Chapter XII

Two shadows sprinted through the forest at nighttime. Shalltear Bloodfallen's minions and concubines, the vampire brides.

Most would have trouble with their footing on the animal trail cutting through the woods, branches sticking out from either side. But even in the darkness, the vampire brides hurried down the coarse path at an unbelievable speed in their high heels without even getting their dresses caught at all.

The one running in front was carefully carrying Shalltear with two hands, and the one in back was dragging something that looked like a dried-up tree trunk.

Behind them, Demiurge moved a bit slower, his acute senses and magic keen on revealing any threat hiding in the forest.

They weren't far from where they had left Sebas and Solution. It wasn't as if they had an odometer, so they weren't sure how much farther it was to their destination, but they figured they still had quite a ways to go. But suddenly, a hard metallic sound rang out and the vampire in front stopped in her tracks.

The path was narrow: if the one taking the lead stopped, those behind had no choice but to follow suit.

"Why did you stop all of a sudden?"

The vampire bride in front tried to answer the question that came from behind, but before she could, she shuddered from the cold glare being shot at her from the small form held within her arms.

" The icy feeling creeping up her spine came from knowing her mistress had a personality that was neither gentle nor merciful.

Shalltear was still being cradled—like a girl swept off her feet—as she crankily moved her legs.

Keenly sensing the meaning behind the gesture, the vampire relaxed her arms.

Shalltear hopped down like a bird flying out of a cage. She floated lightly through the air; first the high heels she was still wearing touched down, and her dress slipped down afterward to cover her slender legs. Once on the ground, she pushed back her long silver hair in annoyance and turned her head slightly.

The vampire swallowed hard in the cold glare of her mistress.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The only reasons Shalltear didn't run through the forest herself were that it was simply a pain and she didn't want to get her shoes dirty. Actually, there was one more reason, but there was no one present who dared say or think it. In all of Nazarick, there were only three a handful of people who could say it to her face without being torn apart. And another who would, in spite of the risk.

As long as a vampire bride was acting as Shalltear's feet, it was unforgivable to stop without an order to do so. Shalltear didn't need any legs moving of their own free will.

The punishment depended on the reason. That was implied. One would think it would be enough if it ended in slight punishment, but Shalltear's question had contained a bit of murderous intent.

In the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the power of life and death over anyone not directly created by the Forty-One Supreme Beings rested with the respective Area Guardian or Floor Guardian who ruled over them. So, upsetting Mistress Shalltear any further could end in death.

With a sense of foreboding those might be her last words, the vampire bride slowly opened her mouth to speak. "Please forgive me. I'm caught in a bear trap."

Shalltear's eyes moved, and she saw that one of the vampire's slim legs was sandwiched in a roughly made metal trap.

This wasn't something made to use against humans but more for tough wild animals. If a human's ankle was caught in it, the bone would probably snap just from the impact, even if they were wearing protective greaves. But the vampires were different from humans more than expected.

Although the teeth of the trap had dug a bit into her leg, there were no open injuries on her pale skin, no signs that she was experiencing pain or that any bones or muscles were broken.

Vampires had a power that reduced most effects of any physical attack as long as it was not done with silver or enhanced by magic above a certain level. She may have been bitten by the bear trap, but it was merely iron, it couldn't hurt her.

However, even if she was completely immune to the bear trap's damage, it was fulfilling its other aim, preventing the trapped one from moving, perfectly well.

It was clear from the fact that it wasn't poisoned that this trap wasn't meant to kill its captive. Its purpose was to slow down the target.

Shalltear Bloodfallen shook her head, all but berating the vampire as hopeless.

"Hurry up and get out of it, then! What are you waiting for?!"

"Yes, right away!"

Taking Shalltear's order, the vampire reached down with her skinny arms, grabbed either side of the toothy jaw, and pried it open without difficulty. The bear trap freed its prey, unable to cope with her strength.

A beautiful lady prying open a bear trap. It was the kind of scene that seemed almost laughable, but those who knew a vampire's strength wouldn't have been surprised.

Another voice resounded.

"If there are this sort of traps around here, we must be getting closer to our destination."

"One moment, please." The vampire in front of Demiurge threw on the ground the dead branch-looking thing she'd been carrying.

It was a human corpse that had lost all its moisture, completely mummified. But it wasn't just a corpse. As proof of that, it began to jerk and move with false life. Long claws began to grow from the ends of its withered hands and in its vacant orbits began to flicker a red glow. Sharp canine teeth jutted out of its slightly open mouth. It was a monster called a lesser vampire. It was what had become of the bandit from before, after they drank all his blood.

"We have a question. Are we getting close to your hideout?"

The lesser vampire nodded deeply and made a sound between a grunt and a scream.

"—Apparently so, Mistress Shalltear."

"What about this trap?"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know about it, I never take this route. My group used to take the long way around the woods."

"I see. I wonder why there aren't any linked traps?" It would have made sense for there to be a noisemaker and secondary trap, but there didn't seem to be anything like that. Shalltear now scanned the area together with Demiurge's renovated efforts, but they both shook their heads soon after, sure that nobody was around. Even if they had no thief or ranger classes, only high-tiered magic could could conceal living or unliving creatures from those two.

"Well, the coast is clear. Let's hurry onward to this den of thieves, but mind your steps. Another mistake will not be forgiven."

While the guilty vampire bride felt relieved, she was now under pressure and moved around carefully.

