The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 203 – Prayer

[Hey, did I just mishear that??]

“I heard it too.”

The sound.

What we just heard was unmistakably a sound.

That of human flesh and bone being torn apart.

Not just the sound, but even here, where aura and perception were sealed, we could hear it from outside.

Rubia was in danger.

I clenched my sword so tightly it seemed like it might break. At the same time, Frey and Kartia gripped their swords and slashed toward the barrier.

Crack, 

The space was too narrow, so less force was applied than usual, but it wasn’t weak.

And since both Kartia and Frey, who were better with a sword than I was, had slashed as well, we thought it would surely cut through.

But, 

[What the hell is this…]

Not even a scratch was left on the vine wall.

Again, BANG! 

Again, CRACK! 

Again, CRUNCH!

My sword still couldn’t leave a mark.

In contrast, 

Crackle.

The thick, wet sound of flesh tearing came again, even heavier than before.

Biting my lip, I gripped Frey again. Drip,  Blood from the torn leather soaked the flowers. A broken fingernail fell atop their petals.

A space barely three pyeong wide.

A soft floor.

Thin oxygen.

No circulating mana.

No view of the outside.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a place suited for swinging a greatsword.

It was too tight to use Carpeng’s Blood Aura.

No mana to draw on Tylant’s frost.

No feathers from Valoran, no flames from Brunhilde.

Inside here, none of them could be used.

So what?

Crunch,  My impatient steps crushed the flowers as I approached the wall.

With a trembling, cold hand, I grabbed my hilt. I drew in the sparse oxygen to its limit.

I cooled my head and desperately recalled what I could do now.

Slowly, I retraced the memory that lingered in my fingertips. Then, I intensified the sensation that began to grow clearer.

The sensation of cutting what clung to Frey’s soul.

The sensation of cutting Sirin’s magic.

The sensation of severing a neck.

Tracing back further, to the very first time.

The sensation of slicing Sirin’s sleeve.

It wasn’t using a sword, it felt like using my very existence. A strike that left only the result behind.

There was no need to search for what to cut. Everything around me was what I had to cut. I just needed to recognize that it was there and swing.

All that remained was to borrow a little of “its” power.

Kartia said to only use it once a day.

But now, I had no choi…

Smack!

A sudden shock to the back of my head shattered my concentrated mind all at once.

“…Ka-Kartia?”

[You little shit. Damn it, you really never listen.]

Kartia, who had clenched her fist, pulled me back and spoke.

[Watch closely. See how fucking awesome your master is.]

Then, she raised a greatsword identical in shape to mine but with a completely different aura.

[Frey. You watch too.]

And don’t you dare pull this crap again.

Smooth movement.

Steady hand.

Short breath.

A natural middle guard stance brought to perfection.

With a greatsword in hand, Kartia, completely unlike me, took a step, forward.

From her lower body, to her waist.

From her waist, to her shoulders.

From her shoulders, to her arms.

The strike flowed cleanly from top to bottom without any tremor, accompanied by a crisp sound, 

Shrrk, 

It delivered a flawless result that made my earlier resolve feel shameful.

Normally, Kartia would’ve boasted loud enough to shake the heavens, but this time, she didn’t.

Instead, in a voice heavier than before, she quietly murmured:

[Whatever’s out there, brace yourself.]

Words without a target.

But it was clear they were meant for me.

I gave a heavy nod and steadied my breath.

I gripped the sword tighter and corrected my mindset.

Then, 

Crack!

The wall surrounding us began to split open.

A scent of blood, even thicker than the one inside the wall, pierced my nose.

A suffocating wave of killing intent and mana.

A foreign, unfamiliar power unlike anything I’d ever felt before surged in.

Through the widening crack, my perception expanded.

“Shit…”

And then, the first thing I saw, 

Was Aaron lying on the ground.

Both legs shattered, his right arm torn off. No, more accurately, it had been ripped off.

The cut wasn’t clean. The exposed bones were intact. Muscles dangled, and thick blood spilled continuously.

Wounds torn with brutal, overwhelming force.

Before I could even guess who had done this, 

My expanding perception painted yet another scene.

Unlike before, this time the roots of Yggdrasil, filled with sinister energy, had pierced through Laila’s entire body.

Serr was on her knees, her abdomen gouged through.

And then.

A pitch-black figure, too distorted to even recognize.

And then.

And then.

