Episode 220: A Hazy Relationship (5)
‘What do I do with this?’
Clack.
Yerina’s teeth gnashed, making a sound like ice breaking.
Her ears and tail twitched constantly.
Yerina’s animalistic senses were on high alert, constantly warning her of danger.
The enemy’s subtle killing intent and will.
The distortion that came from a warped perception.
The altered memories.
Taking all of these into account, a hazy human form seemed to materialize before Yerina.
There were certainly errors and a time difference, but for Yerina, this was the best she could do.
‘It’s like I can catch it, but I can’t.’
Her speed was clearly faster.
Moreover, this was a closed space that neither of them could leave until one of them died.
Even the magic within was under Yerina’s control, so the opponent had no way of replenishing their magic.
From the start, Yerina had entered the fight with an overwhelming advantage.
As time went on, that advantage should have only solidified.
On top of that, her raw power was also overwhelming, so the outcome should have been decided quickly.
However, even after five minutes of giving it her all, Yerina had yet to land a meaningful blow on her opponent.
Even though she couldn’t see it or perceive it, she knew.
She didn’t even feel the sensation of her blade grazing her opponent, let alone cutting them.
‘I wish I could counter it.’
The fact that her opponent was unusually passive also played a part.
Frostflow was a swordsmanship style that specialized in counterattacks against an opponent’s attacks.
Because of that, Yerina was unable to utilize the techniques of Frostflow at all.
Of course, that was just an excuse.
Even if she didn’t have to use swordsmanship, Yerina should have been able to knock her opponent unconscious with her raw strength and speed alone.
‘Is it just trying to avoid me? Didn’t it come here to harm Julia in the first place? Why is it being so passive?’
She couldn’t understand her opponent at all.
She didn’t know its purpose or anything.
It had definitely visited the infirmary, but when she checked, she was told that Julia was unharmed.
The only difference was that there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in her unsightly eyes, as if all the sadness in the world had been poured into them.
‘What is its purpose?’
It had rampaged through the archives, destroying them, and now it had infiltrated the Allied headquarters.
Yet, it had still caused no casualties.
It was as if it wasn’t trying to attack the Alliance, but had some other purpose.
At first, she had overreacted because Julia’s life was at stake.
However, as she continued to thrust her sword forward and her opponent simply dodged, Yerina gradually began to feel like she was the one in the wrong.
Could it be that her opponent had no intention of being hostile towards her?
“Is… conversation… possible?”
“······.”
Yerina spoke cautiously.
But as usual, there was no response from the other side.
It simply stood there silently, holding its sword.
She could definitely feel its killing intent.
It was a moderate killing intent.
As if it was intentionally holding back, just enough for her to keep track of it with her eyes?
“Y-Yerina? W-what… what are you doing right now?”
Considering everything, it was clear that her opponent had no intention of harming her.
Yerina came to that conclusion and slowly lowered her sword.
An unknown enemy that had infiltrated the headquarters stealthily.
To lower her sword against such an enemy.
Even Yerina herself thought it was a crazy decision, but for now, it felt like the right thing to do.
There might be a way to communicate without being hostile······
“Kuh?!”
As soon as she thought that, a fierce blow came flying at her.
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A white sword aura shot towards Yerina’s forehead in an instant.
She quickly raised her sword to block it, but the fragments of the shattered sword aura grazed Yerina’s cheek.
Yerina’s expression went blank, and crimson blood trickled down her cheek.
Her opponent, who had shown no intention of attacking at all, had suddenly changed.
As if it was scolding her.
As if it was telling her not to back down and to attack.
“Y-Yerina? B-blood, blood······.”
Yerina wiped the blood from her cheek without lowering her raised sword.
The shallow wound had already frozen over and completely sealed itself.
“Ah. Ahahahahaha······. I’m fine.”
She had been scolded.
She couldn’t read her opponent’s intentions or see their expression, but somehow she got that feeling.
Her opponent was scolding her right now.Stop thinking nonsense and fight.
The reason was simple.
“If it’s a conversation between swordsmen, there’s only one thing to do… I guess I said something strange.”
I was too arrogant for a moment because I thought I had figured out the opponent’s intentions with the tip of my sword.
Conversation? That’s impossible with that opponent.
Didn’t I already realize that while interrogating the Great Demon Belphegor?
