856 C-6, Rain Month 2, Moon 28
It was as if time had slowed down. Standing not too far from me was the same monster that had killed my fellow students and Soreya.
And now, he was about to kill my opponent, El. I didn’t know her, but was I really going to watch yet another person die in front of me by his hand? Was I going to hesitate again? I had gotten lucky the last time we’d fought and had barely been able to make him retreat. This was an opponent that Soreya, the Blade Saint herself, couldn’t beat. Could I really do it?
His sword was already jammed into her abdomen, the fangs gleefully gouging out her insides to direct as much of her blood into its holes as possible. Her body began to slump as she quickly lost consciousness. My heart was in my ears. I couldn’t reach her in time to stop her from draining her dry. There was no way. It was physically impossible. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
But then, I heard her words. It was as if she was right next to me.
“We’re doing this, Ca’al. His end will be at our blade.”
I can’t... I can’t do it. I’m sorry.
“You can. Look, do you trust me?”
Of course I do. I—
“Then trust that I chose correctly. If you have any doubt, remember your trust in me. After all, when have I ever steered you wrong?”
Soreya...
“No more hesitation. Show him your full strength. Show him our strength. Remember. This isn’t...”
Where we end.
Suddenly, I felt a familiar sensation. The rest of the world faded to black, and all I could see was him and his blade.
I remember this feeling. It was the same as when I’d fought him before. Time slowed down, and I could hear even the slightest sounds of his movements. It was as if his sword was telling me his plan of attack. But even though I knew how he’d move, all it told me was that I’d be too late to save her. I needed a way to get there. El wasn’t going to last much longer. I needed a way to stop time and get to him immediately.
As soon as I thought that, time came to a complete halt, and everything went dark for a brief moment before a burst of light appeared in front of me and expanded into the vague shape of a blade.
At any other time, I might be more cautious, but my instincts were telling me that I needed to take whatever this was. I gulped and slowly walked toward it. As it glowed, I thought I could feel a familiar presence on the other side of the blade. They were encouraging me to take the final step. No more hesitation.
I confidently grasped the blade of light by the hilt, making it glow even brighter. I reflexively winced and squinted, but I could still see streaks of light shoot off the blade as if they were fireworks, each morphing into a blade of light all around me in different shapes and sizes. There must be hundreds or maybe even thousands of them floating around me. Though I wanted to inspect this library of blades more, my attention was caught by the blade in my hand.
The light had vanished from it, revealing its full form. Despite never seeing it before, I felt like I was reuniting with an old friend. It was the same shape as the single-edged sword that both Soreya and I favored, but it had a red gem on the blade right next to the hilt.