A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 5, Chapter 95: The Master of the Battlefield

The silver wind covered the entire battlefield.

The long sword swung around at a high speed. In a blink of an eye, blood and flesh were ripped apart from the tip of that long sword. So beautiful. That was a very beautiful technique. No one could believe it.

There was no rationality in the midst of war. Even trained knights couldn’t overturn the odds of the battlefield. This primordial hell of blood, flesh and bone crushing brought the man and the elf back to the wildness. Yes, back to aboriginal days.

However, she was different. Caria, who built a mountain of corpses on the battlefield, wielded her silvery weapon with grace.

Even in this hell, her swordsmanship was still showing no signs of weakness. Indeed. No one glimpsed disturbed movements nor feebleness. She never collapsed even once. Her sword aimed directly at the enemy without hesitation. All she had to do was kill the enemy.

Extremely beautiful. She grabbed everyone’s attention. That skill could no longer be considered something human. She repelled the flesh of the enemy continuously. It was not due to luck. In fact, she increased her accuracy every time she faced an opponent.

“…I feel that this hell named battlefield has a strange charm.”

Everyone put their weapons in their hands and put their lives on the line. It was an ongoing struggle that never ended.

The tip of a spear reached for Caria’s heart. But, the silver wind was faster and precise.

Those surrounding Caria felt a dark pleasure to see the silver weapon repel the attack from the enemy. She knocked the skull of the enemy without mercy, and transformed it into a lump of flesh.

These scenes gave everybody a crucible of emotions. Everybody screamed aloud. The emotions ran high. This became like a theater, but a theater of war.

Caria didn’t change her true nature after all. It felt uncomfortable when her feelings became exposed. Every time she draw her sword, her emotions became clearer.

“…I wish I was a selfish woman.”

Caria gritted her teeth when she fought. Apparently, she was enjoying the feeling of crushing the enemy soldier’s head.

“I never thought that I’d cling to that man’s feet. Yet, I cannot leave him be. He annoys me so much, but I still want to take his hand. I never thought that I’d be such a selfish woman.”

No one knew what Caria was thinking in her head. However, she clearly had resolve. Fresh blood spilled in the air and fell upon her body. Caria took a step further as her clothes became bright red. Nonetheless, she kept trying to overwhelm the majority of the enemy troops.

Her silvery eyes narrowed, and her throat made a rough rumbling. The long sword, which soaked in blood, was set up again.

“A selfish woman, huh.” Her cheeks crumpled involuntarily, and Caria seemed to be mocking herself.

“I am an idiot. I should know my place. Why does a woman like me cling to such a man? Ah, it is ridiculous. All I did was break down, kneel down and plead with that man. Yet, here I am. Why? Because, I do not want him to go. I want him to stay by my side.” Caria seemed to in conflict with her emotions.

“…This would have been easier if I was an agreeable woman.”

The long sword in Caria’s hand continued to swing towards the opponents. Caria didn’t waver, nor did she retreat.

Ironically, the sharpness of her sword was too great this time around. Even Caria recognized this change. Powerful but not rough, delicate but not weak. Caria brought her legs one-step further through the battlefield.

I felt as if she understood something in her heart. Her resolve seemed firm.

“Surely, if I turn around, he probably won’t be there anymore. Lugis is such a person. He was someone who didn’t stop. He was not a quiet man after all. Then, why am I fighting now? It is because I decided to do so. There is no other answer.”

“Even if there is no Lugis behind my back. I am a foolish figure who has no choice but to behave in a dignified manner until this is finished.”

“…He relied on me for the very first time.”

“Then, the only thing I can do is complete that request. I do not know if he believes in me or not. But, I believe in him. I wonder if it is okay for me to think like this.”

Caria herself was envious of Filaret. She clearly disliked that Sorceress. That despicable woman was able to stay by Lugis’ side. “What a nerve.” Caria thought. Still, Lugis never discarded that woman, which infuriated Caria.

“Then, what if it was me? Will I be able to cling to Lugis’ side without any obstacles? Will it be weird? Will I be reprimanded for doing something stupid? For some reason, my imagination became dark.”

Caria felt that the man called Lugis occasionally saw something else through her. His eyes seemed to be looking at her, but not exactly her. Caria gritted her teeth one more time.

Caria’s eyes showed fire and tenacity.

Caria was strong-willed, proud, and sharp. A strong person who didn’t bend, who didn’t break, and who knew nothing about fear.

