episode_0047

A fleeting moment.

Unable to catch up with the situation, Laura’s pupils shook.

What had happened and why.

Was what she was seeing right now real.

Doubt flickered in her eyes that had been steadfastly gazing at me until now.

…The shattered fragments of the sword slowly floated in the air, disappearing from our sight.

“I have to end this…!”

Her moment of confusion was the opportunity.

If not now, the chance would never come again.

She raised the broken Ora sword she held in her hand above her head once more.

And then.

Squeezing out the remaining strength, she struck down.

-Splat!

-Shyaaaah!

As if wielding light in a straight line, a momentary illusion occurred.

Crescent moon.

It was a crescent moon created by Laura’s mastery of horizontal slashing, honed through countless practices in the family’s training grounds and academy.

Facing the crescent moon up close, Laura was sharply cut in the direction it arced, receiving a significant shock and being thrown back due to the recoil.

-Thud!

“Cough-!”

She coughed up blood.

Rolling on the ground, hitting her body against it several times, finally leaning her back against a tree, she suffered considerable internal injuries.

“Ah, ugh….”

I, too, lacked the strength to stand up anymore.

But… I couldn’t stop here.

I hadn’t completely finished her off yet.

-Hwaaaa!

With a blue light swirling around, I tightly grasped the lower part of the rising Ora again.

Struggling, I approached Laura, who was leaning against the tree, breathing heavily.

One step.

Two steps.

With each step, my creaking leg joints screamed in agony.

I had consumed too much magic power, and the side effects of overusing my body were now showing.

“Not yet…!”

I had to finish off Laura before my tension eased further.

…At that moment when I thought so.

“Huh?”

My vision suddenly curved sideways and descended hastily.

Strangely, my hand also loosened its grip, letting go of the Ora’s handle that was emitting energy.

-Clang!

The dropped Ora turned into an ordinary hilt that no longer emitted energy, falling to the ground.

Simultaneously, my body, too.

As my tension eased, I collapsed limply to the side.

“What happened!”

I widened my eyes to the point of blood vessels appearing.

Trying to get up again with force… my body did not respond.

I had reached my limit.

Had both my physical strength and magic power run out?

Breathing was difficult, feeling like my lungs were burning with pain.

Naturally, I couldn’t even speak. My whole body hurt as if pierced by thousands of needles.

“If only I had moved for 3 more seconds…!”

Laura, leaning against the tree, looked at me and chuckled, saying, “Tired?”

And she began to rise again.

Perhaps she had recovered during that time.

It was a monstrous regenerative ability. She must have suffered fatal wounds.

The title of Sword Master wasn’t just for show.

Her body’s recovery rate with magical circulation was incomparably fast compared to mine.

“Ugh….”

However, she still staggered, clearly having taken significant damage.

Passing by me.

Heading towards the fallen Rosaria.

“Now that it’s come to this, transportation is impossible… Let me finish it with my own hands…!”

Approaching Rosaria, she lifted the half-broken sword.

Holding the tip of the sword with both hands, as if aiming for the heart to stab.

“Stop… it!”

I managed to squeeze out my voice to shout at her.

Knowing she wouldn’t stop like this.

I could only reach out, nothing more.

“My body… won’t move!”

Probably my spine, leg joints, arm muscles… seemed to have suffered serious damage.

I tried to move forcibly, but even that didn’t make my body obey.

“It took so long… because of your incompetence for four years… since we started suffering…!”

Trembling, Laura continued speaking while shaking the broken sword in her hand.

Thinking of the children who died… You should atone even in the afterlife, incompetent princess…! It’s over now!

After that,

Laura pushed the sword held in both hands towards Rosaria to stab her.

Dumbfounded, I reached out towards Rosaria.

In that brief moment, it felt like all sounds around me were being blocked.

The excited expression on Laura’s face as her eyebrows furrowed together.

Rosaria still unconscious and lying there.

Very slowly,

The broken tip of the sword gradually approached Rosaria.

The moment Rosaria’s skin touched the sword, thinking it was all over.

-Deeng!

“……!”

Something unexpected happened.

