While Yuna's attention was drawn to the lantern light, through the mist that obscured her view on every side, a withered old face silently emerged from behind her.
The old man's cheeks were ashen, drained of every trace of blood, his eyeballs bulging out with only a sliver of black remaining among the whites, his toothless mouth gaping wide like some deep, fathomless hole — drifting slowly toward Yuna's shoulder.
"Swish!"
A white arc of light flashed without warning, and the withered hand froze in midair.
The instantly-cast Severance Magic left only a single line of white light across the old man's face and tattered clothing — flesh tearing apart, congealed black ichor seeping from the gaps.
Her staff spun in her grip; Yuna did not turn her head, simply stepped to one side, letting the body collapse behind her.
"Such a gloomy Mana — it's really unpleasant…"
Muttering to herself, Yuna paid no further mind to the thing that had toppled beside her with a dull thud.
From the moment that lantern light had appeared out of the mist, Yuna had realized things were beginning to turn troublesome.
Her Mana Perception felt as though it were shrouded by the fog itself — not the slightest reaction came through. Yet the instinct she had honed on the battlefield, dodging hidden arrows, was now ringing alarm bells.
Yuna could feel it — something in the mist had already locked onto her. The cold and the wrongness that pressed in from every direction told her there was no longer any retreat.
"What's gotten into me — leaving a perfectly safe road behind to come poking around a place like this, looking for whether anyone's here."
Yuna broke into a run — forward, ever forward. The way ahead was unknown? Then she would simply break through, all the way until the mist disappeared.
Severance Magic could not entirely sever the mist itself, but cutting apart the strange creatures that came lunging out of it was no trouble at all.
Were those Humans? The instant that chill brushed against her, Yuna was certain — these were absolutely not normal Humans. "They" made no sound at all, no breath, no heartbeat.
Magical beasts? It didn't matter. Just like on the battlefield, she would slice every one of them open.
Every single one could be cut down!
Yuna swung her spear-like crimson staff, sprinting forward, splitting through them like bamboo.
A face that was half skeleton suddenly rose up before her, only to be flicked away by a flash of red light in the next instant — sundered in two in midair and flung behind her.
"Hssh."
Only the briefest hitch in her stride. Yuna adjusted in a heartbeat, running faster and faster.
Right now, if only she had a horse.
Yuna sincerely needed one.
"!"
The staff plunged into the ground, scoring a deep furrow — Yuna, still mid-run, braked sharply, her waist bending back in a supple arc.
At the very same instant, a rusted sword swept past — a hair's breadth from the tip of her nose.
Severance Magic had not been able to lock on in time to the rusted blade hurtling toward her — her body had reacted on its own a beat ahead of her conscious awareness of the danger.
A bead of sweat slid from her temple; she could no longer tell whether it was from running so long, or from the chill and killing intent the rusted sword had left in its wake.
In the instant danger struck, Yuna was grateful all over again — Nanoda's training back when she was little had once more bailed her out of trouble.
"Tap! Tap! Tap!"
Mustering all her strength, Yuna swiftly recovered her stance, the spear-shaped staff in her hand braced to intercept the next attack.
Her opponent's strike had been impossibly fast. Yuna did not dare close the distance rashly — she found herself remembering childhood, when the Hero's blows, too, had moved faster than the eye could follow.
Still, as the gap narrowed, she had already gauged her enemy's position, and could just barely sense the Mana — surging, struggling, tangled — that the other was giving off.
Come, then…
Yuna recited inwardly. The presence ahead was different from any of the others she had met so far; her already taut nerves drew tighter still.
Severance Magic, too, continued to coil at the spear-point of her staff.
Ahead, within the mist,
With the faint clatter of light armor knocking together, a trembling figure stepped forth out of the fog.
A cold wind swept in, sending an abrupt chill through Yuna's feet — even her rapid breathing turned to white mist.
A single glance was enough — Yuna knew her opponent was strong. Even now, even reduced to a tattered "walking corpse," that overwhelming presence still hung about it.
Short white hair, dishevelled and mottled here and there; the body stained with black blood gone dry no one knew how long ago; a black ribbon over the eyes drifting in the wind. "It" gripped one of its own hands with the other — at a single look it was plain how uncoordinated its movements had become, and the already ruined "lips" were trembling without pause.
Amid a faint "click-click," beneath the long-congealed blood, that golden armor still gave off a dim, dull glow — clearly no ordinary thing.
"Kill… kill… kill… me…"
The voice, the moment it issued forth, was like a blade dragging across glass, followed by a low, listless rasp.
To Yuna's surprise, the presence before her seemed to be begging for a complete and final death, and had launched no further attack — that earlier blow now looked more like a test, a probe.
The opening was right in front of her. Without the slightest hesitation, Yuna reinforced her body with Mana, hefted her staff, and strode toward the enemy who stood riddled with openings.
"Mm, alright."
One side unable to so much as struggle, the other flashing past at full speed — in the instant the two figures crossed, an invisible slash tore through the dull golden armor, cleaving one of them in two at the waist. The tattered black ribbon that had covered the eyes came undone, drifting down to the ground.
The finely-wrought armor crumpled like paper, and the Mana clinging to it scattered along with the breaking of the metal and the wind-blast of the slash.
The principle, Yuna thought, was simple — no different from the battlefield. Armor was something that could be severed, no matter how brilliantly it might shine.
The hollow-eyed thing collapsed. In the very moment its Mana faded out completely, its mind grew clear once more. "It" wanted to smile — only to find that its mouth, like the eyes that had long since been torn from it, had long since rotted into a useless tangle.
"X…i…"
Hearing that last sound behind her, Yuna let out a quiet breath.
"It" had perhaps once been a very powerful Human. That will of his — even with the body rotting away — had still endured.
"I'm the one who should be saying thanks."
Had she been forced to fight "that one" at the height of his strength, a bitter battle would have been unavoidable, and in the end Yuna reckoned she would still have had no real hope of winning. A first-rate Mage against a warrior of the very highest tier — a single mistake, and it would be over. Let alone…
"I hope there aren't any more roadblocks like that one up ahead…"
Fortunately, she had only been delayed for a brief stretch by the armored "it." Even through the mist, Yuna could feel the monsters behind her growing thicker by the moment, the cold steadily closing in on her heels.
There was nothing for it but forward.
"I will get out of here alive, no matter what! I will see Lady Nanoda again!"
Even though she felt the words were a touch ill-omened herself, Yuna still cried them out — as if to put fresh courage into her own heart, and just as much because that was simply the kind of stubborn, steadfast girl she was.
The mist all around seemed full of hands grasping and dragging at the girl; the cold seemed bent on freezing her every step.
Yet the maiden brandished her spear-like crimson staff, and with a single torrent of burning blood she cleaved through the mist, drove off the deathly cold, and severed away the encroaching ruin.
Black blood spattered through the air; the whole expanse of mist became a scene of carnage.
And by now, she had long since lost count of how many she had cut down.
____
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🔥 New history: Path of Elation in Warhammer 40K
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