Arc 2 - Chapter 34: Sivina Ecues (2/2)

The collision between Sivina's sword and the stone caused an explosion, the heat from the exploding stone burning Sivina's face. Sivina let out a thin cry of pain and jumped back to avoid an attack from ahead.

As she rubbed her burning eyes in turn, she realized that the killer had escaped. She had difficulty seeing because her eyes were watering and she could not open them fully because they were burning.

Adding to the pain she was feeling, she might not have been able to resist a sudden attack, but she took advantage of the killer running away instead of attacking and rubbed her stinging eyes until the pain subsided.

Then she continued to chase the killer. The killer was dragging her deeper and deeper into the forest, and as Sivina kept running after him, she remembered that they had never looked here when they had come to the forest to investigate.

She followed until the killer approached a large hollow in the ground and was about to enter it. Before he could enter the hollow and force Sivina into a narrow space where she would have difficulty seeing and using her sword, she leapt back onto a tree to block him and, supported by the tree, leapt on top of the killer.

The killer's back was turned, the kuendo fighting style said that to win it was appropriate to kill an opponent with his back turned, and the killer refused to surrender.

So there was no reason why she should not kill him. She flew to thrust her sword, but before she could thrust it into the killer's back, her opponent suddenly turned around, avoided the attack and thrust her dagger into Sivina's stomach.

Sivina lost her balance and started rolling on the ground. As she rolled, the dagger went deeper and deeper. The killer took advantage of her opponent being on the ground to throw the other dagger he was holding at her.

Sivina dodged the dagger at the last moment to prevent it from piercing her neck. The dagger grazed her shoulder and fell to the ground. As the killer cursed and pulled the last two daggers from his belt, Sivina stood up and pulled out the dagger still lodged in his stomach and threw it to the ground.

This time it was the killer who didn't give her a chance to catch her breath. To finish Sivina off once and for all, he ran at him and aimed for Sivina's chest.

Sivina met the killer with her sword. She was aiming for the killer's wrist, but when he flinched and pulled his arm away, the sword struck the dagger. As one of the daggers fell to the ground, the killer, thinking this was his only opportunity, continued to attack Sivina with one dagger.

"God damn it!"

Sivina felt every cell of her body burning as she defended herself with her sword and retreated.

The last wound she had received was the worst of all her wounds, the dagger had lodged in her intestines and naturally the wound burned, but worse than the burn was the abnormal, bitter taste that spread through her body from the wound.

Sivina pressed her hand to her stomach to stop the bleeding, but she couldn't stop the burning. The ominous substance mixed with her blood was spreading throughout her body and burning her everywhere.

"Poison? You don't surprise me, you dishonorable bastard."

"Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you can make such a self-contradictory statement despite attacking an opponent with his back turned. After all, I could only hear such a sentence from a knight."

She had more wounds than she could take. She was crushed, cut, burned, pierced and finally poisoned. Her attack speed and the grace of her moves were noticeably diminishing.

It was as if she was facing someone else, not the man who had just fought with rough moves. Instead, it was someone else who was pressuring his opponent with fast and quick moves, and as Sivina retreated, she could only hope that her opponent would make a mistake.

"Of course I'm not going to die here."

As Sivina continued to fall back, the killer tried to stab her with his dagger again. Straightening up, he brought the dagger to Sivina's chest with a final thrust to finish her off.

This move was the mistake Sivina had been waiting for. Letting go of the wound she was holding to stop the bleeding, she grabbed the killer's arm, twisted around him while still holding his arm, and he dropped the dagger he was holding because of the pain in his arm.

If Sivina pushed any harder, the killer's arm would break, and to prevent this, the killer tried to turn, but Sivina wouldn't let him.

She seized the opportunity and drove her knee into the killer's groin. The killer let out a scream more painful than the one Sivina had just let out and staggered a few steps away. Sivina raised her sword to end the fight and decapitate the killer.

At that moment the wound in her abdomen contracted, her eyes watered and her vision darkened from the poison. She could no longer see the killer, but she could feel him in front of her and she lowered her sword, hoping to cut him down.

The killer was shaken by the blow to his groin and involuntarily turned his back to Sivina as he lost his balance and fell to his knees.

Because Sivina could not see and because of the killer's unexpected movement, the sword hit the back, not the neck as intended.

Although it was not a fatal blow, Sivina's power had wounded the killer, and with her opponent screaming, it must have been more functional than she thought.

But Sivina could not make another move to kill the defenseless killer. She raised her sword again, but as the wound began to spasm more, her mind fogged and she had to retreat as she vomited.

"Is that kuendo? To use such a style when talking about honor..."

