The Beast Within

Everything happened within the span of a heartbeat.

Medrauta’s body moved before her brain could even process it, hurtling across the chamber as she drew upon an untapped reservoir of pure strength and speed that she never even knew existed. As someone who rarely needed to use her full power, Medrauta never really knew the true limits of her body, nor was she aware of what she was ultimately capable of. That is, until now.

The stone beneath her formed a massive crater as it was forcefully compressed by the sheer might of Medrauta’s acceleration, the silver-haired knight becoming a barely-visible line as she burst forward with a thunderous sound that shook the entirety of the chamber to its core. With barely a fraction of a second to spare, Medrauta thrust an arm in front of Viviane, pushing her back with her other hand even as Bastiche’s bolt of death hurried toward the noblewoman.

Viviane could hardly comprehend the events unfolding before her eyes. She’d heard something that sounded like an explosion, and then Medrauta had simply appeared, standing right in front of her with an arm poised to tank the black-red sphere Bastiche had shot during the noblewoman’s moment of distraction. Following that was yet another explosion accompanied by a hard push that sent her flying back.

“Ugh!” Viviane winced as she struck the ground with incredible force, the side of her head slamming against the floor. Though she was still enhancing her body with ki, there was only so much that her still-human form could take, especially after being accelerated by both Medrauta’s shove and the explosion’s shockwave. A cluster of throbbing pain rushed through her head, preventing her from moving despite her best efforts. Her vision ebbed precipitously, fading with alarming speed as she attempted to reach out toward her knight.

Although she hadn’t been seriously injured, Viviane could do nothing to resist the overwhelming tide of darkness that closed in around her, enveloping her body and mind as it pulled her into an unwilling slumber. The last sight she saw was that of Medrauta dashing toward her, shouting worried words soon lost in the sludge of Viviane’s rapidly waning consciousness.

“Viviane!” Medrauta cried, her sword clattering to the ground as she dashed toward her fallen lady. Viviane laid prone and still, even her chest refusing to rise and fall as she became totally unresponsive despite Medrauta’s best efforts to shake her awake. Completely disregarding Bastiche and Ritya who now confidently advanced toward her with their desire for victory clear in their eyes, Medrauta fussed over Viviane to no end. The noblewoman didn’t look injured at all, and there were no open wounds on her body either, yet she refused to regain consciousness regardless of Medrauta’s attempts.

“Looks like you’ve failed, Medrauta.” Ritya smirked, taking pleasure in the silver-haired knight’s despair. Mere moments ago, Medrauta had boldly claimed that she would defeat Ritya despite the black-clad knight’s newfound strength, but now all she saw was a weakling who had lost their sole reason to fight. It wouldn’t be as satisfying to slay Medrauta anymore, but the silver-haired knight’s last moments being drenched in despair made Ritya’s body tremble with perverse excitement.

Medrauta didn’t respond. Instead, she simply stared at Viviane’s unconscious body, unable to process the fact that she had failed to fully protect her lady from Bastiche’s devastating attack. To make matters worse, Viviane’s breath grew more shallow by the second as the noblewoman slipped deeper and deeper into her coma. Even as Ritya’s armored footsteps stopped beside her, Medrauta refused to turn her attention away from Viviane, hoping and praying that the noblewoman would just open her eyes.

“What a disappointment,” Ritya laughed as she raised her sword, preparing to execute Medrauta. “Be grateful. I’ve decided to send you off with your beloved lady.”

Did Viviane’s heart still beat? Did she still draw breath? Medrauta didn’t know. She couldn’t feel her lady’s breath against her cheek. She couldn’t hear the beautiful sound that once thumped in her lady’s chest. The only thing she knew was that she had lost the will to fight.

Ritya’s blade fell, ending Medrauta’s life once and for all.

Thud.

“W-What...!?”

Ritya struggled desperately against the hand that had shot up abruptly to stop her blade, the black-clad knight barely managing to pull her sword back and retreat from the creature who now stood before her. The creature looked like Medrauta, but it was clearly not. It had her piercing blue eyes, her lustrous silver hair, and her chiseled yet graceful muscles, but there was something undeniably wrong about her.

The Medrauta-like creature staggered toward Ritya, stepping with an almost experimental manner as she sized up her opponents. The thick smog of killing intent exuding her had frozen Bastiche in place, and though Ritya still remained functional, her trembling hands indicated that she wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Even so, the creature wasn’t exactly pleased about the state of its own body.

Despite the glowing silver armor that once shielded it from harm, Bastiche’s explosion had torn through the armor’s gauntlet and shredded it to pieces, allowing the force of the explosion to penetrate through and utterly shatter all the bones in Medrauta’s forearm. Her fingers remained twisted in awkward positions, and it was clear that no form of mundane healing would restore them to their former glory. However, this Medrauta didn’t need two functional arms to defeat the fear-stricken whelps standing before her.

