Chapter 217: Auction House (7)
Screech!
Along with a chilling sound cutting through the air, Kyren’s sword shot toward Anette without the slightest hesitation.
“Ugh……!”
She could neither dodge nor block it.
Even though she instinctively realized that fact, Anette reflexively twisted her body.
But as if to mock such futile struggling, the tip of Kyren’s sword was still aimed squarely at her neck.
‘……Your Highness.’
At that moment, rather than lamenting her own imminent death, she was whispering an apology to Velita.
Clang—!
Sparks burst forth, and a violent sound of friction rang out.
“What?!”
“…….”
Before anyone realized it, Artemia had appeared there and knocked aside Kyren’s attack with her longsword.
She did not move even a fraction, looking utterly calm, as if she had been standing there from the very beginning.
“Kh—?!”
Kyren stepped back, clearly flustered by the unexpected interference.
Artemia did not miss that opening and unleashed a series of concise yet razor-sharp sword strikes.
Kyren hurriedly swung his sword to block them, but with each successive clash, his stance began to crumble little by little.
Clang! Clang! Claaang!
In that brief instant,
their swords collided again and again, producing a menacing sound.
Kyren’s swordsmanship was undoubtedly superb, to the point that almost no one his age could stand against him.
But Artemia’s blade was far faster and far more precise than his.
“…….”
And Anette could only watch all of this with a drained expression.
Just moments ago, she had resigned herself to death.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the situation had completely reversed.
‘……That woman.’
Grit.
She ground her teeth.
It was not that she harbored resentment toward the one who had saved her life, ungrateful for the favor.
No—she had never considered her a benefactor to begin with.
‘She used me as bait.’
Meanwhile, even as Artemia crossed blades with Kyren, she was calmly analyzing the situation.
“…….”
To be honest, she had not been absolutely certain that things would turn out this way.
At first, she had estimated the odds to be about fifty-fifty.
Because, as was often the case, setting out a tempting piece of bait to lure the opponent was a tactic mercenaries frequently used.
And then there were the circumstances she had confirmed at the abandoned Orphanage earlier…….
Traces of meticulously prepared human experimentation that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Black Market she had initially heard about, along with the surrounding situation, had allowed her to realize that the opponent was deliberately steering their actions.
“Hoo.”
She let out a short breath.
Now that she had seen through the opponent’s scheme, all that remained was to turn it against them.
The fact that yet another party had become entangled in the process was unexpected even for her, but at the very least, the overall flow of the current situation was proceeding exactly as she had anticipated.
But…….
‘But to think Kyren Amiel was involved.’
That was a variable she herself had never anticipated.
Hadn’t he left the Academy to recuperate?
Then why—how—was he here?
More than anything, his condition was strange at a glance.
His appearance was almost…….
‘No.’
Artemia swiftly brushed away the thoughts flashing through her mind.
What mattered now was the enemy before her, the situation unfolding in real time, and the commission that had yet to reach its conclusion.
“……Right.”
As if she had almost forgotten, Artemia pulled a small glass bottle from her pocket and tossed it toward Anette behind her.
Thud.
The glass bottle traced a parabolic arc and fell to roll near Anette’s feet.
The potion inside sloshed quietly.
“Use it.”
Artemia spoke in a flat, emotionless voice, never taking her eyes off Kyren.
“It will help stop the bleeding.”
“…….”
“……With that amount of blood loss, you’ll lose consciousness before long, and if more time passes, you’ll die without fail. You have a small build, so that moment will come even faster for you.”
There was not the slightest hint of emotion in her voice.
It was calm to the point of sounding as though she were merely conveying facts.
“…….”
Artemia could sense Anette silently picking up the potion bottle.
At the same time, she had already grasped Anette’s identity.
Although her face was concealed by a mask and her appearance obscured through drugs and magic, Artemia could easily recognize the distinctive movements and aura of the woman she had encountered several times at the Academy.
‘The Second Princess…… meaning someone from Princess Velita’s side.’
So she had ended up entangled with both the Holy Sun Church and the Imperial Family—the two factions she most needed to avoid.
Artemia let out a short sigh inwardly.
Thinking that perhaps she should have submitted a resignation letter rather than taking a vacation, she tightened her grip on the longsword.
In her other hand, which had been empty until just now, she was holding a dagger that emitted a cold gleam.
The longsword held straight, the dagger held in a reverse grip.
Gripping both blades together in one hand, Artemia assumed her distinctive, bizarre stance.
“What are you?”
“An obstacle.”
“……Heh.”
Kyren let out a quiet laugh.
“Then I’ll butcher you along with the rest!”
With that, Kyren charged forward, letting out a beast-like roar.
‘First.’
I’ll sever the tendons in his limbs and immobilize him.
Artemia thought calmly.
Immediately after, she too launched herself at him without a shred of hesitation.