Eventually their merry band reached the area near the bandits' hideout. Though still in the forest, they saw the trees grew gradually sparser, and when the four of them continued toward their destination, the trees disappeared as the group entered a meadow with a large number of rocks jutting out of the ground, a type of topography called karst.

It was among the bowl-shaped hollows that a hole opened up in the ground. Some light was spilling out of the cave. From the way it shone, the inside of the cave seemed like a gentle slope leading deeper into the ground.

Installed on either side of the cave's opening were things that immediately indicated human presence: barricades about as tall as a man's torso. Not that they were so tough looking, they'd just been thrown together with a few logs. There was, however, a guard posted on either side for a grand total of two.

They used the barricades as cover for their lower bodies, and if arrows started to fly, they would no doubt duck and sound the alarm.

In a normal battle, a charge from this distance would give their opponents all the time to ready their weapons and call reinforcements from inside the cave. They could try to sneak up on them, but anything big enough to hide behind among the rocks had been cleared away. Furthermore, the guards had large bells slung from their shoulders. Even if they could take them out in a stealthy attack, the bells would sound, alerting those inside to an enemy attack.

Most would have put quite a bit of thought into this.

But there was one way to break through the difficult situation: magic. Shalltear could cast [Silence] and then kill them in one shot, or she could approach while using [Invisibility]. Another option would be to lure them away using [Charm Person] or to destroy the bells with [Break Item].

Which way is the most fun? Shalltear had gotten that far when she realized she was missing one vital piece of information. Demiurge had decided to let her the initiative for some reasons, but he was certainly ready to reprimand her and take command at any moment if she blundered.

"Is there just this one entrance?"

The lesser vampire answered her question with a jerky nod and Shalltear broke into a smile. Then there was no need to stand here thinking any longer. Sturdy guards were effective against sneak attackers as well as against people who thought fighting outnumbered by many men was a disadvantage, but to those four it was no big deal.

They could crush the worms known as humans with their overwhelming power, so there was not a single reason they couldn't march straight up to them and attack head-on. Caution was motivated purely by the possibility that their prey might have a back exit through which to make an escape.

"Well then, we've already come this far. No reason for us to stay hidden. I'm just not very good at this stealth business, all the tiptoeing around."

"That's because by Mistress Shalltear's presence alone, everything around shines more brilliantly."

"The obvious can't be flattery. If you want to praise me, you're going to have to think a little harder." Ignoring the vampire bride's Please forgive me bow, Shalltear reached out to grab the lesser vampire. "You're going to do the big job of leading the charge. Now, go!"

With a swing of her slender arm, she sent the lesser vampire whistling through the air toward one of the guards. She had put some spin on the former bandit, so he flipped end over end dozens of times on his way.

The impact caused an unbelievable amount of damage. The guard lost his head but also half his chest and blood went spraying into the air. The other, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed, stared dumbstruck at the horrific corpse of his partner as the smell of fresh blood filled the area.

From the perspective of the one who threw the corpse, it was an extremely entertaining scene. "Strike!"

"Splendid, Mistress Shalltear!"

Shalltear pumped a fist and the vampire brides clapped while Demiurge's thin smile got toothy. It goes without saying that although the lesser vampire had been blown to bits, none of these four cared one bit. He hadn't been a member of Nazarick in the first place, just something they'd created for a lark, so they didn't care when it was destroyed. And there was no way Shalltear would keep a promise with the likes of a now useless weakling.

"Okay, one more…" Shalltear looked between the vampires. Alarmed, the two of them quickly found a suitably sized rock to hand her.

"Here we go." Bells could be heard in the distance as she hefted the somewhat large rock.

Her slender arm whipped down at a tremendous speed, and in the next instant, upon seeing the far-off results of her action, she happily announced her battle performance. "Huhu… strike two!"

Another round of applause.

They could hear a guard in the interior who, alerted by the bells, was shouting that they were under attack.

As the commotion in the cave gradually spread, Shalltear smiled tenderly at its entrance and gave orders. "Now then, let's go. You, climb a tree and watch for anyone running away. And you, go in ahead of me. If there's any tough guys, let me know so I can look forward to them."

Demiurge looked at Shalltear.

"I don't trust that vermin's knowledge. He didn't know about the trap, maybe he doesn't know about a secret exit. I'll check the area, you keep up the good work."

"Fine, Demiurge."

Then he turned into his other form and took flight after casting [Invisibility].

"We're ready, Mistress Shalltear."

"Off you go."

The vampire ordered to go ahead of her took a big step, slowly proceeded toward the entrance to the cave—and suddenly disappeared. The ground had not caved in, it was a pitfall.

Shalltear may have been able to evade it, but apparently the vampire wasn't fast enough to avoid losing her footing.

"Are you serious? you too?"

This vampires were low-level minions with no trap detection skills. There was nothing that could be done about that. That's why Shalltear had forgiven the other before, but she couldn't help but let a disappointed comment slip out, since even this servant had also fallen into an enemy trap. Worse, this time they knew there could be traps, but she had been careless.

Then Shalltear pasted a grin on her face. It wasn't kind, full of goodwill, or embarrassed. Certainly a pitfall in front of the entrance to a cave should have been predictable. That a minion of Shalltear Bloodfallen, guardian of multiple levels of the glorious Great Tomb of Nazarick, should have been caught in such a trap was inexcusable. Words brimming with a murderous intent escaped her lips. "I'll butcher you! Get the hell out of there!"

The vampire leaped out and appeared on the edge of the pit. She was unharmed, just her clothes had gotten dirty.

