A single flower landed in the desolate scenery.
The character had dark azure hair and blue eyes that formed a strange contrast. At first glance, she appeared to be a small-framed maiden, but her exterior was merely a shell.
This was evident just by looking at the ‘vampire.’
The gaze of the mage, whose arm had been cut off, was filled with a ferocity that was terrifying. The thick malice left me gasping for breath.
This place was inside the vampire’s barrier.
The space itself was composed of the vampire’s will. Naturally, the master’s wrath had to impact the environment.
The temperature in the area dropped.
As the scent of winter brushed against my nostrils, the blood-colored moon looked down on new prey like a beast.
The maiden chuckled softly.
As if finding it truly ridiculous.
Perhaps displeased with that ease, the vampire gritted its teeth and rose from a crouched position. By now, more than half of the severed arm had regenerated.
At last, a voice filled with hatred spilled from the monster’s throat.
“How dare this, this girl…!”
“Tsk, tsk.”
However, before the anger could continue.
The maiden clicked her tongue and shook her head. Her demeanor suggested there was no need to listen further, causing the whites of the vampire’s eyes to grow even redder.
“You’re seriously lacking in mental discipline given your power. I expected something from the legendary mage, but… it seems you just gained power through unfair means.”
Each word was practically a provocation.
The maiden merely expressed her honest impression, yet the vampire’s expression changed continually between crumpled and relaxed. Ultimately, it reached a point where uncontrollable rage had the monster trembling.
That was expected.
The vampire did not know the true identity of this maiden.
Here, a young brat had suddenly appeared, severed an arm, and left harsh criticisms behind.
If she were not angry, it would have been more strange.
The vampire’s anger spread throughout the entire space.
A low, buzzing noise rattled the ears. Until the monster, with eyes tightly shut, repeated deep breaths and opened them again.
Thick blue pupils glowed like will-o’-the-wisps, floating in the void.
The vampire curled its lips into a fierce grin. The vibrating outline represented the wrath of the vampire.
“…So you think you have some skill?”
“Well…”
Saying that in a nonchalant manner, the maiden’s gaze turned toward me.
I was still lying down, gasping for breath. Honestly, I felt a bit wronged.
How could I end up in this situation even after becoming a ‘high expert’?
Even if the opponent was a ‘vampire.’
Yet the maiden seemed delighted by my injury.
“…I have some skill worth showing in front of my disciple.”
To put it more precisely, she seemed quite happy to have an opportunity to shine in front of me.
The slight lift of her lips proved it.
However, the vampire only reacted with incredulity.
“Disciple?”
“Yes, disciple.”
At that, the monster’s blue eyes began to dart back and forth between me and the swordsman.
An unnamed maiden and a young knight who had recently gained fame.
It was a relationship difficult to connect with that of a priest. Even if they were indeed in a master-student relationship, most would think the latter was the master.
This sentiment seemed no different for the vampire. Its lips curled into a faint sneer as it mockingly muttered.
“I heard our son-in-law is the disciple of the great witch?”
The purpose of that ambiguous statement was unclear.
Perhaps it was simply that it did not want to see the maiden looking so pleased. Or maybe it wanted to correct the facts.
Either way, the swordsman’s reaction exceeded imagination.
Balance was immediately disrupted.
The small body leaped up, and a gaze full of suspicion turned toward the vampire.
“Wh-what?! What nonsense is that… could it be?!”
Then the suspicious eyes turned toward me.
I wanted to make some excuses, but even breathing was difficult at this point. And the swordsman seemed to interpret my silence in a rather peculiar manner.
The maiden shouted, hiding her malice with a growl.
“You whore… you came from the Southern Kingdoms to steal someone else’s disciple?! Like a thieving cat!”
“…Thieving cat?”
The only response possible to such an absurd accusation was limited.
Among those, the vampire chose to make a ‘foolish noise.’ Even while receiving a look of incredulity, the swordsman boldly pounded her chest twice.
“Hmph, but someone like you wouldn’t move a knight’s heart! Sadly, the brat is going to come with me.”
“Who says so?”
Crunch, crunch.
Once again, the bloody mist spread around the vampire, who began to chew on her gloves.
It was the foreboding of battle.
“That girl is my niece’s lover… and my enemy’s disciple! Naturally, I should possess her, right? And then, I’ll laugh… while looking at that twisted face of the girl who’s always laughed at me!”
“Such a pitiful desire.”
“…Pitiful?”
The maiden’s calm expression settled onto the irritated retinas of the vampire.
Rip, rip.
The sound of the gloves being shredded echoed loudly. The vampire seemed to be oblivious to the fact that her emotional turbulence blinded her.
She merely stomped her foot once.
That was all it took.
The vampire, the swordsman, and the great witch all had droplets of blood splatter.
