Bab 74: Chapter 72: Where is Here

If you see any mistakes, feel free to write. I'll fix it.

--------------------------

Forests, fields, and all life were covered with darkness. It was very natural as it was night, but the world seemed to take on a gloomy mood when night came. As if a multitude of monsters had opened their eyes, the tension was at its peak and could be easily felt by anyone.

The moonlight looked depressing for some reason. The wind is ringing in the ears like someone's sad cries; the sound of the crickets pierced him like cruel laughter.

A gentle breeze carried the tart earthy scent and replaced the scent of blood. In the darkness of the night, faint cries could be heard.

In the moonlight of the night, the crying sounds seemed more painful. The person's voice was muffled as if the person's throat was clogged by a lump. Still, it was crying so heartily that it reverberated in the darkness of the night.

''-an'' A voice was heard. It was the heartbreaking cry of a girl. Her voice was trembling, words were hard to come out of her mouth. She was sobbing constantly, continuing to scream heart-wrenching tears.

''-chan!''

The crying continued. A girl seemed to be trying desperately to reach out to someone. Her words carried behind her great desperation and weakness.

Tink!

A sharp crashing sound was heard amid the gusts of wind. It was a high-pitched sound, like two sharp objects hitting each other. Another came up behind it, and another, their crying sounds accompanied by high-pitched crashing sounds.

Tink!

There was the sound of the collision, sparks spread across the sky like a handful of fireflies lighting up the sky. The sound of footsteps pressed hard on the ground was accompanied by the delicious scent of flowers.

PUCHI!

''NEE-CHAN!!!'

But the scent of the flowers was dispelled by the pungent metal smell of blood. The hideous sound of cutting meat echoed, traces of blood bloomed on the ground.

The voices kept coming. The place where there were constant sounds of fighting was a village.

Old Japanese-style houses were lined up one after the other, enclosed by wooden walls. Vehicles selling various street food or providing other services were scattered across the street. The streetlights were off and there was not a single light in the village. The only light illuminating the village was the moon hanging in the sky.

The village seemed abandoned. Except for certain sounds, there was not a single sign of life. The lights that illuminated the houses were turned off, and the doors of each house were wide open as if the owners had left in an emergency.

The houses were empty, not a single spirit trail. The whole village was in a state of complete abandonment.

Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!

Metal collided many times. Sparks rose into the sky, the ground repeatedly crushed by the rapid steps. One person was breathing heavily with pain, the next breathing was getting much harder for her.

Approaching the battlefield, it could be seen that it was quite a chaotic battle.

Sword cuts were everywhere. Cuts of various sizes, large and small, covered the entire street. Even the smallest of the cuts were the size of two arms, the power behind them visible. There was no deviation or hesitation in the cuts, the intent of the person who left the cuts was sharp while wielding the sword. A subtle floral scent emanated from the sword cuts.

Next to the sword cuts, the environment was mostly frozen. It was not snowy, the whole area was covered with an icy frost. The ambient temperature was in the minus and was gradually decreasing. Ice lilies spread out across the street, like a hunter stalking his prey.

Two people were fighting to the death on this chaotic battlefield.

One of them was a man almost 1.90 meters tall with a medium-toned muscular body. He had pale golden hair with an original style. He had pale skin and long, pointed nails. His eyes were unusually rainbow-colored.

The strangest thing was that there were large lines of Japanese words in his eyes.

On the other side was a girl.

She was a slender girl who was quite tall for her age and had distinctly red lips in contrast to her pale skin. Her long, straight, black hair fell just below her waist. She had two short tufts on her shoulders and curved, ear-level bangs on either side of her face. Her eyes were pale violet and slanted to the sides of her face, bright and insect-like, with many remarkable white flashes reflecting light from them.

However, at the moment, this girl's condition was not so good. There were wounds of varying degrees on her body, and blood was flowing non-stop from the wounds. The look in her eyes was not clear, her face wrinkling with pain at the end of each breath she took.

She was holding a Japanese katana. The fingers holding the katana were red, twitching slightly. Yet they did not relax for a single second. They continued to hold the sword as fiercely as the woman's gaze.

The tip of the katana pointed at the man in front of her. Katana was broken and cracked in various places, yet its menacing cold glow had not vanished for a single second.

The woman took a deep breath. Her lungs, which were larger than normal humans, filled with air, her whole body was filled with power. She tilted the katana slightly and took a step forward.