The opponent is an existence that cannot be recognized by any means, and if one gets even a little closer to its true identity, their memory is erased.
There is only one way to approach him.
Like Rex, it was only to clash the tips of the swords.
It was only to explore the mysteries that surpassed the limits of the sword.
‘The guy who knows that…’
Yerina laughed in self-pity.
Even though I already knew everything.
I knew it, but I pretended not to know.
No. In fact, I wanted to believe it.
There was a way to approach the opponent without a sword.
“Haah…”
Yerina’s sword tip shook.
Why would the person who knows best that there is no such way do that?
The reason was obvious.
It was because Yerina had not even taken a half step into the realm of swordsmanship.
In the first place, I didn’t feel the need to break through the limits of the sword.
Anyway, there is nothing in the world that can handle the physicality of this body, so why bother?
Even if it was not too high in altitude, it was enough to intercept an airship without getting hurt.
That’s why I avoided it and dodged it.
There were countless expectations that I would create the Frost Stream’s mysteries.
However, as the days passed and the Frost Lord showed no sign of creating the mysteries, those expectations faded somewhat.
Now that my father is dead, there is no one to nag me.
I no longer feel the need or motivation.
However, all of those were just secondary reasons.
There was another real reason.
‘Because I’m scared…’
I was scared.
To pursue the limits of the sword.
Or rather, to see what lies beyond the limits of swordsmanship.
‘What I saw then was also a mystery, no, an extreme beyond the mystery.’
There was a time when I came close to enlightenment.
While practicing the fusion of the vast heart method and swordsmanship, I had a glimpse of the Frost Stream’s mysteries, and among them, the mysteries that Yerina would create.
However, that day, Yerina had a strange realization.
Instead of the mysteries, I glimpsed beyond them.
How should I explain it?
Yerina was choosing her words, as if she were observing herself.
I delve into myself as a third person.
I dissect the flesh as if it were a head.
I even open up the intangible soul.
And then, finally, what is revealed is the essence of human beings.
The moment it was projected.
Yerina felt as if a world different from the present world was expanding infinitely.
Some people called it the ‘inner world’.
.
.
.
‘Why are you doing that?’
Yerina changed suddenly.
Her breath became shallow and her pupils began to shake.
I wondered if it was difficult to use the heart method, but it wasn’t, Yerina was properly controlling her senses while suppressing the magical power that was trying to run wild.
Is she shaking?
It’s a little different from that.
Yerina’s spirit gradually fades.
The murderous intent toward me also fades away, and her mad eyes are no longer directed at me.
It’s as if she has entered a hazy dream.
Did she fall asleep standing up?
I sent a sword energy to Yerina as it was.
Then, without any reaction, Yerina’s body, which had been cut in half by the sword energy, simply scattered like fog.
“Oh my…”
I was startled for a moment.
However, after the sword energy passed through, Yerina, who had been cut in half, simply dissipated like fog.
Julia, who saw it, had already fainted with foam in her mouth.
I went to the place where Yerina had been until just now and shivered.
Yerina is not gone.
She is still here.
She has simply been transferred to another world that overlaps this place.
In other words, Yerina has entered her own ‘inner world’.
“Is this how others feel when they look at me?”
It was the first time I had seen someone else enter their inner world.
In the case of Belphegor, I had forced my way in.
I felt a little curious and wondered at the same time.
“You’ve entered the inner world, but you can’t use the mysteries?”Strange.
Wasn’t the condition for entering the inner world to realize the mistake?
Then, was Yerina sparing the mistake even though she could use it?
That can’t be.
Even though she wavered once in the middle, Yerina faced the battle with me, believing without doubt that it was a fight that would cost her and Julia their lives.
So if there was a mistake to settle, there was no reason not to use it.
“A way to enter the inner world without realizing the mistake······.”
Only one such method comes to mind.
In Belphegor’s case, despite having no mistake or ever holding a sword, and never having pondered any grand ambitions, he entered easily.
Not by his own will, but by the will of another.
He was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and forcibly dragged in.
“He didn’t enter on his own, but was dragged in?”
Then, could it be that Yerina was also dragged in······?
Oh my, I’m getting goosebumps.
And before I knew it, I found myself gathering the last remaining magic in my fingertips.
A world that overlaps here, dividing time and space.
It was to break into Yerina’s inner world.