Oh! Those grand— I thought they were mine, but the bloodline could
mean— Did my father? No! They're my cousins?!
That seemed the most likely.
His father had been an elf hero, the finest sword fighter he had ever
seen.
He'd been one of the Eight Kings of Avarice—an epithet that sounded
more like an insult than an honorific, to be sure. The most likely
explanation was that weaklings had tried to sully his deeds with that
moniker.
Decem had inherited that exalted blood, though not his talent for
fencing. Perhaps this woman had taken up the mantle.
"C'mon, I need you to start talking. If you don't, I'll just kill you!"
"Ahhh…ah…hurk!"
He couldn't even insist he would talk if only she'd take her foot off him.
He heard another crack inside and felt a sharp pain on his chest. Like he
was being disemboweled. He stiffened up, his nails scrabbling at the floor
involuntarily.
"...I thought I stopped feeling any pity for my mother long ago, but
the thought of having trash like this rape a baby into her…how can I not
sympathize?"
This was a whisper to herself—and her foot pressed down harder. Snap.
Pop. Each horrid sound made the agony worse.
He felt blood rising up from his throat. He spit it out, and it trickled
down the sides of his mouth.
Everything hurt.
Agony and pain.
Why was this happening to him?
He hadn't done anything wrong.
Decem used his last bit of strength, struggling. Fighting for any air. But
he could not get away. All his efforts were useless before her power.
Death.
He was going to die.
He'd felt that not long before, but this was even worse.
He was scared.
Terrified.
He couldn't bear this.
It was too much.
Why was this—?
"…You really piss me off. A piece of shit like you and I… Mother…"
Darkness—
Why—?
Tears fell.
Why is she being so cruel?
"You really, really!"
He couldn't breathe.
He didn't want to die—
Help—
Save—
His consciousness returned, but the pain was not gone, and he still
could not breathe.
What?
What had happened?
"...The body's inflating? Just give it up!"
Crack-crack-crack-crack.
The sound of bones breaking.
Ow—
What is—?
Happ—
And Decem was plunged into darkness once more.
"That's your philosophy, right? You brought it on yourself. Still, it's a real
shame. I would've enjoyed dragging your death out…"
He was her father in blood alone, but now he lay still. No Death's gaze
moved to the elf corpses strewn around.
Perhaps there hadn't been any need to do that to them. She had a lot of
pent-up rage when it came to her mother, and she'd taken it out on them.
But more than that, she hadn't wanted the country she loved doing the same
things as this man. A man whose very existence made her want to vomit.
They were better off dead, she'd thought—and thus, they'd been turned into
a sea of blood.
Optimists held that where there was life, there was hope. They would
never have understood what drove her to do this. But No Death could not
understand how anyone could think positively about life.
Her eyes snapped to the door.
There was a dark elf…girl standing in the open entrance.
Clearly one of the children pursuing the elf king.
Her eyes were different colors—proof of royalty. No Death let out a soft
sigh.
They'd never met before, but the king had assumed she was their
mother. That meant this girl must be his granddaughter, No Death's niece.
Surprised to find a part of herself against the idea of killing this girl, No
Death kicked the dead king and his caved-in chest as hard as she could,
right at the little girl.
It flew at speeds no ordinary mortal—or even an extraordinary one—
could possibly dodge, but the girl managed it easily.
The body hit the wall beyond the door with a splat, transforming into a
red bloom.
If she can dodge that, she's physically impressive. His injuries look like
they were inflicted with blades, but…
Her niece was carrying a black staff—crushing damage. Clearly, the
king's injuries had been inflicted by someone else. He had mentioned there
were multiple, so there must be at least one more. But there were spells that
cast magic blades and magic items that could change shape.
It was always possible this girl had done the deed.
Or did the other hit the chest and she hit the legs? With that staff or a
spell?
Why had this dark elf attacked the king at all?
There was no shortage of reasons to loathe the bastard. The most likely
explanation was the same thing that had brought No Death here—a grudge
passed down from mother to child. But this girl looked too young for that
grudge to have settled in, to be motivated to mess him up that badly.
There was a slight chance she didn't know her own strength, had been
play fighting and accidentally mangled him…but the circumstantial
evidence suggested otherwise. Dead or not, she hadn't tried to catch the
king—just dodged.
"Er, um…r-right. Who might you be?"
She was acting all timid. Like some man's fantasy of cute. Clearly, she'd
lived in a world No Death had no part of.
Yet, there was a clear disconnect between her outward appearance and
whatever was going on inside. She never even glanced at the king's corpse
behind her, showed no signs of alarm at the gory spectacle in the room
around them—even though it was clearly No Death's handiwork.
She dodged my attack and still behaves like this? Wooow. Odds are this
timid thing is an act. I'd better be real careful here. How do I play this?
How should she answer the girl's question? She'd prefer to avoid
combat, supply false information, and slowly pry info out of the kid.
But that wasn't happening.
From what the elf king said, the kid had backup. If this kid had been the
one who beat him up, why was there no blood on her? Even if she healed
her wounds, the stains should've remained. That suggested she was way
stronger than he'd been.
