Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 40 - Awakening

I don't want to die!

Everything had happened so quickly.

The sword described a downward arc that threatened to split Medrauta's tiny body in half. She stared up at the blade, sunlight glinting off its bloodied surface.

Knights rarely died in the stories that Medrauta had heard, but when they did, they never shied away from death.

A knight dies with their eyes open. That had been the sole thought in Medrauta's mind.

She didn't want to die, but it was all she could do. She had made her choice, and now she would have to face the consequences. But even so, she had chosen to act like a knight, so she would see it through.

In another heartbeat, her life would be over.

Faced with certain death, something awoke from deep within Medrauta. At this critical juncture, an unknown source of strength welled up from deep within her, spreading through the entirety of her body, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

The blade slowed down.

Medrauta didn't know what was happening, but she realized that she could move. That she didn't have to die here. She stepped to the side, and not a second too late.

The sword crashed into the dirt where she had been standing a mere moment before, and though the pain in her hip was still present, it had dulled.

The bandit leader stared at the empty air he'd slashed through in disbelief. "...Dodged? No... That's impossible. I must've just... missed..."

Medrauta's heart thumped rapidly. She was just as confused as the bandit leader was. She didn't know how or when she learned to move so quickly. At that moment, she just felt like she could.

He's coming. Medrauta's body tensed up as the bandit leader faced her now. The man's sword shot out, a rapid thrust that would've skewered her had she not stepped out of its path.

Again, the man swung and swung, his sword becoming a glittering wheel of light as Medrauta avoided each of his strikes with consummate ease, almost as if the child was simply playing a game.

...Was he always so slow? Medrauta didn't understand. She hadn't even seen the man unsheathe his sword when he used it to decapitate the coachman, but now, it was as if he were moving in slow-motion.

Infuriated, the man leapt forward in an attempt to grab Medrauta and hold her still, but she twisted her body to the side once again. Experimentally, she reached out and grabbed the bandit leader's sword arm.

She recalled the time the boys had broken her arm. They grabbed her wrist and then pushed hard on her elbow joint just like...

"AAAAAAAUGH!" The bandit leader howled in pain as Medrauta snapped his arm with ease. The bone of his forearm pierced through his skin, and his sword fell to the ground.

Were people always this... weak? Medrauta bent down to pick up the sword, and then stabbed it through the bandit leader's neck. The man squirmed for a few seconds before he lay still.

She pulled it free and turned her attention to the remaining three bandits. One of them stared at her in horror, but the faces of the other two had contorted into rage.

They charged toward her, brandishing their swords furiously.

From Medrauta's perspective, they were running in slow-motion, but in reality, they were making a mad dash toward her.

She walked forward, moving closer to one of the bandits. The bandit's lips twisted into a cruel smile as she entered the reach of his sword, but when he swung, the only thing he could cut was air.