“No, no, no, I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!”
As soon as I got close to the Ancient Spider, near the outer walls of the city, I could hear people screaming. Everyone in the area was as good as dead. There were no Exorcists left capable of fighting; they had all either run away or died. Even trained soldiers… would be terrified of a monster like that. I guided the few living people to safety, then prepared to fight it alone.
I took a deep breath. There were no living humans left in the area. I had only corpses for company. The smaller monsters ignored me, setting out for the city centre, as if the Ancient Spider had commanded them to allow us to fight one-on-one.
And so, our battle began.
***
In a word, it was fierce.
The Ancient Spider was even more powerful than I could’ve imagined. It could even teleport. I’d seen records that indicated Teleportation Magic was used hundreds of years ago, but it had long since been forgotten. And yet, this Ancient Spider could definitely use it.
The first time I saw it teleport, I finally understood how it’d travelled from outside the city to the walls in an instant. It could even use that magic on other things. For example, it could create thread then launch it through a suspended magic circle, using it to attack.
The thread it created was rather strange, too. It was as sharp as steel, and a single hit from one of those threads would have been the end for me. It would also stab at me with its legs, using teleportation circles to target the attacks directly at my blind spots.
“…Damn it!” I said, unintentionally. It simply had too many cards it could play at any given time, giving me a lot of trouble. I couldn’t properly take advantage of Invisible Blade and was completely on the defensive.
However, it had a weakness: its mobility. Bigger monsters are not necessarily stronger, after all. This one, though, was cleverly able to deal with its weakness. It probably had a lot of combat experience, allowing it to target attacks directly at my blind spots, making it hard for me to respond. IT wouldn’t give me a single chance to attack. If this is how it’s going to be… I’ve got to use that, I thought.
“…Sanctuary,” I said, activating a special ability that derived from my Demon Eyes. Using my ability to perceive mana particles, this ability could essentially predict a single opponent’s movements, roughly doubling my reaction speed. Unlike Twilight Sight, I couldn’t perceive all the mana particles on the air, instead focusing on one opponent. However, that was fine for this battle. Unfortunately, it’s not a spell I can maintain for long, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.
***
I was dripping with blood. My body had begun to self-destruct. I could only keep Sanctuary running for about 10 minutes, but it had already been 15 minutes since I activated it. There was an abnormal amount of blood coming out of my eyes, and the skin on my arms was beginning to tear apart.
Any normal person would be dead if they’d lost this much blood. I, on the other hand, could keep fighting because I was being strengthened by the Ancient Spider’s influence. That feeling was… incredibly similar to how demons are strengthened by the Twilight, I’m sure, but I had no time to think about that. I could only keep fighting. After all, if I lost, the First Barriered City would be destroyed, and humanity would fall. All the other barriers in all the other cities are maintained from this city, so if this place fell, every other barrier would fall. The world would descend into hell again.
I… no, we had been spoiled by peace. Our war with the demons had quieted down and we’d built the Barriered Cities, thinking we’d be safe there. We only vaguely dreamed of a future where we would beat the demons, end the Twilight, and retake our planet. We’d been complacent for the past 150 years, advancing very little.
The demons, however, had not.
There were plenty of things to regret. If we’d done this differently, or if we hadn’t done that, things would be different – my head was full of thoughts like that. But now, right now, I had to concentrate on the battle in front of me. After all, unless I could beat this thing, humanity would never have a chance to right the mistakes we’d made.
I deployed Invisible all around the battlefield and activated Inertia Magic on my body. I kicked off wall after wall, stopping and redirecting my momentum repeatedly. Soaring through the battlefield, I swung my blade. But I didn’t stop there. I shot around endlessly, attacking over and over again, with Invisible Blade on my knife and both my legs, freely manipulating the length of my blades as I attacked.
At this rate, I’ll definitely land a hit, I thought. The Ancient Spider – despite its intelligence and strength – still couldn’t perceive Invisible Blade, and my attacks were definitely having an effect.
The two of us had now given up on defense altogether, simply trading blows, back and forth. But that was for the best. Invisible Blade, my main spell, has no defensive capabilities. It’s entirely offensive, taking advantage of its invisibility. And taking advantage of that high offensive power is my specialty.
The monster, perhaps more confident in its Teleportation Magic now, began to attack more often. I approached, avoiding the thread flying at me as well as its legs, coming at me from my blind spots. If I stopped, I would’ve died immediately. I paid no attention to the blood flowing freely from my body. I could no longer hear, and colours gradually faded from my vision. All I could see was the enemy, burning red like the Twilight. As long as I could see that, I could keep fighting.
