Ch.168Life (1)

In the middle of the night, Alice and Sylvia, who had walked far away from Ash, glared at each other in silence.

Having already crossed blades in a fierce battle once before, they had no need for exploratory moves to gauge each other’s capabilities.

Only the sound of the cold night breeze could be heard; no words passed between them, yet both were thinking the exact same thing.

If they fought now, Sylvia would lose.

“Tch,”

Sylvia clicked her tongue softly.

Though she had once thoroughly crushed this opponent, too much had changed since then.

While Sylvia had been secluded in the forest, Alice had accumulated formidable strength during her time as an Inquisitor, becoming incomparably stronger than when she had failed the hero party interview.

Of course, her skills didn’t overwhelm Sylvia’s.

Their swordsmanship was too different to make a direct comparison, but if one had to determine superiority in skill, Sylvia would be marginally ahead.

This was only natural, as the title of Hero wasn’t something easily obtained.

However, the decisive factor in Alice’s previous defeat wasn’t Sylvia’s skill, but rather that her body was protected by a curse.

‘She probably doesn’t intend to kill me before we defeat the Demon Lord, but that sword… it could kill me,’

Sylvia thought, looking at the holy sword in Alice’s hand.

A curse that rejected any attack that would harm her body.

It was the Demon Lord’s disgusting, meticulous curse, designed to spread madness through her eyes, ensuring she wouldn’t die but faithfully serve as a host.

Thanks to this, Sylvia no longer needed to protect her body in battles against monsters.

But its essential nature as a curse remained unchanged.

That holy sword, a sharply honed divine power equivalent to the goddess’s fingernail, might not be able to break Sylvia’s curse, but it could certainly pierce through it and impale her abdomen.

Sylvia recalled the recent moment when Alice had held that sword to her throat.

Though no blood was drawn, the tip of Alice’s sword had definitely touched Sylvia’s neck lightly.

The very fact that it made contact was clearly abnormal.

Any threatening blade approaching her body should have disappeared, leaving only pitch-black ashes behind.

It was as good as saying that in that moment, had Alice decided to, she could have easily severed Sylvia’s head.

‘Meanwhile, I can’t kill her…’

Alice was a monster who could recover even after being smashed into a shapeless mass of flesh.

Both Alice and Sylvia possessed immortality that prevented them from being killed, albeit under different conditions, but Sylvia’s had been the first to be broken.

In contrast, Alice’s immortality remained intact.

That accursed heart was a ticking time bomb that could burn her body at any moment, but until it exploded, it was also the strongest shield that would never let its owner die.

“I won’t kill you.”

After a long silence, Alice was the first to speak.

She slowly raised her sword and continued.

“I’ll cut you to the brink of death, tear off all your limbs, and then reattach them.”

In response to Alice’s provocation, Sylvia glared and said:

“I’ll completely crush your brain and carve out your hopeless love.”

“I’m worried about Ash being alone, so let’s get started quickly.”

With a leap almost like teleportation, the sound of sharp metal clashing rang out.

*

The swordplay of the two women slashed through the surroundings.

Nearby grass and branches were all cut down, tumbling to the ground.

They tried to make each other stumble by stepping on the fallen wood pieces, but Sylvia crushed everything under her feet, while Alice avoided them all, rendering such tactics useless.

After clashing for a while, Sylvia was the first to retreat.

Taking a large step back to catch her breath, her body was covered in blood from numerous cuts.

“Damn it,”

Ironically, Sylvia had landed far more cuts on Alice.

She had even managed to sever Alice’s arm at one point.

But it was all futile.

Even when her heavy blade cut through Alice’s bones and flesh, the wounds closed immediately as the sword withdrew.

Meanwhile, Sylvia steadily accumulated damage to her body.

Though none of the wounds were fatal, her evasions were noticeably slowing down.

“I’ve lived with this curse for too long…”

Sylvia let out a self-deprecating laugh.

Having been protected by the curse for years, it was inevitable that she had grown negligent in avoiding attacks.

Alice slowly rotated her sword-wielding wrist and said:

“Seems so. They say a holy sword cannot cut an innocent human, but seeing how well it cuts you, it means you’re practically the curse itself.”

“…”

“How do you think I feel, having to lose Ash to someone like you?”

“Lose? Ash was never yours to begin with.”

“…”

Alice grimaced, grinding her teeth before spitting blood-tinged saliva on the ground.

Sylvia’s provocation had clearly struck a nerve.

Sylvia smiled at the sight.

“What’s the point of all this? Ash loves me anyway,”

“…Shut up.”

“What will you accomplish by defeating me? Some moral victory? Even if you immobilize me, what, are you planning to confess to Ash?”

“I said shut up.”

“You know what kind of person Ash is. Do you think that sweet child would accept your confession while abandoning me?”

“You don’t seem to understand words. I might as well carve out those useless ears of yours.”

“Go ahead, you defeated dog who can only masturbate in secret.”

“You bitch!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sylvia raised her sword into a defensive stance.

Sure enough, Alice instantly leaped into Sylvia’s field of vision.

A heart boiling with rage at such low-level provocation.

Ha, what an easy opponent.

