The Bloody Valkyrie

But his thoughts were soon replaced by the surreal scene that occurred just before. It’ll be impossible for her to catch this so easi—

Immediately after, his worst fears were realized.

A loud noise rang out, and once again, Brain was confronted with an impossible scene.

Shalltear’s left pinky moved at an unbelievable speed – about two centimeters long, her fingernail had repelled his slash. What’s more, her hand looked as if it wasn’t even strained. Her fist was not fully clenched, and her pinky was gently bent against the blade.

With a playful motion, she had stopped Brain’s attack at full power.

The attack that cut through armor, shattered swords and destroyed shields——

His spirit was tattered, threatened to shatter at a moment’s notice. It took everything he had to keep himself together. His hand still shaking from the impact, he channels strength into his grip, raises his katana, and brings it down once more. And— once more, it is casually blocked by Shalltear.

“Fuaaa~.”

A dramatic yawn, as if it was on purpose. Her free hand covered her mouth as if to stifle it. Her gaze now points to the ceiling. All traces of her regarding Brain as an opponent has vanished.

Even so,

Even so— Brain’s katana was still deflected.

By a left pinky.

“UUWWAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”

A battle cry exploded from his throat. No, that wasn’t a battle cry, it was a wail.

Lateral slash— deflected.

Upper left diagonal slash— deflected.

Vertical slash— deflected.

Upper right diagonal slash— deflected.

Rising slash— deflected.

Reverse slash— deflected.

Every attack from every direction on every part of the body, all deflected.

It was as if the katana was being drawn to her nail.

In that moment, Brain finally understood.

An existence that stood in a place reserved only for those possessing true, absolute strength. It was a place that no amount of god given talent or hard work could ever hope to approach, let alone fight.

“Ara? Are you tired? Well anyways, this nail clipper is awfully dull.”

Hearing her words, he stopped his hands that were swinging the katana.

Could one cut a mountain with a sword? Something like that was impossible. Any child would know something so obvious. Then, could one win against Shalltear? Any warrior who fought her would know the answer.

Absolutely impossible.

A human could never beat an existence possessing power beyond human imagination. If, for example, someone could fight her head on, it would be a being that surpassed humans.

Unfortunately, Brain was just a warrior considered to be one of the strongest only amongst humans. Yes. No matter how much effort one put in, being born a human meant that all of it only amounted to an infant swinging a stick.

“…. I …. all that effort….”

“Effort? What a meaningless word. I was created strong so such effort was unnecessary.”

Brain couldn’t help but laugh at those words.

All of his work had been useless. To think he had been so confident, so sure that he was a prodigy.

His limbs felt heavy, as if they were tied down by shackles.

“…..? Ahahahaha, why are you crying? Did something sad happen?

He knew Shalltear was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear her. It was like she was speaking from a place very far away.

The calluses on his hands formed from blisters on top of blisters, the countless practice swings with the steel rod, they were all meaningless. The endless running while wearing heavy armor, the bare-handed fights against monsters that he narrowly won, all meaningless.

The life he had led until now, everything was for naught.

In front of true strength, Brain was no different from the weaklings he had looked down until now.

“I was a fool….”

“….Are you satisfied now? Will it be alright if I end this?

Shalltear smiled mischievously and approached him with her pinky raised. Seeing this, Brain let out a cry. It wasn’t the battle cry of a warrior that he showed before, but the sobbing of a child.

Brain ran.

With his back turned.

He knew the difference in their abilities, it was engraved in him. Shalltear would be able to catch him in an instant.

However, none of that was in his mind. No, he didn’t even have the time to worry about such things. He simply, with his face stained in tears, bared his defenseless back and ran inside as fast as his legs could carry him.

At this moment, Brain felt on his back the innocent voice of a girl whose breath smelled of blood.

“And now a game of tag? You’re putting in quite the effort, aren’t you? Then I guess I should enjoy myself. Ahahahaha.”

Part 3

Cold air blew into the large hall. It flew between the gaps in the barricade and brushed over the forty-two remaining members of the “Death Spreading Brigade”. Because it was the largest room in the cave, the hall was usually used as the mess hall. However, presently, it had been transformed into a fort.