Ch.93Two Heroes (2)

Silvia’s red eyes, which had been gleaming bright enough to be visible in the darkness, slowly lost their light.

Dull and dark.

As if reflecting her heart, they lost their luster and burned black.

“It was you…”

Who exactly was Ash’s fiancée?

It wasn’t even a formal engagement, merely a verbal promise made by Count Goldfield, which is why Silvia had told Ash that he had no fiancée.

In fact, Silvia herself thought the same and tried not to dwell on Ash’s fiancée.

However, like a fishbone stuck in her throat, the existence of this person remained uncomfortably present.

While Ash’s feelings toward Alice didn’t seem to have developed into affection, she was undoubtedly a precious person who shared beautiful childhood memories with him.

Memories Silvia didn’t know about. Experiences Silvia wasn’t part of.

The mere thought that these would forever remain with Ash made Silvia’s heart burn black with jealousy.

Ash’s love for Silvia was like a blazing flame.

That passionate, desire-filled affection was immensely satisfying, but

Sometimes, when Ash gazed up at the sky, imagining what Goldfield territory looked like before entering this forest, that peaceful happiness like gentle ripples was a realm Silvia could never invade.

And within that realm, Alice clearly existed.

Silvia found this fact unbearable.

“It was just… someone like you.”

“…What?”

“What a waste,”

“What are you talking about?”

Silvia muttered like someone who had lost her mind.

Alice became extremely wary of Silvia’s suddenly altered state.

Perhaps because she had removed her armor, exposing her delicate skin,

Goosebumps rose all over Alice’s body.

Silvia spoke slowly in a distorted voice that fluctuated wildly in pitch.

“For Ash, someone like you is such a waste.”

“…Don’t judge me so carelessly.”

“Ash… Ash… Ash… Ash…”

“You’ve completely lost it, Silvia. Did your mind break from cowering before the Demon Lord?”

“Ash…”

“…”

Silvia’s lips slowly parted, and from them came a deep, heavy sigh that formed white breath in the air.

It’s become cold enough to see breath now.

She remembered it was still warm when she first met Ash.

Has one season passed, or… two?

Silvia tried to count the time she had spent with Ash, but her already broken sense of time made it impossible.

The time with Ash felt like less than a month, yet the days she spent alone felt like more than a year, and emotionally, it seemed like she had spent a lifetime with him.

How long has it been since I met Ash?

Did summer come again? Or not?

Could it be that it hasn’t even been a year yet?

How long has that woman been with Ash?

Longer than me? Obviously longer, right?

No, that was just Ash from childhood,

Ah, I’m jealous.

Young Ash, I want to see him.

It’s unforgivable.

I can’t forgive it.

What a waste,

Too precious for someone like her.

“Ash doesn’t know, does he?”

Silvia said, twisting her lips.

Alice raised her sword without answering.

She couldn’t understand the ravings of a madwoman anyway, nor did she care to listen.

Silvia stared directly at Alice, ignoring her combat stance, and said:

“That you’re Alice. Ash doesn’t know, does he?”

“It’s because of that curse you cast. Ash couldn’t even see me.”

“Heh,”

Silvia smiled until her mouth nearly tore.

It was an eerily grotesque expression that sent chills down one’s spine just looking at it.

Between her lips, stretched to their limit, flowed a voice mixed with satisfaction, mockery, and madness.

“If it were me, Ash would have recognized me even without seeing my face.”

“…”

“Do you understand what I’m saying? Alice.”

Silvia opened her clenched fist.

Her fingernails had been completely torn out, embedded in her palm.

Cradling her cheek with her blood-soaked hand, Silvia muttered:

“He’s mine. Ash is my man. My love. My lover. My family. My husband. Mine, all mine. From a single strand of hair to every drop of his seed, everything is mine.”

“You crazy bitch… I’ll never let that happen.”

“Hehe, who are you to say that?”

Alice’s sword glowed white-hot.

Since she couldn’t control it precisely anyway, and this wasn’t an opponent against whom she needed to conserve energy, she poured all the holy power she could muster into her sword.

The sword, heated to its limit by the goddess’s sacred power, emitted pure white smoke.

Alice was surrounded by a platinum-colored mist like a halo.

“Maria’s friend.”