Even if this girl hadn't been the one fighting, she was the one who'd
wound up chasing after him—so clearly she and her companions were all
major threats. She couldn't begin to tell just how bad, but if they regrouped,
the risk to No Death would be far too great.
Right now, there was no sign of anyone else—this was her chance to
strike. She should probably forget about learning anything, strike first, and
try and take this girl out quick.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend—that's pure wishful thinking. I'm
better off assuming she's trouble.
Quickly going over this in her mind, she smiled—hoping to lower the
girl's guard. And finally answered the question.
"Hey there. I'm…from the Nation of Darkness. What about you? You all
alone?"
That made the girl twitch. She still seemed to have no confidence at all
but frowned like she was thinking.
Can't get a read. Did I blow it? Should have picked an answer that
narrowed down her responses. Right now, I can't tell if she's never heard of
the Nation, is from there herself, or…considers them her enemy. She didn't
immediately attack, so that last one is a lesser possibility, but she might just
be doing what I am and trying to glean some intel first. Maybe I should
have said the Council State. That might have worked better.
She'd gone with the Nation of Darkness because she knew their king
had a dark elf girl among his retainers.
That information hadn't come from a spy infiltrating the Nation's
government.
Star Reader–Second Sight had confirmed her presence at the King of
Darkness's side on the Katze Plains during the war with the Re-Estize
Kingdom.
She'd re-created what she saw in an illusion, a detailed depiction of the
King of Darkness and his forces. That included his sole retainer—a dark elf.
But her appearance was on the blurry side, and they hadn't quite been able
to make out her face.
That was expected. Star Reader–Second Sight had been asked to
monitor the entire battlefield and lacked the memory capacity to devote
space to any individual's features—plus, what happened after that had left
far too strong an impression and quite a lot of other information had been
lost in its wake.
But from that vague impression, this girl didn't seem much like the one
who'd accompanied the King of Darkness that day. Both had carried a black
staff, but the armor this girl wore was totally different. Still…the illusion's
quality had been so poor, they'd had only a vague idea what that retainer
wore.
If this girl was from the Nation of Darkness, what would she wear here?
Her optimal gear, just as No Death was. This was a battlefield. There was
no telling what could happen; nobody would show up dressed in street
clothes. Even Kaire and Star Reader–Second Sight ignored appearances,
wearing armor based purely on function.
But that was true for the Katze Plain as well. The truly strong never had
multiple sets of "best equipment." Reaching those heights required
superlative gear, and it was natural to hone your combat techniques to
match that gear. She knew someone who'd been a master of the club but,
after joining the Black Scripture, had been given an ax and forced to
dedicate years of his life to mastering it.
By that logic, the Nation's dark elf and this girl had to be different
people, but they had too much in common to entirely rule it out.
That's why No Death tried to bait a response only to come up empty.
It was so much simpler to just hook someone with a scythe, she thought,
tightening her grip on it.
And there was the problem of facial recognition with other races.
Most humanoid races did all right identifying one another, but it was
hardly perfect. Unless it was your own race, there were markers you could
miss on top of a pervading sense they all looked the same.
"Um, er, y-yes, it's just me here."
"Okay. Well, I bet everyone's worried about you."
Fah. Acting all cutesy, lying with a straight face. Definitely can't trust
appearances here. That means anything I do learn talking may be bullshit. I
knew from the get-go that she's got backup coming, so no point wasting
time chatting. Gotta overpower her and get to safety. Then pry the truth out
of her using magic…or just old-fashioned pain.
Acting all anxious, the girl moved her free hand to the necklace round
her neck.
A natural gesture. Like a nervous tick, her hand moving unconsciously.
It fit in perfectly with the whole timid-kid vibe—but No Death knew damn
well that was an act and figured this had to be significant.
"Tch!"
Before the sound of her tongue click even faded, she closed the gap.
Slamming her helmet on, her weapon—Charon's Guidance—skimmed
across the floor, sweeping directly at the girl's legs.
If it cut them off, great.
No Death held nothing back, going all out. Even the strongest man
among her colleagues would have struggled to avoid this attack.
And—
The girl deflected it purely by placing her staff in its path.
A weapon that could shred steel bounced off—and she was not
surprised. She'd been well aware this could happen. What got her—the
hand holding the staff hadn't even budged. Against her full strength.
So she is a warrior class.
This was a clear indicator of the dark elf girl's build.
...Or wait…a warrior in light armor? Does that mean…? But we were
sure the elf king was his only kid. But look at her…!
Dark elves and elves had similar life spans and aged at equal speeds.
"Th-that was sudd "
Could be another branch of the bloodline. Or am I overthinking it?
The dark elf girl was muttering something, but even as her brain raced,
No Death's hands kept moving. They were enemies. The only value talking
had was if you were buying time or had already won.
The girl jumped back, and she followed her into the hall.
She got a good swing with plenty of momentum behind it and slammed
her scythe into the girl's wrist.
