The Bloody Valkyrie

“First time I’ve seen that kind of magic… you’re a magic caster?”

A magic caster would have no need for armor, which would explain why these two would be wearing a dress in a place like this.

“A faith based magic caster, believer of the bloodline of the origin, God Cainabel.”

“Cainabel? First time hearing of a god by that name. Is he an evil god?”

“Yes, he belonged to that category. Well, he was defeated by the Supreme Beings anyways. According to them, he was a ‘weak event boss’. “

Shifting his eyes away from the girl who was going on about some Supreme Beings and whatnot, Brain focused his attention on the woman standing like a servant. This one was also a beauty. Her buxom figure seemed to radiate sensuality.

From the splotches of crimson covering her white dress, she must have been the one who killed the guards.

Brain simply shrugged his shoulders and grasped his katana.

“Well, that’s not important. I’m ready to go whenever. If you can’t say the same, I can wait. What’ll you do?”

Giving him a surprised look, the girl covered her mouth in order to stifle a faint laugh.

“How brave of you, will you really be fine alone? You may call more of your friends, if you’d like.”

“We both know that bringing together a bunch of third-rates won’t work against you two. I will be enough.”

“Are you one of those…? The type that doesn’t understand how high the sky is? Do you think you can touch the stars simply by reaching for them? That type of naivety should be reserved for children like Aura. It’s just disgusting with an adult.”

“What wrong with adults like that? I guess a girl can’t understand a man’s romance?”

Brain drew his katana into a stance. Seeing this, the girl wore a bored expression and glanced towards the ceiling and spoke.

“You can start now.”

The girl gestured with her chin, prompting the woman next to her to dash forward.

Her movement was truly like the wind, but— for Brain, even the speed of the wind was not fast enough.

“Haah!”

With a roar, Brain launched himself with all the strength in his body and struck like a storm. The slash held enough power to easily cleave an armored man in two.

“Kuh!”

“Tsk, too shallow.”

Stopped during the middle of her rush, the vampire gripped her shoulder and was forced to back away. The katana had entered through the collarbone and left a slash across her chest.

Brain narrowed his eyes as he watched his opponent.

Aside from the fact that he had failed to kill her with the first blow, there was another thing that he had trouble understanding. The wound on her shoulder should have been sprouting blood, but not a single drop could be seen.

‘Is it magic?’

While in thought, Brain’s eyes squinted slightly when he saw the wound that her hand had been covering.

The katana wound on her shoulder was slowly but surely, being healed. Although he had heard rumors of the existence of high speed healing magic, this seemed different. Then there was only one other answer.

A monster with the ability to regenerate, the sharp canines sprouting from her mouth, crimson eyes filled with enmity, a human-like appearance…

Brain, whose trail of thought had led up to this point, realized the monster’s identity.

“A vampire…huh. Its special abilities.… high speed regeneration, charm, life drain, spawn vampire minions, resistance against weapons and cold.. I think there was more….

whatever.”

He just had to cut them down. With that in mind, Brain firmly gripped his katana.

The woman widened her eyes and her crimson pupils grew eerily large.

At that moment, Brain’s mind began to cloud over. The enemy in front of him started to seem more and more like an ally. However, with a quick shake of his head, the mist was gone.

“… A charm? My mind isn’t so weak for it to be influenced by something of that level. “

Not only his weapon, even Brain’s heart was like that of a katana. He was easily able to dispel simple charm spells.

The vampire looked at him with hatred and bared her fangs, but it was a look born out of fear. One who was confident in their own strength would have simply attacked. In other words, the vampire had become wary, whether it was because of his attack, or because of the realization that he was a formidable opponent.

“At least you’re smart. But even a wild beast can tell that much.”

Brain shuffled his feet and inched towards the vampire. Matching his advance, his opponent slowly retreated backwards.

How boring.

Brain laughed mockingly, and as if taunted, the vampire stopped her retreat and advanced slightly.

The distance between the two was now three meters. For the vampire, it was a distance she could cover in a single leap. However, her wariness towards Brain’s skill prevented her from stepping forward immediately. Then— a small smile formed on her lips, and the vampire extended her hand in front of her.

「Shock Wave」.