The Fragment of Catastrophe Arrives with the Storm (6)
The jet-black knight's strike was too fast to even register properly. A razor sharpness that could cleave steel itself, paired with an overwhelming weight no ordinary strength could withstand—a sword technique infused with dark energy.
Emilia's triple sword, gripped in her hand, blocked the blade swinging mercilessly to sever her lifeline without a shred of mercy.
Chaaeng! Ka-kkiing! Kaaang!
"Ngh…!"
In a single breath, the pitch-black blade targeted her throat, brow, and heart. But the sword aglow with pure white energy parried every blow.
The death knight's fierce red eyes gleamed with a spark of interest in that instant. Every human he'd cut down since breaking free from his seal had perished in one strike. Yet this one had endured three exchanges. Is she different? The thought stirred faint intrigue.
As if responding to the knight's sentiment, the inky black energy surging through his blade exploded with greater ferocity.
Shieeeek—!
It swung. A strike so palpably earnest it made all prior attacks seem like mere dust-flicking from the blade—visible intent in every inch.
Emilia's eyes widened. She poured more energy into her triple sword, its brilliant white glow clashing against the knight's dark sword aura.
——But a triple sword wasn't meant for direct clashes to begin with. It didn't need to match the weight of that massive greatsword.
'Deflect it… redirect…!'
From upper right, diagonally down. Against the storm-like greatsword strike blurring past visibility, Emilia drew her triple sword close.
Chaaaeeng! Jjaenggaaang!
"Ugh…?!"
She barely deflected the greatsword's assault, but the shock proved too much—the blade in her hand shattered into fragments.
Still crouched low to evade, she rolled backward across the floor, using the recoil to retreat. Yet the jet-black knight closed in relentlessly, denying even a moment's breath.
『Splendid… indeed…』
Splendid? What the hell is splendid about this? She'd lost her sword to a single earnest swing from that idiot brute.
Before Emilia's frustrated glare, the jet-black knight raised his greatsword overhead. No blocking that with a mere hilt.
Sensing her doom, Emilia didn't close her eyes. She stared up at the scene.
The blade, wreathed in inky sword aura, plummeted like an solemn guillotine—too fast to see, just as before—to cleave her in two.
Kuuuung!
『……?』
The jet-black knight's red eyes flickered with puzzlement. Beneath the greatsword he'd swung to bisect his foe lay only a torn carpet and gouged hallway floor.
The woman before him had vanished. A woman wrapped in a familiar aura, though he knew not who.
『……』
She was gone. Nowhere to be found. Only a faint trace like sorcery lingered.
『Vanished…』
No regret at missing his mark. His task remained unchanged: slay the hero.
Unable to identify the hero now, he would kill every living human. Starting with those in this palace.
Then outward, to every creature beyond. No humans left alive meant the hero was dead too.
『Alone… it will… take time…』
The jet-black knight muttered, shattering a nearby window to step outside.
A fierce storm raged with torrential rain. The sky matched his inky hue. Lightning cracked, flaunting its terror, as the knight tilted his helmeted head skyward.
He opened his maw, unleashing a grotesque roar-like cry.
『――――――――――!!』
Puhwaaak!
Black energy erupted from his body. A horrific wail that shook the earth and quivered the air—not mere vocal cords, but a special summons call.
In response, from the ink-black clouds overhead, something colossal and terrifying emerged amid the gloom.
——A dragon of pure bone.
Larger than any wyvern. Even its wings were skeletal, offering no resistance to air—yet it wobbled through the sky, descending savagely toward the knight.
Kuuuung!
Upon landing, the bone dragon gaped its jaws in apparent glee at its ancient master. No vocal cords meant only the clack-clack-clack of bones clashing noisily.
The knight extended a hand to his beloved drake, reunited after centuries. Where his touch met bone, black mist like his own armor spread across its frame. Beneath, impossible flesh and muscle began forming.
The bone dragon swiftly regained its past glory. But perhaps because the knight hadn't fully recovered—or its natural state—it halted midway.
Putrid flesh like decay. One eye socket empty, patches rotted or torn. The stench from its body wrinkled noses.
Corpse Dragon. Visibly a cadaver, far from the majestic beauty of ordinary dragons.
Yet its majesty was undiminished. Immense size, overflowing menace, shrouded in black mist—pure terror for humans. With revived vocal cords, it roared skyward.
Air trembled; raindrops shattered midair.
『Long… time… no see… good boy…』
『Let us… fulfill… our king's… command…』
At the black knight's words, the dragon roared anew. Though his face was helmeted, he seemed pleased by his thrilled drake.
His gaze, having admired his beloved beast, shifted downward.
『But… first…』
At the end of that gaze: knights who'd sensed the anomaly and rushed over. Only a handful. More would come soon, but these stood frozen, terror-struck by the unreal sight.
Long peace had left them unprepared for such chaos.
Ready or not, the black knight advanced, greatsword gripped in jet-black aura. His drake followed, gaping its massive maw, tongue flicking like savoring prey as its long neck whipped toward them.
『Die… all… of you…』
The reaper-like knight swung his greatsword at the knights.
"………?"
Emilia, moments ago resigned to death, found no end coming. She'd been staring up at those red eyes and the heavy, murderous blade.
Now her vision held the stone ceiling of the 【Secret Warehouse】—undeniably the one she'd exited earlier.
"Aaaahhh~~~!! Seriously! What were you gonna do if you died?! Are you insane, Lia?! I told you not to gooo~~~!!"
Only then did she realize she was being held—someone pinned beneath her.
Succubus Mona, clutching Emilia desperately as they lay together.
"What happened? That guy…."
"Ugh! I shadow-jumped us! Our shadows are linked right now!"
Emilia, peering from atop Mona, soon lost balance and toppled, limbs quaking. The brush with death so close now hit home.
"Stay put, Lia. Hiding here is safe. It's got powerful concealment spells, and I reinforced it with my magic."
The secret warehouse entrance was sealed. Likely designed as a bunker too, not just for hiding secrets. Safe enough here.
Worst case, they'd only discover it after every human in the palace was slaughtered.
That buffer would let them evacuate her elsewhere.
Bound by contract to her master, Mona couldn't let Emilia die.
'I wonder if Master is okay. I'm trying communication spells, but something keeps interfering….'
Link to her master, Count Melrn, was spotty. Mona's contract protected Emilia's life—but not Melrn's.
Emilia's death meant Mona's end; Melrn's wouldn't affect her.
…Meaning no way to know if Count Melrn lived.
'This is bad… what now….'
Should she go protect him, leaving Emilia? Could she even?
That foe she'd glimpsed was unmistakably the perilously deadly Death Knight.
Mona excelled at manipulation but was combat-null—a total non-fighter.
'What to do….'
As Mona agonized over next steps—
"――I need… a sword."
The voice came from right beside her.