Polymath Redux

Chapter 18//Ego Weapon Awakening

Heart-rate rising, blood pumping clarity and a cold shiver down the spine. There wasn’t any time to think about what to do; as dictated by her training, Marianne swiftly thrust her sword upwards to knock away her opponent’s weapon. They were hard and heavy- like hitting against a wall- but using the weight of her swing she propelled her body forward and kicked back the knight who had been caught off guard. A soldier who relied solely on their sword was foolish. They had drilled this into her since day one of her training.

Another knight came rushing forward as one was thrown back. As his blade came down, she had swiftly evaded with her rather slender frame and made her counterattack. With one hand firmly around the handle of the sword and the other directly on the blade- carefully enough so she didn’t cut herself- she drove the tip of the blade straight into the gaps between the knight’s helmet to stab him directly in the face. “Ugh...!” the knight squealed as he fell over. Was he dead? There was no time to check, and she had to move onto the next target.

In the first place, swords were a horrendous choice to fight against heavily armoured knights. ‘Enhance Strength’; applying the strengthening augmentation spell around her arms she jumped in front of another knight and smashed his helmet with her sword as if it were a percussive instrument. The knight staggered back as he felt the loud noise banging in his ears. Taking this opportunity she quickly applied another augmentation spell on herself, ‘Blade Sharpening’, only around the tip so it could penetrate through the weakest part of the opponent’s armour. She thrust the blade into the joints to first disarm him and then kicked him away. Again, the point was to take on these knights to the best of her abilities and not to ensure every kill. If they stood up again after that, then she’d deal with them at that time.

“Dammit, how’d it come to this?” she grimaced as she took a poised stance.

Three knights suddenly lunged at her from all sides. There wasn’t anything she could do to avoid all of them. What she could do was to minimize the damage. She engaged with one of the knights, blocking his attack by using her sword as a defensive tool, and dampened the damage she took from the other two with the ‘Enhance Defence’ augmentation. That said, it wasn’t such a convenient spell that would allow her to completely negate damage, thus she had suffered non-fatal cuts and bruises as she took the hit with her body.

With ‘Enhance Strength’ she pushed away the knight that was engaging her and focused her attention back to the other two. This time, with both hands she grasped the blade portion of her sword and used it as a club to smash the armour of the other two knights with the thick, solid hilt portion of her sword. Her blade’s integrity was already compromised and without further enhancement magic to sharpen it, it wouldn’t really be effective as a sword at this point. Using her whatever part of her blade to the best of its ability was all she could do. She seriously dented one knights’ armour and completely crushed the chest plate of another. Turning her attention back, she smashed the helmet- and subsequently the head- of the other knight with her enhanced strength.

However, using augmentation magic upon more augmentation in such quick succession like this was undoubtedly exhausting. That said, there was an even bigger problem with using these spells. ‘Enhance Strength’, ‘Enhance Defence’, ‘Blade Sharpen’, they were all useful spells that had been taught to her since first entering the army, but that was the problem. Despite offering great utility if every soldier knew them wouldn’t that mean it was useless in a way? If one enhanced strength and the other enhanced defence, then that would only bring the situation to equilibrium and the advantage of using the spell would be lost. “Tch,” she clicked her tongue in annoyance as she knocked away another knight with her boot.

That said, if anyone’s augmentation magic was superior, it would be Marianne’s. She trained her ability to have the greatest effect. Instead of having ‘no effect’ against these knights, it was merely ‘ineffective’- a minor but important difference. “Hahh... haahh... crap,” she was almost out of breath now. Even after all that she only confirmed four or so kills and there were at least another twenty all standing around waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike her. They were like wolves; the moment she showed any signs of faltering or weakness they’d pounce at her. Perhaps it was because they were knights but they never acted in a way that went against their code of chivalry. It would’ve been over already if they just got rid of their honour and tossed sand or rocks at her en masse or something. At least, that was one advantage she had over these people, she didn’t care about preserving the ‘prettiness’ of a killing floor. But for how long could she keep them at bay with such tactics?

The enemy’s movements were also a little odd. They were extremely well coordinated even though they never uttered a word to each other- like they were just puppets being controlled by another person. Was this the result of their training or something else? Either way, despite how well they were moving they never seemed to come at her intending to kill. No, they were thrusting at her furiously, and if she wasn’t careful, she could easily lose her life, but they kept at a pace she could barely keep up with- almost intentionally. As one knight was knocked back, another swiftly came to fill the spot- like the tides of the sea.

