C1055
"Puf."
After confirming that Raon had entered the White Blood Religion headquarters, Martha shook off the remaining bloody energy from her wounds.
"Father."
She bowed respectfully to Denier, who was standing protectively to her right.
"Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, I was able to regain my composure."
Although she had fought recklessly with blood rushing to her head due to the Twelfth Apostle's provocation, thanks to Denier, she escaped with only minor injuries.
If he hadn't helped, she would have already been pierced by the Tenth Apostle's spear.
"Martha. You..."
Denier let out a low sigh, as if realizing what he was about to say.
"I'm fine now."
Martha tightened her sword grip as she gritted her teeth.
"I'm going to kill the Tenth Apostle with my own hands. Father, please help the others."
She bowed as she declared that this was a fight she needed to finish herself.
"Can you really do it?"
"I have your sword technique. I can win."
This wasn't like before, declaring victory without thinking while blinded by revenge.
With the Crushing Ocean Sword that Denier had taught her, she could significantly reduce the gap in martial prowess between her and the Tenth Apostle. It was a fight worth trying.
"Haa..."
Denier sighed with a frown, seemingly realizing that he couldn't stop her.
"Alright. But let me know immediately if it gets dangerous."
He stepped back five paces, as if indicating that he would wait there.
"..."
Without lowering his sword, Denier stared intently not at Martha, but into the Tenth Apostle's eyes.
"I'm sorry for making you wait."
Martha nodded to the Tenth Apostle, who had waited without attacking while she and Denier were talking.
"It's been almost twenty years, but I haven't forgotten that day for a moment since I first saw you."
The moment when her peaceful and united village, though not large or rich, erupted in flames and was soaked in bright red blood remained etched in her mind. That hell of blood and burning smells, the screams of the people, and the laughter of the Blood Demons still lingered with her.
"I still have nightmares every day. I always wake up from the scene where my mother hides me and smiles even as you capture her. Cold sweat runs down my body, and my face turns pale."
Martha gripped her sword so tightly that her knuckles cracked.
"Today, I will break those memories and those nightmares!"
She gritted her teeth and pointed her sword at the Tenth Apostle's neck.
"You've earned the right. If you're so resentful, try to take your revenge."
The Tenth Apostle raised his spear and pointed it at her heart, as if accepting her challenge.
"Stop pretending to be a martial artist when you're just a Blood Demon! It's disgusting!"
Martha roared and charged at the Tenth Apostle.
The Tenth Apostle thrust his spear before Martha could get close, taking advantage of his longer reach.
"Hmph!"
Martha twisted her ankle to avoid the blade of the Tenth Apostle's spear and tried to close in, but his spear strikes didn't come alone.
The Tenth Apostle's spear strikes multiplied into hundreds, raining down on Martha's vital points.
Martha abandoned her charge and used her footwork to deflect the spear strikes.
'They're fast, but I can dodge them.'
Perhaps due to the two months of Raon's hellish training, she could now dodge the spear strikes of the Tenth Apostle, who had reached a much higher level than her.
'However...'
Martha frowned as she deflected the Tenth Apostle's spear aimed at her chest.
'It's not easy to get close.'
She was stronger in close-quarters combat.
Although she wanted to close in to deny the Tenth Apostle his reach advantage, his spear strikes were too fast and his movements too mysterious to be able to get close.
"You've certainly become different from that little girl from that day."
The Tenth Apostle slowly closed and opened his eyes before stepping forward and launching a lightning-fast spear strike towards the left.
As Martha turned to her right, the Tenth Apostle's sudden redirected spear strike cut her left arm. Flesh tore where the spear grazed her skin, and red blood flowed.
'His spear techniques have changed.'
The Tenth Apostle, apparently realizing that his previous technique wouldn't be enough to catch her, was now wielding an even faster and more powerful spear technique.
His transitions in form were fluid, and the increased speed and power made his attacks more difficult to deflect.
"But that still doesn't mean anything."
The Tenth Apostle pushed his increasingly powerful spear strikes without the slightest change of expression, as if injuring her was just something natural.
Martha frowned as she deflected the Tenth Apostle's spear strikes aimed at her neck.
'At this rate, I'll die by his spear without even putting up a proper fight.'
Despite growing stronger, the Tenth Apostle was still much more powerful. If she continued to be pushed back like this, she would die without landing a single blow.
'I can't let that happen.'
Martha charged against the Tenth Apostle's spear strikes rushing towards her like a north wind.
