58th Episode
“…Resistance is meaningless. Vermin.”
“Damn, you’re annoying.”
My sister and I exchanged a single word, then crossed blades.
Klang! This time, she definitely reacted. The tremor in her hand gripping the sword was proof.
I immediately turned my back to her, only to swallow hard as she appeared right in front of me.
‘This is quicker than I thought!’
I barely managed to deflect the crimson greatsword that lunged for my heart in the blink of an eye.
Kiing! Piercing metallic sounds filled the air as Vestark was sent flying far away. Instantly, I found myself completely vulnerable. My sister’s face briefly illuminated with a satisfied smirk.
Swish! A chilling sound of the wind as the greatsword flew at my brow like an executioner’s blade.
“Where do you think you’re aiming for!”
Klang!
But once again, her greatsword was cleanly deflected.
My second strike. Espada drew a white arc as it deflected her blade.
‘Now’s my chance!’
After a crisis, opportunity arises.
Before she could recover her stance, I immediately charged at her. A flicker of surprise crossed her face.
“Die!”
Pfft! I could feel the satisfaction.
Her armor parted slightly around the chest, spraying pale blood. However, I quickly stepped back with a click of my tongue.
‘Too shallow!’
My devastating strike failed to deal a fatal wound.
She stared silently at the shallow cut on her chest, then immediately launched another assault. I rushed at her again as well.
“Aaah!”
“Hmm!”
Klang Klang Klang! An intense exchange of blows, leaving no time to breathe.
It was a fleeting moment. The instant I thought I caught her off guard, I lunged.
It was less of a calculated attack, more an instinct.
“Guuaah!”
Close. Her figure flickered then vanished. My blade swung through empty air.
Her figure reappeared from a distance. She had suffered a deep sword wound on her side.
I clenched my fists tightly.
‘Alright, I’ve got the upper hand!’
Finally, some relief. I let out a long sigh of relief.
But the respite was brief. As she glared at me and tensed her hands, a pitch-black energy surged around her.
“You’re being a bother.”
The sister raised her sword horizontally with a clang.
A sizzling, dark aura encircled her, and her eyes gleamed with a deeper red hue.
Clearly, she was about to undergo a secondary transformation.
‘F*ck, you think I’d just stand here and wait?!’
This isn’t a cartoon.
No time for transformation manners or anything like that. If I’m going to attack, it’s now or never!
I stood Espada upright and shouted.
“Seop Baek, support me with a spirit dragon!”
“Yes!”
Seop Baek sprang forward in front of me, gracefully moving her hands.
A spirit dragon swam through the sky at her gesture, then drew an unfamiliar string of characters in midair.
“Aran! Snowflower Dance!”
Boom! A tearing sound rang out and the surroundings suddenly brightened.
I blinked against the blinding light that assaulted my eyelids, and then I saw it.
“Taking advantage of the confusion to target Young Master Jung is unforgivable!”
Seop Baek approached me.
Gently stepping forward, the amorphous white energy billowed around her, reminding me of falling snow.
“Mistress, are you okay, Young Master Jung?”
A fierce gust of wind enveloped our party in a dazzling white barrier.
The threatening barrier hissed as it whirled with vicious winds. It looked dangerous to the touch.
“Ts.”
Seeing this scene, the violet-skinned sister clicked her tongue. I didn’t miss the brief glance in her eyes.
A bad premonition struck me.
‘Could she…’
Sure enough, she suddenly turned her head and fled, facing away from me.
I quickly called out, realizing her intention.
“Hey, trash! Everyone run…!”
But it was too late. She had already reached the battlefield filled with other warriors.
There were plenty of incapacitated warriors lying around. She had realized it was inefficient to continue fighting me.
Crackle, Crunch, Sizzle!
Her greatsword once again erupted into a frenzy of blood spray. Shrieks of agony filled the air.
“AAAAAA!”
“Aaaah!”
“Save meee!”
It was a downright one-sided slaughter show.
What a pain. I thought I had broken through numerous battlefields since being dragged into this world, but witnessing one-sided human slaughter was a different feeling.
I couldn’t bear to watch. I covered Seop Baek’s eyes with my shoulders and kept my eyes on her.
“Master Jung…!”
“…Let’s wait for the right moment. It’s too dangerous to intervene now.”
