Blood Knight

I severed the head of a Knight Zombie carrying a greatshield.

The large, headless body slowly toppled over.

I swung my sword, flicking off whatever blood-like substance clung to it.

"That was the last one."

"Sure was."

Elza responded to the words I'd muttered offhandedly.

We'd finally defeated every monster standing between us and the fog.

No sign of more spawning, either.

When we reached the fog, it stood before us like a wall.

"That's some serious fog… Can't see anything past it."

Kazusa said this as she reached out and touched the fog with her right hand.

The hand she'd pushed inside vanished from sight.

"Feels weird."

"There's definitely something beyond it."

"Agreed. The back of my neck is tingling."

"The fog itself seems to be just ordinary fog, though."

We stopped there for a moment.

The option to turn back still existed.

The Hill of Lament was known as a reasonably profitable hunting ground, but information about its labyrinth master was scarce. Perhaps because adventurers could earn steady income without ever bothering with it.

Even the information we'd gathered at the Adventurer's Guild on our way here had nothing useful.

Though I vaguely recalled one drunk saying something.

Something about a Blood Knight.

"So, what do we do? You're the leader, Azu-chan."

"Well… no, let's go. We've come all this way."

With that, Azu pulled out a ribbon, held it in her mouth, and gathered her hair with both hands.

Then she tied it up.

Bundling her long hair back made movement just a bit easier.

"Looks good on you."

"You think?"

She replied with a hint of embarrassment at Kazusa's compliment.

"Don't stop until I say otherwise."

"Got it."

Azu took the lead and stepped into the fog.

Her vision was swallowed completely; she couldn't see a single step ahead.

She advanced slowly, careful not to lose her footing.

All the while thinking how difficult it would be to respond if something attacked inside this fog.

"Can you all keep up?"

She turned and called back, just to be safe.

No answer came.

She could make out dark silhouettes that might have been people, but though Azu had stopped, they showed no sign of catching up.

She hadn't told them to stop. If she stood still, the others should close the gap.

Yet the distance didn't shrink.

Elza had said this fog was just ordinary fog.

Alexia hadn't raised any concerns either, so it should have been fine.

But then what was this?

"Answer me!"

Azu's voice dissolved uselessly into the fog.

This is bad, she thought. Something was wrong with this fog.

The instant Azu broke into a panicked run, she felt the ground crumble beneath her feet.

"Wha—?!"

She lost her footing and fell.

Strangely, even as she plummeted, the fog didn't clear.

Feeling the sensation of freefall, she tried to figure out how to land.

With the fog refusing to lift, she had no way of knowing when she'd hit the ground.

An unguarded fall meant broken bones at best. At worst, instant death.

A chill ran down her spine.

"The fog… that's it!"

Fog was made of water.

If so, the Water Elemental should be able to do something about it.

"Lend me your strength!"

At Azu's cry, the fog around her dissipated all at once, perhaps by the Water Elemental's power.

The ground came into view. She reflexively unleashed the Apostle's power and swung her sword at the earth.

A strike aimed at canceling her falling momentum.

It worked. She managed to land uninjured.

She touched down on both feet and her left hand.

"Where… am I?"

This was an unnatural phenomenon.

Looking up, she saw a crimson sky stretching endlessly, and nothing else.

She should have fallen from somewhere, yet there was nothing above but sky.

As though space itself had been twisted.

"Confused, aren't you. Little girl."

Azu spun toward the voice.

Deeper in, a man sat perched on a boulder.

His face was, for some reason, impossible to make out.

"The fact that you made it here means you have the power of a spirit, I see. And the scent of the Creator King, too."

Where was this place?

"The summit of the Hill of Lament. Though the fog won't let anyone else through. Your companions are probably fighting my shadow right about now."

The man rose to his feet.

As he did, blood welled up from the shadow at his feet, clinging to his body.

With each step he took toward Azu, the blood solidified, taking the shape of armor.

Right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm.

Torso. And then, a helm.

Last, a sword and shield.

Everything was crimson. If she had to describe him in a single phrase, then yes. A Blood Knight.

"I am nothing more than a phantom of the past, but few have ever bested me."

"… If I defeat you, I can go back?"

"That's right."

It seemed Azu had inadvertently met some kind of condition.

There appeared to be no option to avoid fighting, either.

No powerful backup from Elza or Alexia. She would have to fight alone.

One look was enough to tell. The knight before her was incomprehensibly strong.

(I'm not the scared girl I used to be. I have to handle this on my own.)

She raised her sword.

An adventurer was someone who carved their own path.

"Give me everything you have."

"You don't need to tell me."

She sprinkled holy water over the Sealed Sword Grungaus.

It should help at least somewhat.

"A fine blade. That sword might actually reach me. But what about its wielder?"

"Are you starved for conversation or something?"

The Blood Knight before her was oddly talkative.

That one detail felt almost human.

"Ah, forgive me. It has been a long time since I last spoke."

With that, the Blood Knight charged. Despite his cumbersome appearance, he was faster than Azu.

He brought the blood-red sword crashing down on her with that same momentum.

Without the Apostle's power, there was no way she could take that hit.

An image of being crushed flat the instant she tried to block flashed through her mind.

She leaped sideways on reflex to dodge, but a follow-up came immediately as the shield rushed toward her.

She'd anticipated it, though. The Knight Zombies had done the same thing.

She kicked the shield.

Its force was incomparable to a Knight Zombie's.

She was sent flying far backward.

"Bad manners, using your feet."

"I'm an adventurer."

"Ah, fair enough."

The Blood Knight seemed to accept Azu's answer.

Doing whatever it took to fight—that was what adventurers did. Not the same as knights.