As Azazul and the Corrupted S-rank monster waited for the other to attack, Akiko noticed something strange.
The wounds she and the shapeshifters had inflicted were already healed — but the chest wound from Azazul's tachi wasn't even close to recovering.
That's weird… does his sword nullify healing?
She dropped the thought when the Corrupted beast lunged at Azazul. But Azazul simply stood there, his sword still burning with black flames. Then he lunged forward, vanishing and reappearing right in front of the beast. He slammed his left shoulder into the creature's chest, the force making the abomination stagger back. With a downward slash, the beast's left arm fell to the ground, blood spraying from the stump.
The beast didn't stop. It threw a massive right hook, trying to annihilate its opponent yet again — but the burning sensation in its severed stump was excruciating and spreading through its body. Before it could reach him, Azazul jumped, twisting in the air. His right foot struck the beast's face, sending it flying several meters until it crashed at the base of a tree.
As it lifted its head to find its prey, a sharp pain tore through its throat — dark flames were burning it from the inside.
When Azazul kicked the abomination, he had thrown his burning tachi straight at its head. Because the monster lifted its head at the last second, the sword pierced its throat instead.
The once-blue tachi whistled through the air and buried itself in the monster's neck. Dark flames spread from the wound across its face and chest until its entire body was consumed. The abomination stretched out its muscular right arm, trying desperately to reach the hilt, but the sword seemed to grow longer, always just out of reach. Its long claws clanged uselessly against the blade.
While Azazul was unconscious, he heard everything — the creature's arms hitting the ground, its body crashing through trees.
What is happening out there?... Is Akiko doing that? No, it can't be… then why are my mana reserves draining?
Is the eye doing this? I need to get control… fast.
In the waking world, Azazul slowly walked toward what little ash remained of the Corrupted S-rank and pulled his pitch-black tachi from the tree. The bark was spotless — no scorch marks. The sword had returned to its normal size.
He turned around and shot a menacing glance at Akiko and her serpent. Seeing this, Akiko hesitated. She lifted her pristine white dagger and took a firm stance.
Azazul tilted his head, then disappeared. He reappeared between Akiko and her serpent and kicked the serpent through a dozen trees, leaving a massive trench. Shocked by his speed, Akiko jumped back to create distance.
"Hey! Weirdo! You're gonna have to wake up!"
No reply. He vanished again, reappearing at her side before kicking her. She would've slammed into a tree, but the serpent's long body slid in front of her and took the hit.
"Good timing, Purly."
Why is he attacking me? … Better question, how do I wake him up?
She stood again, lifting her dagger. This time she augmented her body with mana, boosting her strength, endurance, and speed. It still wasn't enough to match unconscious Azazul, but it was the only way to survive.
She lunged forward. They clashed — blow for blow. She dodged his counters, but only barely. His speed was on another level. She kept up, but for how long? Fear crept up her spine with every exchange. Then Azazul's once-blue tachi burst with dark flames. The heat washed over her face. When she blocked the flaming blade, fire crawled onto her pristine white dagger. She dodged backward.
In the dream world, Azazul heard Akiko's voice and struggled to gain control, but he couldn't. So he tried another approach — seizing his mana core. It was failure after failure.
Akiko commanded her serpent to wrap around unconscious Azazul. It worked — because in the dream world, the real Azazul suddenly gained control over his mana core. With the mana cut off, the dark flames vanished. But unconscious Azazul ripped his left hand free from the serpent's grip, every bone in the arm breaking. Yet even without mana, his unconscious healing was monstrous.
He grabbed the serpent by the throat, then stabbed his sword into its tail, pinning it beneath his right foot. Akiko lunged forward to help. The serpent struggled to hold on, but its loosening grip was all unconscious Azazul needed. He let his sword fall, ripped his hand free, then summoned the tachi again. Akiko was too focused on her serpent — when unconscious Azazul slashed at her face, she was too late to block.
After gaining control of his mana core, Azazul focused on taking control of his body. He fought through the darkness, struggling to overpower the Eye of Darkness itself. But through sheer willpower, he broke free of its grip and woke up.
Before his beautiful heterochromic eyes was Akiko on her knees, her head bowed, hair covering her face. A few drops of blood stained the ground. He looked down and saw the purple serpent wrapped weakly around him, fading. His tachi was stained with blood.
Seconds later, he collapsed — his body couldn't handle the power of darkness and shut down.
Akiko was relieved he was alive, but she didn't want him to see her face — not yet. She tore a piece from her tunic and wrapped it around her forehead, eye, and cheek. She ordered the serpent to shapeshift into a horse, lifted Azazul's unconscious body, and groaned:
"Damn it, you're heavy!"
She set him on the horse, climbed up behind him, and took the path toward the mountains.
---
By the time she reached the mountain, sunrise was approaching. Matthew was already awake, sitting on one of the logs as usual. When he saw Akiko, he stood quickly and rushed over, panic on his face.
"Your face…? What happened?"
Akiko weakly murmured,
"I'll explain everything later."
Then she passed out. Matthew caught her before she fell from the horse, slinging her over his right shoulder and Azazul over his left. He carried them inside the cabin.
---
Three days later, Akiko was the first to wake. As she opened her eyes, she instinctively looked toward Azazul's bedroll — but it was empty. Her heart raced.
Then she heard soft breathing and turned toward Matthew's bed. Azazul slept there, deep and peaceful. Relief washed through her. She touched her face — bandages wrapped her forehead, cheek, and right eye. She knew her eye was fine.
Hearing quiet chopping outside, she stood slowly and stepped out. Matthew was splitting logs. When he saw her, he said:
"I was hoping you'd wake up first."
He set the axe aside, stacked the firewood neatly, and sat on a log facing the cabin. He gestured for her to sit opposite him. When she did, he asked:
"Akiko… mind telling me what happened?"
She opened her mouth but hesitated. She clenched her fists and forced herself to speak.
"Azazul and I… we came across a Corrupted S-rank. Things went bad really fast."
Matthew sighed.
"Did that thing do that to your face?"
Akiko bowed her head, her voice tight.
"No…"
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No…"
Matthew exhaled heavily.
"I know he did it… but I also know he didn't. If it was your dagger or a normal blade, your face would be spotless. But his tachi nullifies healing. Your face is going to have to recover on its own. I tried every healer around here — no avail."
He paused, then added quietly:
"Now that your friendship has taken such a brutal turn… are you still going to stay by his side?"
Akiko didn't answer. She rose from the log, walked back inside the cabin, and fell into another exhausted sleep.