"Enough disappointing me, lowly servants!"

"My apologi—"

"Whatever, just go. Or should I hurl you in like that garbage from earlier?"

Shalltear made a clutching motion with one hand and the vampire acknowledged the order in a voice that was also a shriek and went trotting into the cave. Shalltear walked leisurely after her.

There was some kind of commotion going on. Pausing the blade sharpening he'd been doing in his private room, he pricked his ears.

A clamour, the thudding of multiple people running, a faint scream.

They were definitely under attack. But it was impossible to tell how many the enemies were or how strong they could be, despite the fact that everyone was trained to shout that information.

It wasn't that he couldn't hear. His chambers were private, but that was still inside a cave. Instead of a door, there was only a curtain hanging over, and the room was just a large hole in the wall. The curtain's fabric was thick, but he could still hear the voices fine.

The mercenary gang Sowers of Death had a little less than seventy members. Even if there was nobody as strong as him, there were other battle-hardened veterans. A sneak attack by a small force wouldn't cause this much panic, so it could have meant that there was a large number of enemies. But in that case, he couldn't explain why he was unable to hear them moving around or sense much of anything.

"Then…adventurers?" If there was just a small number of enemies with high combat ability, then this off feeling might have made sense.

He stood up slowly and slung his weapon from his hip. His armor was a mail shirt which took no time to be put on. Then he hung a leather pouch filled with ceramic potion bottles on his belt and tied it fast. He was already wearing his necklace and ring containing some defensive magic, so his preparations were complete.

He whipped aside the curtain so fast he practically ripped it off the wall and entered what could be called their base's main corridor.

Several stolen lanterns containing the spell Continual Light were hanging at regular intervals along the wall, making it so bright it was hard to believe this was inside a cave.

Light illuminated his whole body. He had a slim build, but he wasn't skinny. The flesh under his clothes was solid as stee, a product of not only training but also actual battles. His hair had been cut haphazardly, so it just grew mop-like in every direction without lining up at the ends, but it was cut short enough in the right spots. Not a hair covered his brown eyes which gazed sharply forward, as a smile close to a sneer came from his lips, over a chin that grew stubble like mold.

All this combined gave him an undisciplined appearance, but when he walked, he practically glided with the lethal grace of a wild predator.

As he walked toward the entrance that was under attack, a man rushed at him. It was a face he knew, one of the many mercenaries in the group. As soon as the man saw the boss, he broke into a smile as if they had already won.

"What's going on?"

"Brain, we're under attack!"

Smiling wryly, Brain replied, "I got that. How many? Who are they?"

"There are two enemies, both women."

"Women? Two women? The Blue Roses?"… Nah, can't be, we're not that big of a deal and we have done nothing wrong to them. Cocking his head, he strode off toward where the clamor could still be heard.

The strongest party of adventurers in the Re-Estize kingdom, the famous Blue Roses, was made up of five women. What's more, the one member Brain had a run-in with, which ended in a painful draw, was an old lady who had officially retired from adventuring quite recently. He'd also heard rumors that the best assassin in the empire was a woman. Strong women weren't a rarity. Even if there was often a gap in the sexes' physical ability, magic and training, or both together, were easily able to close it.

Of course, Brain was sure that piling the highest-level magic on top of the strongest possible physical body would simply make someone invincible, but still…

Brain's mental state was gradually taken over by his building excitement, his respect for the opponents who pulled off a sneak attack with small numbers, as well as a will to fight that came close to a hunger to face powerful enemies.

"You don't have to come along. Hang back and fortify the rear or something," he said to the sellsword, then set off resolutely toward his unknown enemies.

He was Brain Unglaus.

In the beginning, he had been a simple peasant, but he had ability that could have come only from heaven. Ability with a sword, that is. And he was born a talent holder to back up his sword skills so, with a weapon, he was invincible. He was a combat natural who never got more than a scratch on the battlefield.

He had never been beaten with a sword and had planned to carry on being an undefeated man forever. Everyone believed so, and he himself had no doubts. Then the royal tournament changed his life.

He hadn't participated with any strong conviction to win. He just wanted the whole kingdom to know how strong he was. Then everyone would bow at his feet. But he met an unthinkable result: defeat.

His first defeat since grasping a weapon, perhaps the first in his entire life.

The one who had defeated him was named Gazef Stronoff. He was the current captain of the Royal Select and known throughout neighboring countries as the strongest warrior in the region.

Up until their bout, both had amassed a pile of nearly instant wins. But their clash was a long fight that ended up taking all the time they had previously saved. In the end, it was Gazef's martial art Fourfold Slash of Light that had decided the match. The fight was still talked of, but the fact that the lowborn Gazef was now captain of the Royal Select really said it all. It was such an impressive fight that even the nobles who detested the captain for being just a commoner couldn't say he was weak.

While the winner got the glory, for Brain, the loser, it was as if everything he had built up so far in life had been destroyed. Even though it had been a very narrow defeat, he learned that he had only convinced himself there were no warriors stronger than him because he'd been living like a frog in a well.

After spending a month holed up in isolation, he broke through the despair that would drive many to the bottle and picked himself up.

He turned down multiple invitations from nobles and sought greater power for the first time in his life. He sought technique and trained his body. He sought magic and increased his knowledge. The prodigious talented man put in the effort of a successful hard worker. Defeat took Brain to another level.

