Birthday Party (2)
The moment he first saw her, the world stopped.
Everything had frozen—and yet his heart alone hammered like a mad thing.
Thump-thump!
It's her!
Certainty struck him at a single glance. He had found the woman to whom he could offer everything he was. She was so perfect that the word beauty fell short of her, and if he could only take her into his arms, he felt there was nothing he could not do.
She's exactly my type...
Merely looking at her was enough to make him drool.
Nothing at all like my fiancée, Lilith.
Yes. Who would ever compare her to that pig of a woman?
"E-excuse me...!"
Uni gathered every scrap of courage and tried to speak to Lilith, but some twenty young ladies appeared all at once and barred his way.
What?
The air had turned wrong. He followed them, just in case—and sure enough.
My girl is in danger!
Something ugly was already unfolding.
"Heh heh! Don't worry. I will protect you."
Uni might not look the part, but he was a young lord—an heir. To restore his baronial house he had not balked at an engagement to a fat woman, and he drilled his swordsmanship every single day. By a mercenary's measure, his skill was nothing less than a magnificent C-rank.
The pain still had not faded. Uni rubbed his cheek and drew the sword at his hip.
Whoosh!
"Hm?"
He had definitely drawn it. So why was his hand empty?
"Ah...!"
Realization dawned, and Uni looked at Lilith with a thoroughly wronged expression.
"What do I do? I left my longsword behind...?"
Almost at once, though, his face turned grave.
"Don't worry. Even without a sword, I'm strong."
He set one foot forward, bent slightly at the waist, and dropped into a fighter's stance.
"You may be women, but... t-twenty of you! I won't go easy!"
Was that clumsiness only his imagination?
The Heavenly Demon looked at the Uni who had suddenly appeared and found him utterly pathetic.
What an idiot.
Better if the fool just took a beating and went down. If he kept milling about in front of them, he would only be a nuisance.
"We are Lady Serna's sword and her magic. Even if you are Young Lord Uni, we will show you no mercy."
Several of the young ladies behind her laid support magic over Twizen, and a bright chime rang out.
Strength
Haste
Bless
Twizen's muscles swelled to their limit. Her steps grew light, and she looked twice as powerful as before.
"Th-that's cheating! This is too much!"
Uni recoiled in a fluster.
Whoosh!
Twizen's hand shot out to seize the fleeing Uni by the collar. Her stature was immense, and the reach of her arm was just as long.
Oh?
Watching a movement he had never expected from Uni, the Heavenly Demon was more than a little surprised. Uni read the exact path of the incoming hand and twisted his body. Not only did he slip the grab with a small motion—he even caught Twizen's hand in return.
Not a bad movement, all things considered.
At this level, there seemed no need to step in.
The clash between Twizen and Uni went on. When a fist flew, he dodged; when she tried to seize him, he seized her instead. But Uni never struck back.
On purpose?
As if some gentleman's principle forbade him from attacking a woman.
Pride like that is how you end up bleeding, sooner or later.
A burst of flame struck Uni's foot.
A small explosion went off—just as the Heavenly Demon had expected. One of the young ladies in the rear had loosed the bolt.
"D-don't worry. Something like this won't even—"
It hurt quite a bit; Uni's face twisted. Even so, the woman who was counting on him and growing anxious came first. He spoke to reassure her, but—
"She's gone?!"
She was nowhere to be seen.
"Sh-she disappeared!"
Serna, too, only now seemed to notice that Lilith was gone, and she looked around. Lilith had been right there a moment ago. Was this the work of a ghost? She had vanished in an instant, and they had not even realized it—as if Uni had been standing there alone from the start.
Serna let out a sigh heavy enough to cave in the earth, then waved a hand and stopped Twizen.
"That's enough. What good does catching Young Lord Uni do us..."
The fist Twizen had been about to smash into Uni's face halted.
"Count yourself lucky."
Twizen lowered her fist as if nothing had happened and stood there, perfectly demure.
"Ha—Young Lord Uni! So your true feelings were that you liked Lilith? After all that talk about how much you hated her, what are you doing now!"
Uni tilted his head.
"...Pardon? I'm not quite sure what you're saying..."
"The woman you just shielded. That was Lilith."
"Pfft—hahahahahahahahaha!"
He clutched his stomach, then collapsed onto the ground and cackled.
"Hahaha! What a ridiculous joke! Lilith is a pig!"
Serna frowned and tapped her own forehead.
