Chapter 30
“B-blood-soaked Haru…!”
At the sight of me, the Ain muttered in a trembling voice.
Blood-soaked, huh. Creepy. It had been three years, but even hearing that nickname again, I still found it a little jarring.
“Instructor Haru!!”
“Miss Kate.”
When I turned my head, I saw Kate bound tightly to a metal chair. A bloodstained bandage had been haphazardly wrapped around her severed left forearm.
Kate was sixteen years old.
“I’ll get you out right away.”
I hardened my expression and looked back at the Ain. The creature snarled, twisting the corners of its eyes. Pointed ears stuck straight up, and a muzzle protruded from its face. The Ain was a demi-human—specifically, a canine-type Ain.
The canine Ains were among the most combat-capable species.
It wasn't someone I could afford to let go.
Nor had I intended to from the start.
“Damn it, how did you get in! The brethren should have been guarding the place…!”
“Ah, well, about the brethren….”
I spoke calmly as I drew a red blade.
“There were so many obstacles on the way here. I was late because I had to cut my way through them all.”
“Damn, damn… You monster of a woman!”
Terrified by the blade of the Formless Sword, the Ain trembled and muttered curses over and over before pulling a syringe from inside its clothes.
“I won’t just let you…!”
The instant the Ain tried to inject the syringe into its neck.
“Blood Spear Cannon.”
-KRAAANG!!
The red stake that flew out with a thunderous roar knocked the syringe away, taking the Ain’s forearm with it.
“…will…?”
“What kind of idiot in this world would stand around and let someone power up?”
This wasn't a magical-girl show, either. I muttered as I walked toward the Ain.
“Uh, aaaaaagh!!”
“The arm that went flying was your left.”
I said this while looking down at the Ain, collapsed on the floor.
“What a vicious coincidence. Don’t you think?”
“Y-you crazy bitch… You did that on purpose…!”
As the Ain muttered, it suddenly flashed a grin.
For a split second, I wondered if it was insane. Then I remembered the capsule Kate had used—the one stored behind her teeth.
“Oh, crap…!”
“You fell for it, you stupid bitch!!”
-Crack, crack-crack-crack!!
A grotesque sound of bones and flesh twisting rang out. The Ain's body swelled in an instant, and the hood it had been wearing was torn apart in every direction by the muscles surging out from within.
“Don’t underestimate the results of three years of research!!!”
Had the Ain been hiding in the royal capital for three years? Frowning, I crossed my arms.
“Gaaaaah!!”
The Ain roared and swung its fist at me.
-CLANG!!
When I raised both arms to block it, a jolt strong enough to make everything from my shoulders down to my forearms tingle swept over me.
-Krrrkkk…!
The enormous, swollen fist forcibly pushed me back. The soles of my shoes scraped across the stone floor.
The fist alone was larger than my entire body. If I hadn't already learned to enhance my body with mana, I would have been minced meat by now.
But knowing how to take the hit changed things.
The flesh had swollen to an abnormal size, while the bones supporting it and the muscle were comparatively small and thin.
In other words, it was a perfect target to blow apart.
“Blood Mountain Cannon.”
-KRAAAASH!!
The writhing flesh exploded all at once. As expected, the black bones were barely visible, while most of what remained was pale and red flesh.
The Ain, trying to crush me beneath its full weight, instantly lost its balance and staggered.
“Y-you…!”
As the Ain panicked with its stance broken, I kicked off the ground and closed in, sweeping the Formless Sword diagonally.
-Shk…!
After slicing both forearms to pieces as they grotesquely regenerated, I immediately drew two blood magic circles in front of the severed cross-sections.
“Blood Mountain Cannon.”
A cluster of blood bullets shot out like buckshot, blasting apart the flesh that writhed up between them as it tried to regenerate.
“Gyaaaah!!”
As the blood bullets burrowed deep into the severed cross-sections, the Ain screamed and toppled backward, rolling across the floor.
I approached the Ain. Each step I took was accompanied by the wet squelch of blood.
“Eeeek!”
With the dangling flesh on both arms hanging limp, the Ain looked up at me and shook its head.
“D-don’t come any closer! You monster…!”
“Monster? That’s a little harsh.”
Seeing me covered in blood from head to toe, with it dripping down from my bangs, anyone would have been justified in calling me a monster.
But that wasn't why these people called me a monster.
I gripped the sword in reverse and raised it.
“I’ll at least say a prayer for your soul.”
“P-please, spare me…!”
“No.”
-Thrust.
The blade pierced the crown of the Ain’s head and sank deep, and I
ended the Ain’s life without pain
in a single stroke.
The fur-covered mass shuddered, then went limp all over.
This was why making a blade out of blood was so convenient. There was no need to pull the sword back out; I could simply disperse the blade and be done with it.
After returning the hilt to my waist, I lightly snapped my fingers. The blood that had covered my entire body fell away with a pattering sound.
I gathered it up and formed a dagger, then approached Kate, who was still bound.
“Eek…!”
Kate trembled, her face pale, when she saw me. Even though I had shaken off the blood once, there was nothing I could do about the bloodstains that had already dried stickily onto me. I couldn't tell without a mirror, but I was probably still just as blood-soaked as before.
“It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”
I gently reassured Kate while placing the dagger against the leather belt binding her.
-Shhk, shhk.
The belt must have been exceptionally thick and sturdy. Even though I had made the blade as sharp as possible, cutting through it was no easy task.
