Chapter 38 : Conception (1)

In the pouring rain, at the old training grounds…

I was captured by the cultists and forced to watch the battle between the two.

Luna, wearing an expression I had never seen before, spoke to her opponent.

“Magic from the start? It seems you’ve set aside that strange pride of yours.”

“Consider it an honor. You’ve become an opponent worthy of me using the power of this filthy Osteon.”

“I don’t think someone who won with that filthy power should be saying such things.”

His blade, wrapped in flames, slashed toward where Luna’s head had been.

Luna ducked and tried to counterattack, but she raised her shield high to block the ensuing barrage of flames.

It reminded me of the sparring I had with Yuri.

The seamless unity of magic and swordsmanship was impressive.

It wasn’t as refined as Yuri’s, but it was still an incredible display of magical skill for a knight.

“You’re struggling quite a bit, Grace. If it’s too difficult, should I put away the magic?”

Luna didn’t respond to his taunts and continued to focus on defense.

He, who was relentlessly casting magic, seemed somewhat uncomfortable.

“…Tsk, the firepower isn’t as strong because of this damn rain.”

Even in the rain, the flames slightly penetrated her shield. If it hadn’t been raining, the shield would’ve been useless.

I wanted to rush out and help Luna, but the Sarkas blood in my body prevented me from using magic.

Besides, several cultists were holding blades to my neck, so moving would be suicide.

“Do you know what the common problem is with knights who serve Spirit Masters, Luna?”

His longsword flew fiercely, and Luna’s saber barely deflected it.

“Because they have to use special weapons, they’re at a disadvantage against ordinary metal swords.”

Luna, who had gained some distance, glanced at her sword.

“…!”

The mark from blocking Julius’s longsword was clearly etched into the blade.

It was a fact Luna had overlooked.

The special metal made to deal with Sarkas was weaker than ordinary metal.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more Luna’s weapon would lose its edge.

As if to accelerate this, Julius’s slashes grew faster and more forceful.

“Which weapon will break this time, Luna Grace?!”

“It seems you’re still upset about having your weapon broken last time.”

Though Julius had the overwhelming advantage, Luna hadn’t suffered a single significant blow.

She fluidly deflected his sword and blocked his magic with her shield.

But in the hand that should’ve been casting magic, there were sharp weapons attached to each finger.

Hidden weapons…!

What Julius threw at Luna were several silver needles with sharpened tips.

They flew toward Luna’s neck, chest, and waist.

“Ugh…!”

Luna used her shield to block the needles aimed at her neck and chest, but one struck her side.

Luna pulled out the needle and tossed it to the ground.

“I won’t call it cowardly. I’ll just say it’s an appropriate response to your level.”

The unidentified purple liquid on the needle’s tip gave off an ominous feeling.

Luna glanced at it, mixed with her blood, and seemed to realize what it was.

“…What did you coat it with?”

“A deadly poison. Made from a herb potent enough to take down a bear.”

“You really have no standards, Julius.”

Once a knight, now resorting to poison and hidden weapons.

Even I, a former thief, found it despicable, no matter how far I’d strayed from the path.

“If you drop your sword now, I’ll spare your life.”

He smirked viciously, brushing his rain-soaked hair back.

“You’ll still die, but I’ll let you live out your days as a s*ave. Consider it a favor, for old times’ sake.”

“Old times? I didn’t know you had such sentimental feelings.”

“Choose your answer carefully, Grace. This is the only antidote I have.”

Luna glanced at me and smiled gently.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll decline.”

“…As you wish.”

The bottle containing the antidote in Julius’s hand shattered with a sharp crack.

“You’ll either die by my sword or from the poison, Grace.”

“…It’s a sword, not magic. Wizard Julius.”

“Say whatever you want. You won’t have the strength to babble soon.”

If it was truly poison, Luna didn’t have much time.

She looked at Julius with a serious expression.

“As much as you hate the power of Osteon, I hate it too, Julius.”

She pulled off her glove and slowly lowered it.

“…A Mark?!”

On the back of her hand, the Mark of lightning shone brightly.

“Wasn’t she unable to use magic…?”

