Chapter 95
Kamiya the Flash of Steel
“YUUJI!”
Kamiya cried out and attempted to run towards him. But Kasheem barred her way, pushing her back with his Skill.
After a brief exchange, she gritted her teeth hard. Kasheem was a strong opponent that she could not ignore. If she wanted to save Yuuji, she must go through him. Then…this is the only way.
Kamiya clenched her teeth and shouted.
“Demonification!!”
A surge of power burst forth from Kamiya’s body and before he realized it, Kasheem was already thrown hard onto a tree where he fell unconscious.
----------------------------------------
“Hmh. This would be easier if you are susceptible to poison.”
Connie’s hand squeezed harder, making the Hero gasp heavily for breath. He flailed his legs to kick her, but her stance was as unmovable as old oak.
“Steel…Body!!” he declared a Skill using his remaining breaths. The Skill caused his muscles to become as hard as steel, making her claw unable to sink deeper.
At this moment, a single, fierce slash came at Connie from the side and almost cut through her arm. Connie was forced to release her grip on Yuuji’s neck to escape the deadly slash.
Connie took ten steps back and saw her attacker. It was Kamiya. But she was different than how she was. She was bursting with power, crackling thunder element covered her body.
“Amazing. I can feel that slash in my bones even though it did not cut me,” Connie commented. Her hair was standing on end from almost losing her arm.
Kamiya looked at the miserable condition of her student and bit her lips in anger.
Quickly she looked over his wounds. He was missing an eye and his forearms were gored so deep, his bones were showing. “Yuuji! Hang on!!”
From his one remaining eye, the young man saw her current state. Veins were popping on her muscles. Her body felt feverish to the touch and her eyes were bloodshot. A single horn protruded from the right side of her forehead and her body was glowing bright.
“Master…what is that form?”
“Doesn’t matter. Quick, drink this!” Kamiya took out a High Potion from her Item Ring, but as she was about to pour it into his mouth, something stopped her arm from moving.
It was a silk thread. On the other end, Connie was holding it with both hands. “No, you won’t.”
Kamiya, overwhelmed by worry and anger towards the girl who hurt Yuuji, roared and pulled on the thread. Connie was surprised by her power and quickly let it go as she was sent flying towards her.
The demonised Kamiya did not take this chance for granted and quickly used her Skill.
“Raging Wind Slash!!”
A gust of wind, larger and stronger than the one used on Kasheem blew forth. The power sent Connie flying through some trees before landing in a thicket.
Not losing a moment, Kamiya returned to Yuuji’s side and used High Potion on him. It stopped the bleeding, but it did not fix the raw wounds left on his arms.
“SEINE!!!” she shouted, glancing to her side. “LEIDA!!” She did not dare to let her attention wander. It was a mistake to think of their current opponents to be the same as other low-levelled warriors. For someone to be able to hurt Yuuji so bad that he could not even muster the strength to curl his fingers was proof enough that she could not be left alive. She must finish her here today.
“Master…Kamiya…” Seine walked towards them the fur on her ears matted with blood. She was hurt quite deeply as could be seen from the way she was holding her side. She showed a bit of shock at seeing her at her current form. But she was more worried about Yuuji. “How’s Yuuji?”
“Kill her! We need to kill her!” Yuuji screamed after seeing Kamiya’s form. A hint of hope filled his head. The hope of ending everything wrong that had been happening by placing all the blame to the person who did not follow his ‘scenario’. “Master Kamiya! She took my eye!! We need to kill her!”
Once he saw Seine, he also pleaded to her. “Seine! Where are your wolves?! Make them maul her!! Let them eat her until she’s nothing but bones!!”
His obsessiveness had become so unsightly that even Seine could not help but feel hurt. “Yuuji, I only have Kia and Mia left. The Paladin and the slime killed the others. They are holding them back now.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“No. No…! This is wrong. This is all wrong!!” Yuuji grabbed his hair and ripped them out in a fit of madness.
As Seine was about to try and comfort him with a hug, Kamiya screamed. “Watch out!!”
The woman had grabbed them and took them out of the way as the transparent image of a skeleton’s hand carved a chunk on the ground where they were. It was followed by blades of Energy that came at them relentlessly. With her current form, Kamiya could react fast enough and cut them all down.
The attacks left deep gashes on the ground and the trees. Kamiya grimaced as she felt a prickling pain on the back of her hand and saw a wound with blisters starting to form like bubbles. Her intuition caused her to quickly carve the skin off and chucked it away. The blisters popped and a strange smell assailed their noses.
Poison?!
“So many surprises today,” Their enemy’s voice bounced all over the place. Kamiya steadied herself and sharpened her senses. “There!!”
Another three blades of Energy were fired, sending leaves into the air. Kamiya blocked them all to shield the two people behind her from harm. This act only served to create other infected wounds on her flesh which she quickly pared off to keep them from developing.
“Hoh, only your Hero is resistant to poison, I see.”
“Master! Your left!” Seine, whose senses were sharp, quickly identified an attack coming even while being obscured by the storm of leaves.