Medrauta exhaled deeply, the air misting from the sheer heat of her breath. She locked eyes with Ritya, identifying her as the primary target. She knew nothing about Ritya’s combat capabilities, but the black-clad knight’s left hand told her that she was witchsworn and gifted with several abilities that this Medrauta was somehow instinctively familiar with. Whatever Ritya could throw at her wouldn’t matter.

“W-What the hell...? What are you!?” Ritya snarled, charging forward in an attempt to take advantage of Medrauta’s unarmed state and overcome the sudden lance of fear that had pierced her heart.

Medrauta moved unnaturally, weaving to the side in a quick and fluid motion more reminiscent of a beast than a human. She stretched a hand toward her sword, causing it to tremble against the floor briefly before flying into her hand with a satisfying smack.

Both Bastiche and Ritya’s eyes widened in shock and horror as Medrauta summoned the weapon to her hand. Viviane’s Crest had long faded since the noblewoman fell unconscious, and even the silver armor that was once wreathed around the silver-haired knight’s body was now gone. As a knight, Medrauta shouldn’t have had the ability to manipulate mana nor utilize magical abilities without bearing a Crest. In other words, what she had just done should’ve been impossible.

Yet, that silver sword now issued a vicious overhead cut in Ritya’s direction, falling with the force of an almost apocalyptic avalanche that drove Ritya to her knees as she desperately parried the blow. Although Medrauta’s normal attacks had been powerful, the strength that this Medrauta-like creature possessed had utterly no equal. The ground beneath Ritya cracked as Medrauta bore down on her, pinning the black-clad knight into place as she turned her attention to Bastiche who had finally broken free from his fear-induced shock.

A volley of black-red bolts shot toward Medrauta, forcing the creature away from Ritya. Medrauta leapt high into the air, sailing above Bastiche’s head and landing behind him almost soundlessly despite the steel greaves that adorned her feet. She cocked her head to the side as if studying Bastiche curiously before deciding to dash forward in an almost animalistic manner, flailing her blade wildly as she closed in on the nobleman.

“R-Ritya!” Bastiche shouted desperately for his knight as the silver-haired creature closed in on him rapidly, wincing as sparks burst through the air while Ritya leapt in front of him and traded blows with Medrauta. Forced to wield her longsword with both hands, every strike that she parried sent a jarring sensation through the whole of her body and nearly knocked the sword out of her grip. However, with every blow that she matched, Ritya slowly became more and more fluent with Medrauta’s strange swordplay.

She’s fast, but... Ritya frowned, flicking her sword upward to catch Medrauta’s next attack. It clanged solidly against her weapon, landing just above her hilt on the thickest and strongest part of her sword. After exchanging several sequences of strikes with Medrauta, Ritya had begun to realize that the silver-haired creature was simply repeating the same pattern of attacks over and over again, hoping that they would eventually break through her defenses.

Although Ritya was forced to admit that Medrauta’s physical abilities vastly dwarfed hers, the difference was ultimately irrelevant so long as she already knew when and where the silver-haired creature would strike next. With every exchange, Medrauta seemed to grow more and more infuriated, her face contorting into an expression of frustration which gave Ritya a spark of hope. Sooner or later, the Medrauta-like creature would slip up and open their defenses to a devastating counterattack.

...It’s almost like fighting a child, Ritya thought. An abnormally fast and strong child, but a child nonetheless.

Sure enough, the silver-haired creature’s frustration had reached a peak as she let out an ear-splitting screech of rage with her latest strike. The overhead cut smashed into the blackened blade of Ritya’s sword, biting deep into its witchforged steel as she struggled to break through the black-clad knight’s guard. Ritya grunted with the effort of blocking the strike, her knees nearly buckling despite already knowing that the attack was coming. The force of the attack caused Ritya’s muscles to feel numb, but she knew she had to push through.

After all, this was the perfect position for a counterattack that would earn her victory. With her blade high in the air, the silver-haired creature left the rest of her body completely undefended. Deftly, Ritya slipped her blade free from Medrauta’s and stepped to the side, thrusting her sword at Medrauta’s heart. In another moment, victory would be hers.

But that moment never came.

In an utterly unexpected burst of movement, Medrauta’s head swooped down, catching Ritya’s blade between her teeth and biting with such force that it somehow locked the black-clad knight’s sword in place. The silver-haired beast snarled as she tightened her jaw, tearing the sword free from Ritya’s stunned grasp before throwing it at Bastiche’s direction.

The sword spun rapidly through the air, intercepting the twin spheres of black-red energy the nobleman fired in a desperate ploy to protect his knight, causing the weapon to be swallowed up in a massive explosion of mana. Confirming that the projectiles were eliminated, Medrauta’s head whipped back toward the still-stunned Ritya, leaping at the black-clad knight and thrusting her sword forward. It was only then that the silver-haired beast deigned to speak, growling only a single word as she plunged her sword into Ritya’s abdomen.

“Die.”