Princess – Part 06
“Is that the Infernal Blade?”
During their usual patrol in the Third District, Cecily and Aria were stopped by three women.
Dressed in travel attire, they appeared to be foreigners. Although their offer to share important information seemed suspicious, Cecily, as a member of the Knight Guard, couldn’t dismiss them outright. Aria looked wary but followed Cecily’s lead.
They were led into a deserted alley, where the first thing they heard was, “Is that the Infernal Blade?” Cecily’s suspicions deepened.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You must be the knight,” one woman with brown skin nodded. “As a courtesy, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Doris.”
The woman with the red lips chimed in, “I’m Margot.”
Then the girl with a baby face added, “My name is Penelope.”
Doris then asked, “What’s your name?”
“Cecily Campbell. The Independent Trade City—”
“Forget the title, Cecily. We have only one demand,” Doris stated. “Hand over the Infernal Blade.”
Cecily recalled the series of Demon Pact incidents. Each one was orchestrated by an individual known as the Merchant, who was after the Infernal Blade. Were these women just like him?
Cecily instinctively stepped back, putting distance between herself and the strangers while shielding Aria behind her. The three women calmly drew their weapons.
Aria, feeling the tension through Cecily’s back, stammered, “Are we fighting?!”
“They’re clearly raring for one.”
Though Cecily carried a short sword for self-defense, facing three opponents with only that made her uneasy. She exchanged a glance with Aria, who nodded in return, though her expression quickly shifted.
“But is your right hand okay? That burn from before still hurts, doesn’t it? And it’s three against one.”
“I’m fine,” Cecily replied. It still ached, but she could wield a sword. “You’ll make up for the difference in numbers.”
“Just don’t overdo it.”
“I won’t. And you’d better watch out too, partner.”
Aria started chanting. “Unshackle from slumber. Seize the truth. The wind, in my hand. Slay God.”
A gust of wind swirled next to Cecily. It burst apart, and a sword shot forth, settling into her right hand. Its silhouette formed a cross, with a swept hilt. The rapier Infernal Blade, Aria.
Shifting her right side forward, Cecily lowered her body and held the Infernal Blade at chest level in a thrusting stance, the basic posture for stabbing.
“So that’s your Infernal Blade. Let’s see how good it really is—”
Doris paused, her gaze fixed slightly lower.
Curious, Cecily glanced at the other two. They were also looking down. Following their line of sight, she realized they were focused on her upper body.
“Wh-What is it?”
“It’s big,” Doris said.
“It really is,” Margot agreed.
“Yes, it’s quite large,” Penelope chimed in.
Embarrassed, Cecily crossed her left arm over her chest. “Wh-What are you saying? You should…”
She fell silent. The reality before her was undeniable. All three of them. Their eyes glinted.
“You just compared them, didn’t you?!”
“N-No.”
“You mocked their size!”
“Absolutely not.”
“We absolutely despise women with big breasts!”
“Sounds like a you problem.”
“It’s gotta be heavy. How about we slice them off for you?”
A chill ran down Cecily’s spine. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but their goals had changed. Their eyes were wild.
“W-We can talk this out.”
“There’s nothing to talk about!”
With tears welling in her eyes, Doris led the charge. Her weapon was a plain, two-handed, double-edged sword with a cross hilt—a claymore. It was designed to cut through its target. Doris swung it straight down with a powerful strike.
Cecily followed the path of the blade with her eyes. Remember. She just had to move the way she had trained.
Cecily stepped forward with her right foot, catching the claymore’s swing with the flat of her sword, then deflecting it downward. Doris staggered, and Cecily followed up with a sharp thrust, grazing Doris’ cheek. Doris didn’t flinch. Breathing heavily, she swung a wide, horizontal strike, using the momentum of her hips. Cecily intercepted it with the guard of her rapier, flicking the blow upwards.
Realizing close combat wasn’t in her favor, Doris stepped back, swinging her claymore to keep Cecily at a distance. Cecily maintained her position, careful not to overextend.
Doris wiped the blood off her cheek with the back of her hand. “Ah, I see. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park.”
Cecily returned to her thrusting stance. Sweat clung to her back. Her body could move, but doubt started creeping in. Rapiers were designed to parry and exploit openings, relying on precise thrusts. Unlike slashes, it couldn’t deliver a fatal blow unless it struck the target’s vitals. Could she really hold her ground against three opponents with such a defensive style?
