“Charlotte!”
BAM-!
Charlotte raised a half-broken shield and blocked my way.
CRACK- A tree root burst through the ground to support my body.
A warm energy enveloped me.
My wounds healed rapidly.
Rubia’s divine power wriggled.
At the same time, shadows erupted from Kalt’s body.
The target was Yuria.
I dashed forward.
I swung the great sword.
The shadows flowed over the great sword.
I kicked backwards, pushing Yuria away.
CRUNCH- A lost shadow twisted my left wrist.
Immediately, the divine power that had gathered in my chest focused on my wrist. My grip tightened on the hand that had lost the great sword.
Kalt’s gaze turned towards Rubia.
Vines shot up and grabbed Kalt’s ankle.
A lion’s mouth sprang from the air and bit at Kalt’s neck.
I seized that moment to attack.
I moved horizontally, swinging the great sword from left to right.
CLANG- The great sword hit Kalt’s armor.
Simultaneously, a heavy recoil surged.
The shadow that lunged from Kalt’s feet clamped onto the great sword.
I gripped the great sword reversed and plunged it into the ground.
Rubia’s divine power shot forth.
Charlotte swung her sword surrounded by flames.
Dozens of beasts charged in.
The great sword was blocked by a thin blade.
I twisted my body to dodge the divine power.
The flames dispersed into a wisp of smoke.
The shadow that sprung from behind devoured the beasts.
“Dammit!”
I heard Yuria’s voice just as hundreds of tree roots shot up and encircled us.
At that moment.
CRACK-KRACK-
Shadows erupted from dozens of beast corpses, cracking the tree roots as they approached.
One root exploded, then ten.
Following that, hundreds of roots burst.
Shadows pierced through everything, rushing towards us.
After blocking Rubia’s path, I twisted the great sword upward.
CRASH-!
With a clear sound, I deflected dozens of shadows.
At the same time.
Kalt’s sword stabbed in.
“Noah!”
Rubia’s divine power gathered.
“D-Don’t do it!”
Flames erupted from the shield that Charlotte held up.
BOOM-
Flames cooled, and the divine power shattered.
Huff-! Dammit…!
Thousands of vines wrapped around Kalt’s sword.
The frozen sword writhed with shadows.
The swirling smoke gathered into a point.
The point became a line drawn in the air.
I had seen it in the game.
Kalt’s instant kill move.
Charlotte’s shield was half-destroyed.
Rubia’s divine power was still working, but it was too late.
I couldn’t block it with Yuria’s plants.
I focused my senses.
I discarded all information, envisioning only the impending death.
Information took shape.
Thousands, tens of thousands of pieces intertwined.
A headache threatened to burst my head.
Blood surged back as if I couldn’t breathe.
I held my breath and concentrated.
The image of the sword vanished.
Death approached.
I continued sketching the information.
And then.
I found it.
I lifted the great sword to begin death.
I severed the end of the line.
Unlike the roughly swung great sword.
The shadow disappeared soundlessly.
A strange expression painted itself on Kalt’s face.
His previously calm demeanor cracked.
Rubia’s divine power enveloped us.
Energy surged through my body.
Minor wounds healed, and the headache faded.
Charlotte’s shield flared with flames again.
The sun-shaped flames pushed back the shadows.
The scent of flowers rising from below cooled my head.
“What was that… just now?”
Charlotte wiped the sweat on her forehead and looked at me.
Was she asking about Kalt’s shadow?
Or my sword that had severed it?
I couldn’t tell, so I quietly tidied myself up.
I couldn’t waste time gossiping.
I took a deep breath and visualized Kalt’s figure.
Unlike us, covered in wounds, he appeared pristine without a scratch.
I clenched my teeth, crunch- tightening my grip on the great sword.
Kalt, shaking off droplets of blood from his sword, moved again.
His momentum had changed.
Kalt’s body melded into the shadows.
I felt no killing intent.
The shadows were undetectable as well.
I held my breath and sketched all surrounding information.
The dirt cracked, and the fallen leaves trembled.
To the right.
I swung the great sword.
CLANG- Although invisible, the now lighter sword deflected away. My companions’ faces twisted in astonishment.
The flow of air bent.
I inhaled deeply. A faint scent of blood wafted.
To the right again.
CRASH-! I deflected once more.
Then, I blocked and repelled the unseen swords hidden within the arriving shadows from all sides.
Small wounds formed and healed through divine power.
Fatigue was eased by the plants sprouting at my feet.
In the meantime.
CRACK- Finally, I caught Kalt’s sword.
I halted it.
Charlotte’s shield pushed against the blade.
Roots bursting from the ground grabbed Kalt’s limbs.
Beasts tore through the air, latching onto the shadows.
A spear of divine power, created by tearing through space, shot towards Kalt’s neck.
Kalt’s expression twisted.
“I recognize it.”
At that moment.
Shadows covered the entire Karahan area.
Magical power floating in the air turned into shadows.
Blood soaking the ground became shadows.
Beast’s blood, plant roots, shards of shields.
