Ishura - Volume 1 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Intercepted

It was evening, and the sun hung low in the sky. There was a group advancing from Mage City, where the Aureatia Army was stationed, across the plains on the border of the New Principality territory. It was a patrol unit, composed of regular troops dispatched from Aureatia.

Yuno the Distant Talon and Soujirou the Willow-Sword were accompanying them. They were under there ostensibly to understand the topography near Lithia, Soujirou’s strategic target, but another large part of it was the patrol commander’s sympathy for Yuno, survivor of Nagan’s annihilation, and his desire to hear her story.

“…We heard from Master Hidow that Aureatia and the New Principality are hostile with each other.”

Swaying gently while seated behind the knight leading her horse, Yuno questioned the commander riding next to her.

“Aren’t we provoking Lithia by approaching their territory armed like this? I know this may be the pointless concern of a simple civilian, but…”

“Yes, well, I believe there’s a slight error in your understanding. Although the situation between ourselves is a powder keg, ostensibly, we are on friendly terms. Our treaty included a grace period after Lithia declared independence until they’d fall under our jurisdiction, see. In fact, this very patrol is in compliance with the New Principality’s own requests.”

“What…? Is that true?”

“They said that Aureatia needs to cooperate with maintaining the regional peace within the area under Mage City jurisdiction, due to a rash of marauder attacks. They claimed that if we wouldn’t recognize Lithia’s independence, then of course Aureatia needs to fulfill their responsibilities. Essentially, we need to maintain the appearance of marauder suppression and patrol support, like we are now.”

“But those marauders…”

The marauders, raiding Lithia and economically attacking the nation, were unconnected with Aureatia only on the surface, but in truth, their presence as an insurgent force was being instigated by Aureatia. Now participating in the assassination plot to some degree, Yuno was able to speculate about the situation behind the scenes with relative accuracy.

Put simply, to Aureatia, this patrol unit was playing a small role in their own elaborate theater.

“Right. You don’t need to walk on eggshells. Everyone knows the truth to some extent, and the New Principality should know it, too. Which cements this as harassment, really. They’re forcing us to waste resources and energy sortieing in order to slowly chip away at our fighting spirit. Then, if we ever handle things poorly on our end, they can use it as an excuse to open hostilities. While the impact may be relatively low, there’s no downside to picking fights. Taren the Punished is quite the shrewd general, if I do say so, yes.”

“…Um, Commander. Is there truly no way to avoid war?”

It might have been an extremely stupid question. Nevertheless, ever since she had heard about the circumstances between the New Principality and Aureatia, it had been on Yuno’s mind.

“Like hell I want that.”

The reply cut in from the other side of the commander. It was Soujirou, following the group on foot. He was able to trail the patrol with unbelievable agility, even when their horses’ pace quickened. All without showing a hint of fatigue.

“I came all this way because you said I’d get to kill some strong fighters. It’ll be a problem for me if nothing happens.”

“You can’t expect the other side to care about what you want, Soujirou.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. Guess I’ll have to meet with this Taren person directly and kick things off.”

“Um…Commander. He’s a Visitor and doesn’t know much about our world…”

Yuno didn’t want war. Death was terrifying.

The era of the True Demon King had sown more than enough death and destruction the world over.

Yuno wondered if these were the values of the world Beyond. Soujirou the Willow-Sword lacked ordinary sense. Even when he sat among the hellish inferno burning Nagan around him, there had been a smile on his face.

“Our side…Aureatia has endeavored quite hard to keep the peace. Taren the Punished was once the Twenty-Third General of Aureatia, after all. Yes, we aren’t without our own misgivings. It was proposed to designate Lithia as a special independent region and withdraw the self-proclaimed Demon King recognition, too. Unfortunately…”

“Those bastards still hold their damn wyvern swarm. They’re building up arms, too—is that it?”

“……!”

However, there were times when the man would show this level of insight. While his common sense and moral values were unhinged, he continued to grasp things much more clearly than Yuno did.

“Right. The wyverns. Can’t have those. A dangerous power, clearly beyond minia control. Taren doesn’t intend on stopping the fighting. A Demon King, after all. She’s trying to replace the kingdoms that have existed from the dawn of mankind and impose a new order. She’s intent on fighting, even in this time of upheaval following the resolution of the True Demon King menace…”

“……”

“A Shura possessed by battle.”

Yuno kept silent and recalled what Lucelles had asked her in the past—what would the kingdoms do going forward?

The kingdoms’ civilization and power, which throughout history had suppressed countless numbers of self-proclaimed Demon Kings and defeated mighty races, including dragons and ogres, to win their territory, were ultimately unable to overcome the True Demon King a single time. The kingdom and its history of more than two thousand years had itself transformed into the unified Aureatia.

Monarchal power was not the absolute strength it had once been. It wasn’t outrageous to think there could be those in the world who deemed a new system of order necessary.

“Hey, Yuno.”

“…What’s wrong?”

“Enemies are here.”

A chill ran up Yuno’s spine at Soujirou’s words.

The commander ordered the soldiers behind him to halt the advance and concentrated his attention on the same area where Soujirou was focused. She didn’t know how long they had been there. While still far off in the distance, figures were visible at the base of the hill.

