'Sa… ki.'
Eri reached out with trembling fingers.
'Don't worry.'
Saki tightened her grip on the restored bokken.
Her body was shaking. Her breathing was unsteady, but the look in her eyes never wavered.
'I won't let her hurt any of you again.'
She lifted her head and met Ingrid's gaze.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Saki took a breath and burst forward.
*CLANG!*
Steel and wood collided.
Ingrid had drawn her sword just in time, barely catching the strike. A sharp crack ran along the surface of Saki's bokken.
'This changes nothing,' Ingrid said.
She twisted her hips and drove a kick toward Saki's side.
But Saki had released her bokken.
Her fist shot upward.
*THUD!*
The uppercut smashed Ingrid cleanly in the jaw.
Ingrid's head snapped back. She staggered back, eyes widened.
'To think you would force me this far—'
Saki snatched her bokken off the ground and charged again.
*SNAP!*
The bokken shattered the instant Ingrid blocked it.
'And now your weapon is gone. What do you intend—'
Projection!
A new bokken appeared in Saki's hand.
Before Ingrid could finish, Saki swung with all her might.
The strike slammed into Ingrid's ribs and sent her crashing into a nearby tree.
The trunk shook violently. Leaves rained down.
Ingrid coughed, then slowly pushed herself upright, glaring through strands of pink hair that had fallen across her face.
'So be it.' She slowly stood up. 'I will acknowledge you as an opponent.'
A bitter smile touched her lips.
'Be careful what honour you force from others.'
Fireball!
A purple ball of flames shot toward Saki.
Saki threw herself sideways.
The fireball exploded where she had been standing a moment before.
*BOOM!*
Heat washed over her skin.
She lifted her head and Ingrid was gone.
Then she felt it.
A cold, prickling sensation ran down the back of her neck.
Behind.
Saki dropped instantly.
*Swoosh!*
A blade swept over her head, close enough to cut a few strands of hair.
'Too slow.'
Purple flames gathered in Ingrid's free hand.
Projection!
A bokken flashed into existence and smashed into Ingrid's wrist.
Fireball!
The flames veered off target.
It struck the ground beside them instead.
*BOOM!*
The blast hurled both of them apart.
Saki rolled across the ground before catching herself.
Across from her, Ingrid wiped blood from the corner of her mouth and rose slowly.
'I will admit this much, human girl—'
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
An arrow pierced straight through her leg.
'GAH!'
She looked down in disbelief.
Blood was dripping out.
'Insolent child.'
She ripped the arrow free and the flesh around the wound was already healing itself.
Then more arrows came.
One after another.
Ingrid clicked her tongue and slashed them all with her sword.
'I will not suffer disgrace here.'
Flames wrapped around her sword as she charged.
This time, she was faster.
Saki barely managed to raise her reinforced bokken in time.
*BANG!*
The impact ran straight through her arms.
Even reinforced, the bokken snapped in two.
Projection!
She made another.
Then another.
And another.
Each time Ingrid's sword came down, Saki met it with a freshly made weapon, only for it to break under the force of the blow.
'Huff… huff…'
Her breathing grew heavier.
Her arms felt numb.
But Ingrid did not slow down.
She only became more ruthless.
Saki was being driven back, forced entirely onto the defensive.
She did not counter.
She only watched.
Focus.
Every clash had its own sound.
Every swing had its own rhythm.
The angle of Ingrid's wrist.
The shift in her shoulders.
The path her blade took through the air.
Saki watched.
Listened.
Memorised.
*BANG!*
A heavy strike sent Saki flying into the pond.
Water erupted upward.
'Have you finally seen the distance between us?' Ingrid asked as she approached.
Saki rose from the water, soaked. Wet hair clung to her face. Her body screamed to give up.
Still, her eyes never left Ingrid's sword.
'Unfortunately,' Ingrid said, lifting her blade, 'this is where your resolve ends.'
She dashed forward, flames engulfing her sword.
