Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 74 - Forging Futures

Medrauta had no way of knowing what was going on in Leticia's head during this final, pivotal moment.

However, her own mind was filled with an assorted stream of thoughts, all of them racing through her head at a breakneck pace. She devoted every iota of strength into this last strike of hers, weaving every memory and experience she possessed into the very metal that composed her blade.

Every muscle fiber in her body screamed out desperately, striving to achieve victory for the silver-haired knight. Medrauta could feel them straining to their utmost limits, offering all the strength they could muster in an effort to obtain their master's desire.

Medrauta's eyes were wide open, their sparkling blue shade vivid in the noonday sun. There was no need for her to narrow her eyes or squint, for she did not need to see far. Victory laid just ahead of her, right before the tip of her blade and right there for the taking.

In response to her exertions, the multitude of injuries that blemished Medrauta's body cried out in strident protest, forcing Medrauta to acknowledge their presence. She felt hot blood trickle from her hip and down her thigh as she moved her torso, stretching the wound where Leticia had stabbed her earlier.

The gash widened, tearing like a grotesque and bloody grin, its form almost similar to that of a witch's evil smile. Yet, Medrauta didn't even wince. She would never allow a witch to instill fear in her again. Not fear, not pain.

There was no time for either. Everything she had, she dedicated to this single strike.

The corners of her lips curled upward as she flashed a ferocious smile reminiscent of a predator baring their fangs. Her sword hand tightened around the hilt, moving the weapon with precision that transcended mere mastery.

In that very moment, Medrauta and her blade were undeniably one and the same. all that she was existed on that gleaming sword, and that gleaming sword represented all that she was. She had attained the epitome of blade-body unity.

The peak of swordsmanship that all knights sought to achieve.

But she knew it wouldn't be enough.

She knew that Leticia had also achieved such heights in this very moment. She understood very well what it was that drove her opponent's blade and the stalwart resolution behind it. Leticia's blade would not waver, nor would it miss its intended target.

In other words, Medrauta would lose in mere seconds despite her body and soul dedicating all it had to this single moment.

She couldn't accept that. Not in front of her beloved Viviane.

Blade-body unity was considered the very zenith of swordsmanship. Once achieved, a knight towered above all others, looking down upon their peers mightily from on high. They had climbed all the mountains there were to climb. Seen all there was to see. But even so...

...It's not enough. Medrauta thought. I need to be faster. Stronger. I must surpass the pinnacle—No. I will surpass the pinnacle.

Medrauta let out an earth-shaking roar as she drew upon the reserves of energy that still remained in her body without concern for her own safety. Her heartbeat strained and slowed. Her muscles contracted forcefully as she pushed them past their limits. Her very breath sucked in all the air around her, driving precious oxygen into her blood as her body desperately tried to keep up with her desires.

...Further!

Her field of vision expanded to encapsulate not just her opponent and the rapidly approaching point of their blade, but the strands of grass to the side that wavered ever so slightly in the wind, the countless specks of dust in the clouds of dirt that rose from her movement, and even the impossibly faint shimmer of summer air refracting sunlight.