"I'm telling you... that was Lilith."
"Come on, I don't believe it. You're saying Lilith lost weight and turned into a beauty like that?"
"I said it's true."
"Whaaat?!"
He was so shocked he shot to his feet. If that was true... then this was actually perfect! Lilith would still be in love with him. All he had to do was marry his fiancée.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
The corners of Uni's mouth refused to come down.
"Well, well. This is wonderful news! I must tell Father at once that we should hurry the wedding!"
So he had made a fool of himself without even recognizing his own fiancée's face? Men were all the same, anyway.
Serna sighed. Looking at that stupid man, she felt she had only wasted her strength. Lilith had escaped because of him, but she was not about to let this go. She would finish it today, no matter what.
"Everyone, spread out and find Lilith!"
The Heavenly Demon slipped out of the garden and searched and searched for a place with few people, until at last he made for a small hill behind the mansion.
No one around, pleasant enough, and the whole estate in a single glance. This will do.
There was no grand reason for seeking out the hill. He simply had no time to rest.
The concentration of qi spread through this other world is high, true... but I started far too late.
Then and now, the Heavenly Demon's goal was the same. The end of the sword. The end of martial arts. To see that end.
Even after becoming the greatest under heaven, he had never seen it. Perhaps there was no end at all. He knew it was something he could never grasp, and still he wanted to stand there.
Lilith had been born into a very fine world, but she had learned nothing, and she was far too weak. Correcting that only now would take a long time. It could not help but be late.
I may never catch up to the me I used to be.
That was how high this one's realm had stood.
So I must strive for even one more second.
A branch of decent length. The Heavenly Demon picked it up and extended it toward the empty air, where no one stood.
Even a bare branch, once I take it up, becomes the finest of famed swords.
Whoosh!
A light horizontal cut—but immense years were held inside it.
"Lacking."
It had been a cut without a single wasted motion, yet the Heavenly Demon was not satisfied. It had to be faster. More precise. There must be nothing in the world he could not cut.
"Kyaaaa! Save me!"
Crack.
The branch in the Heavenly Demon's hand crumbled. He had swung only once, and it could not withstand his strength.
"Hm?"
He lifted his head toward the sound. A cute young woman was there, clinging to a massive tree whose grandeur had no visible end even when one looked up, and she was crying.
This place is ruined too.
The Heavenly Demon turned, meaning to find somewhere quieter.
"You there! Big sister! Don't go! Please! Save me!"
Not once in his life had he been called big sister. The Heavenly Demon assumed she was not calling him.
"The big sister in the purple dress! Please!"
The strength was draining from her hands. That tall, pretty sister was not even looking this way, and she was far off besides.
A fall from here probably wouldn't kill me... but I'd wreck some part of my body, wouldn't I?
She tried somehow to hold onto the tree, but her fingertips slipped—
"Kyaaaaa!"
—and her body plunged toward the ground. In that fleeting instant of falling, her life flickered past her eyes. So this is what dying feels like, she thought. Until she was gathered snugly into someone's arms.
"Eh...?"
She had definitely fallen from the tree. So why was it so warm? The woman who had squeezed her eyes shut slowly opened them.
"...Big sister?"
When she opened her eyes, the sister who had been far away was right there.
A dream?
Pinch.
"Ow!"
She had pinched her cheek, and it hurt far too much.
"It's not a dream..."
"No. It is not a dream."
The woman blinked. She wore a pure white dress and a golden tiara.
"H-how..."
"Did you not ask for help? So I helped."
As if it were a bother, the Heavenly Demon set her down on the ground.
"No way! Big sister, you're a mage?"
"...I don't know how to use rubbish like that."
"Hee. Big sister's shy, isn't she?"
The woman caught the hem of her dress lightly in both hands, bent one knee, and offered a dainty curtsy.
"Ah, I am Stian, the youngest princess of the Doerdom Kingdom. It's a pleasure to meet you, big sister!"
"...I see. Then hide in those bushes for a moment."
Stian stared blankly at Lilith. What a strange big sister.
I revealed my station, and she barely cared.
Ordinarily someone would have been shocked, or apologized for having been rude. Then again, the fact that she had not recognized her face in the first place was already absurd.
"Okay! Big sister! I just have to hide, right?!"
"Yes. It will be over quickly."
The Heavenly Demon's gaze turned down the slope. Serna and her flock of young ladies were climbing hard. Gently talking them down was clearly out of the question.