The Vampiric Iron and Relial the Unyielding
"Just as expected... Truly fitting for 'Relial the Unyielding.'"
"How do you know that name...!"
Mikels—or rather, Relial—had been living under the name Mikels for five years now. He had been far from a famous figure back when he went by Relial, so his identity as Mikels, the leader of the bandit group, was much better known.
"In the game, and even now when it has become reality, you never give up. ...I must admire your tenacity. I, too, am someone with something I refuse to give up on."
Game? Reality? The thought crossed Relial's mind that this blind man, who spouted nothing but incomprehensible nonsense, might just be a lunatic. But the problem was that this lunatic was stronger than him.
The blind man pulled back the hood of his robe as he continued.
"It's fine if you don't understand what I'm saying. This is merely my own selfish rambling, after all."
"Why... why do you want the Vampiric Iron?"
Vampiric Iron was a metal with peculiar properties, but it had very few practical uses. Almost the only people who sought it were blood mages looking to create blood stones. This meant a horrific ritual sacrificing living people would take place, which was why even possessing the metal was strictly forbidden in many nations across the continent.
"I will tell you one thing... I am no blood mage. I am merely an ordinary swordsman."
The blind man said, revealing the sword hidden beneath his robe. The blade was thin and long. Relial found a faint glimmer of hope in that sight.
If this lunatic can't even manifest sword qi yet...
There was a chance. That was his judgment. With a blade that thin, the blind man could easily slice through his unarmored subordinates, but he might not be able to pierce Relial's Blood Strength so easily. Of course, this was nothing more than wishful thinking. Unable to grasp his opponent's true identity, Relial tried his best not to let his guard down.
"You really don't know when to give up. Trying to size me up even in this situation. Unfortunately for you, I don't fight battles I can't win."
"Cut the pathetic bluffing."
At Relial's shout, the blind man shrugged. Then, he continued to speak in riddles.
"If I were to leave you be... you would probably succeed in making it. No, you definitely would. The very thing you have yearned and prayed for: 'The Malice of the Wicked.'"
"You... who the hell are you...?"
"That is a difficult question to answer. Let's just say I know the future and the past. It will be easier for both of us to think of it that way."
The blind man standing before Relial was no mere lunatic. He knew. He knew Relial's name, Relial's goal... perhaps everything about him.
"...Once you consume the blood stone, you will obtain exactly what you wanted. A power so immense that you will never have to bow to anyone again, a power that will free you from ever having to hide. And that would be quite troublesome for me. Because that would be the moment 'Relial the Unyielding' transforms into the horrific 'Relial the Butcher.'"
Relial the Butcher. Such an absurd title slipped from the blind man's lips.
"Captivated by the blood stone's immense power, you will seek to create more of them. You will hunt down other blood mages to steal their recipes, crafting blood stones atop a mountain of corpses... While it is true that I need the Vampiric Iron... you, Relial—the man destined to commit these atrocious massacres—are also one of the reasons I came here today."
With those words, the blind man fell silent, looking every bit like an executioner about to carry out Relial's death sentence.
Relial despised this. Why did he have to die like this? Naturally, 'Relial the Unyielding' had no intention of falling in vain before he could taste the sweet fruits of his labor.
Relial clenched his trembling fists and corrected his stance. He then asked the blind man in a low voice,
"...You said you know the future? Then let me ask you one thing. After consuming the blood stone... did I look happy?"
The blind man smoothly drew his sword from the scabbard, bringing it up to eye level.
"Happiness for a villain who ruthlessly slaughtered countless innocent people? What a foolish question... I will say, however, that you went around laughing like a madman."
"Laughing like a madman..."
Relial closed his eyes for a brief moment, then snapped them open. He lunged at the blind man, roaring,
"That is more than enough...!"
Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, Relial whipped his leg in a sharp arc toward the blind man's face.
—Thud!
The blind man blocked the kick with his sword and leaped back to create distance. Despite making direct contact with the blade, not a single drop of blood fell from Relial's leg. Normally, his leg should have been severed instantly, but there wasn't even a scratch. This was the power of Relial's Blood Strength.
