Before he was defeated, the knight did have himself a certain title.

Still enough time, Kokuri thought.

She wasn’t done writing the magic formula with her blood, but that could wait. Kokuri stood up and turned, her hand reached for a kunai hidden inside her kimono. Now that she was facing against the expressionless swordsman, her grin widened; she was more than eager to kill him.

‘I’ll take care of him,’ said Haze.

‘That one is mine.’ Kokuri glared at him with her pitch-black eyes.

‘…’ Haze was dissatisfied with the fight arrangement, but he relented. ‘I hope the woman isn’t a disappointment.’

He dashed toward his opponent, engaging in his own battle, leaving Kokuri alone against the expressionless swordsman as she had wished. She had lost count on how many times they had encountered against one another, but that would hardly matter, for he was going to die by her hands today.

Kokuri pulled out her kunai and coated it with darkness Elemental Magic.

The expressionless swordsman still had his sword pointed at her.

The pattering of the rain on the sanctum’s roof came to a halt—not that it had stopped raining, but that facing against the expressionless swordsman had that kind of effect. As if they were transported to a silent world of their own.

Kokuri had her head slightly tilted up.

You can’t kill me.

Perhaps he understood her and took up to the challenge. Perhaps he saw this gesture as a weakness which he could pounce on. Perhaps coincidentally this was the time he chose make his move.

He dashed toward Kokuri, tightly gripping the handle of his sword.

The air surrounding the blade seemingly warped.

Kokuri, in response, dashed toward him. Winding up her arm to swing her kunai coated with darkness.

When they were within their proximity, kunai against sword, they swung their weapons.

***

‘SHA!!’

The monster, a giant snake covered with tough purplish-black scales, rushed toward Brig. Its mouth was the size of a tall human adult; equipped with acid-coated fangs.

Brig pressed the ground with her foot and jumped to the side, dodging the creature just barely. As it continued slithering past Brig, she took this chance to attack. She gripped her dull sword with both hands and swung with the might which she could gather.

Clang!

Hitting the scales, her sword was deflected and dealt no damage.

The monster, about to crash to a building, rose. Its head scraped the roof of the building, destroying the bricks with the force of its movement. The materials which had touched its fangs melted from the acid.

Alone, this creature already posed as a big threat for the sanctum’s side.

Despite that, the monster worshippers hadn’t summoned just one, or two, but three of those same reptilian monsters. From where Brig stood, she could see the three creatures wreaking havoc on the battlefield and causing chaos; its movement destroyed everything it went past by.

A few followers of the sword had fallen because of the monsters.

One, Brig could spot near the alleyway, was a man who wore an emblem on his shoulder with a hawk symbol inscribed. A comrade from the same squad.

Brig stood petrified by the sight.

It was happening again: deaths of the squad members who were close to her, those she considered as her family. Before, she could cope with losses; but ever since losing Kadas, it was different.

Why did she fight?

She couldn’t find victory here.

Brig wanted them all to retreat, to run.

But where?

Where could they run to?

‘GAAHH!’

A scream broke her petrification. A voice which her ears recognized.

Near a broken building was a follower of the sword who carried an emblem bearing the hawk symbol, a comrade of hers. Caught in the chaotic destruction, the rubbles of the broken building had crushed his legs, and he was stuck under.

His scream had attracted the wrong attention, for instead of just gaining his allies’ attention, it had also gained the monster’s. One of the giant snakes eyed him with its sharp eclipse pupils, identified a prey, and began rushing toward him.

‘No!’

Brig dashed toward him.

She didn’t want to lose more.

However, even at her top speed, she would be too late to save him.

***

It rained heavier as the skystorm approached.

Elaine and Ray walked through the alleyway, searching for leads as to what the Extinct Formulae Magic was negating.

Though the instructions given by Dunnford had been clear; and she knew what she had to do, she couldn’t do it with a peace of mind. Not because the wind was blowing stronger and her drifting hair was bothering her, but because she had firsthand experience in facing against a monster.

‘Shouldn’t we help Dunnford?’ Elaine asked Ray, her voice raised as the wind was loud.

‘You heard his call,’ Ray said.

‘He made his call when he heard only one hiss. After he had gone, we keep hearing more. There’s more than one creature. If each of them was as strong as the Cerberus which we had fought before, then Dunnford will need our help.’

Ray gave her a questioning stare. ‘Are you that incompetent to misjudge Dunnford’s strength? No, fine, if I were you and have only known Dunnford ever since he fought Freya, then I would think the same. Listen, Dunnford is strong.

***

‘He wouldn’t be by my side if he isn’t.’

Brig failed to reach toward her squad member on time. The monster crashed toward where the squad member was. As destruction occurred and the debris was crushed to smaller pieces, a curtain of dust rose.