They didn’t even form a unit, let alone a whole army. There were only two people standing there.

It’s no use.

That was the first thought that ran through her head.

I have to run away. Right now.

Rationally, she clearly recognized the scene before her. There were only two of them. Despite the clear difference in numbers between the two forces, her mind remained fixated on this thought, unable to consider anything else.

The fear stuck in her lungs. Even without any proper combat experience, she reacted to the situation with terror. The sensation felt as if she had returned to the day the Dungeon Golem had arisen.

“Stay on guard.”

The commander’s hushed order sounded to Yuno as if she were hearing it muffled from a distance.

The outlined silhouettes ahead were of a pure-white skeleton, shrouded in a ragged cloak, and a mandrake, their whole body covered in vines.

“You two. Stop right there. We’re with the Aureatia Army, on patrol at the behest of the New Principality of Lithia. Present us with your names and your writ of passage.”

“Good at keeping up the charade, aren’t we, Captain?”

The skeleton languidly turned his head. Gripped in his right hand was a snow-white long spear, nearly as tall as his body.

“Aren’t you going to ask who we are? You’re not thinking to tell me you didn’t expect to run into marauders while out hunting them down, are you?”

“…Nequo. Rita. Yes, take the three in the rear guard and head back. Tell headquarters that—”

Ker-kling—the high-pitched noise was unlike anything Yuno had ever heard before.

It was less like a gust of wind and more like a flash of light. The otherworldly collision of Soujirou’s sword clashing against the skeleton’s spear, coming together faster than the speed of sound itself.

Huh?

The skeleton’s white spear had been moments away from lopping off the commander’s head.

Ultimate speed. The only thing reflected in Yuno’s eyes was the afterimage of the skeleton’s fluttering rags.

In that moment, faster than a blink of an eye. The Aureatia Army and these opponents were separated by a distance of more than sixty paces, and yet…

“…Heh.”

Wedged in between the skeleton and the commander, Soujirou sneered with glee.

Even Soujirou’s own eyes couldn’t track the trajectory of the spear attack, following it not with his eyes but with his sixth sense and with the precision to instantly raise his sword to meet it.

“Hey now. You’re pretty good.”

“Well, well, well. Someone who’s able to match my spear, huh?” the skeleton muttered.

There was a deafening clash, wholly unlike the normal sounds of battle. The sounds, overlapping instantaneously with each other during their third clash, could be truly perceived by Shalk and Soujirou.

“Whoops, sorry. Was that last slash of yours the fastest you got?”

“……!”

Soujirou realized he had been sliced open—the laceration in his shoulder not even having enough time to spray blood.

“You looked like you were standing still.”

“You talk a helluva lot for a bag of bones.”

Soujirou’s counterattacks weren’t keeping up. On the other hand, Shalk and his lower body mass used the previous crossing of blades to distance himself, repelling the force of Soujirou’s hefty sword draw. A one-sided amount of space, enough for the blade of the long spear to reach its opponent.

He was exchanging blows at blinding speed with an otherworldly Visitor. Shalk the Sound Slicer’s spear was impossible to see.

Upper brachium. Collarbone.

Soujirou saw it. By the time there were signs of Shalk’s movements or initial motion in his main spear hand, it was ultimately too late to react.

Instinct and experience. He used battle logic, with nigh-precognitive accuracy, to see through his opponent’s next move.

Groin. Left femoral artery. Heart. Right ear.

The air burst open in an instant. His offhand left his sword hilt. Soujirou’s sword deflected the white spear, aimed at his upper right arm. The spear cut an imperceptible arc and moved to his collarbone. He diverted it with the tip of his hilt. The spearhead reversed in midair and cracked like lightning toward his groin. He predicted the attack. The spear continued a shallow cut toward his left thigh. Barehanded—his sword gone—he used the back of his offhand to hit the spear on the side and deflect the swipe. His opponent opened up space. Each and every move was faster than a bursting spark of flame.

“Hiii-yah!”

Soujirou charged forward with a rasping gasp of breath. At the same time, Shalk’s stab toward his heart, due to the shorter-than-expected range of the attack, missed its lethal mark. The skeleton twisted his body. Soujirou slashed in a deep, diagonal arc down.

No response.

The space between his ribs, huh?

He had passed through the bones. The underside of the skeleton held none of the internal organs normally expected.

“You got some grit—I’ll give you that. Heh-heh,” Shalk joked as he poised himself again for his extremely agile chain of attacks, capable of slaying the average person many times over.

“You’re grinding me to the bone here.”

“Awful. I’ll break them for that.”

Behind the heroic scene of battle, the commander gritted his teeth and shouted back—

“Keep those hands moving! Target your shots! Not at the skeleton…aim for the mandrake!”

Meanwhile, Soujirou planted his feet and forcefully slashed his sword, causing Shalk to once again recoil and fall back.

“Gaaah…!”

“…Higuare, I’ll stop this swordsman. Seize their horses.”