And then, 

Rubia, impaled through the chest, her hair gripped in its hand.

“Ru…bia…?”

Drip.

As she lifted her head toward me, blood spilled from Rubia’s lips. Blood mixed with her innards oozed out.

Yet she shook her head.

She smiled, and opened her mouth.

Run.

CRASH! 

My body moved before I could even think.

Launched forward with a massive impact, I reached Rubia in an instant. At the same time, I swung Frey toward the hand gripping her hair. 

Whish!  

It felt like slicing through mist.

With nothing to resist, Frey sliced through the air. 

Crack!  

I unleashed Blood Aura, twisting the muscles in my arm. I immediately reversed my grip and swung Frey down at the thing.

But the result was the same as before.

Frey’s blade, slammed into the ground, rose again with nothing caught. Only black smoke billowed from the blade. Grinding my teeth, I unleashed Tylant’s power. Feathers scattered in every direction, corrupting the surrounding mana into demonic energy and firing it toward the thing.

That demonic energy, condensed with the power of the Fallen, tore through its form. The feathers, their purpose fulfilled, drifted down. Gathering them, I ignited the karmic flame of hell. Whoosh,  Flames grew violently, devouring the surrounding oxygen, wrapping around Rubia.

I dove in without hesitation.

There, was Rubia, collapsed with a hole in her chest, offering a twisted smile in my direction.

Barely managing to kneel on trembling legs, I gently cradled her. I wiped the blood from her face and checked her breath. Faint. Focusing my perception, I examined her body. Her pulse was unstable. Her body was cold.

“Ah, ugh…”

The wound wouldn’t heal. Blood poured endlessly from the hole in her chest.

And with it, the divine power that once filled her was draining rapidly.

“Wh… why…?”

Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why.

Why isn’t she healing?

“Ru… Rubia… Why… why… why won’t you… ”

My words couldn’t finish.

“Well, well. Someone’s in quite a rush.”

Because of the pitch-black figure that approached, it snuffed out Brunhilde’s flames.

Crackle.

Frost fell atop the extinguished fire. It condensed and gathered around Rubia. From within, a warm flame flickered. Soft feathers drifted down, and rippling Blood Aura surrounded us with bared fangs.

Once I confirmed Rubia was safe, 

BOOM! 

I swung Frey in the direction of the voice. Kicking up flower petals, I sprang forward.

Gone. The presence I’d sensed just moments ago had vanished. I spread my perception further. Still, I couldn’t find it.

Yet the ominous sensation lingering in the air hadn’t faded.

I shut off my perception and focused solely on sound.

Where the petals fell.

Not on the ground, but hanging in the air.

And the feathers I’d scattered earlier, 

Were gathering there.

I swung Frey toward that point.

KWAJAJAJAK!

Along the sword path, flames flared so bright they turned white. The Blood Aura wrapped around the flames took the form of claws, shredding the air.

CRASH! 

I launched forward once more toward the target. I concentrated the cold that blanketed the space into a single point. The space froze. The mana froze.

And for a moment, even time itself froze.

Into that moment, 

I hurled Frey, cloaked in every form of Aura.

―――!

A deafening roar shook the ground.

Its backlash tore at my body, but Frey didn’t stop.

Over and over, without pause, forgetting even to breathe, 

She unleashed everything on where that thing had been.

By the time the once-beautiful garden was utterly destroyed, 

My sword finally came to a stop.

Through the thick cloud of dust, a desolate ruin appeared.

Clutching my staggering body, I kept my guard up.

The ominous air that surrounded the area, 

Had yet to disappear.

I slowly calmed my breath and listened.

At that moment, 

Fwoosh! 

From an empty space,

A dark light fired, aimed straight at my heart.

I couldn’t dodge th… 

KAANG!

[You son of a bitch, do you know who you’re messing with?]

Kartia’s sword, moving faster than thought, deflected the blast.

At the same time, Frey’s greatsword, trailing a tail of light, slashed through the air.

Shrrk. 

Unlike mine, Frey’s sword left a clear sound.

From that strike, heat shimmered in the air.

There, the dark light revealed its form.

“Ahaha, I believe I’ve met you two before, yes?”

It was smiling.

A kindly, saintly smile.

“It’s been a while. I am the representative of humanity from the Age of Chaos,”

He clasped his hands and bowed toward us.

“Current High Priest of Erden, ‘Alstein Saint Simeon.’”    

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