Given the sheer size of the weapon, she couldn't avoid hitting the walls
and floor—but that posed no obstacle. This was a weapon once wielded by
Sulshana, the god who'd saved the Theocracy—no, all humanity. It could
easily cut through wood and stone. It might catch a bit, but it barely slowed
the speed of her swings.
Yet, the blow bounced off.
So did the next.
And the next.
Three strikes in a row, each like a lightning bolt and every one deflected
by the girl's staff. Not the most spectacular staff technique, but the reaction
speed was tremendous. Those moves made it clear she was every bit as
powerful as No Death.
Pretty good. A warrior on my level? That's bad news. If I'm forced on
the defensive, I'll be in trouble.
Even this brief exchange told her that much.
The elf king had said she had allies. If they were as good as this girl, No
Death would be forced to run. But she couldn't assume they'd let her, just
because the elf king had managed it. Him getting away made it more likely
they'd have a scheme to stop her from doing the same. Assuming they
weren't idiots.
Which meant—
Force her down in a quick fight. Kill her…? Like I have a choice.
Might just have to bring the body back and see if we can revive her.
She felt her eyes going to the girl's belly and forced them not to.
Her armor was like a dress made of metal, and it left her soft-looking
belly exposed—not a shred of visible muscle there. Boldly revealing a weak
point right where all sorts of vital organs lay. Still, it wasn't safe to assume
aiming there would do much damage.
Most armor's defense was determined by the mana poured in, the metal
used, and whatever special skills were involved in the forging. That slim
waist likely had defensive properties derived from the strength of the
armor's magic. But it did mean there was no defense provided by the
materials used in the armor's creation. It was definitely the least defended
point.
So why wear something like this?
Displaying a clear weakness would bait an enemy's attack. There was
likely some sort of trap.
She knew that but couldn't help but hope a clean hit there might finish
this girl off. That's why she wouldn't let herself even look.
"Power of Gaea."
Out of nowhere, the girl cast a spell. No Death's eyes nearly popped out
of her head.
Huh?! Magic?! She's not a warrior?! No, no, there are warrior classes
that learn a few spells, but… Huh?
No Death herself could use faith magic, but she'd never heard of the
spell this girl used. It hadn't affected her, so she could safely assume it was
some kind of self-buff.
If the girl was a warrior main and dabbled in magic on the side, then she
didn't need to be that worried. But if she was primarily a caster, that was
another story.
Magic had a whole range of options, making casters much less
predictable than a warrior. For all she knew, a really nasty spell could
instantly turn the tables.
That qualifier was because No Death was not well briefed on pure caster
builds. She would have to be that much more cautious here. Even if this girl
could just match what No Death could, those minor healing spells could
really draw this fight out.
She had to assume the worst. Assume this girl wasn't a warrior but some
kind of caster.
Hard to be sure of anything, but their initial exchange suggested she
wasn't an arcane caster. That type was usually quite poor at close-up
fighting. That meant she was a class that had options there—a druid or a
priest? Some type of faith magic.
There was always a chance she was an exception to that arcane caster
rule or even specialized in psychic or wild magic. But No Death knew even
less about those. No use thinking about it. It'd be better to just make a
mental note to be ready for anything.
And—since she was a dark elf, druid was far more likely.
Especially if she was related to the elf king.
Problem was—No Death didn't really have anything good against
druids. Instead, she activated one of two special abilities she'd acquired
while mastering Inquisitor. This was in case the girl was a faith caster
capable of using spells higher tier than anything No Death knew about.
"Denounce Heretic."
This ability mildly increased the mana cost of spells used in No Death's
vicinity, if the priest worshipped a different god than she did. The effect
would not be immediately transparent, but over a lengthy battle, the extra
mana cost could add up.
She wasn't planning on drawing this fight out, but this would help if her
opponent started with high-tier spells. Using a targeted ability like this
before knowing what her foe could do might mean it was a wasted move,
but tricks like this really mattered only if you used them early on.
"Elemental Form: Earth."
Another spell she'd never heard. The girl's skin turned brown.
She could assume the visual was not the main effect. She wondered if
this was her true form—if this girl had never actually been a dark elf—but
there seemed no point in speculating.
In a battle to the death, questions without answers were worth caution,
but not getting hung up on.
Same with magic.
She didn't know what that spell did, so should spend minimal time
thinking on it. No Death moved on to her next ability.
"Condemn Heretic."
This was her other Inquisitor skill. It had a similar effect, the difference
being that it increased the rate of spell failures. Naturally, if a spell failed,
the mana used to cast it was still lost.
Since she'd activated both, she couldn't use any other Inquisitor abilities
until the effective period ran out, but that's how it worked. It wasn't like she
lost the physical enhancements or magic-related strengths the class had
given her, so that was a fair price.
No Death was going for a quick kill, so this might seem a little
roundabout. She was not hoping for a lengthy battle. To her mind, there
were roughly two ways a fight could go. A beatdown that just pressed your
own advantage and never let a foe fight back or whittling down an
opponent, watching their moves while never letting them gain an
advantage.
