Love Letter From The Future

Countless memories seep through the folds of the brain. The invasive images are all related to parting.

Was it called ‘resentment’?

The deeply ingrained resentment was no different from poison. It stained the head and heart with black light, burning them, while each day the hatred and intent to kill grew stronger.

All of this was the man’s emotion. Moreover, it was a duty he had to bear as a survivor.

He had witnessed countless deaths.

It wasn’t just the precious people. How many corpses had lost even their dignity and fallen to mere chunks of flesh?

Unreasonable.

The man must have thought so. No, I was thinking so.

The emotions from losing beloved lovers resounded profoundly within me. Like the torrent pouring through a broken dam, waves of pain swept away my rationality.

Yes, looking back, there had been a time like this.

It was after receiving a letter from the future. Sometimes I found it hard to suppress the inexplicable anger and intent to kill that rose from my chest, and at times that flame would even burn my mind.

I had heard an explanation about this once.

“It’s because the integration rate has increased too much.”

Perhaps the man believed without a doubt that I could not handle his old emotions. The explanation, which I initially received with a somewhat skeptical eye, I eventually came to truly understand.

It was a heart like a blade honed over years, a heart that had been forged in pain. Every single mixed memory was no different from a razor blade.

Could there be a human who could pour razor blades into the brain’s blood vessels and maintain their sanity?

No. Not even across the entire continent.

Only one person, the man who had to endure all those wounds.

However, I had no choice.

The more I accepted the man’s memories, the wider the range of skills I could handle became, and their power increased.

Even if it was just a temporary rampage, it was fine. If my body ended up becoming a rag and I could never stand again, that was alright too.

As long as I could kill that monster!

The teeth clenched to their limit cried out in pain. Blood, rising from my insides, poured out of my mouth, but I did not stop despite bleeding profusely.

Suddenly, a voice drenched in relief tickled my ear. It was a plea soaked in tears and blood.

“I, I finally protected it…”

Two images overlapped on my retina.

A girl weeping against a tree, turning her back on the burning Great Forest.

A silver-haired woman with bloodshot eyes glaring at me from a pit in the ground.

The boundary sharing the memories of the man and me blurred. Scenes from the past, present, and future fused and invaded my consciousness.

“…my, precious person.”

A meteor connects the sky and the earth.

A body wrapped in a silver aura like flames plunged down with more power than gravitational acceleration. The tail of fire extended, and the vampire raised its hand, ready to clash.

A great noise, the ground exploding and the shards of blood magic harmonizing beautifully.

The first encounter.

Urgently raising a blood-red shield, the vampire stepped back a few steps with a look of surprise. Its bewildered blue eyes were fixed on me.

A look of disbelief that it was evenly matched with someone like me.

It should have been so. My body, propelled by a burst of energy, shot again with a sound.

Clang, clang, clang!

As soon as I landed, seven beams of light exploded, the climax of the Golden Lionsword sealed all resistance.

Three beams cut through the swinging left arm. Another three subdued the remaining right arm, and finally, one pierced the left shoulder.

With a sound like metal grinding, the blade pierced the left shoulder. It had lodged itself, but it was shallow. The vampire’s kick struck directly at my solar plexus.

“Guh…!”

Gasping for air as blood welled up, it was the vampire who moaned instead.

My body, struck in the solar plexus, pulled in the woman’s leg as if on its own.

An application of the moon flip, “Nirvana plunge.”

Twisting my body, I squeezed the muscles. With no place to step in the void, the woman’s body rose solely by the power of my flesh, then was again driven down to the ground.

Crack, the sound of bone shattering.

Blood and drooling horror poured from the vampire’s mouth.

“This, can’t be…!”

Boom—!

The ground trembled robustly and dust soared. The already sunken earth cracked in several places. Of course, the vampire didn’t remain idle during this time.

Whack!

In an absurdly straightforward fashion, my right arm burst. A handful of blood splattered like flesh in bloom.

Like sparks.

Another image flashed through my mind.

A familiar but strange woman lay collapsed. With dark azure hair and pale green eyes, my teacher.

Facing her body, mature unlike usual, what had I done?

I must have knelt.

“…sister.”

“I’m so, s-sorry… I’m sorry, teacher.”

Crying, my hands trembling.