Swords were indeed made to cut humanoid shapes, but not really meant to clash against each other or heavy armour. With a quick glance down at her sword she noticed small chips and bits breaking off. After a few more swings it’d probably shatter completely. A knight rushed at her, she blocked his attack and tripped his legs up as his balance was dependent on her. There was no mercy to the fallen over knight as she immediately plunged her sword straight through the gaps between his helmet and armour: his neck. “There are still so many left...” she couldn’t help but leak out a small laughter. “Yeah, I always wanted to be a Major,” she wryly comforted to herself.

The faint white glow around her sword that indicated the ‘Blade Sharpen’ augmentation was active flickered. The problem with using so many augmentation spells was that they drained a considerable amount of mana, and unfortunately Marianne wasn’t especially known for having a large pool of it. She probably only had about 10% ~ 20% left, which would translate to about a minute more of her augmentations. After that, it was probably over. Looking at the dead knights on the floor she took solace in the achievement that all her training added up to something even if it was ultimately meaningless.

“Dammit,” she cursed as her vision was blurring and her strength waned from the blood loss. She avoided fatal damage until now, but the small cuts and bruises she was getting were adding up. She turned to see how Graham and Ann were doing.

Ann was at the centre so she was safe for now, but a made a ghastly pale and terrified expression. Honestly, if there was any way for them to all get out of here alive, it would be Ann. It was unclear what she did, but before she lost her memories, she was able to take down that incomprehensible monster. Unfortunately, in her amnesiac state she was just another civilian that had to be protected.

Graham was managing fairly well considering he had no other weapons. His advantage was that he was training to become a mage, therefore had a larger pool of mana than Marianne. That said, “Sh- shit! You bastards, take this!” he shouted as he shot a ball of flames from his hands. Just a few weeks ago he didn’t even know how to make a spark, but now he was casually tossing out ‘Fire Bullets’ left and right. However, that was the problem; his mana reserves weren’t likely to last long if he kept up that expenditure rate. Yet, what other choice did he have? It was the same for her.

Being overwhelmed, he missed one knight that had gotten within striking range of his back. “Graham!” she shouted, but it didn’t make it in time as the enemy struck down his back with a direct hit.

“Gahah...!” he shrieked painfully as he fell to his knees. A massive gaping hole and a torrent of blood gushed out from his wound. “No... I refuse... to let it... end... like this...!” he shouted as he launched a massive burst of flame towards the sky. ‘Why was he doing that?!’ Marianne wondered as she fended off another strike. Was it meant to serve as a flare? But with them being so far off from the garrison would any of them notice?

She soon realized Graham’s intentions however, as the flames rushed back onto the earth like rain. The knights probably couldn’t see it due to their helmets, but the moments they touched those flames, not only did they burn up, but their armour melted away as a noxious purple and black haze leaked out. Immediately several knights shouted in agony. Five knights were killed from that attack and three more were incapacitated.

“Heh... serves you bastards right... How do you like that? My... Flare... Acid...” he scoffed as he fell to the floor unconscious and bleeding out.

“Graham!” Marianne shouted out but wasn’t able to get to him as her path had been impeded by knights. Somehow, between her and Graham they had taken out ten or eleven knights. It was an impressive feat with just two garrison soldiers; it truly illustrated how effective magic was in combat even if it was used by an amateur, as well as her own training. However, that wasn’t enough. There were still around a dozen and a half more knights remaining. “You’ll pay for that!” she shouted as she felt the bloodied rage take over her. She didn’t care about conserving mana anymore- it was clear she wouldn’t make it out alive anyway.

She focused her ‘Enhance Strength’ augmentation around her feet to move faster and give more power to her kicks. She danced around the battlefield, cutting down knight after knight. She’d kick them, stab them, and pummel them down with her sword. She did whatever she had to in order to defeat them. With enough rage and determination she was able to cleave a man cleanly in half with just a single swing.

One kill, two kills, three... but her fuel ran out at the most inopportune time as a knight caught her off guard and slashed down at her chest. She moved back just in time to avoid a direct killing blow, but now she had to fight with this massive cut. It stung. It felt like her entire body was on fire and her consciousness was being physically dragged down to the ground as were her eyelids. How simple it would be for her to just close her eyes and let everything end. ‘So tired,’ she muttered. She was sorry to Ann for not being able to properly protect her, but that couldn’t be helped. “Caroline... Mordred... Captain August...” she uttered under her breath. The name of her friend in the capital who she couldn’t say goodbye to, the person she loved who she couldn’t confess her love for in the end, and her captain for letting him down by dying here.

