Ch.415Warm-up Exercise

Through failure, hone yourself, and with strength, enforce your will.

Then all things will return to their natural order.

That was my principle.

Now, it was time to prove it.

—-

The longsword in my grip emits a chilling light.

The distinctive pale radiance of the true blade gleamed clearly even in the darkness lit by only a single candle.

“Oh, that bitch just drew her sword! You wanna go?”

“Why don’t you just surrender quietly? Before you get hurt!”

As I drew my sword, the snickering men hardened their expressions and tightened their grip on their weapons.

True to their lowborn nature, their weapons were quite diverse.

Military-grade iron swords, crude greatswords, bladed gauntlets, and even spiked maces.

The man who had been smoking outside pulled out a crossbow from under his cloak, while the bald man who had guided me here drew only a dagger and trembled violently.

“It’s brave of you to barge in like this, but aren’t you starting to regret it, Lady Knight? If you retreat quietly now, I might spare your life.”

The man who appeared to be the leader pointed his black iron longsword at me and smiled.

With a confident attitude, as if a knight or two would be no match for him.

Unlike the other enemies who were lightly dressed, he wore sturdy steel breastplate with pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves.

Probably items looted after killing some wandering knight who had stumbled into this place without knowing better.

“—Let me ask you one thing.”

I raised my head and addressed them, looking them straight in the eyes.

“W-what the hell…!”

The man who met my eyes flinched and took a step back.

Well, honestly, even I would admit it’s a startling sight.

A voice mixed with metallic tones that made it more ominous, with intensely burning blue eyes.

A metal mask resembling beast fangs gleaming through the shadows of my hood.

Just as they looked like professional serial killers, I too resembled something closer to a mythical man-slayer.

“…Seems you’re no ordinary knight. Who sent you?”

“That’s none of your concern. Answer my question. Was it you who spread drugs in the slums?”

Judging by the scale, these men couldn’t be all of them.

Earlier, they had been muttering meaningful words like “the master” and such.

“This couldn’t be the work of just ten men. I need to hear who’s behind you.”

“Well… why should we tell you that?”

The man with the longsword, presumed to be the leader, cracked his neck and smiled leisurely.

Perhaps reassured by their confident boss, the other men also grew bolder and started snickering.

“Nice mask you got there. If you take it off and get on all fours naked, we might tell you something.”

“Hahaha! That’s right. When asking questions, you should open your lower mouth, not your upper one!”

The men began to approach me slowly, pointing their blades at me.

…It seems they have no intention of answering willingly.

How stupid.

“If you don’t want to talk, just die.”

– BANG!

I kicked off the tavern floor and hurled myself toward the leftmost enemy.

With the speed of a lightning strike.

“Huh…!”

The gap closed in an instant.

The man couldn’t even properly react before letting out a single cry of shock.

First, one man.

I extended my left arm toward his lower abdomen.

A crimson blade emerged with a whoosh, wrapped in frost and rotating like a drill.

– SPLURCH!

The belly skin touched by my palm burst open like angel wings.

Blood, flesh, torn intestines, and shattered vertebrae colorfully painted the area behind him.

“GWEE-!”

“Shut your mouth.”

Just as the thug with a hole where his lower abdomen used to be was about to scream,

– CRUNCH!

A blood-red vortex erupted from Frosting, becoming a storm of blades that shredded his entire body.

Hersella’s technique, executed with my left arm rather than a blade.

Finely chopped pieces of meat poured down like an overturned table.

“Ben-!”

“You bitch-!”

The men who reacted a moment too late let out screams like shrieks.

Two people thrusting their swords at my back. I could feel them clearly without even looking.

“Max! Tian! Fall back! With your skills-“

Only then did the boss realize something was wrong and shouted urgently.

Too late, far too late.

Lifting my right foot and stomping the ground, I deployed the power of Murder Karma like spreading a shadow.

Thorn Shadow.

Red thorns extending from the shadows.

Stakes of Murder Karma shot up from the ground, impaling the approaching men with a squelch.

“Gack…!”

“GUAAK-!”

The two men rose to the height of the second floor with grotesque screams.

One, with his jaw pierced through, dangled his protruding eyeballs while wetting himself, and the other, impaled through the groin, writhed in the air with a stake running straight from his anus to his mouth.

I changed the nature of the Murder Karma to be more blade-like, tore them apart, and charged toward the next enemy.

A rain of flesh fell behind me.

“HURGH! What is this?! Monster, she’s a monster!”

“Could she be a Master?! Why would a Master be here?!”

When three of their comrades turned into pieces of meat in an instant, the men fell into a state of panic.

“Master my ass! She’s clearly a mage! Milon! Do something!”

At the boss’s command, the mage called Milon hurriedly retreated while gathering mana.

The other men all thrust their weapons at me at once.

Try as you might.

I methodically butchered them with a feeling like I might yawn at any moment.

I sliced the man swinging a mace at my head into four pieces, and crushed the idiot who rolled on the floor trying to stab my ankle.

Blood rose like a wave.

That makes five.

– WHOOSH!

A killing intent flying toward my temple.

Reflexively, I raised my left hand and caught the source of the killing intent.

A short arrow trembled at my fingertips.

