I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

---

187th Chapter. Side Story 8

Kyaaaak!

Alpha Debera, struck directly by Karasho’s aura, howled so profoundly that the ground trembled. Black blood splattered over the white snowfield. He wasn’t killed instantly, but it seemed to be a fatal wound.

“Shushu! Back off!”

As Alpha Debera was attacked, another overly excited Debera jumped high and ran toward me. I calmly dodged, and Karasho swung his sword mightily. The pure white aura shot out like a crescent moon and precisely cut through Debera’s belly.

‘Luckily, they aren’t all rushing at once.’

Coming back behind Karasho, I nervously surveyed the situation. If ten of them charged at once, we wouldn’t stand a chance, but perhaps the impact of Alpha Debera’s mortal wound was significant, so they hesitated rather than attacking.

“I’ll take them down carefully, one by one. You must follow me well!”

“Yes!”

With those instructions, Karasho launched another aura at Alpha Debera. I drew a dagger from my thigh and aimed it at Alpha Debera’s eye to throw.

Alpha Debera quickly moved his body. He dodged Karasho’s aura but couldn’t evade my dagger.

Blood burst from his red eye.

“Coming!”

Having lost one eye, the enraged Alpha Debera charged at me at wind-like speed. At Karasho’s command, I once again raised my sword.

In the pure white world, pure white conviction rampaged.

“Huff… huff…”

I gasped as if I was about to suffocate. I couldn’t guess how long we had been at a standstill.

The weather was bone-chilling, yet cold sweat poured down like a waterfall, making it impossible to gauge my body temperature. My entire body, which had already surpassed its limits and reached overload, felt like it would burst. I staggered and barely managed to tighten my grip on the sword.

“Ha…

Karasho in front of me exhaled deeply. Like me, she seemed to be in a state of overload, all bruised up. Having borne the brunt of all the attacks, she was likely in worse condition than I was. Nevertheless, she stood tall, sword raised, embodying the person I aspired to be.

‘Still, quite…’

I blinked with unfocused eyes, looking at the bodies of the Deberas sprawled across the snowfield. A total of six—over half were killed.

It seemed there was a chance we might survive after all.

I let my guard down at that thought.

“Shushu! Behind you!”

A sharp shout pierced my ears.

I turned around a beat too late.

Relieved by the belief that it was dead, it had probably just been playing dead. The Debera lying behind me jumped up suddenly, mouth agape. Its fangs, as big as my forearm, dripped with disgusting saliva, and its wide-open mouth lunged at me.

In that moment, comically, I couldn’t do anything. I could use exhaustion as an excuse, but in reality, I was frozen in fear. How pathetic.

Thud!

The price of my weakness was far too great.

Karasho shot herself forward to push me out of the way. I flew away like a powerless piece of paper. My tailbone ached as if broken when I hit the ground, but I had no brainpower left to think about the pain.

Crack.

Karasho’s bronze ankle was shattered by Debera’s teeth.

“Ah.”

I uttered a foolish gasp. Everything unfolding before my eyes felt unreal. My head yelled at me to do something, but my body froze like a butterfly pinned down by the cold of the snow and the rising chill within my heart.

“Grrk!”

In agony, Karasho let out a groan and wriggled free from Debera’s mouth, but her ankle had already swollen up, poisoned by the Debera’s deadly toxin. It just had to be the Alpha Debera, which possessed even stronger venom than the others. Pale and dazed, I moved my frozen body as if breaking the ice and rushed toward her.

“Karasho!”

“Don’t come!”

Barely managing to hold her sword, Karasho shouted as she struggled to block Debera’s foreleg. But I didn’t listen.

As I was closing the distance at full speed…

Debera’s vicious fangs pierced Karasho’s shoulder.

What had once seemed large about her shoulder now appeared impossibly small. The star that had floated high above the sky seemed like a mere human in that moment.

Tap.

My star fell in a round trajectory. People say meteor showers are beautiful, but to my eyes, it didn’t seem beautiful at all.

A meteor shower was a funeral for a star. The death of the star I loved could hardly be beautiful.

“Karasho. Karasho!”

Half-conscious, I burst forth mana to catch her as she fell from Debera’s jaws. I ran with dizzying speed, barely catching Karasho just before she hit the ground. She felt so weightless it was bewildering.

Thud!

Kieeeek!

Instinctively, I threw the sword wrapped in mana. It flew in an arc, piercing the jaws of Debera that had attacked Karasho. The screaming monster collapsed with a massive tremor.

“Ugh, cough…”

“Karasho, breathe! Please!”

I begged while holding tightly to Karasho, who was struggling to breathe. I felt like I was being slowly banished from this world as her dark skin grew paler.

“I’m sorry. It’s… it’s my fault. Because I’m weak, because I couldn’t dodge, and that’s why my master…”

I rambled like a madman. My vision faded to darkness. All I could see were the red stains on the snow, reflecting like an afterimage.

I wished that blood was mine instead.