After several swings that missed, I finally freed Kate completely.
“Ugh.”
Kate let out a low groan and staggered to her feet. When she began to pitch forward, I hurriedly caught her with my arm.
….”
My gaze fell on her empty left forearm.
For someone who had merely been blinded by revenge… it was a rather heavy karmic debt.
“…Karma, I suppose.”
Kate muttered haltingly in a dry voice.
“If I hadn’t foolishly set out to get revenge… this wouldn’t have happened.”
“…Kate.”
“I’m giving up on revenge.”
Kate shook her head.
“I’ll tell Senior Ayla everything and turn myself in. This will surely get me expelled.”
As Kate muttered weakly in my arms, I gently placed both hands on her shoulders.
“Hey, Miss Kate.”
“…?”
“Would you like me to tell you a story from long ago?”
=
“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
An Ain who had been skinned alive screamed as it hung suspended, bound by rusty chains.
Standing before it, a girl with an expressionless face wiped the blood-covered katana in her hand with a cloth.
The girl's name was Haru. She was me, six years ago.
Actually, she wasn't a girl. She was merely on the shorter side; she was twenty-three that year.
“You monster of a bitch…!”
“I’ve heard that so many times I’m sick of it.”
Haru calmly replied as she once again brought the tip of her sword to the bound Ain.
The blood gathered at the sword's tip transformed into a sharply honed hook shaped like a hoe.
Haru brought its edge to the Ain's flesh, lightly scraping it downward as she asked,
“Geeee…!”
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
She asked the Ain quietly as it clenched its teeth.
“We told you, we don’t know…!”
“Tch.”
Looking up at the Ain shaking its head, the girl clicked her tongue.
“I’m sick of this.”
-Thrust.
With a cold expression, Haru drove the sword between its ribs.
Even as she stared straight at the Ain twisting its body and screaming, she seemed to feel no emotion at all.
Rather, as if she meant to engrave the sight into her eyes, she didn't even blink as she watched it all from beginning to end.
All while hot blood drenched her from head to toe.
“Then….”
With the Ain dead behind her, Haru turned her head to the side.
“You’re the last one now, aren’t you?”
“….”
The newly singled-out Ain stared at her with blue eyes shot through with red.
The Ain was the only one still alive in the room, and its build was two handspans larger than the others’.
The Ain opened its mouth.
“…Didn’t I clearly say I’d talk?”
“Did you?”
Haru tilted her head.
“The screaming was too loud. I couldn’t hear you.”
“I clearly said it! I’d tell you everything you wanted to know if you didn’t lay a hand on my subordinates!!”
“….”
“You could have killed me after you found my answer unsatisfactory!!”
Haru silently stared at the Ain shouting with bloodshot eyes.
“You monster of a bitch! Do you enjoy brutally killing your brethren?! Or are you trying to avenge your dead master?!”
At that, Haru's brow twitched and furrowed. It was the first moment her expressionlessness broke.
“Shut up.”
Haru muttered in a frigid voice. But the Ain continued shouting as if it meant nothing.
“Your master was a warrior! An honorable warrior who knew dignity and how to respect even an enemy! The subordinate I just killed admired your master, even though he was an enemy!!”
“So what….”
“But that one was pathetic too! If the only disciple he left behind was a murderer like you, he wouldn’t be able to rest even in death…!!”
“I said shut your damn mouth!!!”
-Splat!!
Haru swung her sword. It was a lightning-fast slash with no warning at all. Yet despite taking the blow and bleeding heavily, the Ain spat blood and shouted.
“Impressive swordsmanship, isn’t it!? You must have learned it from your master!!”
“Shut up!!”
Haru cried out, almost screaming, and swung her sword. She literally hacked the Ain chieftain to pieces as it continued shouting until the moment its breath stopped.
“Feel better? You do, don’t you?! But your master doesn’t! You’re that man’s final disgrace…!”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!”
-Crunch.
In the end, Haru's sword caught on bone and broke. It was the result of her losing her reason and swinging the sword wildly.
“Is that your choice?! To become a monster living in a blood-soaked hell for the rest of your life!!”
With a half-mad look in her eyes, Haru seized the shouting Ain's skull in one hand and crushed it.
-Crack.
With a dull bursting sound, blood and fragments of bone surged out between Haru's fingers.
“Hh, hh….”
Breathing heavily, Haru carelessly shoved the broken half of her sword into its scabbard.
The blade was twisted and broken, and she hadn't even wiped off the blood. The blood pooling in the scabbard would certainly damage it, but Haru didn't care at all. More precisely, she had no room to care.
Still covered in blood, Haru left the basement.
‘This feels off.’
She didn't know whether it was the unease in her heart or physical discomfort. In any case, Haru muttered inwardly.
To wash herself, she went looking for a small lake nearby.
Haru crouched before the lake and leaned forward.
Her face was faintly reflected on the lake's surface.
‘…I can’t see it.’
Haru tilted her head and touched the surface with her hand.
The bloodstains stuck to her hand were gradually washed away by the water.
Only then did Haru realize why her entire face was black.
“Ugh…!”
As nausea rose from her stomach, Haru covered her mouth and turned her head away.
“Urk, uweeek!!”
The vomit she spewed out reeked strongly of blood.
“…Haa, haa.”
After breathing heavily for quite some time, Haru turned her head back toward the lakeside, trembling.
A blood-smeared demon was staring up at her from the water.