Yulia Wagner

Renn moved through the forest, his footsteps tapping out a steady rhythm on the path covered with dead branches.

He planned to hunt some wild game to bring back for dinner. At least, that was his initial plan.

Kaylar didn't eat much, yet she complained of hunger every day. Eladia looked like someone with few worldly desires, but she was more earnest than anyone when it came to eating.

And Esper went without saying; her appetite was practically directly proportional to her slender build. Sometimes, Renn even wondered if vampires were really this voracious.

It didn't matter. If they wanted to eat, he would cook for them.

After all, he had learned excellent culinary skills; it would be a waste not to use them.

But a few minutes after leaving, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

He probably wouldn't be able to go back and make dinner.

Intuition was a delicate thing. The words most often associated with it were "unreliable" and "unfounded." Yet sometimes, for certain people, something resembling intuition would flash across their minds.

Renn did not believe in intuition.

More than a decade on the path of a knight, along with a personality forged by a disciplined routine and absolute order, destined him to trust other factors over mere intuition.

A second after that feeling surfaced, another set of footsteps echoed.

Renn stopped in his tracks, his thumb gently nudging the latch on his sword guard.

The instant his body detected the anomaly, he prepared to spin around, but before he could even look back, someone was already standing right in front of him.

A tall woman dressed in a cheongsam leaned against a tree trunk, her left hand holding a completely ordinary iron sword. The tip of her blade rested on the ground as if she were taking a break.

Blonde hair fell over her shoulders, resembling a stream of liquid gold in the thin afternoon light.

Her face was half-lit and half-shadowed where the light filtered through the canopy, her lips completely flat.

Renn's breath hitched for a half-beat.

Yulia Wagner.

"...Senior."

"Yes. It's me."

Yulia's reply came without any unnecessary pause.

She gave Renn a serious look, her emerald eyes calm to the point of being hollow.

"You've grown taller."

"...I'm an adult now."

"Oh."

Yulia lifted the tip of her sword from the ground and twirled it with a light flick of her wrist, the blade drawing a silent arc in the air.

"That makes sense then."

Renn's hand slowly tightened around his hilt, his thumb pressing against the activation node of the rune.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because I have no interest in the other three. My mission is just to keep you from interfering with the situation over there. As for whether I kill you or do whatever else to you, that's entirely up to me."

Renn's brow twitched imperceptibly.

"...You knew I was looking for you."

"Yes. You want to drag me back to Master."

Yulia's tone remained flat.

"I'm not going back."

Renn's pupils contracted. The muscles in his arm tensed instantly, and the Annihilation rune inside his scabbard glowed with a faint silver light.

"Why won't you go back?"

"Why should I?"

Yulia tapped the ground with the tip of her sword, as if drawing an imaginary line.

"She chopped off my dominant hand, stripped me of my knightly title, kicked me out of my home, and severed the mother-daughter relationship we shared for over a decade. Why on earth should I go back?"

Renn took a deep breath.

"Senior, she is waiting for you. She waits for you every single day. She has turned down all unnecessary meetings, even rejecting the Emperor's invitations three times. She sits in that training hall all day long. Everyone is gossiping about her, but she doesn't care. She only cares about you."

He didn't raise his voice; instead, it grew lower, like the toll of a bell submerged in deep water.

"She's waiting for you to return, Senior. You can't keep her waiting any longer."

"Oh. In that case, I definitely can't go back."

"Senior."

Renn's voice rose slightly.

Esper had almost never seen him show any emotional fluctuation. At most, he would crack a faint smile because of Kaylar.

Right now, Renn's face remained expressionless, but his brows were furrowed deep.

"Do you really not care about Master at all anymore?"

"I do care. She raised me for over a decade."

"Then why on earth..."

"If I go back, won't she think I've forgiven her?"

Renn's grip on his sword tightened even further.

Yulia stood where she was, looking into Renn's eyes, which were a storm of absolute calm and absolute rage.

"Hmm? You don't understand?"

She fell silent for a moment, as if genuinely pondering how to explain it.