“…”

Silvia fell silent.

Maria’s last words flashed through her mind.

That sorrowful voice echoed in her ears.

That scent of despair seemed to cling to the inside of her nose.

Alice’s contemptuous voice cut through those sensations.

“Someone who couldn’t even protect Maria has no right to love Ash.”

At that very moment, as the hot air resembling her anger blew Silvia’s bangs,

Alice leaped forward, leaving a trail of grayish-white light behind her.

*

“Kugh!”

Silvia groaned, wiping away the blood flowing from her tightly bitten lips.

How many exchanges had they had?

Alice was much stronger and faster than she had been that morning, and certainly much more so than when she had failed the hero party selection test.

Silvia’s body was covered in wounds from the sharp blade, and the large sword was even completely embedded in her abdomen.

Her skin and internal organs were melting and sticking to the still-steaming hot blade.

Silvia staggered, leaned her back against a tree, and slowly caught her breath.

Then she held her breath, firmly grasped the sword’s handle, and clenched her teeth.

“Argh!”

With a piercing scream that could tear through the night sky, Silvia pulled the sword out of her abdomen in one motion.

Crimson intestines came out with it, dripping with blood.

Silvia caught her falling entrails with trembling hands, pushed them back inside, and slowly stepped forward, breathing deeply.

“I… told you…”

Silvia spoke in a trembling voice, lowering her gaze.

On the ground lay Alice, her face completely smashed, shaking uncontrollably.

Her skull had collapsed, revealing a large cavity where her nasal bone and eye sockets had been completely shattered.

The result of Silvia’s repeated punches.

“Someone like you… to Ash…”

Silvia collapsed to the ground, unable to continue speaking due to the overwhelming pain.

How many times had she been cut, how many times had she struck?

Alice’s momentum had been truly terrifying.

If she had been this skilled before, she would certainly have become a member of the hero’s party.

Particularly frightening was her remarkable healing ability.

While Silvia also possessed holy power that allowed her to recover from wounds to some extent, Alice’s recovery power—which made minor scratches disappear instantly—was comparable to the Demon Lord’s curse that kept Silvia from dying.

Seeing how she survived even having her head cut off, they might not be that different.

Still, having completely smashed her head should buy some time.

Silvia tried to use that opportunity to surround her body with holy power and slowly heal her ruined internal organs.

Rustle

“…You fucking monster of a woman”

Alice rose like a puppet on strings, in an unnatural manner.

Crack, crack,

With chilling sounds, her collapsed skull was slowly reforming, surrounded by golden mist.

Before the muscles and skin had fully regenerated, Alice’s exposed skull clattered as it opened its mouth.

“I told you too.”

Alice stepped on Silvia’s torso as she sat on the ground.

When Silvia collapsed, unable to withstand it, Alice stomped hard on Silvia’s still-melted abdomen and said:

“You don’t deserve him.”

“Gaaack!”

“Fucking monster, to be this strong without a sword, a monster is still a monster.”

Alice slowly brushed back her flowing hair and raised her head.

Her face had completely recovered.

However, her intact face looked far more chilling and frightening than her damaged skull had been.

More precisely, the hatred revealed in her expression was terribly vicious.

“Why didn’t you use this precious power to save Maria, WHY!”

Alice repeatedly stomped on Silvia’s abdomen.

Each time she ground her foot down hard, melted flesh splattered in all directions.

Alice sneered with each stomp on Silvia’s stomach, and Silvia bit down hard each time, spitting thin streams of blood.

“You let! Maria! Die! And you! Still! Couldn’t kill! The Demon Lord!”

“Ugh, kugh!”

Silvia spurted blood like a fountain with each kick.

Like water spraying from a squeezed water balloon, she couldn’t even scream as she twitched with dazed eyes, vomiting blood.

Alice stomped down hard once more and shouted:

“You should have died, not Maria, YOU!”

Thud,

Silvia’s arm blocked Alice’s foot.

Alice looked at Silvia with a surprised expression.

In her excitement, she hadn’t noticed that Silvia’s abdomen had already healed.

Silvia crushed Alice’s iron boot with just her grip strength and said:

“What… nonsense.”

“You monstrous bitch!”

“The Demon Lord… isn’t dead?”