Vol 3 Chapter 55 – At That Moment, a Bizarre Phenomenon Occurred!

“Hmph!” 

“Whoa, there.”

The holy sword, a colossal slab of debris still attached to it, came swinging down with ferocious momentum. Considering Alvarado’s physical strength—the way he swung around such a weighty object with ease—meeting it head-on would be grueling.

Melia had trained, so she likely wouldn’t be crushed, weapon and all. And the holy sword was sturdy, so it probably wouldn’t be destroyed. But her arms would undoubtedly go numb. He wasn’t an opponent she could fight with her strength failing.

“Truly, what ridiculous power…”

That was why Melia had been using the power of her holy sword without reservation from the start of the battle. The power her holy sword possessed was the ability to create a subspace.

She could slice through space itself, creating a dimensional rift, and then leap into it. Naturally, since time and space were different there, to those who remained, it would look as if she had suddenly vanished.

And the events of that world could not interfere with this one. In other words, no attack, of any kind, could reach Melia.

Having honed her skills through special training, she could now move about freely within that subspace.

“Hmph…!” 

“Mmph…”

This allowed her to move within the subspace, create a new rift, and repeatedly strike at his vitals from his blind spots. Since she could never be attacked while moving, the only thing she had to be wary of was a counterattack.

And yet, despite how one-sided this is, he shows no sign of trying to escape. Really, if he had just agreed to be our ally, how much stronger we would have felt.

Melia let out a sigh. If Alvarado had cooperated, the path to world peace would have drawn considerably closer.

But if that’s not to be, then you are a fool who stands in the way of my dream. And strong ones, especially, must be dealt with early on, lest they return even stronger to stand in my way. I do apologize, but you will die here.

But their paths had already diverged. And she couldn’t afford to let such a man live.

If it was a certainty that he would become an obstacle to her future, then he ought to be disposed of sooner rather than later. Melia made her cold-hearted judgment, fixing her gaze on Alvarado from within the subspace…

…Hm?

At that moment, a strange thing happened! Melia had been observing Alvarado, preparing to snuff out his life.

And her eyes met Alvarado’s murky, pitch-black ones. …Yes, they locked gazes so perfectly it was as if a love to last a century was about to begin.

…He’s looking this way? N-No, that can’t be, right? I mean, I’m in a subspace that can’t be observed from his side. Is this like how a cat sometimes stares off into empty space?

As beads of cold sweat formed on her brow, Melia desperately tried to deny the thought that had just surfaced. Right, it was impossible. No one from that side could perceive someone inside the subspace.

That was precisely why she was able to wield such immense power. No matter how hard he stared, not even a shadow would appear.

Not even a hint of a presence, which the truly strong might be able to sense, could leak out to the other side. This absolute, invisible space was the subspace that Melia’s holy sword could create.

And yet, he was staring. Alvarado was staring so intently it was as if he could bore a hole right through his target.

Th-This is unsettling. Let’s just end this quickly. I’ll move again, to another blind spot…

She figured it had to be a coincidence, but unsettling was unsettling. She would just kill Alvarado quickly and free herself from this uncomfortable feeling.

With that thought, she moved through the subspace. She slipped into Alvarado’s blind spot, ready to deliver a fatal blow that he could not possibly defend against this time…

After moving to his blind spot, she tried to lock her eyes firmly onto his vitals, and… She found herself staring right into Alvarado’s crimson-black eyes.

“…We really are making eye contact!?”

Now certain, Melia was startled. As she froze in shock, Alvarado raised his holy sword toward her.

But that was meaningless, Melia scoffed. She didn’t know how he was able to see her inside the subspace, but that was as far as he could go.

…Well, that alone was bizarre enough. However, no one but her could interfere with what was inside the subspace.

That was an undeniable fact.

“Kya?!”

But, as if to say he didn’t know or care about such rules, Alvarado swung the holy sword with all his might. Then, with a sound so sharp she wanted to cover her ears, a crack appeared in space itself.

CRACK!

In other words, it reached the subspace. Seeing the fractured subspace, Melia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wh-What in the, in the, in the…?!”

The shock was so great she couldn’t even form proper words. Not once since she had truly become Melia had she ever been so flustered.

Alvarado trudged heavily toward the fissure. That meant he was getting closer to Melia, which, to be brutally honest, was terrifying.

Alvarado tossed his holy sword aside, reached his hands toward the crack… and with a horrid grinding sound, began to tear the fissure open!

creeeak, greeeind

“I-Impossible! You can’t pry open a subspace! That’s impossible with mere physical strength! Without the power of my holy sword, something like that—?!”

Tearing space apart with one’s own strength should be impossible. Even Melia, who could manipulate subspace at will, could only do it using her holy sword.

Therefore, even if he had a starting point, there was no way a human could do such a thing! The screaming of space as it tore grew louder and louder—it had to be her imagination.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE

It had to be. Otherwise, it made no sense. The fact that the fissure appeared to be growing wider and wider had to be a trick of the eyes.

Melia’s face grew paler and paler, and then… With a final, deafening noise, space shattered.

SHATTER!

It shattered. A human, with his brute strength, had torn space asunder.

Melia stared at the scene, utterly dumbfounded. And then, the one who slowly poked his head through the opening was Alvarado, a massive grin plastered on his face.

“Hellooooo…!” 

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”

Melia let out a truly genuine scream. She felt a slight dampness in her crotch, but she was too panicked to care, letting out a shriek as youthful as a child’s.