The Bloody Valkyrie

Over the course of a warrior’s training, they push themselves to the limit and learn special skills that draw out all of their strength. Martial arts create unexplainable phenomena that are drawn from the warrior’s own aura. It is the use of magic through weapons.

Against an opponent vastly larger than yourself, 「Fortress」 would allow one to shrug off powerful attacks and fight him head on.

By channeling your aura into your blade and releasing it in a powerful blast, 「Severing Blade」 would allow one to take down strong opponents in a single attack.

If the opponent was heavily armored, using 「Heavy Blow」 with a crushing weapon would prove effective.

Or, by simply strengthening yourself with 「Ability Boost」, one could grasp victory with just their physical body.

Martial arts allowed one to prepare for many different situations, as such, warriors trained to learn various skills and master them in order to truly make them their own. This was especially true for adventurers, who faced dangers far above the norm.

As for Brain—

“Hmph. I won’t need it against someone like you.”

That was a lie. He wasn’t stupid enough to reveal his hand before the battle.

Brain slowly exhaled while lowering his body, and returned the katana to its sheath.

His feet planted firmly.

His breath; narrow and long.

He focused his consciousness to a single point, and upon reaching its limit, released it in an enormous wave. He had created a world where he could sense sound, space and presence. It was the first of his original martial art— 「Field」.

A range of three meters, despite its short reach, it was a martial art that allowed one to instantly perceive everything in their surroundings. It would be easier to describe it as a skill that raised one’s accuracy and evasion to the limit.

When combined with Brain’s trained body, this martial art became incredibly powerful.

Even if a thousand arrows were to rain down on him, he was confident that he could instantly perceive and deflect the ones that would hit him, walking away without a scratch.

What’s more, his body was capable of movements precise enough to split a grain of wheat at a distance.

And—

All life ends when their vitals are cut. That was all he needed.

Instead of learning versatile skills, it was better to focus on just one aspect; a step faster than the opponent, a fatal attack that will always hit. Born from those ideals, was his second original martial art— 「Instant Slash」

Even after achieving a high-speed slash that was nigh impossible to avoid, he did not stop.

‘Difficult’ didn’t even begin to describe his training. He practiced his 「Instant Slash」 hundreds of thousands, no, millions of times, until the calluses on his hands hardened, until the katana’s grip resembled the shape of his palms.

In the endless pursuit of the limit, a new skill was born.

A slash so fast that not even a drop of blood remains on the blade, 「God Slash」, a skill he felt was bordering on the realm of the gods.

Once the blade left its sheath, it was impossible for the enemy to even see it coming.

These two martial arts; an absolute awareness and a godlike slash, an unavoidable attack combining both 「Field」 and 「God Slash」 formed to create his trump card.

The target to aim for was the vitals.

Ideally, the neck.

This was his Hidden Skill— Wind of the Great Forest.

It was named after the sound of blood sprouting shortly after severing the neck.

Even if the vampire didn’t bleed, cutting off her head would secure his victory.

“Are you ready now?”

In front of Brain, in his imposing silence and sharp breathing, Shalltear merely shrugged her shoulders in boredom.

“I’m going to assume you are and start attacking. If you have anything to say, now would be the time.”

After a brief moment—

“—I’m going to crush you.”

With a joyful declaration, Shalltear stepped forward.

Keep talking while you can. Let’s see if you can keep that composure after I separate your head from your body.

He didn’t say it out loud, if he opened his mouth, it felt as if his concentration so far would be wasted.

Shalltear, seemingly without a care in the world, approached him. She walked completely defenseless, as if she was going to a picnic.

Seeing his opponent so full of openings, Brain fought to keep the smirk off his face.

Foolish, would be the only way to describe it. Nevertheless, he won’t give her the chance.

While activating 「Raise Stats」, Brain waited for his adversary to enter his 「Field」. He concentrated everything to the moment when she would enter the range of his blade. These foolish monsters that think they’re the strongest, they’re all the same. They think that humans are weak, that our bodies are fragile, our abilities nonexistent.

But I will teach you how dangerous it is to underestimate us.

Brain swore in his heart. Martial arts were created so humans could fight enemies far beyond them.