Battle in the City (3)
Sylvia immediately gripped her sword with both hands and charged like the wind, swinging her blade straight at Galatea. Galatea barely dodged to the side, but instead of counterattacking she threw herself into nonstop defense. The penalty of losing an arm against a sword master like Sylvia was immense. Yet Galatea did not panic. She stole a glance behind Sylvia. The shadows were already moving. A figure in a blood-red helmet and armor burst from the darkness and launched a surprise attack from Sylvia’s blind spot. “A companion hiding here…!” Sylvia, still focused on Galatea, clicked her tongue and frowned. Behind her, the knight in red armor raised his sword high. Could she escape that blow? Sylvia was no pushover when it came to finishing a battle with a single devastating strike. She spun on her right heel and barely blocked the descending sword with the Light Saber. At the same moment Galatea thrust her lance toward Sylvia’s back. Sylvia rolled forward and darted away. “Two of them after all.” Sylvia, barely escaping, prepared herself once more. She stared at the red-armored knight. Was he a woman? His build was slender, and he had a chest and hips. The aura he gave off was clean unlike Galatea’s. So he was a pure human. Sylvia reached that conclusion. “Hup!” Sylvia and the red knight collided again, sparks flying through the air. From the few clashes Sylvia could already sense the knight’s power. Though not perfect, his sword skill was on par with hers. At that instant Galatea finished her chant. The dark flame in her hand had started weak but grew stronger, doubling, tripling, quadrupling until it reached its peak. Galatea extended her arm forward and fired a straight line of dark ray at the sky. It hurtled toward Sylvia like lightning. But Sylvia did not let her guard down. “Pointless trick!” She swung the Light Saber through the air. A crescent of violet sword qi shot out and collided with the dark ray. The clash between mana and sword qi pushed and pulled until it exploded, scattering light across the sky. The instant she blocked Galatea’s attack, Sylvia turned to meet the red knight who charged in like a gale. The blade of the red knight gleamed under the moonlight. Sylvia instinctively swung the Light Saber and knocked it aside. But the red knight never let up; he kept releasing explosive power like a raging tide. He pushed Sylvia deeper into a corner and drained her stamina. His swordsmanship was fast, flexible, and razor-sharp. On top of that, the thought of Galatea watching made Sylvia’s options limited to pure defense. And then, in a single moment, the red knight’s blade came down on Sylvia’s right foot. “Kuk!” She tried to yank her foot back before the restriction locked it in place. But that hesitation showed her weakness. The red knight pivoted around the planted foot, switched his grip, and drove the blade straight toward her back. A heart-piercing wound meant instant death. Sylvia felt she could never escape. In that moment she caught a faint scent of hair. “Anemone…?” The instant their bodies pressed close, the flowing hair from under the helmet carried the scent of anemone flowers. At the same time a solution came to her. Embarrassing as it was, she was one breath away from death. She would do anything—shameful or cowardly—to survive. In that brief instant that decided life or death, a thought surfaced: “Everyone isn’t as pure as you. To survive, a dirty person, a coward, can do it. Even the temple priest can fall to lust and darkness. And the knight too.” At that same moment Sylvia grabbed the red knight’s hair and yanked hard. “Kyaaaaah!” The scream of shock came from the red knight. He couldn’t even thrust his sword; his head snapped back. Sylvia yanked harder, pulling until the hair was about to rip out. The red knight kept screaming like a woman. “Ayaah! Kyaaaaa!” The red knight dropped his sword, desperate to pry Sylvia’s hands off his head with both of his own. The harder he tried, the more violently Sylvia pulled. “This kind of victory… I can’t stomach it!” While the red knight shed a few tears, Sylvia raised the Light Saber high with her other hand. She was about to swing it down to decapitate him when she felt something off. “I will not allow it!” Galatea’s attack. Four lances separated in midair and shot toward Sylvia. Sylvia released the hair and quickly retreated. Then she dove straight at the exposed