The reason he decided not to work for the nobles was that he didn't want his ability to decline. To pursue the skills he had learned, he needed opponents. He wasn't interested in swordplay for sport or show. He wanted a job with decent or even low pay as long as it would give him frequent chances to fight for real.

The reason he didn't choose to become an adventurer and earn the exceptional rewards was that adventurers didn't have much chance to cut down people. Monsters weren't bad opponents, but Brain's ultimate goal was to defeat Gazef, so he needed to fight humans.

From the slim number of options left to him, Brain chose the Sowers of Death, although in reality, he would have joined any mercenary gang. He was after only one thing: rewriting his defeat with a victory and becoming known as the strongest man alive.

To acquire the weapon he wanted and the power he needed he gave up on all he had. Magic weapons were expensive, but the one he wanted wasn't just any magic weapon.

There was a city far to the south of the kingdom in a desert. The weapons that found their way up from there every now and then could cut better than most magic weapons even if unenchanted. People's eyes would literally bulge at the extreme prices. This was the kind of weapon he was after.

Then he finally acquired a one of these weapons. It was a sword which he was told it was a katana. He had never seen such a thing before, but the moment he wielded it, he knew that he was born to brandish that kind of blade.

Now, he had arrived at the furthest reaches of strength. He was sure he would be able to beat Gazef now, but he didn't let that make him arrogant; he never missed a day of training.

If he closed his eyes, he could see it: that tournament, Gazef's elegant but strong way of fighting, his figure as he smoothly evaded a blow no one had ever dodged before, the four slashes he'd unleashed at once.

He couldn't remember himself being beaten. The only thing burned into his brain was the sight of the man who had beaten him.

As he proceeded toward the cave's entrance, a faint smell of blood reached his nose. The fact that he couldn't hear any more screams meant all the men who had crowded into that area had already been killed. It had taken about two or three minutes.

The reason he had given at least ten men standing orders to rush the entrance was to buy time with defense for the ones farther in to get ready.

If they had been killed already… they must be about as strong as I am if there are only two of them.

Brain grinned.

Continuing with the same light step, he took a potion from his belt pouch and guzzled the contents. The bitter fluid washed down his throat into his stomach. Then he had one more. The heat in his stomach ignited and expanded, flowing to every corner of his body. His muscles reacted by powering up with audible bulging noises.

This sharp increase in physical strength was a result of the magic in the two potions: Lesser Strength and Lesser Speed.

Potions didn't need to be swallowed—sprinkling an appropriate amount over the body would also work—but Brain simply believed that the effects were greater when he drank them. Of course, it may just have been him, but often enough having faith in something could produce powerful results.

Next he took out some oil and dripped it onto the blade of his katana. It left a pale gleam on the blade and disappeared as if being soaked up. The name of the oil was Enchant Weapon. It would be only temporary, but it increased the already extreme sharpness of his blade by imbuing it with magic.

"[Engage one]. [Engage two]." Reacting to the keyword triggers, his ring and necklace gushed magical energy that enveloped his body.

His Eye Necklace protected his eyes while it was active. It conferred [Blindness Resistance], [Infrared Vision], [Lowlight Compensation] and more. If a warrior could not see where to aim with his weapon, he was done for.

If their opponent's eyesight failed them, adventurers would take advantage of their weakness and use projectiles to safely attack from a distance as a matter of course. In fact, some adventurers had caught Brain in just that sort of trap before he acquired the necklace.

And his ring, which was a Ring of Magic Binding that could be injected with a low-tier spell for use when the wearer wished, cast [Lesser Energy Protection] to reduce attribute damage.

If they were really attacking in small numbers, then he had to go at them at full power. Better to cast it now than regret casting it too late.

Now all his preparations were complete. He expelled the intense heat erupting inside him with deep breaths. Brain, as he was now with powered-up physical strength, probably stood at the peak of human swordsmen. The fierce look of someone completely confident in his abilities appeared on his face.

I'm all ready for you, so you're going to have to entertain me.

With each step, the smell of blood grew stronger until he saw two shadows.

"Hello there. Looks like you're having fun."

"It's not so fun at all. Perhaps it's because none of them are very strong, but I can't seem to get a good pool going."

The unguarded reply reached him as Brain slowly showed himself. They must have already known I was coming. He hadn't been trying to hide, so it wasn't so surprising.

His brow furrowed slightly upon seeing the invaders. He said it was two women, but… one of them is just a kid! And they're wearing…dresses?

However, he abandoned those thoughts a moment later, because above the head of a girl whose beauty could have been called peerless, he saw a sphere made of what looked like blood.

"I've never seen a spell like that, but you're casters, huh?" It was still strange for them to be wearing dresses, but if they were casters, he understood why they didn't wear armor.

"A faith-type magic caster. I believe in the origin of the bloodline, the divine ancestor Cainabel."

"The divine ancestor Cainabel?… Never heard of that god before. Is it an evil deity?"

"Yes, it's that type of deity, although I heard it was defeated by the Supreme Beings… Apparently he was a small fry event boss. Brain looked away from the little girl as she murmured "I would have expected nothing less of the Supreme Beings…" and observed the woman accompanying her like an attendant.

She was also a beauty. She had voluptuous breasts and a sensual aura. Her white dress had spots of crimson here and there. So she was the vanguard? He shrugged and gripped his katana tightly. "Well, whatever. I'm ready to go at it. If you're not, I'll give you some time, so what do you say?"

