When thirst was activated, I felt an entirely different energy.
Before, it was crazy aggressive, trying to steal my body away.
Now, it feels super tame, almost as if it’s trying to protect my body…
I sense all sorts of mixed emotions swirling around.
Moreover, my hazy mind became surprisingly clear, while the urges for self-harm and destruction that should have erupted in my head calmed down instead.
And.
The strangest thing is…
[…Why the hell did you become such a bastard…?]
A tail has sprouted.
The tail that Carpen swung like a flail.
As if I were feeling good about it, the tail wags wildly.
[Didn’t you mumble something about a leash earlier… did Rubia decide to make you her bitch?]
‘Ah, a bitch?! Wh-What nonsense is this…?!’
I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake off the sinister laughter echoing in my mind.
Whatever the case, for now, I don’t think it will harm my body.
Of course, I don’t trust Carpen.
When I was just a fragment, I had no ego, and I could control it to some extent, so I didn’t think much about it.
But now that it has an ego… it’s even creepier.
Slurp- Sluuurp-
[Hey, the tail is rolling up suddenly?]
…For now.
I can’t afford to be picky about my situation.
I pushed my thoughts aside and focused all my nerves on the opponent in front of me.
The opponent seemed to have finished some preparations as the amount of dripping blood decreased.
Arrows shooting through space and the Great Sword swinging in an offbeat rhythm.
Once an arrow is fired and the Great Sword is swung, there’s no dodging them. I have to respond the moment they show signs of attack.
So.
I’ll just… let it understand the situation and act on its own.
Slurp- Sluuurp-
…As if in agreement with my plan, the swirling Blood Aura thickened and began to writhe.
If there is another variable, it would be when the opponent enters Stage 2.
Since they’re monsters I’ve never seen in a game, I can’t predict what will happen.
It must be connected to their unique abilities.
Time and space…
If they do enter Stage 2, I need to kill at least one of them somehow.
I have to create a one-on-one situation.
Huff- Hah-
My breath is clear, and my body feels light.
My hips are firm, and my legs stretch forward straight.
My arm holding the Great Sword is flexible, and my hand is strong.
I can do this.
I can win.
I absolutely will win.
I narrowed down the energy that was spreading around, focusing on them.
The skin.
The muscles beneath the skin.
The fibers entangled within those muscles.
The pounding heart.
The blood flowing through the veins, pouring from the heart.
The Magical Power gathering within the heart, and their fighting spirit.
Everything becomes vividly clear.
The Bowstring tightens. Magical Power wriggles, the man’s aura ebbs and flows, seeping into the arrow.
The Magical Power fills the Great Sword raised beside my head, and a heavy aura envelops my body.
I, too, in response, raised my aura and unleashed tremendous energy.
Kwadduck-!
The ground beneath my feet caves in. The Great Sword trailing behind me carries my power within it. In between, Carpen’s Blood Aura takes hold.
From my feet to my knees, from my knees to my hips, from my hips to my waist.
Up my waist through my shoulders. Down from my shoulders to my elbows.
I gathered all the energy that wrapped around me into the Great Sword.
With the mindset to cut.
I swung it.
Slice-!
As I swung, a sharp sound sliced through the air. I immediately lunged forward.
One step, an arrow was nocked on the Bowstring.
Two steps, a man with a Great Sword charged at me.
Three steps, a Bowstring strained to its limit snapped, sending dozens of arrows rushing towards me.
Four steps, from afar, the swinging Great Sword reached above my head.
Five steps.
I laid the Great Sword sideways and swatted away dozens of arrows charging toward me. The two arrows aimed at my thigh lost their power, blocked by the tail of my Blood Aura.
At the same time, Carpen’s Blood Aura forcibly raised my arm, causing me to deflect the swung Great Sword two beats quicker.
“What the!”
Since I didn’t deflect the Great Sword by my own strength, my body still had energy left. I immediately lifted my leg and kicked the man’s abdomen.
Crunch-!
The Magical Power condensed to the limit blocked my foot. At that moment, Carpen’s Blood Aura surged and pierced through the man’s abdomen.
“Guh-!”
Stabbing the Great Sword into the ground, I leaped up, slamming my opposite foot into the man’s reaching wrist to grab me.
Pulling the Great Sword from the ground, I spun in mid-air, swinging it between the gaps created by the Magical Power piercing through.
Fwhoooosh-!
The Blood Aura, now thicker and denser than before, responded to the movement of the Great Sword, ripping into the man’s abdomen just the same.
Then, after kicking the man’s body away…
I charged towards the one firing arrows.
I deflected arrows dropping from the sky. Arrows rising from the ground were met with the Blood Aura. Dodging an arrow that appeared in front of my brow in an instant, I grabbed an arrow shot from behind with my hand as I ran.
Splatt-!
Arrows connected with threads of Magical Power shot upwards into the sky. The wobbling, falling arrows all began to dive toward me. Their paths twisted, fluttering, following all my movements.
There are four steps remaining.