She'd planned on going all in, but since this girl was blocking each of
her attacks, that forced them into a fight where they took turns playing their
cards. Frustratingly, that meant it was the girl in control of the battle flow.
No Death's only option was to go alone with that plot and try and turn the
tables on her eventually.
"Er, um…I am sorry."
Were those two spells enough, or was that all she could use? The girl
offered words of apology while swinging the staff high—then it shot down
with bloodcurdling speed.
No Death shuddered.
Not because of the uncanny attack speed.
This girl hadn't meant that apology in the slightest. Neither voice nor
expression betrayed any remorse. It was like she'd just been ordered to
apologize. Like some kind of puppet
Don't think!
That wasn't what mattered here. Only the incoming attack did.
By a warrior's standard, the attack did not pass muster. No feints, just a
very basic swing.
The speed was intense, but it was easy enough to dodge or block.
No Death chose the latter. She'd see how this foe dodged and blocked,
so she wanted to compare their raw physical strength.
As she thought, her scythe easily blocked the blow—
Damn!!
She thought she'd blocked it well, but it made both knees and elbows
buckle. The staff forced her back and bore down on her brow.
She gritted her teeth and grunted, pushing against the dark elf. It wasn't
enough to throw this girl off balance, but her weapon did lift away.
An opening.
Keeping her eyes off the exposed waist, No Death use her martial arts.
Super Stride of Wind! Sturdy Arm, Strong Blow! Super Pierce! Greater
Ability Boost! Greater Possibility Perception!
She'd specifically avoided using any earlier, saving them for this
moment.
Boosting her movement speed and dexterity, enhancing all damage
done, boosting pierce damage, strengthening her flesh, and honing her sixth
sense.
It was all aimed at a single point.
That visibly exposed belly.
It might be a trap, but she was sure she could endure it. And she couldn't
resist the allure of maybe doing enough damage to break the deadlock and
instantly change the balance of power in her favor. No Death had good
reason for trying to end this quickly.
Conquering the distance between them like a bolt from the blue, leaving
the sound of the wind itself behind, she rocketed toward the girl's tenderlooking navel.
Surprised by the sudden boost in speed and strength, the girl failed to
block No Death's charge in time.
She forced through unexpected resistance—this was far harder than skin
—stabbing her scythe blade home.
Nice!
She couldn't help but grin.
No Death had maxed the Executioner class. This increased the damage
of any critical hits and opened up the possibility of killing foes with a single
attack. She also had an ability that could deepen the wound when doing
over a set amount of damage with a cutting weapon; unfortunately, this time
she hadn't used the crescent blades that spread like wings on either side but
the stabbing blade at the end of the central rod, which meant that ability
didn't apply. But this attack should still have done substantial damage to the
girl.
But the look of jubilation proved fleeting.
The impact made its way up the weapon to her hands…and it felt odd.
There was no familiar squish of organs slicing.
And before she learned the reason, out of the corner of her eye—she saw
a shadow coming toward her head.
" Instant Reflex!"
Too late. Far too late.
For just a moment, she'd been distracted by that odd sensation. A huge
blunder.
There was a hard clang.
A swing of that staff connected with her head.
She quickly used Dull Pain and then Super Stride of Wind to bound
away. She jerked her scythe back out of the girl, doing more damage.
That blunt strike had broken her skin, and blood was flowing down her
face. Her martial art was diminishing the pain, but even the slightest shift of
her expression was agonizing. Her vision blurred.
No Death wore armor that had belonged to the wind god. Yet, she'd still
taken enough damage to leave her reeling. She hadn't taken a blow like that
in recent memory.
" Heavy Recovery."
Staying a step out of range, No Death used the highest-tier healing spell
she knew. It wouldn't fully fix her, but it should work for now. Even as she
cast the spell, she looked to the girl, wary of further attacks.
And her eyes went wide.
Not only were the girl's guts not spilling out, she wasn't even bleeding.
Proof she had hurt her was on her face—her expression twisted with pain.
There was a split open in that earth-colored skin.
"Owww…," she said, taking out a scroll and activating the spell on it.
"Heal."
A higher-tier spell than the one No Death had used.
Sixth tier! How does she have that scroll? Shit! That'll recover all
the damage I just did! I dunno how much stamina she has, but it's pretty
damn clear I came out of that exchange worse off! And the way her belly
felt…far too hard. I knew it was a trap!
There must have been a spell on the belly that negated critical hits. But
apparently, the thrust to the navel had left the girl in pain. It had done the
trick and baited her attack but was clearly not a pleasant experience for the
dark elf.
What kind of asshole designed this armor? No Death spat. If you knew
it would be targeted, you oughtta include some pain resistance. This
equipment was basically cursed.
Infuriated, No Death fought off the urge to muss up her hair. Didn't want
to do anything that stimulated the pain and couldn't afford the opening.
She couldn't take pleasure in forcing her to use a sixth-tier scroll. No
guarantee it was her only one. She might have several more. In which case,
she stood no chance of winning with standard tactics. Still—no matter how
many Heal scrolls this girl had, she had an ace that could kill her.
She couldn't use it yet, though. She had few things to try first.
