172 Seventy-one words: 'Boring human form'




 The beast leaps through the wide, dark sky at night. It leaps so lightly, as if to claim that it is a natural movement. The flames that clung to its skin scattered sparks of fire, creating a vermilion orbit in the sky.

 It is similar to the appearance of a hawk or a bird of prey when it descends from the sky after finding its prey. They approach their prey quickly and instantaneously, and then move to slay it. Reminiscent of such a figure, that fearless beast is coming straight at us. It's mouth is wide open, as if it wants to eat us alive.

 Its eyes blink. A little breath escapes from her lips.

 Kalia won't be a problem. It's not like he's going to be bothered by something that's just going to fall towards him. She should be able to duck easily, or not have a sword at all. It's really easy.

 Now, the only problem is Fialaat, who's breathing hard behind me.

 There's no way she can avoid that now. Her limbs would still be twitching, and it would be difficult for her to move agilely from her seated position. Of course, if she were to take a direct hit, her slender body would scatter like a leaf and then shatter.

 I see, it is difficult to avoid and to endure. At best, it would be fortunate if you could use a little bit of magic to deal with it. Then there is only one way to do it.

 A few more blinks and it'll be here. An abominable, fearsome beast, a lump of flesh in the shape of a creature. A great gulp of air from its lungs. So that there is nothing left in its guts. And then it stopped breathing.

 The jeweled sword gleams in the moonlight.

 Now I see a trajectory in the corner of my eye. A trajectory to intercept the beast, to flick it away. It's a trajectory of the sword and a movement of the body that I should not know. I don't remember handling or learning how to move or use my body like that.

 But strangely enough, my eyes are seeing it in a strangely concrete way. What, of course you can do it, and if you can't, I'll teach you.

 In response, I force my broken body to drive. In order to reach for the ideal way of movement that I saw before me.

 Deep within my body, I heard my muscles scream and my bones creak so hard. But it's not enough. It's still not enough. This body screaming to its limits is still not enough to reach the ideal.

 Move, move, move. If it's not enough, sacrifice yourself. Let the grim reaper stroke your cheek for a moment.

 What, for your people? It's not even worth the trouble.

 The sword neighs. His fingertips made a distorted sound as he shot out a flash of purple light. Just as if swinging straight down from the sky to the earth. It was as if he was going to smash the skull of that beast. At the same time, I saw a slight silver glint in the corner of my eye. His cheeks relaxed.

 From my ankles to my knees, my hips, my shoulders, my elbows to my wrists, there was a single, powerful line. There was a pleasant sensation as if all the gears were meshing, and a sound echoed in my head.

 --Knock it off, Lord. It's like ripping the wings off a little bird. I'll teach you the means by the hand. Might be too easy for the Lord to sneeze.

 The moment I heard that sound. The mass of flesh in front of me shattered. Flesh splattered with fat and blood stained the earth red.

 It was a strange sight, not unlike being sliced open by a sword. The head of the beast, or perhaps the part that resembled a head, was completely shattered. The beast dropped to the ground as if its entire body had been struck down, and continued to shed flesh and blood all around it. I could feel something warm crawling on my cheek. My nose sniffled unconsciously.

 As I took in air into my lungs again, a nasty sweat licked down my back.

 My whole body was creaking and screaming. I let out a scream as if I couldn't move any more. Blood was spurting from his shoulder, his arm, and everywhere else. But still, no problem. It doesn't matter. As long as it moves.

 Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of silver that coincided with the glow of the purple light.

"Hello, Caria. I see you are quite at ease here.

 The silver gleam was coming from Kalia's beloved sword. The tip of the sword is slashing at the skull of a beast, just like me. The tip of the sword is slashing at the skull of a beast just as I am.

 I don't know how far I could have killed the beast's leaping momentum on my own. I don't know how far my body could have reached. If I hadn't done it right, I could have sacrificed myself and Fialat behind me.

 But with Kalia by my side, I believed that she would be able to reach me. That's why I was able to wield the sword to the fullest.



 Kalia's silver hair swayed slightly in the darkness of the night. Wiping the blood from her face, Kalia said.

"What do you mean, you've never tried to match me before. I was trying to match you.

 Her silver eyes twinkled as she pursed her lips. What a harsh knight you are, really.

 The moment I managed to reply to those words. The moment you try to respond to those words, your eyes twitch. My back teeth were telling me of a strange pain. The kind of pain that strokes a nerve forcibly.

 --Ooh,ooh,ooh--aah,aah--

 The beast was whimpering. As if lamenting something, as if resenting something.

 Something to lament, something to resent... that's what it sounded like coming from the mass of flesh. And then the limb was thrust into the earth, as if to support the body.

 Well, I suppose that's true. It's not a living thing, it's just a piece of meat. Whether its head is crushed to pieces or its intestines are cruelly gutted, as long as the body can move, this thing will continue to drive. It's like a puppet connected by strings. That's what this thing is. Yeah, that's what it is. The back of my skull hurts like it's burning. It's not my place to deal with this kind of thing.

 I squint, my dry lips wagging. My body reacted inexplicably sluggishly, and my hands, which should have been gripping the sword, were almost numb. As I looked at the pillar of magic that was thrusting towards the lord's house, I threw a word to Fialaat behind me.

Fialaat. That light green pillar is not the work of the gods, but a prank of yours, is it not?

 Fialaat fumbles with the word "prank," but replies with a straightforward affirmation. Well, it seems that my prediction has a not bad chance of coming true. That's very good.

 Of course, I don't know what Fialaat was trying to do with that magic, and I don't understand how he was able to manifest that pillar of magic in the first place. Magic and magical power are things that I have never come into contact with.

 So I'll let Fialaat do the heavy lifting on the magic. That's called trust. Isn't that just wonderful? Says Fialaat, calling out to him.

"I want you to distort the world once now. What, just a little change in the way the water flows. It's easy.

 He moves his lips a few times, shaking off the slight haze in his vision.