I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

198 – Maria (3)

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Sylvia’s specially crafted sword was much heavier than an ordinary sword.

Of course, Sylvia could handle the sword as freely as her own hands and feet, but because its specifications were very different from those of a normal sword, the posture and rhythm with which Sylvia swung the sword were subtly but clearly different from those of other people.

Because of Sylvia’s unique pattern, ordinary magicians had a hard time assisting her.

In fact, among the soldiers who accompanied the warrior party, the magicians were mainly responsible for clearing out miscellaneous demons with area-of-effect magic rather than assisting Sylvia.

The only sorceress who could assist Sylvia in her subtle patterns was Maria.

Of course, a wizard of Maria’s caliber would be able to use powerful magic.

But Maria knew all too well that no magic in this world was more powerful than Sylvia’s sword.

That is why Sylvia no longer doubted that Maria had come back to life.

A comfortable battle where you only need to cut the enemy in front of you, with the assistance of magic that comes in appropriately during each brief moment of cutting, dodging, and cutting again.

Only Maria could do this.

Although Sylvia had made the mistake of calling Ash Maria without realizing it at the moment when Ash had tied up the Demon King’s feet, when compared like this, Maria’s skills were on a whole other level than Ash’s.

“…”

Moments from the past with Maria flashed through Sylvia’s mind like the scenery outside a moving carriage, but Sylvia gritted her teeth and ignored the beautiful sights.

It wasn’t a moment where he could be easily emotional, and he was worried about Ash, who had been struck by his own sword and fell, so much so that he felt like he was going crazy.

More than anything, I was extremely concerned about the Demon King’s condition, as he continued to swing his sword but did not fall at all.

The Demon King, whose appearance was several times more hideous than that seen before, writhed violently and writhed in pain every time Sylvia’s sword cut through his body, but his writhing never ceased.

It writhes in a strange way that makes you hardly think it is a normal living creature, but the disgusting lump of flesh never breaks down.

“Damn it!”

Sylvia gritted her teeth and stopped for a moment, frowning as she felt the pain in her overworked shoulders and back.

In fact, my whole body hurt.

The pain was definitely spreading through Sylvia’s body, even though she had become accustomed to it due to the curse that made it impossible for her to ever die.

Not only the waist and shoulders, but also the ankles that pushed hard against the floor and the thighs that supported the strong upper body.

Even my fingers, which had to feel the full impact of the sword, felt tingling.

After he fixed his grip on the sword with his other hand and clenched and unclenched his fist for a moment, the hazy figure of Maria, who had come up next to Sylvia, opened her mouth.

“Hmm, that’s no use.”

“…”

“What, why are you like that?”

“…”

My lips just wouldn’t part.

Nice to meet you.

I really missed you, I wanted to see you so much.

Thank you.

Sorry.

How many times have I thought how much better it would have been if it had been me who died instead of you?

No, I thought to myself many times that it would have been better if you had gone through the same horrible times I did.

Every night I would wake up to the sight of you dying.

It was so scary and painful, but I liked seeing your face like that, so I killed myself hundreds of times and fell asleep.

“…”

There were so many things I wanted to say to Maria if I saw her again.

In fact, I was just thinking about that and breaking down for a long time before Ash showed up.

But now that Maria was right in front of her, Sylvia couldn’t say anything.

Unlike Sylvia, Maria chattered every morning in a voice that sounded like a bird’s song.

“Oh, Ash is alive, thankfully. His life is in no danger. He must be in pain, though.”

“… ah.”

“Here it is again. It’s not your fault. That’s been your problem since long ago. Blaming yourself. No matter how much of a warrior you are, you don’t have to solve or take responsibility for everything in the world. You can’t do that, and how many times have I told you that you’re not smart enough to take on all those arrogant worries?”

“but,”

“Stop talking nonsense and just drink your sword. And Ash, it’s okay if you get hit a little. He still secretly puts a gecko on his back and runs away, right?”

“no…”

“Wow, is it only for me and Alice?”

At Maria’s playful rebuke, Sylvia moved her sword to her right hand again.

When I glanced back, Ash was sitting up.

Seeing Ash come to her senses, Sylvia felt a little but definitely relieved.

But for some reason, the sword I picked up again felt heavier than before.

Ash and Maria.

The more things you have to protect, the heavier the weight of your heart will be.

“It felt like this before too.”

“What? Oh, I was beautiful before too. Have you forgotten my face? Has it been that long since I died?”

“No, I mean the Demon King. I was wondering if he was okay even after being cut down like this before.”

“Ah… Back then, I couldn’t fight like this. It was difficult to even approach them because they were using strange magic that I had never seen before.”

“That’s right… Certainly, when we fought before, the only time I got close was when I cut his neck.”

“Huh? Cut off his neck?”

Maria said with a look of surprise on her face.

Sylvia thought that if it weren’t for the blurriness, she could have seen those stupid, wide-open eyes.

“What, you defeated the Demon King?”

“… If that were the case, the Demon King wouldn’t be alive right now. It’s complicated, so to speak. And it’s long.”

“What, what happened?”