The man's amused gaze turned slightly serious. He tilted his body slightly back and squeezed his fan lightly in his hand.

The woman suddenly appeared in front of the man. She let out her breath. Her breath was coming out under pressure, like a pressure cooker escaping steam, from her nose.

Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility

She cut it nine times. She made sure to use every ounce of power in her body. A faint scent of lemon balm and chamomile permeated the air.

Both herbs had the effect of relaxing the person. Sniffing the two herbs, the man would involuntarily relax and his guard would loosen slightly. That way, she would have an opportunity to take him down.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

At least she thought it would. Unfortunately, as repeatedly in the war, the woman's attacks were again deflected by the man. His demeanor was very relaxed while doing this. Deflecting her attacks was like a piece of cake to him, showing no signs of strain.

Her attack had failed, her breathing was over. Even if her strength was more than normal people's, she couldn't get into close combat with this man. Her foot dragged the ground, she tried to throw herself back by pushing the ground.

"It's not that easy." The man spoke in a playful voice. His gaze contained a border of sadism. He stepped forward and waved his fan diagonally.

A thin line appeared in the sky. The next second, blood came out again.

''NEE-CHAN! I-I'm coming to help you right away." The girl, who had watched their battles helplessly from the beginning, could not stand it anymore when she saw that her sister was injured once again and tried to stand up. The hand holding her sword was trembling, tears falling uncontrollably.

"STOP BACK!!!" This was the first time her older sister had yelled at her in their lives, which made her freeze. Ignoring the scar stretching from her shoulder to her stomach, the woman took a few steps back and stepped in front of her sister.

''Don't worry. Nee-chan will protect you." She was saying to the girl while on the other hand, she seemed to be talking to herself. Her grip tightened, it was getting harder and harder for her to breathe. The scar on her chest, along with the frost entering her lungs, made her feel sharp pain with every breath.

Still, her determined expression did not break for a single second. She couldn't fall with his sister behind her. Her body wanted to fall to end her suffering, but her sharpened mind refused to do so.

She swallowed deeply. As she stared into her opponent's face, a mixture of sweat and blood trickled down her forehead, causing her vision to turn red. A wavy red stripe was drawn across her vision.

"I have to finish this job here. I can't stand to see two beautiful girls like you suffer more. I want to unite with you and relieve your pain." The man's expression suddenly changed to pure kindness. He couldn't take their pain any longer and seemed to want to end it as soon as possible to prevent them from suffering any more.

However, disgusted expressions appeared on the faces of the duo, who knew him a little bit and knew about his battles the last few times.

The words of this troubled man were a complete hoax. The expression of pure kindness was nothing more than a mask. His whole purpose was actually to unite with them.

What he meant was to truly unite. The two sisters knew what this man was doing. The man had a sickening habit of eating women and mingling with them. Some he absorbed into his body, while others he ate while alive.

"Since you're pushing me so hard, I'll give you a nice feast. It is a great honor for you before you unite with me." His sadistic expression was replaced with great contempt. His gaze was like a monarch staring at ants on the ground, scorning even their existence.

He shook his fan lightly. The freezing-cold ice blasted off the end of the fan and hung in midair. Crystal-clear shards of ice turned into the upper body of two beautiful female figures at the man's request.

Demon Art - Cold White Princesses

When the two women appeared, the man casually aligned his fan in front of his face and began to fan himself. The two women's deaths were certain, he needed no further action.

The man's rival, the woman, sensed great danger as the two ice sculptures appeared. She took a few steps back and didn't even try to stop herself. She let her drift backward. She aligned her sword horizontally and inhaled.

FUUUUUUU!!

She was taking the deepest breath she could take. She continued to breathe even though her lungs were swollen to the end. She should no longer be able to breathe and involuntarily exhale, but this did not happen. Her lungs continued to draw in oxygen, like an endless well.

"Flower Breathing…" She spoke hoarsely. She continued to breathe. A hysterical smile appeared on her face as she prepared herself for what would happen next.

''No! NO, NEE-CHAN. Do not do that! You will die." The sister cried out helplessly. She wanted to cling to her older sister's outfit and pull her back, but in this case, she didn't because it could affect her fight. All she could do was scream helplessly.

What her sister would do would not be enough to kill her. She would suffer the most from the side effects of what she would use, but nothing like death should have happened.