Sylvia twisted her sword to protect her side, inwardly rejoicing at Alice who had fallen for her taunt.

It was almost laughable how Alice had so boldly declared she would attack her ears.

She just needed to block once.

One block, and she could entangle Alice’s sword and drive her own blade into the center of Alice’s chest.

Since Sylvia’s sword was much longer and heavier than Alice’s holy sword, she could even split Alice vertically in two.

No matter how fast Alice’s recovery was, that would decide the match.

If Alice suffered such a humiliating defeat under these advantageous conditions, even she wouldn’t be able to make excuses.

‘Here it comes.’

As Alice’s sword swung, Sylvia prepared to counter.

However, Alice’s sword didn’t fly toward her side.

Instead, it came straight for the center—

Directly at Sylvia’s abdomen.

“Ah!”

Sylvia let out a startled cry.

Damn, she’d been tricked.

She couldn’t dodge.

Alice, that cunning woman.

Pretending to fall for the provocation, then aiming straight for the abdomen!

Sylvia gritted her teeth, bracing for the impact.

Thud,

“Huh…?”

“What?”

But Alice’s sword failed to pierce Sylvia’s abdomen.

The blade, thrust with terrifying speed, merely tapped Sylvia’s abdomen with a light sound.

Both Alice and Sylvia were bewildered by this unexpected phenomenon, uttering confused sounds.

Sylvia, regaining her senses first, kicked Alice away and rolled backward.

Alice also tumbled back before regaining her balance and staring at Sylvia.

“What? What did you do?”

“…Why did you stop your attack?”

“Me?”

“…?”

The two realized their conversation wasn’t connecting.

Sylvia hadn’t blocked it.

Alice hadn’t stopped.

Then what on earth had happened?

Sylvia looked around in alarm.

She wondered if Ash had seen them and somehow stopped their fight.

But Ash was nowhere to be seen.

“…Ah,”

At that moment, Alice seemed to realize something and dropped her holy sword with a dumbfounded expression.

“No… It can’t be…”

It wasn’t just the sword she dropped.

Alice slowly sank to her knees.

“What… What are you planning?”

Sylvia lowered her stance, pointing her sword at Alice.

To her eyes, Alice’s current behavior was clearly abnormal.

“No… No, no, no. I hate this. I hate it… No.”

Alice, kneeling on the ground, stared blankly at Sylvia while muttering “no” like a madwoman.

Sylvia was confused, unable to understand what was happening.

Could this be the moment?

Was Alice’s heart exploding?

Was Alice dying?

Sylvia slowly approached Alice.

“…What the hell are you doing, you crazy woman? Explain.”

“Ha… Ah, ahahaha!”

Now Alice was laughing like a lunatic, causing Sylvia to recoil in alarm, pointing her sword.

Sylvia crouched, wary of a possible explosion, glaring at Alice.

Alice looked at Sylvia, laughing maniacally before slowly inhaling and lowering her head.

“…Ha, hahaha… Don’t be scared, idiot. I’m not dying right now.”

“Then what is it? Why the sudden fit?”

“…Ha, fuck… hahaha”

“Stop laughing and explain!”

Alice silently reached out toward Sylvia.

Instantly, the wounds covering Sylvia’s body began to disappear cleanly.

Sylvia looked down at Alice with an even more puzzled expression.

“…The holy sword cannot cut the innocent.”

“What?”

“It can’t cut anyone unless they’re demons, undead, or terrible sinners.”

Sylvia nodded.

The holy sword, the only weapon that could cut through Sylvia’s curse-protected body, could ironically cut her precisely because she was tainted by that curse.

Originally a saint’s staff that had taken the form of a sword for Alice, rather than a weapon, it was more like a holy flame that burned only those who opposed the goddess’s will—closer to the goddess’s fingernail aimed at evil.

“So what?”

“You stupid woman, don’t you understand?”

“What, that I’m innocent? After you’ve been cutting me just fine until now, what nonsense is this? You said you could cut me because I’m cursed, so what, cutting is fine but stabbing isn’t?”

“Use your head, you damn woman.”

“…Ah,”

“…”

“Ah… Aah!”

Sylvia dropped her sword with a cry of joy, just as Alice had done.

She too, albeit belatedly, had reached the same realization as Alice.

“Ah… Aah, I see…”

It was her abdomen.

The holy sword couldn’t attack Sylvia’s abdomen.

“Ah… Aah! I see…! That’s what it was!”

“…Damn it,”

“Aaaah! Nngh,”

“Fuck, fuck!”

As Sylvia trembled with ecstatic exclamations, Alice, her face contorted with rage and despair, pounded the ground furiously while lying face down.

She struck the ground until her knuckles were bruised and bleeding, smashing her hands faster than they could heal. She even tore at her hair and repeatedly slammed her forehead against the ground, as if trying to forget the pain in her heart through physical suffering.

But Sylvia paid no attention to Alice, instead embracing her own body with an enraptured expression.

Her sensuous hands caressed her arms, cheeks, waist, and shoulders in sequence before slowly moving to her abdomen.

Sylvia lovingly stroked her firm abdomen and murmured:

“My child…”

“…”

“Ash and my child! In my womb!”