The Hunter of the Wastes (5)
The knight clad in black armor stared down at me with eyes overflowing with void. Those hollow sockets burned with a cold violet light, utterly merciless.
Mist, standing behind me, sent the warning. After dodging the knight’s first strike, my instincts screamed the truth.
If I let even a single blow land, I would die.
I had to block or evade everything.
“Hahaha!!! Welcome back to the surface! My loyal knight!”
From behind the knight, the cultist let out a cry of ecstatic joy. Or rather, I should say the thing that used to be a cultist. After absorbing that surge of void, his appearance had changed completely. What stood there was no longer a living human.
“A lich…?”
Soleil identified him immediately. A lich—an undead monster born from a powerful mage. So he had used the absorbed void to turn his own body into an undead abomination. Just like that tentacle freak from before. These people were seriously insane.
Clank.
“Give me your command.”
The knight knelt before the cultist.
“I, Carnovar, your master, command you! Cut off the heads of those arrogant fools and bring them to me!”
“As you wish.”
Shing—
At Carnovar’s order, the knight rose and drew his sword. I spoke to my companions in a low voice so the knight wouldn’t hear.
“From what we’ve seen so far, void monsters always have a core. Let’s aim for that.”
“Then it should be the same as a human’s vital point. Their physical structure hasn’t changed.”
“Neck or heart, then. Same as always, right?”
Roooar—
Carnovar gathered void in his hands and lifted it high.
“Rise, my minions!”
“Grrrraaaah…”
“Kiiiaaaak—!!”
The void mana that burst from his palms seeped into the ground, and hordes of wraiths rose from every direction.
“Haaap!”
Whoosh—
“Grrr…”
Hoooo—
Brita sliced through the surrounding wraiths. They seemed to vanish like always, but—
“Graaaah—!”
They quickly reformed and reappeared.
“Fuck, what the hell? They’re resurrecting now?”
Bang! Bang!
“Graaaah…”
Soleil’s magic bullets passed straight through the wraiths’ stomachs. But moments later—
“Graaaah!!”
They simply reappeared again.
“We have to stop that lich!”
“Not a chance.”
Shweeeek—!
The knight’s sword swung toward Soleil. Clang—! Clang—! Brita and I blocked the strike together.
“Kuh!”
“Ugh! This bastard’s insanely strong!”
While we held the blade back with both hands, he pressed down with just one, completely at ease.
“How weak. Compared to him, you’re nothing.”
Him? Who was he talking about?
But right now… I didn’t have time to wonder—!
Scraaaape—
The screech of metal grew louder. Roooar— Boom—! Mist formed a sphere of magic and hurled it at the knight.
“Annoying.”
Tap—Swish—!
The knight leaped back from us and sliced Mist’s attack in two.
Kwaaaaa—!!
Mist immediately followed up with a massive beam of light aimed at the knight.
“Hup!”
The knight gathered power and blocked the beam with a slash of pressurized wind.
Mist’s expression was ice-cold as she spat the words.
“Oh? A sword spirit, are you?”
The knight looked at Mist.
“You’re different from what I remember. You were supposed to be a wind spirit.”
He saw right through her identity. But… different from what he remembered? Just who was this guy?
Viiiing— Pew! Pew! Pew!
Multiple beams of light shot toward the knight.
“Pathetic.”
Ting! Ting!
He flicked every beam aside with his sword.
Now.
For a split second, he had lost sight of me. Kwaaaaa—!! I flooded Gram with red energy.
“Hm!?”
“Hah!”
Clang!!
The knight spun and blocked my slash. Thank you for moving exactly as I expected.
Hoooooo—!!
“Hm! A feint?”
“Too late.”
The wind clinging to my blade swirled violently, birthing a second slash that flew straight at him.
Slaaash— Boom!
“Guh!”
The wind blade and Mist’s magic pierced the knight’s body. Thud! His massive frame dropped to one knee.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t reached his core. And even if I had, that lich would just resurrect him. I needed to neutralize both the knight and the lich.
“Brita! Soleil!”
“Haaaat!”
Brita had already carved through the wraiths and swung her axe at Carnovar.
“Futile!”
Fwoosh—
The cultist dodged and hurled a fiery orb at her.
“Rise!”
Soleil summoned a wall of water to block it.
“Are you alright?”
“Whew, that was close.”
Rooooar—!!
More void began pouring into Carnovar.
“Insignificant worms… die!”
Shwoooo—
“Holy shit… what the hell is that!”
At Brita’s horrified shout, I looked up. Several enormous spheres of magical power were falling from the sky—fire magic coated in void. This was dangerous. There wasn’t enough time to cut them all down. What could I do…?
…!
A thought flashed through my mind. The spell Albrecht had used. It was the same wind attribute as mine. It wouldn’t be precise, but it was worth trying.