'Even if I die, I have to at least leave a mark on that bastard's neck!'
During the hellish training, Raon had always taught her to focus on her strengths. Her strength wasn't evasion, but the power of charging to sacrifice flesh and crush bones. She gritted her teeth, determined to kill with a push even if it meant taking a hit.
Martha pivoted her ankle forward. Instead of dodging the spear, she advanced towards the Tenth Apostle as she plunged her sword downwards.
The Crushing Ocean Sword's dominant sword strike collided with the Tenth Apostle's fierce spear thrust.
Martha bit her lip as she felt the powerful recoil. Although she had defended in time, her bones and muscles ached, and her skin tore. The Tenth Apostle was clearly on a higher level than her.
'I already knew he was stronger than me.'
She must never retreat! If her body was pushed back, her spirit would follow. Even at the cost of everything, she had to keep moving forward.
'Keep using the Crushing Ocean Sword.'
The Crushing Ocean Sword was a special technique that became stronger the more evil energy it cut.
Although she was being pushed back now, if she kept fighting, she could unleash a sword that wouldn't lose to the Tenth Apostle.
Martha advanced step by step as she deflected the rain of spear strikes.
As she kept pressing forward with heavy steps, determined not to break, she soon reached close enough to hear the Tenth Apostle's breathing.
"Hmm!"
The Tenth Apostle frowned as he saw Martha's unwavering eyes.
"Don't be surprised yet!"
Martha aimed her strengthened Crushing Ocean Sword at the Tenth Apostle's neck, breaking through his bloody energy.
The Tenth Apostle quickly rotated his spear shaft to block her sword strike.
At that moment, the flow of the Crushing Ocean Sword suddenly intensified, breaking the Tenth Apostle's defense and carving a long wound along his shoulder.
"This is..."
The Tenth Apostle let out a thin groan as he watched white blood flow from his shoulder.
"What is this energy?"
He frowned as he looked at the brown aura emanating from Martha's sword, seemingly unable to understand it.
"Don't you know it yet despite seeing it?"
Martha twisted her lips as she burned her aura, which burned thick like an axe blade.
"It's the reaper that will kill you, Blood Demons."
***
Martha frowned as she watched the Tenth Apostle's spear block her Crushing Ocean Sword strike.
'That bastard...'
He's adapting to the Crushing Ocean Sword.
Although she had thought she could win like this, the Tenth Apostle, living up to his status as a peak Grandmaster martial artist, had recognized the danger of the Crushing Ocean Sword and was now avoiding direct confrontation while aiming for her openings. It was an annoying fighting style to deal with.
'Even if my sword technique becomes predictable, I have to keep hitting.'
The only reason she was able to face the peak Grandmaster Tenth Apostle was thanks to the Crushing Ocean Sword.
She had to keep pushing forward despite the difficulty, because the moment she switched to a different sword technique to avoid revealing information about the Crushing Ocean Sword, her head would be cut off.
Martha aimed at the Tenth Apostle's chest with a gracefully curved strike of the Crushing Ocean Sword, like a crescent moon.
"Now I see it."
However, the Tenth Apostle, seemingly having understood the flow of the Crushing Ocean Sword, perfectly dodged her sword with just three steps.
The Tenth Apostle, showing no intention of stopping at evasion, twisted the blade of his spear and thrust it towards her shoulder.
She tried to block with a defensive form of the Crushing Ocean Sword, but the spear strike bent oddly and cut deeply into her waist.
"Ughk..."
Martha bit her lip as she grabbed her bleeding waist.
"Your sword technique has the ability to push bloody energy. It's certainly threatening, but..."
The Tenth Apostle stroked his chin as he shook the red blood off his spear.
"Your level can't keep up with that ability. This is the end."
His eyes flashed with murderous intent as if declaring that it was all over.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Martha shouted as she charged at the Tenth Apostle. She swung her Crushing Ocean Sword towards his head.
The Tenth Apostle, as if proving that his words about the end were sincere, easily blocked her Crushing Ocean Sword strike and stabbed her in the shoulder.
"For something you called the end, that wasn't much."
Martha scoffed, ignoring the wound on her shoulder.
'Damn.'
Although she was acting calm, cold sweat ran down her back. The wound was bad because she had been stabbed in the same spot again. If it wasn't treated quickly, it could have lasting effects. Martha bit her lip as she directed her gaze to the right.
'Father.'
Even while cutting down the Archbishop and Blood Demons, Denier kept throwing worried glances her way.
'I have to do this right.'
