SWNOVELXO Chapter 21: Severed Parallel
Katsuri laid on the ground, trying to hide as much of her body as possible.
Since the two TDs was still fighting each other, she had hoped that perhaps they could bring their fight somewhere else, but that hope did not come to fruition as they were slowly getting closer towards her.
Not that it changes anything since they were already quite closed already.
Katsuri's eye darted around, making sure there are no other factors she's not taking care of.
After feeling certain there were none, she crouched.
She had a feeling that the moment she stood up, the two Tacet Discords would start pouncing on her like a hungry horde of hyenas.
In that case...
"Fu..."
A single opportune moment. She needed to grasp it, otherwise she'd be dead.
"Not yet..."
Her hair fluttered. Almost simultaneously, her eyes widened as she dashed towards into the fray, swinging her sword.
Clank!
It bounced off the orb, but she had successfully attract its attention.
Plus, the floating eye was also now focused on her.
She had picked exactly this time to interrupt them because it should've damaged their rhythm even a tiny bit.
That 'tiny bit' was important.
She knew these things were sentient. Although they were wrathful, it doesn't mean they can't think.
But imagine if a hungry lion saw fresh meat served on a silver plate?
No doubt, it would rush in without even thinking of the risk.
Isn't the safest way to capture them?
Katsuri jumped, barely making sure the orb couldn't swipe her leg.
As she did, her foot landed on the scissor mid-swing, which gave her more momentum to push back and create distance.
'Not yet.'
She needed them both next to her.
But the floating eye seemed to have lost interest and was just watching.
It was unfortunate, one of the lion wasn't that hungry.
Well, she would make sure its attention come.
She threw her sword like a spear. It's fine if it missed.
As long as it could graze even a little bit of the Tacet Discord, her plan would become successful.
"Gah!"
But her attention couldn't be divided as she felt an impact on her sides. She had been tackled by the tough skinned orb.
Right before her back met the wall... she noticed it.
The trajectory, it should be aligned now.
She was just about to land on the wall.
But the two Tacet Discord were now in range.
In her head, a middle finger was sent towards the two.
Boom!
Splash!
Bloods escaped her lips and her eyes rolled back.
The thin wall she had carved out was now indented deeper, causing the one resting on top to fall down onto the two Tacet Discord.
Her vision became white, she wasn't able to see anything.
Her head was concussed, she couldn't think of anything.
Her body felt numb, she can't feel the pain of having most of her bones broken.
But she knew she wasn't laying down.
Both knees on the floor, her face met the sky with her mouth barely opened. Blood was trickling down her head and mouth, pooling down under her.
The fallen debris had missed her, barely.
Although her plan had been put to use, she can't confirm whether or not it actually worked.
Her body wasn't allowing it.
There was not part in her body that she could feel.
They are all numb.
Overexaggerated coughing escaped her lips.
The massive wall had fallen on the two Tacet Discords, right?
Even so, she doubted that she had actually killed them.
There's no way something that had survived her sword could actually die from that. She needed to finish it off while it's still immobilized by the weight on it.
Slowly, each of her senses were returning.
But due to that, the pain also arrived.
"..."
Nothing could come out of her lips anymore.
No amount of screaming would be able to numb the pain.
It'd just hurt her throat more.
But she wanted to scream.
"..."
She wanted to scream.
"..."
She wanted to scream.
"..."
She wanted to-
"Can you shut up? You're hurting my ears."
"..."
Her vision returned.
Dust were still not settled on the ground, which meant that she didn't lose her senses for a long time.
Probably just a couple dozens seconds.
Her gaze slowly dropped towards the ground.
Blood.
She had told Danjin that she wasn't used to blood.
But that was a lie.
She wasn't used to blood being on another person.
But if it's from her?
She's had enough experience to be called an expert.
Her mouth closed shut.
Pushing through the pain, she stood up and goes around the ruins, which have some of it's infrastructure missing, no doubt due to her.
She needed to find the sword.
She had previously thrown it towards the eye. Due to that, she knew the general direction in which it had gone to.
She needed it to finish off these two bastard that had brought living hell onto her.
Drip Drip
Blood trail followed her pathing.
'Ah. There it is.'
Found the sword.
Grabbing onto it, she ignored the pain in her wrist and walked towards the shaking rubble.
It seemed like the Tacet Discords were trying to escape.
'Like hell I'd allow that.'
She stabbed the rubble.
Feeling how soft it was, it's probably the eye.
It started struggling but she kept stabbing the ground, making sure it'd die.
Finally, it stopped moving.
Then, the small rock mount disappeared.
It had been absorbed into the surrounding as a frequency.
One down.
Katsuri walked over to the other mount that was also struggling to escape.
She stabbed it but it was met with resistance.
As expected, it was the orb.
'You fuck.'
'Die.'
'Die.'
'Die.'
'Die.'
'Die.'
With each thought, a stab happened.
It kept on going for a while until she finally felt the sword going through the hard TD.
Crack
A cracking sound floated in the air.
Then, the mount disappeared.
Her jaw slacked as her mouth opened a little bit.
An exhale escaped her lips, some blood also splashed out.
'Familiar taste.'
But then, a voice appeared in her mind.
[Trial Completed]
[Obtained Forte, 'Severed Parallel']
[Limited Usage, Please beware. Don't push yourself.]
Some words she can't make out since her mind was just filled with painful thoughts.
Right as everything was about to be consumed by darkness, another sentence was voiced in her head.
[I am rooting for you. Please, survive.]