Chapter 117: The Tales of Cinder [11]
Side by side, they ran near the feet of the Lady of Cinder. The ground trembled with each of her steps, kicking up small clouds of gray dust that clung to their skin and clothes like a rough second layer.
Marco was faster than Mitsuki, so the latter had to propel himself a few times to keep up. Each burst left a slight distortion in the air, as if his body were slipping between two different planes of reality.
Meanwhile, Azel fired four more blood arrows. They whistled with a sharp, unnatural sound as they cut through the heavy air of the basement. He looked increasingly pale and exhausted; his breathing was uneven, and his hands trembled slightly as he drew the bowstring. This was why he always used blood arrows as a last resort.
On his side, Monar frowned. The demon behind him kept whispering nonsense, its voice seeping into his mind like a damp echo.
"Are you not afraid of forgetting everything, young elf?"
Monar, with sweat and blood running down his forehead, feeling the burning in his eyes, smiled.
"Not at all. Even if I forget, I’ll have the chance to create even more memories."
At the same time, the Lady of Cinder dragged her swords across the ground. The sound of crystal scraping against stone was shrill, like a prolonged scream. The chains on her wrists and ankles rattled with the motion, tightening and vibrating, while the ground split behind the adventurers in an uneven line that stretched like a scar.
Mitsuki glanced at Monar for a moment. Then Marco turned and took a defensive stance. One of the crystal swords clashed against his, producing a thunderous impact that echoed throughout the entire realm, bouncing off the walls as if the place itself responded.
Once again, the knight’s body broke under the strain, blood splattering onto the ground in dark droplets, but he never yielded to the power of the Lady of Cinder. He stood firm while Mitsuki vanished into the air to avoid the other sword, leaving behind an almost invisible trail of ash.
In that brief moment when the Lady attacked, her defenses dropped. Marco pushed back the crystal blade with great effort—his muscles tightening, his veins standing out beneath his skin—and together with Mitsuki, they lunged at the specter’s face.
She wasn’t about to fall behind. She retrieved her swords as quickly as possible, lifting fragments of stone and ash, but they were already upon her.
Marco stepped forward with a powerful downward slash that split open the Lady’s abdomen. The crack released a burst of hot ash that floated into the air. Mitsuki appeared behind him in perfect synchronization. As Marco turned to land, Mitsuki, without hesitation, jumped, aimed, and fired point-blank.
A massive hole opened in the Lady’s torso, expelling a vortex of gray particles that spun as if they had a life of their own.
Immediately after, a dozen arrows flew toward her, creating more holes that spread across her ash body, distorting it in multiple places.
"False... heroes!" the princess exclaimed, her voice echoing, lost in the past where she had been chained to the walls of this place. The cracks in her body glowed intensely, and her hair danced to the rhythm of the flames as if underwater. "Weak!"
They might be weak...
But their swords rang against crystal, steady and unyielding.
They might be false heroes...
But their spirits rose to the sky in rhythm with the battle—because they were adventurers.
Marco advanced at great speed. His wounds closed thanks to the magic of the Lord of Green, leaving a faint emerald glow over his skin before fading. Mitsuki followed from behind, keeping pace with near-instinctive precision.
This time, the Lady of Cinder’s swords reacted twice as fast. They cut through the air, leaving behind a brilliant crimson trail that extended toward them like a blade capable of slicing even light itself.
Marco ran faster toward her, feeling the heat brush against his face. He leaped over the flying slash and, using Mitsuki as momentum, cut across her face, leaving an uneven opening that crackled with residual energy.
Mitsuki appeared next, gripping his shotgun. The metal vibrated faintly in his hands. He fired both barrels, the recoil shaking his entire body.
Once again, the Lady of Cinder stepped back, but then seven arrows pierced through her as if her body were made of butter. The holes opened accordingly and began to desperately fill with ash from the ground, as if the environment itself were trying to restore her.
Oh... Marco and Mitsuki weren’t going to allow that.
They had to be fast.
Faster... and faster.
Never stopping.
The combined assault became a spectacle of rapid evasive and aggressive movements. Their figures crossed, vanished, and reappeared, creating a chaotic dance that reached its peak each time the Lady’s body was damaged.
They attacked again, but the Lady of Cinder defended with both swords, generating sparks and shockwaves that made the air tremble.
Mitsuki felt the blade pass close to him. The cold crystal made his skin crawl, but instead of turning intangible, feeling a strange chill run down his spine, he raised his shapeshifting sword as a shield.
The crystal passed beside him, scraping against the blade with a sharp screech. That gave him the momentum to move aside and regroup with Marco, who was already ready to strike again.
More arrows flew and pierced the Lady. Slightly unnerved, she growled, swinging her third hand in an attempt to catch them all, her movements growing more erratic. But at the same time, Marco cut off her head and Mitsuki appeared suspended in the air to fire.
The fire blast disintegrated the specter’s head. The explosion briefly illuminated the entire basement, casting violent shadows across the walls.
That was enough to buy them a few seconds, which they used to push their speed even further.
’It hurts...’
He was almost out of mana.
’It hurts too much.’
Despite everything, his body bore several fine yet deep cuts that the Lady of Cinder always managed to inflict, even when he turned intangible to avoid them. They burned as if they were still being opened.
’I don’t know if we’re going to win,’ he thought, moving through the air at full speed, feeling how each movement demanded more than he could give.
He followed Marco’s steps, and together they fought as one.
’I’ve never done anything like this before.’
Each burst made it seem like he was flying. Every attack was filled with every last drop of mana, pushing his body to its limit.
’I never thought I’d actually fight alongside other people.’
But here he was, firing nonstop, coordinating with Marco in a magnificent—almost perfect—way.
He could see his abilities on the system screen. Most of them were active, glowing with varying intensity, from those meant for escape to those meant for combat.
More arrows whistled and pierced the Lady. She dropped to her knees, kicking up a cloud of ash upon impact, as one of the arrows destroyed her right leg beneath her dirty gray dress.
Both of them seized the opportunity to finish the princess.
They circled her and, without mercy, Marco cut her into pieces at incredible speed thanks to the enhancement of demonic magic. Each slash left fragments floating for a moment before crumbling away.
Mitsuki followed, destroying every piece of ash that fell, firing again and again until nothing remained of her—only a gray void suspended in the air.
They stopped and stared at the emptiness, where those empty chains hung in silence, swaying slightly as if they still held an invisible weight.
Marco sighed, the sound rough in his throat, and dropped to his knees. Mitsuki fell onto his back, exhausted, feeling the cold ground seep through his clothes. Azel lowered his bow slowly, his fingers finally relaxing.
But Monar shook his head and shouted:
"It’s not over yet!"
At the center of the basement, a small flame ignited. It was faint at first, but steady, flickering with an orange glow that contrasted against the gray surroundings.
And the voice of the Lady of Cinder echoed, deeper, more distant, yet still filled with hatred:
"False heroes... You will never be like him."