I dashed around, using Invisible to aid my mobility. My enemy’s attacks chased after me as I ran. I didn’t realise it at the time, but even gravity seemed to vanish as I fought. I felt lighter than ever before.
Faster, faster, faster! Dodge its attacks, and slice directly at its legs. Then its body. It can regenerate, but I can overpower that, too. I just have to be fast enough. That’s all I need. The monster roared, but it didn’t faze me in the slightest. After all, it was screaming in agony.
I’d completely ceased conscious thought. I moved unconsciously, reacting on instincts alone. Holding my knife in both hands, I switched freely between using Invisible Blade on my knife, my free fingers, and my legs as I fought. I had dozens of knives in my pockets, too, activating Invisible Blade on them as I threw them. Every time I landed a hit, the Ancient Spider let out a pained cry. I’d slowly begun to completely dominate the battle.
Having achieved that domination, I took a deep breath and swung my blade. I felt the blade tear through the monster’s flesh, cutting off its legs in an instant. It responded by targeting my head, teleporting its legs to attack my head from above. However, I noticed the attack coming – not with my eyes, but with Sanctuary – and dodged. It targeted me again, but I dodged again.
Teleportation requires a magic circle and sends a lot of mana particles flying through the air. As a result, it’s very easy for me to dodge it with Sanctuary. I could literally dodge its attacks faster than it could make them.
I continued to tear apart its body as it screamed in agony. I, on the other hand, had stopped feeling pain a while ago, despite all the damage I’d taken. I couldn’t feel anything. The only thing in my mind was the need to finish the fight. To slaughter the enemy. That’s all I needed.
My attacks sped up, gradually overpowering the Ancient Spider entirely. It could no longer even tell where I was. I sliced through its legs, its neck, and its body. It could regenerate, of course, but as my attack sped up, its regeneration could no longer keep up. I have to find that red crystal. If I destroy that, it’ll die, I thought. I could feel my arm calling out to me. The crystal… it’s over there!
The blood flowing down my arm eventually caused my knife grip to slip. I tossed it aside. I don’t need a weapon anymore! I activated Invisible Blade with my entire body, becoming a single blade, as I searched for the crystal.
“That’s it!”
There was a crystal lodged in its belly, like a foreign object tearing into the flesh around it. This time it was blue, but that was definitely the crystal. The monster, perhaps suspecting that I’d spotted its weakness, began to attack even faster. It surrounded me completely with teleportation circles.
Will I destroy the crystal first, or will its attack reach me first? The two of us stared death in the face as we fought. I soared towards its crystal; it struck out at me with its legs. Don’t flinch, don’t hesitate… Don’t think about dying… I’m not dead yet. As long as I can keep moving, I’m still alive!
Suddenly, there was silence. The sounds of our battle suddenly vanished, as if they’d been but a lie. Our battle, our seemingly eternal battle, came to an end. Invisible Blade had crushed the crystal. The Ancient Spider, less than a second away from reaching me, never did. Death had chosen my enemy today. I could feel the goddess of victory smiling upon me.
The Ancient Spider’s body collapsed. It turned into dust and danced through the sky, returning to the earth.
“I… I won…”
The exhaustion hit me all at once and I collapsed on the spot, unable to move. I could feel the blood flowing out of me. It felt warm.
Did I… do it? Did I save humanity? I was so powerless, so incompent, but… did I end up helping someone? At least one person? In that last moment, as I stood in Death’s world, I could see the faces of all the people I cared about. For them… for humanity, I can do this. That’s what I was thinking as I pierced the crystal.
I could feel myself slipping, my consciousness slowly disappearing. I went way too far beyond my limits. I could only feel my right arm burning. I thought back over my life. It felt so long and so quick, all at the same time. I was exiled out to the Twilight, fought to survive, and returned to the Barriered City. I met so many people and even became an S-Rank Exorcist. I thought I would be powerless forever, and yet I received such an unexpected opportunity.
I’m tired. I just want to sleep. Even if death is what awaits me when I close my eyes, it’s not like I can do anything about it. If these are my last moments then… I have no regrets. Despite being completely useless, I came this far. I was able to help humanity. I cut through the Twilight and became a ray of hope, just for an instant. I don’t need anything else. This is enough.