"Ah… you've uncovered my identity. The general slayer, despite being a general herself. Too bad you're going to die tonight!" she began to reach closer and closer, her grip on the handle tightening.
Bastle looked down at his feet, a small almost unsettling smile creeping onto his face.
"The moon is awfully pretty tonight. General Mumixir, you were completely right."
Lunan's finger twitched. A smile crept across his face.
Liluth stopped dead in her tracks.
"What's… going on?"
Her eyes widened.
Lunan slowly got up from his fallen position, patting the dust off his body. He then pointed to his slashed shirt.
"As you can see, I'm very much alive.
"A cut so shallow, it didn't even reach my skin. From the beginning, I knew that Bastle wasn't the murderer."
Liluth stared blankly, her grip on her rapier loosening. Lunan continued to speak.
"The murderer couldn't have been any regular soldier. Had to be someone with access to the logs. Until you mentioned your baseless suspicions of Bastle, I ruled you out. In the end, I knew you would follow me to his location. I quickly devised a short plan that Bastle followed pretty well."
"We make quite the duo, huh?" Bastle grinned, bumping fists with Lunan. He looked up, thinking for a few seconds, before speaking again.
"Oh, and all that mess you were talking about how you knew my personality, and you knew what I was gonna do? Fuck you. You don't know me at all."
"Th-this is… agh! Damn it! Then I'll kill you both!"
[Spirit Cast: Sword Augmentation]
She held her sword up straight, holding her off-hand to its side.
Mana accumulated.
The thin blade of the rapier was encased in a shield of mana, essentially changing the weapon type completely. It went from a simple rapier to a large great sword, with the newly created blade made out of mana.
Bastle placed his hand on Lunan's shoulder.
"The moon is beautiful. Elegant, you could say. I'll be able to handle this myself."
He pulled his sword out, again. Lunan had no complaints and watched silently, taking a few steps backward.
[Cast: Flashstep]
Liluth disappeared, reappearing in front of Bastle.
Flipping her sword to hold it with an ice-pick grip, she struck Bastle.
Clang!
Bastle was quick to block the strike.
"Hm. The old me wouldn't have been able to perceive such a quick strike."
The force of the clash blew wind into his face, sending his pale blue hair fluttering into the air.
"Shut up!"
She pushed him off her, sending him back a few feet. Of course, he gracefully landed.
"Someone's angry."
He ran at her, his sword following behind.
Slash!
He swiped his sword at her chest.
The strike was blocked, just barely. Liluth used the flat side of her sword to block the strike.
They engaged in several clashes. Seemingly equally matched.
"You're persistent."
[Cast: Moon Sword Art: Crescent Slash]
Bastle's blade illuminated white.
With a strong grip, he swung his sword vertically. The strike did not connect.
Liluth grinned.
"Hah!-"
The bright moonlight aura emanating from Bastle's blade ejected, shooting out in a crescent shape.
Liluth groaned, the moonlight mana connecting with her chest.
"Keuk!-"
"You're weaker than I thought."
Liluth fell on her back.
Bastle raised his sword into the air, moonlight beams bouncing off the clean white metal. The rays continued to bounce off until they started to become absorbed by the metal.
He ran toward Liluth.
Liluth stared at the blade, now festering and flashing with bright colors of yellow, purple, and white. Glowing almost obnoxiously.
And then, he soared into the air.
"In one strike, I'll end this."
Badump!
His heart pounded.
A ridiculously intense pain surged through his body.
Subconsciously, his grip on the sword weakened, dropping onto the floor.
Clang!
He followed after, falling onto the ground.
"Bastle!" Lusn yelled out, his eyes widened.
[Cast: Flashstep]
He managed to catch Bastle.
There were no physical signs of anything happening to him. Lunan carefully placed him down.
"I'll leave no time for you to rest!"
Liluth kicked Lunan's side, sending him into a tree.
"Ack!-" he spat out.
As his body collided with the tree, drops of blood leaked from his mouth, leaving a tangy iron taste lingering on his tongue.
— This is dangerous… I didn't think of such a variable.
Each step that she took seemed louder and louder.
— Wait.
[Cast: Infernal Spark]
She stopped in her place, clutching her shoulder.
"Gy-gyaah!"
Something strange was occurring.
The skin on her shoulder, looked like it was expanding slowly. Stretching and bulging erratically. She collapsed to her knees.
It expanded further until it finally exploded.
Bsh!
Inside her shoulder muscles, an explosion occurred. Detaching her right arm from her body.
Red mist floated in the sky, along with chunks of human meat sticking and sliding down the trees nearby.
Some blood sprayed onto Lunan's face, painting him red.
Liluth's face grew cold. It took just a few seconds for all the adrenaline to run off, and for her to let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"My… arm!"
Tears ran down her cheek uncontrollably.
[Cast: Infernal Spark]
Her eyes began to bulge out of her head, veins becoming prominent. Beneath her skin, it appeared as if another explosion was pushing at her skull.
Pop!
Her head exploded. Brain matter and several bodily fluids painted the surrounding area.
Isalda van Mahaut stepped forward behind the corpse, the glow of her right eye fading away. Strands of white hair flowed gracefully.
"General Lunan Mumixir. You were correct. To think a fellow general would end up betraying the kingdom."
— Beforehand, I had mentioned to her my plan and requested her backup. Thank goodness. If I hadn't done that I would have been dead.
His eyes wandered to the headless, armless corpse.
Then, the memory of how exactly she died flooded back into his head like a tidal wave, banging against the insides of his skull.
The expanding of her skull, the pure unbridled fear that was evident in her face. It was all a reminder that war was cruel.
He touched his face, feeling the wetness of the blood and mushy brain matter.
— I have to…. throw up!