“Yes, yes…!”
Meanwhile, the massacre only intensified.
The warriors merely trembled in fear, tried to escape, then perished when she would appear before them.
“Primula… where are you… my servant…”
Among all this, King Phloxius muttered incessantly like a madman.
“Protect me… protect me… it’s dark… no… don’t leave me alone… where are you! Where are you, Primula!!”
Her trembling eyes scanned the surroundings restlessly, her hands constantly gesturing in the air, seemingly trying to locate the sister.
She didn’t seem to notice the sister mercilessly slaughtering warriors right in front of her.
“…”
Unable to ignore her desperate calls, the sister momentarily sighed.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she reappeared next to the Demon King.
“…Now!”
“Run! Everyone run!!”
As the purple Death goddess vanished, the surviving warriors hastily began evacuating the battlefield.
In contrast, the sister who had appeared before Demon King Phloxius gently brought her hand to his chest as she muttered.
“I am here, Your Majesty. I am your sole shield, and I will not flee.”
Her iron-hard voice rang particularly warm.
At last, Phloxius relaxed, clinging fervently to the sister’s hand.
“Ah… yes… come here… Primula… my knight…”
The sister… Primula gently stroked the Demon King’s head.
The Demon King gazed vacantly into the sky and began to murmur.
“I have nothing left but you… that cursed witch… the annoying warrior… and that damnable Saint, that accursed Luna… they’ve all vanished…”
“… Yes, Your Majesty. But I am here.”
Indeed, she looked like a complete madwoman.
Her words were incomprehensible, and it seemed like their dialogue didn’t even connect.
However, the sister was responding to such nonsense from the Demon King, who continued to mutter on.
“I have nothing left… this is my personal demon realm… cold… yet burning like fire… hell. Yes. The world is hell.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Primula… my final knight… the last sword of Valkirea…”
The sister glanced sorrowfully at the Demon King Phloxius for a moment, then cast her gaze towards the gathered crowd.
A gaze as cold as ice pierced the warriors.
“Please reject evil, Holy Father, as you always do.”
Clang. The sister raised her sword vertically.
In a pose that looked almost holy, she declared.
“I will purify everyone. As I always do.”
At her words, Phloxius nodded with tears streaming down his face.
“Yes… to a place where no one exists… let’s go to the true Demon Realm… just the two of us now. A world of only two people…”
Phloxius continued to mutter like a madman. A translucent energy began coalescing around him.
I whistled in surprise at the overwhelming rapid expansion.
“What a crazy…”
The rate of power accumulation was beyond imagination.
Even before I could warn my companions, the unstable magical energy fluctuation abruptly radiated outward.
Kraaack! Struck by the pulse, I felt a tingling sensation in my chest and swallowed.
“Guuh!”
I gasped for air, my heart feeling unsteady.
Similar to many warriors before, I clutched my chest and fell to my knees, coughing involuntarily.
“Khak! Khahk!”
More people fell to the ground this wave than before. Some coughed up blood, while others burst like balloons on the spot.
Upon witnessing me kneeling down, Seop Baek and the Demon King widened their eyes.
“Kyaak! Master Jung! Are you, are you alright? You can’t die!!”
“…Yeah, I’m fine. Stop shouting. It hurts my ears more.”
“Please wait! I’ll immediately have Aran heal you…!”
Right beside me, Seop Baek was frantically fussing and summoned a spirit dragon. A soothing energy enveloped my body, making it easier to breathe.
Regardless, I was busy investigating the abnormal phenomenon occurring within my body.
This didn’t happen earlier, so why was I affected this time? Just as I pondered this.
[Abnormal Status: Magic Exhaustion]
[Your magic has dropped below a critical threshold. If you do not restore it immediately, your life force will gradually decrease.]
As usual, the notification window appeared and clarified my doubt.
Simply put, with no more mana to drain, my stamina was being consumed instead.
If this abnormal status accumulates to its limit, you end up like those burst tomatoes. Understood.
‘Changing tactics.’
To begin with, a fair one-on-one battle isn’t exactly my forte.
Stratagems and manipulation, ambushes and surprise attacks. And of course, the despicable hit-and-run.
When humans fight, they must use their heads.
“Let’s have a proper human fight now!”
I shouted bravely and charged towards my sister.