I felt powerless. A painfully sharp memory pierced my heart like a needle.

“I’m too late… for the, apprentice. For you, teacher…”

Why must I only shed tears?

Frustrated. In pain. My heart twisted, and my insides burned. The benevolent smile of my teacher only deepened my heartache.

They were people I loved.

Having failed to protect even one, why?

Yet, the teacher smiled without a single trace of resentment.

“…you’re a foolish first disciple.”

Crash!

With a strong impact, my vision returned to the present. My body was dancing with blood and death, already beyond my consciousness.

As the vampire descended, my arm caught the sword ejected by the shock and struck again.

A definite sensation conveyed to my hand. A mild feeling as the blade slightly pierced my abdomen.

But it was shallow. Before that, the vampire had gripped my sword with both hands.

The woman smiled.

“How unfortunate, had your right arm been intact, it would have been another matter… little guy, I mean. Now…”

Noise.

All kinds of memories mixed and created a sound in my eardrums.

“…what should I call you? You’re awakening quite smoothly.”

A quivering voice strained from within the bloody and evil-filled depths of my insides.

“You, you killed my precious person.”

I wanted to say that, but my words remained trapped, as if choked by something. Maybe blood gushing out blocked my airways.

I could only raise my axe in rage.

The vampire had no chance to extract the sword.

Crash!

Like a hammer and spear, as I struck the axe down on the sword’s grip, blood gushed out from both the vampire’s mouth and my severed shoulder.

Then the vampire wore a pure white smile.

“Ah, heh… cough cough… you… you’re trying to kill me?”

Yes.

I whispered to myself, chewing the words as I struck the sword with the axe again and again.

Crash, crash, crash!

Each time blood splattered, breaking the ground several inches deep. The blade sunk deeply, slicing through the woman’s palms.

Before long, the vampire’s laughter intertwined with the sound of blood being vomited.

“Ah, heh… cough, cough… ahahaha! So this is the price you have to pay… hack, hack… ahahaha!”

I couldn’t stand that laughing face.

Crashing down, I poured all my strength into bringing the axe down. Muscles wrung beyond their limits trembled and could no longer support the grip. My dear weapon flew into the sky, spinning.

But I achieved my goal.

The blade thrust deep into the abdomen. My hand gripped the woman’s shoulder, squeezing with all my might, I hurled her away.

There was no sound.

Despite the horrific and brutal act of piercing from the abdomen to halfway down the thigh, the world remained quiet. Only the splatter of blood and the sound of the woman’s body being shot somewhere was heard.

I couldn’t escape unscathed either.

As I tripped over my foot, my body knelt of its own accord. Perhaps due to the excessive blood loss, my vision blurred. Suddenly, a reasoning like a speck of dust questioned me.

Why am I not dead?

No matter how much of a high expert I was, there would be limits. Yet I was not dying.

Rather, I felt the severed area bubbling, almost boiling. A sensation different from phantom pain.

But I didn’t care.

My goal was simply to kill that monster.

To do that, I would sacrifice anything.

I will kill.

I must.

As my resolve, or perhaps madness, took hold, my body stood back up against the ground. My steps soaked in hatred and intent to kill took one step, two steps forward.

As I prepared to thrust my foot against the ground…

Suddenly,

“…sister.”

With a warm presence, a voice tickled my ears. A small body, delicate arms were pulling me back.

I should have been able to shake it off easily.

I should have, but somehow.

Strength drained from my body without my consent. About to fall, the arms tightened around me even more.

Her tone unmistakably mixed with tears.

“Enough, enough… you’ve worked hard…”

My consciousness faded.

This wasn’t my burden to settle.

The man crying in the Great Forest.

His memories flooded me once again. Thus, my lips moved on their own as if disconnected.

“Teacher…”

The man comfortably lay down on her lap, looking up at the great witch. Clear tears dripped down, soaking the man’s face.

Like warm rain.

Did the great witch, looking down, lack understanding of herself?

Her expression was somewhat confused, but she seemed unable to control her moving lips.

Just like me.

But even that was only a moment.

Perhaps it was instinct. In the “boundary” mixing the past, present, and future, the great sorceress decided to make the best choice.

To entrust her body to the unfamiliar persona.

The woman smiled, just like that day in the memory.

“…have you been well?”

It was a sudden reunion with the priest.

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