Chapter 98
Kamiya's Resolve
“Sergio! Leave them to me! You go and get the Hero!!”
“Got it! Don’t die on me, Bernardo!” the man said, wasting no time as he spurred his horse onward. “Hayyah!!”
The two had known each other even since before he became one of the King’s Watchmen. One look was all they need to understand each other.
Bernardo grabbed a steel spear that was strapped to the side of his horse and jerked the rein, turning his horse around. With a loud neigh, the horse changed direction and turned this chase into a game of chicken.
“Face me if you dare!!”
“Akula! Don’t buy into his taunt!!” Illumca called out. But there was no answer. Illumca then saw Akula’s face. There was a clear sign of deep exhaustion in them.
The Centaur was so focused on staying conscious that she could not hear a thing. Her breathing had become shallow and her complexion pale.
Dammit, the Irrimchur’s effect…!
Irrimchur. A drug that was is given to all Tonsulde that allows for one to exert power beyond their means. In return, it will weaken them slowly until they had no strength to even lift a finger. It was a drug that was only supposed to be taken when one was at their direst moment.
But with her condition being what it was, it was the only choice that she had.
“Akula!” Illumca shouted, waking her up from her daydream.
“(gasp)…” she looked around, perplexed. She saw the man charging at her and grimaced.
Akula was aware of her own limit, which she had passed after she unleashed that last Skill and said to Illumca.
“Illumca. We are going to pass him. Keep your head very low.”
Illumca nodded and stuck her head down until she could feel Akula’s fur tickling her cheek.
“I am!! Akula Altanghazar!! Tonsulde of Clan Altankheer!!” She bellowed as she exchanged her bow for her precious halberd.
“I am! Bernardo Vornarola!! Lieutenant of the King’s Watchmen!! Have at you!! AARRGH!!!”
The two met in a violent clash. Both of them swung their weapons with full conviction of their victories.
CLANG!!
The dull sound of steel meeting steel rung out.
It was but a moment, yet that brief moment had determined the winner.
Illumca’s heart almost stopped when she heard the deafening sound. But she could do nothing but wait for the result. Yet all she could do was watch as the other party’s horse running past.
She warily straightened her back and saw that Akula was still running. But this time there was such urgency and pressure coming from her back that she dared not speak.
----------------------------------------
On the other party’s case, Bernardo was lying with his back still on his horse’s back. He lost consciousness seconds after their weapons met.
He groaned as he felt for his head. The helmet he was wearing had been knocked clear off. “Dammit! It felt like my arms were being ripped off.”
He turned his horse around, intending to continue the battle. But all he saw was a rapidly disappearing dot.
When he realized this, he was somewhat confused. Which was quickly replaced by disbelief and then anger.
“Coward!!”
----------------------------------------
When they had almost reached the forest, Akula’s speed dropped and her pace fell to a trot before collapsing altogether. Illumca rolled from her back to safety before approaching her with worry. It was something that also surprised her. Her, worrying about another person aside from Connie?
“Akula! Are you okay?!” she asked.
Akula coughed out blood, staining the golden earth crimson. “Don’t worry about me. Chase after him!” she shouted as she brought herself up by leaning on her halberd. She was clearly acting tough. " I will keep the others from...chasing after you. I...swear it..."
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Illumca nodded and headed into the forest. She noticed Sergio’s horse’s tracks entering the forest path and anxiety grew in her heart.
When despair had begun to creep up upon her, she saw a large bolt of lightning coming down from the sky towards a certain part of the forest quite a distance away. It might not be Connie’s location, but it was a start.
Her expression hardened and she made her way in. She jumped onto a tree branch and headed deeper, jumping from tree to tree. The man might be on a horse, but a forest is my domain.
“Connie. Please be okay.”
----------------------------------------
Deep inside the forest, Nick who had just finished binding his bleeding arms with a ripped up piece of cloth, ate a few Pills to heal himself. Occasionally he glanced at the fight happening before him.
Two figures that now resembled monsters more than women clashed again and again. Each blow creating sparks and lightning that scorched the trees. It was a fight that a mediocre man like him could not intrude. So, there was only one thing he could do. To stay away.
He dragged the unconscious Kasheem away so as not to be involved with the two.
“May Junnaveil’s Grace be with you, Milady,” he mouthed.
Connie, who noticed the movement of the Paladin nodded to herself. Pragmatic and cowardly he might be, but this type of people she could tolerate. Unlike this woman before her, who willingly blinded herself to the truth and refused to see it even though it was shoved before her eyes.
Connie was stalling to catch her breath and control the flow of Energy to slowly heal the wounds. The Pills she had could no longer sustain a battle at this level. Kamiya too, would really want to finish this quickly, but she also had to concentrate on healing. She had a few Potions left, but she knew that if she tried, Connie would use that chance to get a hit in.
