章節 6: Effortless Suppression

"Kris…her aura disappeared! Damn!"

The awakened being sped through the canopy of trees. Her speed was incredible, the spider-like legs allowing for strenuous movement. The upper half of the body was still human. Isabella grit her teeth while fighting back tears.

'Damn it! Those were the only people I had! How am I supposed to live without them?! Damn it. Damn it! It's all my fault!' She thought.

Everything was great until that claymore came. There was no doubt that the Organization had sicked that crazy bitch on them like a dog. A wolf more like, since her battle prowess was insurmountable. Even though her aura was hidden, it felt like she was in the presence of the top 3.

What made everything worse was the fear of the unknown. Eve had suppressed her aura so perfectly that it was impossible to sense. Isabella had no idea if she was catching up or not. The only thing she could do was keep running and mourn for her comrades. They were like family, but she took them from her. Effortlessly.

Awakened beings were powerful. The only thing stronger than an awakened being was an Abyssal One. Abyssal Ones were the same as awakened beings. The only difference was in who they were before turning. They were always the Number 1 of their generation. Both men and women. Unfortunately, it almost seemed as if this crazy woman had that same strength. It was unbelievable.

As the large monster dashed through the highgrounds, she reached a cliff. Everything below was an endless forest that spanned the horizon. Past this would be civilization. If she got that far, Isabella would be able to blend in. This would give her time to plant false tracks and escape.

Still accelerating at full throttle, she leapt off the cliff. The momentum launched her forward at incredible speeds. There would be a few seconds before the descent. At this moment, a voice sounded from above.

"Found you ~"

It was Eve. A graceful smile adorned her face. Her body was perfectly horizontal, seeming as if she was gliding. The elegant white cape flapped behind her. Her pristine claymore was raised at an angle. It was poised to strike.

Time slowed to a crawl. As they were still in midair, their eyes met. Isabella looked to see the woman directly above her. Her sharp tail pierced toward the psychotic woman.

Eve flexed her abdomen, tilting her body in a slight manner. The tail whizzed through the air. It missed. She'd evaded with minimal movements. Her free arm wrapped around the tail as she stood on the large body.

"Fufufu…That's no good! You won't escape with just that. Try harder." As Eve spoke, their forward momentum stopped.

"........" The awakened being only gave her an intense look of rage and fear.

The duo were now falling straight down through the sky. It was a freefall. Eve finally waved her blade, a perfect stroke directed at the base of the tail.

SLASH

It was immediately severed. The sharp weapon had cleaved through the tough carapace as if it was butter. Normal claymores would be hard pressed to do the same thing. Especially not without utilizing their Yoma energy.

"I'll take this as my first piece." Eve declared as the ground grew closer.

"Stay away!"

Purple blood flew into the air as they descended at top speeds. Isabella ignored the pain. It was more important to survive. The awakened being spit acid out of her mouth. Eve jumped off the body, dodging the attack. This offsetted the falling momentum, allowing the warrior to float for a second.

BOOM

Isabella finally smashed into the ground. A crater was left in her wake. Not wasting any time, she bolted off. Her figure soon disappeared among the foliage. Eve softly landed on the grass.

"Stay away? But I'm having sooooooo much fun!" She exclaimed with a giggle.

Her empty eyes turned to the tree sized tail, carried by her left arm. It was dropped to the ground. She then sat on it, treating it like a makeshift chair. The claymore stabbed into the ground in front of her. Her hands rested on the hilt as she waited.

"Hmmmm…I don't want to count to sixty again."

Eve thought for a while. She couldn't help but play with her extremely curly hair. It was quite short and stopped at her chin. She truly had an exotic look, much different than normal claymores. Only Teresa could match the vibe she emitted.

Eventually, she came up with an idea. The powerful claymore grabbed a stalk of grass. As the distance between her and the monster increased, she threw the grass into the air.

"Once it lands, I'll go catch up." She concluded.

It took about ten seconds for the final blade of grass to hit the floor. As soon as it did, Eve disappeared. One step and she covered a third of the distance. Two steps and she could see Isabella's silhouette. Three steps and the warrior was upon her. Her voice alerted the monster of her presence once again.

"You really are…slow."

SLASH

"Ahhh!!" Isabella grunted in pain.

Eve's sword cut through one side of the carapace, robbing the girl of two of her legs. Isabella immediately lost her balance. Her body slid across the ground, the momentum forcing her to tumble through trees and rocks.

'I'm moving as fast as I can! This is impossible…I have to fight. It's the only chance I have at survival.' The monster realized.