"It's like a beloved toy, or you could say a lover. When it is broken, defiled, or ruined by someone, how do you feel? Angry, pained, wronged, sad. Any of those feelings. In short, the fundamental reason these feelings exist is because you cherish them, right?"

Yulia spoke unhurriedly, seemingly completely off-guard before Renn.

Her stance was full of openings, and her right side was completely exposed.

But Renn did not move.

He understood all too well what would happen if he tried to seize the initiative against this senior.

"Master has never been in a relationship, nor has she raised any other children. She raised me, and then I raised you. In a way, it's like a skip-generation bond, but you are clearly not as important to Master as I am. So your existence cannot offset the grief Master feels because of me. That is why, even though I haven't seen her again, I can still envision the painful state she is in right now. Don't you find that interesting?"

"...Interesting?"

Yulia nodded vigorously.

"Master is just that kind of person. She will only think that she failed to teach me properly, that it was her own faults that led me astray. I didn't correct her way of thinking. After all, before I turned eighteen, I did at least keep the commandments, so she was left with the illusion that I wasn't inherently bad."

Her eyes lit up slightly when she mentioned her "nature," like someone tossing a match into a pile of cold hearth ashes.

"Master's suffering is the very symbol of her love for me. And unexpressed love is as meaningless as unreleased talent. That's why I won't go back. If I return, Master won't love me anymore."

Renn stopped trying to communicate with words.

His right hand suddenly drew the longsword from his waist.

『Annihilation』 lit up from the spine of the blade, colorless light spreading along the edges.

"Not going to chat a bit more?"

"Shut up, you bitch,"

Renn whispered, his eyes icy.

"I'm genuinely hurt,"

Yulia said expressionlessly.

Ultimately, it was Renn who made the first move.

This was a tactically incorrect action—a reckless move that would only lower his already pitiful chances of winning.

But he couldn't afford to wait any longer.

On the other side, Esper and the others might still be in danger.

He had to strike, whether he was ready or not.

Drawing his sword, the resin containing the Runic Fire was applied in an instant.

The flames condensed and withdrew, and the rune that snuffed out all energy erased all drag in that moment.

The moment he drew his sword, he had already lowered his center of gravity.

Thrust.

The tip of the sword drove forward, the light of Annihilation wrapping around the blade as it lunged toward Yulia's throat.

With the drag erased, the explosive speed made him look like a mere afterimage left in place, accompanied by a few brilliant traces of fire.

Yulia swung her sword down.

With that cheap sword, she sliced through the fire, knocking Renn's blade to the ground. Then, she slapped Renn down with the flat of her blade before kicking the sword back in front of him.

It was as simple as taking a sip of water.

"Your exertion is steadier than it was two years ago."

"..."

Renn steadied his stance and gripped his hilt once more.

The Runic Fire was still burning.

"At least say something to me. After all, I'm practically half a mother to you. Filial impiety is a major taboo for a knight."

"I have no such mother."

"Now I'm angry."

Yulia's figure vanished from where she stood.

The tip of her sword struck the guard of Annihilation, forcing Renn's feet to plow two deep furrows into the dirt.

"Oh, you blocked it. Makes sense. Defense was always your specialty."

Yulia nodded, then watched as Renn tilted his blade to parry her sword tip aside.

For Yulia, this wasn't any sort of fatal opening. At worst, it would tear her clothes.

"No way. These clothes are too pretty."

She muttered, and with a slight surge of force from her sword tip, she sliced right through Renn's sword guard along with the Runic Fire.

—Slashed through.

Transforming from a point to a plane, she erased a thin layer of matter no thicker than a sword's tip.

『Slash』

Renn had witnessed this power before.

The Authority of the Sword Saint, a power capable of conceptually slicing through all things.

The Sword Saint, who had spent her entire life studying the end of the sword path, who had never loved nor believed she was loved, had obtained the recognition of Slash decades after reaching Rank Nine.

Yet this very power had now appeared in the woman before him.

Renn's eyes widened.

That was absolutely impossible.

The power his master had spent most of her life to acquire, the power she was so proud of, the power she treated as the very meaning of her life...

...had recognized the woman standing before him.

