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I could reach her in less than a minute. Of course, with the use of these legs… I tried to activate Legs of the Forest Wolf then, but something was wrong. The wind was about as weak as an electric fan. It was cool and all, but that’s not what I wanted…

 

“Is it because I used it too much…?”

 

The weak wind soon died away, and then my body stopped listening to me. And just like the dragon, I collapsed to the ground on my back. This sucked… I was completely conscious, and yet my body wouldn’t move. Apparently, there were restrictions on the use of unique skills.

I had not known about it, but there was nothing I could do now. I had to wait there until I could move again, all the while feeling her presence.

 

　　□　　　□　　　□　　　□

 

As I glided down through the air, numerous blades of fire shot up towards me. I shifted my weight and twisted so as to dodge them while I descended to where Eve was waiting.

 

“It is a good thing that I watched him…”

 

I had never seen anyone move in the air like that before, and it had been the most stimulating thing. It was no wonder that I would end up imitating him. I had spent some nights practicing during my watch.

 

I escaped the last of the flames before killing my speed with my heels and landing on the ground. Yes, it all went very well.

 

“Have you waited long?”

“Tsk…so you’re alive…”

“Regrettably, yes. I am too young to die, you know. And there are so many places I would like to visit.”

 

I unsheath my sword and look at Eve.

 

“However, your life must come to a close here.”

“How ludicrous! You are the one who will die!”

 

Eve continually sent out a monstrous wind through one hand as she used the other to unsheath her sword. It had a curved, wide blade. It was one-sided but looked horrifically sharp. If it was the same one I had seen a hundred years ago, then I had every reason to be careful. It was no ordinary weapon.

 

“Die!!”

 

Eve charged at me and swung the blade downwards. I parried it with my sword and rammed my plated elbow into her stomach and followed with a back-hand to the face. However, she caught it with the hand that had been unleashing magic.

 

“Tsk.”

“Bitch!”

 

Eve gripped my hand and pulled. Instead of fighting against it, I twisted my wrist in order to free myself and then moved back. It was the Asagi way of retreating with wind. And then I quickly pulled out my bow. There were no arrows.

 

“Eat this!!”

 

I pulled the bowstring and gathered air together to create a jade arrow. A special arrow of collected, condensed wind magic. It was something I had learned to do once when I had run out of arrows a long time ago. Once I released it, it flew at a speed much greater than an ordinary arrow. An arrow with all the features of wind magic would not only pierce, but horribly mangle whatever it touched. Even I was a little put off by it.

 

And it caught Eve right in the leg. She had been too wounded in the battle with Asagi to be able to avoid it.

 

“GAAAAHHHH!!!”

 

Eve fell backwards as blood sprayed from her wound. I wanted to unleash another arrow, but these things were terribly inefficient. They ate through too much of my magic. I would be the one to die first if I shot one after another. I had some magic left, thanks to Vent, but it made little sense to use it if it wasn’t necessary.

And so I unsheathed my sword again and ran to Eve. She held her leg and glared at me as I shot forward with the power of the wind and pointed my sword at her.

 

“Hah!”

“…!!”

 

However, Eve lifted her left hand to stop the blow. She was risking the arm as the blood-covered thing shot a ball of fire. I fell forward to dodge it and rolled forward, came up behind Eve and then thrust out my sword again. And again, she blocked it with her arm. But this time, her left hand went flying.

 

“Uhhh….!!”

“You will not block the next one!”

 

I enveloped my sword in wind, transforming it into a wide, one-sided blade as I swung down. But Eve blocked it with her curved sword. Damn it… The wind disappeared the moment it made contact with her sword.

 

“That sword is as awful as ever!”

“Ahahahaha! The mana dispeler will even cut through the wind of a dragon!”

 

Yes, it had the power to take magic and return it to mana upon contact. It was a relic of the age of advanced magic. It was making things rather difficult… However, I was not my old self either. If magic was no use, that meant I merely had to win through a battle of pure swordsmanship!

 

“Die, Eve!”

“I’ll kill you, Daniela!”

 

I pull the sword of the tree of life and death back and thrust hard. Over and over. But Eve continued to sweep it aside. I throw some swings into the mix, but she blocks them all the same. Well, I would have to try a place less guarded then!

 

“Hah!”

 

I jump into the air just as I thrust forward once again. Amber-colored magic flows from my feet and into the ground, activating earth magic. Deadly thorns shoot up out of the ground towards Eve. She was being attacked from the front and from below!

 

“Ughggg…!!”

 

She blocked the attack from the front just as the thorns tore into her feet. This was my chance!

 

“Haaahh!!!”

 

This time I envelope my own body in wind instead of my sword. This boost of magic allows me to unleash a barrage of thrusts at Eve with inhuman speed. She was bleeding from both legs now, but continued to block with her curved blade, and yet she could not stop every thrust.

And finally, my blade cut her right arm open.

 

“AHH!!!”

 

The pain caused her to drop her weapon.

 

“It is over now…!”

 

This time I sent wind to the sword and with all of my strength, thrust it into Eve’s heart. Weaponless and unable to use magic, Eve had no way to stop it.

 

The sword went straight into her chest.

 

“…”

 

Silently, she stared at me and coughed up blood.

 

“Gaghh…ah…kk…”

 

I pulled the sword out and stepped away. Blood poured from her mouth and chest as she fell on her back.

 

“It is finished. This is your final stop.”

“Damn it…damn-damn-damn-damn…how can…I…!”

 

Her eyes did not leave me. I did not enjoy hearing the curses of the dying, and so I stabbed her through the chest once again.

 

“Aaa…”

 

That was the last sound she made as the strength left her and she took her final breath.

 

“One hundred years…”

 

The fight that had been interrupted on the cliff had now ended with me as the victor. I wiped the blood from my sword and returned it to its sheath. Then I glanced one last time at her body before turning away.

 

“No, he could not lose…”

 

After all, he was my partner. And it was time I went to pick him up.

 

“Farewell, Eve.”

 

My goodbye was erased by the wind. It would not reach her. However, someone who had had such an effect on my life would never be forgotten. I decided it would be so, as the one responsible for taking her life.

We would meet no more, but I would not forget. I wanted to remember all of this when I died. And so I had to remember.

Next Chapter

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Translator: Last chapter this week. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, thanks for reading and commenting. It makes the longer chapters really feel like they were worth the effort when I see how it’s appreciated.

 

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