With a thud, the shockwave scattered blood-soaked eyes in all directions.
I plunged my sword into the ground and endured the wind from the blade striking down. My body was still in a mess, and every time I gasped for breath, a metallic taste of blood lingered.
Before long, the vitality that had been missing from my body returned. However, this was merely a temporary awakening.
It was due to the extreme efficiency of my magical power for a very brief moment. If all the remaining magic were to dry up completely, my life would end as well.
Fortunately, the ‘Corpse Giant’ had weakened significantly.
I couldn’t understand why.
I could only speculate that the Lady Virgin Saint had done something, considering the warmth remaining around me.
I was truly grateful.
Nevertheless, even a weakened Corpse Giant with its full powers intact was a formidable foe. Even if I had grasped a little of the ‘binding’ and ‘unbinding,’ it wouldn’t change much.
Since it had weakened, it was still possible to continue fighting despite my body’s condition.
It was an opportunity.
I had to bring down the Corpse Giant right now.
However, it seemed others had different judgments.
Before long, a woman came running beside me, panting. Her name was Celin, with her black hair tied back.
Sighing in apparent relief, she suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Thank goodness… Let’s go, big brother!”
“……Where to?”
I asked back while still keeping my eyes on the Corpse Giant.
The Corpse Giant, which had allowed me a single blow, had become more cautious.
Watching me cautiously as it stepped slowly, it seemed to acknowledge me as an opponent.
What a rude creature.
Even so, I couldn’t relax my tension inwardly.
Although its size had diminished, implying a reduction in strength, it seemed to have gained speed instead.
The delay in its punches was now exceedingly short.
And above all, its regenerative power.
Although it was notably slower than before, the Corpse Giant was still regenerating.
The limbs I had scattered were also gradually regaining shape. If I didn’t smash the Corpse Giant at a speed surpassing that recovery rate, victory would be far away.
A thunderstorm was raging in the sky.
Lightning struck the battlefield with a flash. The explosions were enough to make my ears ring.
The Corpse Giant shuddered whenever the lightning struck.
It seemed that, while it was not a direct hit, it was indeed being disrupted.
The Rainelle Clan’s magic troops were likely providing support.
In contrast to me, who was observing the battle situation intently, Celin merely thumped her chest in frustration.
“Of course we should return to the evacuation convoy! Right now, all our core forces, including you, are waiting to flee! We can’t continue retreating without escort troops!”
“……Just go ahead.”
I said that and once again drove my sword into the ground.
As I dashed onto the battlefield, the Corpse Giant openly appeared apprehensive. As I leaped, the Corpse Giant swung its fist once more.
Of course, the result was no different from before.
A blurry vision revealed a scene overlapped.
It was the burning Great Forest.
Amidst the flaming wreckage, a man was walking with heavy steps.
The woman caressed her cheek.
With black hair and light green eyes, she was a beauty with such a mature appearance that one might feel she looked somewhat familiar.
She spoke.
“……Firstborn.”
“I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. Master.”
Stumbling, the man clasped the woman’s hand with both of his.
No, was it the man, or was it me?
Tears flowed, reddening my eyes painfully.
“I… am too late… A-Apprentice and Master too….”
“What a foolish heir, to shed so many tears like this.”
Large craters were scattered throughout the forest.
Or should I say, the forest?
Due to the collision of two great powers, nothing was left around. No trees, no grass, nothing but flames surrounded this place.
There lay another woman, groaning in pain.
At a glance, she looked just like her master.
The Master referred to the vampire as ‘sister.’
Not as a metaphor, but by blood relation. That was why she could not bring herself to leave the Great Forest.
“It’s fine; it was a knot I had to untie anyway… At least before dying, I can leave without regrets. Thank goodness, I can settle one resentment to pass on to you.”
“I-I’m weak….”
The Master’s light green eyes gazed at me intensely.
“……I’m weak, unable to protect anything.”
With a deep exhale, the Master released a long breath.
She stared blankly at the sky.
“Are you angry?”
I couldn’t respond, too busy swallowing my cries.
A choking sound echoed within my chest.
“A lowly noble with nothing to claim, it’s no surprise my talents are lacking….”
