Collision (2)

Bang!

Along with the impact sound, a metallic ring echoed.

The magical spears seemed about to pierce through the cross patterns, but they couldn’t actually do so and instead twisted their bodies, screaming as they tried to break through the cross patterns.

“Alec, don’t worry about it!”

Hearing Yona’s voice, Alec raised his hammer. Ceres, who had suddenly raised a one-handed sword, was pointing it at Alec, but before Alec could raise his shield, he kicked Ceres’s wrist with his greave.

Clang!

The one-handed sword flew through the air and tumbled on the floor. While Ceres grabbed her wrist and frowned, Alec raised his hammer and brought it down towards Ceres.

“Alec!”

Yona’s voice grew closer. As Ceres twisted her head to avoid Alec’s hammer, a dagger with a reddish glow in her palm lunged towards Alec’s lower jaw.

“Where do you think…!”

Alec tilted his head back to avoid the dagger, then pressed down on Ceres’s face with his shield.

As soon as Ceres’s voice was heard groaning, Alec brought his hammer down on top of the shield, and with a bang, the shockwave traveled through the metal shield to Ceres’s face, immediately followed by her scream.

Alec took another step back.

About one and a half steps distance.

Maintaining that distance, Alec didn’t lose sight of the staggering Ceres.

It was the optimal distance, and also the perfect distance.

It was Alec who secured this distance, and within this distance, Alec took a step forward—

From his lower body that took a large step, surging power rose, and his waist added centrifugal force to that power.

That power concentrated in Alec’s arm, and the shield he gripped with all his might swept across in a straight line—

With his whole body and soul, he struck with the shield in a single, sincere blow that swept across Ceres.

Clang!

With a loud noise, Ceres tumbled.

In the meantime, Yona had run up close to Alec, and her hands were clasped together in prayer.

“…Kugh.”

Ceres got up from her tumbling and wiped her mouth.

The smile that had always seemed to overflow with composure was now gone from her face, replaced by intense anger towards Alec and Yona.

“What, angry because you got hit?”

Yona said to Ceres with a grin.

It must be the first time Ceres, who had always been bullying others, got hit like this.

Yona found it extremely satisfying.

“Don’t think this is over.”

Yona raised her hand high.

Dark red demonic energy surged from her hand like a whirlwind, and it filled the air of the audience hall, which had already transformed into Yona’s space, becoming a cloud.

As the cloud gradually cleared, reality finally revealed its form.

Dark red nails of light filling the air.

The very same demonic nails that had been shown once in the church territory.

Demonic nails in the shape of large and small nails densely filled the air, their sharp tips glinting.

It was truly a spectacular sight to see these demonic nails glinting as they filled the air of this vast audience hall.

“…Not bad.”

Ceres shook her head and got to her feet.

The impact of Alec’s shield strike had been so intense that it had shaken her to her core, and only now did she feel it starting to subside.

Yona’s development was exceeding Ceres’s expectations.

It was surprising enough that she had subjugated Catsy and used her power to discover that it was Ceres who had manipulated the imperial family of this Katus Empire, but above all, the demonic nails now covering the air already surpassed those in the church territory— and moreover, each nail was imbued with sorcery, making them quite threatening even to Ceres.

“But do you think I can’t handle even this much?”

Ceres clashed her fingers together. The magical power that began to gather there seemed to emit a blue light at first, then changed to purple and began to swirl, and seeing this, Alec stomped his foot heavily and rushed towards Ceres.

“Alec, wait!”

Alec stopped at Yona’s voice. In an instant, a curtain enveloped him, and the demonic nails aimed their sharp tips at Ceres and began to rain down like hail all at once.

The audience hall, filled with large and small nails, was a mess.

The place where Yona was standing was unharmed, and Alec also suffered no damage thanks to the curtain Yona had spread. Most of the nails poured down towards Ceres, and in the thick dust that rose, Yona glared at the dust with tense eyes.

Swish!

As soon as a sudden sound of air being cut was heard, Alec stood in front of Yona to block her.

As soon as he raised his shield, there was a thud sound, and a stiff feeling struck his wrist.

A whip extended from within the dust.

Alec jumped in front of Yona and deflected the whip with his shield, and the whip seemed to bend like a snake before changing its trajectory again and flying towards Alec.

“Resorting to petty tricks, it’s just laughable.”

As soon as the dust cleared, Ceres’s figure was revealed. Ceres, gripping the whip handle, had a face contorted like an ogre, and though she didn’t seem to have suffered much damage, the shock must have been there as her once neat hair was now a mess.

Swish swish swish…!

The whip moved intricately following Ceres’s hand movements. Alec was deflecting the incoming whip, but the whip was moving much more cunningly, evading Alec and rushing towards Yona.

‘A whip that pierces through the curtain…’

She had been spreading a curtain around Yona and Alec from earlier. But that sharp-tipped whip was effortlessly piercing through the curtain, and although Alec was blocking it, the whip’s movements were so bizarre that even Alec was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

‘This is dangerous at this rate.’