Brig fell to her knees.

Tears dripped down her cheek. Would it all have been better had she remained a drunk? They wouldn’t be alive, but at the very least no more had to die. As the curtain of dust began to settle, she saw blood on the debris.

‘SHAA!!’ the monster hissed, but this one had pain instilled.

The fallen comrade was nowhere to be found on the debris. Only the monster’s blood.

‘If you can’t run,’ said a voice, ‘then you need to fight and win to live. I’m sorry I’m late, Brig.’

‘Dunn-y?’ She saw his back. His shoulders were broad because his muscles had endured intense training. She knew that he was someone she could count on.

‘In a battlefield, he’s able to remain composed and make the best decision.’

‘Get him somewhere safe,’ Dunnford ordered. He had downed the Hawk squad member he saved beside Brig. ‘Then help the others against the other monsters. I’ll handle this one.’

Brig didn’t question him and obeyed. She carried the squad member on her shoulder and ran away.

Dunnford held his sword high against the monster.

***

‘His true strength lies not in a fair match, but in a fight where anything goes.’

The monster, though of not great intellect, had itself instincts that could determine a threat in the battlefield. Reflected from the eye it had lost, it was apparent to the monster that the knight who had just made his appearance was dangerous. Though he had came late, he could immediately determine that its eyes, unprotected by the tough scales, was a weak point, and had slashed it.

‘Where he’s bound by no rules, he will take all the advantages he can get.’

Dunnford, with wind magic on the soles of his boots, jumped onto a roof. From there, he would be able to reach the monster’s remaining eye with a jump enhanced by wind magic. Alternatively, should he unleash a wind blade, it would cover less distance and reach faster.

The creature, though it had a hard time gauging the distance with just one eye, decided that it had to address the danger and challenged Dunnford. It made an aggressive hiss and rushed toward Dunnford, opening its mouth wide.

The monster grew closer and closer toward him.

‘He isn’t titled Undefeated for nothing.’

And it swallowed Dunnford.

***

‘… Are we speaking of the same Dunnford?’ Elaine was skeptical of Ray’s statements. It sounded as if he was exaggerating on Dunnford’s skill too much. ‘Is this the same Dunnford who got himself swallowed by Cerberus?’

‘He got swallowed because of you,’ Ray said.

Elaine had no words of protest against that. ‘Still, doesn’t change the fact that the three of us struggled against the Cerberus and had to resort to your out-of-bounds Bloodline Magic.’

‘I would call you incompetent, but I understand your perspective. Let me ask you a question then:

***

‘Have you ever seen Dunnford fight with both his Elemental Magic and Special Magic intact?’

The monster rose its head toward the sky in triumph, for it had gotten rid of the biggest threat in the battlefield without any hassle. Its stomach progressed a stage in terms of reaching fullness, for defeating a dangerous opponent weighed more for food. It could feel its stomach tingle even.

‘Had Dunnford had both his magic, he would’ve been able to deal with Cerberus alone.’

The tingle in its stomach, at the middle part of its body, slowly turned into an itch. An itch that felt odd. Suddenly, the itch began to turn into pain, one that slashed and cut the monster mercilessly from the inside. Unlike its exterior which was protected by scales, its interior was defenseless.

Before the giant snake had a chance to struggle, to wriggle, and to fight what was inside of it, the monster was crudely cut into two. As the blood splattered and the monster began losing life, it crashed toward the ground.

Emerging from the monster’s remains, coated from head to toe with its blood, was a knight who had once bore the title of Undefeated.

‘That’s one,’ Dunnford remarked.

***

As the growing rain washed the blood away from him, Dunnford could perceive that the morale of the battlefield had increased because he had dealt with a monster. The sword worshipper’s sword swing, which had lost energy before, had regained its vigor.

Two more, he thought.

Dunnford was certain that the same strategy—of being swallowed on purpose—would be viable; and that dealing with the other monsters should be relatively easy. Unlike the battle against the Cerberus, Dunnford still has his Elemental Magic intact. With his Special Magic: invulnerability, he could withstand the monster’s acid without any problem; and could cut easily from the inside with the help of wind magic.

Not the most honorable of methods, but anything was allowed on the battlefield.

Dunnford could see Brig helping the other sword worshippers against one of the remaining two monsters. Judging from how she had been petrified in this battlefield, he assumed that the loss of Kadas had affected her.

I’ll need to help—

Sensing a hostile presence from the side, Dunnford jumped back and evaded a spear thrust.

He glanced toward the wielder’s hands, to see that one of them was gripping on a loose tube on the spear’s shaft. Dunnford only knew one spear-wielder who used such a spear: Haze.

‘I suppose… other than the expressionless swordsman, you’re the worthiest person around,’ Haze remarked with a sigh.