A Crimson Dream

Kazusa's exhaustion had reached its limit, so they decided to turn the break into a full rest period.

"I-I'm fine, really."

Kazusa tried to wave it off, but dark circles were visible under her eyes and her legs were trembling.

Accumulated fatigue pushed to its breaking point was beyond even Elza's ability to heal.

"What I heal is injuries, not stamina. People tend to mistake getting healed for feeling refreshed, though."

Elza explained.

It was true. Despite receiving the healing miracle countless times, Azu had never once felt her stamina recover from it.

With that settled, Azu placed a hand on Kazusa's shoulder.

She pushed down with almost no force at all, and Kazusa plopped down on her bottom without any real resistance.

"See? You're exhausted. We're resting."

"… Yeah. Sorry."

Having finally grasped her own condition, Kazusa accepted Azu's words and agreed to rest.

She climbed into a sleeping bag, ate a few small cookies, drank a bit of water, and fell asleep almost immediately.

That must have been all she could manage to eat.

When she could hear Kazusa's sleeping breaths, Azu gave her hair a little stroke.

She must have burned through everything she had just to survive against that Black Knight Zombie.

The loss of her entire party was also weighing heavily on her.

Alexia had retreated a little deeper to prioritize recovering her mana through meditation.

Azu and Elza kept their voices low so as not to disturb her while they rested and talked.

"So what's the plan, leader?"

"Please stop calling me that. It makes me feel weird."

"You should be used to it by now. So, are we going all the way?"

"That's the plan. A labyrinth isn't truly cleared until you defeat the boss."

"True enough. Before, even after beating the boss we got interfered with, and then our dear Master ordered us to turn back when we were so close to the boss."

There was that, Azu nodded.

If she recalled correctly, the Church of the Sun God had taken it from them that time.

Bringing it back would have been difficult either way, but without them showing up, she thought there might have been a way to recover it.

Even now, just thinking about the Church of the Sun God's Temple Knight's face made her stomach churn.

The theft was something they'd done to avoid trouble, so it was fine. They'd gotten money in exchange, too.

But pointing a sword at Yohane's throat, that she still hadn't forgiven.

Losing one arm wasn't enough. Next time they met…

"You're making a scary face."

"Am I?"

Elza's words made her realize she'd been clenching her fist without noticing.

Her nails had nearly scratched her skin.

Elza wrapped Azu's stiff hand in both of hers and slowly eased it open.

"Anger can be a source of great strength, but letting yourself be consumed by revenge is never good."

"Aren't you the same, Elza-san?"

Azu asked.

The side of Elza that occasionally surfaced, so unlike her usual self.

In those moments, her eyes were chillingly cold.

Elza's hands, which had been holding Azu's, went still.

"Who knows. I've been steeped in it so long, I can't even tell anymore."

"What do you mean by…"

"Come on, let's get some sleep. Alexia-chan put up a barrier, and combined with mine, we should be pretty safe."

Elza deflected Azu's objection by saying that.

Azu could tell she'd been deflected, but looking at Elza's face, she decided pressing the issue wouldn't get her an answer and obediently went along with it.

"You really are a good kid."

Elza draped a blanket over Azu.

Then she began to sing a lullaby.

Azu's eyelids grew heavy.

She yielded to the pull of sleep and drifted off.

In water, Azu found a crimson sword.

She realized it was a dream because the scene was one she'd seen before.

The crimson sword, she believed, was the one they'd obtained from the Black Knight Zombie earlier.

Gradually, a shape materialized around the blade.

It was the Black Knight they had defeated.

The difference was that it was not undead.

Somehow, she knew this.

Its face was hidden behind a full-face helmet.

She recognized this world as the Water Elemental's domain.

And the Water Elemental was on Azu's side.

If that was the case, then this Black Knight was not an enemy.

The Black Knight said nothing and took up its crimson sword.

Before Azu realized it, a sword had appeared in her own hand as well.

But it wasn't the beloved blade she always used.

It seemed to be an ordinary sword with no special properties.

The Water Elemental drifted around Azu.

She tried to ask what was going on, but only air escaped her mouth.

It seemed she had no choice but to fight.

She had fought and won before, but that had been a team victory.

And the Black Knight had been undead then, so its technique's sharpness hadn't been all that great, she thought.

There were no restrictions on her body within the water.

They both took the same stance as the Ash King.

The clash of swords began once more.

The first time their blades met, Azu noticed she held her ground better than before.

Even so, her sword was deflected.

The enemy's blade slid smoothly toward her chest.

She twisted her body just in time to dodge.

But she wouldn't be able to avoid the follow-up.

The moment she thought this, the Black Knight withdrew its sword and returned to the same stance.

Confused, Azu took her stance again as well.

Then, as expected, the previous exchange repeated.

And when Azu could no longer keep up, the Black Knight pulled back.

This cycle continued.

It was painfully obvious what was happening.

The Black Knight was showing her its swordsmanship and making her learn.

This was an even more intense session than the real fight had been.

There was no help coming, but neither would she be cut down.

It simply repeated until Azu could handle it.

She had no idea how much time passed.

In this world, there was no fatigue.

But perhaps because she was overusing her head, her body's movements gradually became reflexive.

Thinking slowed, and instinct took its place.

Everything except the opponent's sword faded from her vision, and all she had to do was follow it.

It reached the point where she could almost believe she knew the enemy's next move the instant they moved.

And the enemy moved exactly as she'd predicted.

Once that happened, there was no room for hesitation.

Azu's sword began to match her opponent's in sharpness.

Repeat. Repeat. Good movements, single-mindedly.

Discard the movements that had failed before.

The overwhelming gap in skill shrank with each passing moment.

And then, for the first time, her blade reached the Black Knight.

It was more luck than anything, but compared to where she'd started, the growth was immense.

At that moment, the mouth visible beneath the Black Knight's helm seemed to curl into a grin.

The Black Knight faded away along with its crimson sword.

It seemed the session was over.

The water receded.

Consciousness — awakened.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?"

"… I had the strangest dream."

Elza's voice pulled her back to the waking world.