“……Yes.”
It was a barely squeezed-out answer.
I had lost my Apprentice and was on the verge of losing my Master too.
How could there be no pain?
Like mud spitting out water, I released my sobs.
The Master spoke in a low voice.
“……You will likely be angry for a long time.”
I sensed it intuitively.
This would be the Master’s last lesson.
“It’s a cruel and ruthless world. Those who have possess more, while those who don’t endlessly lose… That’s why Delphrium was born.”
While saying this, the Master gave me a subtle nod.
How many years had we spent together?
I wasn’t someone who didn’t understand her meaning.
With trembling hands, I searched my pocket, pulled out a pipe, and placed it in the Master’s mouth.
Then I stuffed her with dry tobacco and lit it once.
Puff, smoke billowed from the Master’s mouth.
“Those who possess cannot defeat Delphrium. Neither I, nor the Emperor of the Empire, nor the Virgin Saint of the Holy Kingdom… and those who have nothing will stand on the side of Delphrium.”
It was a sudden remark for a last will.
Still, I listened intently to every word.
It was her final message.
As a disciple, I had the duty to engrave it in my heart.
“……So you should do it.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I chose silence.
I simply gazed at the Master without a word.
She held a gentle smile.
“Clash, crumble, fall… Then the answer will reveal itself. From the first time I saw you, I felt it, ‘destined intuition.’”
That was a saying she often used.
I only thought of ‘destined intuition’ as meaningless nonsense.
She was someone whose consistency remained unchanged even until death.
And that made it all the more sorrowful.
I had to let go of two precious people.
It would be strange if my heart wasn’t aching.
It was then that I suddenly sensed a presence.
The woman who had been lying down stirred and slowly raised her body.
It was a ‘vampire.’
“Not yet, not yet….”
That breathless voice carried a faint scent of blood.
At first glance, she appeared like a flower, but I instinctively sensed.
That woman was dangerous.
Her eyes were half-focused, yet the intense killing intent emanating from them sent shivers down my spine.
Endlessly, blood flowed from her body.
It was enough for a normal human to perish from blood loss. Still, her expression showed no signs of change.
And how could it?
She was not human.
With a captivating smile, the vampire spoke.
“Little sibling, it’s been hundreds of years… But our reunion cannot be this short, right?”
The Master sighed with a displeased expression.
“Really, you don’t even give me time for a farewell with my disciple….”
Just when I was hesitating about whether to leave again, the Master spoke.
“……Watch closely.”
As the smoke billowed out, the Master’s finger moved.
Following her guidance, magical energy began to gather in the air.
It couldn’t be seen, but a sense beyond the five senses was declaring otherwise.
There was something over there.
As the density of the gathered magic grew, the atmosphere trembled and wept.
“Just this once.”
It was then that my vision shifted.
Before I knew it, I had exited the Great Forest and stood before the Corpse Giant.
No, to be precise, I stood before the fist of the Corpse Giant.
The sword light exploded, striking the giant’s fist chaotically with solid lines.
And soon, blood spurted out, and corpses rained down.
The wreckage that had formed the Corpse Giant’s fist until just before had fallen apart.
It was a counterattack made before it could even close in on me, yet the Corpse Giant, unlike its appearance, was not foolish.
Another fist rushed toward me in quick succession.
I had no time to counterattack.
So, I raised my sword and condensed my magical power.
The man in my memory had called this ‘binding.’
Standing alone amidst the innumerable flows that make up the world.
Not only the atmosphere was circulating.
Time, space, and even strength and magic each had their respective flows.
If only I could read those flows, I could distinguish between ferocious waves and gentle waves.
Binding was the technique that divided the gentle wave.
Like placing a stone to part the waters.
However, there was one problem: I had not yet mastered the flow.
A bang, and a fierce shockwave tore through the atmosphere.
It meant I was not being pushed back unilaterally.
But the Corpse Giant had the ground beneath its feet, while I had no stepping stone underneath me. Ultimately, I was the one who couldn’t withstand the impact and was knocked back.
I cursed inwardly.
Just a little more, just a little more and I could figure it out.
