A Maiden’s Unwanted Heroic Epic

impact was felt in the side of her body.

 

“Wha!?”

 

It was Selene who kicked Kalua——her body drifted sideways, and a shadow passed in its place.

 

“…Have you lost your mind Faren?”

“Haha, this old man has a promise to keep, and thus I come before you.”
 

Same as Gildanstein, he wore armor that even looked simple, and smiled with his wicked face that made his bones stand out.

Eluga Faren stood with a longsword in his hand.

 

“Do you think the like of you can buy time against me?”

“It's impossible, isn't it? My hands were shaking just after one exchange…
Maybe it's been a long time since I ran, so my bones are starting to creak.”
 

‘Kakaka’, He laughed and waved his arm.

Fast and sharp.

Although it was a surprise attack, it was a blow that Gildanstein had no choice but to receive.

It was a long time ago that he was able to swing it fully.

Eluga had no second chance.
 

Even knowing that, Eluga laughed.

 

“But His Highness, too, that injury——doesn't seem to see the situation.
…I had already bought us enough time.”

 

And his finger points to the main camp.
There were cheers in that direction.

Gildanstein turned his attention for a moment,
 

“!”

 

He leapt.
From the exact opposite of the direction, he turned his attention to.

What came flying was a white soldier spear from the ranks of Eluga's Fourth Corp.

It pierced the earth where Gildanstein had been, and at the same time, a man of large stature broke out of the line of soldiers.

Blood-stained silver armor in the shape of a tiger.

What he held in his hand was a full-body steel great war spear that ordinary people cannot wield.

He dips his feet into the ground as he sprints and comes in front of them.

 

“My, it looks like I made it in time.
If I couldn't make it, I wouldn't be able to face the General either.”
 

Kolkis Agrand smiled broadly.

Selene breathes a sigh of relief and steps back.
 

“You're too slow, Kolkis.”

“I'm not very good at running, I'm stuck in the ground because of my armor…well, but don't worry, Christand’s watchdog will drive away its master's danger.”

“Fufu, That's reassuring.”

 

Selene laughed and narrowed her eyes.

There was Gildanstein, still holding his sword and still ready to fight.

He was wounded by arrows, and his body was bleeding——reminding her of her father's corpse.

There were countless scars.

Probably her father too.

The hero Bogan Christand must have fought while being covered in wounds like this.
 

“…This is already over, Your Highness.
Surrender.
No matter how strong you are, Commander Agrand has appeared, and you are injured.
There is no chance of winning in this situation.”

 

Serene asked for a token surrender.

She knew that he would not nod.
 

Even as he spouted blood, he didn’t give up and picked up his sword.

Was the reason pride or something else――
 

“I would not be able to face your father if I surrendered with just this level of wounds and circumstances.”
 

At least, in front of her was a warrior.
 

“That was a good fight.
You can be proud, your father was a true hero——a warrior.”

 

At the very least, her father must have fought this man as a warrior.

——That's why, in the end, those eyes looked like they were smiling without any regrets.

 

“Your Highness!!”

The one running toward them was the battered century who had blocked them before.

Kalua and the others quickly took up a position in that direction,
 

“…
That's fine, Clarias.”
 

Gildanstein held his hand toward them, stilling them.
 

“You guys are the witnesses.
… I said that I would prepare a reward, enough for you to play around for the rest of your life if you survived, but I don't think I can fulfill that promise.
Just think that you’re lucky to be able to keep your life”

“…Your Highness.”

 

Gildanstein chuckled and carried the great sword on his shoulder.

Kolkis takes a step forward with a serious face.

 

“The General’s enemy——that man’s final moment was not unsightly, from the bottom of my heart I am glad for that.
…I will be your opponent, Your Highness.”

 

Gildanstein looked at Kolkis, and Kolkis thrust the tip of his spear at him.

Everyone on the spot held their breath, but.
 

“You're not a good enough actor for me, Agrand.”

“…what?”

“On the battlefield, there is only one thing, victory…
you are not the one who stopped me from achieving that goal.
As my greatest enemy, you are not the one standing who obstructed me.”

 

Gildanstein looked up at the sky and squinted at the sun approaching its zenith and continued.

In the wintery sky there was a heat, and the hot wind caressed his body.

 

“——The cheers I just heard.
I wondered what it was like.”

 

Gildanstein continued as he reached for that sun.
 

“If Nakirus succeeds in breaking through, the outcome of this situation is still unknown.
I still have my eyes on victory.
But that's your main camp.
Nakirus brought a small group——his breakthrough won’t raise that much cheer.
Even if that were the case, he should have already been here.”
 

He clenched his fist, as if trying to catch the sun.
 