For one, nobody used Heal on a scratch. She'd done plenty of damage,
so what she should do now is attack so relentlessly, the girl couldn't use
another scroll.
Her plan set, No Death raised her scythe. She used her martial arts and
lunged back into range.
This time, she was aiming for the wrist.
What?!
The girl didn't even try and dodge.
A moment ago, she'd merely seemed unable to match No Death's speed,
but not now. She didn't even show signs of trying to defend herself. No
Death remembered how this had gone last time—but if she was this close,
she had to attack.
As she entered lethal range, she spun herself like a top, maximizing
centrifugal force and slamming the scythe on the girl's forearm.
She sped past. Did blood spray as the girl's hand and armor flew away?
Nope. That move had typically sliced through lesser armors, but this girl's
wrist remained intact.
It was insanely hard.
Nothing like that belly.
Those wrists were covered in armor, so that might go without saying,
but it was even harder than expected. Was the armor itself a match for what
the Six Gods had worn, or was she using some sort of defensive martial art?
Worst of all was how she'd blocked No Death's mightiest blow with her
arm alone, not even staggering.
But No Death didn't have time to think.
As she blocked the blow to her right wrist, the girl shifted the staff to her
left hand only and was already swinging it down.
Wanting to avoid a painful repeat, No Death used Instant Reflex and
Evasion, desperately twisting away.
But even with this, she couldn't fully avoid it.
Instant Reflex ensured she was positioned right, and she had activated a
martial art as the attack came in but it was still too late to evade.
The blow dug into No Death's shoulder. She was mentally ready for this
one, so she timed a martial art at the same instant she expected the hit to
land.
Super Defense Boost.
This upped her defenses. Not as powerful as Reinforce Outer Skin, but
No Death was a half elf; she had no outer skin.
Even with the martial art, the blow hurt like it had gone halfway through
her. Super Defense Boost barely did a thing. The outcome was only slightly
better than last time.
She managed to stifle a groan. No need to tell her foe how hurt she was.
But—
Not good.
The exchange had made it clear this was the girl's true strategy.
Just like it had the first time.
When No Death attacked, she struck back. The girl's approach was
simply let her opponent land a blow and then hit back harder.
Possibly because she couldn't score a clean hit fighting any other way,
but No Death doubted that. The girl had chosen this approach for a reason.
She knows she's got the defenses for it…is she a tank, like Cedran? Is
that why the belly's exposed? What damage she takes, Heal can handle.
If her offense was a bit lacking and her build focused on defense—a
tank who could cast and as strong as No Death herself—then the girl's
estimated abilities made sense. Though the battering damage seemed a bit
too brutal for that.
Maybe the staff was a magic item, with power of its own. It was strong
enough that even a weapon used by the Six Gods could not cut through it,
so that seemed likely.
No Death was growing more and more certain this was the girl who'd
been at the King of Darkness's side. Given his powerful spells and
terrifying armies, it made sense he'd have a store of incredible equipment
for his minions.
She stepped back a bit, bracing her scythe, watching the girl's
movements carefully.
The dark elf was standing rock steady while No Death kept throwing
herself at her.
Like a rookie going at a veteran.
I really am screwed here.
The girl had the advantage.
She could fully block No Death's blows, while unleashing attacks No
Death couldn't dodge. Did the source of the girl's confidence lie in her
physical skills, her defense, her offense, or her healing? It was hard to say,
but if this girl had decided on the simple formula of taking a hit, hitting
back, and then healing up, then she must have decided she could win that
way. Maybe she was intentionally choosing a less efficient fighting style to
see what tricks No Death had to offer.
Given that this girl seemed to have no intention of closing the distance
and attacking herself, she might be trying to buy time until her backup
arrived. She wasn't sure how strong they were, but their arrival would
definitely tip the balance to the girl's side. That would explain why she'd be
going for a battle of attrition, slowly but surely racking up damage.
No Death had few options here. Ideally, she wanted to play her foe's
game and come out ahead. Landing her own hits, while preventing the girl
from landing any more. But that was clearly not working out.
The girl's armor was absurdly impenetrable, and to stand any chance of
harming her, No Death had to fully commit to the attack. And that meant
she would inevitably be exposed, which the girl could use against her. So
what now?
I'm at an impasse. Do I use this?
No Death's gaze flicked down to her grip, to the scythe in her hand.
Charon's Guidance, the scythe once used by the god Sulshana. It was
made of a rare metal the Theocracy had yet to discover, giving it durability
and lethality that matched its previous owner.
It allowed the use of Death twice every eight hours.
It also had an extensive spell list; every four hours, it allowed five casts
from it.
Undead Flames, which applied negative energy to her attacks.
Undeath Avoidance, protection against intelligent undead.
Create Undead, which allowed her to make undead monsters.
Disease, which could inflict sickness.
Sleep to the Undead, which had a shot at instantly destroying undead
with no Repel resistance.
Evileye, which allowed her choice of a range of sight-based effects.
Death Mask, which defended against sight-based effects while boosting
Fear.
And Hand of Glory, which could be used two ways.