Hwooo—
I gathered a short burst of wind, compressed it in my palm, and flung it toward everyone.
“…Celero!”
Hweeeeee—
Wind flowed beneath everyone’s feet.
“Oh! Perfect timing!”
“When did you learn—? A-anyway, let’s dodge!”
Tap tap—
For a brief moment, everyone’s movements sped up. The effect was unstable and weak, but it was enough to evade the attack.
Hweeee—
…It even worked on flying creatures, apparently.
Shwoong— Kaboom!
Thankfully, everyone escaped the blast radius. Everyone except—
“Miss Brita! Watch out!”
“Ugh! Using dirty tricks like this?”
One sphere had been hidden. It was flying straight at Brita and Soleil.
“You used the same trick, didn’t you? Just die quietly!”
“Tch!”
Clack—
Brita steadied her stance and gripped her axe shaft tightly.
“Miss Brita, what are you—? That’s reckless!”
“You got a better idea? Here I go! Haaaaap!!”
Shwoooo— KABOOM!!
Brita’s axe strike flew toward the sphere.
“Hahaha!! Fool! You think that little toy can stop my magic?”
Carnovar laughed at her. Physical attacks couldn’t deal much damage to void. The situation looked bad. If we just left it like this…
That was when it happened.
“Tsuhaaaap!!”
Vwoong— Slaaash!
Brita’s axe cleaved the sphere in two.
“Wh-what!? You cut my attack?”
It seemed he hadn’t seen it. But we had. For a split second, a faint yellow light had lingered at her fingertips. Magic. Earth attribute?
“Hah! What do you think of that?”
“Kuh…!”
His face twisted with rage. It looked like a serious blow to his pride. He probably never imagined a plain axe could block his spell.
“Grrrr… Rise, my faithful servant!”
Hoooooo—
Carnovar gave the knight a furious command. Void flowed from his hand into the knight.
“Guh…! Graaaaaah!!”
Screaming, the knight rose once more. Crack. Crunch. His body twisted at unnatural angles. Hiiiiing—! Clatter. A skeletal horse rose from the ground beneath him. He mounted it and seized a lance that radiated ominous energy.
The void radiating from him was several times stronger than before. He must have poured every ounce of power into the knight.
Kwaaaaa—!!
I gripped Gram tightly and poured mana into it. No. This wasn’t enough.
Squeeze—
I gripped the sword even harder. Drip. Drip. Blood flowed from my hand. The skin had torn from the pressure.
“Krimhild! Your hand!”
“Hey, you!”
I heard the two of them cry out in worry. It didn’t matter.
To kill that arrogant bastard behind him, I had to break this knight first. And for that… I needed even greater power.
Power always came at a price.
Shwaaaaa—!!
The blood that had been falling to the ground suddenly reversed, rising upward to coil around Gram. It wasn’t just wind the color of blood. A true blood-red gale began to rage.
“Ugh…”
Crack. Rattle. Rattle.
My hand shook violently, unable to withstand the sword’s power. Splurt—! Blood sprayed from my arm.
If this was what it took to increase the power… then so be it.
Tap—
Mist grabbed the hand holding the sword. Her eyes looked like she was about to cry. This must have happened in the previous timeline too.
Shook—
Mist slipped into Gram.
Hweeeee—
Dark-attribute mana rose from within the sword, sharpening the blood gale into a lethal edge. The trembling in my arm gradually subsided.
Good. I could endure this… at least a little longer.
Hiiiiing!!
“Graaaaaah!!!”
Clop-clop— Clop-clop— Shweeeeeeek!!
The knight leveled his lance and charged at terrifying speed.
One strike.
I would end this in a single blow.
Slide—
I lowered my stance, preparing to burst forward. I poured even more acceleration into my already magic-enhanced legs and ran.
I would cut him down in one breath.
“Sever!!”
Tap— Shiiiiiiik—!!
I kicked off the ground and surged forward. With a sound like tearing air, my sword sliced through the knight’s body.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!!!!
“Grrrrraaagh!!”
A tremendous roar split the earth. The knight screamed for a single instant before—
Thud!
His body, sliced cleanly in half along the path of my slash, fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Shwoooo—
When the cloud of sand settled, a massive crack—like something had been gouged out by a giant hoe—stretched across the ground. The knight no longer moved.
“I-impossible! He blocked my full power!?”
Carnovar looked down in utter despair.
“I lost? I… Guh!”
Thud! Bang—! Thunk!
Brita kicked Carnovar in the stomach and slammed him into the rubble. Mist, who had already slipped out of Gram, fired massive needle-like spikes that pinned both his hands to the ground.
“Ugh… so noisy.”
Both of them looked down at him with pure disgust.
Fwaaaa—
“Krimhild, are you okay?”
Soleil approached and began healing my injured arm.
