Power Beyond Her Body

By classification, Azu would be considered a light warrior.

She kept heavy equipment to a minimum or avoided it entirely, fighting with agility as her weapon.

She either parried attacks with her sword or dodged them outright to avoid taking damage. Building offensive power required speed behind her strikes.

The Blood Knight she was fighting, by contrast, was a heavy warrior.

His entire body was encased in heavy, sturdy armor, and he carried a shield on top of that. Normally, this would cost him agility, but such human standards didn't apply to him.

His monstrous strength allowed him to move faster than Azu despite wearing full armor.

The only saving grace was that he couldn't make tight turns.

Azu weaved through the Blood Knight's relentless assault, swinging her sword.

But every strike was deflected by that massive shield.

The shield stood in her way like a wall.

It felt far more impenetrable than the Knight Zombies' had.

She needed to do something about that shield, or this fight wasn't going anywhere.

Azu mimicked the Ash King's sword stance.

The Blood Knight held his shield at the ready and went still.

"That's it. That stance. Why do you know it? Did someone teach you?"

"No. I learned it by watching."

"The Ash King, is it. I never thought I'd see a living human wield it again. What a twist of fate."

After saying that much, the Blood Knight raised his shield once more.

Azu had been attacking the shield with the Sealed Sword Grungaus nonstop, and it was slowly being chipped away.

The holy water seemed to be having its effect as well.

Azu pressed forward.

The Blood Knight's speed was formidable, and falling onto the back foot was extremely dangerous.

She poured mana into her sword, thrust it into the Blood Knight's shield, and ground away at it.

When the Blood Knight countered with his sword, she tracked it with her eyes and dodged.

Twice, three times. On the fourth swing, she couldn't dodge cleanly and blocked with her sword.

The impact was too much to absorb, and she was flung backward as if bounced away.

"A pity about that frame of yours."

"Mind your own business."

Azu dismissed the Blood Knight's words without a second thought.

She already knew that. Had always known it.

There was no point wishing for what she didn't have. She had to make do with what she did.

If Azu were a powerful warrior—if she were the Ash King—she could have fought the Blood Knight head-on.

But she wasn't.

She needed to find the optimal answer in each moment by herself.

The Blood Knight's shield crumbled away. She'd finally managed to destroy it.

"A fine warrior. Let us fight to the death."

The Blood Knight gripped his sword in both hands.

That alone made his massive frame seem to loom even larger.

The pressure was crushing, nearly enough to make her freeze.

But freezing meant she wouldn't make it home alive.

She drew a deep breath, filling her lungs, then gripped the sword tight and mustered every ounce of willpower she had.

The fight wasn't lost yet. An opening would come. When it did, she would give it everything.

The Blood Knight moved.

Without his shield, the Blood Knight was even faster.

In a straight line, he outpaced Azu.

He closed the distance and brought his sword crashing down.

The two-handed slash was violence incarnate.

She'd dodged it completely, yet the wind pressure from the swing alone left a cut on her cheek.

The ground where the sword struck was gouged out.

On top of that, blood sprayed from the Blood Knight's blade.

She knew contact with it was dangerous, but she couldn't avoid it all.

It splashed across her left hand, and searing pain shot through her. She cleansed it immediately with holy water.

Elza's holy water did its work, washing the blood away.

She opened and closed her left hand several times to check its condition.

Her supply of holy water was running low.

If this kept up, it would be gone in no time.

The Blood Knight leveled his sword at Azu.

"Did you want a contest of swords alone?"

"Against a monster? That's not going to happen."

"True enough. This body is no longer human."

"Besides, I've already had more than enough sword-only fights."

She'd crossed blades with the Black Knight countless times in that dream.

It was because of those encounters that she could stand against this terrifying Blood Knight at all.

She had no choice but to go all-in.

A rainbow hue surfaced in Azu's right eye.

The cursed blood meant a prolonged fight was impossible. She would switch to a short, decisive battle.

"That power… a Creator King's Apostle? That is too great a power for a human. So that is how you came to be here."

Azu didn't answer. She couldn't maintain this power for long.

She focused every nerve in her body and charged forward.

The Blood Knight responded in kind, and their swords collided.

Cursed blood scattered from the impact of the Blood Knight's strike, but the Water Elemental's power shielded Azu, keeping the blood from reaching her.

With all of Azu's abilities amplified, she could hold her ground against the Blood Knight's sword without being blown away.

And yet, even so—

(I'm still being overpowered!)

Her instincts told her that if she could use this power to its true potential, she shouldn't be overpowered even by an opponent this dangerous.

She still hadn't mastered this immense strength.

Without the Water Elemental's support, she would have given out first.

From that point on, it was nothing but an unbroken exchange of steel.

The Blood Knight's swordsmanship surpassed even the Black Knight's.

Every time she nearly broke through, her attacks were parried at the last moment.

If the sword in her hand had been anything else, she would have had no chance of winning.

The Sealed Sword Grungaus. A blade whose potential was limitless depending on its wielder.

Even when blocked, the Sealed Sword Grungaus inflicted damage on the Blood Knight.

The Creator King's Apostle power was layered on top, and with every swing, it got through.

Azu remained unscathed, while the Blood Knight's armor accumulated more and more wounds.

She parried the Blood Knight's blade and opened some distance. For now, she had the upper hand.

This was the longest she'd ever sustained the power.

She wiped away the thin trickle of blood running from her nose.

A headache was setting in. The overwhelming power was beginning to ravage her body.

She had to finish him while she could still move, or she would lose.

And losing to a monster meant dying.

She wasn't ready to die. She didn't want to die. There were people waiting for her.

Reflecting Azu's resolve, the rainbow glow intensified.