But when the girl saw her sister's smile, she understood what she was preparing for. She would throw her life aside to protect her. She would fight to the death until reinforcements arrived, and she knew she would die for it.

Her hands clenched, holding the ground and her sword. She hated herself, hated herself for being so weak and going to cause her sister's death.

She hated that she was too cowardly to fight beside her, as her older sister died before her eyes.

"I'll protect you." She looked over her shoulder at her sister before she finally stopped breathing. She smiled meekly.

She was smiling as she had for years. Her carefree and pure smile was as bright and pleasant as before. In normal times it would have gotten on her nerves for her to be so gullible, but this smile was breaking her heart as she knew it would be ripped from her forever.

"N-No... N-Nee-chan... don't go... don't... let's run away... please..." She spoke desperately. She begged her sister to listen to her. If the two were intent on fleeing, they had a chance to meet the reinforcements and escape.

The woman shook her head. She knew her sister's intentions, but it was nothing more than a false dream. Having fought the man one-on-one, she knew he could kill them before the reinforcements arrived.

She was supposed to fight the man and stall him until reinforcements arrived. Otherwise, they would be tortured to death by him or eaten by him here. She had to fight and stall the man for her sister's survival, or they would die at his hands. There was no other way.

"It's okay, Shinobu. Leave everything to Nee-chan." She tilted his head slightly to the side and comforted her. It's a shame she couldn't pat her hair, she wanted to at least pat her head one last time.

"Go." The man must have thought he had given them enough time, as he commanded lightly, waving his fan. Two ice sculptures of women rushed forward.

The woman turned back. The air of melancholy was gone, replaced by the air of a ready-to-fight barbarian.

Barbarian flower. It was a plant unique to this world and had a magical property. It was enough to take a breath of this flower to fill one with the desire to fight. The pollen and scent of the flower would dope her whole body and encourage her to fight all day.

TSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

She exhaled deeply with the scent of the barbarian flower. A deep, pressure-filled breath burst from her nostrils in a shrill tone. She whispered a few words.

[Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye]

Her eyes widened instantly. Their white irises became dark red. Pupils with spots like purple, white beads acquired a red hue.

The world in her vision slowed down. She could perceive everything better, she could see better. Everything became clearer to her, be it the indifferent yet secret sadistic expression of the man in the distance, the squirrels staring at them from the trees behind her, or even the clear shapes of the clouds behind them.

The movements of the ice sculptures of women coming towards her slowed down. She aligned her katana beside her head and entered a fighting stance, but did not attack. She wasn't speeding, she was just sensing so fast that the world in her vision slowed down.

Second Form: Honorable Shadow Plum

She began to swing the sword from various angles. The top right, the lower right, the upper left, the bottom left, the bottom, the top, the side, the ∞, were swinging from various angles. The sword attacks looked like vivid purple-pink stripes, engulfing the woman and taking her into a circle of complete confidence.

Tink! Tink

Two ice sculptures were pushed back under constant attacks from the woman. But they didn't stop. A few ice water lilies bloomed above them.

"Shinobu, make sure you eat properly from now on. Improve your sword and be strong enough to live your life to the full." The woman cut horizontally to avoid self-inflicted attacks. She was pushed back by two statue attacks.

"Kanae-nee-chan... What are you saying... Don't say things like that."' Shinobu spoke with a trembling smile. Tears were flowing uncontrollably, her voice trembling. Her heart was covered in a sad feeling that she couldn't erase.

She didn't want her to talk like that. It was as if her older sister was giving a farewell speech, and she didn't want to hear her words anymore. It was like she was going to leave this world when her words were over, and she didn't want that.

"Even though I can't accompany you, make sure your sword works well. You have to be strong to live."

"But don't bully others with your power. Otherwise, Nee-chan will be very angry to you." The ice sculptures were alive and retreated as if they knew this attack could take their lives.

They changed their attacking style. They headed in different directions and decided to attack Kanae from two different sides.

"Make sure you take good care of the girls at Butterfly Estate. They'll have no one but you." Kanae looked around. Her sword stopped, she aligned her arm with her side. She couldn't defend anymore.

If she kept defending and making a mistake, Shinobu could get hurt. And since she's going to die here, she's supposed to stall or damage the man and these two ice sculptures until reinforcements arrive.

She tilted her body slightly to the left and jumped in an instant. She appeared in front of the ice statue.

Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo

The sword curved like a graceful snake. A red-violet streak danced in the air and cut across the ice sculpture. The attack followed such a flexible and unpredictable path that the ice sculpture did not even know where to run.

The sound of a sword rubbing against the ice was heard. The ice sculpture was split in two.

Sixth Form: Whirling Peach

She put her feet on the ground as far as she could and pushed herself back. She eluded the lotus from the ice coming from behind. She forcefully twisted her body in the air and slammed the ice sculpture with all her might.

DONG!

The ice statue flew backward as if struck not by a sword, but by a hammer. Spider web-like shards appeared on its chest and quickly spread all over its body before breaking the next second.

Kanae slowed her fall by stamping both feet on the ground. Her body drifted along the dirt road with the little momentum she had gathered. She quickly jumped back and came in front of Shinobu.

"And... Haa... fuuuu... Take care of Kanao and Kuro. The two of them have no one left but us. Kuro in particular is very attached to us. Make sure they eat well and grow up healthy." Small tears appeared in his red-colored eyes. Her voice was getting hoarse. In the end, she too had succumbed to her emotions.

"I'm sorry... Shinobu. I wouldn't want to put such a burden on you. If all is hard, just take Kuro and Kanao and go away and live happily." She turned her head for the last time, squinted her eyes, and smiled. It was a separation.

An eternal separation.

''Nee-cha-''

Shinobu opened her mouth to answer her older sister. She couldn't refuse her, so no matter how much she didn't want her sister's death, she decided to grant her request. She could at least make her sister happy for the last time.

However, before she could do that, the man suddenly appeared in front of his sister.

"Watch out." She screamed. She reflexively took up her sword and got up quickly, but it was too late.

''That's enough. Die now." The man spoke indifferently. A genuine indifference settled on his face. Neither his sadistic expression nor his contempt was there. Even his tone was indifferent. He had a strange callousness like a child bored with his toy and throwing it away.

Kanae immediately turned her head. Her vision could have been fast enough to see slow motion, but the reaction speed and speed of movement could not match the speed of view. When she turned her head, she saw the man's hand shaped like a knife and moved to cut her neck. Her fingernails almost touched her neck.

'That's it...'' There was no way she was going to survive this attack. As previously said, Kanae's reaction speed and vision accelerated. She was still at her old speed and there was no way she could have prevented the attack that almost touched her neck.

Fuuuu...

Her last breath came out of her mouth. Her muscles relaxed. Even if she reacted, she wouldn't be able to muster up the strength to counter the attack. She needed to breathe again, and by the time she did, her sword would be forcefully broken and her head would be severed.

At the same time, her vision slowly began to darken. She fell into complete darkness with every millisecond that passed. The world was losing its color and was replaced by endless darkness.

This was a side effect of the [Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye] technique. The technique maximized one's kinetic vision and allowed one to see the world in a slowed-down fashion. In turn, it overstressed the blood vessels in the eyes, causing them to rupture, causing partial or permanent blindness.

And Kanae had pulled the short stick. Her vision was gone forever, leaving her in the embrace of eternal darkness.

However, it wasn't that bad. With her sight gone, she had no way of responding to the man. All that awaited her was death. But with her sight gone, she didn't need to see the man's hypocritical, fake face, and that alone was bliss.

Those hollow, false emotion-filled eyes made Kanae pity her. It was making her sick to the fact that he was pushing himself to do things, filling his empty heart with sadism and irrationality, and in her last moments, he didn't want to see that face.

The feeling of death gripped Kanae, she thought of her family.

She thought of his dead parents, their little girl at the Butterfly Estate, her very cute sister Shinobu, who was often angry with her docile nature, and Kanao, who had joined them recently and liked her personality as clean as snow, and Kuro, who was very skilled in the sword. [EN: I'm just skimming, for now, I'll explain it all in detail later.]

The thought made her smile unconsciously. She was happy even when she was on the brink of death, making her happy to think of what was dear to her in her last moments.

As she was lost in thought, she heard a manly voice interrupting Kanae's thoughts.

''Where is here?''

The manly voice had a deep throaty tone. The voice, so clear that no one could resist and speak on it, pierced Kanae's thoughts, clearing her mind.

At the same time, her dark vision was slightly brightened. She wasn't supposed to be able to see anything because she was blind, but she could see very clearly a human being covered in white lights. She couldn't quite make out his body or facial features, but she could still tell it was a man.