And in the instant their bodies brushed past each other,
Kyren’s sword weakly cleaved through empty air, while Artemia’s sword and dagger precisely sliced through the tendons of both his arms and both his legs.
“Guhhk!”
Kyren let out a strangled scream and crashed to the floor with a loud, clattering noise.
Without delay, Artemia mounted his body to subdue him.
But at that very moment, a sinister premonition crawled up her spine, and she reflexively hurled her body backward.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, Kyren’s sword swept past the spot where she had been standing, narrowly missing her.
‘……What?’
Artemia frowned.
She had definitely severed all of his tendons.
He should have been unable to even move properly, let alone swing a sword.
This was not a matter of mental fortitude or anything of that sort.
It was a structural, physical problem.
‘And yet, he’s completely fine.’
Artemia muttered quietly.
Then Kyren rose to his feet again as if nothing were wrong.
At some point, his eyes had become lifeless and hollow, and his movements had grown even more grotesque.
“……Tch!”
That was when it happened.
Anette, who had been observing the situation, suddenly fled the scene.
However, neither Kyren nor Artemia paid her any attention anymore.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they could not afford to.
“…….”
“…….”
As if by mutual agreement, the two of them charged at each other at the same time.
Soon, the three blades collided violently once more.
Ka-gang! Ka-ga-gak!
Each time the sound rang out, new wounds continued to appear on Kyren’s body.
In contrast, not even a single scratch marred Artemia’s collar.
And yet, strangely enough, it was Artemia who was gradually being driven into a corner.
Kyren’s wounds were healing in the blink of an eye.
No matter how cleanly she landed her attacks, he did not retreat in the slightest—he did not even flinch.
‘A monster.’
Artemia thought quietly.
This was not a metaphor.
In his current state, he could no longer be considered human.
The fact that his wounds recovered instantly was something she could more or less accept, given what she had seen and heard so far, including the Amiel family’s secret art.
The way he seemed incapable of feeling pain was also something she herself could manage, so it was understandable.
But…….
“Ugh?!”
For the first time, a sound burst from Artemia’s mouth.
Kyren’s arm had suddenly bent at an unnatural angle as it came flying at her.
“Hrrk. Hegeggeuk—hih! Hek!”
Now he was swinging his sword continuously while making bizarre noises.
Artemia merely received his attacks calmly.
‘Attacking the eyes changes nothing, and he moves even with severed tendons. Then…….’
At that moment, Artemia’s sword suddenly flashed.
The next instant, his chest was laid bare.
An iron needle.
The moment she saw the iron needle embedded in his chest, Artemia’s gaze hardened with cold light.
“……Hup!”
Instinctively realizing its importance, Artemia lunged forward without hesitation.
For the first time, Kyren—who until now had taken every attack with utter indifference—made a movement as if trying to protect the iron needle, but it was already too late.
In an instant, Artemia’s dagger flew in, burrowing into his chest and carving out the iron needle as if tearing it free.
“Grrrrk……!”
A bubbling sound escaped from Kyren’s mouth.
His body twisted grotesquely before collapsing to the floor.
And he no longer moved.
As if dead.
“Hoo…….”
Artemia let out a short breath and relaxed her tightly wound body.
For now, the situation seemed to be resolved.
That was when—
“……People usually call it theft when you take what belongs to someone else without permission.”
A low voice.
Artemia did not panic and turned to where the voice had come from.
There stood a headless man holding a mask in his hand.
He was emanating a far deeper and more ominous presence than anything she had felt from Kyren before.
Even so, she did not look surprised in the slightest.
“……You mean it was yours? This man?”
Artemia asked calmly.
The headless man’s body lurched once.
As if nodding.
“Yes, that is correct.”
A low, gentle voice flowed from beyond the mask.
“More precisely, the thing you are holding in your hand also belongs to me. I had no choice but to use it due to circumstances and plans…… but it was a waste after all. Making one of those is no trivial effort…….”
He muttered in a voice that sounded genuinely regretful.
“If it had been used on a hero like you, it would not have felt wasteful at all.”
As he spoke, he tapped the ground with the long, slender staff he was holding, thud, like the sound signaling the start of a play.
“For now, I will retrieve it at least. He needs to remain alive a little longer, you see. So I would like to take back what you are holding as well.”
……And furthermore, the head inside the glass bottle you took.
Saying that, he took a step forward and moved toward Artemia.
That was when it happened.
Another voice cut into the conversation between the two.
“……That won’t be necessary.”
Thud.
With a heavy sound, the headless man’s body jolted.
Someone had appeared behind him and driven a sword precisely into the place where his heart should have been.
“You will die by my hand.”
The voice was colder than anything else.
It was sunken so low, as if it had been steeped in hatred and vengeance for countless years.
A beat later, blue hair swayed softly.
Lancia Jintia.
She snarled at the staggering headless man like a ferocious beast that had found its prey.
The headless man.
The enemy who had burned away her childhood.
Lancia Jintia murmured in a low voice.
“……I finally found you.”