Long after a great war, the land lies ravaged. Iron is precious, and decent weapons come only from traveling merchants or ancient battlefields. Each settlement keeps a few self-defense warriors, scraping by.
Orvan, a silent warrior, saves his comrade Puyis from a superior monster by deflecting its attack with his weapon. The weapon shatters, but Puyis survives.
Thus it begins. Each deflection costs him something. The more he protects, the more vanishes from his hands. Orvan seeks things to def
Parry of the Void - The Final Weapon —The Shattered Blade Pierces Through—
The air before dawn was cold as a blade.
At the northern edge of the settlement of Ordith, before the stone wall. Orvan sat alone on the ground. His soot-black hair, damp with night dew, clung to his forehead. His gray eyes stared fixedly toward the still-dark northern direction—the road leading to the Ashiron Plains.
The bandage on his right wrist was frayed in places from being rewrapped so many times. Beneath it, his fingers trembled in small spasms—he pressed them down with his left hand.
(Move)
Thumb. Index finger. Middle finger. He tried to bend them in order. His thumb barely moved. His index and middle fingers didn't twitch at all. His ring finger and pinky had had no sensation since last night.
(Still there)
Orvan touched each of the weapons tied to his waist belt, one by one, with his left hand. Iron axe. Short sword. Stone hammer. Iron pipe. Spare spear. The broken sword his comrade had offered him. And, tied at the very back of his belt, the shattered blade of his first sword.
Seven in all.
(This is all of them)
He laid the seven weapons out on the ground. In the darkness, each showed its outline faintly. The iron axe was one he'd been given by the junk dealer Miranda. The short sword was crude, its blade badly chipped. The stone hammer had been lying behind the militia post. The iron pipe was borrowed from one used for well repairs. The spare spear was wooden with only the tip capped in iron. The broken sword was something Puisu had picked up from somewhere.
And then, the shattered blade.
The largest fragment of the iron sword that had shattered in two when he'd deflected a monster's blow to protect Puisu that day.
Orvan picked it up. The cross-section of the blade reflected the faint pre-dawn light dully.
(This is the one thing I never let go of)
He retied the shattered blade to his belt. The other six he left laid out on the ground.
The wind blew. A wind from the north. It carried the dust of the Ashiron Plains and the smell of monsters.
Orvan stood up.
Just then, he heard footsteps from the direction of the settlement. Hurried, desperate footsteps.
"Orvan-san!"
He turned to see Puisu running toward him. His flax-colored, springy hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. His blue-gray eyes were wide open. His left arm was in a cloth sling. The cloth was stiff with darkened blood.
Puisu stopped as if dropping to his knees before Orvan. His shoulders heaved with ragged breaths.
"It's coming. From the north. The main body."
Orvan looked down at Puisu in silence.
"Straight toward us from the center of the Ashiron Plains. On foot. The footsteps shook the ground itself. The number... I don't know. But that thing is completely different from the vanguard back then."
Puisu pressed the cloth on his left arm. Fresh blood seeped between his fingers.
"Half a day until it arrives. No—maybe sooner. It doesn't rest. It walks at the same pace the whole time."
Orvan looked at Puisu's left arm.
"That arm."
Puisu was at a loss for words for a moment.
"...On the way, a shadow wolf. I couldn't shake one of them. But the bone isn't broken. It's nothing serious."
Puisu tried to smile. His mouth only twitched.
Orvan placed his left hand on Puisu's shoulder.
"Good that you came back."
Puisu looked up. His blue-gray eyes were moist.
"...Was I useful?"
"Yeah. If not for your warning, we'd have died in our sleep."
Puisu bit his lip. He nodded again and again.
"Fall back. Wash your wound. Then go notify the post. Wake everyone."
"...Understood."
Puisu stood up. He grimaced at the pain in his left arm, but his feet were planted firmly on the ground.
"Orvan-san, I'm going to go check on the situation once more."
"...Don't push yourself."
"It's not pushing myself. It's a scout's job."
Puisu turned his back and ran off.
Orvan watched that back until it disappeared from sight.
(That one won't run anymore)
Orvan looked down at the six weapons laid out on the ground.
The alarm bell rang out through the settlement. Clang, clang, clang—the dry metallic sound cut through the pre-dawn air.
---
Before the militia post. In the square, thirty warriors had gathered. All wore faces mixed with sleepiness and tension. The weapons in their hands were rusted swords, wooden spears, stone axes. Those holding iron weapons could be counted on one hand.
Azmariya stood in the center of the square. Short-cropped black hair. Sun-bronzed skin. On her back, an iron sword—rare for this settlement. Her sharp eyes swept over the gathered warriors.
"I'll report the situation. The main body is approaching from the northern Ashiron Plains side. Number unknown. It won't take half a day to arrive."
A stir ran through the warriors.
"Silence. We'll set up a defensive line now. Centered on the northern stone wall, we'll split forces east and west. Everyone, check your weapons. Those with iron weapons, step to the front rank."
The warriors began moving busily.
Azmariya looked toward Orvan.
"Orvan. You stand at the center of the front rank."
Orvan nodded.
"...It depends on how much you can deflect."
Having said only that, Azmariya returned to directing the warriors.
(The center of the front rank)
Orvan left the square and walked toward the northern stone wall.
Along the way, the settlement's people watched him from the shadows of their houses. These were people who once avoided even meeting his eyes. Now, their eyes were fixed straight on Orvan.
The junk dealer Miranda stood in front of her shop. A fifty-year-old woman with salt-and-pepper hair tied back. She stepped out before Orvan and, without a word, held out a single iron axe.
"Take this with you."
Orvan looked at the iron axe. The blade was thick, the haft solid. In this settlement, it was quite a fine piece.
"The price?"
