Damn it!

Damn it!

Why was she thinking about it now! Was her mind off the rails? Somewhere in her mind, Inana could make out a resounding yes.

Here, she was going to her death-bed, without even learning one single word of this world like some animal and her eyes couldn't take off her executioner's broad neck bone, his big wide ocean blue eyes tempting her to sail her boat only to crash against its violent waves.

Damn you, Caizara! Why did you have to soil my mind with so many pretty boy manga's?

The guy before her eyes looked exactly like one of the main characters from a popular weekly manga on earth titled 'Prince Rosesilver's Seven Bridesmaid'. Each arc the Prince used to crash a wedding of his many sisters, and take away their best friend's hands in marriage by accident.

On popularity poll of most attractive man, he had ranked seventh twice in row over two years it aired.

Ah! What was this prince Rosesilver doing here, clad in warrior –like clothes in simple village? Did really have to be on the villain plotline right now?

As Prince Rosesilver-alike man stopped suddenly in midst of village, Inana quickly fixated her eyes on the tree.

No! This wouldn't do at all.

How could she lose her mind in situation like this? Remember your pledge, Inana. You have to survive and become strong enough to get back at that petty angel.

Inana's eyes locked once again with Zynlick, making her instinctively avert her gaze again.

Whaat! Why was looking at her so intently? Could it be....

Her thoughts halted, as she saw the shadow rising larger and reaching closer to her. Face to face, the new world's Rosesilver stood with his sweeping royal black hair, slipping his hand onto hers. With a sharp tug of force, the iron chains on her hand were broken, its pieces dismantled into chunks of iron falling to ground making a sharp sound

CLANG! CLANG!

Inana's eyes rose up in surprise at unexpected release of her hands.

Was ...it finally going to happen? The arc 6's final scene in manga where Prince Rosesilver becomes a nation-state's enemy by running off with the princess stuck in terrible arrange marriage. Was he going to do it as well...right here in front of everyone?

Ah! You mustn't, Prince. I need to at least know your name or understand your first word...

Inana closed her eyes, trying to imagine her God Mother approving their relation. Unaware of the fantasies that dwelled in Inana's mind at the moment, Zynlick briskly thrust a sword in her hand.

Inana tilted her head, eyes gawking in confusion as she followed the crescent moon engravings on the small-sized cold metal sword. From its felt, she could trace it to be some kind of alloy from zinc, copper and bronze. Still, why had he handed her a sword out of all things now?

Umm... This is certainly a weird way to propose, Prince Rosesilver. Are you perhaps planning to match our swords together like warrior couple? Mwah...How fitting...

Zynlick lifted his sword, pointing it towards Inana's neck, as if somehow aware of her living in a different world at the moment. He stopped just short of her neck, but the blade went reach close enough to touch the chord of fear in Inana's heart.

She casted a look at her sword again and then at Zynlick's, standing breathless still with blade so close, not even daring to move one inch back. They were same in size, seemingly equivalent in weight and the blade.

So ...it is going to be like that after all, Rosesilver.

She bit her lip, as she stared back into Zynlick's hungry wolf eyes- dying star's blue, teeming with bloodlust to devour her the moment its fangs manages to slice her apart. She didn't need any translator to understand the vexation that was diffused in the air. Having broken out temporarily from her illusory mindscape, Inana's eyes could clearly make out the outline of crowd that surrounded them all around, keeping their distance, just enough to avoid harm but see the execution smoothly. They were standing on a rice field, with patches of wet and dry soil at times, but the crowd found its foothold on smooth road.

As Zynlick took a step back, his sword with bright golden helm and serpent engraving till the end readied in a proper stance, Inana tightened her hold around hers as well. The crowd's voice glimmered with a united passion, Zynlick's each movement being like eye-candy to them.

Inana locked her eyes sharply at Zynlick standing ten feet away, uncaring for the unfavourable crowd, reciprocating Zynlick's gesture.

Well, no matter. If it be sword fight, then bring it on, Rosesilver. Let me show you the reason why this girl dominated all dojo in whole of Hokkaido at age of nine.

Exalted by the supportive audience and fierceness in opponent's eyes, Zynlick found no reason to wait any longer.

