Harvest Festival

1.

The sky darkened as if a black wave was crashing down.

Demonic energy, like mist, spread throughout the forest.

It was painful to breathe.

She could feel her body slowly becoming paralyzed.

Amidst the intense magical energy, one person stood unscathed.

No, that wasn’t a person.

A black, rotten skeleton.

Purple flames flickered within its empty eye sockets.

The robe it wore writhed as if alive.

Its name was Mortis.

A Legion Commander of the Demon Lord Army.

The one who creates death.

“Who dares disturb me?”

Yohan gasped for breath.

It felt like a stone was lodged in his throat.

Aside from the magical energy floating around,

The sight of such an absolute being left him speechless.

Though he posed the question, Mortis seemed to know the answer, tilting his head down and bringing his face close to Yuriel.

Their empty eyes met.

Yuriel’s body trembled.

A chilling coldness constricted her heart.

It was the worst coldness she had ever felt in her life.

More brutal than being thrown into a blizzard in her pajamas.

The identity of the coldness was an instinctive bloodlust.

“…Mortis.”

The one who spoke the name of the nightmare was Estel.

Her eyes widened as if they would pop out.

Her lower lip trembled.

Mortis turned his head and looked at Estel.

“Hup…!”

Estel held her breath.

She wanted to avoid his gaze, but she couldn’t.

Her eyes wouldn’t move.

“Hmm…”

Mortis seemed uninterested in Estel, turning his head back to Yuriel.

“Answer me, child. Did you disturb me?”

Her mouth wouldn’t open.

No matter what answer she gave, the outcome would be the same.

Death.

It was clear she would die either way.

She couldn’t find any mercy in this being.

Then what should she do?

What should she do to survive?

She knew the answer well.

Just like she always had.

In the snowfield.

In the family.

To survive, Yuriel drew her sword.

She squeezed her eyes shut and moved her arm.

She gripped the sword hilt tightly.

She drew the sword. At the same time, she unleashed the True power of magic, transforming the sword.

Frozen sword.

White frost spread across the floor.

Ice crystals fell like sleet along the sword’s path.

One chance.

If she failed this one chance, it would be over.

Yuriel poured all her Magical power into the Sword Dance.

Tap.

Yuriel’s sword was blocked by Mortis’s finger.

So futilely.

“Is that so.”

Mortis flicked Yuriel’s sword with his fingertip.

The Magical power wrapped around the sword shattered.

The ice turned to dust and scattered.

“I can feel it from you.”

Yuriel strained, pushing the sword.

It wouldn’t budge at all.

As if the sword was embedded in a rock.

“Child, are you the Creator’s girl?”

The Creator’s girl?

Is he talking about the Saintess?

Before Yuriel could answer no, Mortis answered himself.

“No, that’s not it. I can feel Divinity from you, but it’s not yours. But what does it matter?”

Mortis tapped the Sword Dance.

The sword blade rotted red.

It was one of the alchemies he had studied for a long time.

Transforming metals was now a trivial matter.

Mortis spread out his palms to resume his research.

Magic circles appeared in both hands.

Without incantation.

A chilling wave of Demonic energy emanated.

Yuriel, who had been staring at the rusted sword with a blank look, raised her head and looked up.

A black hand was approaching.

Just as Mortis’s hand was about to grab Yuriel’s small head, Yohan threw himself and pushed Yuriel away.

Yohan rolled across the floor, embracing Yuriel.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing just standing there?”

Yohan gripped his sword and stood up.

“Go to the academy.”

His hands trembled.

“I’ll buy you time.”

He knew how reckless this was.

He said he would buy time, but he didn’t know how long he could last.

It would be good if he could hold out for 10 minutes, but the reality was that he wouldn’t last even 1 minute.

Yohan drew up Magical power and strengthened his body.

“Hah!!”

Yohan pushed off the ground with his feet and leaped forward.

He raised his sword above his head.

It was his first time fighting a Wizard.

He didn’t know how to fight one.

One way or another, he just had to slash.

-Crash!!

A Barrier blocked Yohan’s sword.

Magical power sparked and flew in all directions.

“Why are you struggling?”

Mortis shook his head.

“You’re all going the same way anyway.”

He clicked his tongue.

Yohan ignored him.

He continued to attack in order to buy time for the others to escape.

His actions were like a wasp trying to attack a person behind a window.

It was a foolish act.

“Hmm…”

Mortis lightly moved his finger.

-Thwack!!

A bone that rose from the floor pierced Yohan’s side.

“Kugh…!”

He struck down on the bone with his sword.

