The Sword Saint's Second Life As a Fox Girl

“Damn it,” Erin muttered in her heart. Front and back, her path was blocked by two brothers of the same faith and race. They were both Apostles. To make matters worse, these two were master practitioners of Water Magic, and she just so happened to be standing on a bridge with a strong and large water current just underneath.

“Let’s make this easy for all of us, shall we?” the scarred Naga proposed.

“You don’t need to be so considerate. I take it hard,” Erin retorted with a sneer.

Irsul grimaced. “You’re as uncouth as everyone says you are.”

“Who’s ‘everyone’ in this context?”

“Just about everyone you have encountered or crossed paths with.”

“Hmm… that’s a lot of people.”

“Brother, enough words,” said Irmin. “We must not be fooled or distracted by her sharp tongue. She may be scheming or stalling as we speak.”

“I’m being overestimated here. How wonderful.”

Irmin tutted and brandished his trident, which was formed from the water he drew from the rushing river. The formation of the trident was quite the spectacle, streams of water converging together and taking the shape of a trident.

Erin responded with the manifestation of another sword into her free hand. “Now, I suppose we’re even?”

Irmin lunged without a retort.

Erin received the thrust with a smirk; her blade fell between the prongs. She felt her opponent’s strength. It was the same as before, but she was not the same. She pushed back. She marvelled at the surprising ease. She didn’t expect there to be such a huge difference. She flicked the trident away and swung with her other arm.

Irmin twisted and retracted his trident. He twirled his weapon to parry Erin’s assault. The contact was brief, but he felt her strength. His hands quivered from that short clash. At the same time, thin streams of water rose through the tiny cracks on the bridge. He had to resort to a spell for an edge, or else this fight was as good as lost.

Erin did not wait for the water streams to finish their purpose. She pressed forward with a flurry of attacks, cutting down the water streams as Irmin stepped away from her.

He failed to escape her reach, which was ever-determined and precise. Irmin took a strike with his trident’s handle. A single blow was enough to shake him to his knees and shoulders. She had gotten much stronger, he realised.

With a few more strikes, Erin shattered Irmin’s guard. However, she couldn’t commit. Irmin was not alone. She ducked low and spun with a wide swing.

Irsul leapt into the air after his furtive attack failed. “Do you have eyes on your back?” He nearly lost his legs to Erin’s counterattack.

“I can be blind and still see through your attacks.”

“We shall see!” Unlike his brother, Irsul wielded a sword with a blade that curved like a crescent moon. The reach was shorter than a trident, but the wound it would inflict was more decisive. He conjured a barrage of Water Spears and trained them on Erin like a hail of arrows.

Erin summoned her Aura Domain, and the Water Spears dispersed into droplets when they touched the violet mist. While she handled one brother, she didn’t neglect the other. She glanced behind and saw Irmin preparing an attack. Water was gathering around the head of the trident. She darted towards him and took a swipe.

Irmin immediately stopped his casting and dodged out of the way. “You insolent— Where’s your honour?”

“I have cast it away along with my naivety.”

Irmin snorted. “Have it your way, Fae.”

Erin raised an eyebrow. She saw his eyes flickering. A signal, she assumed. She glanced behind and saw Irsul placing a hand on the bridge.

“You asked for this,” said Irmin.

Erin clicked her tongue. The bridge shook violently and trembled intensely. Something had struck the bridge from underneath. It was water, a blast of water. The Nagas intended to bring the bridge town.

“What now, Fae?” Irmin taunted.

“I’ll take my leave,” Erin said and stared at the end of the bridge. Her vision warped and shrunk, and when it stretched back to normal, she was on the other side of the bridge. She heaved a sigh of relief. She was not certain she would have succeeded. Thankfully, she did, though her swords had dissipated from her hands. The skill took a lot out of her, stamina and concentration-wise.

“What!?” Irmin exclaimed. Erin disappeared right in front of him. He looked around in confusion and found her on land. “How did you—” He didn’t get to finish his inquiry as the violent water ploughed through the bridge, bringing it down.

“Idiots,” she huffed. Erin didn’t stay and wait for the two brothers to resurface. They were natives of the water. They were definitely not harmed in the destruction. She would have liked to end those two threats for good, but time wasn’t on her side, and a demon was on her tail. She dashed into the forest, leaving the two Nagas to deal with the enraged demon.

****

“Damn it!” Irmin roared as he climbed onto land from the river. “We were played!!”

“For an expert of the sword, she handles Magic Arts with some degree of mastery.”

“It is as I said, isn’t it? She’s one sly fox.”

“Not only is she sly, but she’s also strong too. Stronger than what you have told me.”

“That’s impossible. We were evenly matched before. But now… there’s such a huge difference. Impossible. She couldn’t have gained that many levels in such a short amount of time. She must have employed some illicit means.”

“Whatever the truth is, we have let her slip through our hands. It is out of our boundaries for now. We'd best head back to the cove.”

“We’re retreating? You can’t be serious, brother.”

“I am serious, Irmin. We are not the only ones after her. She has gone too far away from the water. We will be extremely inadequate if we give chase deep into the lands. And I doubt that our friends won’t take the opportunity to eliminate a few enfeebled hindrances.”