No matter how mediocre Relial's talent was, Blood Strength was undeniably magic. It was vastly different from simple physical reinforcement, which merely infused the body with mana.
What? I can actually do this...?
That was Relial's impression after their first clash. Emboldened, he roared at the top of his lungs.
"...If you thought you could block my 'future' with just that, you sorely miscalculated!!"
"..."
The blind man merely stared at Relial in silence. Relial could see the flow of mana enveloping the blind man's body. He couldn't detect anything special about his mana control. It was ordinary. Nothing more, nothing less. With such sloppy mana control, there was no way he could manifest sword qi. Relial's experience of watching countless strong warriors from afar told him as much.
Relial decided to press his advantage. Stomping his foot, he thrust his fist toward the blind man with ferocious speed. This time, however, the blind man swung his sword to meet it.
"A blind bastard who can't even control his mana properly... A sword like that can't possibly cut my arm—!!"
—Slash!
The chilling sound that followed was far too clean to be the sound of Relial's fist smashing into the blind man's face.
—Thud.
Relial's severed arm flew through the air before hitting the ground with a heavy, dull thud.
"Aaargh!!!"
Relial stumbled backward, writhing in agony from his severed limb. He couldn't understand it.
Why...? How...?
It was an utterly ordinary swordsmanship, delivered in a trajectory as plain as his mana control. The blind man's swordsmanship was light-years away from the sublime martial arts of the 'Sword Saint' whom Relial had once watched from behind a wall as a child. If anything, it resembled the clumsy swings of a young child playing knight, a common sight in any village.
Yet, it had cut him. Despite everything, the blind man was stronger than him. Strength was never absolute; it was always relative.
"Guh...!"
Relial desperately used his Blood Strength to stem the bleeding from his stump.
"Pant... pant... This is why I hate swordsmen..."
Relial had not fallen yet. He had not given up. However, unlike his unyielding spirit, his stance was completely broken.
"I will end this now."
With those words, the blind man lunged forward. Relial threw his remaining left arm forward with all his might. But his fist would never reach its target.
—Slash!
Ducking low to evade the punch just before it connected, the blind man slashed upward, severing Relial's remaining arm.
"Aaargh!!"
Even through the mind-numbing agony, Relial moved his legs. He threw a desperate, suicidal kick.
—Slash!
As if he had anticipated it, the blind man's sword sliced through Relial's leg. With only one intact limb left, Relial finally lost his balance.
—Thud!
Relial collapsed onto the floor. Yet, the light in his eyes had not yet faded.
The blind man was strong. He wasn't the overwhelming powerhouse Relial had feared, but he was simply stronger than him. In the end, the distinction made no difference.
Relial was weak. But even he, who had lived his entire life as a weakling, had a dream. Today, both his dream and his unyielding tenacity would come to an end.
"..."
In Relial's fading vision, the figure of the blind man drawing closer came into view.
"I didn't mean to drag this out and cause you so much pain, but my skills are lacking, so it took longer than expected."
"...I still haven't given up."
"I know. Because that's... Relial the Unyielding."
The blind man acted as if he knew everything about him until the very end.
"Relial the Unyielding..."
"Still, isn't that better than 'Relial the Weakling'?"
Relial thought that didn't sound too bad. He had lived his entire life as a weakling. 'Relial the Coward.' 'Relial the Weakling.' Compared to the insulting epithets he had endured for so long, 'Relial the Unyielding' was a title he could accept.
"...I suppose so."
Even as his consciousness began to fade, he did not give up. He refused to close his eyes.
Only then did Relial's owl, perched in the corner of the room, swoop down toward a mouse on the floor. The mouse writhed in the owl's sharp talons, but a mere rodent stood no chance against the predator's weight. The owl's sharp beak tore into the flesh near the mouse's neck.
The blind man stepped up to the fallen Relial and finally put him out of his misery.
—Stab.