Karma of Obsession (6)
The knight realized it in an instant. Those pitch-black eyes glaring at him with murderous intent, ready to tear him apart, and the flowing black hair. The pristine maid outfit marked her as a servant, but the dagger in her hand and her peak-beauty appearance made it obvious at a glance. A witch. That murderer. The Empire had tasted defeat at the hands of this single overwhelming force time and again.
And seeing that murderer bowing to the masked man beside her... he had to be at least as strong as her, if not more. The thought of not one, but two such insane monsters made his legs tremble.
If it had all been bluff and bluster, the Empire's many talents wouldn't have been shredded here, and this knight's mace would have caved in their skulls. No, deep down, that's what he'd hoped for.
That maid glaring at him with eyes full of hatred could slaughter him and the elite soldiers outside with her eyes closed. She was probably on par with—or stronger than—those two sword saints. It was already decided.
'...Run. I have to run.'
He needed to warn the others outside right away. Thinking they could kill her with their own hands had been pure arrogance.
The 500 elite knights here were equipped with the finest gear and had received the Empire's best training—some could even tangle with 1-star heroes. But the moment Ian gave the signal...
The knight's body exploded.
The knights outside watching it all met the same fate, their bodies sliced apart by ruthless slashes and tumbling to the ground in pieces.
At first, they thought it was just some clueless maniac charging in alone.
"Urgh... Uwaaaaaah!!!"
Right up until their bodies were cleaved in half.
It started with light footwork. No sound of footsteps—she glided through the air. Then she spread her right hand wide, drew her dagger from her waist like lightning, and swung.
A knight who had just raised his shield upon spotting her movement took a slashing blow aimed right at him.
"___--_"
Shwick!
With her murmured technique name, a transparent slash passed through the knight's body.
And then—
Clank.
A bizarre noise rang out suddenly. The puzzled knight looked down at himself. So did the mage mid-incantation. And the knight who had lifted his shield to hurl his spear.
Everyone looked down at their own bodies all at once, as if sensing something off.
And the next moment—
Clank. Thud!
The sound of iron armor hitting the ground echoed in their ears.
Spiiiish!!!
Fountains of blood erupted one after another, and the knights' bodies split in half, their vaunted elite torsos separating from their legs.
Every spot her hand touched cleaved through hundreds of knights in a single strike, splattering blood across the entire village.
The torso of a knight wielding a greatsword with both hands. The body of one hiding behind a shield. They all split in half again, soaking the ground in hot blood.
And whether by misfortune or sheer luck, the commander who somehow survived collapsed backward.
////
The commander who had come here, Knight Hans, fell back into a pond of blood spurting from his comrades' lower halves.
Warm blood still fresh from their bodies soaked his clothes and armor—worth hundreds of gold coins—and the constant splashing filled his ears.
Splat! Splat!
The knights' lower bodies, left standing on legs alone without torsos, toppled one by one.
Each time, Hans flinched violently, scrambling backward as he stared at the maid drawing ever closer.
'Just where the hell did this monster come from?!'
He'd figured she was at most a 2-star hero. The Empire's military had grown far stronger than before, and these elites were incomparable to the old ones.
But that overwhelming power...
'...3-star. Maybe even 4-star...'
Hans knew, having faced a 2-star up close once before. This was leagues beyond that.
The castle that had become the grave of countless adventurers and Empire soldiers. He'd come not just to reclaim the 'heart' as intended, but to survive and earn a hero's welcome.
Yeah. Just survive, and he'd profit as a noble who returned from this place.
So he'd planned to slaughter these worthless monster scum and head back. Pretend to do the job, and that was enough.
But the maid who had massacred every last elite soldier before his eyes, radiating pure killing intent from every pore as she stared him down... it made him stagger back involuntarily.
His survival was probably because...
"Yuria—spare that one, just enough to let him crawl away."
"...But."
"They've been invading nonstop anyway. Kill them all this time, and more will come. Let half of him live and send him back. Let him spread the word—this place isn't to be messed with."
"Understood, Master."
No way—
'She's sparing me? Letting me go?'
Just to show off their power and fear? Treating him like less than a mere servant?