“To be precise, I’ve never used it.”

She adjusted her grip on her saber and shield and took a charging stance.

“You were the one who crossed the line first, Julius.”

“…Even so, the difference in power…”

Before he could finish, she lunged at him.

Luna, who had abandoned all restraint, seemed like a completely different person.

Ignoring the damage to her blade, she pressed him so hard that sparks flew between their clashing weapons.

Julius, flustered, scattered flames and swung his longsword wildly to the side.

Luna didn’t miss the opportunity. She reversed her grip on her sword and pushed with the strength of her shield.

The force was so strong that even with both hands on the shield, she couldn’t fully block it. The tip of his sword pierced her elbow, sending blood splattering.

“Ugh…!”

She discarded the shield with the longsword still embedded in it. Julius, now disarmed, immediately began chanting a spell.

“Floga!”

Luna gathered electricity in her free hand.

But instead of aiming it at Julius, she directed it at her own sword.

In less than a second, Julius’s wrist hit the ground with a sickening thud.

“Kraaaak-!”

He clutched the severed stump with his other hand and screamed.

“Relying on magic in close combat is your bad habit, Julius.”

“This can’t be… It shouldn’t be any different from last time…!”

“Did you think it would be the same as sparring? You’re surprisingly naive.

It wasn’t just that Luna had grown stronger over the past year.

The reason she lost during their sparring was simply because she bled when the flying blade grazed her.

Back then, she had already sensed defeat and had no reason to attack him, only blocking his magic with her sword.

But in a real fight, the stakes were different.

A fool who chants magic against a sword in close combat is just asking to die.

Julius, enraged, shouted at the cultists.

“What are you doing…?! Hurry up and kill her!”

“Th-that’s…!”

Another cultist was being held at knifepoint by Yuri.

“How did you…?”

Yuri spoke calmly.

“A while ago. Thanks to the gift Miss Grace threw, I was able to free myself.”

Luna had deliberately thrown the silver needle that had struck her toward Yuri, allowing her to escape on her own.

“You can abandon him and help me now!”

“He’s the youngest among us…! Cult leader…!”

“What does that matter?!”

It was a ridiculous situation—the cultists were refusing their leader’s orders.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Are you really the cult leader…? A leader with no authority like this…”

“Damn it, useless fools…!”

By then, Luna, wearing the most terrifying expression I’d ever seen, approached him, blood dripping from one hand.

“Your trashy karma ends here, Julius.”

“You and that guy, all useless bastards…!”

Luna raised her sword high, aiming for his neck.

“Do you think I’ll die in a place like this…?!”

“Save the rest for hell!”

As Luna swung her sword, Julius pulled something from his pocket and gulped it down.

His neck was severed, and blood splattered everywhere. The unidentified liquid he drank mixed with the blood on the ground.

“Th-that forbidden…!”

“The cult leader drank the holy water…!”

As Julius’s body fell, the cultists panicked and fled into the forest.

In the chaos, the ones restraining me also ran away.

“What… what just happened…?”

Luna, staring at the liquid pooling under Julius’s corpse, frowned.

“…What is this purple water…?”

As she bent down to examine it, Luna winced and collapsed to her knees.

“Ugh…!”

“Luna…!”

I rushed to her and supported her.

“You… the poison…”

I looked at her side—the wound was turning blue.

The poison had spread faster because of her intense movements.

“Don’t move. Let’s get you back to the academy.”

Just as I was helping her up, Yuri, who had freed Carne, called out with a pale face.

“Wait, what is that…?”

I turned to see Julius’s blood, now bubbling and boiling.

“…What… what is this…?”

The bubbling blood engulfed Julius’s corpse, writhing and forming a grotesque mass.

The mass grew, forming limbs, then a tail.

It gradually took on the horrifying features of a Sarkas, until finally, it turned its glowing eyes toward us.

A Sarkas…? No, this is…

What had once been Julius was now a monstrous creature emitting a terrible sound.

But there was something different about it.

Its eyes glowed blue—a characteristic usually seen in Osteons.

Neither Sarkas, nor human, nor Osteon, the unknown creature let out a deafening roar.