She remembered being told that Ceres wouldn’t be stronger than Alevian.

But it’s surprising that Ceres seems to be more of a physical fighter than magically inclined, if that’s surprising.

Yona habitually placed her hand on Alec’s shoulder to heal him while pondering deeply.

“Can’t you pierce even this whip with that precious shield of yours?!”

Ceres’s sharp voice rang out.

Yona frowned at that voice, and Alec was forcefully deflecting the whip.

The purpose of a whip is to strike its target.

It takes a long time to get used to, but once mastered, it can reign as a powerful weapon with unpredictable movements.

But Ceres’s whip now was not like that.

Rather than striking or wrapping around, its movement was specialized in penetrating weak points to stab.

In fact, there was an extremely sharp awl-like thing attached to the tip of the whip.

【—, ———. ——————.】

Suddenly, Yona heard someone’s voice in her head.

It wasn’t even a proper voice, nor was it clear communication.

But the moment she heard that voice, Yona could understand what it was trying to say.

‘I should try it.’

“Alec, you can’t just deflect the whip.”

“Then?”

“Catch it.”

As soon as Yona’s words were heard, Alec put down his shield as if throwing it.

At the same time, he firmly grasped Ceres’s whip.

“Are you trying to have a contest of strength?!”

Along with Ceres’s shrill cry, Alec gritted his teeth.

The grasped whip was twisting within his palm, and as if the whip had teeth, it was gnawing at Alec’s palm.

Moreover, Alec’s demonic energy was being sucked out in large chunks— and the dark red demonic energy rising from his mouth was noticeably weakening.

“Yona…?!”

Hearing Alec’s voice, Yona felt her own chest.

Then, towards where she could hear her heartbeat— Yona raised her nails and plunged them deep into her own chest.

Squelch—!

The sound of flesh tearing.

The sound of blood bursting.

And finally, pulled out by that hand, red and black, still not stopping its beating— Yona’s heart.

Yona, who had placed her own heart on her left palm, caressed the heart with her right hand.

The heart was covered in demonic energy flowing from her palm, and eventually its size began to shrink—

Between Yona’s palms, the heart’s form was disappearing.

“…My heart, to you whom I trust the most.”

With Yona’s voice, the touching palms slowly opened.

And what slowly revealed itself between those palms was—

A morning star with a vivid dark red light.

“Wh-what is this…!?”

Ceres couldn’t believe what was happening before her eyes.

Not only the sight of Yona with a gaping hole in her chest, but Alec, who had grasped the morning star that she suddenly pulled out, was approaching her with a frenzied assault.

The whip flew towards Alec’s body as if to shred it, but each time, with a flash of dark red light around his body, the whip bounced off without even touching his body.

She even tried to throw the whip at Yona, who was standing still with her eyes half-closed, but the whip bounced off without even getting close.

Ceres threw herself to avoid Alec’s incoming morning star.

Although it was something she had never seen before, it was an instinctive feeling that nothing good would happen if she were hit by that.

“Th-this…”

Ceres quickly summoned her one-handed sword again and gritted her teeth.

She couldn’t believe that she was being pushed back like this by these damned creatures, these former adventurers who used to crawl on the ground like worms.

Mere vessels.

Mere cathedral knights.

They weren’t even proper humans, were they not just half-wits?

It was shameful that Ceres felt such instinctive fear towards these bastards.

“Get out of my way—!”

“Looks like you’ve stopped using honorifics.”

Yona’s cold voice.

Yona looking at Ceres with half-closed eyes.

Ceres gritted her teeth and avoided the morning star.

Even when she tried to stab Alec with her one-handed sword, it bounced off with a clang.

Even when she drew magical seals, they too bounced off.

‘These lowly creatures!’

Ceres gritted her teeth.

If only she had time to draw the seal for a magic that could maximize damage—

First, she needed to step back, step back greatly, and regroup once more.

— That’s what Ceres thought.

But Ceres’s body didn’t move.

What was firmly holding her ankle as if it had taken root was.

A face she knew well, the vengeful spirit of Aforzha Al Azrami.

“This is…”

Fear rose in Ceres’s eyes.

Ceres’s eyes, unable to move due to Aforzha, widened—

Alec’s descending morning star reflected in her pupils.

 

“This is fun, so much fun.”

Yona, gripping the hair of the unconscious Ceres, was walking towards the guesthouse while whistling.

The heart she had received back and pushed in was beating again in her chest, and she looked perfectly fine as if nothing had happened.

And Yona walked with light steps, while Ceres was being dragged along with a dull sound.

‘I can’t end this so nicely. First…’

We should start with a confession.

Yona was in the best of moods.

Ceres being dragged along in her grasp.

Four streams of blood flowing from her wrists and the back of her ankles left long traces on the path she was being dragged along.

As if dotting those traces, from the knife in Yona’s hand—

From the hunting knife she had received as a gift from Alec, drops of blood were falling.