Humiliation surged, but relief at still being alive overrode it, forcing down his rage.
As Knight Hans tried to stand—
Splat!
His face slammed back into the blood.
Hot pain flared in his right arm and the bridge of his nose. Grimacing, he forced himself up anyway. Weak or not, a knight's pride demanded it.
'Gotta stand again...'
He suppressed the agony and tried to rise, but...
"...Huh?"
Something felt missing. A sensation that had always been there.
Gone entirely.
The swordsmanship honed over a lifetime, the limb handling most daily tasks. Hans could see it—his right arm that had supported his body, cleanly severed and embedded cruelly in the wall behind him.
The realization hit, and burning pain ignited from his right shoulder.
"Gaaahhh!!! Aaaahhh..."
Black blood poured from the stump.
But Knight Hans stared at it in pained shock for a moment before letting out a despairing scream.
That woman had casually ended a noble knight's life.
Even if he survived and returned, he'd never swing a sword properly again. Not with his left arm alone—nothing like his former fluid, masterful technique.
She'd stolen what was as good as his life from a swordsman.
A treasure forged from birth, endured through pain and toil.
Lost in a single stroke.
His entire existence as a knight.
"You didn't seriously think I'd let you walk out on all fours, did you?"
At that chilling, cruel voice, he recoiled and looked at Yuria gazing impassively downward.
Terror-stricken, Knight Hans glanced around and screamed wildly.
"I-Is there no one left alive?! Block her, now!!! I'm a noble!!! I didn't come here to die!!!"
He met those indifferent, pitch-black eyes reflecting nothing, screaming on, but no answer came.
When he realized through the windows, from behind the curtains of the second-floor houses, that the surviving villagers were just watching him...
Hans clenched his chattering teeth and stared at Yuria standing silently before him.
Even he, who had seen countless beauties, found her breathtaking—but in this moment, she was just another object of terror.
She bared her dagger, slick with his comrades' black blood, her expressionless gaze defying belief for someone who had just killed. Slowly, she pressed the blade to his left arm.
Hans swallowed dryly and muttered.
"D-Do you know... who I am...?! Touch me, and the Empire's high officials won't stand for it...!!!"
Trembling in fear, he made his final threat, but the maid silently drove the blade deeper between his shoulder and arm.
No way. His left arm too...!
"I-I'll pay! Platinum coins...! No, name your price...!!! I'm a noble. Whatever you want, if I just get out alive...!"
Ignoring his desperate flailing, the maid pushed the dagger in further.
Splurt!
Red blood sprayed, speckling her white cheek. Yet she continued indifferently, the blade prying into his arm.
"If I die here...! My connections and the higher-ups will hear about the elite squad wiped out, and they'll muster the full army to raze this place...!! You think trash like you two can hold off three million strong alone?!!"
"After killing you, they'll hack your master to bits and feed him to the beasts...!!! That's how the Empire handles enemies. Kill me, and you and your master will end the same...!"
For a moment, the maid's black pupils contracted.
She knew, in truth. Five hundred elites dead wouldn't move three million troops.
And she knew a man in such a position wouldn't be this pathetic and repulsive.
Just the final spasms of a worm clinging to life.
Yuria knew.
But.
"...Hack him? Kill him...? How dare you... Who... who dares...?"
Irritably ripping off his remaining left arm, Yuria seized his throat.
"What. Did you say."
"Guhk...!"
"Take my master from me. My everything...?"
Black murderous glare oozed out. The killer's unique aura soaked the knight's pants.
Thrusting her hand into the mangled stump of his shoulder, pulverizing the pristine white bone, Yuria growled.
"No one... no one can have him. Ever."
No matter who.
Revealing her killing intent fully, Yuria stared straight at Hans.
"Everything... all of it. I'll use every means, kill whoever I must, and take it back. Master... can never leave my side. Never."
She would offer her body and soul entirely to him.
All her power belonged to her master.
Yuria's life was wholly Ian's.
So—it disgusted her.
Even mentioning him was too much.
Only she could.
Ian. Her master. Was hers.
The trembling from her fingertips lingered long after releasing the knight.