"Here I come, Witch." With that, he lunged towards Inana, his blade drawing so fast through the air that it felt like fabric of wind itself was being cut, screaming in terror. Even from distance, Inana's red hair started to brush past her face due to the force of that wind.

But Inana wasn't planning to clash her sword with Zynlick just yet. After all, she didn't know the full spec of it so instead she decided to duck down , her head arching back such that Zynlick's blade went way past overhead.

Zynlick scoffed, as he held onto his sword retracting it back and with his free left hand, directed his fist towards Inana's chest while she was in her position.

What a fool! Did she really think that such kind of move would give her an opening in attack?

Inana wore a thin smile as Zynlick's fist braced against her chest – her eyes having waited for such mistake on his part and grabbed his left arm by the wrist tightly. Zynlick's face flushed yellow with realization of dawning attack as Inana raised herself back, clashing her head boisterously against his forehead , leading to painful tingling sensation in both.

Without waiting for Zynlick's recovery, Inana kept her hold firmly on his left arm and stomped her feet towards Zynlick's feet. But just when it could reach his sandal, Inana felt a tug of force applied against her stomach pushing her further away as she felt the enemy's hand slip away from her grasp.

Inana raised her eyebrows, as she scrutinized the man before her eyes, whose heavy breaths were far too clear, with one hand pressed to his forehead and other hanging free.

Ah! So you decided to throw away your sword in order to use right arm for punching me away. No doubt, you must have understood that if any of your feet were crushed, it would be hard to fight on equal footing. Though you could have went for my head at that moment, but it seems striking my head while my gaze was lowered was perhaps unbecoming of you.

A small smile of admiration crept up Inana's face, seeing which Zynlick felt like taunted all over again.

"Lose that smile, witch." Zynlick clicked his fingers as the sword that had fallen on the ground beside him, automatically lifted up in air, returning to his hand. "You won't get lucky again."

"Yeah. Calamity Witch- Sir Zynlick will show you no clemency in second strike." An enthusiast from crowd yelled with his hands up in air, leading to a fervour in crowd.

Inana rolled her eyes, at sound of natives which felt like random gibberish to her ears. In any case though, she must think of ending the battle quickly. She had forgotten for the moment but automatic lifting of sword had reminded her once again of disparity in their levels. Unlike him, she couldn't use magic to reclaim any weapon.

But then his eyes seemed way too guarded this time. If she went for first attack, she would have to probably face the sword and that was the last thing she wanted. Having arrived in this new world and especially being so long from her practice, she didn't really want to end up risking in a strength-domineering battle, especially in this dress.

But if she waits too long, he will commence his attack and she can't use same trick twice. Maybe it was time to use that technique after all. She closed in the distance between her legs, as she pointed her sword towards the ground.

Zynlick continued to follow her movement with his gaze. Had the witch finally decided to use a spell? He had hoped to keep the magic off as much as possible, himself being not an ardent advocate of mana based battle.

"Hya..." His thoughts drifted off as he heard her cry, coming straight at him with her sword in air.

"A frontal attack. How impudent!" Zynlick let out a sigh, as he kept his sword in straight line to block her blade. Inana's eyes lit up with wickedness at her response- like a hunter waiting for a pigeon to fall in her net.

Two feet away, she jumped into the air, digging her sword nearly halfway into the soil.

Zynlick's eyes wavered with apprehension for a moment but then were laced with amusement. So she was planning to use the soil from the earth to cloud his vision and hopefully land an attack?

"As if such a thing would work on me..." Zynlick decided to march ahead, holding his sword with both hands, hoping to get a clean strike at her neck when she lands on her feet to enact the trick.

Inana's face curled up with a smug smile, as she pressed her palm against the helm of the upside down-sword in ground, and coiled her hands around it to build momentum. All Zynlick could do was widen his eyes in surprise as he felt her kick on his head while swinging by the helm of sword.

Making the best of her dying momentum, Inana landed another kick from her left on Zynlick's ear, to bury him against the ground.

"Hey now, aren't you being too greedy, witch?" Zynlick flashed a smile as the pain seared through his head. Stopping her second kick, he quickly grabbing her left ankle and slammed her onto the ground, landing her with face right next to the buried sword which she had used as unexpected support.