That wasn't all, either—every twenty-four hours it could summon thirty
spartiates—a special undead equivalent to the fifth-tier summonable heavy
skeleton warrior. Spartiates came with better equipment, but since they
couldn't be buffed with special skills, they were weaker overall. Still, this
was a genuinely impressive magic item.
No Death thought it felt too early to pull a card from her sleeve.
She still had options in basic combat and showing her hand while still
having no clue what her foe had in store felt like she was losing the mind
games.
"Er, um…a-are you not coming?" the girl stammered.
No Death swore under her breath.
She wants me to attack?! I'll show this little shit!
She leaped backward, activating a few martial arts.
Dual Air Slash. Sturdy Arm, Strong Blow. Flow Acceleration. She
swung her scythe, and two blades formed in the path of the swing, shooting
toward the girl.
Who stepped forward.
Forward.
Projectile-based martial arts—like Air Slash—had less force than a
direct hit. But with a blade bearing down on you, paying that no heed and
advancing right into it? That was madness.
No, I did the same thing to her. This sure does rattle you.
When the aura blades hit the girl, she winced—though this also seemed
kinda phony—but that was all. As she stepped within range, she grunted,
swinging that black staff with a highly telegraphed motion.
No Death managed to evade this one.
The girl's attacks still didn't pass muster. But they were clearly getting
more polished. At first, they'd been something No Death could manage, but
now even if she was ready for them, a moment's hesitation would mean she
wouldn't land a clean hit.
Keep grinning! Laugh! Make her think you can read every move!
No Death forced a smile onto her lips and laughed loud enough that the
girl could hear.
Was that stiff smile convincing? The girl was swinging again.
I've gotta leave myself enough room to pop Greater Evasion or I'm
done.
She tried backing off to get some range, but the girl just closed on in.
The gap wasn't widening.
"Spartiates!"
Five undead rose up like a wall between them.
The girl swung, and one went down.
Five spartiates wouldn't block more than five of this girl's blows, but
that was plenty.
No Death kicked off the wall into a vault, skimming the ceiling and
trying to get behind the girl.
But the girl's knees bent, and then she leaped back like the ground had
exploded. Really didn't want to get surrounded? The spartiates weren't a
threat, but maybe she thought they'd get in her way, act as a distraction?
She clearly wasn't taking any damage from their blows.
The girl launched herself backward, and as her feet touched down, she
stabbed the staff into the floor, scraping a groove to bring herself to a quick
stop. A ridiculous action. Too much momentum forcibly controlled by
ludicrous arm strength.
Such a…weird choice. Is she not used to going all out? Or just not that
experienced in combat?
No Death sent a mental order to her spartiates to advance. Undead knew
no fear, so they obeyed, all throwing themselves at the girl. No Death
followed in their wake.
The girl pulled out another scroll.
"Fire Storm."
A torrent of flames blanketed the area. The raging inferno burned No
Death but vanished in an instant, as if it had been but an illusion. The
blistering burns left behind proved it had been real. The only saving grace
was that since she'd used a scroll, the spell hadn't done that much damage.
The spartiates were still technically mobile, too. But that just meant they
hadn't taken fatal damage. If another spell hit, they'd be gone for sure.
No Death spun the scythe around her body, sideswiping the girl with the
butt end. She hit armor, so it was hard to be sure, but it didn't seem like the
blunt strike did any extra damage. The spartiates each thrust their spear, but
all were parried with a single sweep of the staff, which moved so fast that it
kicked up a gale. Only No Death's blows were even capable of making
contact.
But she took advantage of the opening, spinning like a dancer and
dropping low like a scuttling spider, skimming a slash at the girl's ankles.
This went right through the nearby spartiate, and it vanished. That was a
summon's lot in life.
Moving like she was aiming for the girl's Achilles tendon, the scythe's
blade sliced her armor. Sparks flew.
It was just as impenetrable down here as it was up there.
Even with Sturdy Arm, Strong Blow, and Greater Cutting and her class
effects in play, it didn't feel like she was slicing through that.
But that wasn't the only reason she'd gone for the ankles.
She braced her legs front and back, gritted her teeth, and, with the scythe
still hooked on the girl's feet, yanked back on it. Intending to pull her feet
out from under her and knock her down. But—
" Too heavy!"
She didn't budge.
Like a tree trunk.
Impossible.
But still somehow true.
No Death had taken her foe's strength into account and put her full force
into it, but she was the one who wound up nearly stumbling forward. The
sheer weight her arms felt clashed with this little girl's appearance.
Perhaps this was a special ability or magic-item effect, but it made No
Death feel like she was trying to fight a towering tree. The way that yank
felt, no matter how hard she pulled, this girl wasn't going down.
A shudder ran through her.
The girl must have seen her off balance. She fully extended her staff
hand, reaching through the spartiates and swinging it down toward No
Death.
Full advantage of reach and swing, making for a spine-chilling attack.
She was in no position to dodge. Even if a spartiate jumped in the way,
that would hardly slow this swing down.
But No Death sent them an order anyway.