“That’s to say, Nakirus is dead.”

 

Gildanstein said so.
 

“But Nakirus is a man I trust.
At the very least, I don't think he'll be killed in that situation.
He'll come crawling if he has to.
…That is unless there is another reason.”
 

Then his cheeks contorted.

 

“No way, I didn't think you were already here yesterday, but…did you already defeat my body double on the first day? I certainly never underestimated you, but…”

 

A shadow dances out from the main camp.

Without wearing any armor, the silver hair and cloak swayed.

 

It ran through the distance to here in a flash and stopped.

Gildanstein looked back.

 

——He was determined to win.

Once he had struck Bogan in the Dragon’s Maw, victory was his.

With the palace in his grasp and soldiers and generals in his hands, victory was already in sight.
 

But Kuraray Marcellus could not stall for time.

The undefeated general Aurugorn Hilkintos was defeated.

The Dragon’s Maw, which he had risked his life to obtain, was lost in a short time.
 

And today, he was slowed down by the centurions she made, eating up a deadly amount of time.

That's why this girl——Krische Christand stood here as the one who obstructed Gildanstein.
 

The girl, her skirt swinging, tilted her head slightly, frowned, and looked at Selene.
 

“Selene, is he surrendering?”

“…No.
He wants a duel with you.”

“…duel?”
 

More and more incomprehensible and mysterious.

Krische narrowed her purple eyes coldly and fixed her gaze on Gildanstein.

 

“It's a bit surprising after running around for so long.
Krische didn't think you were that kind of person who stuck to such puzzling aesthetics.”

 

She spun the curved sword in her hand and smiled.
 

“But don't worry, Krische will properly keep her word.
No matter what you planned, what kind of person you are——Krische will kill you.”

 

Her inorganic eyes shone.

Even though she smiled, her eyes didn’t smile.

Only cold-blooded murderous intent oozed out.
 

“That's fine.
… If you fight, you will win.
Even so, you are the opponent I should bet my life on in this place.”

 

Laughing, Gildanstein drew his sword.

Seichu (at the exact middle/center of body), Seigan (pointing sword to opponent’s eye; kendo’s stance).
His hands on the hilt of the great sword.

 

A phantasmagoric sword trajectory.

――The right hand that manipulated it was heaven.
 

The hilt that becomes the axis and the foundation.

――The left hand, which brings harmony to the sword, was earth.

 

Seigan, which can respond to any attack, was the sword against all enemies.

The King's Sword was based on the concept of containing all of heaven and earth in its sword.

Gildanstein's stance was stunningly beautiful, and could be called the stance of a King.

 

“I see.
If you don't run away, it's best.
Krische is already tired of this fight.”

 

Krische, on the other hand, held her sword in her right hand, but did not take a stance.

The heavens and earth that he creates, a natural stance against the world.

She was innocent and formless against the King’s Sword that rules the heavens and the earth.

 

Her sword was a sword that couldn’t be caught by anything.

It was outside the principle of the heaven and earth created by Gildanstein, the person called King.
 

She was void.

She was not mastering a technique.

She did not have power in her hands.

She transcends all swordsmanship and brings forth the best move in the moment.

 

Formlessness――that way of being itself is her principle.
 

“If Krische kills you, it's all over——and then all will be fine.”
 

Her steps were smooth, as if she was sinking into the earth.

The space between the two was five ken (~9 m).

――It was already within Krische’s reach.

 

An ordinary swordsman would have had his head chopped off by the time he realized it.

Her steps were not wild, but simply tranquil.

The change from stillness to motion seemed nonexistent, and even though she was moving, she did not seem to be moving.

Slipping through the gap of his perception, it was as if the distance between him and her――the space itself was shrinking.
 

However, Gildanstein, on the other hand, could barely see it.

A feeling of time being stretched out.
A body that feels heavy as if he was in water.

He had wounds all over his body, was exhausted, and was probably in the worst possible condition.

But that was why he was able to abandon the rest of his life and focus all his attention on this situation to the utmost limit.

 
No sound was heard, and his vision seemed to fade.

His body, all the abilities he had cultivated so far, were directed solely toward Krische’s movements.

 

His reaction to Krische’s smooth step was delayed, but he quickly realized.

It was not a fatal delay.

With one step, Krische closed the gap of 3 ken (~5.4 m).

If she had wanted to, he could have easily closed a distance of 5 ken.

The reason she stepped in until there was in order to be able to respond to any of Gildanstein’s attack.

That's how Gildanstein understood that she was always ahead of him.

She was directly in front of Gildanstein, and there, on the ground, was her left foot.

Gildanstein swung the tip of his sword to the right, and Krische instantly reacted.

