Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Afterglow Before Dawn
Tatak…!
A faint spark of light leaked from Siena’s collapsed body, floating over the pool of blood like embers.
“Gahahahaha—!!!”
It happened then.
With Gideon’s unhinged, thunderous laughter, a pillar of crimson light erupted from Siena.
The red light burned so brightly it felt like it would blind the eyes, as if it were using the Saint’s flesh and blood as fuel to set the battlefield itself ablaze.
“What… is that?”
“Stop staring and fight—Second Knight!!!!”
Gideon was right.
No matter how the situation twisted, the only thing that mattered now was cutting down that Named entity known as Radices.
Whoooosh—thud!!!
Siena’s burning light seeped into Gideon’s halberd.
The blade turned red-hot, like it had just been pulled from a furnace.
“Do you know? Ember burns brightest… right before it dies—!!!!!”
Gideon’s attacks grew even more ferocious, as if even his body had caught fire.
So this was Gideon’s way. The Ember Church’s Saintess.
There was no time to be impressed.
Swaaa—!
There was no space to admire Gideon’s blazing assault.
The entangling tree roots kept surging in. One mistake meant being impaled instantly.
Fwish—
My blade slipped through a gap between the roots, aiming for Radices’ neck.
Clang—!!
But it was useless.
Radices did not even move from his rooted position. He simply raised his shield and blocked it.
A faint voice echoed in my mind.
“Stay here… and protect us. Radices.”
A sharp sting followed.
The moment my blade touched him, fragments of memory leaked into my head.
Was this Radices’ past, when he was still a knight?
I saw him, and people dying beneath him. I saw fragments of slaughter.
So even this Named entity… was once human.
Radices’ memories poured into me.
Had it always been possible to see this much?
No. Focus.
If I could use it, I would.
I would steal his memories.
His rotten experiences. His twisted history.
Even if I could not strike him directly, if I kept brushing him with my blade, then somewhere in those memories… there had to be a weakness.
Boom—clang!!
Even Gideon’s relentless assault could not break through Radices’ defense.
Only the tangled tree vines were being severed, scattering into dust.
“Gideon—now!! I’ll create an opening!!”
“Gahahaha!! Don’t die, brat—!!”
I left the attack to Gideon.
There was no way my flimsy sword could pierce what even his halberd could not.
Maybe I could bait an opening. A reckless movement, something that would force that unmoving greatsword to respond.
But if I failed… Adela would suffer.
She would bleed again because of me.
I hesitated.
My body instinctively retreated behind the shield.
Swaaa—
Adela’s blue light spread wider, washing over me.
The warmth cleared my headache for a moment.
“Ruvel!! Don’t hesitate!!”
Her voice cut through the noise.
No. She wasn’t criticizing me.
She believed in me.
Believed I would protect her.
Believed we would return together.
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
Then I moved.
I deliberately exposed openings.
Clumsy movements. Predictable gaps.
A bait.
Radices reacted instantly.
His greatsword shot toward my heart.
If it hit, I would die.
And Adela would watch it happen.
No.
I twisted my body at the last moment.
Clang!!
The blade slid off my shield by a hair’s breadth.
“Haah… haah… Radices…”
“…Why… do they all… leave you like this…”
His blade carried memories again.
A half-built fortress. A lone figure left behind.
A fading Saintess illuminating him.
“Gideon—NOW!!”
“You’re a useful brat—!!!!”
WHOOSH—!!
Gideon’s halberd erupted with a light I had never seen before.
A crimson afterimage trailed behind it like a burning sunset.
Boom—!!!
A flash swallowed my vision.
When it cleared, Radices’ iron wall of defense had been severed.
His arm fell first.
Then his lower body collapsed, torn from the roots binding him to the land.
He staggered.
Dust and broken wood fell from his body.
“Gahahahaha!! Did you learn that, Second Knight!! This is how a knight fights—”
The sound of burning embers fading echoed softly.
Siena’s crimson light, which had been blazing until now, began to die out.
“…Siena…”
Something pierced Gideon’s chest.
A grotesque greatsword, covered in thorns.
His voice stopped.
The Ember had burned out.
Gideon was thrown back, crashing into a wagon.
“…Gideon… sir?”
One of the two Flames of the expedition had fallen.
Only I and Adela remained.
Step.
Radices moved again.
The ground trembled under his weight.
Step.
I couldn’t breathe.
My vision wavered from pain and exhaustion.
Step.
Adela’s light flickered beside me.
“Haah… haah… You can do it…”
Even now, she believed.
I forced myself up.
The shield was gone.
The battlefield was collapsing.
And Radices was coming.
I tightened my grip on my sword.
I would end this.
For Adela.
For everyone.
Clang!!
Steel met steel.
And for the first time—
Radices screamed.
“Grrrrr—!!!”
A sound like nails scraping a blackboard tore through the air.
Then he spun.
And threw his thorned greatsword.
It came too fast.
Too certain.
I raised my shield.
Braced my stance.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The impact shattered my arms.
My shield cracked apart.
Fragments ripped through my shoulder and chest.
Adela gasped behind me.
I fell.
When I looked up, Radices was already walking toward me.
My mind filled with images of death.
Adela screaming.
Adela dying.
Me failing again.
No.
Not yet.
Adela’s light still touched me.
I forced myself up.
And saw something behind the broken shield.
Gideon’s severed root-entangled shield.
I ran.
I grabbed it.
Even the dead hand still clinging to it had to be torn away.
The shield was heavy.
Not just with metal.
But with memory.
With regret.
I understood now.
Radices… why you cannot leave this grave.
And how you swing that sword.
