“Limit Break.”
I take the greatsword of fortitude from my Storage Space, and cut the hand of a creepy monster.
The monster stabbed me in the chest with a spear, and is surprised to see me suddenly moving.
I pull the spear out of my chest, and the wound heals automatically. I look at my chest, and see the safeguard necklace shattering.
Ah, I get it. I remember reading that the safeguard necklace protects the wearer from a fatal wound, followed by a full recovery. That’s why I’ve recovered too.
And despite them looking different, I can tell this creepy monster is those two brothers.
The pressure they exude is more intense, but I still get the feeling of those creepy brothers from it.
I must’ve made it mad by cutting its arm, because it kicks with its monkey leg, but that also gets cut and flung away.
I look to the side, and see Kuroitsu.
His partners are also looking this way. At first I’m expecting them to get in my way, but they stand still.
I guess they really aren’t friends of the brothers.
I put the spear in my Storage Space, and look at the monster.
I don’t know why they turned into that, or what happened while I was down.
Still, my objective is the same.
The Niijima brothers suddenly disappear, and emerge from my shadow.
I’m sure it’s some sort of spell, but it’s pretty annoying teleportation magic. They don’t even need to prepare it, they just suddenly appear next to me. I can’t help but find it scary.
“Hahe?”
Spatial Grasp and See Through allow me to read their moves to the point where I can detect their magic energy, so I know where they’re coming from.
Then it’s just a matter of swinging the greatsword of fortitude at the right time.
Without its head, the body falls and sinks into a shadow.
“Guaaaahh!!”
It then appears where the head fell, and lets out a yell after putting it back.
The lost arm and leg also regenerate, meaning it’s back the way it was, looking at me with a creepy smile.
I use Speed Up and Solid magic circles to shoot a spear. Not just once, I fire four to destroy their four limbs.
They activate a black shield in mid air to block, but my spears get through.
Without their limbs, they fall to the ground. They try to enter a shadow again, but I quickly move to grab their head.
“Ah, aah, ah, aagah.”
I hear noises that don’t quite form words.
They try to regenerate again, impressing me with their vitality.
It’s just a skill.
I remember what Tooru said.
Although I’m wondering if staying alive like this is a blessing or a curse.
“Trace.”
I don’t need to vocalize it, but I do so on purpose. I feel like if I do, it makes me focus more on it, and allows me to investigate better.
This monster regenerates even after losing its four limbs and its head, so I need to investigate how to put it down.
Their body isn’t built like a human’s.
They have something like a heart, but no lungs or guts or anything like that, it’s all been turned into a muddy mess. They have something like a brain, and tubes that stretch from it to the heart and mud.
I look into the mud, but I only find it’s full of magic energy.
As I investigate further, something feels off. I’m only investigating one body, but it feels like something else is here.
And then, they regenerate their limbs, and I feel a rapid loss of magic energy.
I see. I cut their limbs again, and then create a rock spear with the Explosion magic circle.
“Gyah!?”
I hear a groan of pain, and it sinks into a shadow, spear and all, out of my sight.
Then there’s an explosion.
The Nijima brothers are ejected from the shadow, with their body completely burned and covered in soot.
“Are you still gonna regenerate?”
I ask as I approach, and their expression twists into something I think is fear. That creepy smile is gone.
Many blades emerge from the shadow that fly at my neck, but they were never going to hit. I take a step back and they pass by me.
But that was just a decoy, and as Tooru did before, many black needles appear around me and rain on me.
But the same attack isn’t going to work on me every time. I make a shelter with Earth Magic, and block them all. It’s all good until it starts crumbling to the pressure.
Shadow Bind.
I remember the spell Tooru used.
I forgot about the effect of the magic that bound me.
I laugh a little at myself, and infuse the greatsword of fortitude with magic energy.
I have to question my current condition. The amount of magic energy in me has been odd since I woke up.