Half of the shattered blade flew into the air as Renn swung, while Yulia pressed forward, effortlessly driving her sword into the gap between his right shoulder guard and neck guard.

Blood sprayed.

His right arm, along with his armor, was cleanly severed.

The next moment, Yulia's sword slammed hard against his head, forcing him downward.

Irresistible force descended from above, and he fell to his knees, unable to resist, while the Runic Fire rushed to the severed stump of his wound, beginning to cauterize the bleeding.

Yulia peered closely at Renn's expression and noticed his lips were trembling. It had nothing to do with humiliation or fear; it was pure pain.

"Oh, that sword has been with you for a long time, hasn't it? It feels like you've barely changed it. Don't worry, the rune is still intact. You can just transfer it to another sword later."

Cold sweat drenched Renn's face, his teeth clenched so hard they nearly shattered.

"If it hurts, you can scream. I won't laugh at you. Besides, there's no shame in losing to me. You've worked really hard. Clap, clap."

She took a few steps back, kicked Renn's severed arm over to herself, then squatted down and clapped Renn's right hand with her left, producing a loud round of applause.

The bleeding from the wound stopped.

"Oh, by the way, although you can reattach your arm, the Mage Tower has already developed prosthetic limbs that can load adaptive runes. Avalon should have some in stock. You can try getting one when you go back. Although it definitely won't feel as good as the original, at least you'll have other runes to choose from. Maybe you'll even be stronger."

"...Why... didn't you... reattach yours..."

Renn's voice was incredibly raspy, but he still struggled to ask this question.

If that was the case, why didn't she reattach her own severed arm?

She kicked the severed arm back in front of Renn, then pulled out a bottle of healing potion and forced it down his throat.

"Well, because Master was the one who cut it off. Because Master cut off my arm, I can't swing a sword like I used to. In other words, my life was ruined by Master. It's entirely Master's fault, so she has to take responsibility. If I heal my arm, then Master won't need to take responsibility for me anymore, right? A simple concept like that should be easy to understand, Renn."

Renn bit down on the potion bottle, letting the healing liquid trickle from his mouth.

"Why... does it have to be like this..."

His voice began to tremble.

His true emotions, which had long been masked by calm and conviction, now spilled from his eyes.

"Hmm? Is there a why?"

Yulia sighed.

"Are you asking why I threw those matches? Or why I sought out monsters to fight? Or why I'm working against you guys? Actually, I feel like I explained the last part quite clearly. Hmm, but you really don't seem to understand the first two, do you?"

"...Tell me."

"Uh, because it feels great. Is that so hard to understand? Don't you masturbate?"

"..."

Yulia was serious.

It took Renn several seconds to realize this.

"Later, when I realized it made Master angry, it became even more fun. I didn't even realize such a good thing existed at first. So I had all the more reason to do it."

A drop of blood trickled from the corner of Renn's mouth.

"Sigh, I told you to drink the medicine. Come on, open up. I've got several more bottles here."

Renn spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

"...Passed out from anger? For real?"

Yulia's expression grew slightly serious.

She grabbed Renn by his hair and lifted his head.

"Oh, he's still breathing."

She let out a long breath, then pried his mouth open with her sword hilt and poured the rest of the healing potion in.

After confirming that Renn wouldn't die on his own, she used her sword to carve some words into the ground.

【Go straight back to Avalon once you wake up. Don't follow them anymore. My colleague has probably already succeeded. Even if you rush back now, it's too late to stop them. You'd be better off preparing for the next Abyss Expedition. Don't embarrass Master.】

The wind poured down through the gaps in the canopy, dispersing the sound of her sword carving into the mud, leaving not even an echo.

Yulia's steps as she departed were as steady as ever.

The iron sword swayed gently in her hand, its blade stained with a trace of blood and iron shavings from Renn's shoulder guard.

She looked down at the sword.

A cheap iron sword worth three silver coins, its blade already showing visible cracks.

"...Time to get a new one,"

she murmured, then continued on her way.

The forest fell silent once more, leaving only the distant sound of a running stream.

Her figure vanished into the gap between the shadows and the light of the trees.