Realizing that a fight was inevitable, Kari unleashed her own Spiritual Aura, the golden light of her elemental affinity encasing her body not in a flame this time, but in a very light film that looked almost like armor.
“If I can’t have you…” Finn muttered as he drew his rapier toward his chest. “If I can’t have you… then no one can!”
Finn thrust the rapier forward so quickly most people would have missed it, but Kari stepped aside and allowed the thrust to move past her. This first missed attack didn’t deter Finn. He drew his rapier back and thrust it out again. It missed once more when Kari took a step in the other direction. Then he pulled it back and thrust it again and again and again in an almost never-ending stream of attacks that increased in speed. It was like the more he attacked her, the faster his attacks became.
Kari dodged left and right to avoid being impaled. Sometimes she ducked when an attack came too close for comfort. The air around her crackled with lightning as small bolts leapt from Finn’s blade, striking her body but not breaking through her Spiritual Aura. This seemed to make Finn even angrier, as he increased the speed of his thrusts, to the point where even Kari had some trouble seeing the attacks. A few scraped against her Spiritual Aura. Fortunately, they were not strong enough to pierce it.
I see. Leaping back several times to gain some distance, Kari analyzed what her opponent was doing. He’s using the movements of his thrusts to channel lightning through his arm and increase the speed he can attack at.
That was an awfully dangerous technique to fight against. The only way she could think of countering it was to use the Flash Step, but while this walkway wasn’t exactly narrow, she didn’t feel comfortable using it when there was a high chance she could accidentally tumble off the edge. If she wanted to stop him from using this technique, then she would need to somehow stop his arm from moving.
However, as if he’d been able to tell what she was thinking, Finn reached behind his back and grabbed something that had been hidden inside of his shirt. From the bottom of his shirt came another rapier. This one had a differently designed cross-guard from the other one. It was also a little shorter, probably because it was meant to be used with the off-hand. As Finn took a different stance than before, Kari suddenly realized something.
“I see.” She narrowed her eyes. “So you are the one who attacked Eryk that first night we spent here in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.”
“That’s right,” Finn said, apparently no longer seeing any point in hiding it. “I thought I could do him in with a surprise attack. I never would have imagined he had such sharp senses. But it doesn’t matter anymore. If I can’t take him out, and you refuse to give up on him, then I will simply eliminate you instead! If I cannot have you, then I won’t let anyone else have you!”
He came at Kari again, blasting off the walkway and reaching her in record time. Now wielding two rapiers, the speed of his attacks increased, to the point where Kari really couldn’t dodge all of them. Several fast stabs came at her shoulders. Her Spiritual Aura deflected them, but each attack also came with an intense burst of yellow lightning, which had enough force to make her stumble.
A powerful thrust came at her from below, aimed at her heart. She took a step back, but the other rapier appeared where she moved as if predicting how she’d react, striking her in the throat. The attack was deflected by her Spiritual Aura. However, there was still enough force to make her gag a little as she stumbled backward. She had also been so focused on her opponent that her foot slipped when it came into contact with the walkway’s edge, causing her to stumble.
Finn laughed as he used this opportunity to try and push her off the walkway with several lightning-quick thrusts, but Kari, now desperate, activated the Flash Step and appeared several meters from where she’d been standing. She took several deep breaths as Finn stared at the place where she had been, blinking owlishly as if he couldn’t figure out what just happened. Raising a hand, she felt her neck. There was no wound. Even so, the knowledge that his attack would have killed her if she hadn’t activated her Spiritual Aura caused her bones to chill.
“It seems that man isn’t satisfied with just tainting you,” Finn growled as he whirled around to face her. There was madness in his now bloodshot eyes. He reminded her of a rabid beast. “Now he’s even teaching you his Spiritual Techniques! Damn him! I won’t have it! I refuse to let you use a technique you learned from that man!”
After shouting out these words, Finn began dancing along the ground with a rhythm that Kari recognized. This was the Spiritual Lightning Technique that he had used during the Spiritualist Grand Tournament to keep Fay from using the Flash Step. It was an oddly specific technique, but she didn’t think it had been designed specifically for the Flash Step itself. This Spiritual Technique released lightning into the ground, which caused mild electric shocks to race up the legs of Finn’s enemies. She imagined it had originally been designed to paralyze low-ranking Demon Beasts.
Still, this presented a problem. She couldn’t use the Flash Step anymore, which was the only Spiritual Technique she could use that didn’t require her ranseur. What could she do now that the only Spiritual Technique available to her had become unusable?
“I’ll kill you. I’ll take you! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you mine and then kill you!”
Finn was mumbling nonsense as he moved closer to her, still dancing in that strange manner that prevented her from using the Flash Step. He was moving slower than before. This Spiritual Technique must be one that couldn’t be used with high-speed movements… Her eyes widened.
I don’t think he can use his thrusting technique so long as he’s using this!
