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Chapter 189: Rematch with Bride ①

The rain poured. I jumped off the roof onto the wet ground and took a closer look at Bride.

His head swayed unnaturally, and the glimpse of his gaze from his full-face helm pointed in an unexpected direction. I couldn’t tell if he was focused on me or not. But from his reaction just now, I can tell that he recognizes who I am and harbors an abnormal level of murderous intent.

「GORUAAAA!」

Along with a roar that sounded like a scream from the soul, a huge fireball magic was shot from Bride’s left hand. Although he didn’t show any signs of aiming it at me, it was flying precisely towards me. I don’t know how powerful a magic shot from those stats could be, but I am not looking forward to finding out.

I took out Shiranuemaru from my magic bag, clad it in mana, and slashed at the oncoming fireball. The fireball split in half, destroying the houses behind me one after another and setting them on fire.

「Are you serious? I was intending to cut it down completely.」

The power of his magic was higher than I expected. …But still, this is within the expected range. If the magic was at Kinu’s level, I wouldn’t be able to cut through it so easily. The best I could do is deflect it in another direction.

「Gaha, aga, AUUUNNNNN!! KILLLLLL!!!」

Even though I had easily cut his magic just a few seconds ago, Bride shot the same magic again.

This time, I slashed the fireball four times to extinguish it.

「You really have lost the ability to think. Even if your stats are that high, your attacks are too simple.」

It’s just direct and straight. The way he attacks without much thought is not much different than children throwing wide punches.

There’s no technique involved. Just repeating the attack that comes to mind. Honestly… I’m disappointed.

However, he is equipped with a number of cursed weapons. Some of them, like the magic sword Flam, may try to take over your consciousness as soon as you hold it in your hand. Since I don’t know the effects of the equipment, I need to be careful and destroy the equipment.

「Which means, I have to use this guy.」

I stored Shiranuemaru in my magic bag and pulled out Red Ogre’s Iron Ron instead. As my mana continued to flow into the weapon, the Iron Rod began to become electrically charged and started making a crackling electric discharge sound.

When Bride saw this, he let out a scream and a red aura erupted from his entire body. It’s probably the strengthening skill called [Wildfire]. I’m sure the effect was increasing STR, AGI, and INT by 140%. This enhancement rate further strengthens Bride’s stats, which has already been raised by the curse.

In addition, the cursed weapon seemed to regard the Red Ogre’s Iron Rod as dangerous, as the black mist deepened around Bride’s entire body. Two auras of red and black intertwined eerily around Bride, swirling like a terrifying pattern.

…But that was all there was to it.

「[Thunder Drum], [Lightning Clap].」

Bride has a high multiplier, but only a single buff skill is activated. If I activate my double buff skill, the difference in our stats will shrink.

It’s been more than half a year since the Ranking Battle… While Bride was imprisoned in the dungeon, I raised my level, evolved, and faced formidable enemies.

Can that experience overcome the stats of the cursed weapons?

「I’ll break down that equipment one by one!!」

「GARURURAAA!!!」

We both dashed out almost at the same time. The 20m distance between us was instantly closed, and our weapons collided with each other.

My aim is to destroy the armor, but Bride’s magic sword is also imbued with mana, so it won’t be easy. However, Bride’s sword movements were so monotonous that I had no trouble in parrying the attacks.

The sword, which was swung purely on instinct, had no trace of Bride. For some reason, I felt a sense of loneliness and emptiness.

「What’s wrong, Bride? You’re not this weak, are you?」

「UGGAAAAA!!」

「Did you seriously forget how to speak? Or… is it because of that helm on your head?」

I flicked up Bride’s raised sword, creating a clear opening.

In the same movement, I slammed the Red Ogre’s Iron Rod as hard as I could into the side of Bride’s head. A dent formed, as if part of the full-face helm had caved in.

However, almost at the same time, the black mist surrounding Bride concentrated on his head, and a few seconds later the dent in the helm disappeared as if nothing had happened.

「Haha, that’s fine by me. All I have to do is keep hitting you until it breaks!」

If I clearly target the head and keep hitting it while dodging Bride’s attacks, Bride will naturally start guarding his head as well. However, him focusing on defense means that I can attack one-sidedly. Plus, if he guards his head, his torso will be completely defenseless.

「Come on!! What’s wrong! Is your ridiculous stats just for decoration!?」

「Gah…AaAAaaAaaA!」

This time, I delivered a series of blows to the abdomen protected by plate armor, but when his guard lowered down to his torso, I made sure to deliver a strong blow to the head.

Bride seemed to be holding out somehow, but when he swung down his magic sword again, I flicked it away and landed three hits to his head in a row. A large crack appeared in the Phantom Helm, which had been deformed from being hit so many times, and a black mist erupted from there. Accompanied with Bride’s wail, the helm cracked and Bride’s face was exposed.

「One down! Five more to go!!」