“Thanks. This is enough for now. The rest can wait…”
I gave her a quick word of gratitude, then pointed Gram at the cultist.
“Let’s deal with him first.”
“You… damn bastards!! Huh…?”
He tried to gather mana to cast a spell. But—
Sssss—
“Ugh… Why can’t I… gather any power?”
The mana scattered before it could form. Instead, what greeted him was—
Sway. Sway.
A gentle breeze.
With the knight’s defeat, the void had completely vanished. Wind began to blow across the land where the flow of air had been sealed. It seemed the power of the seal had disappeared along with its caster. Which meant this pathetic wretch was completely helpless without void.
“Impossible! After everything I did to get this far! How— Blegh!”
Crack!
Brita kicked him in the face.
Viiiing—!
“Graaaagh!!”
Crunch—!
The needles Mist had driven into him began to rotate, digging deeper into his hands.
“Want more, Krim?”
They seemed to have read my mind.
“That’s enough. Let’s get some information out of him first.”
No matter how useless he was, he had come here with some kind of plan. He had to know something.
“Ugh… Uwaaa…”
Soleil’s face had gone deathly pale with fear.
Ah.
“Mist, can you take care of Soleil for a moment?”
Swoosh—
Mist stepped in front of Soleil, blocking her view.
Hug—
“Ah, y-yes… Yes…”
Good. Preparations complete.
Now then…
“So… where is your base?”
“You think I’ll tell you— Gah!”
Thud!
Brita drove her knee into his jaw.
“Cough! Urk… Cough, cough!”
Plop. Plop.
A few teeth and blood-mixed saliva spilled from his mouth.
“Brita. Keep that up and he won’t be able to talk.”
“Oh, right. Should I go for somewhere else?”
“Legs?”
“Okay.”
Slide—
Brita lifted her foot.
“W-wait! I’ll talk, I’ll ta— Aaaaagh!”
Crunch!
Her foot came down on his knee. The leg bent in a direction legs were never meant to bend.
“I said I’d talk! I said I’d talk…!”
His face was covered in tears and snot. Disgusting. It made my stomach turn. I’d listen to what he had to say and then kill him quickly.
“Th-this place is… west— Urk!”
“What the hell? This guy?”
Suddenly, Carnovar’s face filled with pure terror.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please… spare me…!”
“Brita, get back!”
“Tch!”
KABOOM—!
His body suddenly exploded. The force of the blast completely obliterated everything above his waist.
“Ugh, fuck… That’s nasty…”
Brita covered her nose and mouth in revulsion.
So they had planted a bomb in his body to prevent information leaks. These lunatics…
“His last words… Did he say ‘west’?”
“Ugh… Probably.”
West from here was an enormous area. Brisland? Solano? Which region?
That was when I heard it.
“Haa…”
The fallen knight was breathing heavily.
“Hah! Be careful! He’s still alive!”
Soleil quickly raised her wand.
“I am still here… Lower your weapon, young mage…”
Exhaustion filled the knight’s voice. There was no longer any hostility or madness in it.
“Thank you… for freeing me…”
I see. So he, too, had lost his sense of self and become a slave to that void, just like those wraiths.
“The warrior who wields Gram… is he still there…?”
“Speak. I’ll at least listen to your last words.”
“Ah… yes… Where did you obtain that sword…?”
“…From my father. Do you know something about this sword?”
“Haa…”
He let out a long sigh and continued.
“I was told… that when that red light shines once more… the time of the prophecy will arrive…”
“Prophecy?”
“Yes… Soon you will follow that fate… and head toward the end…”
Mist’s eyes widened in shock.
She muttered something under her breath. My death that Mist had spoken of… it must be connected to this.
“Hah… My consciousness is fading…”
“One more question. Who are you? How do you know so much about Gram…?”
“Haha…”
He gave a short laugh.
“I learned much from… a man named Rerir…”
“Rerir…”
“Yes… I once lived with him…”
The knight steadied his breathing and continued.
“Since you know him… there is one more thing I must tell you…”
“What is it?”
“You still cannot use that sword to its full potential…”
“…”
I looked down at my injured arm. He was right. If I could, I wouldn’t have been hurt this badly.
“If you wish to grow stronger… follow his footsteps… That will be enough…”
His voice was growing fainter.
“My words end here… Young warrior, I offer you my respect…”
“…Yeah. I’ll return the respect.”
“Rerir… I have delivered your will… I, too… will go to that place…”
With those final words, the knight fell silent.
Crackle…
The knight’s body, made of void, began to crumble away. As the thick black clouds parted, sunlight poured down, illuminating his rusted armor. As if in mourning. As if guiding a long-sleeping soul to rest.
“…Let’s head back.”
“…Yeah. Let’s go.”
“Okay…”
Step. Step.
The two of them followed behind me with complicated expressions. And Mist…
Her shadowed face held the look of someone who had made a firm resolution.