Chapter 3
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Chapter 3
A tingling sensation coursed through my limbs—that vertiginous feeling of plummeting through the void, or surging toward the heavens. For the first time in three years, he had truly understood her heart. He had glimpsed the depths of her anguish, the woman who had slain her own family by her own hand. He had recognized the wretchedness consuming her.
She trembled.
'Do you understand? Yes, I never wanted to do this. I truly... never wanted any of this!'
The body stolen by the Demon Blade momentarily synchronized with her fierce emotions. The resistance ceased. Tears welled up. They fell—just a single drop.
His eyes widened as he gazed down at her. Ekinessia thought those blue eyes were dazzling. Every movement of his became crystalline in her vision. His lips moved slowly.
"Tears."
"Commander?"
"She's crying."
"...Who is? Surely not."
"That's impossible."
"When the Demon Blade consumes you, nothing of the self remains. Commander, that's merely a body being wielded by the Demon Blade."
The knights protested in succession. Yurien shook his head.
"Something remains. She's fighting."
"Fighting? Against what?"
"Against the Demon Blade. Against her own will."
He was right. Ekinessia waged an endless battle against the black stains consuming her body. She had never won, yet she continued fighting still. She had not surrendered. Had she done so, she would have lost herself long ago.
Within the demon wielding the Demon Blade, she thrashed desperately to stop it, to reclaim her body—though none would ever know. Yet her consciousness endured in that struggle.
He alone had noticed that battle. The man who stood against her.
It was a feeling beyond words.
I wanted to weep. I wanted to cling to someone and cry with abandon. To confess how agonizing it had been, how terrible those hours were, how sorry I was to everyone, and yet—that I did not wish to die as a demon, that I desperately needed someone, anyone, to save me. I wanted to pour out all those words.
But that single tear was all. Soon, with dry eyes, Ekinessia's body began to thrash. She bared her teeth like a beast and snarled. The red-haired knight clicked his tongue.
"This is unsettling. Let's finish this and return."
"Even if consciousness remains, it doesn't matter. Our task doesn't change."
The blonde knight urged him on. Yet Yurien did not move. He stared intently into Ekinessia's darting eyes and spoke.
"That's not possible."
"Sir?"
"There is a possibility."
"What do you mean...? Ah, Commander, wait—are you perhaps...?"
The red-haired knight stammered in confusion. The larger knight, grasping his meaning at once, spoke with stolid certainty.
"Commander, overcoming the Demon Blade is impossible."
"There is precedent."
You're not about to cite some legendary Demon Blade Swordmaster whose existence we can't even verify, are you, Commander Yurien?"
"Commander, even if that were possible, the demon wielding the Demon Blade has already committed irreversible atrocities. You know how many domains have been reduced to ruin by this woman's hand."
"Is it only the domains that matter? The Empire has lost so many knights that they're fielding the capital guard as soldiers now, the Tower of Magic has lost its upper echelon of mages, and the imperial family and nobility have suffered considerable losses. This warrants execution regardless."
As the knights spoke in turn, Yurien, who had listened in silence, finally answered.
"Some of the damage stems from our own delay."
"What? We didn't delay because we wanted to. The Empire kept insisting they could handle it themselves, and look where that got us!"
The red-haired knight protested, but instead of responding, Yurien withdrew the blade pressing against Ekinessia's throat. Before she could react, he swung it.
The pommel, charged with mana, struck her solar plexus. Her already-injured body went limp from the blow to her vital point. As her consciousness faded, she heard their conversation.
"One cannot punish an unintended crime."
"This is maddening. Hey, Yuri, I normally respect knights like that, but this doesn't feel right."
"Commander. What exactly are you trying to do?"
"That woman...."
"...Why...."
"Impossible.... Punishment...."
While other voices blurred into indistinct murmurs, his words remained crystalline in my mind.
"I will give her a chance."
A single ray of light, descending like a miracle.
* * *
It would have been convenient if I could separate the Demon Blade by severing the arm that wielded it, but that was impossible. The Demon Blade Bardegiosa, like other Giosa series blades, was a sword imprinted upon the soul itself.
Ekinesia was confined in the Changtian Knights Headquarters Underground Prison in the city of Agenka. A specially crafted seal was placed around her, and chains bound her limbs.
The Empire demanded the execution of the Demon Blade's demon, but Yuri silenced that opinion. The Empire's words carried no weight—they had insisted they could handle it themselves, caused massive casualties, and ultimately came begging to the Changtian Knights for aid.
Ekinesia refused to squander the chance Yuri had given her. She focused solely on the struggle to reclaim her body from the Demon Blade. The sensation of killing was far too intense; when the blade conducted its massacres, it was nearly impossible to escape that intoxication. Now, while her body could not commit slaughter, was the opportune moment.