“I don’t know… dead.”

Because he’s dead.

Sylvia barely stopped her tongue from carelessly uttering the words, then closed her mouth almost as if she was about to bite it off.

‘Mom…’

The image of Maria dying flashed before my eyes.

The sight that still haunted Sylvia’s mind began to fill her head.

“…”

What on earth does Maria know and how much does she not know?

What happened after he died, and how I lived alone in pain.

How many times did the sight of you dying repeat itself in my dreams?

How much I love Ash, who appeared to me like a miracle.

How Ash and I became lovers.

“under…”

There was so much I wanted to say, but there was no time.

Maria didn’t bother to ask any further questions about Sylvia’s feelings.

“… Anyway, what do we do now?”

That was the point.

It was this mature attitude hidden behind her playful demeanor that was Maria’s true charm.

Is it because she had parents who indulged her in her mischief and a younger brother who she had to take responsibility for that she developed such a three-dimensional personality?

Sylvia smiled faintly without realizing it, and Maria opened her mouth to face her.

“But the good thing is… at least he doesn’t use magic like he did last time. Even a simpleton like you knows what this means, Sylvia?”

“It looks like you’re not in perfect physical condition.”

“That’s right. Ugh, you can tell just by looking at it. It’s obvious that it’s dirty.”

Maria continued, making an exaggerated gagging sound.

“The moldy clay makes the light look like a flying lizard.”

“Oh, that’s so typical of you, Maria.”

“Your voice is shit and you look shit.”

… I sympathize.”

“It feels like a dick is going into my ears, and a dick is slowly approaching my eyeballs.”

“stop.”

Maria said with a small gurgling sound.

“Come to think of it, Sylvia didn’t really like talking about this kind of thing, did she? Looking at her, I wonder if she’s still barely holding hands with Ash?”

“…”

“… hmm?”

“…”

“Sylvia?”

“We can’t kill the Demon King, but he doesn’t have enough power to overwhelm us either. That’s probably the current situation.”

“… Huh?”

Sylvia gripped the sword tightly in her hand and glared at the Demon King as she muttered.

“Yeah, that’s better. Don’t give up so easily.”

The painful past few years feel so vivid even when I just briefly recall them.

Why the Demon King doesn’t die was something we could think about later.

At least it’s painful.

That was enough for Sylvia.

“Because I still have a long way to go before I can repay you.”

Sylvia braced her legs as if she was going to kick off the ground and fly at any moment.

Maria spoke quietly to Sylvia in an awkward voice.

“Excuse me for making you lose your cool.”

“…?”

“I don’t have much magic left now.”

“What…? Do you ever run out of magic power? You said that distributing magic power is the most basic of the basics…”

“Have you forgotten that this is Ash’s magic, not mine? I am a spirit now. That spirit named Pia is already using Ash’s magic.”

“ah…”

Maria’s blurry form tilted its head.

Her signature gesture that she would show whenever she was troubled.

Sylvia could see it clearly.

“If I’m not going to die anyway, I can’t waste any more magic power. It’s just a war of attrition.”

“What are you going to do?”

“For now, Sylvia, you keep attacking. It won’t revive infinitely, so drain it at least a little. I’ll save my magic for a while.”

“How much is not enough?”

“I’m not using up all my magic. But I need to conserve my magic for a critical moment, and more than anything, I want to keep my defensive magic up…”

“… ah.”

Defensive magic.

Even now, Sylvia’s body was surrounded by Maria’s defensive magic.

“It hurts a lot when you die. This is advice from someone with experience, so take it to heart.”

Maria spoke lightly, but to Sylvia, who knew all too well where she had gained that experience, it sounded very heavy and serious.

Sylvia said, raising her hand holding the sword.

“Okay, take Ash instead.”

“Okay. Of course, if it looks dangerous, I’ll join in.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”

“…so proud…”

Sylvia dashed forward without even listening to Maria’s words.

Then, he grabbed the Demon King’s neck with his empty hands, pushed him against the wall, and struck his head with the handle of his sword.

A bunch of sharp tentacles shot out from the Demon King’s chest, but Sylvia held the blade of her sword with her empty hand and swatted the tentacles away within a short space of time.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Countless tentacles poured out from the Demon King’s body, which was bulging like salamander eggs filled with a thin membrane.

A few strands grazed Sylvia’s cheek, a few burrowed into her waist and thighs, but most were cut off by Sylvia’s sword.

The severed tentacles writhed and yellow liquid sprayed out from the cross-section in all directions.

Sylvia thrust her fist into the writhing mass of tentacles.

The Demon King’s body was once again pushed back greatly and bounced off the wall.

Sylvia stabbed the Demon King’s sagging torso with her sword and pinned it against the wall.

Then he started hitting the Demon King’s face, which was pinned to the wall, with both hands.

“Hold on. I’ll cut you down and beat you to death.”

“Kuuuck,”

“If you don’t die, I will beat you forever.”

The Demon King’s hideous face, crushed mercilessly by Sylvia’s iron armor, muttered with difficulty through its distorted mouth.

“Stupid thing.”

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