She stood amidst the fog, pointing the tip of her sword at the distant form of the enemy. A huge pillar of flesh swung erratically as it approached her – a great, scaly neck, topped with a long and narrow head reminiscent of a crocodile’s.

            The being’s limbs struck the earth with tremendous force, each footfall causing tremors to rock the plain. It was a fight with a predetermined outcome. However, she had no choice but to do battle even if it killed her.

            A confrontation that repeated over and over again, but was meant to have ended a long time ago. The battle between the realm’s most powerful knight, and the dragon said to be able to end the world.

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            The dense lifeforce coursing through her veins swirled, precipitating from her hands to surround the sword in a deadly glow. This was what separated soldiers and knights. It was a symbol of superiority, and a collar that constricted one’s freedom. The power of blood, which could only be awakened in those of noble birth.

            Knight graduates could call on the power of blood to face foes never meant to be defeated by humanity. But, in the swordswoman’s shaking hands, and the overcast expression on her face, the limits of this power were made evident.

            ‘THUD!’

            The Dragon of Calamity stampeded, crashing through a makeshift palisade, leaving a deep handprint in the muddy ground. The fog parted around its enormous palm, revealing scarlet scales that seemed impenetrable, and scything talons that could cleave horses in two. It was simply too large to be faced with a sword.

            “…”

            Wordlessly, the swordswoman willed her heart to beat faster, and the power of blood rushed down into her legs, launching her forward with the speed of a loosed arrow. Her sword, aimed at the base of the dragon’s neck, where its scales were the softest, fell with vicious power.

            ‘CLANG!’

            The monster’s other hand appeared from the mist, and a single index finger clashed against her blade. The deadly sickle at its end effortlessly parried the attack she put her soul into, and, without leaving any openings, returned the blow with a vertical slash.

            “Ugh!”

            The young woman let out a shameful groan as she side stepped the dragon’s talon, briefly registering the deep gash it left in the ground at her feet. She was sure of it, then. It did her no good to attack its chest or belly. Instead, she ought to aim at the tip of its neck, where those claws can’t reach.

            Spreading blood power through her body evenly, she expelled a large fraction to increase her speed and agility, running up the beast’s extended arm and onto its neck. In the blink of an eye, the swordswoman was in the air beside the dragon’s throat, and her sword let out a jarring shriek as it flew at superhuman speed.

            ‘SNAP!’

            A pair of jaws, large enough to be her coffin, closed over the space where the young woman’s body had been moments ago. To avoid that attack, she expended half of the lifeforce in her body. Exhaustion quickly set in, but she couldn’t afford to idle.

            Less than a second passed since the dragon bit at thin air. Instead of retreating backwards, or to the side, she’d applied blood power at the tip of her sword, bouncing to the ground as soon as it came into contact with the beast’s teeth. She judged correctly that an animal that relied on its five senses, and not blood power, to perceive the world around it, would be confused in those circumstances. And so, she put all of her remaining strength in a single attack, aimed at the base of its neck, where the heart of a fish, or reptile, would be.

            ‘CLINK!’

            Her target blurred. The Dragon of Calamity whipped its unfathomably huge body with eerie dexterity, and deflected the blow with its forefinger. The unbelievable inertia carried by its body flowed down to the claw at its end. And, with a loud impact, the sword bent hideously before it shot into the air, landing a full mile away.

            Dragons were beings that could not be harmed by ordinary people. Their blood was made of poison, and they could vomit fire. The scales of a dragon were like iron, and their teeth like daggers. Moreover, the mysterious vitality that dwelt in their bodies was enough to regrow limbs, and some of them possessed immense knowledge of sorcery, or the innate power to unleash dreadful curses.

            And yet, the disarmed swordswoman was left unharmed. Disoriented, she stood up, wiped the dirt off of her armor, and stared up at the dragon with her black eyes. A gaze devoid of ambition, or will.

            She was barely left standing with just a sliver of energy. Her sword was folded like paper and thrown aside. And the Dragon of Calamity, said to bring death and destruction everywhere, was unharmed. She was confident in what would happen next.

            But, for some reason, even after minutes passed, the beast didn’t lower its head to eat her.

            “Why have you not killed me?”

            “…”

            “As I thought, dragons can’t speak…”

            “…”

            “Am I unworthy to be killed by you?”

            “…”

            “Do you, perhaps… derive pleasure from seeing me flounder like this?”

            “…”

            “W-whatever..!”

            “…”

            “Move! Or do something, will you?!”

           “…”

            The monster huffed quietly in response, and turned away from her. Too stunned to speak, the swordswoman watched as it dragged its immense, snake-like body in a circle, and disappeared into the mist, as though it had never existed.