It was as if only the drops of blood had been freed from the influence of gravity.
The sight of crimson droplets rising was nearly beautiful to the point of delirium.
Yet the results it would bring about were far from beautiful.
With a crunch.
The gloves the vampire had been chewing tore apart, and threads shot out. The harsh gestures soon revealed their purpose.
The writhing droplets formed into weapons.
Swords, spears, axes, and even arrows.
Nothing was shaped not for slaughter. The sheer number was a staggering several hundred.
The blood-tinted armaments were overwhelming in sheer volume alone.
“You don’t understand… the suffering of talentless humans, the gap that can never be closed no matter how thrashing they try! The fact that they have to spend their whole lives staring at someone else’s back… do you have any idea how painful that is?”
“I honestly don’t wish to imagine.”
Uttering those words in a monotonous voice, the maiden declared.
“I’ve always been the best; what do I care about the feelings of those left behind?”
“Then let me enlighten you.”
With a grind, the vampire slowly lifted its left hand.
Yet the swordsman did not assume any fighting stance. She merely stifled a yawn and gazed wearily at the vampire.
Immediately, the tense balance shattered with a crack.
“You’ll have to look up at the sky while lying down… that pitiful sentiment…!”
Hundreds of bloody weapons pointed suddenly at the maiden.
The flawless dance of blades moved as one, leaving no openings whatsoever.
There was no way to dodge.
Even if blocked, there would be countless repeated blows, an overwhelming amount.
The sound of slicing through the air was the signal.
Numerous crimson trajectories filled the vision in an instant.
The space became distorted, and in that process, the twisting trajectories made it complicated to calculate. The leading spear was pushed back, and the dull-bladed swords suddenly shot out in rapid succession.
The climax was when the blood arms drew near the maiden.
In the blink of an eye, the distance vanished.
The weapons that had been a bit away from her suddenly were almost touching her skin. The red spears passed through the bent space, stretching and contracting repeatedly.
In that downpour of blood, the maiden silently gazed up at the sky.
At last, a small sigh escaped.
“Sky, huh…”
A quiet utterance, a single step forward.
And a single strike.
It was a ‘sword.’ Every instinct within me resonated, asserting that it was indeed a sword.
But how?
I couldn’t grasp the sensation at all. Even with sight, hearing, touch, and instinct, I felt nothing of the sword’s presence. Only the progression of weapons filling the space came to a sudden halt.
I could barely comprehend what was happening in reality.
At last, when the maiden lowered her stance and reached for her waist.
Crash! The entire world screamed.
The shattered blood weapons scattered like flower petals. In her self-constructed banquet, the maiden wore a hazy smile.
“I once had a time when I gazed up at the sky.”
However, the vampire’s onslaught was not over.
“Shut up…!”
At the end of the trembling voice filled with rage, the blades fell like guillotines.
Then the broken blood weapons writhed and regained their shapes. No, rather, each fragment transformed into weapons, increasing their numbers.
Still, the maiden’s complexion remained calm.
“…Not anymore.”
No reply came to that mutter.
Instead, only the countless incoming storm of blood welcomed the maiden. It was unmistakable that she couldn’t ward off all the blood blades, which rained down like a torrential downpour.
Smash! Smash! Smash!
The heavy sound of fingers digging into the mud rang out one after another. Before long, the maiden’s body was surrounded by the struck-down blood weapons without an opening.
The vampire still seemed uneasy.
“Why are you stupidly crawling into a place like this? My barrier is perfect! It’s still incomplete, but it has already absorbed a lot of power… Once the Great Forest shifts…!”
Yet the vampire’s words never reached completion.
With a twitch, the mound of blood weapons that should have pierced through the maiden trembled.
Before the vampire could even contort its expression.
The blade’s gleam flashed.
It was a truly striking moment that fit the expression ‘flash.’ As the thin line of light swept past my field of vision, the world momentarily showed no change at all.
Except for one thing.
A silver line burst through the vampire’s center. No, not just the vampire’s body.
From the ground to the sky.
After the intense blade passed through the space, leaving behind subtle yet distinct residuals. Only then did time begin to flow again.
The air split open, revealing the profile.
In the void, with blood weapons, the vampire’s body, and even the ground and sky.
There were no exceptions.
The straight cut was dividing the world in two.
“Sky Slash.”
The maiden said that while neatly sheathing the blade, which had slightly peeked out of its scabbard.
The sound of it clicking into place echoed.
Then the torn atmosphere emitted a chilling death scream.
The hair and clothes of the maiden, caught in the storm, flew chaotically. Yet, without taking a single step back, she glanced at me and asked.
“…What do you think, brat? Are you finally in the mood to learn how to wield a sword?”
Turning her back to the split world.
The divided scenery was leaning.