Afterglow Before Dawn
Tatak…!
A faint spark of light leaked from Siena’s collapsed body, floating over the pool of blood like embers.
“Gahahahaha—!!!”
It happened then.
With Gideon’s unhinged, thunderous laughter, a pillar of crimson light erupted from Siena.
The red light burned so brightly it felt like it would blind the eyes, as if it were using the Saint’s flesh and blood as fuel to set the battlefield itself ablaze.
“What… is that?”
“Stop staring and fight—Second Knight!!!!”
Gideon was right.
No matter how the situation twisted, the only thing that mattered now was cutting down that Named entity known as Radices.
Whoooosh—thud!!!
Siena’s burning light seeped into Gideon’s halberd.
The blade turned red-hot, like it had just been pulled from a furnace.
“Do you know? Ember burns brightest… right before it dies—!!!!!”
Gideon’s attacks grew even more ferocious, as if even his body had caught fire.
So this was Gideon’s way. The Ember Church’s Saintess.
There was no time to be impressed.
Swaaa—!
There was no space to admire Gideon’s blazing assault.
The entangling tree roots kept surging in. One mistake meant being impaled instantly.
Fwish—
My blade slipped through a gap between the roots, aiming for Radices’ neck.
Clang—!!
But it was useless.
Radices did not even move from his rooted position. He simply raised his shield and blocked it.
A faint voice echoed in my mind.
“Stay here… and protect us. Radices.”
A sharp sting followed.
The moment my blade touched him, fragments of memory leaked into my head.
Was this Radices’ past, when he was still a knight?
I saw him, and people dying beneath him. I saw fragments of slaughter.
So even this Named entity… was once human.
Radices’ memories poured into me.
Had it always been possible to see this much?
No. Focus.
If I could use it, I would.
I would steal his memories.
His rotten experiences. His twisted history.
Even if I could not strike him directly, if I kept brushing him with my blade, then somewhere in those memories… there had to be a weakness.
Boom—clang!!
Even Gideon’s relentless assault could not break through Radices’ defense.
Only the tangled tree vines were being severed, scattering into dust.
“Gideon—now!! I’ll create an opening!!”
“Gahahaha!! Don’t die, brat—!!”
I left the attack to Gideon.
There was no way my flimsy sword could pierce what even his halberd could not.
Maybe I could bait an opening. A reckless movement, something that would force that unmoving greatsword to respond.
But if I failed… Adela would suffer.
She would bleed again because of me.
I hesitated.
My body instinctively retreated behind the shield.
Swaaa—
Adela’s blue light spread wider, washing over me.
The warmth cleared my headache for a moment.
“Ruvel!! Don’t hesitate!!”
Her voice cut through the noise.
No. She wasn’t criticizing me.
She believed in me.
Believed I would protect her.
Believed we would return together.
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
Then I moved.
I deliberately exposed openings.
Clumsy movements. Predictable gaps.
A bait.
Radices reacted instantly.
His greatsword shot toward my heart.
If it hit, I would die.
And Adela would watch it happen.
No.
I twisted my body at the last moment.
Clang!!
The blade slid off my shield by a hair’s breadth.
“Haah… haah… Radices…”
“…Why… do they all… leave you like this…”
His blade carried memories again.
A half-built fortress. A lone figure left behind.
A fading Saintess illuminating him.
“Gideon—NOW!!”
“You’re a useful brat—!!!!”
WHOOSH—!!
Gideon’s halberd erupted with a light I had never seen before.
A crimson afterimage trailed behind it like a burning sunset.
Boom—!!!
A flash swallowed my vision.
When it cleared, Radices’ iron wall of defense had been severed.
His arm fell first.
Then his lower body collapsed, torn from the roots binding him to the land.
He staggered.
Dust and broken wood fell from his body.
“Gahahahaha!! Did you learn that, Second Knight!! This is how a knight fights—”
The sound of burning embers fading echoed softly.
Siena’s crimson light, which had been blazing until now, began to die out.
“…Siena…”
Something pierced Gideon’s chest.
A grotesque greatsword, covered in thorns.
His voice stopped.
The Ember had burned out.
Gideon was thrown back, crashing into a wagon.
“…Gideon… sir?”
One of the two Flames of the expedition had fallen.
Only I and Adela remained.
Step.
Radices moved again.
The ground trembled under his weight.
Step.
I couldn’t breathe.
My vision wavered from pain and exhaustion.
Step.
Adela’s light flickered beside me.
“Haah… haah… You can do it…”
Even now, she believed.
I forced myself up.
The shield was gone.
The battlefield was collapsing.
And Radices was coming.
I tightened my grip on my sword.
I would end this.
For Adela.
For everyone.
Clang!!
Steel met steel.
And for the first time—
Radices screamed.
“Grrrrr—!!!”
A sound like nails scraping a blackboard tore through the air.
Then he spun.
And threw his thorned greatsword.
It came too fast.
Too certain.
I raised my shield.
Braced my stance.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The impact shattered my arms.
My shield cracked apart.
Fragments ripped through my shoulder and chest.
Adela gasped behind me.
I fell.
When I looked up, Radices was already walking toward me.
My mind filled with images of death.
Adela screaming.
Adela dying.
Me failing again.
No.
Not yet.
Adela’s light still touched me.
I forced myself up.
And saw something behind the broken shield.
Gideon’s severed root-entangled shield.
I ran.
I grabbed it.
Even the dead hand still clinging to it had to be torn away.
The shield was heavy.
Not just with metal.
But with memory.
With regret.
I understood now.
Radices… why you cannot leave this grave.
And how you swing that sword.