We Are A Family

"Aaaargh!" Klaus bellowed as he pushed himself further. He managed to stand on two feet, but it took all his remaining energy for him to do just that. He had to admit that his chance of winning was little to none. Pathetic.

"..." The Draugr closed the distance between them with a roar. Its figure blurred before it reappeared in front of Klaus, its grin widened with glee.

"...As much as I hate being in pain like this, I can't let you hurt her anymore," said Klaus with a forced smile.

A menial attempt at bravado. The Draugr couldn't help itself and sneered when it heard the human uttered those words. But before it could let its fist swoop down to crack his skull open, the dagger jutting out of its thick neck began to move.

"Hm!?"

The dagger launched itself into the air as if being pulled by invisible strings, leaving a hole in the Draugr's neck. The wound would mend in due time, but that did not matter right now. More importantly, the weapon moved without Klaus doing anything.

No, wait. The dagger struck its neck with pinpoint precision a while ago, and that wouldn't be possible for a human boy like him. There was no way he was trained to throw daggers like that—not with his small frame. Then...

The Draugr let out a roar in response to the wound on its body as its fist cracked the marble floor beneath in one swift motion. Klaus had dodged the attack, albeit by a hair's breadth, but there was no need for him to counterattack. His dagger would obey and cut his foe for him.

"!?"

The dagger had one ability, and it was unlike the green sword Klaus held in his right hand. Klaus was able to weave and control the weapon with his mind.

The dagger spun in mid-air, pointed its tip towards the Draugr, and cut across the distance between them in a flash. With no change to its momentum, the blade pierced through the giant's torso, swerved, then stabbed it through its skull. The creature halted its own movement.

While the black flames had long dispersed themselves, it still stood to attention that it had scorched the creature's flesh—the left portion of its body had been marred like a burnt corpse. Alas, that was the extent of what Viktoria's Oubliette could do to it. So, the fact that the wounds left by Klaus's dagger left not but a lasting impression somewhat made sense.

A surge of turbulent pain assailed the creature's senses out of nowhere—and this floundered it on the spot. It was resistant to pain—so much so that the very concept of pain itself had ceased to exist for the creature. Then, why was that it could feel pain now?

Simple. Living creatures only feel pain when a stimulus threatened to harm them physically. But for beings that could shrug that very stimulus off? They were different.

If their brain didn't sense any danger whatsoever, the pain receptors wouldn't activate.

And yet, the dagger who posed little to no threat—since the Draugr could heal itself—had activated these receptors one way or another.

How?

This was also an ability that the dagger possessed. Any pain the Draugr received by the weapon's attacks would double in intensity. A stab in the neck would feel like a cruel decapitation.

"!" The Draugr ground its teeth and sent a withering glare in Klaus's direction.

"!"

Klaus tried his best to move towards Viktoria in his current condition. However, chasing after him with trails of bloodl.u.s.t oozing out of its eyes was the Draugr, having grown impatient at the circ.u.mstances. Klaus hastened his gait, but alas, it only took one step for the Draugr to reach him.

And then—

A resounding crack echoed throughout the library. That sound could only belong to human bones—breaking under an intense force carried by an object traveling at breakneck speed.

'...Grakhh!" Klaus blacked out for a split second before the Draugr's arm that smashed into his side sent him flying. There was no hope for him to continue fighting. The impact had broken nearly half of his bones without a doubt.

"Graakh... Graaghhhkhh..." He landed awkwardly by Viktoria's side, his mouth agape from the intense pain.

"Klaus!"

It was her fault. If she had gone all-out since the beginning, she could protect the Crown she treasured. For the Crown was a ray of hope that she could meet Klaus at some point in her mundane life.

She believed that to be the case. She really did.

But her naivete and ignorance had led to this dreadful outcome. She didn't want to admit it, but the situation could be turned upside down had she let Klaus took the Crown back then.

How so? The Crown unlocked the rightful owner's potential, granting him the authority to rule this Dimension. Aside from that, there was one other benefit that came naturally. And that was—

"...Urgh."

Viktoria pressed her palms against the floor, trying to raise herself up with her newfound strength. Yes, 'that' could overturn this situation on its head. The image of victory flitted into her mind and this flow of event spurred her further to act.

Even if her body broke down, she would still brave this path no matter what.

Even if her sanity withered, she would push herself past the limit.

And so, she did just that. The girl turned to Klaus and wrapped both hands around Klaus's right. The one obstinately gripping the green sword's hilt ever since the fight broke out. She would use this weapon to trigger the process of Succession.

Succession—a sequence of the phenomenon that followed an event where a human claimed the Crown.

In other words, once someone had defeated the Keeper protecting said Crown, Succession would take place afterward.

Viktoria knew this was the only available option she could take at that moment. She wouldn't hesitate now. It had to be done sooner or later anyway. From one's perspective, Viktoria's action could be summarized as her forcing that 'process' to occur out of her own volition. Nothing more, and of course, nothing less.

"V-Viktoria...?" Klaus's voice was as low as a whisper could be.

The Keeper didn't hear him at all as she raised Klaus's right hand that was holding the sword.

"What are you... trying to..."

"This is our only hope, Klaus Weber. Forgive me, but with this, you should be able to transcend and become an Astral."

Viktoria plunged the sword into her c.h.e.s.t, and a warm light exploded. Its radiance quickly filled the entire library, but for the Draugr, this was a bad omen. This light could only refer to one thing.