Because of her, Denier, the Wise Martial Arts Palace, and the Light Wind Palace couldn't move freely. Since she had stepped forward claiming she could win, she had to fight to the end and emerge victorious, no matter what.
'I can't show a shameful sight to Raon either.'
Raon had orchestrated today's battle to fulfill his promise to rescue her mother from the Leader of the Blood Religion.
He had told her not to stop in her fight against the Tenth Apostle, which meant that she was necessary for the battle against the Leader of the Blood Religion, so she absolutely couldn't stop here.
However, to get to that fight, she first had to overcome the Tenth Apostle in front of her.
"Kraaaa!"
Martha roared as she charged forward and swung her sword towards the Tenth Apostle's neck.
"Are you already crumbling?"
The Tenth Apostle was shaking his head disapprovingly at Martha's faltering sword as he raised his spear.
The fighting spirit in Martha's sword suddenly intensified, pushing the white bloody energy and the spear shaft to carve a deep wound into the Tenth Apostle's chest.
"Who's crumbling?"
Martha shook her head as she wiped the Tenth Apostle's white blood off her sword.
"I won't break until I crush and kill you and that damned mosquito woman."
With a roar, she unleashed a series of Crushing Ocean Sword forms, piercing the Tenth Apostle's bloody energy.
She poured all the aura and strength she had been saving for later battles into this moment.
The Tenth Apostle, as if revealing that he hadn't been fighting with all his strength either, enveloped his entire spear in bloody energy like a mist as he deflected her blow.
As the sword and spear clashed countless times at close range, the castle wall crumbled, and Martha and the Tenth Apostle fell towards the shore.
Martha frowned as she observed the Tenth Apostle's spear technique, which was now blocking the flow of her Crushing Ocean Sword by densely concentrating the bloody energy.
'Has he adapted even to my full-power Crushing Ocean Sword?'
How should she defeat this bastard?
The more they fought, the more the Tenth Apostle adapted to the Crushing Ocean Sword, causing her to retreat again despite using all her strength.
'At least we're on solid ground now.'
Perhaps because she was focused on the fight, she could clearly feel the power the earth was transmitting to her. She had the greatest affinity with the earth's energy, and the Titan's Aura also strengthened on land, so she felt she could draw a little more power.
'But that alone won't be enough.'
As Martha bit her lip and shook her head, her eyes met those of Runaan and Burren, who were watching her fight. Their eyes contained not only worry, but intense emotion. They seemed ready to abandon their own battles and rush to help her if she was pushed back any further.
'This is my fight.'
She shook her head at them, signaling them not to interfere.
"Then win...!"
Runaan shouted for the first time in his life. His shout, coming from someone who had become as precious as family, created deep reverberations in Martha's heart - no, in her soul.
"I'll trust you."
Unlike Runaan, Burren nodded calmly before returning to lead the Light Wind Palace. Seeing his back, which seemed to radiate confidence, made her heart tremble even more. Martha smiled faintly as she looked at Burren's back and Runaan's eyes.
'I've fought alongside them so many times.'
Memories flooded her mind of their countless fights, both during training at the Fifth Training Ground and when she received additional training from Rimmer to unlock the Sword Domain.
'It was both good and bad... Ah!'
Martha's eyes widened as she deflected the Tenth Apostle's spear strike while thinking about the past.
'It might be possible now.'
Thanks to the soul resonance she felt through Runaan and Burren, and the burning energy transmitted from the earth, she realized the only way to defeat the Tenth Apostle.
"Let me ask you one thing."
She parted her lips as she looked towards the Tenth Apostle behind his spear shaft.
"What do you think when you kidnap innocent people and drink their blood?"
"...Nothing."
The Tenth Apostle shook his head, saying he didn't think anything of it, just as people don't think anything of eating their meals.
"In the end, you're just the same."
Martha curled her lips into a wide smile.
"I'm glad. May you all remain creatures worthy of death."
She took a step forward as if she were going to break the entire world. As she channeled the earth's energy into her body and soul, she unleashed the willpower and mental images she had built as a swordsman.
"Sword Domain."
Martha held her sword with a reverse grip like a knight's statue, raising it in front of her chest and pointing it towards the ground.
'Yes, even if I can't use a sword after today, it's okay. But in return...'
Just for today! Making a Soul Oath to substitute the blood of Zieghart, she drew out the deep, profound malice she had accumulated against the Blood Religion.
"Devil's Prison!"
Behind Martha, a hellgate connected by red blood materialized.
-
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