Beneath my feet lay the unconscious depths; above my head, the vast emptiness of consciousness. Standing upon the sleep of the unconscious, I fought against myself—stained black by the Demon Blade's mana. I could not tell how much time passed. I suffered hundreds of defeats, nearly plunging beneath the surface of sleep into the abyss countless times. Yet I continued to rise.
I never knew I was capable of such effort. The self I had known was lazy, sleep-loving, and averse to exertion.
But now I understand. The essence of myself, revealed only when driven to extremity. I do not surrender. I cannot surrender. I refused to be defeated by that Demon Blade, which had destroyed everything about me.
In moments when exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me, I imagined victory. I would destroy that cursed blade, then bathe. After that, I would sleep a dreamless sleep, deep and unbroken. Upon waking, I would comb my hair, dress in fresh clothes, and eat warm soup and soft bread. And then after that.
'...I will confess everything to Yuri. Surely, if he is the one who gave me this chance, he will show me how to move forward.'
Strictly speaking, all of Ekinesia's massacres were crimes committed not by me but by the Demon Blade, yet I could not draw a line and claim none of it concerned me. After all, it was my hands that were stained with blood.
Within the underground prison, my body snarled and shrieked in unintelligible sounds, clawed at walls and floors until they bled, and thrashed about in frenzy. Yet I could no longer kill anyone. And my mind fought endlessly.
Between those days, Yuri occasionally visited the underground prison.
"Still the same?"
"Yes."
He would stand at a distance, peering at me through a small opening carved into the upper portion of the iron door.
No one was permitted to approach Ekinesia. The Demon Blade Bardegiosa was a blade of slaughter, and it instinctively sought to kill all humans. If anyone drew near, it might provoke the blade. Thus, even the guards who brought food and water would place the vessels in the narrow space between the double doors and withdraw.
Yuri always stood alone in that cramped space between the doors, watching Ekinesia beyond the iron barrier. He never spoke to her.
Only watching—quiet, blue eyes.
His gaze could only see a woman stained black and bound in chains, thrashing like a beast, yet each time, Ekinesia felt he was truly seeing her. Not her body corrupted by the Demon Blade, but her soul fighting against it.
'That can't be.'
It was absurd. Even as I denied it, every time he came, I harbored the same thought.
I was glad he came. He was waiting for my victory. He believed I would overcome the Demon Blade and watched over me. I wanted to prove that his choice to believe in me was right.
'Once I reclaim my body, when I meet him....'
There was so much I wanted to say when we met. So very much. I gathered those words carefully within myself. They became my strength.
I wanted to win. To escape the Demon Blade and greet him with a smile as he came to watch over me as always. I dreamed of such a miracle.
But the miracle never came.
In a sense, the situation had worsened. Yet the outcome was so tragic that I could not dismiss it as mere misfortune and forget what happened.
A guard suddenly opened the double doors and entered from within. Likely he had come to check if Ekinesia was dead, as her body had lain motionless for nearly three days.
It was the Demon Blade's doing. The moment the guard came within reach of my arms, Ekinesia strangled him with the elongated chains. He died in the blink of an eye.
'No, stop, stop it, please!'
Her screams were meaningless.
The seal binding her body prevented her from wielding the Demon Blade's true form. So she used the guard's sword to sever the chains. She had heard that a knight trained to the extreme could cut through metal even without mana, but she never imagined she would have to do it with her own hands.
Ekinessia searched the guard's belongings for the key, opened the double doors, and escaped. She slaughtered all those guarding the prison and found the key to the seal binding her mana. The moment the seal came undone, Eki sensed catastrophe.
If Yurien and just one more Giosa Owner to aid him had been present, they could have stopped her. But Yurien happened to be away from Agenka at the time, and the only Owner remaining in Agenka was a single vice-captain of the Knights. He was a man named Baron, the largest of the knights who had come to subjugate her.
Ekinessia went berserk. Baron stood against her until the very end, evacuating others even as his neck was severed. Once he, who had been obstructing her, fell, she slaughtered every living soul in Agenka. Then she waited for the other Giosa Owners she had marked as "dangerous threats."
Days later, the blonde knight Teresa and the red-haired Dietrich returned together after completing their mission. They encountered Ekinessia in Agenka, now stained crimson with blood. Dietrich struggled desperately to protect Teresa, only to be saved by her instead.
"Someone needs to go inform the Captain."
"If Teresa goes...!"
"You won't last five minutes if you stay, so shut up and go—now!"
Teresa sent him away with those words. Ekinessia, having exhausted herself against Teresa, lost her grip on Dietrich. She killed Teresa first, then pursued Dietrich through the night as he fled into the mountains, hunting him down until he fell.
It was a terrible time. For them, and for her.
Finally, Yurien came.
He beheld his domain—corpses piled high, rotting away. The stench was overwhelming. Ekinessia greeted him before a mountain of the dead. Behind her, the fountain gleamed crimson with blood.
Yurien's face drained of color. He bit his lips until they bled, and his entire being turned to ice. His blue eyes, fixed upon her, seemed to crack like fractured glass.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org