The little girl looked at Brain in surprise, then covered her mouth and laughed discreetly. "Well, aren't you brave. Are you quite sure you're all right fighting alone? I don't mind if you call your friends."

"No matter how many weaklings there are, none of them will be able to lay a hand on you anyhow, right? In that case, I'm fine on my own."

"There's nothing I can do if none of you understand how high the stars are in the sky. Reaching out your hand because you think you can touch them should be left to little girls like Aura. When a grown man does it, it's creepy."

"I think we need people like that. I guess little girls don't understand a man's romance." Brain held his katana with the tip pointed squarely at her eyes.

In response, she looked up at the ceiling, clearly bored, and then back at him.

"Go."

When the young girl said so and gestured with her jaw, the woman leaped at him. Her motion was truly gale-like, but it was no sweat for Brain to slice like the wind.

"Oraaah!"

He roared and simultaneously used all the power in his body to brandish his sword overhead and bring it down instantly. It was a blow with enough force to easily cut an armored warrior in two: all the people nearby felt the gust of air.

"Guh!"

"Hmm. Not deep enough?"

He intercepted her mid-leap, but she grasped her shoulder and jumped aside. His sword had sliced through her left collarbone to her chest.

Brain frowned. There was something else bothering him besides the fact that she hadn't been defeated in one strike: not a drop of blood seemed to came from her wound, despite the fact that a fountain of it wouldn't have been surprising. Magic? He squinted when he saw what was happening beneath the hand she was holding to her shoulder. The cut was closing up, albeit slowly. He'd heard rumors of rapid healing spells, but it didn't seem like one of those. Then there was only one answer: she was a monster with regeneration ability.

Her sharply pointed canine teeth, her crimson eyes brimming with hostility, her general appearance almost indistinguishable from a human… Once he thought that far, he realized what she was.

A vampire…? So special abilities include rapid healing, Bewitching Eyes, absorbing life force, creating lesser kin through blood sucking, resistance to weapons, and resistance to cold? I think there was more, but…well, whatever.

He tightened his grip on his katana. "Whatever you are, I'll cut you down."

The woman opened her eyes wide. Her crimson pupils seemed oddly large.

The inside of Brain's head felt hazy for a moment. He even felt some fondness for the enemy before him. But with a shake of his head, he cleared it away. "Bewitching Eyes? I'm not so mentally weak that I'd fall for a charm of that level." When Brain's katana was drawn, his mind was like his sword. He could easily shake off typical mind-control techniques.

The vampire menacingly bared her fangs in hatred, but there was also fear in her display. If she was confident she was stronger, she should have been able to just attack. In other words, she was on guard after being injured or she had decided he was a tough opponent.

"Clever girl, but I suppose even a wild animal could figure out that much." Brain approached her with steady footsteps while she responded by gradually backing away.

"Well, this is no fun." Brain snorted as he wondered if she got his provocation. Seemingly responding, the vampire stopped her retreat and advanced ever so slightly.

They were about three meters apart. This was a distance that the vampire could close in an instant. The reason she couldn't charge was her uncertainty about how skilled Brain was; it made her cautious. Then, with a faint smile, she thrust out her arms.

"[Shock Wave]!"

The wave warped the atmosphere as it approached Brain. Such a spell could easily dent full plate armor. If he took a direct hit in nothing but a mail shirt, it would surely cause a lot of damage. And if he took even one hit, the battle's balance would change; their baseline abilities were very different.

But he emerged unharmed.

Brain had no trouble dodging the invisible shock wave and smiled coolly. "If you're gonna celebrate, you should do it after you land a hit… if you don't want to give away your moves, that is."

The vampire panicked and pulled back from him. She had considered humans an inferior species, looked down on them, but now her face showed that she realized her mistake.

Brain didn't show it in his expression, but he realized he needed to rethink the way he was fighting. He hadn't expected her to use magic.

Brain's target was Gazef, so he would be challenging him to a sword fight. For that reason, his magic wasn't nearly as sharp as his swordsmanship. He lacked the knowledge to guess what his opponent would do next.

As a result, they both ended up cautiously staring each other down. This made the little girl impatient, and she found the scene unpleasant.

"Okay, time to switch." She snapped her fingers with a pa-ching! and the dry sound caused the vampire's whole body to shudder.

Keeping the vampire, who was backing away, still in front of him, Brain didn't move. It was the perfect time to attack, but he didn't. He took his eyes off the vampire and observed the little girl.

She had a slim body. She was very thin considering how bizarrely big her chest was. Her arms were so slender they looked like they would snap like twigs if a man like Brain went all out against her.

There were all kinds of faith-magic casters: She could be a cleric, accustomed to melee combat; a priestess, proficient at magic; or a bishop, who completely specialized in magic.

But if she was swapping in, that meant she was confident she could fight even without a vanguard.

Brain cracked a smile. It doesn't seem like she summoned that vampire, so she must be one, too?

What's more, from her attitude, it seemed she was the vampire's superior. For a monster, it was a given that external appearance didn't have to match the inside. It wouldn't be strange if this little girl had higher physical strength than the other vampire. She had seen Brain's strength as a warrior and still chose to fight him. And wasn't the larger vampire scared of her? A master the vampire fears… She must be fairly strong, I can't let my guard down.

Continuing to observe her, he furiously worked his brain to figure out what she must be. If she's a vampire's master, could she be a legendary vampire lord? there was one called Nation Breaker after it had destroyed an entire country… The old stories say that the Thirteen Heroes slayed it.