The moment she did, the nearest spartiate tackled No Death, shoving her
out of range. The girl's staff dropped like a black meteor, shattering the
spartiate in her stead.
No Death rolled across the floor, deftly unhooking the scythe from the
girl's ankles as she did. She used the momentum to scramble to her feet and
thrust the scythe forward to keep the girl back.
But the girl wasn't trying to follow her. Instead, her tiny body flashed,
and black gusts burst out, shattering the remaining spartiates.
The rain of bone fragments soon dissipated into thin air, and the girl
raised her staff again, no emotion in her eyes at all. Then she started
fidgeting, as if she'd just remembered to.
Do I summon more? There's one thing I wanna confirm first.
No Death starting spinning the scythe above her head. Vnn, vnn. The
sound of it slicing the wind broke through the silence, echoing. The girl was
patiently waiting, watching to see what this led to.
Slowly, bit by bit, No Death's toes crept toward the girl.
She closed the gap until—
The blade had built enough speed, and with a sharp breath, No Death
made it shoot out toward the girl's left wrist.
Even with a blade coming at her so fast it cleaved the air itself, the girl
didn't seem concerned. She just mechanically placed her body in the blade's
path, clearly aiming to hit back with another counter. She was getting used
to No Death's speed; she moved without a hitch.
But—as the blade shot through the air toward the girl's arm, its path
leaped upward.
Changing up the patten she'd twice demonstrated.
It was going right for that scrawny throat.
Would this hit prove fatal? From the way things were going, she wasn't
too sure. But like the belly, the throat was exposed. Probably a trap, but still
—if she scored a direct hit, like the belly, odds were she could lay down
some real hurt. A number of her classes would kick in, and she might do
enough damage to turn this losing fight around.
The exchanges thus far had proven No Death was the more
accomplished fighter. That was why she'd avoided using any feints, going
entirely for basic attacks. The girl had grown used to that simplicity, and for
that reason, like her martial-art-enhanced charge earlier, she was unable to
dodge the swing at her neck
The scythe's blade sliced that slender throat, and—
"Gah!"
the staff hit her.
She'd held it in so far, but this time, the impact forced a grunt out of her.
No Death leaped back, eyes wide.
"...Again?"
Not a drop of blood fell from the girl's throat. But there was a faint mark
showing she had sliced the skin. That must have done damage. Did she
have some ability active that negated attacks on weak points? That would
invalidate a number of the skills No Death had acquired.
Is she even alive? Is she…an undead the King of Darkness made?
She must have looked rattled, because the girl stammered, "Er, um…ddo you want to surrender? Er, well…I won't hurt you anymore, and I can
guarantee your safety…after."
What did No Death think about that offer?
Creepy.
From the get-go, this girl's attacks had contained absolutely no hostility,
no bloodlust. Some people might call that a kind heart or ascribe some other
emotion to it—but if you weren't trying to hurt or kill and still repeatedly
dropped skull-crushing blows, could that really be called kindness?
To No Death's point of view, this girl was deeply unsettling. Even if she
was her niece, she felt no connection to this strange dark elf.
If this offer was made for reasons she could understand—pity or even
superiority—she might have been insulted, but not repulsed. But this girl
had no such emotions.
…It would make more sense if I treat her like an emotionless undead
acting the part.
It was all kinds of messed up, but to her, it felt like every action and
mannerism was pure performance. Still, that wasn't what mattered here. No
Death's personal opinion was irrelevant.
She had to focus on how she could get out of this mess and turn things
to her advantage. If suggesting she might surrender would help, then it was
worth exploring the dead.
"I could do that…," she began and then trailed off.
Right.
Talking was what you did if you were buying time or had already won.
Was the girl winning?
No. There was no clear victor yet. The girl did have a bit of an
advantage. But if she'd started talking here, she was most likely just trying
to buy time.
" Tch!"
With her loudest click yet, No Death once more closed the gap. She
could try hurling martial arts from a distance, but this girl had those scrolls
at her disposal. No clue how many or where she was keeping them, but it
was safe to assume there were more where those came from, and chipping
away at each other would not end well for her.
On the plus side, it seemed safe to assume this girl had no other ranged
attacks. If she did, she wouldn't have needed to use a scroll.
Did she raise a thief class? Is that how she's using scrolls? No, she did
use those self-buff-looking spells, so that's not likely.
But No Death also had no effective ranged attacks; at a distance, she
didn't see a way to win.
But what about up close?
Less awful. So that's where she'd have to take her chances.
This time, she took a swing right at the kid's face. Maybe the girl didn't
want to get cut there, because she slapped the scythe away with her staff.
This stung No Death's hands.
The staff swung round into a counter. Greater Evasion and Instant
Reflex were enough for her to dodge it.
They were either evenly matched or her warrior know-how—predicting
her opponent's moves, adjusting her read—was starting to show and tipping
the scales her way. But no matter how much damage she racked up, a single
Heal would undo it all and lead to a loss.
Then I should go for it…
No Death had two aces up her sleeve.
The first guaranteed a kill.
The second was extremely versatile.