There was no such thing as weakness. Caria never cried, fell or lose hope.

Her silvery eyes glittered. Her long sword roared through the wind as if it had a voice of its own. The blood, flesh and bones of the enemy soldiers piled up around Caria.

This area became the center of the battlefield. Enemy and allies alike. Everyone kept his or her eyes on this woman. Every time Caria swung her sword, the battlefield groaned high. And every time she advanced with her legs, the battlefield moved at the same time.

She was exactly the master of the battlefield.

However, victory was still hard to achieve. No matter how much she did, and not matter how much of a hero Caria was, it was difficult to kill hundreds of enemy soldiers at the same time.

Even if Caria did her best, even if she exhausted herself to death, victory was still far from her hands.

Not enough. Caria and the allies needed something more decisive. A trump card, even though they had none. Something that could trample the enemy and give the allies the awaited victory. A decisive hit, which had not been given yet.

Then, the decisive hit appeared with a roar from the sky.

…Hyahhhhhhhhh!

A scream that broke the skies. A giant monster appeared with a roar that shook the whole world. It crushed the soldiers, overran them, and turned the battlefield into more hell.

Its big red eyes looked like flames, and its huge body quivered with rage. There was only one reason for aiming at this place. After all, this was the location where most elves and people concentrated together in Ghazalia.

Immediately, every single person hurried to get away from that monster. Was that beast the one who drank wine? Such rich flavor that it won’t forget once it had tasted it. The monster went on a full rampage, which even its instinct had disappeared.

This monster was such in a bad state that nobody could call it a monkey beast anymore.

The overwhelming rage was daunting, and its limbs were as strong as iron threads. Even the big belly, which seemed to hide at first, rang its fangs as if it had its own will.

Instead of behaving like its species, this raging monster used its two legs to smash the ground, and both the heavy arms swung in order to catch the prey.

Both the elves and humans saw its’ destructive power. The enemies and the allies felt their instinct. They knew that this giant monster far exceeded themselves in combat power. Even the strongest soldiers had their heads crushed by that monster’s hands.

This was no longer an opponent. No one could resist it.

Meanwhile, Caria was staring at the threat that came down right in front of her eyes. She swallowed her raw saliva back to her throat, as if she knew the danger it posed to her.

This monster was the devil. Unmistakable, a true devil. This monster was supposed to be just a monkey beast of Ghazalia’s surrounding forests. Yet, it threw the skin of the beast species and represented a true devil. This could mark the beginning and the end of this reign.

The people’s wisdom surely indicated that fact. The evil transformation might be the cause of this wild frenzy.

Several arrows stuck at the monster’s arm, but the eerie smoke blew up the arrows from its body. Then, it slowly healed the wounds. This was what sorcerers called a mirage or a vaporization of magical power.

Caria was familiar with this scene. That’s right. At that time, she also faced a fierce hexenbeast.

Her silvery eyes shook with a dark light.

「Hey, big monkey…How dare you come at such a crucial time, you bastard!」

Her voice trembled even though she was angry. Nobody was listening to her voice and skills anymore.

The battle was now swallowed by madness. An overwhelming foreign body that appeared on the battlefield, and engulfed every single being with fear and despair. Of course, the monkey beast crushed and killed all, be it enemies or allies. It didn’t care about the sides of the coin. It just did whatever it pleased. It killed anything that crossed paths with it. This was no longer a battlefield. This place became a scene of slaughter.

In the midst of this madness, Caria muttered as if her mind was at a different place.

「I don’t want to repeat it. I really don’t want that scene to repeat itself ever again. I don’t want to remind it…That’s right, during that time, he wasn’t there to see me!」

Correct. The day when Caria first met Lugis in the Forbidden Forest. Despite watching it at the beginning and helping her, Lugis wasn’t there to witness when she slaughtered the boar-shaped hexenbeast.

That was the thing that Caria didn’t want to remember most. She didn’t want to even think about it. All she felt was frustration, anger and humiliation during that time. Then, on this moment, the silver long sword turned against the devil.

「I have to strike it eight times over. Hey, you bastard. My eight hits are painful, so be prepared to face them here and now.」

Elves and humans. Caria was the only one who couldn’t stand the presence of this demon beast. She passionately and fiercely faced the newly enemy without reluctance. Caria knew that this was the moment where she could show her real strength. A moment where Lugis wouldn’t turn his back on her.