excellent anti-demon ninja who can observe the location of the core, it is difficult to hit the core of a high-level mist demon in one go, especially when the weapon is not particularly easy to handle.

In fact, I thought I had missed that strike. The sword that was meant to pierce the opponent's core was skillfully dodged, and I only pierced a part of the opponent's body that did not have a core.

But the enemy became even more anxious after that sword strike, and the wound from that sword strike did not heal quickly with the filling of mist as usual. Instead, it remained open, and there was even a continuous overflow of mist from the wound. It seemed that my sword strike had caused her to lose control of her body.

After noticing this phenomenon, I stopped focusing solely on attacking the core of that high-level fog demon and instead aimed to hit or pierce it with every sword strike I could get my hands on.

The result... well, after taking about ten sword strikes from me, her core was unharmed, but her body completely collapsed, turning into mist and dissipating. I also seized her core.

"That's it..."

Valensa hesitated for a moment:

"So, Miss Rui, after you attach your Noble Phantasm, the Sword of Heart, to an enemy's limb, your attacks become so powerful that the enemy cannot recover? Have you encountered a similar situation before? And have you tried this method again since?"

“Of course I’ve never encountered this before… Every time I fight with my own sword, even if I can cut those high-level mist demons into 17 pieces with one strike, they can quickly regenerate as long as their core isn’t damaged. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Chiba Rui shook her head:

"As for the battles that followed, I certainly wanted to get two more high-level mist demon cores, but I was unable to succeed again... Those high-level mist demons became even more wary of me. Every time they encountered me, they would prioritize running away, and as soon as I cut off a limb, they would immediately turn that limb into mist and dissipate, not giving me a chance to attach the Heart Sword."

"It seems that the Mist Demon has learned its lesson, and it also shows that Miss Rui's use of the Heart Sword to attach to the Mist Demon's body has indeed created a very special situation."

Valensa took a couple of steps back and forth, her long, black-stockinged legs slightly apart but her thighs pressed together.

"If you don't mind, Miss Rui, could you demonstrate your Heart Sword to me?"

"Of course it's no problem."

Chiba Rui's eyes lit up instantly, fixed on Valensa, but not at Valensa's long, black-stockinged legs; instead, they were filled with fighting spirit.

"I've long wanted to test Miss Sunflower's skills... If you don't mind, shall we go to the training grounds for a spar?"

"can."

Valensa did not refuse.

The fastest way to learn a move is, of course, to experience it for yourself.

The palace on Jade Island has an indoor training ground, reinforced by ninjutsu barriers all around. As long as they don't use their most desperate ultimate moves, even Radiant-rank experts can spar here to their heart's content.

Besides Tia, Himiko, and Yi Qiuya, who were already together, Chiba, having received the news, quickly dragged the Phantom Thief Girl along to watch the excitement. Many maids and ninjas on Jade Island were also very interested, wanting to know who was stronger, their country's genius swordsman or the famous Sunflower Duchess.

However, these people are destined to be disappointed.

Chiba Rui did indeed have the desire to compete with Valensa, but Valensa simply wanted to learn more about Chiba Rui's Noble Phantasm.

To get a more direct feel for it, Valensa didn't even use divine magic or mental power at first, and just relied on swordsmanship to experience Chiba Rui's strength.

As it turns out, the title of genius swordsman of the Four Islands Alliance is well-deserved.

Valensa, as a female knight, was skilled in swordsmanship, but she was no match for Chiba Rui in terms of pure swordsmanship.

Even though Valensa clearly had the advantage in speed and strength, the result of fighting with only sword skills was that she was unilaterally beaten by Chiba Rui.

Valensa, who originally had no desire to compete, had to take things a little more seriously in order to avoid being too embarrassed. She used divine magic and mental power, as well as the Six Flower Floating Cannon.

Now it was Qianye Rui's turn to be unable to withstand it... As the saying goes, one force can overcome ten techniques. Valensa's speed and strength, enhanced by divine magic and mental power, were too outrageous. They were definitely not at the level that a normal Star-level warrior should have. It was quite difficult to deal with her by relying solely on her skill advantage.

Add to that the constant harassment, suppression, and blocking of movement by the Six Flowers floating cannons, and the obviously relaxed smile on Valensa's face, and Chiba Rui completely lost the desire to compete, readily admitting defeat and acknowledging that Valensa was indeed the most talented among this generation of young people.

Valensa hasn't even used Nana yet.

This is also the main reason why Valensa didn't have much of a competitive spirit at the beginning... She had already classified her actual combat strength as the Moon Radiance level. Someone like Chiba Rui, a Star Radiance, would have no chance of winning against her when she got serious.

After a fairly enjoyable sparring session and Chiba Rui's demonstration, Valensa roughly understood what the so-called Heart Sword was.

Although everyone says that Chiba Rui is a genius sword saint, and even Chiba Rui herself believes that the Heart Sword is her treasure, objectively speaking, the Heart Sword is more like a martial arts version of a secret technique.

