Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 86 - Marilyn's Resolve

"Is that all?"

Ritya sucked in air desperately as countless beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks and fell from her cheeks. The pitch-black sword that she'd received had been a gift from Amelia when she and Bastiche swore loyalty to her and became part of her Circle. The witch had promised it would grant her strength, but even so, she found herself at the mercy of Marilyn.

"...You're fighting a losing battle, Dame Marilyn. The moment Lord Bastiche gets here, I'll be forced to kill you. If you surrender now, I'll be able to at least convince my lord to spare you."

"I doubt it, Ritya." Marilyn said dismissively as she advanced toward her exhausted opponent. "Perhaps if his Crest bore an ability that was more powerful, you may have been right, but as it stands, I need only a single blow to fell you, and if I recall correctly, Lord Bastiche's Crest does not inflict wounds retroactively."

Ritya grit her teeth. Marilyn had called her bluff with ease. While she was covered in a handful of injuries, Marilyn was completely unscathed. Bastiche's Crest would do little to turn the tide of battle.

"...So in the end, even you will look down on me, huh?"

"Look down on you?" Marilyn raised an eyebrow just as she raised her weapon. "Spare me the pity party, Ritya. Did you really think that changing the color of your sword would allow you to reach my level?"

Marilyn's sword descended like a falling star, its stained silver blade aimed straight at her opponent. Had she been facing anyone else, she would have sought to bisect them, but she couldn't do the same here. She couldn't bring herself to kill Ritya.

Instead, the path that her blade traced would only cut through the shoulder of Ritya's sword arm. Though it was an injury that could be easily remedied by the powers of a healing Crest, it would render the junior knight unable to fight as Marilyn made her escape.

...In the end, I'm not enough, am I? Ritya stared at the silver arc that cleaved through the air. It wasn't as if she hadn't prepared herself for this. From the very beginning, she knew she was not enough. After all, that was why she agreed to Amelia's deal.

Ritya's arm shot up, seemingly in desperation as she sought to shield herself from the blow. While she wore an armored gauntlet, they functioned more as protection against common soldiers or glancing blows to the hands. Against a senior knight like Marilyn, they would be utterly ineffective.

Marilyn's blade would shear through it with ease.

"N-No!" Marilyn shouted in vain. It was too late for her to stop her own attack, and she watched in horror as her sword cut through Ritya's arm completely.

While Ritya had succeeded in protecting her sword arm, the place where her hand had once been was now nothing more than a stump. Blood spurted incessantly and pooled on the ground around her feet, but she did not scream or howl.

"R-Ritya! W-Why!? I... I never intended to...!" Marilyn stared at Ritya in shock. She had never hated the girl. Rather, she wished to turn Ritya into a proud knight that would no longer have to tolerate Duke Revelo's verbal insults.

Marilyn knew that Ritya harbored a deep sense of loyalty for Bastiche, but she never thought the junior knight would be willing to sacrifice even a limb just to see this insane plan through. Surely she knows that the moment the emperor discovers Lord Bastiche's treachery, she'll be executed along with him...

"...The price has been paid," Ritya uttered monotonously. Slowly, she brought what remained of her arm to the flat of her sword, allowing the still-flowing blood to slowly fill the groove that ran across the length of the blade.