Damn it. What a hopeless piece of trash. Not only could I not repay her kindness, but I had also driven my benefactor to death. I knew I was the dog that should have died the moment it met its benefactor.

Self-loathing and crude thoughts erupted in my mind like blood gushing from a severed artery.

Countless “what ifs” brushed through my head.

What if I had stopped coming on this mission? What if I had warned not to come this way at all? What if Zigmund had come along to help?

If only I had been just a little stronger.

I clumsily pressed my trembling hands against Karasho’s shoulder. It was like trying to plug a flooded dam with pebbles. My eyes, which momentarily caught the glimpse of blood, were blackened with death.

“Shushu.”

“I’m sorry. I… I really…”

” Kashmir!”

Karasho called me in a stern voice. I lifted my gaze from the crimson-stained snow I had been staring at vacantly.

She was clearly dying. Her fading breaths and growing cold body spoke volumes.

Yet those two eyes remained fiercely alive, burning so brightly that I couldn’t look away.

“Go, die.”

Karasho whispered in a broken voice, and a translucent barrier formed around us, shielding us. The advancing Deberas halted, blocked by the shield.

For Karasho, who was near depletion of her mana, to manifest a shield that consumed so much mana at this moment signified she had given up on living.

“Disband it! Please take care of yourself! You can… you can survive, I’ll do anything! So……!”

“Shushu. My beloved disciple.”

Looking up at me adoringly despite my screams, Karasho caressed my cheek with her bloodied hand. I stopped my panicked raving at her soft whisper.

“Shall we have our last lesson?”

Karasho gently covered my hand gripping the sword with her trembling one.

She moved my hand, bringing the sword’s tip to her heart.

“To protect, you must also know how to kill.”

“Karasho.”

“I’ve taught you about goodness and conviction until now. It seems like it’s time to teach you the corresponding responsibility.”

“Karasho!”

Ignoring my cries, Karasho softly smiled. That smile was imbued with deep sorrow.

“Kill me, Shushu.”

She inexorably sentenced me to punishment.

I understood. I instinctively felt it. She could not survive here.

I, who always brought misfortune, had driven my benefactor, my first teacher, and the person I respected most to death. I knew. My conclusion had always been like this.

But directly taking her life was a different matter.

“I… I can’t do it.”

“Shushu.”

“You know it! You know how much I love you! You know what you mean to me! So how can you say that? Please instead, please curse me, throw me into the garbage to be devoured and torn to death by the wretched dog that crawled in!”

“Shushu!”

I bit my lip when I saw her black eyes tainted with wounds. The flood of sincerity burst forth, wounding both me and Karasho.

I unconsciously wiped away the tears flowing and bowed my head when Karasho slowly caressed my cheek.

“Though I wrapped it in the term lesson, in reality, this might be my last selfishness.”

I abruptly looked up.

Was Karasho really someone associated with the word ‘selfish’?

As I stared at her blankly, she beamed brightly.

“If I’m to die, I’d rather die by your hand than by those filthy monsters.”

Never once had she ever prioritized her desires. No matter the circumstance, she always valued me above herself. Karasho had never demanded anything from me in a selfish manner.

Yet now, she was making her final request of me.

I felt a sensation of my soul twisting while alive.

Could I possibly refuse this request? No, was I even qualified to refuse? I, who had been reborn because of her.

In that moment, I realized.

I would ultimately end up killing Karasho.

Tears streamed down my cheeks without any right to weep. As I readjusted my grip on the sword, I rather wished today was my funeral. Bowed down deeply, I could neither draw the sword nor plunge it into her, when Karasho whispered.

“When cutting off a person’s breath… never avert your eyes from his.”

You must bear the weight of the life you take.

Listening to her blood-soaked whisper was agonizing. I trembled violently and barely met Karasho’s gaze.

“Ah, ugh…”

The fact that she still gazed at me lovingly shattered me.

“Remember. That’s how to avoid becoming a monster even if you’re hurt.”

Karasho was quite the cruel person. The more I loved her, the more her cruelty amplified. I felt nauseous as if a dagger were lodged in my heart.

“It’s… alright, Shushu.”

Like a magic incantation, with those words, I felt like everything would truly be alright. Even though I knew nothing was alright.

The trembling in my hands ceased.

“Ah, tell Zigmund for me.”

Her wrinkled eyelids curved.

“You will definitely have spring come to you.”

I don’t know about him, but I felt like I would continue to live in winter from then on. I suppressed my cries with gritted teeth as I propped my body against the sword. The sound of Deberas crashing against the shield seemed like the sound of my world collapsing.

“And make sure to tell Kashmir as well.”

The sword’s tip pierced flesh. The chilling sensation of pierce through skin would never be forgotten.

Karasho beamed as if she could illuminate the entire world.

“Your life is what I saved, so live. Even if it seems like punishment, cling on and survive. Never take your own life. Endure, endure…”

Karasho must have known I would try to follow her into death. She shackled my life because she knew I could not ignore her final words.

I clenched my teeth and raised the sword high.

“I will definitely be happy.”

Will a life stained with your blood truly find happiness?