Her body quickly regenerated, along with her legs. Eve frowned seeing the speed of healing. A sigh escaped her lips.

"No fair! That's cheating."

"Shut up!"

A newly regenerated tail shot toward the claymore. It was evaded with only a tilt of the body. With a blur of her arm, the limb was severed once more. Eve then appeared on the other side of the body. The blade moved.

SHICK

This time, both pairs of legs were severed. The large spider body fell to the ground. Eve only waited for Isabella to regenerate. The crazy woman's fun began to diminish.

"Why aren't you running? You're ruining the game! If you struggle hard enough, I might just let you go." She lied.

"Graaahhhhh!!" Isabella gave a monstrous roar.

The awakened being regenerated once again. Her tongue, along with her tail, pierced toward the claymore. Eve's body shifted back and forth while approaching. Every attack was evaded. A ray of sunlight touched the blade, and she disappeared.

It was impossible to locate the powerful woman. Her aura was nonexistent. Isabella looked in all directions, only to find nothing.

"Stop hiding! Just fight! Don't you want to kill me? Come and do it then!" She yelled to the air.

"I am not hiding." Eve's voice sounded beside her. "I'm just bored. There is…one thing I'd like to know, however."

The ascended Yoma immediately tried to attack. Her humanoid torso twisted, and her arms grasped Eve's wrist, which held the claymore. Isabella's mouth opened disgustingly wide.

Her tongue shot out like a bullet, and it was covered in poison. Eve only tilted her head to evade. The strength of a claymore didn't come from their body's durability. It was in their ability to evade, and their battle prowess. True to this philosophy, the psychotic woman had never been hit once.

SLASH SLASH SLASH

Suddenly, everything below Isabella's torso was diced into shreds. All that remained was the humanoid upper half. The girl looked up at Eve in despair. Everything was futile. There was no point in trying.

"I wanted to see if you could regenerate from this. Show me something amazing!" The claymore spoke with her arms raised. The hopeless girl shook her head.

"Do you think I'm an Abyssal One? Hehehe. I can't regenerate from this." Isabella chuckled deprecatingly.

'Forgive me, Euphemia. Kris…I've failed. I couldn't escape.' She thought.

"Awe, that's it? Thennnnnnnn…die." Eve's face changed to show no emotion.

Her blade impaled the Yoma through the chest. The light soon left Isabella's eyes as she slid off the blade. Her corpse hit the floor. It was over.

Eve waved her sword, clearing the purple blood from the claymore. It was then put back in its sheath. Only a few steps were taken before someone stepped out of the shadows.

"It took you much longer than I expected to slay this Yoma." The voice said.

A shady man covered in black garbs stood before her. There was a jester mask covering his face. It had a teardrop below the right eye and a wide smile. Eve stretched her back while responding.

"What do you want, Art?" She questioned.

"I just had a question." He answered.

Every claymore had their own handler. They were always creepy and wore black clothes. Handlers would give the silver eyed witches their assignments. Whenever orders were passed down from the Organization's leader known as Rimuto, Art would pass on the message. These handlers also reported any signs of disobedience.

"Hmmmm?" Eve tilted her head.

Art was immediately put off by her hollow eyes. They were a bit disturbing. Of course, he'd seen his fair share of horrible things.

"Why didn't you kill Teresa of the Faint Smile when you had the chance?" He asked. Eve hummed in thought.

"Mmmmmm…I wasn't ordered to. Simple, right?"

'And she owes me a cake!' She thought happily.

"Hmph. I see. Well, I actually came here to tell you something. I think you'd like to hear it."

Eve started to walk away. She wasn't interested in the slightest. No information could be trusted from these shady guys.

"I doubt it."

There was a moment of silence. It was unknown what expression the man was making due to the mask. He eventually spoke.

"Teresa is currently in battle. She will die tonight."

Eve immediately stopped in her tracks. Only her head turned back while her body faced forward. Her void-like eyes bored into Art's mask.

".............."

"If you want to see, she's two cities east of here. You'd better hurry. Oh, and happy birth-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Eve was gone. Only the slight breeze announced her departure. It was obvious where she was headed.

'Eve of the Soundless Step. An unranked monster. It's said that her movements make no noise. She is obsessively attached to her birthday, most likely due to her past. Her strength is miles above Teresa of the Faint Smile, who is powerful in her own right. Unfortunately, Eve's mental instability makes her a ticking time bomb. I'm sure the leader will dispose of her soon.' He thought.