Simultaneously, the man raised his hand.
It seems he’s thinking about shooting another rope like before to create distance.
With an enhanced aura charged by Blood Aura, I jumped up and hurled the arrow in my hand.
BAM-!
A tree wrapped in rope exploded as the man’s body plummeted to the ground. He clicked his tongue, severing the threads of Magical Power tied to the arrows, focusing all his energy onto one.
CRACK-!
The blind arrow embedded itself in the ground, creating a massive crater that blocked my way.
Simultaneously, the connected arrow whirled around, flying off to the back. The man used that arrow to create distance.
[That bastard fights like sh*t, damn it.]
Leaping over the massive crater while dodging the falling arrows, I charged toward the man.
In that instant.
Thud- Thud—!
The Great Sword, swung on a broken trajectory, charged for the nape of his neck. My Blood Aura responded, wrapping around my body, forcing it to twist and turn.
The Great Sword, now aimed at his face, surged forward.
Instinctively, I twisted the Great Sword upward. The unstable position I attempted to take was successfully completed.
Clang-!
A crisp sound echoed as the man’s Great Sword soared into the sky. The explosive wave shot upwards, tearing through clouds. Blood gushed from his hands, arms, shoulders, and waist.
My Blood Aura trembled violently, greedily consuming the blood droplets dispersed everywhere, growing in size.
Simultaneously, it began to heal the wounds on my body.
The unstable position stabilized.
My strength increased.
In that state.
Just like the movements I had envisioned in my head.
With the help of my Blood Aura, I plunged the Great Sword down.
Crunch-!
The Great Sword wedged itself between the compressed muscles, cutting through the aura that encircled the man’s body.
The Blood Aura that had been swaying within the Great Sword burrowed into the man’s body, tearing him apart.
From the deep wounds like a beast’s claw, thick droplets of blood gushed forth. With each surge, they were all absorbed by the writhing Blood Aura.
Moreover, the now larger Blood Aura condensed and flowed into the Great Sword.
And then, suddenly.
An arrow once shot charged toward my heart. Crunching down on it fiercely, I barely managed to lay the Great Sword sideways to block it.
The recoil sent my body bouncing back, rolling on the ground.
I immediately got up and charged again.
Bang- Boom-!
Every time I clashed with the man’s Great Sword, a sound that shook the ground erupted. The pressure waves shattered trees and tore apart rocks.
As I swung towards the sky, the clouds parted, and as I struck downward, the ground cracked.
Dozens of arrows streamed towards me.
Even though they were fired simultaneously, the time it took for each to reach me varied.
Bouncing, twisting, snagging, slashing, dodging.
Simultaneously, I parried, deflected, countered, and struck.
The ground crumbles. The sloped ground flattens gradually. Mountains hidden by countless trees reveal their bare faces, and the sky is finally devoid of clouds.
While this chaotic dance of hundreds of strikes unfolded.
Boom-!
The first explosion arrow detonated mid-air.
The aftershock pushed my body backward, widening the gap between me and the man.
At that moment.
The staggering man plunged his Great Sword into the ground.
“I, Galra Orphe…”
And then.
With a voice like cracked, gnarled wood, he begged.
“I am the one who shall eradicate the tainted regulations, in reverence to the goddess’s nobility.”
The Great Sword that had been plunged reared up, piercing through Galra’s heart.
“My remaining life…”
The sky fractures.
It splits, twists, and breaks apart.
The sun reveals itself.
An eye shaped like the sun.
The eye of a being descending upon the world.
“Is all for Erden.”
It twists and darkens.
The black sun emerges.
An existence with no visible end bore down upon me.
A mocking laughter reverberated across the heavens.
Galra’s aura overlays the world.
His intentions paint the world.
The scenery warps.
Thought slows down.
Time stretches.
My body grows heavier.
[I will hold on as long as I can before collapsing. So finish it swiftly.]
Hearing Cartia’s subdued voice, I untied the bracelet of greenery.
From my wrist, an aura erupted as if my body would burst at any moment.
The weight that felt impossibly heavy now lay underneath my feet.
The sky that felt eternally unreachable seemed close now.
The dilated thoughts, body, and time came rushing back.
Fueled by his mocking laughter, intense anger blended in.
Frey’s intention overlays the world.
Behind the stretched world, the blood-soaked wilderness flickers ominously.
The remnants of hypocrisy echo like a wailing spirit.
Indescribably dark and profound emotions.
They tear through my mind, kneading it.
“Ha…”
I steadied my breath, grasping Frey tightly.
The Blood Aura responded, supporting my body.
A fist-sized hole opened in space.
Through that gap, arrows come rushing in.
I could feel Galra’s body, healed of all wounds, as time reverses.
I envision a Great Sword twisting and swinging.
[30 seconds.]
I snatched the arrows shooting toward me and hurled them back into the hole.
With an incomprehensible speed, I swung the Great Sword while reciprocating Frey’s words.
“…15 seconds. No… 20… 25 seconds.”
Galra’s arms were severed.
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