Where speed was concerned, Shalk was overwhelmingly the faster of the two. Nevertheless, Soujirou the Willow-Sword’s battle sense undermined that contrast. Even with his extreme agility, Shalk couldn’t continue to fight at an advantageous distance.

Both possessing martial prowess that usually robbed their opponents of time to defend themselves, the two fighters were locked in what appeared to be a physically impossible conflict.

“Crossing swords with this guy is gonna be a time sink. You go on first, Higuare.”

“Okay.”

Shalk’s mandrake companion slowly walked forward. While the abnormal speed of the skeleton and Visitor’s battle held their rapt attention, the reaction of the Aureatia soldiers was not at all slow. They were part of a well-tempered Aureatia regular army force. At that point, they had fully prepared themselves to meet the unsettling mandrake’s advance.

Their fingers felt the arrows in their quivers. They gripped their spear shafts. Others still tried to reverse their horses to act as messengers.

“I will be seizing your horses. You’re still within range.”

His vines burst forward all at once with a loud whipcrack.

“Fire!” one of the Aureatia soldiers yelled.

The countless vines formed into a single roiling billow and engulfed the soldiers.

The murderous wave, coupled with the mandrake’s transcendental skill, was far quicker than the speed of the horses’ gallop or the arrows’ flight. All while Higuare the Pelagic remained at a distance of close to forty paces away.

The soldiers tried to parry or cut down the deluge of vegetative whips. However, the vines seemed to have complex nerves running through them, and they circumvented all the soldiers’ defenses, weaving themselves between the gaps in their armor and rending their flesh.

“Hrk!”

“Gaaah!”

“Gack!”

“Hrrrgh…”

The soldiers groaned, but these were not their last gasps before death. The simultaneous slashes from Higuare the Pelagic’s forty-two vines cut no deeper than necessary, burying in between the gaps in armor and leaving only miniscule scratches behind.

Soujirou, still continuing his back-and-forth against Shalk, and Yuno, who had the rider she shared her horse with act as her shield, were the only two miraculously unharmed by the attack. Looking at the knight in front of her, Yuno saw he was moaning in intense pain.

“I-it’s so…hot, hngggh…”

“A-aaah.”

Yuno was terrified.

The sight of the rider, suffering before her eyes, was ghastly. Was a scrape on the chin really enough of a wound to send a sturdy grown man, a soldier of Aureatia’s unrivaled army, into moans of agony? Yuno quickly looked back at the commander.

“C-Commander…! Are y-you okay, Commander…?!”

“Th-the wound’s…not fatal, yes. He aimed at the gaps in my armor, but—koff, koff!”

“Commander?”

The commander coughed, and fluid leaked out not from his mouth but from his eye sockets. An unsettling milk-white liquid.

Mandrake poison. His nerves were dissolving. A scream got stuck in the back of Yuno’s throat.

“ !”

Then, the armor of the rider seated in front of her slipped from its mount.

She could tell that the body inside had lost its shape, oozing across the ground. He, too, was melting.

From what Yuno could see, all the troops had similarly dissolved. Not a single one had managed to escape. The previous wave of vines had been a true tsunami of death, swallowing everything in its path. What little of the event could be called a proper “battle” ended with the mandrake’s attack.

“Yuno!” Soujirou shouted as he continued fiercely trading blows with Shalk.

Although he had been able to cut and fell the poisoned blades Higuare sent at him, he was still incapable of moving an inch, as though nailed to the ground at his feet by his opponent’s attacks. The otherworldly blade himself, who knew no fear and had slain the Dungeon Golem in Nagan… Even he was backed into a corner.

“Hurry up and get outta here! They’ll kill you!”

“B-but I—”

“He’s right. You will leave.”

The voice sounded like rustling leaves.

“Eep!”

Yuno heard the reply right beside her. Higuare the Pelagic held on to the body of Yuno’s horse, his roots coiling around it.

“H-help…!”

“Yes, I will help you, but I need to withdraw from this area.”

Yuno was terrified. The unidentified skeleton, boasting speed faster than even Soujirou, was a threat that defied her darkest imagination, but this mandrake’s fighting prowess was even more absurd.

Could anyone ever hope to beat a monster capable of going up against an entire patrol from the world’s largest nation and poisoning them all to death in a single attack, faster than any of them could react?

“Please ride this horse to Lithia. I am unable to direct horses, so I’ll need your assistance.”

“Hngggh… B-but I’m…”

She saw one of the mandrake’s poisoned blades glint in the corner of her eye.

“Please.”

“……”

She wasn’t the sole survivor by coincidence. Higuare was simply obediently carrying out his order to return to Lithia. From the beginning, he’d made sure to leave behind someone capable of riding a horse, killing the rest. The one quickest to buckle under fear and who held no strong sense of loyalty to the cause…Yuno the Distant Talon.

Yuno shed tears at her own miserable state. She was weak. Those who didn’t possess Soujirou’s level of supernatural power had no choice but to be crushed under the irrationality of the world.

Coerced, she drew back the reins and sent the horse running—leaving behind Soujirou, still locked in battle.

Yuno bit her lip in sorrow over the scene that had just played out before her.

“Why…? Why…am I always begging for my life…?!”