Ch.121Girl – 1

Serena held her sword at an angle, slightly tilting her body and bending her knees in her distinctive stance as she glared at the demon before her.

This blade, which her lord had called Wind Shear, had an incredibly unique feel to it. She could understand everything about it after just swinging it a couple of times.

First, it felt almost weightless.

For ordinary swords, the center of gravity was extremely important. A sword with an improper center of gravity not only increased user fatigue but also made it difficult to swing properly.

It shouldn’t be too heavy, but neither should it be too light. A balanced center of gravity and appropriate weight were points that all knights unanimously emphasized.

This was also why weapons made of pure adamantium or pure orichalcon existed, but those made of pure mythril were almost impossible to find—precisely because of their weight.

Mithril’s characteristic of being excessively light compared to metals of the same size actually became a disadvantage when crafting weapons.

But Wind Shear was different.

Despite being virtually weightless, it showed none of the discomfort typically felt with other swords and moved with remarkable naturalness.

It was as if Serena’s arm had extended to match Wind Shear’s length.

“Step aside, mortal. This does not concern you.”

The demon’s gaze shifted behind Serena, toward where her lord stood, having stepped back and entrusted everything to her.

This “entrusting” held tremendous significance for Serena. Therefore, she absolutely had to respond to that trust.

Ignoring the demon’s words, Serena pointed the tip of Wind Shear at the creature.

“My lord has commanded your destruction.”

“The deal must be fulfilled. That mortal’s body is mine—”

A sharp crack split the air. The demon’s words cut off abruptly. Its eyeballs rolled in all directions as it tried to comprehend what had happened.

The demon’s body had been precisely bisected vertically into two parts.

The cross-section revealed writhing red vine-like tendrils that filled its body. Not a single drop of human blood was visible inside.

A moment later came a rumbling sound as the ground behind the demon split open. Even the clouds drifting leisurely in the sky were divided in half as if cut by a blade.

Serena’s arm was slightly turned to the side.

Given that her swordsmanship was so fast that enemies couldn’t even visually perceive it—let alone defend against it—when she used World Eater, which had a proper physical form and clear appearance, it was obvious how devastating her power would be while wielding Wind Shear, whose form wasn’t even properly visible.

When every wind that blew toward Serena became the edge of her sword, and every gust became a blade, what could one possibly see to defend against?

“How dare you attempt to speak such words to my lord.”

Her blue pupils contracted intensely. No light remained in those brilliant eyes.

The red vine-like tendrils covering the demon’s entire body intertwined with each other, regenerating its body. As the severed surfaces reconnected, the gap between them closed.

Serena had no intention of watching this any longer. She enveloped her entire body with mana, enhancing her physical capabilities to their absolute limit.

The world slowed down.

The demon’s writhing body recovering, the clouds drifting in the sky, even the flowing wind—none could keep pace with the world moving at Serena’s time.

She kicked the ground. The sandy stone floor cracked under the recoil, spewing large fragments instead of screams. Even this sequence of events seemed absurdly slow.

Wind from Wind Shear enveloped Serena’s body. Because Wind Shear had acknowledged Serena as its true master, they could now enter each other’s worlds.

Wind Shear recognized the speed produced by Serena’s physical enhancement—which no one except Charlotte could match—and Serena gladly embraced the wind and storms provided by Wind Shear as her own.

She wrapped mana around Wind Shear’s blade and the storm raging within its edge. The mana-infused winds collided with each other, further enhancing the sword’s power.

Serena’s body naturally prepared to execute a technique. All the skills and stances embedded in Wind Shear flooded into her mind in an instant.

This process occurred so naturally that Serena momentarily felt as if she had known Wind Shear’s techniques all along.

Wind Shear’s blade glowed with a contradictory color—both blue and transparent.

If what had constituted the sword before was wind and storm, now Wind Shear was essentially the flow of mana itself.

A thunderous boom shook heaven and earth. It was the sound of thunder emanating from Wind Shear in Serena’s hand.

But the thunder bursting from the blade never reached the demon.

