The girl with the Trident of Shadows struggled to rise, her slender arms pushing against the ground with force, as her knees slid forward as if regaining her balance. Her three-part trident lay close to her right hand...
She succeeded in getting up and grasping her trident, moving lightly toward the adjacent alley, her quick steps leaving a faint imprint on the cracked ground, her shining eyes glinting with cunning...
Exhausted from the fight, I couldn't catch up with her, knowing that her escape was merely to catch her breath and resume the battle once again.
Damn! Is this the same girl I fought yesterday? She has the same damn movements she used back then...!
Where did she get that astonishing speed? As if her long hair yesterday had been an obstacle!
Hey, hey, fine, damn it! And I even gave her advice.
Those little, slender arms of hers, and that long trident... I had thought completely that she wouldn't be competent! I was entirely mistaken...!
How could she possess such destructive power with a frame as slender as hers? Clearly... to swing that trident around like she did, she didn't gain that strength from nowhere; it's the result of great effort...
One mistake from me and I'd become a lifeless corpse!
Hmm! I hear the sound of her footsteps... alright! I'll stay in my place until she passes by!
Stabbing someone in the back is not in my nature! But since she got to it first, we'll be even...
What!? How is this!!! She just passed by! I won't hide my tension; I became the prey after revealing myself...!
But there's no place here she can hide!!!
Click a sound symbol.
I raised my head toward the source of the sound...
In a scene filled with cunning, there was Audrey...! The girl with the Trident of Shadows standing gracefully atop the closely built houses, using the middle part of her trident as a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds, carefully placing her feet on the center to balance her weight... Her glowing eyes ignited a spark of deception.
She disassembled the trident, using the middle part as a support to stand on, while wielding two blades in her hands...
Audrey slid down from above with a thunderous force, her body taut like an arrow shot from the darkness, taking a sharp offensive stance. In her hands were the two blades of the trident, one in her right hand and the other in her left...
The moment her feet hit the ground, I lost my balance for a reason I couldn't comprehend until I caught a glimpse of my legs falling away from my body, just as my arms with the Bloody Ares sword dropped...
She finished her attack by driving her blades into my chest, pinning me against the wooden wall...
The cracked wooden wall stood as a silent witness, while the cracked floor, littered with splinters and blood, reflected the intensity of the struggle.
Hah? What's wrong with you? Shedding tears? Aren't you going to pull your blades out?!
"I'm sorry for using such dirty tricks..." She bit her fingers, looking genuinely remorseful.
Not long ago, I pulled someone in exactly this provocative manner, and the person I did this to was one of your followers, I mean Tarkus... so there's no need for apologies...
You see, girl, this body of mine refuses to die... so you'll have to work hard to come up with something that can kill me...
Audrey bowed her head, recalling the conversation she had with Karl after she killed the three people from the tavern...
"Audrey, so this is it... you've finally made your decision."
"Captain, you know I will be yours when I bring you that man's head... Will you wait for me here in this room for a while while I kill that man for you and return? This will be proof that I will belong to you forever!"
"And what if you don't...?"
Leaning against a wooden wall on the ground, with an arm and a leg severed, blood flowed in small streams staining the cracked earth, leaving dark splotches intertwined with shadows...
The girl with the Trident of Shadows stood in the middle, her body taut with victory but showing signs of exhaustion in the slight bend of her shoulders.
"Before I met you, I killed three men."
I didn't understand the relevance of that to me... I just stared at her as she turned her face away, unable to look me in the eye.
Under the weight of regret that began to seep into her heart, her arms hung lifelessly; her right hand released the middle part of the trident, while her left hand slowly lifted to cover her mouth, as if she were trying to suppress a scream or cry. Her shining eyes shimmered with hidden tears, reflecting like fallen stars...
"And now look at me; I can't even stop my body from trembling. Even then, the same thing happened; it's so painful... entirely painful...! How can you keep doing this?!... When I fight, I forget everything, but the moment I lose focus, I start to blame myself for what I've done...! What can be said when this causes me pain...?"
"In the moment that this suspicion and doubt grips me, I can no longer wield the sword."
"Hey hey, bad news, girl...! Don't tell me I didn't warn you before; while you were chattering away standing there, my legs started returning to my body, regaining their strength again, and if you keep babbling, my arms will return as well."
You can say that to your leader! Is he the kind of noble person who defends justice or something like that?
I really don't know the nature of his ridiculous philosophy that makes him esteemed just because he kills people.
It doesn't matter how much natural talent you possess; you are still a woman, so you won't be able to fight in that manner. Even if you toil for several years training.
There must be a reason specific to you that prevents you from letting go of the sword! Remember that reason and fight for it!
If that doesn't help you! It would be better for you to return to the brothel!
...
...
Eva returned to square one, the place where she left Brando, to start searching for him in the nearby alleys, hoping to find him.
"That idiot! Why does he think he has to be the superman!"
In a moment of weakness on her part, I stood up, my entire body filled with determination. I gripped my remaining arm, Kotingo, or as I like to call it, the little devil...
I advanced toward Audrey, who was stepping back until her back pressed against the cracked wooden wall. I drove Kotingo into the wall with a decisive strike, embedding it deeply near her face, just a few centimeters from her cheek...
"Look at what has happened to your body! And you still want to fight despite that!"
I placed my hand on her neck and leaned closer to her face...
"Look... from the very first day I picked up the sword, I've never counted any losses in battle... hey! Just a joke! But one thing I can't get out of my head! Losing someone who hasn't even tried!
So what I want to hear from you now is, 'Now I will be serious,' kind of a boast. You know that?
But for me... unfortunately, I've been very serious from the beginning, so at least, girl... I want you to take me on in a way that will make me not regret it afterward.
She placed her hand on mine with a faint smile on her face. "What you said gave me a slight sense of satisfaction. Let's savor this moment together... You get what you want; from this moment on, I will be completely serious!"