― It was
“Uuu….uuu…”
Despair that seem to sap the strength from her entire body revived.
The scene she had watched multiple times from Rajas’ hand passed in her mind like a phantasmagoria. Her spirit, which had been driven by rage up until this point collapsed. This was that magic. The reason why Rajas was called the “Demon Chief”. It was Rajas’ ultimate magic that disintegrated a fortress without a trace in a middle of battle from that time.
A crimson coagulated mass expanded to form a bead big enough to swallow a grown man ― and maintained its form. It stopped momentarily like a calm ocean before a storm, and started to shake as if it was the signal for its release.
There was no way to dodge it. It was powerful enough to destroy an entire fortress. It was not an attack one could dodge due to its wide area of effect. Only thing she could do was draw as much power from the spirit to protect herself.
― and a dark tidal wave swallowed her whole.
“Uuu aaaaahhhh!!”
Ominous dark energy surrounded her. It felt everything was being destroyed. It felt everything was being taken away. Amidst darkness that seem to prophesize the end, all five senses went away.
…. And after what felt like an eternity, everything around her was gone. Trees, rocks, the adventurer’s corpses, that girl’s corpse, everything.
“Ah, ugh...huk…!”
She could withstand the attack. But what’s left was only her battered body after having spent all her strength. It was the same as before. A repeat. Only her, who possessed strong spirit power, survived. Carrying only the burden of guilt and pain of a survivor.
Her entire body was pulled as if it was pinned to midair. Then.
“Let me go ― Kuuh!”
A fist found its mark on her stomach. A heavy strike from an arm as thick as a log broke through the weakened spirit defense and impacted her intestines.
“Not yet.”
Rajas, filled with gratification, raised a corner of his mouth and a flurry of fists commenced at the same time. Countless strikes. Countless strikes without an end. The boulder like fists all found their mark. The pain-filled moans flowed out from her mouth every time the fist struck. Only sound she could make was pain-filled moans that pleaded to stop.
In the end, she threw up everything in her stomach. Then her body was discarded onto the ground like a piece of tissue.
“Ha ugh, ha… ugh…”
She lay flat on the ground writhing and drooling as she opened her mouth to breathe. It was as if she became a caterpillar, no, something even lesser.
Everything was painful. It was painful. Her heart hurt even more than her body. Physically and mentally. After withstanding countless attacks from Rajas that slowly gnawed at her heart, she couldn’t move her body. She couldn’t put her strength into anything. She couldn’t think anything. She wanted to give up on everything.
But Rajas didn’t stop his attacks.
“How fitting.”
“Ugh, uhhhh…..”
“Did you try to protect others with only that kind of strength?”
A question flew at her while she was trying to stand up, using the sword as a support. It was meant to make her think about it, but there was no need to think about it. There was no meaning in thinking about it either. Because―