Before it could even hear the sound, Serena had already reached the demon and was raising Wind Shear above her head, preparing to strike.

Thunder Roar.

One of the techniques Wind Shear had bestowed upon its master.

The demon heard the thunder and Wind Shear descended upon its head almost simultaneously. What appeared to be the demon’s ears burst open upon receiving the sound of unimaginable volume.

Serena twisted her body to the left. Wind Shear twisted with her, diagonally slicing through the demon’s upper body as if exploding it, then pulled free.

The demon hadn’t even properly raised the World Eater in its right hand. This was natural, as Serena had approached and practically vaporized its upper body before it could even react.

Serena’s right foot kicked the demon’s upper body, sending it flying backward. The half-shattered body floated in the air momentarily before flying away.

In reality, all of this had taken place in the time it would take to blink once.

Serena watched the demon’s body flying away and once again wrapped mana around Wind Shear.

Storms gathered around her.

Charlotte emerged alone from a glowing blue oval portal. This was the place where the lord had tearfully begged for help, claiming the entire forest had evaporated.

There was no need to hear the forest’s location from the lord since a simple detection spell would resolve everything.

Charlotte’s expression was extremely unpleasant. The mere thought of that beastly woman clinging to her husband made her mood plummet.

Her mind was filled with only one thought: to finish the business here as quickly as possible and return. The very imagination of that beast being with her husband made her nauseous.

A pair of blood-red eyes surveyed the completely devastated forest. As the lord had said, all land within sight was parched.

The soil, completely devoid of moisture and twisted into dry sand particles, showed no signs of vitality. The slightest breeze raised clouds of dust.

She had suspected as much since hearing the lord’s report, but seeing the place in person made it even more disgusting. A faint holy power could be felt from all directions.

Just like the woman currently clinging to her husband, this was likely the work of a deranged woman who performed all sorts of disgraceful acts in the name of welcoming her god.

This forest had probably been “purified” by that woman.

“It must be that woman,” Charlotte muttered to herself. She remembered hearing an explanation about holy power once.

Something about designating everything in the world except for two people as heretics and purifying them.

There was no other way to explain this phenomenon except for the holy power that woman wielded. If Black Blood monsters had appeared, this place would have been filled with poison rather than dried up.

Her mood worsened further. Charlotte unconsciously gritted her teeth. If this incident was related to that woman, there was virtually nothing Charlotte could do.

Fortunately, it seemed that the crazed woman had left this place long ago. The detection spell monitoring Charlotte’s surroundings was still functioning—proof of this.

If that woman were still nearby, the detection spell would never have activated.

It wasn’t the threat of Black Blood monsters, and the perpetrator of this disaster had gone far away, so there was nothing more to investigate here.

Just as Charlotte, having completed her assessment, was about to open another portal to return to the palace:

“We meet again?”

A voice that shouldn’t have been heard reached her ears.

Charlotte stood dazed for a moment. The detection spell was still working perfectly. Therefore, this voice had approached Charlotte while ignoring the detection spell.

Charlotte’s detection spell could detect even a single ant crawling a thousand kilometers away if she wished, yet it failed to detect someone speaking from such close proximity?

It wasn’t that crazed woman, at least. If it were, the detection spell wouldn’t still be functioning.

Nor was it that beastly woman. As much as Charlotte hated to admit it, that beast was currently with her husband.

So who was the owner of this voice addressing Charlotte now?

Charlotte turned around with confusion. Not far away stood a girl with black short hair, wearing a black top and a short black skirt.

A large sword was embedded diagonally downward in the girl’s heart. The blood flowing from where the greatsword was embedded seemed to maintain its viscosity, or perhaps it had already hardened long ago.

And above all, that subtle expression suggesting she recognized Charlotte, along with the words “we meet again.”

Yet Charlotte had no memory of meeting such a woman.

“We do not know you. Saying we have met again is nothing short of nonsense.”

“Whether you recognize me or not doesn’t matter. That’s not what’s important.”

Looking at Charlotte’s face, mixed with irritation and confusion, the girl’s smile suddenly changed.

“Why do you smell like my master?”

It was a terribly cold smile.