Chapter 37
The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 37
Translation: godsn
[What are you doing?]
"These will just get in the way when I really start moving."
As the sword moved, the petticoat and dress were sliced away. My legs felt cool below the knees. Seizing the moment, I haphazardly cut away the fluttering sleeves too. Scraps of fabric fluttered down like falling petals. She snatched one from the air and used it as a ribbon to tie up her long hair in a high ponytail.
As she picked up the longsword, she frowned upon seeing its blade. The cheap sword, abused without any maintenance, was in terrible condition. Eki tossed it aside and unbuckled Baraha's sword from his waist.
"I'll borrow this for a bit, Senior."
Baraha's sword was a greatsword, larger than a standard longsword. It looked excessively big for her frame. Of course, such things didn't constrain her. It was a well-tamed fine blade. What pleased her most was how sturdy it looked.
Eki almost reflexively threw away the scabbard before remembering it belonged to Baraha and carefully set it aside instead. She gripped the sword in her left hand. Then let her right hand hang loose.
[Huh? Huh? Me? You're going to use me? Wow, wow! It's been so long!]
"There's too many of them. Besides, most are creatures I've never seen before."
A sword flowed into existence from her palm as if pouring out. Eki drew Valdergiosa with her left hand while switching Baraha's sword to her right. The transparent glass-like blade of the magic sword pulsed with glowing patterns.
[Can I use my powers? Huh? Can I?]
"Yes. That's why I drew you."
The shrieks of approaching monsters stabbed at her ears. Pointing the magic sword toward the encroaching horde, she whispered:
"So go wild to your heart's content, Valdergiosa."
Valdergiosa had two primary abilities.
First, specialization in slaughter. As a magic sword from the Giosa series specifically designed for carnage, the owner intuitively understands the most efficient way to kill whatever stands before them. This proved extremely useful when facing never-before-seen monsters like now.
And the second was...
[If it's to my heart's content, can I use your whole body?]
"Don't push your luck, damn magic sword. Left arm only, as always."
[Fine, that's good enough! I'm so excited!]
With the owner's permission granted, dark energy swirled up from the magic sword's hilt. It crept up, corrupting the left arm before staining parts of Echinacea's hair and her left eyeball pitch black.
The accumulated bloodlust within the magic sword converted into mana. Using this mana, the sword could control the owner's physical body. This ability allowed pre-awakening magic swords to dominate their hosts, and was also why owners would commit unintended slaughter if they didn't release the built-up bloodlust.
Though right-handed, Eki handled swords quite well with her left too. With the magic sword added to the mix, she might as well have been ambidextrous. When facing multiple enemies, she would wield her original sword in the right hand while gripping Valdergiosa in the left, essentially surrendering the entire left arm to the magic sword.
The magic sword in her left hand fought well on its own without her control. Having frequently used this method in the erased past, she had become quite accustomed to wielding swords left-handed even without the magic sword.
The lead monster among the approaching horde reached her, charging right up to her face. It resembled a leopard but with six legs, over ten eyes, and skin that dripped like mud. Right behind it lumbered a one-eyed giant covered entirely in scales, shaking the ground with each step.
The leopard-like creature swung its front paw at her. Eki avoided the attack by kicking off the ground into a leap. The tattered remnants of her dress, now effectively a miniskirt, billowed from the jump.
Her mana-enhanced leap was tremendous. In an instant, she reached the height of the monster's crown - equivalent to a two-story building. At that apex, the upward momentum briefly balanced with gravity. A fleeting moment of weightlessness. Her pair of eyes - one black, one violet - locked onto their targets.
["The one that looks kinda human! That one's mine!"]
"Handle it yourself."
Purple mana flowed down her arm and coiled around the greatsword in her right hand. She swung the blade. A violet sword energy separated from the steel, slicing through the air as it shot forward. The energy cleaved in half the grotesque leopard-like creature—now standing on its forelegs while frantically searching for the vanished human—right through its torso.
Valdergiosa moved Echinacea's left arm. Black mana split into multiple tendrils that burrowed into the cyclopean giant's skull like serpents hunting prey. The giant's head exploded.
Normally, maintaining balance would be nearly impossible when both arms moved independently. Yet Echinacea controlled her body with masterful precision. After dispatching two monsters midair, she landed as softly as a cat. Her pink hair, streaked with black, streamed behind her in a long arc.
More monsters stampeded over their fallen kin, charging in waves. The deaths of their comrades meant nothing to these creatures.
The instant her feet touched ground, Echinacea kicked off again, darting forward like a swallow skimming water. She reached the legs of a bear-wolf hybrid and immediately executed an upward slash with her greatsword.
The lingering purple arc of her blade expanded explosively as the mana coating it momentarily swelled to the size of a giant's sword. The bisected monster collapsed. Meanwhile, her left hand—wreathed in black mana—impaled another creature approaching from the side.
She didn't bother looking at the slain monster. As a wielder specialized in slaughter, the Magic Sword's owner instinctively identified vital points—and she possessed more than enough skill to strike them all.
She moved immediately to the next target. A monster with claws larger than her torso swung its massive forelimb down to crush her. She nimbly leapt onto the descending limb. Another monster attempted to stomp on her, but she'd already vanished—leaving only the shrieking beast whose paw had been crushed beneath its ally's weight.