It looked like this technique prevented him from using that other Spiritual Technique, and while he could use the one that launched lightning at her, he was clearly aware that using such a dangerous technique in a ruin like this wasn’t smart. If he accidentally caused a cave-in or the walkway to collapse, he would be in just as much trouble as her.
That meant she had a chance.
Kari prepared herself both physically and mentally. She took several deep breaths, shifted her feet along the floor, and adopted the fighting stance she’d seen Fay use. It felt awkward. She wasn’t a brawler like her friend. Even so, she’d seen the redhead fight enough times to have memorized her stance and even some of her hand-to-hand techniques. It should be enough to at least strike back at this man.
She would only have one chance.
She needed to make it count.
She waited and watched as Finn finally reached her and thrust out the rapier in his left hand, at the same time moving the other rapier to where he thought she would dodge. This was how he had been attacking her up to this point, but she didn’t do what he expected this time. Drawing her right fist back into her torso, she took a step forward and threw a powerful straight jab.
“What?!” Finn shouted as her fist, coated in the brilliant golden glow of her Spiritual Aura, struck the tip of his rapier. Steel shattered and clattered to the ground. Her fist continued on, striking the cross-guard and breaking that too. A loud crunching sound echoed around them. The man screeched in pain as he jerked his hand back. It had gone completely limp. More than likely, the bones were shattered.
Knowing not to let an opportunity like this slip by, Kari awkwardly stepped into his guard, drew her other fist back, and slammed it into his chest. Finn’s eyes widened as his leather breastplate shattered. Kari didn’t stop there. She hyperextended her fist completely, even rotating her torso like she’d seen Fay do; the result was Finn being lifted off his feet and sent flying backward. He landed on the walkway, skidding along on his back before coming to a stop. Kari took several heavy breaths as she waited to see if he would get back up, but he didn’t.
Walking up to him, she kicked the other rapier out of his now-limp hand and looked down. His eyes were still open, but they had rolled up into the back of his head, and there was also a large indent in his chest as though hi
s ribs had caved in. He was still breathing, but it was shallow and growing weaker. Her last attack had probably punctured his lung. He would likely die in a few minutes.
Kari did feel a little conflicted about letting Finn die. She had killed Grant back when he’d kidnapped Fay, but she was able to kill him because of what she and Eryk had seen after arriving. The sight of Grant forcibly removing Fay’s clothes to rape her had caused Kari to see red. Her rage had overridden any sense of guilt she might have felt. This was different, though she also understood that he’d been trying to kill her, which lessened the guilt she felt at least a little bit.
All these thoughts raced through her mind when two familiar voices echoed from somewhere and caused her ears to perk up. She blinked several times and cocked her head, straining to listen.
“Are you sure it came from this direction?” asked a woman.
The voice that answered belonged to a man. “I’m positive. I definitely felt Kari’s Spiritual Signature coming from here. She’s just up ahead.”
“Doesn’t this seem a little too coincidental? If you can feel her Spiritual Signature, then it means these ruins are the same ones Catalyna was taking us to before the Demon Beasts went into a frenzy, doesn’t it?”
“It’s not so strange when you think about it. We didn’t travel that far from where Kari and her group were going. Our path took us just slightly west of the direction they were headed. We probably ended up on the opposite side of the same mountain as them.”
“That still seems a little too coincidental to me.”
“I think you are just being paranoid.”
The voices grew increasingly louder; just when it seemed as if they couldn’t increase in volume anymore, two figures stepped out through a hallway on the ground floor. Kari couldn’t believe her eyes. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she saw the two people down below; they looked a little worse for wear but still alive, still standing, still there.
With joy surging through her heart, she called out to the pair. “Eryk! Fay!”
The two looked up, revealing the familiar features of Eryk and Fay.
She glanced at the first person who’d firmly earned himself a special place in her heart. Eryk’s face was covered in dirt and sweat, but the elegant and somewhat feminine charm that gave him such a pretty boy appearance remained the same. The leather band normally wrapped around his hair was gone. His long locks of green hair surrounded him and made him look even girlier than normal, but to Kari, who knew of his strength, this contradictory appearance only made him more attractive to her. On a side note, she noticed he was shirtless.
Fay stood beside him. The redhead who was easily her best friend looked up with bright green eyes. Like Eryk, her clothing was torn in certain places, revealing the smooth skin underneath. The swell of her left breast was partially exposed. It looked like the Demon Beasts had done a number on her, but she was still alive, and that was what mattered.
“Hey, Kari!” Eryk raised his hand and waved at her.
“I’m so glad you two are safe!” Kari shouted. “Stay right there! I’ll find a way down to you!”
Fay looked like she was about to say something, but Kari turned on her heels and dashed toward the nearest entrance. She was sure that one of these entrances would lead to a stairway that would take her to the ground floor.
Chapter 9
Returning Home
I watched as Kari disappeared down a random passage, wondering if she would be okay. It didn’t seem like this particular ruin had any traps, which these ruins were often littered with in the event that Sekbeists ever managed to invade. I suspected this base hadn’t been used very much during the war. Or maybe there was no need for traps for one reason or another.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let her run off like that?” asked Fay as I wandered over to the elevated platform and sat down. “I mean, you could have just used the Flash Step to reach her.”