Galatea. She planned to kill Galatea first. Better to finish one than two, then face the other one-on-one. Sylvia launched a ferocious assault on Galatea. Galatea flinched in panic, but Sylvia pressed every advantage. But… suddenly a fireball streaked from the sky and slammed into Sylvia. The explosion of impact sent Sylvia flying far away; she tumbled across the ground. “Kuk!” She rolled a few times, quickly stood, clutched her wounded shoulder, and looked urgently in the direction the fireball had come from. There, floating in the night sky, stood a man in a pitch-black cloak and sharp features. His piercing gaze fixed on the white-haired woman. “You really are in a sorry state, Galatea.” “My apologies, Lord Doom.” Galatea bowed her head, completely lost. Suddenly Sylvia remembered an ominous name. ‘Doom…? No way…’ Sylvia definitely remembered it. Back in the capital, when she read the name in the great novel by the great novelist Komeru. The owner of that name was none other than the high-ranking demon Bael Cha Doom. “How long do you plan to waste time here? Have you already forgotten the mission Lady Isabelle gave you?” “I have not forgotten at all.” “Then hurry up. And succeed. At best you are just a doll. A doll that serves its master is worthless if it has no value. A being like you can be burned to ash at any moment. Remember that.” “Yes.” Galatea swept her white hair aside and bowed her head again at the cold voice of Doom. Doom descended to the ground. “Come closer.” Galatea hesitated, stepping forward with visible fear. “I told you to.” In a domineering voice, Galatea approached slowly with fearful eyes until she stood right in front of Doom. Slap! Doom struck her cheek. Slap! He struck the other cheek again. “Remember this pain.” “Yes, Lord Doom…” “Go to Lord Aaron and offer him your neck. Prove the value of your existence.” “I will….” Galatea hung her head weakly. No resistance at all. The spirit that had slain Fred and attacked Sylvia was gone. Even the pain of having her arm cut off by Sylvia no longer moved her. When Doom slapped her cheek, she could not hide the desolate expression. Sylvia found it hard to move. Her knight’s intuition warned against acting rashly. This new presence that had appeared here. The sudden appearance of Bael Cha Doom crushed the air of the entire place. A three-on-one situation was extremely disadvantageous. Sylvia searched desperately for a solution but found none. Doom glanced at Sylvia after finishing with Galatea. He scanned her entire body. “You have a pretty good figure for a human woman. I’d love to hold you right here.” Unlike his elegant appearance, Doom was honest about his emotions. In other words, he followed the demonic instinct boiling with lust. He did not hold back with crude expressions. “The only problem is that you don’t smell like a virgin. Does that mean you’ve already been with a man?” “Shut up!” Sylvia burned with sexual shame and fury. “How dare you spout nonsense! You demon!” “I’m not insulting you; there’s no need to get angry. Demons, human women—women are nothing but pleasure tools to encourage a man’s courage. In the past you probably gave your body to some man and let him satisfy himself. Therefore, I praise you for having fulfilled your role as a woman.” Doom’s gaze shifted to the red knight. “Testarossa.” Without hesitation the red knight knelt on one knee and lowered his head. Doom looked left again. “Galatea.” “My lord.” Galatea also knelt on one knee and bowed her head. “The two of you hold that woman down together. You have my approval.” “Understood.” Instantly Galatea’s figure vanished. The red knight vanished too. Sylvia felt two presences behind her back. She didn’t need to look. Moreover, both Galatea and the red knight moved much faster than before; the slap from Doom had clearly energized them. Their fighting spirit was fierce. ‘Even so, I’ll just escape!’ Sylvia decided to abandon the battlefield and tried to flee in a hurry. But against such overwhelming power, it was useless. “You cannot escape me.” As if stomping on Sylvia’s thoughts, Doom said calmly. At the same time black liquid pooled beneath Sylvia’s feet, bubbling and surging like boiling oil. Countless hands shot out from the puddle under her feet and restrained her body. “Ugh!” Galatea and the red knight each grabbed one of Sylvia’s arms while the hands from the puddle pinned her head, neck, waist, and legs.