She was proud of the style her family had taught her, even if people looked down on it. According to Sivina, it was one of the best styles she could have chosen.

In fact, it might have been the best style that not only Sivina, but anyone who was weak in terms of muscle strength, could have chosen.

Although Sivina could not use magic, she was strong against ordinary people because of the mana in her body and her supreme race, but when it came to other people like her who carried mana in their bodies, her power was insufficient.

Because although mana can strengthen even someone who is only skin and bones, this power is limited and ultimately linked to muscular strength.

Since there are few female warriors like Sivina, it is likely that her opponent would be a man with more muscle strength than a woman, and when her opponent is a mana-containing man, he is stronger than Sivina due to the innate muscle difference.

If she had tried to fight against these people with ordinary styles, the fights would have been really tough for Sivina.

But with this style she could ignore the difference in physical strength. This style emphasized speed and agility over muscular strength, allowing her to beat her opponent without prolonging the fight.

Kuendo suited Sivina, who was naturally fast and agile, and her style had already defeated dozens of much stronger opponents in the blink of an eye.

"If it wasn't for my scars, it wouldn't have gotten this long."

And apart from her style, Sivina was a talented person. It would be unfair to give all the credit to style. If the poison had not taken effect, Sivina would have won the fight despite her injuries.

If she could manage the mana in his body, like a mage, she might have tried to resist the poison, but she couldn't do it now, and fighting became difficult when the poison occasionally kicked in and clouded his mind.

When the poison wore off briefly and she regained her sight, she saw the killer running towards her.

She quickly stepped aside to avoid her opponent and kicked him in the back. The killer lost his balance, staggered and grabbed onto a tree to avoid falling.

Sivina missed the opportunity to deliver a finishing blow when the poison took effect again, and when it did, she saw the killer running at her again.

Because the killer was also in pain, his moves were now much more crude and predictable. That's why Sivina was able to avoid him when she spotted him, even though she was in a bad situation.

She dodged again and was about to raise her sword and decapitate her opponent when the poison returned and she had to back away, her eyes darkening. When the poison wore off again, the killer was running at her once more.

This time Sivina stopped instead of avoiding. She stopped only because she trusted her instincts, she felt that this was the moment to end the fight. Even as the poison took effect and darkened Sivina's vision, Sivina continued to stand her ground.

Either the killer or Sivina would soon meet their end. When the killer saw Sivina standing in place, he put all his strength into his last move and jumped straight at Sivina.

Sivina heard the rustling of the ground, the footsteps of the killer, coming towards her. In a swift movement she spun around and swung her sword where she guessed the killer's hands would be. When his vision came back, the killer was lying on the ground, one hand severed from his body.

Sivina was going to kill him, she raised her sword, but her vision failed her as the poison took effect. This time the effect was more severe, Sivina's body trembled and she fell, dropping the sword she had been holding since the beginning of the fight.

On the ground she heard an animalistic sound, like the roar of a pig. A weight fell on her.

The killer lunged at Sivina and tried to stab her with the dagger he had retrieved from the ground. Sivina dodged this move by trusting her instinct and grabbed the killer's wrist. While holding the killer's wrist with one hand, she made a fist with the other and started hitting him in the face.

Sivina couldn't even see where she was hitting due to the occasional on and off effects of the poison, but she continued to punch her opponent in the face unabated.

The killer's teeth fell out, his face was covered in blood, the power in his hand holding the dagger disappeared and Sivina turned and brought the killer under her.

Then she kept punching the killer, hitting him in the face and hitting him again. Finally, when her vision cleared again, she took the dagger from the killer's hand and plunged it into his throat.

"What's going on?!"

Sivina looked in the direction of the sound, a young girl had just emerged from the alcove the killer had tried to enter.

But she was not looking at the killer or Sivina, but at the huge dome of flame that stood beyond the forest, in the direction Sivina had come from.

"What are you looking at? You shouldn't be here."

A young girl had no business in such a dangerous place in the middle of the night. As a knight she could not leave her here, she had to take her somewhere safe. She stood up and took a few steps towards her.

"You... What are you?"

She looked like a girl, her voice was a girl's voice, her clothes were a girl's clothes.

But she was not a human, she was a puppet.

As her pink hair, braided in silk, blew in the breeze, the puppet ran towards the dome made of flame.

"Where... You're going..."

Sivina wanted to follow her, took a few steps, but when the poison took effect, she couldn't stand it and fell to the ground. As the world went dark, she could no longer feel the wounds on her body or the wind blowing. She could no longer keep her eyes open as her body warmed up and she closed them to get some rest and fell asleep.