The fact one of the Thirteen Heroes did it meant it wasn't impossible.

Brain tensed his sword hand and slowly moved into a fighting stance. "I am Brain Unglaus!"

He got a puzzled frown in response to naming himself to a powerful enemy.

Feeling a bit sheepish, he asked, "…What's your name?"

"Oh, you wanted to know my name! You should have just said so. Cocytus would have understood immediately, but I don't think of humans in that way, so it took me a while to realize. My apologies." She picked up the skirt of her dress and curtsied as if she'd been invited to dance at a ball. "Shalltear Bloodfallen. Allow me to one-sidedly enjoy this."

She bowed gracefully to the man pointing his sword at her. Was she assuming he wouldn't attack? Or was she just confident that even if he did, she could handle it? The girl's expression gave a clear answer: the latter. She wasn't worried about him in the least.

I'll wipe that smug look off your face. Brain silently sent her a sharp glare that would frighten even the battle-seasoned warriors. He really didn't care for that look on her face. But he was also glad she had it.

The arrogance of the powerful.

Brain had taken advantage of that many times to defeat creatures physically stronger than him.

And what really mattered was being able to sneer at them after slaying them, after teaching them that there are some opponents you can show your confidence to and some you shouldn't.

"Are you not planning to use any martial arts?"

Martial arts.

They were special abilities warriors learned with intense training as they strove to reach the peak of their abilities. From their chi or maybe their aura, martial arts produced things that still couldn't be explained and were called warriors' magic.

If a warrior was up against an opponent with a much larger build, the martial art Fortress would absorb the shock of incoming attacks and give them the edge to fight head-on.

Fatal Edge, an intense slash attack unleashed by focusing on their blade, could slay enemies in one hit, even ones with high health.

If a heavily armored enemy appeared, it would be a good time to use the blunt weapon martial art Heavy Blow.

With the temporary increase in physical ability from Ability Boost, victory was a simple matter of leveraging the momentary gap in strength.

For a warrior, learning a wealth of martial arts and developing their own to use in different situations was the type of preparation done as a matter of course, especially if one was an adventurer, since their profession required them to be highly adaptable.

But as for Brain…

"Hah! I would never use them on the likes of you." That's how he replied to Shalltear, but of course, it was a lie. He just wasn't foolish enough to show his hand.

Slowly exhaling, he lowered his hips and put his katana back in its sheath.

He was preparing to draw.

Long, shallow breaths.

Rhe moment he'd reached extreme focus, with his entire consciousness zeroed in on a single point, it counterintuitively expanded. The area's sounds, the air, smells, he had reached an awareness of a part of the world in which he could perceive everything. This was Domain, his first original martial art.

The three-meter radius it covered was not so large, but he was aware of all the things that would happen within it. Put simply, that martial art raised his attack accuracy and evasion ability to the limit. Add to that Brain's trained body, and the power he gained from this art was beyond compare.

Even if a thousand arrows were to rain down on him, he was pretty confident he could pick out only theose that would hit him and cut them down to emerge unscathed. Not only that, but he was able to move precisely enough to slice a grain of wheat, and only that one grain of wheat, at a distance. That was part of his daily training.

And then…

Chopping a vital point with one's blade would kill a living thing, so pursuing that was all that mattered. Rather than being a jack-of-all-trades, Brain was instead an extreme specialist. He aimed to deliver a fatal blow even just one second faster than his opponent. It was from this intention that his second original martial art was born: Instant Strike.

His sword reached a speed that made it impossible to dodge, but his training didn't stop there. His discipline from then on was extraordinary. He performed Instant Strike tens of thousands of times, no probably millions of times, to the point where he developed art-specific calluses and his hand warped around the hilt of his katana.

By pursuing Instant Strike to the extreme, another martial art was born. His speed was such that no blood remained on the blade at the end of his swing. He felt he had reached the realm of the gods and called it Divine Strike. It was impossible for his opponent to even perceive him unleash it.

By using those two arts, his guaranteed hit and godly speed combined made a resulting blow that was both impossible to dodge and a one-hit kill. Or at least it had always been that way.

He would aim for a vital point, most often the neck.

And that was the ultimate technique, Whistling Wind. He had named it for the sound of the fountain of blood that resulted from him severing a head in one blow.

Even if a vampire didn't bleed, surely severing its head would essentially mean victory.

"Are you almost ready?" Brain stayed silent, breathing in and out sharply, and Shalltear shrugged at him, seemingly bored. "Then I'll assume you're ready and attack. If you have any objections, please speak up now…"

A short time went by.

"Here I come," she announced playfully and began her approach.

Shut up. I'd like to see you keep up that attitude once I chopped off your head. He didn't say it out loud. He had the feeling if he spoke, the energy he'd been gathering would disperse.

Shalltear casually stepped forward. Her gait showed no caution whatsoever. Her steps were so light she might as well have been heading to a picnic. It was not the walk of a warrior, and Brain suppressed a very wry smile. He could only consider her foolish, but he wasn't about to give her any chances.

Using Ability Boost and his Domain martial art, he eagerly awaited the instant she would be at the right distance for him to strike. The foolish monsters who behaved as though they were the strongest were generally like this. Humans were certainly fragile creatures. Their physical skills were inferior, and they didn't have any special abilities.

But I'm going to teach her how dangerous it is to make light of humans.

Martial arts were created so that humans might oppose creatures far stronger than themselves. She'll fall with one slash.