I drank too much magic potion, and had to try as hard as I could to stop my magic energy from running wild with Magic Energy Control, but now it feels like that same amount of magic energy just stayed in my body.
“Oooh!!”
A slash of light is fired by the greatsword of fortitude as it’s swung down hard.
This is the slash of light with the most magic energy yet. It breaks rock, breaks magic, and slashes the Niijima brothers ahead.
Maybe it’s because they’ve suffered damage, but the magic around the shelter disappears, and I leave it.
I see the Niijima brothers awaiting me with their limbs regenerated.
They’re over three meters tall, but falling to their knees means I just have to look up a little.
Also, I think their Berserk has worn off, because their body becomes thin as if withering, looking frail.
And more importantly, the wound from that slash isn’t healing.
“It looks like that’s your limit. I only found two ways to beat you, make you use all your magic energy, or blow you apart without a trace. I figured I should hit you as hard as I could, but was making you use magic the decisive factor?”
They’re breathing hard, like they’re on the verge of death.
They keep looking down, not even reacting, so I continue.
“So why did you kill people? They had dreams, you know? Goals! Happy futures ahead!! Why did you kill them!? Are you listening, assholes!?”
They react to my anger, as the two guys turned into monsters look up and cackle.
“Do we need a reason… To kill people?”
The head of the monster is cut, let loose by a swing of my greatsword of fortitude
The monster’s face has two eyes, two ears, and one nose and mouth as it flies.
I maintain the momentum, turning and stabbing Tooru’s stomach as he appears behind me.
“Gaha!? Damn…”
Tooru has a sharp staff in hand, which he was no doubt trying to use to kill me.
There’s a clacking noise, as the staff falls from his hand.
I felt something was odd when I cast Trace on them, because there were two minds in one body. And they weren’t completely combined, so there was a small discrepancy.
I was wary of that, but it ended as I expected.
Tooru vomits something black, and looks up at me.
Unlike Akira, Tooru looks human, but his insides have mostly been changed into that something that looks like mud.
“How many skills do you have?”
He asks with pain in his voice.
“Don’t you know that question is a faux pas?”
I pull the greatsword from his stomach, and send his head flying like Akira’s.
With both on the ground, their bodies fall. And perhaps because they lost their lives, they lose their shapes and turn into sand that spreads on the ground.
I look down at the sand and let out a big sigh.
Many emotions are swirling inside me. I managed to have my revenge, but I’m just left with aimless anger and an empty feeling.
Would I have felt better if I hurt them more instead of finishing them off’?
Why didn’t I go with Toufu and the others?
Why did the Niijima brothers kill people?
Why were they here?
Pointless questions and regret well up.
And perhaps because he knows how I’m feeling, or maybe not, Kuroitsu approaches while clapping.
“Wonderful. You overpowered them from beginning to end. These were tough seekers who got through the fortieth floor, and you were strong enough to kick them around.”
“Is that a joke? They were whittled down before I faced them. You hurt them a lot, didn’t you?”
“No no, it was wonderful even if you take that into account.”
I glare at him silently.
This would’ve been over faster if they didn’t come.
I don’t know why he got in my way, but it was because of it that the Niijima brothers turned into that for some reason.
If I attack him out of spite, he’ll just counter. That’s how vast the gap between us is.
Also, I don’t feel hostility from them. Or rather, I never did. It’s like I just flared up on my own.
But that doesn’t change the fact that they were the ones who got in my way.
I look away from Kuroitsu, and towards portacool. Chisato is still sleeping. I think she’ll be fine in there, but I want to check.
But as I’m about to move out, I remember something and turn around.
“You’re the guy that was in the food court that time, right?”
I ask Kuroitsu.
“Yes, I was.”
“I hate you.”
Kuroitsu’s thin eyes open wide with surprise. And he smiles.
“What a coincidence, I also hate you.”
It’s an unpleasant conversation to the point of being refreshing.
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