A crossbow bolt. The work of the lookout who had somehow made it to the second floor.

I threw the captured arrow back at him, and the man, with his forehead pierced by his own arrow, staggered like a puppet with cut strings before falling to the ground.

– CRACK!

His head was driven straight into the floor.

His neck vertebrae, unable to withstand the impact, split in half and burst through his skin.

“You monster bitch-!”

The next moment, the surroundings brightened as a fireball shot by the mage flew toward me.

A fireball, quite classic.

I quickly tore off the limbs of the bald man trying to stab me with a dagger and threw him toward the fireball.

– WHOOSH!

The approaching fireball collided with the bald man and exploded.

The concentrated flames burst out in an instant, engulfing the bald man’s body.

“GYAAAAAAAH!”

A desperate scream. The bald man, his entire body on fire, thrashed on the ground.

The smell of roasting meat spread thickly.

Fortunately, thanks to the blood pouring like a broken faucet from his torn limbs, the fire didn’t spread to the tavern floor.

“Damn it…!”

Milon cursed and gathered mana again.

I threw the dagger left by the bald man toward his head.

“Milon!”

“I know!”

Simultaneously with the warning from the man who seemed to be the action leader, a blue barrier formed in front of Milon.

– CRASH!

The dagger, shot like a bullet, collided with the barrier and shattered.

I didn’t even throw it with full force, yet the entire blade was destroyed.

It was closer to garbage than a weapon.

The mage, Milon, who had blocked the dagger, sighed in relief from inside the barrier and gathered mana again.

His skills are quite decent.

Seeing that he was trying to cast another spell while maintaining the mana barrier.

Still… it’s too early to feel safe.

“You blocked it?”

I smiled slightly and charged toward the mage.

He blocked the dagger I threw? Then I would just have to go up and smash him directly.

“Block her!”

“You monster bastard!”

The two men who were still alive swung their swords at me from the front, as if trying to block my path.

The black iron longsword swung with strength surpassing an ordinary knight, and the steel sword, though less powerful, thrust in sharply.

As the last remaining thugs, they were indeed more skilled than the others.

But in the end, they were still only at a knight’s level.

I caught the boss’s black iron longsword with Frosting and broke it, then swung Durandal toward the steel sword.

– CRUNCH!

The true blade cut through the steel blade like tofu. The man’s sword was sliced in half.

“What…!”

I couldn’t be bothered to play around anymore.

– SPLURCH!

“MEGAAACK!”

I kicked the shocked man’s groin with all my might, and he was launched toward the ceiling with a scream like a crushed frog.

Instead of rocket propellant flames, he sprayed a fountain of blood from between his legs.

Following that, a sound like a leather water pouch bursting echoed.

A corpse that looked similar to a thrown tomato.

Crushed flesh and burst intestines stuck to the ceiling and dripped down thickly.

I ran toward the mage without even glancing at him.

“S-stay back!”

Milon shouted frantically, extending his arm toward me.

As his fingertips flashed, the flow of mana wrapped around my limbs.

A binding spell?

Too bad. Fire or ice would have been better.

– CRASH!

The blessing of anti-magic disrupted the flow of mana.

The binding spell aimed at my limbs shattered before it could even be completed.

“Anti-magic?!”

The shocked mage gaped.

He’s too surprised. Is this his first time seeing someone with anti-magic?

Well, I haven’t seen anyone else with anti-magic besides myself either.

It is a rare ability.

“You know it well!”

The mana barrier was just one step away.

The mage who had failed with the binding spell hurriedly tried to prepare another spell, but it was already too late.

Durandal’s blade flew toward his body, drawing a blue-silver arc.

The mana barrier had already been shattered to pieces the moment it was touched.

Milon’s body was split vertically.

—-

“—Well? Are you feeling more talkative now?”

I shook off my robe, which was soaked with blood and bodily fluids, and addressed the boss who was still alive… or more accurately, whom I had deliberately kept alive.

“W-what the fuck is this…!”

He was looking at me with an expression mixing bewilderment, terror, and incomprehension.

A face like a child confronting a monster that had emerged from under the bed. Not a trace of confidence or fighting spirit remained.

Understandable. In just thirty seconds, all his subordinates except himself had been chopped into pieces like a hellish breakfast.

Blood and pieces of meat were everywhere.

Intestines and brain fragments stuck to the walls and ceiling dripped down, mixed with blood and bile, and the bodies rolling on the floor were damaged beyond recognition.

On top of that, the stench of excrement and intestines from the corpses, the thick blood scent, and the smell of burning fat were overwhelming.

It was a nightmarish scene meticulously created by an evil spirit harboring endless hatred for the living.

Well, I was enjoying fresh air thanks to my purification device.

“‘What the fuck’… It seems you’re not ready to answer yet. Then, shall we start with your ankles?”

“A-ankles…?”

The boss asked back in a terrified voice.

Why are you trembling so much? You were so confident earlier.

As soon as I play around a bit, you tuck your tail.

“Yes. I have many questions for you. That’s why I deliberately kept you alive. You don’t seem tight-lipped, so if I cut you up here and there, I’m sure answers will come out?”

I wiped the blood off Durandal and approached the boss.

Now that I had warmed up a bit, it was time to start the real interrogation.