Everyone has a wound that shouldn’t be touched.
Even the meek and gentle are no exception. At some point in life, everyone comes face to face with an issue they can never compromise on, and in the presence of such scars, most humans feel a powerlessness like no other.
After all, it’s not something you can deal with rationally.
Looking back, it was almost laughable. Why did I end up with such a weakness?
Was it because it was the first time I almost lost an acquaintance?
Or perhaps because I still vividly remember the day when Emma’s father was shedding tears.
No matter which, dissecting the cause was meaningless. The result wouldn’t change anyway.
I hated to see Emma bleed.
More than anything.
And before I knew it, arcs of bl**d and water were painting rainbows in front of me.
“Mu, shon… the speed!”
A face frozen in shock was etched onto my senses with a m*an. It was the woman who had just provoked me, wasn’t it?
Before long, one of her arms was flying through the air. A sharp silver waterfall, tracing a steep angle of descent, severed her torso from her limbs.
Alone in the heavily slowed time, I inhaled.
It was akin to swallowing ice water. The cold breath, coursing through the crevices of my brain, awakened my instincts.
First priority.
The sword, which had been falling like a waterfall, unexpectedly veered horizontally mid-air. A sharp trajectory aimed to split her chest in half.
The woman frantically raised her arm to deflect the blade’s path. But it was all in vain.
A crimson mist coiled around her arm.
It appeared to be as solid as a hard material and, at first glance, possessed an impressive strength. The woman’s lack of any doubt in her expression made this evident.
Though she showed signs of bewilderment at the unimaginable speed, her expression didn’t reflect the panic of someone driven into a corner.
Of course, it was arrogance.
The haughty crimson mist the woman relied on couldn’t stop my sword. Instead, it was cleanly severed, and the woman never realized her end was approaching until her last moment.
The confident face tilted slightly, then slid along the trajectory that had pierced her chest, and that was all.
At the sight of this, a scream erupted among the vampires’ bloodline.
“Big sister!”
With a “chungk,” the head landed in a pool of bl**d.
The splashed bl**d resembled an abstract piece of art.
Ironically, those who appreciated this piece began sending me stares filled with hatred.
From somewhere, a heated voice echoed.
“You, you dare to…!”
But the words never fully formed.
With a “pak,” a handaxe I hurled like a flash of light shattered the skull of the monster. It was so swift, so natural that the gathered crowd involuntarily held their breath.
Countless eyes questioned me.
How?
Clearly, I had no intention of giving them the answer. I silently raised my hand and caught the returning axe.
The vampires’ bloodline didn’t ponder for long. They came here clearly targeting me and must have gathered a certain amount of information about me beforehand.
It took only a short moment for my suspicion to be confirmed.
“O, Ora… Don’t let it touch your aura!”
At that cry, the enemies’ gazes instantly shifted toward my sword and axe.
The soft silver aura flowing around them flickered like starlight or flames. It was a distinct shape, unlike the average aura that crystallizes with increased density.
There weren’t many techniques that possessed such characteristics.
Especially not those used by me.
The hostility in the piercing gaze aimed at me only grew sharper.
“A skill of vision destruction, the Release… that thief witch’s vision technique!”
“Evade it rather than confront it! That will prevent any issues!”
It was a correct judgment.
Vision Destruction Release only disperses the mana that comes into contact with the aura. Simply avoiding it would prevent one from being affected.
However, only if enough time wasn’t given to me.
The vampires’ bloodline made a fatal misjudgment. Shocked by the quick loss of two sisters, they unconsciously gave me time to recover my breath.
Haa, haa, haa.
My breathing grew rough along with the heartbeat. The initially faint breathing grew distinct and resounded in my eardrums like a hum.
An ash-like hue enveloped the entire world.
Everything was stripped of color and frozen in place. In this stopped time, the vampire’s bloodline members stood motionless, weapons drawn, glaring at me.
The time granted to me in this frozen world was mere seconds.
However, that amount of time was excessive for any knight who had reached high expert level.
And the world began to move again.
“Kya, kyaAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Pak, pak, pak!
Skulls burst one after another, spraying fountains of bl**d. Arms and legs scattered through the air, leaving trails of light-like afterimages that streaked through the sky.
It was truly an instant.
A typhoon of bl**d swept through so quickly that no one could discern the sequence of events. Even if they had foreseen it, escaping d*ath would have been impossible, for only I could move in this halted time.
The dozens of women all wore expressions of confusion, clearly unprepared for such one-sided pressure.
Some even stiffened in alarm, glancing nervously behind them, presumably searching for an escape route, but I wouldn’t allow it.
The price of losing focus on the battlefield was always the same.
With a “pak,” another burst of bl**d and flesh erupted. I no longer waited for my axe to return.