Connie and Kamiya were both breathing heavily, shoulders rising and falling as they circled one another for the third time after their initial clash. Both were heavily wounded. Kamiya being worse off as she had lost any sense of self-preservation and would sacrifice her own body to deal more damage to her opponent. Connie, on the other hand, was protected by her scales. Some of them had fallen off. Red, bloody flesh hanging off them, but her wounds were still manageable.
Instead of red blood, green liquid dripped from Kamiya’s arms, whose joint had become swollen and gangly after Connie broke it during the second clash. Ten holes where the red-haired monstrosity had pierced them.
“Those…were not pus,” Connie noticed. She knew the smell of and form of many different kind of pus well. They were mostly milky green and even brownish, with unpleasant smell. But she had seen this color before on something she recently killed. The blood has stained her collar, seeping into her undergarment.
What else had green blood? Connie put the puzzle together and frowned.
“You…are not just using a Demon’s power.” Connie shuffled her feet forward, approaching her. “You are turning into one.”
“If that is what it takes to defeat you!” The woman grabbed Raikiri that she had taken off the Hero’s hand and her Fahn, then raised both swords at her.
She then launched herself at Connie.
“Storm of Blades!”
The onslaught of swords slicing and dicing like a wall chased after Connie as she retreated hundreds of steps back to avoid being beheaded by the swords.
Suddenly, Connie vanished from her vision and suddenly two consecutive kicks hit her on the back, causing her to fall face first. Upon which she quickly rolled away from an incoming stomp.
How did she dodge that? Then she saw marks on the tree of the left as if a large snake had wound itself around it tight. She’s using her tail to escape my attack?
Not one to back down, the black-haired woman swiped the sword quickly as she moved to the side, wounding the part of her leg which was not covered with scales.
She spun midair and released a kick which made Connie retreat a few steps back.
The moment she landed, Kamiya crossed her arms.
“Lightning Speed Slash!!”
A blur of blue lightning exploded towards Connie.
The move was fast and accurate, aiming at Connie’s neck. And it would have finished her.
“But I’ve seen that move.”
Her tail whipped behind her, launching her over Kamiya’s head, using her torso as a fulcrum as she spun midair.
She kicked hard at the tree behind her and used the force to launch herself forward before the fearsome Kamiya had the chance to turn her body. Connie’s fingers dug into her back, causing Kamiya a great pain. The Energy flowing in her claws as preparation for her signature moves sunk deep into her bones.
“AAAHH!” Withstanding the alarming pain, Kamiya shouted a Skill name angrily. “IRON BODY!!”
A powerful yellow glow emanated from her body. Her muscles turned hard as iron, stopping Connie’s claws from sinking any deeper.
Connie discarded the bloodied pieces of cloths stuck on her fingers and massaged her numb hands. Her nails felt as if they were about to come off.
“Agh…haaah…hah,” Kamiya turned to face her opponent. Her back stung from the earlier attack. She knew that she had just escaped from an irreversible damage. If she was late in activating her Skill for just a single second, she would have lost her shoulders. “I made a mistake…hah (pant), I should’ve made you my first priority.”
The girl before her was used to fighting humans. She aimed at the weak points of a human body as naturally as a hunter would dissect a deer or a pheasant.
“…Your body is tougher than you look. It was as if I am trying to dig my hand into thick iron slab.”
Connie moved towards her, faked her out with an intent at her torso when the real one was an attack with the base of her palm which struck Kamiya on the side of her jaw. However, she managed to turn her head swiftly at the moment of impact and struck back with the sword on her left as she spun. The move was on point, but it was big enough to give Connie a chance to stop the hand from finishing the motion using the back of same hand that she used to struck her with.
But Kamiya jerked back and kicked with all her might, pushing Connie away while she withdrew to a safe distance. My body is filled with power, but why am I not winning?
No, it’s because I have not enough resolve.
Kamiya then made her decision and raised her swords to the sky. Connie took a stance looking for a gap to attack. But a sudden spark coming from Kamiya’s body blinded her eyes.
“Argh!”
“This is my swan song, Cornelia!! Behold!! O Mydirr, let my body become the avatar of your Wrath!! Wrath of Mydirr!!”
A bolt of powerful lightning came down from the sky and stroke Kamiya’s swords, bathing her in brilliant, blinding light. Connie covered her eyes with the back of her arm to prevent her eyes from being ruined.
When she opened them again, she saw Kamiya. Her body crackling with blue sparks, the very image of lightning made flesh.
She pointed both swords at Connie and bellowed.
“I am Kamiya the Flash of Steel!! I swear upon my life!! I WILL PROTECT YUUJI!!”