Volume 3 Chapter 8 Difference In Strength
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The long sword slipped from her grasp.
Unfazed, Serena curled her body to shield her head from the swarm of bats attacking from above.
The impact never came.
The horde of bats passed dangerously close, dancing through the moonlit sky before scattering into the night.
”Ugh…”
”Looks like you’ve got only one weapon left.”
The body of Sword Cain dissipated into mist, returning to the shadow cast by Kian.
Serena staggered to her feet and stared at the young man.
(Only one left? Is he really giving me another chance? …It’s not over yet…?)
”…!”
If that’s the case, then she had to fight.
But she could no longer glare at him with the intent to kill.
Standing tall, Serena felt more like a cornered animal.
Her hand reached shakily for the last long sword on her back.
She didn’t even know what Kian was planning.
All she felt was the overwhelming pressure of defeat bearing down on her.
Let alone retaliating, she couldn’t even get close.
She didn’t feel like she could win──.
The part of her that had always despised weaklings was trembling, realizing the vast gap in their power.
”Damn it…”
(I can’t lose! If I lose the will to fight, how can I ever win!)
Just as her knees buckled, she held firm on the pride that came with being a Wolfman.
Taking down big game was their specialty.
She had watched her father and brothers turn the tide in countless desperate situations.
Just last month, she had faced a powerful vampire and managed to land a hit.
(It’s going to be okay. I can do this. I’ll make Kian regret ever giving me a chance… That was just the warm-up.)
”Are you going to surrender?”
”…I won’t. I’m a proud Wolfman.”
Serena steadied her breath and assumed a stance with her long sword.
She locked her blue eyes onto Kian’s gaze.
Once again, she summoned her fighting spirit.
”I’m really, really going all out! If I end up killing you, I’m sorry!”
”Yeah, bring it on!”
”────!”
Before the Bloodsucking Kind could summon bats or weave invisible threads and walls with their strange powers, she had to end this fight.
Kian had once again turned his back to her.
Forgetting that she was being mocked, Serena became greedy for victory and lunged forward, kicking off the ground with all her might.
”HYAAAAAH!”
She let out a high-pitched scream as she swung her sword.
Her target: his neck.
The long sword, drawn back behind her left ear, was unleashed with fierce determination.
This time, she felt no invisible wall or string holding her back.
If this kept up, she’d end up decapitating Kian, but now that she had committed to her attack, there was no stopping Serena.
”────”
Yet, once again, Kian easily dodged Serena’s lethal strike, bending low effortlessly.
It was as though he could read her movements from the very beginning.
Despite her poor stealth and the familiarity they’d gained from fighting together, Kian had completely predicted her blade’s trajectory, but Serena remained oblivious.
Even if her strike to the neck had failed, she aimed to cut low, sweeping toward his torso.
She was swinging her sword wildly without any thought of technique, but if she had been a bit more composed, she might have realized she was repeating the same pattern from her previous attack.
Of course, Kian, who had foreseen the arc of her sword well before it was even swung, merely shifted his body back, narrowly avoiding the blade.
”Shu──”
With a sharp intake of breath, Kian delivered a counter, sending a hard punch toward Serena’s face.
”…!”
She thought she might die.
Watching Kian, his shoulder muscles tense and coiling as he raised his massive fist overhead, Serena felt a chill of instinctual dread.
If that hit her head, she’d be smashed into the ground, pinned down, her skull shattered upon impact.
She could sense it: she’d be crushed like an apple.
Her long sword swung wide, missing completely as it veered to the left.
She couldn’t use it for defense now.
It was over.
However, unlike Serena, who was determined to strike to kill, Kian seemed to have no intention of actually hitting her.
”HAAAAAAA!”
With a voice that echoed like thunder, his fist crashed down against the ground, causing a dull vibration that cracked the earth.
Not only was his strength extraordinary, but his skin and bones seemed nearly as tough.
His fist buried itself into the soil.
The sheer force was staggering.
It was reminiscent of the brutal attacks she faced from the vampire in the ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’
”Ah────”
As the young man’s devastating punch shattered the earth before her, Serena crumpled helplessly to her knees.
She sat there with a thud.
Staring blankly at the ground.
”Ugh… ah…”
Sand and small stones bounced off her cheeks, stinging with each hit.
All strength had drained from her body, leaving her powerless.
She couldn’t get up…
”……”
Serena, crushed by the weight of defeat, watched Kian’s fist slowly rising from the ground.
(I couldn’t do anything…)
She looked up at Kian, who loomed over her with cold eyes.
Though she knew she should be crumpled on the ground, the sensation felt oddly distant.
”Will you admit your defeat?”
”……Ugh…!”
”Serena?”
”N-no… this… can’t be…”
Though her legs trembled with fear, her frustration at losing fought to move her fingers.
Fumbling for the hilt of her longsword, which she had dropped when she fell.
As her hand brushed the cold ground, she felt the hard metal and pulled it closer.
Serena lifted it defensively ── but then paused to consider what attacking Kian would even accomplish.
She lowered her arm.
”…Please, give me a chance.”
Overwhelmed by humiliation, Serena trembled, her head down as she begged for mercy.
”Please. Let’s pretend this duel never happened. …In a month, I’ll challenge you again. I was just off my game today.”
”Serena, ‘Admit your defeat.’”
”────! …….’I concede’. ──Wait, what…?”
At Kian’s words, time seemed to blur, and her mouth spoke the admission without her consent.
Wide-eyed with shock, Serena pressed her hands to her mouth as if to catch the words that had escaped.
”Huh? What? I, of all people…?”
”Serena, ‘Crawl before me.’”
”────!?”
”‘Drop your weapon.’”
”Ah, wait!?”
Her arms moved on their own, tossing the weapon away.
Serena found herself pressed against the ground, cheeks scraping against the dirt as she looked up at the young man.
(What is this? My body won’t listen. Just a command, and I’m acting on my own…)
Serena didn’t understand why.
But in reality, because Kian had relentlessly finished deep inside her, the charm magic had been triggered from within her own body.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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