I ignore the pain even as my body breaks down, and focus on Magic Energy Control. By using Parallel Thinking, I can send a lot of magic energy back to the normal flow.
Still, it’s hard to control this much, and all I can do is prolong it a little.
I stretch my arm that feels like it’s about to break, and activate magic circles.
If I have too much magic energy to keep under control, I just need to shoot it out.
“…This isn’t good.”
I hear Kuroitsu sounding flustered.
I ignore that, and keep focusing on the magic circles.
I can increase the destructive power with Blast, increase the number with Break, and fire them faster with Speed Up.
I can hear a bell. I’m sure I’m hearing things.
Is that an effect of my magic energy running out of control? I should just focus on the rock spears.
“Move.”
I say as a last warning to Kuroitsu and the others.
My targets are the same as before, my hated enemies Tooru and Akira.
Kuroitsu and the others can still run, but don’t show any intention of moving.
Which means I have no choice, and control the rock spears with magic energy.
Then I fire.
They make noises like they’re rubbing against the air, and then I hear a large explosion.
This magic doesn’t damage me this time. It has incredible force, and I controlled its power so it blows away its target.
Everything has been blown away.
At the same time, I can now control my magic energy, so I use Healing Magic to repair my body on the verge of collapse.
I can still hear the bell.
The explosion raised dust, and while the place where it happened is covered by it, I can’t imagine anyone survived it.
Everyone in my way should have been cleared.
And yet… Why… What is this pressure?
The bell won’t stop.
I hear the sound of the wind being cut. At the same time, all the dust is blown away.
“…Dammit.”
I see Kuroitsu and the other man and woman unharmed, along with Tooru and Akira.
“Gospel.”
Kuroitsu whispers, the bell gets louder, and it gradually stops.
“You actually drank two magic potions. I didn’t expect you to survive. Being able to use magic in that state and even recover is quite surprising…”
He says with a mild tone, but there’s a cloud in his expression, and anger in it.
I really feel the air growing cold now.
“…Now it’s my turn.”
I hear it right next to me.
I don’t have time to be surprised, as my face is hit, and my brain shakes. My body shakes too, but I can’t even fall, because I’m repeatedly hit to my right and left.
Each attack is heavy, and pierces my whole body. He’s trying to break me. My helmet is broken, and I lose my means to protect my head.
I hang in there while using Healing Magic, but all my defense is gone. The magic mirror armor is broken, leaving only the arms. I try to use the shield, but even that’s destroyed.
“It’s no use.”
The shield is kicked hard enough to fling me away, and breaks into pieces.
“Dammit.”
Bones break in my whole body, and my internal organs are destroyed.
I’m recovering with Healing Magic, but even that can’t keep up. And I know one thing, I’m only conscious because Kuroitsu is holding back.
If he used his full power, the first attack would’ve left me unconscious. Maybe dead.
And with that in mind, I hold up my tyrant battleaxe.
“Wonderful force of will. I don’t know what drives you so much, but you will die at this rate.”
“So what? You think I’m gonna give up on taking revenge for my friends?”
“Friends?”
Kuroitsu looks like he’s thinking, like that caught his attention.
Then it looks like he remembered something.
“Those people who died were your friends?”
He asks while pointing to where Toufu and the others are laying.
I glare silently, and he sighs.
“Being a seeker means walking alongside death. They were unlucky. That is all.”
He says with exasperation. Like their deaths were a matter of fact.
“…Unlucky? You think that word is enough to sum up their lives!? Screw you!!”
“I am quite serious. All seekers need to be prepared for it. If you cannot shake that off, you are not fit to be a seeker.”
“I’m fine with that. I don’t wanna be like you and not care about my friends.”
“That was not my intention… But now that I know your reasons, let us end this.”
I swing my tyrant battleaxe sideways, use Limit Break, and read Kuroitsu’s moves with the expanded Spatial Grasp and See Through.
That’s the idea anyway.
After my magic mirror armor, my tyrant battleaxe is broken. It lost to a chop from Kuroitsu.
Time flows slowly, as I’m hit all over, and lose consciousness before I can use Healing Magic.
ーーー
Kuroitsu looked down at Haruto Tanaka, and confirmed he was unconscious.
He had information given to him by his subordinate Yuuka Ayatsuri, but it was more trouble than he expected.
It was hard to take him down without killing him, so much so that he figured he should kill him, but refrained from doing so.
He knew he had connections to the president of the seeker association, the owner of the weapons shop, and the president of Honto.
He was not familiar with their relationships, but he did not want to make an enemy out of them.
The Item Master president of the seeker association.
The famous Martial Arts God who owned a weapons store.
The Peerless Powerful president of Honto.
Young seekers might not know them, but no one who saw them when they were active would want to mess with these legendary monsters.
Even in their retirement, they necessitated caution.
Kuroitsu did not know why they were making contact with Tanaka, but he judged killing him to be a bad move.
And said Tanaka was considerably stronger than he expected.
He had his rough edges when it came to close quarters combat, but each move was sharp, and he was above the average pro seeker.
And the same went for his magic. His activation speed and magic power were nothing to sneeze at. When he used a tri spell, Kuroitsu unconsciously used his trump card, Gospel.
Gospel was a rare skill, one that caused a bell to echo while in use, and protected Kuroitsu from various disasters.
It worked against all sorts of things, from physical damage to life span reduction caused by curses.
And what Gospel spent was not stamina or magic energy. It was virtue.
It was by spending virtue that Gospel’s effect activated, meaning he had to perform good deeds whether he wanted to or not.
With a sigh, he looked towards his targets.
His subordinates Eimi and Souji should have been there pressing them down.
“…Ahh.”
But instead, he saw the younger brother Akira stabbing the younger brother Tooru in the throat with his spear.
ーーー
Fukuro Kuroitsu (37)
Level: 48
Skills: Incantation, Concealment, Martial Arts, Shukuchi, See Through, Physical Strengthening, Gospel
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