Should she use the power of the Infernal Blade?
Aria could control the wind. With that power, she might stand a chance, but these opponents were human. A miscalculation could kill them. What’s more, they were in the middle of the city. Civilians could get caught in the crossfire. Could she afford to wait for reinforcements?
“I guess it’s time to get serious,” Doris said casually. She flipped her claymore into a reverse grip. “No hard feelings if you die.”
“What?” Cecily frowned.
Doris took a deep breath. The muscles in her arms bulged, veins popping out beneath her skin. Mustering all her strength, Doris drove her claymore into the ground with a grunt. The earth split open.
“What?!”
The ground shook violently. From where Doris had struck, the ground cracked outward in a radial pattern, quickly reaching Cecily’s feet.
The tremors made it impossible for Cecily to stay upright. Chunks of rock slammed into her legs and boots, knocking her off balance.
“Aria!” she called out.
The jewel embedded in her rapier’s hilt glowed faintly in response. A dull silver wind rose and swirled around Cecily, supporting her from all sides and steadying her footing.
What is this power?!
There were no signs of a Prayer Pact. No jewel steel, no incantations. Doris had simply driven her sword into the ground.
She drove her sword? Cecily’s mind raced. Could the power be coming from…
“An Infernal Blade?!”
Through her shaky vision, Cecily spotted Doris crouching. Behind her, Margot—the woman with the red lips—was twisting her hips.
“She’s coming.”
A chill ran down Cecily’s spine. Margot’s torso, coiled like a spring, snapped forward with a spiraling motion. A horizontal flash of light sliced through the air, passing just over Doris’ head.
The blade extended in an arc. It cleaved through the wall of a nearby house, scattering debris, and shot past Cecily’s right side. There was no time to think. She raised her rapier in front of her, catching the horizontal streak of light just in time. A dull, numbing sensation spread from her injured right hand. Gritting her teeth, Cecily glided the rapier and threw herself down to the ground, allowing the attack to pass safely overhead.
She crashed onto her right shoulder. The impact rattled her brain before the pain could even register. But even as fragments of the shattered ground struck her forehead and side, her eyes never left her enemies. And that’s when she saw it—Margot raising her sword high overhead.
It was long and could easily be mistaken for a spear because of its handle. The blade, curved around the top and the length of a typical sword, was attached to a grip as long as the blade itself. It was a rhomphaia, a weapon used by an ancient tribe on the continent.
But that wasn’t all. The rhomphaia’s blade glowed a brilliant red, its light extending beyond the metal, as if forming a second blade that stretched high into the sky.
A super-long sword, capable of launching devastating slashes from a distance.
“Another Infernal Blade,” Cecily muttered in shock.
Margot’s red lips curled into a smirk. With a shout, she swung the rhomphaia down. Normally, the distance between them would be far too great for the weapon to reach, but the extended, red-glowing Infernal Blade was descending right over Cecily.
Cecily thought she heard Aria’s voice. The wind stirred. It lifted Cecily’s arm, guiding the rapier to intercept the rhomphaia’s strike. The immense weight of the blow shattered the wind barrier, and the blade collided with the rapier. The metal groaned under the force, and Cecily’s arm buckled, pressing the blade against her chest armor. Rocks dug into her back. Blood oozed from between her clenched teeth.
“Ar—” Cecily howled, blood spraying from her mouth. “Aria!”
Aria’s wind glowed with a brilliant silver hue, exploding outward. It shattered the broken ground even further, leveling it and deflecting Margot’s Infernal Blade. With the wind at her back, Cecily sprang up, assuming a thrusting stance. Dizziness blurred her vision, but she had no time to dwell on it. If she didn’t act now, she would be the one to fall.
There was no room for hesitation. Mirroring her resolve, the wind gathered at the tip of her rapier. Cecily lunged her body forward like a coiled spring, piercing the space ahead with her sword.
Unlike a spear thrust, a rapier thrust had a unique twist added with the arm’s motion. This twist generated a swirling wind that shot out from the blade’s tip. The howling gust surged straight toward the women.
And then, suddenly, it stilled.
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