She staggered back a few steps, but at that moment another knight came in to strike at her arm and managed to cut it off. Her entire arm from below the shoulders had been detached and fell to the floor like a lump of meat. “Arrgghhh!” she cried out not from the pain- she couldn’t feel anything due to the numbness- but because it had come as such a visual shock to her. She quickly took in deep breaths and dropped her sword to hold her remaining stump of an arm, but at that moment a sword struck through her back and pierced through her body.

‘In the end, is this all I can do?’ she asked herself and tried to stand once more, but her body fell collapsed limped and paralysed to the ground. With her dying breath she reached out to Ann who came rushing to support her. ‘Run away,’ she wanted to tell her but the words clung to her throat and refused to leave. ‘I’m sorry’...

“Marianne! Mari… ne…!” her hearing dulled, and eventually a cold, desolate darkness overtook her.

*

*

*

“No...! Marianne! Graham!” Ann called for them, but there was no response. Seeing their unmoving, corpse-like state, at that moment flashes of forgotten memories started to return. It was just like this; a horrific scene of her comrades being slaughtered by the monster with many eyes. “Not... again, I’ll lose my friends again?” her face felt warm as tears dripped down her cheeks.

Suddenly, it was as though time stopped around her. The air was dry and unmoving, those sinister knights ceased their movements and the world grew a cold and dark grey. “Do you want to save them?” the childish voices of young boys asked in unison.

“What? Who’s there? Who are you?!” Ann asked. She glanced around in panic but the origin of the voice was nowhere to be seen.

“I am... we are the light and darkness that resides within your soul. We are contracted through the weapon to become your strength.” It suddenly spoke of things she could not understand, but she felt this voice was nostalgic. Listening to her heart she reached out and took hold of the twin, monochromatic daggers she had hanging by her waist. “Yes, that’s right. You may have forgotten, and we may have failed you, but if you trust us once more, then we can help you forge your own future. We can become the sole light in the darkness, or we can snuff out even the most potent light with our darkness. The choice is yours. Please... Accept us once again.”

“I... I remember nothing, but... I will trust you!” Ann decided and tightly grasped at her twin daggers. As she did, the daggers glimmered with a faint and comforting blue glow. “This is... my Ego Weapon...” she started to remember. Like a torrent of rushing water, images of her past filled her head. Painfully, like it was trying to split her head open, but she endured it all. Tears rushed down her face as the most recent memory of having lost everyone under her unit came back to her. “I remember now... about everything.”

Two silhouettes of young boys stood before her, one black and one white. They stretched out their arms, “welcome back, Petra!” greeted the twin Egos of her daggers.

“Yeah,” she nodded with conviction as she took their hands and stood back up. She peered down at the two unconscious and quickly dying bodies of the friends she made here and silently told them, “please wait a little longer. I’ll definitely save you two!” ‘Petra’ took a stance with her daggers as time moved forward once more.

The knights, having noticed that something had changed about her took a more defensive stance. However, that was not enough to protect them from the fangs of the First Prince’s Assassin. She moved swifter than the wind and lighter than feathers. On the battlefield, the moment the opponent saw her figure was the moment they died. Her shimmering blades sliced through the thick plated armour of the knights like a hot knife through butter. Killing had become as easy as breathing to her now.

In a single movement she had taken the lives of a handful of Knights. Their bodies fell with a loud ‘clunk’ as their armour hit the floor. Surprisingly, none of them showed any signs of fear. ‘They’re very well trained,’ she commented to herself, but that was not enough. In the blink of an eye all but one knight had fallen: the commanding and most decorated knight. His armour had a mixture of gold and silver woven into it. Hs sword was larger than the others as well, but he clearly had the skills to wield it effectively. She respected that, but she would not give in to it.

The knight charged at her with his large two-handed sword poised to straight. His swings were heavy but also frighteningly agile. It was obvious he was no stranger to combat and even blocked a few of Petra’s strikes even though the same attack had killed several other knights. “You’re not bad,” she praised, but the knight remained silent. Upon this battlefield littered with bodies, she navigated briskly without tripping over, however the knight could not afford the same manoeuvrability. She used this to her advantage as she moved in silently behind him and struck a defining blow. His armour was sundered in two, exposing his softer insides. “I’m ending this!” she shouted as she activated the special skill granted to all Ego Weapons. Each special skill was different, but it especially suited her profession.

‘Double Assassinate’. As the name suggested, it was a skill that allowed her to use two ‘Assassinates’ simultaneously. Without hesitation she struck at the knight’s back. The attack was so potent that even with her incomplete version of Assassinate it cleft his body in half.

As soon as the battle was over she fell to her knees. “Haah... hahh... hahahaha...!” she laughed. “I did it, Prince Bradley... and I will return to your side soon.”