Volume 4, Prologue
Volume 4, Prologue
The battlefield was covered with a huge number of dead bodies. The trees were scorched, black smoke painted the clear sky, and the smell of smoldering iron rust filled the air.
“Haaaaa!”
In such a hellish battlefield, a girl with red hair was dancing beautifully. She danced as if she were slicing through a nightmare scene, scattering the smell of death in the air.
Each time she danced, screams, shouts, and all sorts of vindictiveness were created. But no matter how many enemy soldiers she cut down, no matter how many piles of corpses she built up.
――this desperate situation would not change.
The girl let out a ragged breath and stabbed her burning red sword into the ground.
“…I wonder if this is what it means to be surrounded by enemies on all sides.”
She looked at her surroundings, but she could not find any of her allies.
The escape route is already blocked. The soldiers who had followed her to the end had also died. With only a little bit of strength left, it was unlikely that the girl would be able to break through the encirclement.
The girl looked up at the sky and tightened her face as the blood smoke obscured her vision.
“But I promised to meet him. I can’t give up so easily.”
Remembering the promise she made to the twin-black young man, the girl tightened her grip on the hilt of her red sword again. She promised to show him that she had improved and that they would meet again.
――Then there was no way she would bend her knee.
The girl waved the tip of her sword sideways as if to intimidate the enemy soldiers surrounding her.
“Now, come at me. I’m not going to die here.”
Even if her arms are cut off, even if she loses her legs, she will definitely make it to where the twin-black young man is waiting and seeing his smile again. The girl raises her sword strongly, powerfully, to face the enemy soldiers.
“I’ll be fine; I won’t end up in this place!”
The girl smiles at the boy that flickers in her mind and starts to rush.
To the place where the tip of the spear fills the field of her vision. As she runs to the young man ahead of her, she runs past him. With a certain determination in her red eyes, the girl boldly slashed into the rushing group of enemies.
She didn’t need to aim, and even if she closed her eyes, she could still slash and hit them. It was only a single strike ― and with that, a splash of blood dyed the ground red, and a scream covered the sky.
As if in response to the girl’s spirit, the red sword shone brightly, spreading the flames of hellfire.
The girl continued to slaughter the enemy soldiers with all her might, but she felt a strange presence and stopped moving.
“…..What?”
The sound of drums was coming from the surroundings. Exuberance shot up from the enemy army. The shouting shook the ground, and the stamping of feet gripped the entrails.
A wave of people broke through, covering the entire field of vision, and a female knight appeared between them.
“I really admire the way you continue to fight back even though the odds are stacked against you.”
The woman’s clear voice melted into her eardrums as shouts of joy surrounded her.
“But you’re still outnumbered. Let’s bring the curtain down here.”
With a smile like that of a loving mother, the woman dexterously swung her blue spear with one hand.
With just one swing, the ground was shattered in the aftermath. With the woman at the center of the dust, the generated thousand waves released an overpowering force that made space creak.
“Never look away. Always keep your eyes forward.”
There was the sound of air popping.
“Otherwise ― you will die.”
The next thing she knew, the female knight was right in front of her. When the girl hurriedly held the red sword in the upper part of her body, a terrible shock pierced her body.
“Guh…!?”
“That’s fine. But you misjudged me.”
She felt an intense chill irritating her skin and a cold air drifting from the blue spear she had received. She noticed the change and turned her gaze towards it: the blade of the red sword that caught the spearhead was beginning to freeze.
“So, what would you say?”
The girl took a forward bent posture to push away and swung the red sword with all her might.
“This is where it starts!”
But no matter how strong her heart is, her attacks will lack finesse if she is once discouraged, no matter how much spirit she has. Even so, the girl continued to attack boldly. Even when the cold waves from the blue spear froze the sweat on her forehead, even when her dry lips split open and bled, she continued to fight desperately to reach her destination.
“But this is as far as you go.”
“Ugh…”
It was only one breath. The next breath that was taken to launch the next attack had fatal consequences. The girl’s beautiful face twisted in pain as the tip of the spear sliced through her soft skin.
“Ouch――!”
The next time the spear pierced the girl’s shoulder, fresh blood splattered backward. Distracted by her intense pain, the girl stops moving completely.
“I guess it’s over.”
The female knight thrusts the blue spear into the ground and raises one hand. Then, realizing the opportunity, the enemy soldiers desperately jumped on the girl.
The red sword, which sensed the danger, emitted strong light, but it was immediately enveloped by the cold air emitted by the blue spear and dissipated.
“I can’t let this end just yet…”
Her eyes still have a strong will in them, but there is no way to prevent the storm of violence for a girl who has lost her hand.
“…..Hiro.”
In the midst of it all, the girl reached out her hand towards the young man she hoped to see again. But hope never came, and in an instant, the girl was swallowed up by the waves of enemy soldiers.