-Thwack!
With a crisp sound, Malina's body floated upward. However, Sabrina didn't look particularly pleased. This was because Malina had blocked the leg she swung with one arm. Even her body floating upward was merely her deliberately moving backward after deflecting the impact and using the recoil.
But Sabrina wasn't disappointed. Rather, the one who would truly be disappointed would be Malina, who had failed to kill her.
"You, how exactly?"
"You seem quite curious? You must have felt it. That my body now overflows with more vitality than when you fought me before."
It was exactly as she said.
The Sabrina that Malina remembered didn't show this level of strength and reaction speed. Could it be that she had received some special training and surpassed human limits?
Her aged appearance said otherwise. While her skill at manipulating people and the cunning with which she devised schemes might have grown more concentrated than before, her pure combat ability should have declined.
An ominous thought struck Malina.
"What did you do?""Hmm. How should I explain this? Do you see this?"
Sabrina pointed to her eyepatch. How could she not know? Malina was the very person who had caused her to wear that eyepatch.
On the day she had decided to leave Dead Dagger, Malina had ambushed Sabrina and completely destroyed one of her eyes.
Originally, she had intended to tear through her brain beyond just the eye, but the cunning Sabrina always maintained thorough security around herself, so it ended in failure.
The shadow blade ultimately only reached the eyeball and optic nerve.
Thinking positively, leaving an unhealable wound on Sabrina was actually quite an impressive feat. However, Malina couldn't help but be tormented by that day's failure. If only she had been a little more calm. If only she had been a little faster. If only she had been a little more precise.
Because it wasn't perfectly executed, it had failed, and the fact that she hadn't killed her continued to weigh on her mind. And Malina's anxiety proved exactly right. That day's mistake had become a boomerang returning to the present.
Returning to the story.
Sabrina tapped her eyepatch with her hand a few times, then flipped it backward.
Inside, a perfectly intact eyeball was revealed.
"......"
"What? I thought you'd be shocked and react dramatically, but this is too boring. This makes showing it to you after deliberately building suspense feel pointless."
"......I had roughly guessed it. In the end you joined hands with the Eternal Church and made a deal with them."
Sabrina nodded, indicating it was the correct answer.
"You see, the thing about being human is that aging inevitably comes. Does it make sense that things you built by burning your youth just disappear simply because time has passed? I really hated that."
"So you joined hands with those monsters! What about your pride as a human!"
"Pride? Where was such a thing for us who live by killing and eating people in the first place?"
Sabrina grinned wickedly.
Malina couldn't bear the disgust that smile conveyed and rushed toward Sabrina.
"Ah. Malina. My masterpiece. You surely could have become the leader who would succeed me and lead Dead Dagger."
Sparks flew through the air. Sabrina was seeing and reacting to every sword Malina swung, deflecting them all.
"This filthy organization built with blood! It's not needed!"
"Is that something for you to say, belonging to a terrorist organization bound by blood?"
"We at least! Fight for each other!"
The name Blood Brotherhood was chosen because they wanted to be connected by bonds thicker than blood. It was only because of their actions that the public perceived them as those who turn their surroundings into seas of blood.
Malina's attacks became sharper. Her speed increased, and the black dagger moved with afterimages, slashing at Sabrina's entire body like butchery. But Sabrina was no pushover either. It was none other than she who had taught Malina all her techniques.
Pitch-black weapons erupted from Sabrina's shadow, blocking or deflecting all of Malina's attacks.
"Hahaha! In the past, I couldn't handle even 10! Now surpassing 50 is easy!"
Sabrina laughed. The smile forming on her face made her look even younger.
No, it wasn't an illusion—Sabrina was actually getting younger.
The wrinkles of time on her face were disappearing, and even her scars were diminishing. She was getting younger in real-time during her fight with Malina.
Her hair that had turned white was changing to black, and her skin had gained elasticity and luster. The rejuvenated Sabrina was quite a beauty, appearing to be the same age as Malina.
"Hahahaha! Excellent! Excellent! So this is why those old men were desperate to become believers!"
The evenly matched battle between the two began to gradually shift in Sabrina's favor from a certain point.
-Clang!
When Sabrina swung her hand broadly, Malina couldn't withstand the force and had to be pushed backward.
Malina frowned.
Sabrina wasn't simply younger. Her physical abilities had already transcended human limits. Considering where her regained youth originated from, her ridiculous strength wasn't incomprehensible either.
Malina had to acknowledge it. Sabrina, who possessed mature experience, had finally surpassed her physical prime to become the greatest assassin that no one could match.
"Malina. The reason I kept you alive like this, rather than anyone else, is because I put so much effort into raising you. Having someone else take you away—how disappointing is that?"
Sabrina grinned wickedly while spinning the dagger in one hand with her fingers.
"I considered subduing you again, making you lose your reason, and then using you as top-tier fighting power. But now it's fine. There's no need for that anymore."
-Scrape.
The assassins who had been waiting around slowly tightened their encirclement around Malina.
"Having regained my youth, I will make Dead Dagger great again. So there's no need to raise successors or anything like that anymore. I will reign as leader forever from now on."
