Chapter 184: Within the Mind
Ramin Solost Muel landed on the envelope of the airship. The thick leather surface appeared very soft but was actually quite tough; it was only natural with the iron frames attached to each layer. However, the sunlight was a problem. The sun had risen to the middle of the sky, and Ramin had to pull her hood down tight. While vampires with darker blood could get burned, Ramin wasn’t that vulnerable. Specifically speaking, she was only a bit more vulnerable than a Frogman who didn’t apply Delluba ointment.
Even with the slightest movement, it seemed that Ramin’s sudden appearance itself was threatening for this Wyvern, so the Wyvern screeched. Then the Minotaur that was on one knee and had just opened their bag stopped and looked at Ramin. It seemed that they were bewildered, but Ramin was also puzzled.
‘I can’t believe he just threw someone without explaining anything.’
But of course, Mazdari’s judgment seemed accurate. Ramin hadn’t participated in a recent war, but she still knew that the aircraft would be in danger if there was an explosion. The thick leather of the envelope could provide some protection, but if dynamite or something similar was thrown inside, the airship would explode.
'But if it's so dangerous, couldn’t he have just come up himself?'
Ramin thought so, and then she heard an explosion coming from under the envelope. Mazdari was dealing with the other Dragon Knights. Regardless, she was here now. She heard a loud noise coming from below where the other wyvern riders were dealing with the threat.
'Surely, the apostle won't be defeated so easily. I just need to buy some time… A Minotaur, huh.'
Minotaurs were a rare species with the body of a human and the head of a bull. They were known for their strength but had lower intelligence and social skills, making them an unpopular species. Ramin had fought one before, but she couldn’t say it was a pleasant victory with a broken arm and broken ribs preventing her from moving properly.
'But thanks to that, I know how to deal with them.'
In front of the Minotaur was the Wyvern, and the Wyvern was clawing down a soldier that was originally stationed on top of the envelope.
'Would the Wyvern interfere or would it run away in fear?'
Ramin hoped that the Minotaur in front of her would just give up the plan and take off on the Wyvern. However, the Minotaur Dragon Knight did the exact opposite. They continued to take out dynamite from their bag.
‘That fool is trusting the Wyvern!’
As Ramin ran forward, the Wyvern showed its teeth and blocked Ramin’s path. But Ramin didn’t care because she had a gun.
Bang!
Ramin extended her left hand and aimed at the Minotaur. The bullet passed through the Wyvern’s neck and hit the Minotaur in the side. The Minotaur's massive body served as a massive target. However, the armor was thick enough for the Minotaur to handle a gunshot. Moreover, the Minotaur had twisted their body to avoid a direct hit.
‘They’re not just an ordinary fool.’
Ramin tried to remain calm because the Wyvern was rushing at her in rage. She was already in the middle of her next move. Jumping up from the flying airship, Ramin stepped on the Wyvern’s neck and ran forward. As the bewildered Wyvern raised its head and turned around, Ramin raised her sword and slid down the Wyvern’s back. The tip of the blade was aimed at the Minotaur's neck.
"...!"
The Minotaur shouldered the bag of dynamite again and took out an ax. To other species, it would be a two-handed ax, but this Minotaur seemed comfortable wielding it with just one hand. The Minotaur avoided Ramin’s downward strike and swung the ax sideways.
As soon as Ramin landed on the envelope of the airship again, she bent down and rolled forward. They distanced themselves from each other.
The Minotaur said, "You're quick on your feet. I am Mahim, a veteran of the Union Kingdom. Who are you?"
Ramin didn't respond, as she couldn't understand why she had to introduce herself all of a sudden. Instead, she pulled her hood down and thought to herself.
‘...A veteran? Can I even win?’
The word veteran reminded Ramin of her teacher, and during her time of learning how to fight with a sword, she had never once defeated her teacher.
After a brief moment, the Wyvern was the first to make a move.
-Kaaoo!
Ramin didn't turn toward the Wyvern. If she moved her gaze away from Mahim for even a moment, the ax would come down on her. Therefore, with a quick side glance at the Wyvern, she aimed her left hand at the Wyvern's head and immediately fired.
Bang!
Just that was enough to make the approaching Wyvern fall to the ground.
Mahim also swung their ax down, but Ramin had anticipated this and avoided the strike. When Mahim looked at the Wyvern, it was bleeding from its eye, distressed in pain.
‘Did she just make an accurate shot with a side glance?’
It was a precision that seemed impossible unless it was luck.
‘Is she also being watched by the gods? ...But so am I!’
Then Mahim’s eyes glowed red. Ramin blinked for a moment.
‘They’re fast.’
She aimed her pistol, but Mahim moved faster than that simple motion.
The back of Mahim's hand sent Ramin's pistol flying.
‘Oh no.’
