The Survivor from a Fallen Kingdom
I stared at Scarlet standing motionless in the clearing, after I’d propped up the unconscious Lady Arleah against a nearby tree.
“So you really were that child’s mentor?”
“I only gave her a few pointers. Nothing that deserves to be called mentorship. The enlightenment was entirely her own.”
“You expect me to believe that after seeing the precision of that final strike you taught her?”
Scarlet Frausia’s sword was as alien as her appearance. Her face looked like a perfectly crafted doll that had never once held an expression. Countless swordsmen had grown curious about her blade after seeing it, but every single one who satisfied that curiosity was now dead.
Her sword walked a razor’s edge between reason and instinct. Her innate talent and physical gifts, combined with just enough rationality, naturally found the most efficient way to kill her opponent. It might sound simple when described, but anyone who learned her style could never spar with another person. Because her blade carried the unrelenting instinct to kill, the very concept of holding back simply didn’t exist. That was precisely why I had infused my final strike with magic power.
“Even calling me her mentor feels excessive. I merely pointed out a few things. The true awakening came from her alone.”
“That still doesn’t make any—”
“It worked when I did it, so why wouldn’t it make sense?”
I frowned as Scarlet shrugged as if it were no big deal. Even after becoming the Knight Commander of the Imperial Knights, that delusional habit of hers—assuming that if she could do something, anyone else could too—hadn’t improved one bit.
“Besides.”
Scarlet smiled serenely, completely ignoring my scowl.
“One year, three months, twenty-seven days. Eight hours, twenty-three minutes, and thirty-one seconds. After waiting that long to meet you, do you really intend to waste our time on such trivial conversation?”
The moment her words ended, a slash flew toward me. It was a wave created by the light flick of Scarlet Frausia’s palm.
Shrieeeek—!
I immediately ducked to avoid the slash, but the tree behind me wasn’t so lucky.
BOOOOOOM!!
Dozens of trees were sliced clean through by a single palm strike. Even though her sword hadn’t been drawn, it carried that much power. Watching her, I realized that while her personality hadn’t improved at all, her achievements with the blade had advanced even further. And that my life had become significantly more endangered.
Thud!
Seeing that I had dodged her slash, Scarlet kicked off the ground and charged at me. The edge of her hand, infused with magic power, would probably slice straight through my neck if it so much as grazed it. I immediately poured magic power into my own palm and stomped forward.
Bang!
The ground cracked apart beneath my foot. I punched toward the fragments that shot upward. The stones flew toward Scarlet as if guided by magic. Their speed and power were overwhelming—enough to pierce straight through an ordinary person before they could even react.
But.
Slice. Slice.
Mere stones could never stop a Sword Master’s advance. Scarlet lightly swung her hand and chopped every single rock into pieces before closing in on me. The moment she approached, I kicked off the ground as if I had been waiting for her and threw a punch straight at her face.
Whoosh.
Yet Scarlet turned her head just enough to avoid the fist and continued her attack without pause. It was only possible because of her transcendent sense of distance. Her hand blade shot toward my abdomen.
I can’t dodge this normally.
It was a strike without the slightest waste. There wasn’t a single flaw to exploit. Its speed was fast enough to cross the distance in a single breath. On top of that, my posture was already compromised from throwing the punch. Dodging in this position was impossible.
So I had to change my stance.
“Hup.”
I inhaled sharply. I poured the magic power circulating through my body into my feet. Then I stomped down with enough force to shatter the earth.
KWAAAAANG—!
The ground split apart with a deafening crack, and my body shot upward. Having naturally evaded Scarlet’s attack, I immediately twisted in midair and drove my fist down toward the crown of her head.
CLANG—!
The ground shattered. From within the cloud of dust came a sound like metal striking metal. Even though we had both reinforced our palms with magic power, they were still fundamentally just hands. Hands could never produce a sound like that.
“Haa…”
As if to prove my point, a reddish sword had appeared in Scarlet’s hand.