The more conceited a monster was, the more desperately they would flounder when forced into a corner. If he didn't kill her in one hit, she'd probably appeal to the other vampire for rescue. Then it'd be two against one. That would be a hard fight, even for Brain.

So it had to be a one-hit kill.

He scoffed with a straight face at the way she approached so casually. As if she doesn't know she's walking up the steps to the guillotine.

Three more steps, two more…just one more. And then…

Your head is mine! He spat the words in his mind as he flung himself at her.

"Tsut!" His exhalation was sharp and short.

The katana flew out of its sheath and stretched toward Shalltear's neck, cutting the air itself. If one was to liken its speed to something: a bolt of lightning. By the time the flash registered, the head was falling already. That's how fast he was. Millions of repetitions had created a strike that truly reached the realm of the gods.

Gotcha.

He was sure of it, but his eyes widened in spite of himself.

He had cleaved through the air. If his strongest attack was completely dodged, then he would've admitted that an unimaginably strong enemy had finally appeared before him. But Shalltear had caught it. His strike that was as fast as a bolt of lightning had been stopped as gently as if she were pinching the wing of a butterfly.

Brain felt as if the air had frozen. He breathed desperately in and out.

"…That…that can't be…," he panted in an almost silent whisper.

He felt like his whole body was going to start trembling, but he managed to restrain himself with everything he had. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen, but Shalltear's two slender, snow-white fingers, to be precise a thumb and an index finger, were right there on the end of his sword.

She didn't catch the cutting edge, in front of the tempering pattern, instead she pinched the ridge on the flat of the blade, with her wrist bent at ninety degrees. She hadn't stopped it in its path but caught up with it from behind. The monster had caught up to his Divine Strike.

It looked like she wasn't putting any effort into holding it, but when Brain tried to push out of it or pull back with his full strength, the sword would not budge. It was as if he was pulling on a chain connected to a mountain. Suddenly the pressure on the sword increased and Brain found his posture crumbling.

"Hmm. Cocytus has a few of these, but when the one using it is as weak as you, I can't be bothered to feel any wariness." Shalltear raised the tip of the sword to eye level and examined it closely.

As her words sank in, Brain felt his mind go blank. He felt the despair of having his entire way of life refuted. The reason he wasn't crushed in spite of it was his previous defeat. In the same way a broken bone grows back thicker and harder, his tolerance for defeat had gone up.

This couldn't be happening, but he had to accept it: she caught his godly fast strike without breaking a sweat.

Shalltear frowned quizzically at Brain, who was all but pale from shock. Then she heaved a theatrically disappointed sigh. "Do you understand now? You can't win against me if you don't use martial arts. If you understand, then stop holding back and fight for real, you Brainless Unglaus."

Those were the brutal, mocking words he heard. The reply spilled out of Brain's mouth unconsciously. "You monster—"

Shalltear responded with a pure, innocent smile, like a flower in full, glorious bloom. "That's right. You finally understand? I am a merciless, cruel, inhuman and lovely monster." She let go of his blade and sprang away. She was back to where she started.

"Are you almost ready?" She smiled playfully at him.

A hot flash of anger filled Brain's mind upon hearing the same words as before. How much can she belittle me? Then, a shudder because he realized she was at leisure to make fun of someone who had supposedly reached the limits of human strength.

Should I run? Brain valued his life. If he couldn't win, he should run away to fight another day. It was enough to stay alive and win in the end because he still thought he had room to get stronger.

But even if he chose to run, there was nothing he could do about the gap in their physical abilities. How do I outrun this little monster?

He carefully selected his target, making sure she couldn't detect where he was looking. He would go for her legs. He would destroy her ability to move quickly and then all he needed to do was run away.

He would stay out of the range of those hands that had caught his critical hit earlier and attack an area that was difficult to defend.

Having decided that, he continued staring at her neck and put his sword back in its sheath. With Domain activated, he could slice through his target, even with his eyes closed, so using them for a feint was the obvious move.

"Here I come." Shalltear once again began her approach.

Whereas before he had been waiting eagerly for her to enter his Domain, this time was the reverse. Ideally, he didn't want her to get that far.

How did you get so fainthearted? he desperately scolded himself in his head, but try as he might to rouse himself, he didn't get fired up. His will to fight was like a flame that was running out of fuel. He clicked his tongue and observed Shalltear's steps with Domain.

Three steps, two, one, she was in range again.

Brain's field of vision as he fixed his eyes on her neck included the borderline sneer on Shalltear's face.

He would aim at the ankle of her right foot as she stepped forward.

He slashed his sword down, managing to raise the attack speed a fraction. He cast off any mental pressure and confirmed he was moving even faster than last time. If he had been on the receiving end, he wouldn't have been able to block against this speed.

This'll work!

He was about to cut off that foot, peeking out from beneath her long skirt, right at the slender ankle that was befitting such a young girl, when his hand slipped off the hilt of his katana.

With his gaze fixed to one place, Brain didn't see what had happened. But his special perception abilities from Domain alerted him that his beloved katana had fallen to the ground, and that toward the back of the blade the point of a high heel was holding it down.

There was no way that could have happened. But it was true.

The katana had slipped out of his hand because the impact of her stepping down on it had traveled down the blade.

There was one reason he didn't want to believe it: even in his most attuned state of focus, he had not been able to detect that movement. Not even from within his Domain he was so proud of.

She was close enough to touch. From that distance, Shalltear looked down on him icily. The terrible oppression of her gaze made it feel like the atmosphere alone would crush him.

