Chapter 84

"Hey, what's that? It's still alive even after its head was cut off?"

Nicol let out a strained laugh.

"Well, I don't know if it's alive or not—"

As if reacting to Aldis's words, the monster swung its tail.

The sound of the wind being violently disturbed could be heard.

"—but it seems to be moving for sure."

Aldis once again recognized it as an enemy and faced it.

He manipulated 'Kasaharukirame' and 'Tsukidaisnow' to strike the monster's neck in a straight line.

A fluid-like substance seemed to seep from the cut on the neck. However, it was not the liquid—blood—that should have spurted out like in a living creature.

It was more like the sap that oozes out when a tree is cut. That was the most fitting description.

*Snap*

In response to Aldis's sword, the headless monster showed no difference in movement from when it had all its limbs intact.

However, there was one crucial difference.

The bluish-gray skin, which acted as a natural shield repelling all but the strongest attacks, was absent from the cut on the neck.

No matter how tough the skin, it would be defenseless against attacks on the soft flesh of the cut.

Aldis's judgment was correct.

The flying swords, which had been ineffective before, now tore through the soft flesh of the cut.

The monster, unable to make a sound, writhed in pain.

"You're done for once you expose your weakness."

Aldis, who rushed over, mercilessly slammed 'Soten Saika' into the neck.

The monster, cut open from neck to belly in a straight line, collapsed on the ground like a dried fish.

This time, the battle was over. As the atmosphere of victory spread, the mercenaries were shocked for the third time.

"Still moving...?"

Even Aldis was puzzled.

The head was severed, and the torso was almost separated into two parts.

Under normal circumstances, it should not be able to move with any will.

"Troublesome."

Aldis continued to swing his sword calmly.

He tore the torso further, cut the thick tail in half, and deeply slashed the ankles.

With each swing of Aldis's sword, the monster's body became more and more damaged, gradually being whittled down.

However, the monster's movements did not stop.

Its legs firmly planted on the ground, the shortened tail continued to lash out at Aldis.

It was as if watching a marionette controlled by strings.

"Could it be...?"

Aldis's gaze briefly turned to the severed head.

The monster's head, with its human-like face and arms, was still intact despite being cut off.

"Is that the main body?"

If the main body of this monster was just the head, and the torso Aldis was fighting was just a decoy, this situation would make sense.

Like a charioteer controlling a carriage, the torso might just be a vessel controlled by the head.

To confirm this, Aldis dodged the monster's attacks and aimed both swords at the head.

'Kasaharukirame' and 'Tsukidaisnow' could not penetrate the monster's tough skin.

Aldis aimed the swords with the hope of some reaction, but his intention was far off.

The two swords, which he thought would be deflected, cleanly pierced the monster's neck.

"What's going on?"

Despite his confusion, Aldis continued to slash the monster's neck with flying swords.

While fending off attacks from the torso, he focused his attention on the neck.

The neck, despite being attacked, showed no reaction.

It was being damaged one-sidedly.

This meant that attacking the neck would not stop the torso's movements.

"What do I do...?"

For the first time, Aldis's face showed signs of anxiety.

*Crack*

(Should I burn it? No, I don't think a half-hearted spell will work.)

The monster's torso continued to move, even after its legs were cut off and its tail severed.

*Snap*

Moreover, the severed parts began to reattach and repair themselves.

(If I create a full-blown fire, it might work, but I can't turn this area into a wasteland.)

*Crack*

He couldn't keep this up indefinitely.

Even Aldis would tire eventually, and his limits would come.

There was no choice. It was troublesome, but he would have to gradually lead it to a place without farmland and burn it—just as Aldis made this decision, one of the swords hanging at his waist made a high-pitched sound and shed its cocoon.

This was the red sword that Aldis and Kiril had recovered from the ruins deep in the Kosas forest.

The very thing that led them to Reiting.

"What!?"

Aldis, rarely surprised, opened his eyes wide.

The cocoon, which had been wrapped around it like Nere's hair, suddenly shed its veil in a loud sound.

The cocoon that had enveloped the red sword shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions, revealing a majestic decoration in its sheath.

Aldis stopped moving and put some distance between himself and the monster.

The sword that emerged from the cocoon had the same design and color as when they found it in the ruins.

Visually, nothing had changed, but the faint discomfort it had given off was gone.

(But now is not the time for that—)

Aldis turned his attention back to the monster in front of him, but the sword suddenly unsheathed itself.

"What...!?"

Aldis had not done it.

The sword had come out of the sheath on its own.

The blade was red.

A red that was clearly different from the one he had seen before.

Not the ominous color of congealing blood, but a noble and warm color that evoked life.

The red sword slowly stood upright in front of Aldis, pointing its tip to the sky, and then stopped about two meters above the ground.

"Huh?"

In the next moment, Aldis instinctively braced himself.

A human hand was placed on the hilt of the floating sword.

(When did...!?)

Surprised, Aldis lowered his gaze and saw a young woman standing there.

Seeing her face, he was once again taken aback.

"Nere!?"

Her long hair fell straight down her back, and her narrow eyes gave her a noble and refined appearance.

She was undoubtedly Nere, who he had left behind in the forest of the Nagras Kingdom.

"Why is Nere here...? No, is it really Nere?"

But Aldis immediately had doubts.

The woman looked exactly like Nere in appearance and face.

However, there were many clear differences.

The reddish-brown hair, the fiery red eyes, and the black robe she wore were not those of the Nere Aldis knew.

Most importantly, her expression was different. She was smiling at Aldis.

Nere was emotionally restrained.

She did not never smile, but her smiles were very reserved and gave a modest impression, as if she was deliberately controlling her emotional expressions.

But the smile of the woman who looked exactly like Nere was soft and warm, like a mother comforting a child.

She looked the same, but she was a different being.

Aldis understood this not through thought but through instinct.

"Who are you...?"

The woman, who looked like Nere, smiled silently in response to Aldis's question and then floated up slowly, like a dandelion seed carried by the wind.

Her reddish-brown hair fluttered as she passed over Aldis's head.

"Wait!"

Aldis reached out to grab her, but his eyes widened again as her body slipped through his.

"An illusion...?"

Forgetting the monster he was facing, Aldis turned around.

The woman landed at the spot where the monster's head had fallen, floating with a gentle, wind-like calm.

Aldis finally noticed that her body was faintly translucent.

He could see the walls of Reiting through her body.

The woman, who looked like Nere, faced the monster's head, slowly crouched down, and extended her hand toward it.

She gently thrust the sword into the monster, as if embracing it. It was a faint, almost ethereal scene.

"Hey, hey! Look! The monster's body!"

A mercenary shouted from somewhere.

Following the sound, Aldis saw the monster's torso, which had continued to move despite being cut and dismembered, slowly collapse to the ground.

With a thud, the monster fell, and it did not move again.

(Could that woman have done it!?)

Aldis turned around in a hurry, and his gaze met the woman's, who was standing up with the sword.

She gave Aldis a slightly shadowed smile.

"A..."

He started to say something but lost his words, unsure of what to say.

Turning away from Aldis, the woman who looked like Nere flew in the opposite direction.

Her body floated up, and in the midst of the mercenaries' astonishment, she disappeared into the city of Reiting, carried by the wind.

2017/11/02 Typo correction: 伺わせた → 窺わせた

2019/08/11 Typo correction: 吹き出す → 噴き出す

*Thank you for reporting the typos.*