Even remnants of divine power turned into shadows.
Slowly, they flowed.
Charlotte took a deep breath, blood spilling from her mouth as she staggered.
The roots surrounding Hephaestus turned to dust, mutilating her body.
Yuria’s back, bent over to shield Hephaestus, was shredded.
Kalt’s sword swung towards me.
The force from the sword sliced my skin.
And then.
The shadow seeping through the gaping wound became a blade, ripping through my veins.
As if that wasn’t enough, it split my muscles and shattered my bones.
It burrowed into my innards, shutting down their functions.
My mind grew hazy.
An unnameable pain paralyzed my brain.
I felt my heartbeat weakening in real-time.
My trembling hand sought to drop the great sword.
My creaking legs buckled.
“No- Ah…!”
A voice sounded beyond my fading consciousness.
Instinctively, I raised my arm.
CLANG-!
A heavy sensation overcame me.
My lifted arm crashed directly into the ground.
My waist buckled.
My knees touched the ground.
My muscles screamed out.
Wounds opened up.
Blood exploded from the gaping wounds.
Amidst the torrents of blood, sharp shadows peeked out.
Though I could envision shapes in my head, I couldn’t comprehend them.
I heard sounds, yet I couldn’t understand.
I felt excruciating pain, yet simultaneously, I didn’t feel it.
Am I standing on the ground?
Am I holding the great sword?
Am I opening or closing my eyes?
Am I even alive?
GULP- Blood poured from my tightly closed lips.
I had no clue where I was broken.
Is it that shattered rib piercing my lungs?
Was my innards ruptured and surging back?
Or did my liver melt under the intolerable heat?
I had no idea.
“No- Stay conscious…”
Again.
Again, a voice urged my body to move.
An unintelligible sound echoed.
But.
I moved.
I flipped my hand over.
It wouldn’t rise, so I lifted my arm.
It wouldn’t budge, so I twisted my shoulder.
There was no response.
I turned my waist.
CRACK-
A jarring noise pierced my numbed ears.
At the same time, cold liquid soaked my body.
“Cough- Gag… Hack-”
Pain-ridden sounds stimulated my hearing.
THUD- THUD-
The tactile sensation surrounding me pricked at my senses.
And then.
“No, ah…”
A voice calling me.
Rubia’s voice awakened my mind.
The pain from my torn wounds flared.
I tasted the iron tang of blood.
The hazy shapes became clearer.
The figure of the Black Knight appeared.
The shadow at my feet surged upward.
I twisted the great sword.
CLANG-
With a clear sound, I deflected the shadows.
Kalt’s expression turned to one of confusion.
I swung the great sword without stopping.
CRACK- I blocked the sword that had been invisible until now.
My body, which had endured with great difficulty, crumbled.
The sword, which had fixated on me quietly, was withdrawn.
Distance widened.
And slowly, the surroundings came into focus.
Countless glass vials.
Iron fragments that had been shields.
Beast corpses.
Broken tree roots.
A thick liquid.
And.
Rubia, smiling with a hole in her belly.
“All… Good…”
THUD-
The shadow tore through Rubia’s abdomen.
Blood splattered across her face.
“Truly, a shaman is a shaman.”
Mixed entrails flowed from the jagged skin.
Her smile twisted in agony.
Her frail body crashed to the ground.
A sticky liquid seeped between her parted lips.
“Somehow, it’s remarkable that I won’t die.”
Yet still.
A warm energy lingered on my body.
Rubia slowly mouthed words.
“Normally, I would have died five times by now.”
THUD- Rubia’s arm twisted.
“Chop me, tear me, smash me.”
SNAP- Her leg got ripped off.
“I just keep regenerating.”
CRUNCH- Her ribs splintered.
“I wonder if you can regenerate even after I twist your neck.”
Her blood-soaked hand reached for Rubia’s neck.
Yet Rubia continued to.
Mouth words towards me.
“If you kill the shaman here, maybe…”
And then.
The warm energy faded.
“Get away from me.”
I closed my gaping jaw.
Bit my tongue.
The pulled-out nails regrew.
I raised my claws and tore at the skin.
The torn veins regenerated.
I bit down.
“…What the hell are you doing to me?”
Twisted joints returned.
I picked up a branch and dug into my ears.
The once alarmingly weak heartbeat began to throb as if seizing.
The gently flowing blood erupted.
I faced the pain I had been avoiding head-on.
I grasped my hazy consciousness forcefully.
I revived the dulled sensations.
I unleashed the heightened emotions.
Deeply, I pressed it down.
While distinctly carving out Rubia’s image in my mind.
I gripped the great sword.
I lifted my head.
I rose my body.
I collapsed. I crawled on the ground.
My body bathed in the blood cascading from Rubia.
I rose again.
Fell.
Stood up.
My body, desperate for blood, convulsed.
It glowed.
I heard no sound.
I smelled nothing.
I felt nothing.
And just like that.
Driven by my instinct craving blood.
I surpassed myself.
Instinct laughed, enveloped in blood aura.
And I too.
I laughed.