"I don't need one."
Miranda looked straight into Orvan's eyes.
"Iron is the same as life. You're going to use it to protect that, aren't you? Then there's no better use for it."
Orvan was silent for a while.
"...I'll borrow it."
"You don't have to return it. You coming back alive is the best repayment."
Orvan took the iron axe. It was heavy and solid.
He turned his back on Miranda and kept walking toward the northern stone wall.
---
Before the stone wall.
Orvan laid out his seven weapons on the ground. Iron axe. Short sword. Stone hammer. Iron pipe. Spare spear. Broken sword. And the shattered blade tied to his belt.
He retightened the bandage on his right wrist with his left hand. He checked his unmoving fingers with his left hand. Index finger. Middle finger. They wouldn't bend. Ring finger. Pinky. No sensation.
(Still there)
He picked up each weapon in turn and returned it to its original position. The weight of the iron axe. The unreliability of the short sword. The crudeness of the stone hammer. The coldness of the iron pipe. The lightness of the spare spear. The sharpness of the broken sword's broken cross-section.
Finally, he untied the shattered blade from his belt and took it in hand.
(This is the last one)
He retied the shattered blade to his belt once more.
The settlement's people had gathered around Orvan. In silence, they laid weapons before him one after another. Rusted swords. Wooden sticks. Stones. Bones. Anything would do. Anything he could use.
Those who had once avoided him now looked straight at him.
Orvan glanced at the weapons laid before him.
(How far will this hold)
He fixed his gaze on the northern direction.
The sky was beginning to whiten.
---
The sun rose, and was about to reach its peak.
The ground began to shake.
Far off, beyond the Ashiron Plains, a gigantic shadow appeared.
Its height exceeded four meters. Jet-black carapace. Four arms. Its form was as if war itself had taken shape.
Olgmos.
The main body had come.
The militia warriors loosed arrows and threw stones. But all of them struck the jet-black carapace and were repelled. Not a single scratch appeared on the carapace.
"It's no use! Arrows and stones, all of them bounce off!"
"What are we supposed to do against something like that!"
Azmariya shouted.
"Don't falter! Follow Orvan! Front line, follow Orvan!"
Orvan waited for Olgmos before the stone wall.
Olgmos raised one of its four arms.
A gigantic fist swung down toward Orvan.
Orvan gripped the iron axe with both hands.
(Deflect it)
The iron axe caught Olgmos's fist head-on.
Gakiin!!
The iron axe shattered from its base.
At the same time, part of Olgmos's left arm shattered from the inside. Cracks ran through the jet-black carapace.
(It's working)
A sharp pain shot through Orvan's right hand. Another finger stopped moving.
(Still there)
He took up the stone hammer.
Olgmos swung down another arm.
Orvan deflected it with the stone hammer.
Gakiin!!
The stone hammer shattered into pieces.
Olgmos's right arm shattered and fell away from the elbow down.
(Two left)
Sensation in Orvan's right hand went numb from the forearm to the elbow. The vision in one eye began to cloud white.
(This is the price)
Memories from early childhood were vanishing in fragments. His mother's face. His father's voice. Warm memories. They disappeared one by one.
(Even so)
Orvan took up the iron pipe.
Olgmos swung down its third arm.
Orvan deflected it with the iron pipe.
Gakiin!!
The iron pipe bent and shattered.
Olgmos's left arm crumbled away from the shoulder.
Orvan's right index and middle fingers had stopped moving completely. From the forearm to the elbow, no sensation. The vision in his left eye clouded white, almost unable to see.
(One left)
He took up the broken sword.
Olgmos raised its final arm.
Orvan deflected it with the broken sword.
Gakiin!!
The broken sword shattered into pieces.
Olgmos's right arm shattered and fell away from its base.
All four arms had been destroyed.
Olgmos let out a roar.
(It's not over yet)
Even having lost all four arms, Olgmos still stood. In the center of the jet-black carapace was a hollow that seemed to be its heart.
Orvan had two weapons left. Only the spare spear and the shattered blade tied to his belt.
That was when it happened.
From the distance, he saw a figure come running.
A tall man with long ash-gray hair flowing behind him. Gold-mud-colored eyes fixed on Orvan.
It was Neguroudo.
"Now, Orvan-kun."
Neguroudo's voice was clearly audible even amid the clamor of the battlefield.
Orvan took up the spare spear.
Olgmos swung up all the remnants of its four arms. It was about to deliver the finishing blow.
Orvan parried the remnants of three arms with the spare spear.
The spear shattered into pieces.
(This is the last)
Orvan untied the shattered blade from his belt.
He gripped it anew with the fingers remaining on his right hand. Only his ring finger and pinky barely moved.
(I'll deflect it with this)
Olgmos tried to unleash its final blow.
Orvan charged head-on into the hollow at the center of Olgmos's jet-black carapace—its heart.
He slammed the shattered blade into the hollow.
(Deflect it)
The instant.
The shattered blade shattered into pieces.
But the impact of the deflection caved in Olgmos's carapace from the inside.
Mishimishimishi—a sound rang out.
The remnants of Olgmos's four arms crumbled away all at once.
The monster collapsed on the spot without a sound.
Dooon—the ground rumbled, and a cloud of dust rose.
At the northern edge of the settlement, only the jet-black carapace remained.
Orvan was still standing.
The sensation in his right hand was completely gone. Part of the hearing in his left ear was lost as well.
Even so, he watched over the collapsed monster to the end.
---
The battle was over.
Orvan lost consciousness while still standing.
He slowly fell to the ground on the spot.
"Orvan-san!"
Puisu came running with his left arm still in its sling. He grasped Orvan's right hand.
"Orvan-san, you protected it properly. You protected it. You protected the settlement, everyone."
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.