Inana could feel a strong jolt of pain in her ribs, but she soon realized that there was no time to agonize over something like this. In a battle, the two worst positions to be in when facing an enemy is exposing your back or lying on floor without any weapon.

Somehow by twist of fate, she had managed to achieve both.

Weighing her options quickly, Inana decided to lay still and move at last second when Zynlick would probably attempt to plunge his sword into her back. In theory, her move wasn't bad, but Inana had failed to account for the impression she had left in Zynlick Waswa's mind.

Though he was appalled by her reckless fighting style, he was strongly debating each of his actions carefully, his expectations having been subverted two times in row already. The crowd's impatience also seems to be rising yet most of them were certainly leaning in his favourable disposition.

Zynlick ran his eyes through Inana's back, wondering if she had some kind of contraption or weapon hidden underneath her cloth. In any case when she decided to play still, he was forced to make the first attack.

But this time, he kept his distance, his eyes peering full-focused on Inana's body.

It seems the witch's spell was time-consuming enough to make her forget the urgency one must adopt in a battlefield.

"If you wish to lie stupidly still until your end, witch, then so be it." Zynlick raised his sword high up in the air. Inana couldn't listen to any sound despite best of her wishes.

Did her bait not work? Also, why was everything so quiet suddenly? Damn! She should really get away but her sword was so stuck that it would probably take too long...

Meanwhile, everyone's eyes were already set on the bright green light shining from Zynlick's sword, as if drawing from the very essence of green bushes in the field.

"Hey. You see that light..." One man in front whispered to another. "I have heard that it was dubbed as "Death's Shadow" by the Bandit Princess. "

"Seriously..." The other squinted his eyes, as if to be sure about what was happening. "I also heard that the attack is so fast and ferocious that except Rynlick-san, no one can survive it. "

"Then why couldn't he use it from the start?" A third guy complained, stroking his red beard. "There was no reason for him to get hurt..."

"Pri...Uh-ehh...It is the ...Waswa pride that makes them gauge enemy first" A man scissored his way through the crowd to the front, as people started to clear the way, once they recognized the face. Behind him trotted a small girl in late fourteen, holding her father's hand firmly with a concerned look.

"Lzanzi-Kun." The three men stopped their chatter at once, as the man's face drew clearly into their sight. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Y-yes, father. Your cough is getting worse." Ziana meekly voiced out her concern but her father paid not heed, his eyes staring fiercely towards lying witch on the floor who was making an attempt to pull out her sword, as if an insect that had crawled out of earth to take away the lent baton, which would ultimately kill it.

"I...I am the one...on whom that monster first used her spell. "Lzanzi spoke with much strain, holding his throat. "It is only fitting.... I see this filth cleaned away with my own eyes. "With a tint of anger, his eyes stared at them. "You got a problem with that?"

"Of course not, my dear Lzanazi-Kun." Kuttazawa smiled in attempt to pacify the situation, , his eyes gleaming with joy. "You are more than welcome to enjoy the purification of this village once again."

Inana knew she was in a serious pinch. It didn't take owl's vision to see the strange light that glimmered the whole sky. But now Zynlick was so close that she was sure any attempt to widen the distance would only make his attack more probable to land. With her back pressed against the buried sword and legs half enclosed, she had at best few seconds to think and her gaze entirely set on Zynlick's arms.

Why was he looking hotter while casting the spell though? Agh...shut up, rotten brain. Why can't I come up with some bright idea like in those manga? I so should have read more than romance and BL.

Kuttazawa obscurely shook his head to the hidden assassin, whose impatience was growing each second, having to hide in the small gap over trunk, hidden under curtain of green leaves.

'Not yet. 'Kuttazawa prayed inside his head. 'The conditions weren't yet ripe to give the signal. Hurry, my dear Waswa. I am sure you are just as impatient to see her end as I am of yours.'

"May you be born sinless in your new life, witch." Zynlick finished his chant, lowered his sword –its blade pointed towards Inana who sat there with a mystified expression on her face. But at that point – Zynlick could hardly care, the final words out of his mouth and along with it, the destined end of the foe from which he had hoped to get much better.

"Mana Grade High: Death Serpent."

Hues of coloured smoke bleached the atmosphere, arising from the attack on field, the soil and earth suspended high in air, like a fleeting sandstorm.

..........