He charged again with the sharp bone stuck in his side.

“Hurry!”

He shouted, spitting blood.

Yuriel trembled.

She couldn’t waste the time that man had bought for them.

She knew it in her head, but her body wouldn’t move.

Running away was not in her nature.

But what could she do?

“Get up!”

Yohan, whose one arm was already crushed, looked at Yuriel with bloodshot eyes.

“Get up, let’s go quickly.”

Estel, carrying Reine on her back, urged Yuriel.

“O-okay.”

Yuriel slowly got up.

She couldn’t put strength in her legs.

For her, whose life revolved around the sword, having her sword denied at once was a great shock.

“Kuaagh!!”

Leaving Yohan’s scream behind, they began to run through the forest.

She was grateful and sorry to him.

He would surely die.

Yuriel bit her lip.

Blood flowed.

“So, I’m left alone. But what good do you think that will do?”

A Barrier was set up in the forest.

No matter how far they ran, they would eventually return here.

Yohan might think he had made a sacrifice, but it was just a foolish struggle.

“Ha… Ugh… Are you just going to cowardly stay inside the Barrier?”

“Cowardly, you say…”

Mortis removed the Barrier that surrounded him.

And he spread his arms wide.

“Alright, I’ve removed the Barrier. Now what can you do?”

Yohan squeezed out Magical power and leaped forward.

The gray, rough blade shone white.

White flames wrapped around the sword.

Sword Aura.

It wasn’t ordinary Sword Aura.

For a moment, a long time ago came to mind.

The knight who was the only one who posed a threat to him.

He was no longer in this world.

It was truly a pity.

If he had used that guy as a material, he could have created a new life form comparable to a Legion Commander.

Anyway.

Mortis waved his finger.

Several hands that rose from the floor grabbed Yohan.

Yohan’s sword stopped in front of Mortis’s face.

“Judging by your expression, you had hope…”

“Ptoo!”

Yohan spat on Mortis’s face.

He chuckled as he watched the spit trickle down Mortis’s face.

“Got you there?”

2.

Yuriel and Estel ran through the forest towards the academy.

They ran and ran, but the scenery remained the same.

A forest shrouded in darkness.

The Demonic energy mixed in the air made her head spin.

Her head was dizzy every time she blinked.

She would collapse from Demon Energy Poisoning before reaching the academy.

Yuriel looked ahead with blurry eyes.

Estel was running steadily.

She must be enduring with her willpower as well.

“Ah…!”

Her legs gave out.

Yuriel’s body tilted forward.

There was no one to catch her.

Yuriel fell to the ground.

She couldn’t get up.

She couldn’t put strength in her body.

She had inhaled too much Demonic energy.

The Mana circuit in her body was paralyzed.

Estel didn’t notice Yuriel falling and continued to run.

Yuriel reached out her arm.

Help me.

Sensing death, she asked for help.

What had she done back then?

When she collapsed from the cold in the snowstorm and was about to freeze to death, who had grabbed her hand when she reached out?

It was the family’s knights.

She still remembered the cold touch of the gloves.

How tightly she had gripped those gloves to survive.

The skin on her palms had peeled off.

Her mind was fading.

Her eyes were closing.

Was she going to die like this?

It was too futile.

And then, it happened.

The black sky split.

The Barrier shattered and crumbled.

Yuriel struggled to open her eyes.

Someone was walking into her blurry vision.

A white figure.

Light poured into the forest that had been shrouded in darkness.

A girl walked through the rays of light.

Radiant blonde hair.

She held a black sword that was longer and larger than her body.

“S-save me…”

The girl took Yuriel’s outstretched hand.

A warm touch.

She could breathe.

The Demonic energy that had been gnawing at her body like a parasite melted away in the heat.

“Heo…”

Her vision slowly cleared.

She could see the girl’s face.

A pretty and youthful appearance.

“Where are they?”

The girl asked in a low voice.

Yuriel pointed her finger back.

To where Yohan would be.

“Rest assured. I’ll end it.”

The girl kicked off the ground.

Earth and sand exploded and scattered.

3.

It was the moment when fingers as sharp as thorns were about to pierce Yohan’s face.

The sky split in half.

So cleanly.

The Barrier was cut in two.

Mortis paused.

“…?”

He looked up at the sky.

An unexpected event had occurred.

He never expected his Barrier to be cut like this.

There was no energy trying to release the Barrier from the outside.

It had been torn apart with brute force.

It was when he was grasping the situation.

A strong wind blew.

The forest shook.

A girl stood tall.

“Long time no see?”