Saki stared only at the blade.
'Trace on.'
Then she blocked.
Again. And again.
Each strike sent pain through her arms, but she endured it.
Not yet.
A little more.
She needed one more exchange. One more look.
*CLANG!*
'Do not mistake endurance for strength,' Ingrid said.
Then she vanished.
Saki's body tensed.
Behind.
Projection!
Steel flashed into her hand.
Not a bokken.
A sword.
Ingrid's breath caught.
It was her blade.
The exact same sword.
*DING!*
The two swords collided in a burst of sparks.
Ingrid stumbled back, eyes wide.
'… What is this?'
Saki said nothing.
She lowered herself into a stance.
This time, it was Ingrid's stance.
Ingrid's gaze hardened.
'You would take my form as well?' Ingrid sneered. 'A copied blade cannot bear the weight behind it.'
She vanished again.
But this time, Saki had already moved.
Side.
She turned and swung.
The moment Ingrid reappeared, a blade was already waiting for her.
She quickly raised her sword, however, she was too slow.
The edge cut across her arm, drawing a line of red.
Saki stepped forward immediately.
No hesitation.
She attacked again.
Now Ingrid was the one being forced back.
Every counter she tried was crushed before it could begin.
Every opening she reached for disappeared a moment before she could take it.
It was as if Saki could see everything she was about to do.
'I will not be cast down by borrowed conviction.'
Ingrid roared and plunged her sword into the ground.
A magic circle flared beneath her feet.
'Incinerate!'
Flames erupted in every direction.
Saki leapt back as fire swallowed the ground.
Then Ingrid stepped out of the inferno.
Flames danced around her.
Her expression had changed.
The arrogance was still there, but now it was tangled with frustration.
'You…' Ingrid's voice trembled. 'Do you truly think you can stand on this path?'
Saki tightened her grip on the hilt.
'No,' she said. 'But I won't stop until everyone is safe.'
'…'
Ingrid stopped.
Then she laughed.
Not with joy, but with bitterness and pain.
'Ahahaha!'
'Still speaking of saving everyone…'
Her fingers tightened around her sword.
'I once believed in words like that.'
Saki's eyes narrowed.
Ingrid tilted her head back and looked up at the sky.
'I thought that if I became a knight, I could protect my people.'
Her smile twisted.
'I believed that if I fought hard enough, if I endured enough, then I could keep what mattered from being taken from me.'
Purple flames began spilling from her body.
'But the world does not reward noble hearts.'
She lowered her gaze back to Saki.
And for the first time, she did not look arrogant.
She looked exhausted.
Hollow.
'No matter how many times I raised my sword,' Ingrid said quietly. 'I could not protect what was entrusted to me.'
Saki's grip tightened.
She wanted to reject those words.
But Ingrid's voice did not sound proud anymore.
It sounded like someone who had already buried her dreams.
'So of course such words come easily to you,' Ingrid continued. 'You have not yet watched your ideals fail in your hands.'
Saki's jaw tightened.
'Maybe not,' she said. 'But I still can't stop.'
Ingrid's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed.
'Grenier.'
The name left her lips like a curse.
[You must pay the price.]
A voice answered from within the flames.
'I know,' Ingrid said. 'Then let this be the price.'
*Boom!*
The blast sent Saki tumbling backward.
She jammed her sword on the ground, barely stopping herself before smashing into the wall behind her.
The flames slowly cleared.
Ingrid stepped forward.
Changed.
Her uniform had become white and black, with fire flickering constantly across it like veins of living heat. A black dragon coiled behind her for a brief moment, its crimson eyes shining in the darkness before it vanished.
Wings of flames burst from her back.
'Now,' Ingrid said, her voice ringing with power, 'I will show you what becomes of a dream that refuses to yield to reality.'
She vanished.
Then appeared directly in front of Saki.
*BOOM!*
Even knowing her swordsmanship, even predicting the line of attack, Saki barely managed to block.
