The Bloody Valkyrie

The ground tore in its wake as the shockwave hurtled towards Brain. Easily able to crush full plate mail, for Brain, who was only wearing a chainmail, being hit by such a blast would leave him gravely injured. Not only that, the huge difference in physical abilities between the two meant that taking even a single hit would greatly turn the tide of battle against him.

However— the vampire widened her eyes in surprise.

“Try celebrating after actually hitting your target. Your movements are too easy to read.”

— He was untouched.

Having easily dodged the invisible attack, Brain said with a smirk. The vampire wore a look of surprise and panic and jumped backwards with a large leap. She had realized that it was a mistake to underestimate this human as a lower life form.

On the other hand, although he did not show it on his face, Brain knew he had to rethink his plan of attack. The thought that she could use magic had escaped him completely.

Brain’s ultimate goal was Gazef, and their fight would be settled with their swords. Because of this, his skill in magic wasn’t on par with his skill with the sword. Against such an opponent, he couldn’t predict what she would do next.

The result was a stalemate where both sides glared at each other, waiting for an opening to strike.

Growing weary of the situation, the girl let out a sigh.

“Haa… substitution.”

As the girl snapped her finger to interject, her dry voice caused the vampire to tremble uncontrollably.

In front of his opponent who had completely lost her focus, Brain did not move.

Even when given such an opening, he did not take the opportunity to attack. Instead, he shifted his attention to the girl and stared searchingly.

Her body was skinny and contrasted oddly with her swollen chest. Her arms looked frail enough for Brain to easily snap like a twig.

There were many types of faith based magic casters. Clerics were strong in close combat, while Priestesses and Bishops specialized in magic incantations.

Since she asked to switch, she must be confident enough to fight without a guard. Then—

Brain’s face broke into a smile.

She doesn’t seem to be the type to fight with summons. Another vampire, then.

Judging by her behavior, this one must be a higher level than the other vampire. You can never judge a monster by their appearance. It wouldn’t be strange for her to be even stronger than the one before, especially since she decided to step in after seeing how strong Brain was.

And the vampire’s reaction earlier… was it fear?

The master feared by its vampire servant… she’s strong, someone I can’t take lightly.

While keeping the girl in his sights, Brain furiously racked his head trying to figure out her identity.

A vampire’s master, is she a vampire lord similar to the ones from the legends? If I recall correctly, one of the more famous vampire lords was 「Landfall」, who destroyed a kingdom…I heard it was killed by the thirteen heroes.

If the past heroes managed to do it, then it wasn’t impossible.

Grasping his katana with renewed vigor, Brain readied his stance.

“I am Brain Unglaus.”

Having stated his name to the strong opponent, what came back in response was a look of confusion.

Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Brain asked her.

“… Your name?”

“Oh! You’re asking for my name? Cocytus would have stated his already, but I didn’t see you as an opponent so I was slow to notice. Please forgive me. You should’ve just said so.”

The girl grabbed the skirt of her dress, and, like asking a man for a dance at a ball, gave her greeting.

“Shalltear Bloodfallen. Allow me to enjoy this.”

*

With a weapon pointed towards her, the girl gave a graceful bow. Did she think he wouldn’t attack? Or maybe, was she confident enough to block his attack completely even if he did? The answer was clearly written in her expression, it was the latter. As if to say, you are not a threat.

—I’ll break that composure of yours.

Brain glared at Shalltear with a look sharp enough to frighten even the most hardened warriors. Honestly, he didn’t like her relaxed attitude, but a part of him welcomed it.

The arrogance of the strong.

It was one of the weapons humans could use to defeat monsters whose physical abilities were far above and beyond their own. In the past, Brain had multiple encounters with such creatures where he won by using this chance.

Most of all— he could mock them after defeating them, teaching the fools that there were opponents in this world you shouldn’t underestimate.

“Will you not be using martial arts?”

—Martial art.