Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 86 - Marilyn's Resolve

"R-Ritya! What are you doing!? Quickly, we have to find someone and reattach your arm or—"

"I curse my body."

"Nngh!" Marilyn winced as a sudden burst of black energy exploded from Ritya's blade, sending her stumbling backwards. When she recovered, she watched in horror as Ritya's severed arm rapidly dissolved into black sludge on the floor.

"I curse my blood."

A hissing noise filled the air. The blood on Ritya's blade blackened and boiled, evaporating into the air as pitch-black mist that slowly dispersed throughout the room.

"R-Ritya...! No!" Marilyn stared at Ritya in disbelief as the junior knight continued speaking in a monotonous tone, her eyes glazed over as if she had resigned herself to a fate worse than death, yet still sought to push on.

"I curse my soul."

As those final words left Ritya's lips, the black mist that cloaked the room was suddenly sucked into a vortex that formed at the stump of her arm, solidifying into the shape of her hand. Crimson lines spread throughout her new hand like veins, decorating its surface in intricate patterns.

One by one, she moved each finger independently before finally forming a fist and nodding to herself in satisfaction. She drew a deep breath, and only then did she meet Marilyn's eyes.

"No..." Marilyn's voice was barely more than a whisper as the last vestige of hope she had for Ritya's redemption was torn from her heart. She had truly wished to raise Ritya into a proud knight, but she knew that would be impossible now.

Ritya's eyes burned with a fervent anger, one that was magnified by the ugly red shade that replaced her once lustrous emerald. "I curse this world, and I curse you, Dame Marilyn."

Marilyn scowled and pointed her sword at Ritya. There was nothing more to be said.

Both knights accelerated toward each other, their weapons clashing with such force that the room itself shook despite the walls being made of stone. Although they drew even for the first few blows thanks to Ritya's sudden surge of energy, Marilyn quickly regained the upper hand.

While the strange ritual had granted Ritya enhanced physical abilities and regenerative properties that rapidly healed the wounds she'd sustained during the fight, her level of skill had remained the same and was woefully inadequate against a senior knight like Marilyn.

With a powerful blow, Marilyn knocked Ritya's sword out of her hand, causing the weapon to clatter uselessly on the ground. She raised her sword again, but this time she spared her opponent no mercy.

Marilyn's strike would split Ritya into two.

"For your own good, I'll send you back to Aluvsha!" Marilyn roared as her sword crashed down on Ritya with the force of a falling mountain.

Thunk.

"...What?" Marilyn's eyes widened in disbelief. Not only had her strike been stopped, but Ritya had caught the blade with nothing more than her bare hand. Despite it having been formed by a dark ritual, it shouldn't have been able to withstand such a powerful blow at close range.

"There is no god who would embrace me now," Ritya intoned. She tightened her grip on Marilyn's sword, and the crimson lines that decorated her hand pulsed brightly, causing a sizzling sound to fill the air.

Though she was confused for a second, Marilyn quickly noticed the part Ritya was grabbing had begun glowing a dull red that was rapidly brightening. S-She's melting it!

Panicked, Marilyn attempted to pull her weapon free from Ritya's grip, but the junior knight was far too strong. In a matter of seconds, molten steel dripped from Ritya's hand and onto the ground where it hissed angrily, the top half of Marilyn's blade clattering to the floor uselessly.

As the senior knight stared dumbfoundedly at the useless stump of a sword she'd been left with, Ritya reached her other hand out toward her own weapon which laid on the ground. It shivered slightly before heeding her command and flying into her hand.

"Send Aluvsha my regards." Ritya's grip tightened around the hilt of her sword. She lifted it with ease, thrusting it at the center of Marilyn's head.

Marilyn stared at the point of the black blade that was rapidly approaching her. In another second, she would be dead. But she didn't want to die. Not while she still had to avenge her lord, and not while she still had to take responsibility for Ritya's sins.

Though all she held was a broken sword, Marilyn refused to accept death.

I will live... So wait for me, Ritya. I'll save you from what you've become.

No matter what, she would struggle until her last breath.

I swear it.