The destination was the left side of Gildanstein.
 

――But it was a feint.

As she positions herself to step onto Gildanstein's left side, then reversed.

Gildanstein tilted his sword to the left.

She was on her left foot.

In that state, her center of gravity was tilted to the right.

There was no more escape to the left.
 

Gildanstein put all his might and soul into horizontal slash.

It was the shortest and fastest, putting everything he has cultivated up to this point into it.

A blow she should not be able to avoid.

She had no choice but to receive it with her sword――but then she leapt.

 

Without touching the ground with her right foot, she jumped with her left foot.

And she used Gildanstein's greatsword, which was swinging toward her, as her foothold.

The belly of the sword, which was slashed horizontally, was pointed upward.

She stepped down as if to slam her right foot there.
 

“――!?”

 

Gildanstein tried to endure with his superhuman strength.

Krische’s weight was light.
He should be able to hold on.

But Krische had always learned how to use everything to the maximum.

 

The force applied to the leap was minimal, just enough to bring her to a height where she could step on the sword.

She concentrated all of her weight on one point on her right foot――Gildanstein's sword dug into the earth.

――And she stepped on her sword with her left foot.
 

She saw the King’s Sword as the earth, as a foothold.

To convey the full power to the curved sword she held.

 

Before he knew it, there was no sword in her right hand.

The sword in her left hand was sharp and ran its blade through Gildanstein.

The twist of her waist, the spiral of the blade drawn by it.

The beautiful trajectory of death was drawn on the blade without any loss in the blade.
 

Their gazes met.

The inorganic purple color of her eyes widened and captured all of Gildanstein.

As if she could see through it all.

The blade touched his neck, cutting through it.

The far away Kingdom’s banner was reflected in his eyes.

 

――The crest of a sword thrusting toward the heavens.

However Gildanstein's sword was not in the heavens, it was in the earth.

The girl in front of him stood on his sword, as if to trample it.

 

For the first and last time since his birth.
It was a moment of such defeat.

Before his head was cut and his consciousness faded away.

He looked at everything in the world and laughed.

 

What should be, just as it was.

Everything he believed in, everything he was betrayed by, everything, everything, fades from his mind.

Only in the midst of it all, he looked at the one who killed him.

 

She was precisely the Child of God——the Cursed Child named Alberan.

——The founder of the distorted and mad royal family, its rightful heir.
 

The girl cut hishead and jumped.

Gildanstein kneeled down, and just smiled silently.
 

The figure of the girl who tilts her head looking at his smiling self, was infinitely beautiful.

She was enchanting, innocent and devilish.

 

Since he met her in the Dragon’s Maw, he had risked everything to challenge her.

To win against this girl, he had to give up everything else.

But even that wasn't enough.

For the sake of her own desire, she would overthrow everything that stood in her way.

A king is power.

If it's this girl, she'll even thrust her sword into the heavens.

He just laughed at himself that was a mere imitation——and then let go of his consciousness.

——Selene saw the momentary fight that took place in front of her, and closed her eyelids.

Silence filled the place.

The ending that seemed obvious.

Much too abrupt, too easily――the enemy who had tormented Selene fell to the ground.
 

“Ehehe, it's over, Selene.”

 

Krische jumped on Selene, not caring about the corpse.

She pinched Krische’s cheeks as if to scold her, and looked around.
 

Kahlua stared blankly at Gildanstein's corpse, clenching her fists.

Her mouth tightens and her face down.
One person patted her on the trembling shoulder.

Kolkis picked up Gildanstein's sword.

Even in this situation, Gildanstein is the Archduke of the Kingdom.
He is the Royal Prince.

He was a member of the royal family, and it was not permissible for members of the same Kingdom to expose his neck.

Eluga was quietly urging the dejected surrounding enemy soldiers to lay down their weapons

 

Thinking of her father, she closed her eyes.

Selene called out to Kolkis while stroking Cliché's head.
 

“…Kolkis”

“Yes ma’am!”
 

When she called out to him, Krische instantly stopped hugging her and covered her ears.

Kolkis voice echoed through the air.

 

“After a legitimate duel, the head of the Royal Prince was taken by the daughter of the hero Bogan Christand――the First Corps Commander of the Christand army, Krische Christand, took revenge with her own hands!! Know t any subsequent battles will be an insult to the two of them who have decided the battle in a dignified duel!! From now on, all further fighting is forbidden, both sides are to put down their swords and cease fighting immediately!”
 

Then, after a short pause, he shouted,
 

“This battle is a victory for Her Royal Highness the First Princess of Alberan and us――the Christand Army!!”

 

――At that voice, cheers shook the earth.