episode_0307

Aspi’s mouth and nose bled. Her vision slowly clouded with red. Aspi used the pain as a stimulant, preventing her mind from faltering.

Pak-

She plunged her sword into the ground, using it to support herself. She looked ahead, but her enemies were barely visible. Instinctively, she realized what had happened.

‘That voice just now… everyone because of that voice…’

A woman cloaked in black. The nature of the attack was a curse, a voice imbued with magical energy, forcibly altering reality. Aspi immediately blocked her inner ears with wind mana, preventing the cursed voice from entering.

“My, my… it seems you’ve already grasped the countermeasure.”

“…It wouldn’t have worked on someone of my caliber anyway. Is tormenting those weaker than yourself your hobby?”

“You got it, pretty lady—”

She laughed, drawing out the end of her sentence. Aspi realized that these people were powerful, similar to Personas, and simultaneously, madmen.

Words wouldn’t work. Only overwhelming force could stop them.

A thick fog rose on the battlefield. It was a very dark, sinister fog. Aspi narrowed her eyes. Then, she smiled quietly.

“Are you the ones conjuring those shadow soldiers?”

“Oh, those? Basically, they follow the Emperor, but she didn’t create them. The soldiers are born from—”

“…Hey.”

While the woman with red lips was chattering away, a heavily built man placed a hand on her shoulder, as if to stop her. The woman’s slightly unfocused eyes returned to normal.

“Wh…What? Why am I…”

“Snap out of it. That woman, her magical perception is monstrous.”

Aspi sighed briefly. Using her head like this, so uncharacteristic of her, was truly inconvenient and difficult. She drew the sword planted in the ground and straightened her body.

She wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hand, and quietly laughed.

“Watch carefully from there.”

Hwoong—

The moment Aspi finished speaking, her lips rippled. A wind blew.

“…!!”

The Khan immediately assumed a combat stance. The enemy’s presence had completely disappeared. He raised his guard with both hands. Every hair on his body stood on end.

His eyes moved. A light green blade, flying like the wind, reflected in his pupils.

Shwaak—!

He immediately snapped his head to avoid the sword strike. Even as he retreated, he didn’t take his eyes off it. That was the plan. However, immediately after the strike concluded, Aspi disappeared again.

“Watch out-!!”

Khan immediately turned his head to look at Reina. She, too, had sensed the killing intent a long time ago. She tightened her abdominal muscles and shouted.

「Crumble!」

The cursed sonic wave resonated. The area around Reina trembled violently. The air crackled, and the ground split.

Phit-

Aspi, who had appeared behind her and tried to pierce her heart, lost her balance and failed in her attack. She quickly moved back, escaping the range of the curse.

A pale green wind dispersed.

“…Truly. It’s not an ability limited to living beings.”

“Yeah…as long as my voice reaches—”

“The princess once said. Aspi, your voice rides the wind, easily heard anytime, anywhere…”

Aspi threw her sword into the air. At that moment, a storm raged. A light green windstorm spread around, and Khan and Reina squeezed their eyes shut, protecting their bodies.

The wind stopped.

Feeling a sense of unease, they quickly opened their eyes. And they saw. The ashes and snow flurries that had been swirling, frozen in mid-air.

“Kek-”

“Kheup-”

They couldn’t breathe. The air hadn’t disappeared. It had solidified in place. Their hands, feet, mouths, noses, and lungs—nothing could move.

“The wind… is mine. It’s a letter, to carry the Princess’s voice, and to carry my voice to her.”

In that world where the wind had completely solidified, only Aspi walked forward. The expression on her face, sword raised high, was horribly contorted.

“I will not forgive…the defilement of that wind with this foul curse.”

The sword flew towards them. Reina couldn’t even blink as she stared at the sword.

Chaeng—!

A jet-black sword appeared, blocking Aspi’s strike.

“You mustn’t forget me…!”

Their presence was faint, momentarily forgotten. There were three enemies. Moreover, this man easily broke through Aspi’s spatial control. He had ripped through the stopped wind and entered.

But there was no problem. Aspi simply tried to overwhelm her opponent with sheer power.

Kaaaaang—

The blade slipped. The man deflected Aspi’s sword. He immediately turned around and readied his stance.

“My name is—”

“Shut up. I’m going to kill you now.”

The man’s sword was extremely sharp. Sharp enough to easily shred the wind Aspi had solidified to its limit. But that was all. No matter how sharp a sword, it can’t cut if it doesn’t hit its target.

Phaaat-!

Aspi dashed through the wind. The man assumed a defensive stance. Even while wielding his sword, Aspi didn’t release the heightened magical energy. Sharp blades appeared around the man. A counterattacking sword technique.

Instead of entering its range, Aspi stopped just before. She planted her foot on the ground, and poured all her momentum into her sword, thrusting it out. The core of the Wind Spirit Sword emitted a pure white light.

Susasasaak—!

A white storm arose along with Aspi’s strike. Each gust of wind was a sharply honed blade of the storm. The man countered with narrowed eyes, but he couldn’t block all the wind.

