The Eminence In The Shadow

The giant nata slams into the ground, sending pieces of rubble flying all around.

From within the cloud of rubble, Tyrant glares at his two targets with sharp eyes, then settles on the one closer to him —— Claire.

He brazenly steps in, swinging his giant nata with both thick arms.

However, Claire is also closely watching Tyrant"s movements.

Tyrant has both power and speed. However, his characteristics of his weapon forces him to make big motions. No matter how fast he may be, as long as Claire stays focused, she is able to follow with her eyes.

Sure enough, Claire manages to parry one such attack from Tyrant.

However, the weight of the attack turns out to be far beyond what she had expected. Her face turns into a grimace, and her follow up attack is delayed by a fraction of a second.

That tiny delay was more than enough for Tyrant.

"All you f.u.c.king swordsmen move the exact same f.u.c.king way!"

Before Claire had noticed, Tyrant has switched to a one-handed grip. His free arm explodes into Claire"s face.

"CLAIRE!!"

Milia is about to dash forward in support, but Tyrant nails her down with his eyes.

Claire is sent flying and rolls on the ground. But immediately afterwards, she gets right back up like it was nothing.

Then she spits out some blood.

"Oww~ You gave me a cut inside my mouth..."

Claire scowls at Tyrant.

Tyrant skillfully raises one eyebrow and laughs. For some reason, there is a shallow cut on his abdomen.

"Most f.u.c.ktards go down with just that one shot, though. You f.u.c.ker, you"re used to this."

"Thanks to a certain failure of a younger brother of mine."

Claire bares her blood-stained teeth in a grin.

When receiving that punch just now, she had offset the impact and also slashed back at Tyrant at the same time.

Claire does a few practice swings as if to confirm the state of her body, then spits out some saliva stained with blood.

"A man who only knows violence. You have no finesse nor technique."

Claire is putting up a strong front, but the situation is not as favorable as she is making it out to be. The wound inside her mouth is bleeding profusely, and her head is still slightly reeling from the shock of the punch just now. It was a mistake to go for the simultaneous exchange. The amount of damage from one attack is just too different between the two of them.

"You"re right, I"ve never learned a single technique. Cus I"ve never f.u.c.king needed to!"

With that, he lunges at Claire in attack.

Tyrant"s strength comes from his naturally high physical prowess, his large magic reserve, and his overwhelming battle sense. His fighting needs no techniques. For him, technique would be but mere shackles.

In the face of his brute force swing, Claire once again attempts a parry.

However, the shock of the attack ends up flowing into her body.

Her footing is unsteady. The damage to her brain has yet to dissipate.

"——!!"

Tyrant is not one who would overlook such an opening.

He raises his giant nata high...

"I said, I have good instincts..."

And swings it powerfully.

That attack misses Claire by a large margin, roaring past her with incredible speed.

Then a huge amount of blood splashes onto Claire"s face from the side.

"... Eh?"

Claire is unharmed.

However, when she looks over, she sees, she sees Milia with her stomach sliced open.

Gobo.

She vomits blood, then falls to her knees.

"M-, MILIA!!"

"All you f.u.c.king swordsmen seriously move the exact same f.u.c.king way. That one was waiting the entire time for the instant I let down my guard. So I was waiting the entire time for that one to come for me. And that"s pretty much how it went."

Tyrant laughs in ridicule with his fiendish face.

Claire rushes over in tears towards Milia, whose strength is leaving her.

"Milia... Ahh, how can this be..."

Milia"s wound is deep enough to reach her organs. It is fatal.

Claire places her hands over the wound and pours her magic in, despite knowing the futility of doing so.

However, Milia brushes away that hand.

"Goho! Blood... goho."

Milia is staring fixedly at Claire, seemingly pleading for something desperately even while vomiting blood.

"Milia, you shouldn"t move...!"

Milia puts more strength into her grip, now almost beggingly.

"Claire... I"m sorry... Let me... suck your blood."

With that, Milia"s lips rushes for Claire"s.

"Mu, mugugu?!"

Claire"s eyes fly wide open in shock.

Milia sucks frantically at every drop of blood on Claire"s lips.

Then her eyes become stained with red.

"What are you doi-?!"

Claire tears Milia off. However, Milia is no longer there.

"Eh?!"

"Guh?!"

Claire"s cry of surprise and Tyrant"s grunt of pain overlap.

When Claire whirls around, she sees Tyrant, with one arm all cut up, looking upwards.

"Up...? Eh, Milia?!"

Milia is floating in mid-air. Her eyes are s.h.i.+ning red, and sharp fangs are protruding from her lips.

The wound on her stomach has completely closed up.

"So that"s what you are... now this is fun!"

Tyrant grins like a carnivore, while Milia smiles sorrowfully.

Then Tyrant"s giant nata and Milia"s sword collide.

The two"s strength prove —— equal. No, Tyrant is still slightly on top.

"Not bad...!"

"?!"

Both of them glare at each other amidst a shower of sparks.

However, the next instant —— a silly voice breaks the equilibrium.

"Ei!"

With that cry, Claire chucks her own sword.

"Wai-, hol-?!"

The sword flies straight towards Tyrant, causing him to dodge.

The sudden movement breaks his balance. No longer able to properly receive Milia"s strength, he is sent cras.h.i.+ng into the far wall.

Unfortunately for him, the other side of that wall... is the outside.
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There is nothing below his feet. So he begins to freefall.

"NOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo..."

His voice dwindles as he grows further.

The only ones left are Claire and Milia.

Claire goes to pick up her sword, while Milia looks on slightly guiltily.

Claire sheathes her sword, then the two look at each other awkwardly.

"Milia... are you alright?"

So asks Claire in a hesitant voice.

"I"m fine, but... I"m sorry, Claire."

"I mean, well, um, it"s fine, but... so, the thing that Milia was hiding..."

"Yes, I am a vampire..."

"I see..."

"I"ll tell you everything. Who I am, what my real goal is. And also the truth behind the Queen of Blood..."

With that, Milia begins talking with sorrow in her eyes.