“...They wouldn’t. The Fae is the mark, and she’s strong. They wouldn’t be so foolish as to—”

“But they will, Irmin. I know they will, because we will if the circumstances are reversed.”

“Curses!” Irmin groaned.

“You need not fret, Irmin. The capital is surrounded by lakes and rivers. If the Fae wishes to leave the capital, she will eventually have to face us. And when that happens, she will not escape.”

Just then, an eerie growl reverberated from the woods on the other side of the river. Chill and shivers went down the spines of the two Naga brothers.

“Demon!” Irsul gasped. “This is the presence of a demon!”

“Why’s a demon here of all places!?” Irmin exclaimed. “Is it the fox again? It must be her. It’s always her. The demon is looking for her.”

“Doesn’t matter who the demon is looking for. The demon is coming our way. We must be gone before we are seen,” Irsul said and dove back into the river.

Irmin glanced at the forest behind him, his eyes seething with anger and indignation. With a huff, he expelled his rage and dove into the river after his brother, vowing in his heart to be the one who would take the fox down.

****

“There are so many of them…” Erin muttered under her breath as she sprinted through the forest. She could sense the numerous presence of Apostles and Acolytes all around her. They had her surrounded, but none of them had their move. She could only speculate that each of them was waiting for the other party to move first, to weaken her, before moving in for the decisive strike themselves. Their greed was Erin’s sole saving grace. If they worked together, she would have no way to escape. “So, which of you is going to come at me first?” she whispered. She made sure her ridiculing expression was bared for all to see.

Then, Erin heard the sounds of battle from in front.

“Aedan,” she gasped. She quickened her pace.

A chill suddenly enveloped her body. Erin knew this feeling well. It was her Sixth Sense, warning her of her imminent death if she continued with her current course of action. The path she took was flattened with frequent traffic, yet riddled with dried, dead leaves. It was easy to hide a trap among such an unkempt road, but Erin saw through it immediately after her Sixth Sense alerted her. She kicked a stone to the path ahead, where the dried leaves had piled up slightly more than in other spots. The moment the stone struck the pile, wooden spikes erupted from the ground and claws carved out of wood came swinging down from above from both sides.

“Damn you!” Someone yelled.

Erin turned towards the sound, manifesting a sword into her hand.

A half-naked, burly man emerged from the bushes and lunged at Erin. He wielded a club with a chain attached to a metal ball of spikes.

Erin dodged the spike ball swinging towards her head and countered with a slash across the burly man’s waist. “Not enough,” she tutted. The cut felt shallow. She spun around and brought her blade to the burly man’s neck.

The burly man raised his arm in defence. He wore metal bracers on both of his arms. He had a smirk on his face. He was confident—

—but he had overestimated his armour and himself. Erin’s blade, now glowing faintly in violet, cut right through his raised arm like a hot knife through butter.

“Furiosa!” the burly man shouted in a panic. “Lend thy humble servant your—” Whatever chant he was reciting, it was left unfinished as Erin’s blade carved right through his neck along with his arm.

Erin turned on her heel and dashed towards Aedan without waiting for the burly man’s corpse to collapse.

A sharp and loud sound rang through the forest.

“A gunshot!” Erin immediately recognised. The battle had escalated to such a level. She had to make haste.

Another shot rang out and her heart turned heavy.

“Please be fine,” she chanted in her heart.

Another shot rang out and the screams of a girl followed. It was Katya’s scream.

She kicked off the ground and she streaked through dense vegetation, emerging into a small clearing. There, she saw Aedan pointing a gun at a heavily garbed woman with two bodies lying beside him. Katya was not with Aedan, but at the woman’s side. From the looks of it, it wasn’t by choice. The woman had her hand on Katya’s head, grasping firmly.

The woman took notice of Erin. She turned to her with a gracious smile. “You must be Erynthea.”

“Who are you?” Erin questioned.

“A psychotic bitch, that’s who,” Aedan answered with a sneer.

“That’s no way to treat a lady, boy.”

“I agree,” Aedan retorted. “But what about it? There’s no lady here.”

Erin frowned, but she held back from retorting.

“Looks like we got off on the wrong foot here. Pleased to meet you, Erynthea. I am Merith, an Apostle of Chronos.”

“Apostle of Chronos… didn’t I already kill one of you before?”

“You have. She was my sister.”

“Good riddance. One less bitch in this world is always good.”

Merith tittered. “And I was told that the Fox-kin is the one with the mouth of a goat.”

“Better a mouth of a goat than a heart as black as the abyss.”

Smiling, Merith turned her gaze back to Aedan. “Are you certain you wish to continue speaking to me in that manner?” she asked as she raised Katya up by simply grasping on her head.

Katya struggled and flailed around, but to no avail.

“What do you want?” Erin asked.

“This,” Merith answered, tapping on Katya’s head. “Yours.”

“Then, come and get it.”

“Oh, no, I don’t need to. You will give it to me yourself, unless you wish to see your friend’s head getting crushed like an egg.”

Erin sighed. “Aedan’s right. What a bitch.” She changed the form of her weapon into a spear. “I am going to gouge your heart out myself.” Violet mist began to permeate around her.