To Sabrina, Malina was both her past masterpiece and blemish, and simultaneously her lingering attachment. Having accepted the power of the Crimson Eternity, Sabrina was finally ready to sever that attachment.
"Farewell. Don't worry too much—I'll send all your brothers and sisters together so you won't be lonely."
It was the moment Sabrina was about to give orders to the assassins.
-Crack!
With the sound of something being crushed, one side of the flesh wall swayed greatly. The gazes of Sabrina, the assassins, and Malina turned toward the wall where the sound came from.
-Crack! Crack! Crash!
The sounds grew louder, and the scale of the vibrations became enormous.
Something was coming.
Just as Sabrina was about to say something, the flesh wall burst open with a pop sound, spraying bright red bodily fluid from inside.
What emerged, tearing through that crimson mist, was a knight in pure white armor.
Pure white armor, helmet, and even a cloak. The knight, holding a sword of burning starlight in one hand, gripped some unrecognizable lump of flesh in the other.
-Kiiiiik.
The lump of flesh, only about a handful remaining, was surprisingly still alive. That amazing vitality was not something an ordinary corrupted being could possess.
'That's......'
Sabrina raised her eyebrows. Not only had Osian suddenly appeared by breaking through the wall, but what he held in his hand was one of the bishops of the Eternal Church.
The vitality that remained alive despite being reduced to just a fistful from its original form was something only a bishop-level being could possess.
And remarkably, Osian had reduced such a bishop to this tattered state.
'Don't tell me the sounds we've been hearing were him continuously destroying walls using the bishop as a weapon? Does that make sense?'
A monster that would originally have been several times larger than a human—how many walls had he broken through to reduce it to just a fistful?
When he had made a mess of Cardinal Zaxilos, she had thought he was using some special power, but seeing such an overwhelming performance changed the story.
'This guy is dangerous!'
While Sabrina was wary of Osian, he gazed briefly at the bishop's remains in his hand, then gripped it tightly.
-Crack!
What had been a bishop of the Eternal Church was crushed by Osian's touch. Osian immediately turned the bishop's remains into pure white ash with flames of starlight and dusted it off lightly.
The bishop who had been commanding corrupted beings from behind and attacking Osian died without even being able to return, just like that.
"What's this? Is that Malina?"
Having finished off one bishop, Osian looked at the surrounded Malina and asked.
"You, how did you get here......"
"I just kept breaking walls as I went and ended up like this. More importantly, the situation looks quite bad."
The Dead Dagger assassins had now surrounded Osian as well. Osian stared at Sabrina who commanded them. At that piercing blue-white radiance, Sabrina felt chills run down her spine, but she tried to ignore it.
"This is surprising. Who would have thought prey would come by itself?"
"So you're that woman called Sabrina. Your appearance has changed quite a bit from earlier, but I suppose that doesn't matter."
Osian aimed his blazing starlight at Sabrina. Knowing she had joined hands with Red Eternity, there was no need to show mercy.
Just looking at her rejuvenated appearance, he could tell that Sabrina had also received power from Red Eternity. However, unlike other corrupted beings or believers, she seemed to be guaranteed quite a lot of autonomy.
Perhaps because she was the leader of an organization? The authority and power Sabrina had been granted was probably at least bishop-level, or perhaps equivalent to an archbishop.
This was precisely why Sabrina had confidence.
"Right. If I kill you, I might receive a higher evaluation from that Red Eternity than Zaxilos did. Let's give it a try."
Of course, while she said that, what actually moved were Sabrina's faithful servants, the Dead Dagger assassins.
They, who faithfully carried out only given orders, shuddered greatly when Sabrina snapped her fingers. Red flesh began bursting out, tearing through the black clothing of several violently reacting ones.
She had inscribed the grace of Red Eternity into several assassins to turn them into corrupted beings. However, they were different from ordinary corrupted beings. At the sharp tips of their writhing tentacles, black shadows flickered and dwelt.
Because they were corrupted beings made from excellent assassins as materials, they could also wield the shadow powers they had used during their assassin days. Therefore, they could be called special individuals among corrupted beings.
There were quite a number of such creatures, and as if sensing this commotion, the ceiling of the flesh wall cracked open and began pouring out believers of the Eternal Church.
As the stench of horrific liquid like bright red vomit stimulated their noses, the believers turned their bloodshot eyes toward Osian.
"There's a bastard who dared kill a bishop!"
"Kill him! We must kill that monster to be saved!"
One side consisted of emotionless, cold-hearted assassins, while the other side was followers of an outer god consumed by madness.
Malina stood beside Osian and asked.
"I'll handle those assassins. That's my business anyway."
"No, forget it. You look quite tired, so step back for now."
"Step back? Me?"
"I'm saying this because you'll be in the way. If something goes wrong, you might get caught up in it."
Malina realized that those words weren't simply for showing off or asserting pride. Osian was genuinely advising her, thinking she would get caught up in it.
"How far?"
To Malina's question, Osian turned his head slightly.
Meeting those eyes, Malina felt goosebumps rise all over her body.
"As far as possible."
The blue radiance within the helmet suddenly began blazing with bright yellow flames.