Scarlet Frausia. Her signature weapon. Red Blood. The cursed demonic sword that had drunk the blood of hundreds of thousands and chosen to turn crimson on its own was now gripped in her hand.
“As expected, it seems a few months of training wasn’t enough to surpass you.”
“…You call that ‘a few months’?”
I looked at Scarlet with utter disbelief as she let out a disappointed sigh. If someone could learn to slice dozens of trees and deliver strikes sharp enough to pierce a human abdomen after just a few months, how wonderful would that be for everyone else in the world? Most knights would probably cut off their own hands if they heard her say that. Meanwhile, the woman in question had no idea how absurd her words were and simply waved her hand with a calm expression.
“Well then. Since the warm greetings are over, shall we get serious now?”
“……”
The moment she finished speaking, Scarlet’s aura completely changed. I reflexively created distance between us. The killing intent she emitted now was on an entirely different level from before. From the moment she first appeared, she had been releasing bloodlust, but what she was emitting now couldn’t even be compared.
The vast clearing. The dense killing intent that filled the entire space pressed down on my body. It felt like a giant palm descending from the sky. I immediately drew up my magic power. My senses sharpened in response to the bloodlust I hadn’t faced in a long time.
“Magic power that can withstand killing intent. Reflexively moving out of range. And a stance ready to counterattack at any moment. You really haven’t changed at all.”
“……”
“However, the sharpness contained within… is disappointing.”
With her sword drawn, Scarlet sighed toward me. Genuine regret shimmered in her blood-red eyes.
“Unlike before, you are now a wanted fugitive of the Empire. I have more than enough justification to duel you… but I am not a fox that runs after sour grapes.”
“…So you’re saying you won’t duel me?”
“Correct. I will not.”
I widened my eyes as I watched Scarlet casually lower her signature weapon from her grip, as if she felt no attachment whatsoever. Just who was the woman standing before me? Wasn’t this the same woman who had relentlessly pestered me for life-or-death duels even before I served His Majesty the Emperor? She had even once tried to stab a dagger right next to my neck while I was sleeping, then begged me to report her for attempted assassination so I would agree to duel her. And now this insane woman was saying she wouldn’t challenge me to a fight?
Why?
“You look like you’re wondering why I won’t.”
“……”
“Even I desperately want to challenge you to a duel right this moment. However, your current strength is noticeably inferior to what it once was. If we fought in this state, your defeat would be inevitable.”
Scarlet’s cold analysis. I didn’t bother denying her words. Just as she said, I didn’t have the power to fight her right now. Even in the past it would have been difficult, but facing her now after she had grown even stronger would likely result in me being overwhelmingly crushed.
“I have no interest in predetermined victories. I crave a duel against an opponent whose victory cannot be predicted. A bloody battle where both sides risk their lives. And if, in the process, one of us takes or loses a life… that would be even better.”
“…You crazy bitch.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that approximately seven thousand five hundred and thirty-six times. And among them, only from you…”
I stared at Scarlet with an exhausted expression and cut her off.
“So if you’re not going to challenge me to a duel, why did you come? To see your disciple?”
“That’s partially correct, but not entirely.”
“Then is it by order of His Majesty the Emperor?”
I had momentarily forgotten because her madness was so overwhelming, but Scarlet ultimately belonged to the Imperial family—directly under the Emperor himself. And that Emperor had placed a bounty and wanted notice on my head. It wouldn’t be strange at all for Scarlet, the Knight Commander of the Imperial Knights, to come capture me personally.
“That is also not entirely correct. His Majesty ordered me to capture you, but I have no intention of taking you in. The reason I came to find you is something else.”
“Something else?”
“Yes. According to information obtained by the Imperial Intelligence Bureau exactly one day ago.”
Scarlet paused for a moment. She almost never hesitated to speak, so I tilted my head in confusion. Then I immediately understood why she had faltered.
“An individual claiming to be a survivor of the Raziel Kingdom has appeared.”
Raziel Kingdom. The place that had been completely destroyed and erased from the map. It was also my homeland—the place where I was born.