“I’m gonna kill you!!”
I use Physical Strengthening, and accelerate to quickly get closer.
I swing my battleaxe at Tooru, but Akira gets between us and blocks with his spear.
He supposedly took big damage, but his wound is healed and he’s moving normally with his destroyed armor.
“What’s wrong!? Weren’t you gonna kill us!!?”
I swing down, sweep, and thrust, but I don’t hit Akira.
Our handling of our weapons isn’t all that different, but I don’t hit because I’m adjusting.
I’m reading his moves with Trace. If we’re evenly matched, then surely the one who can read the other’s moves has the advantage.
Also, the tyrant battleaxe gets stronger the more it’s swung. And so, I gradually speed up, and keep attacking to get the most power out of it.
Akira’s face gets more rigid the more I swing, like he knows the battleaxe is getting stronger.
After fifty attacks, and just as I’m reaching a hundred, the tyrant battleaxe gets red hot, as its effect hits the limit.
Then, I shift my stance to attack Tooru’s magic approaching from behind with this max power attack, not Akira.
This magic is like a black tsunami, taking down trees from the root as it passes.
It looks like Akira is going to get hit by the magic too, but he gets away at the last second. It must be something they’re used to doing.
“Kah!!”
I swing the tyrant battleaxe as hard as I can towards it.
The power completely blows it away and nullifies it.
“What power. No, the ability of the weapon?”
“Big brother, this guy’s strong.”
“Yes, and we don’t have much time left. Let’s go all out, Akira.”
“Yes.”
Once their short conversation is over, Akira steps forward.
Tooru moves like he’s taking distance, and then sinks into his shadow.
Akira carries the spear on his shoulder, and stops in front of me after backing away.
“Tanaka, right? Sorry, but die already. Berserk!”
He yells as he powers up and grows larger.
Ah, I’m not letting that clear opening get away, so I close the distance and swing my battleaxe, ripping through his armor and his body.
“Gah!?”
It’s like he never expected me to attack. Light returns to his eyes that were losing their sense of reason, and his body stops in an unfinished state.
That sort of stuff only works with henshin heroes. We’re out here killing each other, and this guy just transforms in front of me like an idiot. It’s like he’s asking me to kill him.
“Are you stupid!? Didn’t I tell you not to transform unprotected like that!?”
Tooru gets flustered and shows himself out of the shadow, and many black tentacles appear. They’re thicker than a person, and after undulating, they suddenly all attack.
They come at me like expanding springs, thrusting at me, falling from above me, and sweeping. I dodge and cut with my battleaxe, but they quickly reattach themselves to attack again.
Then I should attack the main body, but this gave Akira time to transform, and I’m blown back by a spear strike.
Akira keeps attacking. I just barely managed to block with my battleaxe, but after I roll on the ground, he keeps thrusting.
He’s way faster, stronger, and sharper, making it hard to block it all. And it’s practically impossible when I’m on the ground.
A hole is opened in the magic mirror armor, and my body is pierced when the spear reaches it.
This keeps repeating, and I vomit blood.
“Gaha.”
“Hahahaha! You’re done! It’s over!”
He talks and acts like his IQ dropped a few points, and seems to enjoy killing.
He then swings his spear at my face to finish me.
“Limit Break.”
I ignore the pain, and immediately get up after flinging the spear back with my battleaxe. This makes more of my blood fall, but I don’t have time to care.
I use Parallel Thinking to cast Healing Magic, and attack to kill Akira.
“W-why!? Why can you move!?”
Akira is surprised to see me move, but I don’t care.
I keep swinging the tyrant battleaxe, racking up swings again.
We were at a standstill, competing with martial arts, but Akira now senses he’s at a disadvantage, and uses his legs to get away. And I move to chase him.
This area has become open thanks to Tooru’s magic, so I rush all over after Akira.
He moves incredibly fast, but I’m faster.
Tooru attacks with what looks like small needles and even attacks with the black tentacles, but I dodge and block with an earth wall and the magic mirror armor’s shield.
“Uooo!!”
I attack like a hurricane.
The tyrant battleaxe turns red hot again, meaning its power is at max.
Akira senses danger, and stops for a desperate attack.
“Dammit!!”
That’s the sharpest thrust yet.
It’s aiming for my heart, and I could very well die on the spot if it hit me. Its aim is spot on, going for where I’ll be and not where I am.
But I suddenly slow down, letting the spear pass by.
“Wha!?”