She could use the second to defeat a foe or cover her escape, so she
didn't want to waste it.
Was it time to pop the first one?
When she'd attacked, the girl acted like it hurt. But was that real?
Doubting it wasn't getting her anywhere.
Every thought she'd had about this girl was pure conjecture. Every bit of
it could be wrong. Maybe she was just as cute as she looked. Maybe she
really didn't like fighting at all.
But No Death couldn't shake that fishy feeling.
What do I do? If…let's say there are others as powerful as her. In that
case, I might find myself in a situation where I wish I hadn't used it too
early. I'd rather kill this girl without using that move…but can I?
The answer was, I don't know.
If that was her only Heal scroll, maybe? But getting it done quickly
probably wasn't possible.
Naturally, these thoughts didn't slow her hands. She was slashing away
with her scythe but drawing no blood and getting hit by those brutal
counters.
The girl could stand still and take aim, but No Death had to dart in and
out of range, swinging her blade all over. She had to keep her feet moving
to control the distance and she had to keep her weapon moving to attack. If
she didn't devote a chunk of those resources to evasion and defense, it was
tough to avoid getting hit by those counters—and the girl didn't seem to
mind that she got hit first.
The only place the girl did actively block was her face. And when she
aimed for the stomach, the girl's counter was extra nasty.
That was the sum of what she knew.
I guess…I gotta? It will end this.
Use it now or would she need it later? That was the question.
She was looping through it.
The girl's flesh split open, but in return, she landed a clean hit on No
Death's side.
She felt bones creak and imagined her innards shaking; she was flung
backward. The pain was so great, she almost threw up, and her boost went
skidding across the floor as she tried to regain her footing.
That was the hardest blow yet. It affected her breathing. The pain had
her diaphragm twitching. Acting confident, she thumped the floor with the
butt of her weapon, leaning against the staff, her legs crossed. She slowly
pulled her helmet off, flashing a mask—a smile—like it hadn't hurt at all.
A pose allowed by her foe's lack of aggression.
"Well, fine," she muttered breezily. Her mind made up. Time to make
sure this girl died.
The girl didn't come after her.
And that would cost her life.
"Hey, you suggested I surrender, yeah? One thing I gotta know…are you
undead? Did the King of Darkness make you?"
"Huh? Er, um…why that question? And not like…terms?"
"Answer me."
"......…I-I'm not undead. I'm what I look like!"
"Cool," No Death said, thinking.
Had the girl delayed her answer because she didn't get why it was asked
or—because she wanted time to think?
I mean, I asked 'cause just looking didn't tell me anything…and why'd
she just brush off the mention of the King of Darkness? Fine, whatever.
Undead or not, this'll kill her.
She put the helmet back on and used the talent she was born with.
Aiming this talent at the divine weapon allowed her to use the ultimate
power of the god of death, Sulshana. Thus—
" The Goal of All Life Is Death."
A clock appeared behind her.
This was her ace, one she could only use when wielding the scythe.
It guaranteed death.
Absolute death, which could not be resisted.
Not once had anyone escaped the move.
"Huh?!"
The girl sounded surprised. It was a genuine burst of emotion that No
Death assumed was actual shock.
Huh? So she isn't undead? Well, I'd react like that, too. If you don't
know what this is, it's downright uncanny, a mystery move at work. But the
clock itself doesn't do anything. It just buffs what comes next. So—it's too
soon to be surprised.
Next, No Death used a skill contained within the scythe itself.
Naturally, she chose—
" Death."
As she cast the spell, there was a tick. The clock behind her advanced.
She'd won.
Victory was hers.
"Phoenix Flame."
A bird of fire spread its wings behind the girl.
Another spell! But…heh-heh, no use. I don't know what that does, but
nothing can survive this power. Your only shot is to kill me before I use it!
Death was normally a spell that activated instantly, but if she used this
ability, it took a full twelve seconds to activate. She had no clue what would
happen if she died during that interval, so she was on the defensive.
The girl must have assumed the spell had no effect, because she swung
her staff up and charged forward.
So far, she'd been just receiving, only using counters—if she was on the
offensive, she must have sensed something amiss. Against the unknown,
she could have turtled up, gone to wait-and-see mode. The fact that she
hadn't showed she had good instincts.
But No Death had the advantage on technique and experience. If she
wasn't attacking and just deflecting and evading, she could handle this.
Naturally, she couldn't escape taking a hit forever, but she had to last only a
handful of seconds.
Six.
She dodged the girl's combo. One blink would spell death, a flurry hard
to see even for someone in the realm beyond the heroes. Clearly an
onslaught from someone at No Death's level. But playing pure defense,
watching close—she could tell the girl's physical specs were high, but she
wasn't taking full advantage of them. She wasn't used to this kind of
exertion.
Eight.
Common in those born with strength.
Her physical talents were too good—she could win by sheer
overwhelming force, so she'd never needed to use tricky techniques, never
had to guess another's moves. Refused to go to the effort of learning those
things—and wound up eating dirt when they met someone better. Never
realizing the cause was their own arrogance.