The impact blasted her through a wall and out into the streets.
Wood exploded around her.
Saki hit the ground hard and rolled.
Above her, Ingrid ascended slowly, burning wings spread wide.
'Your struggle is meaningless.'
She pointed her sword down at Saki.
Saki pushed herself up.
Her legs trembled.
Her arms shook.
Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
And yet…
She smiled.
'They're not.'
Projection!
'Because I stopped you from hurting them.'
A bow formed in Saki's hand.
In her other hand remained Ingrid's copied sword.
Then the sword began to change.
Its form twisted, compressed, sharpened, until it became a single arrow.
Saki nocked it and pulled the string back.
Mana poured into the arrow until the air around it began to tremble.
Ingrid's expression hardened.
'You think I will allow that to reach me?'
She raised her blade.
Flames surged toward the sky.
'Burn.'
She swung down.
A dragon of fire roared toward Saki.
Saki closed her eyes.
Her breathing slowed.
And pictured only one thing.
A shield that blocks all.
Rho Aias!
A purple flower bloomed before her.
A layer of luminous petals unfolded in front of her, intercepting the flames.
*BOOM!*
The dragon crashed into it.
The shield trembled.
Cracks ran along the flower.
But it held.
Long enough.
When the fire finally faded, Ingrid saw the arrow.
The sheer density of mana packed into it made even her expression stiffen.
Then she laughed.
'You still mean to stake everything on that one hope?' She said. 'Very well. Show me how far your dream can reach.'
She prepared to vanish.
'Stop!'
Eri's voice rang out across the street.
Ingrid's eyes widened.
Eri stood there, pink light burning in her eyes.
For a single second, Ingrid froze.
That was enough.
'FIRE!'
Saki released the string.
*BOOM!*
The arrow tore through the air like a beam of light.
Ingrid vanished into the blast and was sent crashing into Dylan's house.
'…'
'Huff… huff…'
Saki fell to her knees.
The bow disappeared from her hands.
'Saki!'
Eri walked over while carrying Hina.
Saki raised a trembling hand.
'Don't worry… I'm ok—'
She coughed.
Blood splattered onto the ground.
Eri's face went pale.
'You're not okay!'
She gently lowered Hina and grabbed Saki before she could collapse.
Saki managed a weak smile.
'I… I just overdid it a little…'
'… Even now, you refuse to fall.'
Everyone looked up.
Ingrid was still standing.
Barely.
Her right arm was gone. Blood ran down her side and yet, somehow, she refused to fall.
'To think… to be brought this low…'
Her body swayed.
Her knees buckled.
She looked at Saki through half-lidded eyes.
'So this is your answer…'
The flames faded.
Her transformed outfit dissolved.
'I still… cannot accept it…'
Just before she hit the ground, someone caught her.
'I didn't expect Ingrid to be pushed this far by a human.'
A woman in a black suit stepped out from the shadows.
White hair.
Pale skin.
A calm, unreadable smile.
Ingrid forced her eyes open.
'Beowulf… what are you doing here?'
'The Taimanin are closing in. We're leaving.'
She lifted Ingrid over one shoulder, then turned to Saki.
A faint smile touched her lips.
'Perhaps we'll meet again, human girl.'
Then she vanished.
The street fell silent.
Saki's copied weapons disappeared.
Her transformed clothes faded back to normal.
Then her body gave out.
*Thud.*
'Saki!'
Eri caught her before she could hit the ground.
Hands shaking, she used her magic to examine Saki's condition.
Then a voice cut through the street.
'They got away again.'
Eri looked up.
Several masked figures had appeared.
They looked at the ruined house, the scorched street, the blood…
Then one of them pointed straight at Eri.
'Look. There is a demon here.'
The others drew their blades.
Eri tightened her hold on Saki.
And Saki…
Barely conscious, barely able to move…
Still, she tried to rise.
——————————————-
[Beowulf] Taimanin.