I immediately approach Akira, and bisect him from the stomach.
His upper body shifts away.
◇ ◇ ◇
Before Akira can fall, many black needles surround me.
They’re all launched at once, and I swing my battleaxe around as fast as I can to strike them down.
My upper body is protected by the magic mirror armor, so that’s not a problem, but not my lower body equipped with the divine bird boots.
Most are blocked, but quite a few stab my legs.
I’m still using Healing Magic, so the wounds are whatever. The problem is that the needles lose their shape and cling to me.
And the same happens with the needles on my battleaxe and armor.
“Got you.”
Tooru whispers like he’s gloating.
I move to kill.
I’m gonna kill him. I have to.
With that bloodlust in mind, I run out, but I feel an ominous magic energy flow from him.
“Useless.”
As he speaks, I pitch forward and the pressure binding me intensifies.
This magic mirror armor is supposed to have high magic resistance, but it’s screeching with creaky sounds.
“Dammit!?”
If this is happening to the armor, suffice to say, the unprotected lower half is constricted to the point where it might be crushed.
I’m desperately hanging on, but it’s a matter of time.
If it wasn’t for Limit Break, I couldn’t even resist. Basically, when Limit Break reaches its limit, so will I.
“That armor has high magic resistance, right? And that weapon’s good too, so you were blessed not only with skills, but good equipment too. And it doesn’t look like the poison is working. No wonder Akira lost.”
He says as I struggle to resist. He’s talking like he’s not talking about his brother’s death. He doesn’t seem angry at all.
This makes me sick to my stomach, and I glare at him while withstanding the pressure.
“Mu, you can still resist? I was going to wait until Akira recovered, but should I finish you?”
“…Recovered?”
I can’t ignore those ominous words.
I can’t imagine that bisected body is still alive. If he’s alive after that, he’s beyond being human.
“Is there anything to question? We’re just like you. We have skills.”
I point my eyes to Akira, and he is indeed alive.
Alive and trying to join back with his lower half.
“That’s it. Akira can only fight up close, but that skill allowed him to survive. Do you find that unsightly? That you don’t want to be like that? That’s the right of someone who survived the dungeon. Ones who died have no right to talk. No matter how unsightly, Akira survived, and he is strong. And when you die, you will end a weakling that accomplished nothing.”
As he finishes talking, the black things stuck to me grow in pressure.
I try as hard as I can to resist it, but it’s like an unyielding vice.
I attack with Earth Magic, but Tooru is a much better mage, so it’s all neutralized.
As dust rises, Tooru approaches.
He swings his staff, turning its tip into a blade. I know he’s coming to finish me with that.
At this rate, he’ll succeed.
I said I’d kill them, and he’ll kill me.
I’ll die without carrying out my revenge.
What will happen if I die?
What about Chisato?
Is she going to get killed too?
Like the others…
I use my remaining magic energy to activate Reflect on my magic mirror armor.
“Uooo!!”
The effect takes away the pressure, loosening my restraints.
I immediately get up and sweep with my tyrant battleaxe, cutting the arm holding the staff and ripping his body.
“Wha!?”
Tooru let down his guard, and his face is painted with shock. The blank expression that was on his face this whole time has collapsed completely.
The shock of being cut takes him to the ground. And with both arms gone, he can’t hold his staff.
I stagger due to lack of magic energy, and gulp down a magic potion that I take from the Storage space.
Limit Break ran out when I cut him, and while I’m not using magic energy I can’t finish him off in this state.
“Bro!!”
Akira gets up and staggers as he walks.
His lower half seems attached, but he can’t move too well yet.
“Impossible! You shouldn’t have escaped from Shadow Bind!”
Tooru is facing up, and his full confidence in his magic means he can’t accept reality.
He should be able to still use magic, even without his staff. I know because that’s what I do.
Even on the ground like that, Tooru is a threat.
But that doesn’t matter. I’m putting an end to him.
I don’t accept their existence. I don’t accept their presence in this world.
I grip the tyrant battleaxe strongly to cut their heads like a guillotine.
I hold it up, and swing down as hard as I can.
“Excuse me, can you wait a second?”
The blade is stopped by a man in a black suit.
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Akira Niijima (32)
Level: 32
Skills: Spear Techniques, Vitality Boost, Self Repair, Berserk, Paralysis Resistance
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Tooru Niijima (34)
Level: 34
Skills: Darkness Magic, Magic Energy Boost, Alchemy, Vision Enhancement, Poison Resistance
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