|| TL: miyakriko ||
Facing the man with a steady gaze, I raise my sword.
“So you’re serious. It looks like fighting with you would be fun after all… huh!”
The man envelops his body with immense magical power.
Instantly, he disappears again with swift movement.
This time, he’s in front of me!
I use all my senses, including my magical perception, to anticipate the man’s movements.
He attacks with a sweeping motion of his left arm aimed at my head.
I dodge with minimal movement, arching my body backwards.
If it had hit me directly, the force would have been more than I could handle.
But there is no time to relax even after dodging.
Next, he follows up with a straight punch towards my recoiled body.
There is some room for me to react before the attack reaches me.
So, I move the magical power from my feet up through my body, adjusting it to aid my movements.
Then, I slice through the right arm that comes flying towards me in a straight line.
“Hah!”
I pour all my power into the strike and swing with full force.
A strong impact reverberates through my hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder.
Despite the shock, I don’t let go of the hilt.
The clash between metal and metal creates a high-pitched sound that echoes throughout the area.
As a result of the full-force attack, Im thrown back.
But the feedback…
“Not bad, but it was too light.”
The man rubs his cut right arm and wears a relaxed expression.
Although it was meant to be a strike to sever his arm, it only left a small cut.
As expected, he’s tough.
With that level of magical power, a simple physical attack wouldn’t be enough to cause significant damage.
“Then… I’ll charge at you again from here!!”
Roaring with an ear-shattering scream, he charges again recklessly from the front, a combat style that is the complete opposite from the textbook.
It reminds me of the early days with San, but it’s on a completely different level.
If I let my guard down, my advantage will be taken away in an instant.
I continue to withstand the attacks, which feel like a giant compressed into a humanoid shape, with a continuous barrage like an unstoppable storm.
Each time I block his attacks, both my arm and sword scream in pain.
“What’s wrong!? Are you just all talk!?”
I continue to endure the unreasonable force.
I mustn’t panic. I need to use my magical power sparingly and only at necessary times.
I need to conserve my stamina until an opportunity arises.
On the other hand, the man fights while constantly enveloping his entire body with powerful magic, with no regard for fine control.
Normally, I would want to aim for him to run out of fuel, but I can’t see the bottom of this man at all.
If I continue to defend, I’ll run out of stamina first.
But fortunately, he’s acting like a beast.
There is no rationality to his attacks.
That’s why he’s strong.
That’s why, if I wait, the opportunity will definitely…
This!
I’ve been waiting for this sweeping right attack.
A single hit that could end the battle if it lands.
It’s easy to deflect the trajectory with a sword, but that won’t create an opportunity for a counterattack.
He can’t regain the initiative.
I infuse magical power into my empty left hand.
And then, using human tactics to deflect it, I counter the beast’s violence with a technique that is the exact opposite.
“What?!”
The man’s body, which was hit with a full-power blow, was pushed back by his own uncontrollable force.
I thrust my sword into his wide-open torso and a metallic clanging sound echoes.
“Ha! That wont work!”
His body is harder than steel, wrapped in an extraordinary amount of magical power.
However, the purpose of the sword strike was not to penetrate it.
“How about this?”
I quickly absorb the ambient magic.
Fulgrar Tempest Fugue Lancia Decem Synthesis.
I connect the runes inside my body to construct a large-scale attack magic.
I amplify the assembled magic all at once.
In less than a fraction of a second, I execute the entire sequence of actions.
“What…?!”
The man exclaims in astonishment at the glowing magic reaction.
The assembled magic is released from the tip of the sword, which also functions as a staff.
A thunderbolt spear, a concentrated storm, strikes the man’s abdomen at point-blank range.
Unable to take a defensive posture, the man is struck directly and is blown backwards with a beastly roar.
Roaring sound―― his large body slams into one side of the remaining gate from the back.
The man slowly collapses to the ground, leaning against the gate.
The eighth-ranked magic, specialized in single-target attacks. Even a large dragon would fall if hit directly.
However, the cost of using it was that I also used up a considerable amount of my own stamina.
Please, just give up.
I readjust my sword and pray while catching my breath, but…
“Y-You did it… That hit really worked…”
The man slowly begins to stand up, emitting smoke from all over his body, despite my prayers.
Is he a monster…?
“Damn, my clothes got burnt to a crisp.”
He picks at the charred pieces of his clothes with his fingers and starts to come towards me again.
However, his movements are much slower compared to before, undoubtedly due to the large expenditure of energy from taking that hit directly.
I also used up a lot of stamina, but the situation is still fifty-fifty.
“Let’s go! You brat!”
The man’s body is enveloped in magical energy again, with the same beast-like glare in his eyes.
“Come at me! You thug!”
I reposition my sword and take a stance to counter him again.
Afterwards, both of us continue to battle, with neither side landing a significant blow, just wearing each other’s stamina down in a back-and-forth fight.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
“Heh… heh… you’re pretty good…”
“Haah… haah… you too… you’re strong…”
Both panting and catching our breath, we face each other.
If we continue to fight like this, the battle will never end.
Our strengths are so evenly matched.
If the setting sun were in the background, it would seem like a situation where friendship would blossom, but even so, this guy is still annoying.
We fundamentally don’t get along.
“What’s that noise I hear? Boom… bang…”
A voice came from the garden.
While sensing the man’s body, I slightly shift my vision towards the direction of the voice.
Rose and Rino are there, next to where one side of the broken gate lies.
The two of them gradually approach this way.
“Don’t come over here, it’s dangerous,”
I tried shouting but can’t speak properly because of my labored breathing.
While this is happening, the two of them, who have come closer to his side, notice him.
“Oh, it’s Hazal-sama. Hey.”
“Huh? Oh, it’s Rino. You still don’t have any sex appeal, do you?”
“Hmph! What are you two doing together? We could hear really loud noises all the way over there.”
“No, this brat here challenged me to a fight.”
“Oh, I see. By the way, Frey-sama is really strong, isn’t he? The fact that you can fight Hazal-sama one-on-one means…”
“Well, it’s more or less even.”
“Hazal-sama, it’s been a while.”
“Hey, Rose. You’re still a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you very much. However, if you continue to be so reckless, it will harm your health.”
“Sorry, sorry. I just got carried away.”
“Um… excuse me? You two?”
“What is it?”
“What is it?”
I ask the two who are casually chatting with the mysterious thug.
I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before, as it comes up several times in conversation.
“What did you call this guy just now…?”
“It’s Hazal-sama.”
“It’s Hazal-sama, you know.”
As if it were obvious, both of them spoke the name of the girl’s father.
[Author’s Note]
For those who found it “interesting” or are “curious about what happens next,” please give a rating below 【☆☆☆☆☆】. It would greatly motivate me for future writing. Thank you very much.
Leave a Reply