As the sword, losing balance and flying away, caused Laura’s body to tilt as well.

In the blink of an eye, someone suddenly appeared and forcefully deflected Laura’s broken sword.

Clad in a brown robe that completely covered their body and face.

Relieved that Laura wasn’t dead, for a moment it seemed like another member of the Dark Mage Guild had appeared.

“You’ve changed a lot since we last met, Your Highness.”

At those words, all my thoughts were interrupted.

A familiar voice.

Sophisticated and calm.

…The word “Your Highness,” used by only one person with that tone, brought back memories from before the start of the school term, when she taught swordsmanship at the Imperial Command.

It was Iris.

*

“Iris…! Why are you here…!”

Laura gasped, sending a resentful look at Iris who appeared suddenly.

She could finally complete her long-awaited revenge.

It was supposed to be the last time she would see the faces of her family who died on the outskirts of the empire.

But now that Iris was here, she couldn’t bring herself to kill the princess anymore.

“Step aside…!”

“It seems that won’t be possible.”

“If you don’t move, I will kill you…!”

“Give it a try.”

“……!”

-Chaeyng!

With unbelievable speed, Laura swung her broken sword at Iris.

However, Iris easily blocked it.

-Twakwahk!

The collision of their swords created a whirlwind of air pressure around them.

Their seemingly impossible strength, emanating from their slender bodies, was that of monsters.

Both Swordmasters were impressively pressing against each other with pure physical force.

While their swords clashed, Iris unleashed her aura.

-Huqwang!

-Pasak!

Even the short blade attached to the hilt shattered into pieces.

What Laura held was no longer a sword but a hilt.

“Screaaam!”

Throwing the hilt-turned-knife, Laura wielded two daggers she had hidden in her clothes at Iris in rapid succession.

Speed difficult to follow with the eyes.

Yet, Iris matched that speed, effortlessly parrying all attacks.

-Chaejaejaejaejang!

Seeing Laura wildly swinging the daggers, it was clear her composure was crumbling.

“Why… why are you blocking! You know… you know how our families died because of that woman… you know everything…!!”

“….”

Iris silently blocked her, looking at Laura.

As Laura spun around, she prepared for her next move.

It was the Northern Sword Style’s Fifth Move.

Short Swordsmanship

Handling minor swords like daggers or twin blades.

Although known as a vile and barbaric swordsmanship mainly used by the lower class, the Buck Sword style, Laura was actually more proficient in it.

Because she was from the bottom slums.

That moment.

– Chaeyang!

Two short swords soar through the sky.

Laura missed her dagger at Iris’s sword strike.

Laura was undoubtedly on par with Sword Masters like Iris.

Her skills were of a national level without a doubt.

However…

There was an overwhelming gap in skill.

Iris seemed to see through Laura’s every move as if effortlessly unraveling them.

“Ugh…!”

Having missed her dagger, Laura took a wide step back to create distance.

Only then did Iris, who had been silent, speak to Laura.

“If you seek a target for your grudge, it will never end. It will only sow the seeds of more hatred.”

“How can you speak so calmly like that?! Because of that incompetent princess, my family suffered and died miserably, you know that-!”

“So, you want to become the same monster?”

“If killing that princess means becoming a monster, then so be it!”

Listening in on their conversation while lying on the ground, Sian was bewildered.

Naturally, Sian was unaware of their past circumstances.

To understand why Laura wanted to kill Rosaria so badly, one must go back to their childhood.

An intersection called the orphanage.

Laura and Iris grew up together in an orphanage located on the outskirts of the Liana Empire.

Not knowing this, Sian could only marvel at Iris’s swordsmanship while questioning Laura’s hatred.

“…Right. You’re in the way, aren’t you.”

At that moment.

A sinister energy began to emanate from Laura’s body.

Sian had felt this energy before.

A warlock.

A mass of evil that feeds on people’s lives.

“…You’re already a monster.”

As she gazed at Laura enveloped in the dark aura, Iris’s calm expression turned cold.

A slight furrow in her brow.

It was the change in her expression after the smile she had shown to Sian.