“Kari knows that,” I replied as I turned my head and looked at all the entrances on that side. She’d be coming out of one of those. “I’m pretty sure she decided to run off before I could say anything because she knows that. In which case…”
Fay quickly caught on to what I was saying and sighed. “In which case, she likely took off in such a hurry because it gave her an excuse to explore more of the ruins.”
“Probably.”
After standing awkwardly in that one spot for about a minute, Fay wandered over to the platform and sat down beside me. She seemed a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by these giant statues. However, her attention was mostly focused on me.
“How is it that you know Kari so well?” asked Fay.
I tilted my head. “What do you mean? Isn’t it natural to know a lot about someone you love?”
“Maybe, but…” Fay frowned, her face scrunching up. “It just seems to me like you know her too well. It’s like… like you have spent years together rather than just a few months.”
I almost flinched. I thought I did an admirable job of masking my surprise, but really, for Fay to hit the nail so hard on the head was astonishing. Hmm. But then again, it wasn’t like I had done anything to keep my knowledge of Kari and her personality a secret. Now that I was thinking about it, I had pretty much abused my knowledge of Kari to make her fall in love with me.
Did that… make me a bad person?
I wondered if maybe using my knowledge to push along our romance was the same as manipulating her.
Just as I was thinking about this, Kari emerged from one of the entrances. She’d only gone down one floor and there were about four between us starting from the floor she was on now. After glancing around for a moment, she looked down at us and smiled.
“I’m going to try one of the other passageways!” she shouted before running off.
“And there she goes again,” I murmured with a fond smile.
Fay could only giggle as the blonde woman disappeared. “That’s our Kari.”
It took Kari about twenty minutes to finally reach the ground floor. She ended up taking several wrong passages that took her to the higher levels, had to reverse direction, then needed to go through about six or seven more passages. At long last, though, Kari came racing out of one passage on the ground floor.
“ERYK!”
I stood to my feet just in time to receive Kari’s glomp, which would have knocked me off my feet if I hadn’t been prepared. Even being ready, I still needed to spin around several times to absorb the impact, which probably would have hurt her just as much as it did me. After our spin, I set the girl on her feet but kept my hands around her waist.
“Kari, I’m glad you’re—”
I couldn’t finish my sentence before she leaned up and kissed me. With her hands on my shoulders, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine. Her kiss was filled with desperate relief. It was like I could sense all the emotions that had been swirling inside of her, the worry and heartache and uncertainty, suddenly coming to the fore through our contact. Even after she finished taking her emotions out on my lips, the girl refused to let go. She tucked her head under my chin and hugged me with enough strength that my ribs felt like they were gonna break.
It was a really good thing I had strengthened my body with weight training and alchemy pills.
Now that my lips were no longer hampered, I could speak. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.”
“I’m the one who should be saying that.” Kari had buried her face in my neck, so her words sounded a little muffled. “I was really worried. Even though I was confident you would come back, I still couldn’t help but worry about you two. You and Fay were all alone, and I wasn’t able to help you at all.”
I began running my hand over her head, tenderly stroking her hair. It was nowhere near as soft as it used to be, but I blamed that on a lack of shampoo and other hair care products. I doubted Kari even had time to bathe properly since the Demon Beasts overran our camp. Her scent was quite a bit stronger than I was used
to, though I didn’t say anything. Now wasn’t the time to tell her she needed a bath.
“You had to protect the others,” I said, trying to soothe her emotions. “Someone had to.”
“I know. I know that. I just…”
“I understand.” I spent a few seconds just soothing the girl as she let out the torrent of emotions she’d no doubt kept in check until now. But I knew we also needed to move this along. “But you know… Fay is also here.”
“That’s right!” Kari suddenly let go of me as if just now remembering that we weren’t alone. She swerved around me, and I turned just in time to see Fay get glomped by the overly enthusiastic Kari. “FAY! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I forced you to be the one who acted as a distraction! I’m so glad you’re okay!”
“Thank you for worrying about me. I apologize for causing you so much distress.”
Fay’s expression softened as she hugged Kari back. She wrapped her arms around the blonde girl’s waist and placed her head on Kari’s shoulder.
Ever since that night after the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, and maybe even before then, Kari had begun displaying a wide range of emotions. It was like the dam on her feelings had broken. Comparing her to the future version I’d lived with, I’d say this Kari was more expressive, but she was still the same person I remembered at heart.
After Kari calmed down, the three of us convened a short meeting and informed each other about what happened with our respective groups. Fay and I learned about how Kari’s group had run all the way to these ruins without stopping, and she learned about the A-Rank Demon Beast I had been forced to fight.
“You… you killed an A-Rank Demon Beast?! On your own?!” Kari looked at me like she’d been punched in the stomach.
I nodded. “It was a tough fight.”
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