Chapter 88: Sister Friede [21]

Tap! Swoosh! Tap! Swoosh!

The sequence continued over and over again.

I mixed the techniques together, sometimes copying Sister Friede exactly and other times changing the movement halfway through to suit my own style.

After all, I wasn’t trying to become Sister Friede—I was trying to become someone capable of defeating her.

The training continued for another hour before I finally stopped. I lowered the scythe and breathed out slowly.

My breathing was heavier than before, but my hands were steady.

There was nothing more I could gain by repeating the same movements here.

At this point, further training would only delay the inevitable.

It was time to face Sister Friede again, and hopefully kill her on my fourth attempt.

If killing her still proved impossible, then I only needed to reach the altar, get the dagger, and stab her with it.

Weakening her would already make everything much easier.

"Right..."

I inhaled deeply —he smell of smoke and burning wood filled my lungs. Even after all these months, the town below was still burning. The flames never weakened, the buildings never completely collapsed and the smoke never disappeared.

Everything remained exactly as it had been on the day this place was destroyed, trapped forever inside this recollection of the past.

For a moment, I stared down at the town.

I couldn’t help feeling pity for the people who had died here. Thousands of lives had ended in one tragedy, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

This had already happened.

There was no one left for me to save.

I pushed those thoughts aside and turned toward the piles of ash beside me.

"Well, my friends..."

Silence.

"I might actually win this time and not come back here, so I suppose I should say goodbye while I still have the chance."

Unsurprisingly, the knights gave me no response.

I waited for a few seconds anyway.

"Quiet as always, huh?"

I smirked.

"But if I’m unlucky, Sister Friede might kill me again and I’ll end up right back here for my final attempt."

My smile weakened slightly.

"Hopefully that doesn’t happen."

I rubbed the side of my neck.

"I’ve already been decapitated enough times to confidently tell you that it isn’t pleasant."

The ashes remained silent, and i just stared at them.

Then another thought suddenly came to me.

Was I actually starting to lose my mind?

I had been living alone for months, training every day and now holding conversations with piles of ash.

That probably wasn’t a good sign.

Then again...

People who talked to themselves were supposedly very intelligent.

At least, I was pretty sure I had heard that somewhere.

I nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

I was fine.

Probably...I am completely fine lads.

And I was definitely smart.

At least...

I thought so.

I stood up and made my way toward the church, climbing the stairs until I once again stood before the two massive doors.

"Here we go again."

Darkness spread across my body, wrapping around my armor before gathering around my neck. A few seconds later, the missing pieces had completely formed, covering my neck in thick black armor. After what had happened during my previous attempts, I wasn’t going to give Sister Friede another easy opportunity to cut my head off.

My scythe was already in my hand, just in case she decided to welcome me with another swing to the neck.

I planted the butt of the scythe against the ground and placed both hands against the doors. With a strong push, they slowly opened, their hinges releasing a long creak that echoed throughout the church.

I grabbed my scythe again and stepped inside. The massive doors slowly closed behind me with a heavy thud.

Immediately, I spread my senses throughout the church.

Thankfully, Sister Friede didn’t attack me the moment I entered this time. She was kneeling before the altar again, right beside a small table covered with candles and several small statues whose purpose I didn’t know.

More importantly, somewhere around that altar was the dagger I needed.

That was my real objective.

I began walking slowly through the church, keeping my scythe ready while my senses remained focused on Sister Friede. My boots struck the marble floor with every step, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent building while the pieces of my armor shifted slightly with my movements.

"You have returned again... child."

Sister Friede slowly turned her head toward me.

I stopped walking and smiled.

"Did you miss me? It took me quite a while to come back this time."

"Certainly not." Her voice remained as calm as ever. "I have long since lost my sense of time."

Well, I suppose that was what happened when someone spent thousands of years trapped inside a world where they couldn’t age or die through normal means. A few months probably felt like a couple of minutes to her by now.

Sister Friede slowly rose from her kneeling position and reached for the scythe resting beside her. Her slender fingers wrapped around its shaft before she turned around to face me.

"Child, do you not feel tired?"

"Tired of what?" I tilted my head.

"Of dying by my hands."

I stared at her for a moment before shaking my head.

"Tired? Nah. I’m not stopping until I’ve killed you."

"And why do you desire my death so badly?" she asked. "I am already dead, after all."

I smacked my lips slightly as I thought about how to answer.

"Well, I want to grow stronger as quickly as possible, and unfortunately for you, killing you will help me do that." I rested the shaft of my scythe against my shoulder. "Besides, you’re not exactly human anymore. You’re a monster now, so I don’t have to feel too guilty about it."

Sister Friede didn’t answer.

Her figure disappeared.

There it is.

I felt her presence appear on my left, followed immediately by the sound of a scythe tearing through the air toward my head.

But this time, I was ready.

I lowered myself into a slight crouch, allowing the frost-covered blade to pass over my head. During my previous attempts, I would have immediately tried to counterattack after avoiding the first swing.

Not anymore.

I already knew what came next.

The moment her blade passed over me, I brought my own scythe toward the right side of my neck.

Clang!

My weapon shook violently as Friede suddenly changed the direction of her attack. Just as I had expected, she had redirected the missed swing toward my neck, only for her blade to collide with mine instead.

A small smile appeared on my face.

Got you.

Several black tentacles erupted from my back and struck the floor behind me. They pushed against the marble with enough force to launch my body forward, allowing me to drive my armored knee toward Friede’s face.

She reacted quickly and stepped backward before my knee could connect.

I landed on the ground.

And stopped.

I didn’t chase her.

Sister Friede’s eyes narrowed slightly.

During our previous fights, that retreat would have fooled me. I would have immediately followed her, thinking I had finally forced her onto the defensive, only to walk directly into whatever counterattack she had prepared.

I had fallen for that trick enough times.

Not again.

For the first time since our fight began, neither of us immediately attacked. Friede remained several meters away from me with her scythe held loosely at her side, while I kept mine raised in front of my body.

Then she moved.