He breathed roughly in and out.

Every pore in his body was pouring sweat, and a wave of nausea assailed him. His vision wavered.

He had made it through so many fights, escaping the jaws of death a pile of times. But compared to the situation he was in right now, they all felt like pale imitations, as if everything up until now had been child's play.

The heel lifted off the blade of his sword, and Shalltear sprang back.

"Are you almost ready?"

"Ngh!" What he felt more than anything this third time she called to him was despair. Next she'll probably say, "Here I come." But she said something else.

"Are you…incapable of using martial arts?"

The voice contained pity and surprise, and Brain just inhaled.

He couldn't respond. Well, what should he say? Was he supposed to play the fool like a clown and say, Well, I used them, but you broke through them like they were nothing.

Biting his lower lip, he picked up his beloved katana.

"…Could it be that perhaps you're just not so strong? Seeing you could beat my servant, I thought you were stronger than the ones by the entrance, but you seem… My apologies. My strength scale measures in km, I can't detect differ differences that amount to a fraction of ome mm or two."

His unceasing effort.

The time with Gazef he'd overestimated his ability. He hadn't pushed himself at all, and he'd lost to a man who had. And that's why the defeat had been incorporated within him, become a part of him.

Everything he was after clawing himself up from there and training for real—the monster before his eyes mocked his entire existence.

Something's very wrong. Up until now, I slayed every monster no matter how lightly they took me, no matter how much stronger they were I slayed them all, so why…? His thoughts welled up that far, but he suppressed the rest of them.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he roared and slashed at Shalltear. He put all his power and weight into his katana, aiming it at her as she watched him quizzically.

This slash, mobilizing every muscle in his body, could have sliced a human in two from head to toe whether they wore armour or not. Brain thought that maybe he had caught her, since she didn't try to dodge his incoming blow; she simply watched the white flash as it came down.

But the impossible scene he'd witnessed just before dismissed that thought immediately. It can't be this easy to kill her—

A moment later, his hunch was proven correct. A sharp noise rang out, and Brain saw another unbelievable sight.

Shalltear had swiftly parried with the three-quarters-of-an-inch fingernail of her left pinkie. And it didn't even look like she had put any effort into it. There was a gap in her fist, and her pinkie finger was gently curled.

She had parried his all-out attack with a movement that could not even be considered playful. His attack that could slice through full plate armor, break swords and pierce shields.

Frantically gathering up his shattered will, he tensed his arm to stop the vibrations from the impact, brandishing his sword once more and again Shalltear blocked it without really trying.

"Fwahh…" She yawned ostentatiously. With her free right hand, of course, she covered her mouth. She seemed to be deliberately looking up at the ceiling. She was no longer even giving Brain the time of day.

Still.

Still, Brain's blade continued to be repelled, by no less than her pinkie finger.

"RRAAAAGHHH!" A howl emerged from his throat. No, not a howl, a scream.

Horizontal swipe—blocked.

Diagonal swipe—blocked.

Forward swipe—blocked.

Diagonal strike—blocked.

Vertical strike—blocked.

Horizontal strike—blocked.

No matter what angle, no matter where he aimed, all his attacks were blocked. It was like his katana was sucked to wherever the nail was. At this moment, Brain finally understood.

Absolute strength.

Even if he worked hard, even if he had natural ability, there were beings whose realm he would never be able to approach, much less reach.

"Oh? Are you tired? But your nail clipper is rather dull, wouldn't you say?"

At those impatient words, Brain's sword hand stopped. Could he chip away at a mountain with a katana? That would be impossible. Any child could come up with that answer. So, could he win against Shalltear? Any warrior who faced her would know the answer: There was no way to win.

There was no way a mere man could win against an opponent with strength beyond human conception. The only ones who would be able to put up a fight would be more than human. Unfortunately, Brain was only a warrior who had reached the pinnacle of human capability. That's right. No matter how much effort he put in, from the moment he had been born as a human, he would never be anything more than an infant waving around a stick.

"I…put in so much effort…"

"Effort? That word doesn't mean a thing. I was created strong, so it was never necessary to strive for strength."

Brain bitterly laughed. All his hard work meant nothing. Why was I so cocky? Why did I think I was so talented?

His arms and legs felt so heavy it was like being pressed between weights.

"What are you crying for? Did something upset you?"

He knew Shalltear was saying something, but it was as if she was saying it somewhere far away, and he couldn't hear.

Swinging around a heavy iron rod had been pointless, even more so when the blisters on his hands popped doing it. Jogging in heavy armor had also been pointless. Facing monsters all alone and just barely clinching victory all those times had also been pointless.

Everything was pointless, his life was also pointless.

Before a truly strong opponent, Brain was no different from the unskilled weak weaklings he used to sneer at.

"I'm an idiot…"

"Are you satisfied? Shall we finish up here soon?" She drew nearer, snickering, with her pinkie finger up, and Brain cried out.

But it was no longer the cry of a warrior as before. It was practically the wail of a child.

He set off running showing his back to the enemy.

He'd seen enough of Shalltear's physical ability to make him sick, so he figured she would catch up to him instantly. But now he didn't think about that. No, he wasn't at leisure to think about it. He just showed her his wide-open back and ran desperately toward the back of the cave, his once proud face twisted into a tear-streaked grimace.

The innocent voice of a little girl, part sigh, part sinister, called after him, "Now we're going to play tag? You're just full of games, aren't you? Well, let's have fun then, shall we? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"