It's somewhat like the famous anime/manga series from Valencia's past life, where "Knights Never Die Bare-Handed," only a simplified, youthful version.

【Knights Never Die Barehanded】can turn anything they touch into a Noble Phantasm, while Chiba Rui can only turn long, sword-like objects into her Noble Phantasms.

As long as it's long and narrow, it doesn't matter how long or short, thick or thin, or whether it's round or square.

When demonstrating to Valensa, Chiba Rui not only used her sword, but also attached the Heart Sword to a ruler, rolling pin, broom, tree branch, and even a toy stick used at night. After the attachment was completed, the power of the Noble Phantasms was almost the same, except that Chiba Rui felt a little different when using them.

But anything that isn't long and narrow won't work... Valensa also had Chiba Rui try things like plates and shields, but the Heart Sword couldn't attach to them. A whole stool wouldn't work either, but destroying the stool and leaving only the legs would work.

In short, it's a pretty interesting ability... and the thing attached to the Heart Sword is indeed no different from a warrior's Noble Phantasm in many ways, which is probably the main reason why people regard Chiba Rui as a sword saint rather than a sorcerer.

Why would the Mist Demon be so wary of such an ability?

In order to further explore its mysteries, Valensa hesitated for a while before deciding to let Chiba Rui try attaching the Heart Sword to the Moon Kiss.

Actually, it would be best to test Valensa's own Noble Phantasm, but Rikka and Nana's appearances don't really evoke the image of a sword, so I had to use Tsukikami instead.

While the power of Moon Kiss does not originate from Valensa herself, with the Dragon Knight Contract, Valensa can control Moon Kiss just like using a Noble Phantasm, and the effect should not be much different.

"...What a fine sword!"

After holding the Moon Kiss in her hand, Chiba Rui observed it briefly and then praised it generously, without hiding the envy in her eyes:

"The constant enchantment on the sword and the Duchess's power seem to originate from different sources, but they should both come from a top-tier expert, which is already quite impressive. What's even more impressive is the sword itself... The forging method of this sword seems to be quite special; both the material and the strength are exceptional. If we disregard the enchantment and only compare the blade, this sword might be the best on the continent!"

"Miss Rui has a good eye; she truly deserves to be called a genius sword saint!"

Valensa smiled and nodded:

"The forging technique of this sword is indeed quite special... If Tia's plan goes smoothly, Miss Rui should soon be able to use a blade forged in a similar way. Perhaps you could try getting a new sword then? If you really can't bear to part with your old sword, you could melt it down and reforge it?"

"You mean... this sword was forged using technological means? No wonder."

Chiba Rui nodded in sudden realization and smiled heartily:

"Then I'll look forward to it... Facing a formidable foe, one should indeed sharpen one's weapon. Perhaps I should start preparing to forge a second sword."

After saying that, Chiba Rui suppressed her smile, gripped Yuewen tightly, and took a deep breath:

"Then I'll try attaching it to it."

Instantly, Valensa felt a problem with her connection to Moonkiss—not completely severed, but she had lost most of her control, like a computer that had been hacked.

That feeling was awful.

However, before Valensa could call a halt, moonlight suddenly shone brightly on the blade of Moon Kiss, and an angry dragon roar appeared out of nowhere in front of Chiba Rui!

Bang.

The dragon's roar was so sudden that Chiba Rui immediately released Yuewen and was thrown away by the power of the roar, even suffering minor injuries.

"Sister Long, no! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

Valensa then realized what had happened and rushed over to pick up Moonkiss, gently soothing and explaining with the blade against her cheek.

The anger and rage of Moonbeam subsided considerably, but Dreigan seemed quite angry about Valensa's behavior. She remotely controlled Moonbeam to use the blade to whip Valensa's buttocks twice, like hitting a disobedient younger sister with a ruler, before finally stopping.

Valensa could only smile wryly and dared not resist. She even had to stick her butt out and cooperate in accepting the punishment.

"Ugh... what on earth is going on?"

Seeing that Valensa had finally calmed down her sword, Chiba Rui clutched her chest and asked with some grievance.

She was caught completely off guard by a blow from a Moon-level expert and is truly injured.

"I'm so sorry... It's all my fault for being such an idiot and not thinking things through, which has dragged you into this mess, Miss Rui."

Valensa, feeling embarrassed, quickly used her divine magic to heal Chiba Rui.

She gathered holy light in her palm, intending to apply it directly to Qian Ye Rui's injured area to heal her, but as soon as she reached out her hand, she heard two coughs.

In the blink of an eye, Tia and Himiko were both staring at her hand.

"Uh."

Valensa was instantly embarrassed.

She didn't mean to take advantage of Chiyori, but Chiyori's injury was clearly internal, and Valensa's healing skills weren't at the level of healing internal injuries without physical contact.