While Valdergiosa in her left hand decapitated the howling creature, Echinacea's right-hand blade intercepted the whip-like tail of another monster. Her slender arms—appearing too fragile to withstand even a glancing blow—casually absorbed the massive impact. Though forced back slightly, her stance never wavered.
She leapt again, slashed, landed, charged, ducked low, thrust, mounted, blocked, and repelled. Her lithe body defied gravity as she danced through the air, leaving trails of dissipating violet mana in her wake. The Magic Sword's inky energy coiled like flames one moment, then lashed out like serpents the next.
Where her blades passed—gently as fingers brushing instrument strings—explosions erupted as if bombs had detonated. Where her feet lightly touched down, the ground crumpled like iron under a blacksmith's hammer.
This was Echinacea Roaz's sword style: A butterfly's approach that bared fangs upon contact. Her movements covered terrifyingly vast ranges—utilizing even the air itself—yet each blade's trajectory remained brutally simple. But simplicity didn't mean carelessness. Every stroke had been calculated before the steel even moved, appearing to pierce solutions in straight lines without intermediate steps.
Exuberant mana expenditure and exquisite control made it all possible. Without her innate mana affinity, her still-developing body could never wield such power. Of course, there'd be consequences—tomorrow's muscle pain would be inevitable.
'My body's going to ache like hell after this. Still easier than when I entered that Node years ago. And this place isn't exactly gentle compared to that Node either... Then again, that was years ago. I have grown stronger since then.'
[Forty-nine! Ugh, humans would've been more fun!]
"Shut up and fight, Val."
[No! Whoop—fifty! You said I could go wild!]
"I didn't mean for your mouth to run wild too."
[Don't know, can't hear! La la la la! 51st!]
The magic sword chattered away in an excited tone. Eki gave up and moved her sword. Truth be told, she also felt somewhat refreshed after moving her body so freely, pouring out mana without restraint for the first time in ages—without worrying about others watching. It felt like stretching after being curled up for too long. And the monsters she fought were opponents she didn't need to hold back against. A faint smile flickered across her lips.
This was the sight that met Baraha's eyes when he opened his own.
"Owwww..."
He groaned, clutching the back of his neck as soon as he came to. Still disoriented, he lifted his head—and froze.
Echinacea Roaz was soaring through the air, a transparent sword wreathed in black mana in one hand and Baraha's own sword wrapped in violet mana in the other, looking completely at ease—even slightly smiling. Her long hair, tied up in a sky-blue ribbon, streamed behind her like a tail.
Though she wasn't truly flying—just leaping to impossible heights—to Baraha, it might as well have been flight.
"What... this can't be..."
His first thought was that he must be dreaming. Baraha rubbed his face roughly, checked the empty scabbard lying neatly beside him, then looked ahead again.
Echinacea was sweeping through the monsters with a sword in each hand. Those terrifying creatures were being slaughtered wholesale, with only a few remaining.
He pinched his forearm. Even hard enough to bruise, the scene before him didn't change. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his mind, then stared straight ahead again.
Echinacea Roaz stepped onto a monster's knee and launched herself upward. Where her foot had pressed, the knee shattered instantly. In the blink of an eye, she reached the monster's face at that dizzying height, sliced its eyeballs apart with her sword, then dropped back down.
Precise movements. Blue blood rained down like a shower. Her slender, pale forearm was fully visible beneath the haphazardly cut sleeve. Beneath the tattered hem of her skirt—now stained red in places with both her blood and the monsters'—her slim legs stretched out. Her high-heeled shoe touched the ground. Then she leaped into the air again.
Overwhelming. Beautiful.
Baraha forgot to think. Awe flooded his mind before questions or shock could take hold. His heart began pounding wildly. Mesmerized, he watched her.
The last monster fell.
Monster corpses littered the area. Eki stood amidst them and swung the greatsword once with great force, flinging off the blood clinging to it. The magic sword absorbed the remaining blood coating its surface before obediently disappearing into her grasp. Her left eye and hair, which had darkened, returned to their original color as the sword's mana receded.
Only when she sheathed the sword did Baraha realize what that transparent blade truly was. As a squire of the Blue Sky, he couldn't possibly fail to recognize Valdergiosa's form.
'The magic sword Valdergiosa...?'
His face paled. And when Eki turned to look at him, her own face went white.
She had hit him with enough force to keep an ordinary person unconscious for at least half a day. She'd thought Baraha, being so large and sturdy, might wake up a little sooner. But she never expected him to regain consciousness just two hours later.
Her mind went blank. How much had he seen? Did he recognize the magic sword? Could she make him keep quiet? What would happen if he exposed her? The first thought that surfaced was Yurien. Above all else, she couldn't let him find out. Especially not him.
[Huh? Why's he awake? Since when? He must've seen everything! If he saw, you have to kill him! We can't let this get out, right? Kill him!]
The magic sword babbled on, its tone still buzzing with battle excitement. Eki rubbed her tired eyes with an equally exhausted hand and sighed, nearly a groan. Then, slowly, she stepped through the monster corpses toward Baraha.