“Kueueuk-”

Black blood spurted from the opened wound. Instead of blocking all the wind blades, the man parried only those aimed at vital points. That was his mistake.

Unbeknownst to him, Aspi had hidden herself within the wind, moving behind the man. Four sword energies erupted from a single strike. Those energies hid their presence in the blade storm, making them free from the man’s counterattack.

Sgeok-!

The man’s limbs fell off. He gritted his teeth and collapsed to the ground.

Pwuuk—

The light green blade pierced the man’s heart. Then, mana flowed in, swirling around his entire body. The mana became blades, and with a loud noise, the man’s body was sliced to pieces.

Chwaak-

Aspi swung her sword again to shake off the blood. She turned her head to look at the remaining enemies. The woman was running away without looking back, and the man was charging at Aspi with energy-imbued fists.

“Die—!!”

Bwuung—

A heavy fist flew at her. Aspi recalled the man who had just become minced meat. His swordsmanship was undoubtedly that of a master.

‘He definitely… swung like this.’

Gathering all her strength, she moved her sword, smoothly diverting the blow. Like a crashing wave, all the power was concentrated on the blade.

Sgeok—!

The man and Aspi passed each other. Aspi sheathed her sword after wiping off the blood.

Sreureung-

The man glanced back at Aspi, sensing something amiss. Then, he shot out again like an arrow, swinging his fist.

“Haaap—”

But he collapsed to the ground without knowing what happened. He slightly turned his head to look behind him. His lower body stood upright.

Only the upper body had charged.

“Je…damn it-”

A black line appeared across the man’s forehead. Soon, his upper body split in half. Black blood and entrails gushed out.

“Huuu… it’s over.”

Aspi knelt down before the knights’ corpses, leaving the fleeing woman behind.

Teobeok-

“…I apologize. My inadequacy led you to your deaths.”

She clasped her hands together and prayed. A pure white light emanated from the corpses. The light lingered near Aspi for a moment, then crossed the battlefield and flew off somewhere.

Aspi nodded, watching the sight. A faint smile graced her face.

“Truly… even in death, they strive to fulfill their duty. That is truly remarkable. I will never forget you.”

After finishing her prayer, Aspi stood up and collected the knights’ bodies. A white hand suddenly emerged from the black fog that permeated the battlefield.

Hwik- Hwik-

The hand waved cheerfully in greeting.

“…Play with them in moderation. Excessive killing will tarnish your honor.”

The hand stopped abruptly. Then, it clenched and unclenched a couple of times.

“…Your honor, Nyx.”

. . .

Reina ran away.

The enemy was a monster. They said she was the new Knight Commander, didn’t they? Even though she looked like a fragile girl, a beast resided within her. Words and actions meant nothing.

Naturally, someone came to mind. The monster who once led Reina to death, the White Ghost.

‘If I don’t escape, I’ll die…!! But even if I escape…’

Having left the battlefield without obeying orders, she would surely be killed by the Emperor upon her return. Reina immediately ran into the forest. Even the Emperor and Moriarty wouldn’t easily find her if she erased her presence and hid in the forest.

She continued to run through the forest. Black fog now reached her knees, yet it didn’t register in Reina’s eyes.

“Where…is this place.”

She found herself wandering in circles through the forest. She pushed through the trees and brushed aside the bushes, but no matter how much she moved, the scenery didn’t change.

‘If night falls—’

「It’s going to get very cold.」

Reina widened her eyes. Then, she covered her mouth. She certainly hadn’t intended to say anything. Yet, her mouth moved involuntarily, uttering a ‘curse’.

The curse immediately came true. A blizzard began to fall through the shadows of the trees, and a biting cold wind seeped into her spine.

“He- Heoeok…”

Reina hugged herself and shivered uncontrollably. The cold spread through her nose and mouth all the way to her lungs. Her whole body felt like it was freezing.

‘I’m…too cold—’

「I can’t breathe.」

Reina widened her eyes again. And covered her mouth. But regardless of her will, ‘Red Lips’ had already moved, and the curse was fulfilled.

“Kuek- Keoeok—”

As with the Knight Commander earlier, something covered Reina’s nose and mouth. She couldn’t breathe. She struggled to hold onto her fading consciousness, but her body already collapsed to the ground.

‘Ah…’

「It hurts…!!」

Reina’s eyes widened as if they would tear. Intense pain consumed her body.

“Kueueuk— Keuk-”

She had no time to understand this strange phenomenon. Her mind was a mess. All she could do was crawl on the ground with all her might.

“Help…!! If this continues—”

She reached out somewhere. But around her was only black fog.

「I’m really going to die—」

Reina’s final curse returned to her. Her breath stopped.

In the heart of the eternally swirling forest, an entirely black spirit appeared.

“So, words are a curse that forcibly enforces something… I absolutely have to try this next time in the Lord’s lewd dreams! Khihi-”

She laughed like a child, beaming brightly, then walked out of the forest.