The ax swung down on Ramin. While Mahim’s swings and thrusts were big and dramatic, they were also so fast that Ramin couldn't find an opening between those big movements. At first, Ramin could barely dodge each of the attacks, but after avoiding a few attacks, she noticed a pattern.
Ramin remembered her teacher’s words.
‘People were made by their habits. Is it because it’s a Minotaur? They’re not that complicated.’
When the ax came down and was raised again, there was an opening below. Due to the Minotaur’s large physique, there was quite a distance between them, but Ramin could still insert her sword through the gaps in Mahim's armor.
‘No, wait…’
Ramin quickly withdrew her sword as soon as she thrust it forward. The third hand hidden beneath the armor had clenched its fist and was about to grab her arm.
Ramin rolled backward. "What...are you?"
Mahim said, "This is the gift given to me by the Angry One."
Under Mahim's two arms, another pair of arms appeared. Ramin recalled the gifts that veterans of the Union Kingdom received from their god.
‘They’re not just a big monster with four arms. They’re calculating my weaknesses.’
A pair of arms wasn’t the only thing the veteran, Mahim, had received from the Angry One.
As expected of the God of War, the Angry One, they had given Mahim combat skills as well. Minotaurs had great strength, but that alone wouldn't make them victorious in a fight.
‘Even if they have four arms, I'll find a way to buy time with my bare hands…’
As Ramin was thinking this, Mahim the Minotaur reached for their back. Then, they grabbed a short spear, a sword, and an iron club with each hand.
Ramin clicked her tongue.
***
Crampus looked at the screen and said, “Isn’t this dangerous?”
“A little,” Sung-Woon replied.
The battle between the Vampire Ramin and Minotaur Mahim itself didn’t bode well. Meanwhile, the fight beneath the airship was also intensifying. Initially, it appeared to be a one-sided battle with the knights attacking the airship. However, the empire’s side, Apostle Mazdari, was an outside interference in terms of causality.
That left room for the opponent to step in further. Due to this, although Ramin, who was fighting high above, could not see it, a giant monster almost the same size as the airship was attacking it.
The Angry One's strategy was not the Headfake strategy to begin with. When Mazdari momentarily diverted his attention to the veteran, Mahim, the plan was to take that opportunity and crash the airship with their creature creation. Fortunately, Mazdari figured out the plan and threw Ramin onto the top of the airship so that the main force would remain on deck, which was himself. However, that alone was not enough.
The guardian of the Angry One, who looked like a massive flying moray, was using its overwhelming physique to block Mazdari’s magic. The only thing Mazdari could do through his magic was to prevent it from approaching the airship in any way. However, this didn't mean that the knights charging toward the airship had disappeared, so soldiers and Wizards on the airship were busily running around, and Mazdari was also flying in the sky, blocking the giant moray.
Then Crampus said, “Shouldn’t we do something about it?”
"It's...done."
Sung-Woon touched his system window.
“We didn’t have sufficient Faith points until just now because of the situation at the western front.”
"What are you going to do?”
Sung-Woon pointed at the screen with his hand.
***
Ramin felt like she had entered a phase of her life where peace was a distant memory, brought back into the past where she lived to survive. The Minotaur in front of her, with its four arms, was more than she could handle.
Ramin's mentor had taught her many things, especially various survival skills for living in remote places from civilization. Among those skills, her swordsmanship allowed Ramin to survive and keep her life intact. Ramin had a talent for it, and she believed that if it were just a matter of swordsmanship and not combat, she could go against her mentor.
‘Except for the tail part, I don't have a tail, so it wouldn't have been fair.’
However, the enemy in front of her was stronger than any opponent she had encountered before. She thought perhaps they might be even stronger than her mentor. They hadn't inflicted any fatal wounds on her yet, but they had inflicted too many minor ones. These were fatal problems for other species, but problematic for Ramin all the same. As a Vampire, her anemia went together with her hunger, and there was another problem.
-Honestly speaking, you're not qualified.
Something that she couldn’t identify had begun to speak within her head.
‘What is this?’
-I know you've lived a life that's been tough to endure. You've been rejected and lived an unwanted life, and because of that, you've taken unnecessary lives. Your existence has erased many possibilities.
‘What is this? Is this…my guilt?’
Then the voice shouted.
-No! I’m not a part of you!
‘Then?’
The voice ignored Ramin's question and mumbled.
-Yes. But even so, you have the qualification. If you overcome the current crisis, in the days to come, you may bloom countless possibilities.
‘I don't understand what you're saying.’
-Above all, he has chosen you.
Ramin asked the voice again.
‘Who are you?’
-You know me
‘I know you?’
-Yes.
-From the withered straw of a barren winter, at times during stormy nights, occasionally in the lines of a theater actor's script that elicits awe, when a few extraordinary individuals make choices that change the world, within your mind, I exist!
It was only then that Ramin identified the owner of the voice.
‘Pzzt…?’
-Yes. I am...Electricity!
Ramin heard sparks in her head. It was clear, vivid, and sharp.
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