I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 43

Chapter 43 – Great Technique

“No, it just happened that way…”

[One can only take so much..!]

I placated the snorting cursed sword while pressing down on the gushing wound on my forearm, causing the blood to spurt out even more vigorously.

The cursed sword momentarily ceased its complaints and sucked up the blood as if drawing the last drop of a drink, quenching its thirst.

[…From now on, you must give me blood at least once a day.]

The sword regained its usual tone after having its fill. I casually acknowledged and then said,

“There’s a match coming up soon, so eat to your heart’s content.”

[Hmph, you only look for me when it’s necessary.]

“Do you not want more blood?”

I teasingly detached the sword from my wrist, and it shook like a baby deprived of its bottle.

[Ah..! It’s not that I don’t want it! Look, contractor! The wound is healing!]

T hi s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m tl .o r g
As the wound began to close quickly, the cursed sword vibrated wildly. Bringing it near again, it started absorbing the blood in silence.

It felt like offering a pacifier to a whining baby, and a sense of peace washed over me.

As I was filled with these thoughts…

Thud, thud.

Someone knocked on the door. There was only one person who would knock at this time.

“Uh-uh -, I’ll be right out, Iris.”

T h i s was c o pie d f ro m k i ng mt l . o rg
After saying that to Iris, I spoke to the cursed sword.

“I’ll feed you again later, so go back inside for now.”

[…Ughuh…]

The cursed sword, having voraciously consumed the blood and whining for more, turned into a luminous mass and retracted into my hand at my urging.

Thud, thud, thud!

As the knocking resumed with a heavy sound, I reflexively replied, “Yep! Just a sec!” The wound healed quickly, leaving me by myself.

Blood had dribbled into the sink before it clotted, so I washed it away with cold water. Finally, I scrubbed my hands with soap, the wrist that had been wounded included, and then left the restroom.

Iris was standing outside with her fists clenched, eyes wide with surprise. It seemed she was startled by the sudden opening of the door.

“Sorry, you wanted to use the bathroom, right? Go ahead.”

I stepped out and moved aside, but as I did, Iris mirrored my action and stepped sideways, too. When I moved again, she followed suit.

As I hesitated, thinking she had no intention of going into the restroom, Iris approached and started sniffing around me.

“…No blood.”
“Huh?”
“Blood… smell.”

At those words, I tensed up instantly.

‘She could smell it even with the door closed… Iris must have a keen sense of smell.’

Thinking I’d have to be more careful in the future, I managed to sweat profusely as I said,

“Ah, what would make me smell of blood? I was just using the restroom.”

Iris narrowed her eyes as she regarded me before nodding her head, seemingly convinced. I felt pleased that I had washed my hands with soap and headed back to the living room with her.

***

A few days passed, and the day of the match I had been notified about arrived. The cursed sword, filled daily with blood, was in better condition than ever.

[Kuhehehehe, all shall bow before my magnificent power!]

The cursed sword burst into a delightful laugh, and a threatening aura emanated from it, spreading around me with a terrifying energy that could drive one mad.

Slap.

[Ouch!]
T h i s wa s c o pi e d f r o m ki n g m t l . o r g
“Shh, stop emitting weird stuff and stay still.”

I smacked the cursed sword on its blade as it tried to act up, and the blood-red aura was swiftly sucked back into the sword.

[How dare you strike me, even though I am so remarkable!]
“If you keep that up, I might not use a sword again after this match for a while… Hmm…”
[On second thought, it seems I did err.]

The cursed sword instantly became meek. I wondered to myself.

‘Is it really that delicious?’

There was no need for the cursed sword to act so submissive if it only wanted blood. If summoned, it could have flown off to drink blood from somewhere else.

Of course, being bound by our contract, it would have returned to me, but it wasn’t as if there were no other means for it to obtain blood.

That meant, quite plainly, that my blood tasted so good to the cursed sword that it behaved this humbly. Its murmuring that the blood was delicious every time it fed only supported this opinion.

‘It didn’t taste that special to me.’

Seeing it enjoy the blood so much, I thought perhaps it truly was tasty and even licked some to try, but it tasted just like ordinary blood.

‘Could I do business with it in the future?’

I imagined selling my blood to vampires, then envisioned being captured and treated as livestock. The fantasy even went as far as to include becoming the property of a beautiful vampire before mentally snapping out of it at the sound of clanking.

Woohoo!