“Thunder Slash!!” The Skill charged Fahn with powerful thunder and as it swung, the smell of burning air assailed the nose. It was a Skill that could cut through iron.
On the other hand, Connie used a move she had not used for a long time. It was one of the advanced moves all Swordsmen of the Plum Blossom Court learned. Moon Over Water. The move created the illusion of two swords, one illusory and one real.
Kamiya’s Skill was perfectly executed, but when she expected her sword to cut through Connie’s arm, she hit nothing but air. The real attack was the second one. But by then Fahn was already at full swing. She had to try and block the attack with Rugell.
Connie’s move was not perfect. The angle was weird, and it was not even a sword but a bare hand. Yet when it swung down, Kamiya felt like it was a peerlessly sharp sword aiming at her throat.
It was a move molded by understanding and polished by countless repetitions. One move containing many possibilities and different variations.
It was not perfect.
It was flawless.
Rugell was a sword worthy enough to be called a treasure or an artifact. No matter how strong a person’s hand was; it should not be able to withstand its sharp edge.
But it was not a person’s hand. It was red and scaly, with cruel-looking claws.
The moment the sword and claw met, Rugell broke in half.
The force from the attack had been killed by the block, but the impact still managed to push both Connie and Kamiya back
“I thought that one move was enough,” their enemy landed on the ground before them, surrounded by a storm of red and gold. A stream of red flowed from her head, with eyes of serpentine yellow. Her arms and legs were covered in crimson scales which shone from the sunlight. Poisonous mist curled up from the cracks on the sides of her cheeks.
“A Werebeast?!” Seine shouted in confusion. “How?! She is not a Beastfolk!!”
“Impossible…” Yuuji whimpered.
But while the others were flabbergasted by her current appearance, Kamiya’s only thought was...
She’s strong! Low-levelled? No! Not only that, but her attacks also had Poison effects on them!!
Fighting someone capable of using such deadly poison on her own would be hard. It would be impossible to do it while protecting a fatally wounded and disabled Yuuji. So, Kamiya made the only decision she could make right now.
“Seine. Take Yuuji and run.”
“What about you?!” the beastfolk girl cried out.
“Forget me! Take Yuuji and run! I’m going to stall her here!!”
“No. No! Master Kamiya!” Yuuji begged, but Seine had dragged him away as she whistled. The wolves fighting Nick and Chen looked at each other briefly before one ran towards her. She quickly put him on the wolf and they quickly bolted off.
Connie slapped her tail and leaped after them, but Kamiya managed to her tail and dragged her down. While she was down, Connie’s eyes quickly glanced around at her companions.
Kasheem lied unconscious on the ground while Nick was pummeling on the head of the wolf that had sacrificed its life to stall him with the pommel of his sword. Then she spotted Martell running towards them with his large box.
“Martell! Chen!!”
Without her needing to finish her sentence, the Beastfolk boy quickly changed direction and started to run after them. Followed by Chen, who looked quite hurt from the battle.
“That little shit is not worth your life, Kamiya,” Connie said while standing up slowly.
“That’s for me to decide,” she said quietly, her gaze resolute and firm.
“You…” Connie narrowed her eyes, a hint of realization twinkled within them. “Are you…?” she cracked her fingers with a dim smile. “…No, it doesn’t matter. You made your choice.”
“Yes, I have. And I will protect him. Even if it means my death.”
This woman has no care for her life any longer. A dangerous thing.
“Then I’ll oblige that request,” Connie replied.
----------------------------------------
Kamiya was born poor.
As most poor girls from a poor family, she would either become a prostitute or a Hunter. She had a talent with the sword and thus took up the trade of a Hunter.
She was fortunate enough to be a member of a good Party and earned the nickname of Flash of Steel. Life was good to her. But everything changed when she and her companions were tasked to kill a Demon.
A Named Demon whose very name caused even Veterans to feel chill in their bones.
Ud-Aziah the Grey Ghost.
Most Demons think nothing of the Races. To them, they are nothing but food,
But some of them grew interested in their food. Like a cook becoming interested in how to make their food taste better. And Ud-Aziah was one of them.
The fight was one-sided and her party was quickly defeated. Yet despite their defeat, the Demon spared only her and forced her to feed off its accursed flesh. Changing her; corrupting her.
It was done out of nothing but curiosity. And just like children after getting bored by a toy, she was thrown away.
Against the Demon’s expectation, she survived. The change had made her stronger. Faster. But in exchange, it ate at her slowly.
The hurt of her changing body and the guilt of being the only one to survive. Both became pains that she had to live with. Thus, she started to drink excessively to numb them.
She lived like that, switching between pain, drunkenness, and blood. A living corpse with no goal but surviving.
Eventually, she met Yuuji, who saved her with his honeyed words and gentle voice. The kindness he gave was a sweet anodyne to the pain and the hurt that plagued her body and heart.
She knew that it was nothing but a sweet lie; false happiness. But it was this illusion of happiness that she craved. More deeply than anything else in the world.
----------------------------------------
This is why I must take this opponent down. Even if I need to shave away at my very life.
Even if you think nothing of my love. Even if the days we spent were lies.
I love you.
Goodbye, Yuuji. And survive.