I simply held my breath, lowering my stance slightly. It was essentially a warning. Even without it, the bloodline members, already having lost more than half their strength, couldn’t help but overreact.
For instance, erupting into desperate cries.
“There shouldn’t be any gaps! The time needed for the aura’s traits to manifest is shorter than previously known…!”
That was their final utterance.
A white blur.
The blade was already piercing the screaming woman, leaving a trail as it was swung effortlessly. The sword’s trajectory eventually became stained red.
With a “thud,” the body collapsed.
The woman who had been giving orders to her sisters let out a final scream before I swiftly moved past her, barely suppressing the rising tide of bl**d in my throat.
The cost of forcibly drawing out the aura’s power.
To maintain this halted time, I required a few seconds of preparation. But now, I was moving my body while minimizing that preparation time as much as possible.
How this was even possible? Well,
Only a fierce hatred was coursing through my mind at the moment. A command to decapitate all the enemies before me, to avenge Emma who had fallen, her innards spilling, kept waking up my contracting muscles.
For a moment, my knees nearly buckled.
But I endured. The crimson spikes and whips, the women rushing at me with sharpened nails, were all visible.
The best course of action would be to nullify their attacks with “Release” and then take advantage of the openings to once again halt time.
But my body disregarded the commands of reason. Instead, my sword began to crystallize a light so dazzling it could blind one’s eyes.
Another Vision Technique, “Binding.”
An unbending blade of light, wielding the full strength of a seasoned swordsman, swung wildly.
Kang!
With sparks flying, crimson weapons ascended into the sky. Though a few attacks I couldn’t deflect with my sword tore through my flesh, the gains far outweighed the losses.
Wasn’t the face of the woman standing before me horribly distorted?
“What the hell… you insane…!”
And then with a “pak,” a blade smashed into the back of her head.
It was the handaxe I had thrown earlier. Without retrieving it back into my swing, I let the sword fall and instead tore the axe from the skull of the fallen woman.
The vampire bloodline members rushing at me had yet to recover their stance. Taking advantage of their open fronts was a simple task for a skilled warrior.
Puck, pak, puk!
Chopping, slicing, occasionally severing the jawline, I broke through the encirclement in an instant.
So, sustaining several wounds along the way, I rampaged for minutes.
Before long, countless corpses lay before me. The only one still alive and wriggling was one person.
The last remaining member of the vampire’s bloodline sat trembling, desperately dragging herself backward with her bottom.
“Let me tell Mother… Kuaaaaaaaaah!”
Of course, fleeing wasn’t an option.
A scream reflexively burst from the lips of the woman whose thigh was pierced by the sword I threw. Her struggling body tried to free itself, but the sword that pinned her like a stake wouldn’t relent.
My steady steps continued. Numerous wounds adorned my arms and legs—abrasions, punctures—but none were severe enough to hinder my movement.
I brushed my bl**d-soaked hair behind me to clear my vision. The eyes meeting mine were swirling with several emotions—shock, fear, suspicion, and despair.
Summoning her last ounce of courage, the woman cried out at me.
“What have you done?”
“What you did to me.”
I sank to my knees as I spoke. Yet the difference in eye level between me and the woman remained stark. She looked up at me with eyes filled with terror.
“And what you intended to do to all of us… you were trying to take away our precious people and k*ll them, weren’t you?”
There was little emotion in the tone of my muttered voice.
A sound as mournful as autumn wind, a bloodied face devoid of any warmth.
Confronting this sight of me, the woman began trembling uncontrollably.
“No, that’s not what I… What the hell, how… HOW DID YOU GROW SO QUICKLY OVER SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME?”
Then silence.
For some time, I didn’t provide the woman with a suitable answer. She didn’t need it anyway, as she continued writhing on the ground, squeezing out feeble cries.
“The info was wrong… Were you hiding your skills this whole time?! I’ve heard that you need preparation to stop time, and that even the perfection of the Result isn’t that great! So you were deceiving us all…!”
“The Core of the Barrier.”
The curt response carried little sentiment but resonated heavily, enough to quell the woman’s convulsions that mimicked the quivering of a tree.
Another question escaped my lips.
“Where is it? And how many places are there?”
“Won’t, won’t tell… Kuaaaaaaaah!”
The sound of the axe crushing delicate fingers echoed.
No hesitation.
Even after committing such a horrid act, my voice remained unnervingly calm.
“What reason do we have to waste time? It would be better for you to speak and let go.”
“I, I won’t…!”
While sobbing in her objection, I remained silent for a brief moment.
It was only an instant.
Not long after, the sound of flesh and bones being crushed by my axe once again filled the air.
Along with the woman’s scream.
“Kuh… Ugh… Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“You’ll see that soon enough.”
Since we had a bit of time left.
The cries and bl**d would continue shortly.