Outside, the announcer was shouting stories about me, and I could hear the anticipation-filled noises from the crowd. ‘People sure are energetic today.’ I mused as I walked out.

Sssrrrr, clank.

Across from me, a door opened, and what walked out were five orcs with green skin, each brandishing an enormous greatsword, bow, staff, and shield.

There were two orcs with swords – one wielding a weapon resembling a saw. Since orcs possessed the intelligence of a 3 to 5-year-old child, they didn’t rush at me immediately.

From afar, arrows flew towards me, and the orc with the shield took the lead, approaching me. The shaman, chuckling “keheh, kehihik,” was conjuring a black magical orb at the end of its staff.

[Just five orcs for our match? Won’t even serve as a warm-up.]

The cursed sword sounded disappointed, uttering in a dry tone. I watched the oncoming orcs stomping towards me and lifted my sword.

Swoosh -.
T h is wa s c o p i e d f r o m ki n gmt l . o r g

I swung the sword from the lower left to the upper right. It was effortless, like drawing a line in the air.

Squelch.

The bodies of the orcs were bisected along the line I had traced. The charging orcs fell forward with only their lower halves continuing, while their upper halves toppled backward.

They had died without even realizing their fate.

The fight, which took less than a minute, was followed by silence in the coliseum.

“Wowwww!”
“Kyaaa!”

T h i s w a s c op i e d fr o m k i n gmt l.o rg
The audience went into frenzy over the fighting that was beyond words. Just as I thought to leave since it was over,

“Wouldn’t it be a shame to end things here? So we’ve prepared this for you!”

Sssrrrr, sssrrrrr, sssrrrrr! Boom! Thud! Vroooom!

Cages of varying sizes containing monsters began to rise with a racket. And from behind them poured out all kinds of beasts.

The spectators erupted in a cheer loud enough to shake the grounds of the arena as dozens of enormous creatures emerged into view.

“Can our rising star prevail against this ordeal?!”
T h i s w a s c op i e d f ro m k i n g m tl. o r g

T his wa s c op i ed f r o m k i ng m t l . o r g
Screech! Gwaaaaak!

The newly emerged beasts attacked and ate one another, yet their gaze was fixed on me.

T hi s w as c o p ie d f r o m kin g m t l . o r g
[Pah, just a swarm of insignificant insects, none worthy of a proper fight. Tsk..]

The cursed sword clicked in disappointment, implying the monsters weren’t particularly strong.

[However -… with their numbers, it’d be difficult to handle them all at once.]

Among the monsters, there were some as tall as I was. The smaller ones could be hard to strike even if I swung my weapon through the air.

Of course, I could resolve this by swinging the sword multiple times, but the cursed sword seemed not to fancy that idea.

[Hehehe, no choice then. Allow me to use a great technique this time.]
“Great technique?”
[Yes.]

The cursed sword sneered, extending its blade.

[Lower your stance and hold the sword diagonally.]
“Like this?”

As I assumed the position it instructed, the cursed sword began to glow a deep crimson.

[Now, swing your sword!]

As if gathering all its strength, I swung the sword teeming with blood-red light from below upwards, and the cursed sword’s voice announced,

[‘Blood Wave!’]

What? Isn’t the wielder supposed to shout the spell?

As the silly thought dawned on me, the blood-red energy amassed on the sword shot forward. The energy I thought would slice through the oncoming monsters seeped into the ground instead.

The ordinary dirt floor was instantly dyed in blood, becoming a veritable sea. Huge waves arose from this sea of blood, soon engulfing every creature that approached.

Schlick, ssschrrraak -.

Sounds of something melting and bodies of monsters disintegrating intermingled in a gruesome cacophony. In mere moments, all the lifeless beings were devoured by the crimson tide without a trace.

“Oh, isn’t that like something from… that show?”
T h i s wa s c op i e d f r om k in gm t l. o r g

I muttered the name of a certain piece, and the cursed sword, preening just moments ago, jumped in surprise.

Thi s wa s c op ie d f r o m k i n g mtl . o rg
[This is a technique I developed!]

It sounded just like a creator alarmed at having their copyright infringed upon. Indeed, in this world, the cursed sword might hold the copyright.

“Aren’t there any other techniques besides this one?”
[Mwahaha, of course, there are. This body possesses –..]

As the cursed sword started its spiel once more about the Lord Dragon it purportedly sealed, I half-listened and looked over at the announcer.

The announcer didn’t seem to have expected things to unfold this way and was clearly flustered.