3 bar menu

CHAPTER 194: REMATCH AGAINST BRIDE ⑥

CHAPTER 194: REMATCH AGAINST BRIDE ⑥

Well then, let’s show off some of my Dark Magic here, shall we?

Currently, I can use two types of Dark Magic.

One is the “Shadow Movement” and its application, the “Ever Dark Gate”. And the other is “Gravity Manipulation”. Both are extremely difficult to control, but since I have mastered the use of them, the scope of my potential battle strategies has expanded greatly.

This time around, I would not hold anything back. I would use everything I have on me to finish him off in one go.

「“Hypergravity Zone.”」

「W-What the!? M-My body… it feels heavy!? ……. No, this is an Area of Effect spell!」

「Yes, that’s absolutely right! Now fall down, you oversized bat!」

Naturally, I was also being affected by this “Hypergravity Zone”, but if I could control it well, I could always create a favorable situation for me.

I jumped up as the Hypergravity-influenced Bride fell down, knee-kicked him in the stomach, kicked into the air with the Sky Run, and spun around my body vertically. Then, with the same momentum, I dropped my heel on Bride’s back, slamming him into the ground, but he quickly got up and readied his magic sword Orgnus again.

「Gahah! Damn it…… T-The difference in strength…… at this rate……」

「Hey, just make sure that you won’t die on me yet, okay? Because the real battle starts now!」

As I landed on the ground, I simultaneously deployed four “Eternal Darkness Gates” around Bride and prepared to draw my sword, channeling magical power into Shironuemaru while relaxing my entire body as much as possible.

At this point, I had used up a lot of MP, but that did not matter. I was going to deal the maximum amount of damage here!

「“Lightning Movement.”」

At almost the same time I stepped forward with my right foot, and I unsheathed Shironuemaru.

The tip of the sword definitely felt like it had sliced ​​some flesh clean off, and fresh blood flew after a brief delay. Furthermore, when I passed Bride and entered one of the Ever Dark Gates that was set up just ahead, not only did I instantly traveled to another Ever Dark Gate, but my direction of movement changes to a vector pointing towards Bride again. I slashed again as I entered another Ever Dark Gate, then emerged from another one and slashed at Bride.

It only lasted for a few seconds. However, the time between the two of us, stretched thin by the triple buffs we each had on us, felt dozens of times longer than that. And when I activated Lightning Movement, my movement speed became so fast that I would not even leave the sound behind.

Now that I was moving at such a high speed, if I would lose concentration even for a moment I would be the one making a huge mistake……

(Just think about slicing Bride to pieces now! Use that excitement to replenish your lost stamina that is about to run out!)

「Ora, ora, ORAAA!!! You don’t have enough endurance to withstand this, do you!? If you don’t guard properly, you will lose all your remaining HP in no time!!」

I continued slashing Bride from all sides at lightning speed, not even allowing him to fall to his knees.

I would slice him to the very limit of my stamina.

「G-Gah…… Guh… Ah, “F-Fireball”」!

— DOGAAAGOOON —————!!!!!!!!!

「What!? Seriously, this guy…… He is ready to commit suicide, prepared to take damage, and escaped just like that?」

「Haah, haah, haah…… N-Not yet, I’m not done yet!」

Weighing the risk of exploding himself against the possibility of escaping the current situation, and choosing to commit suicide instantly was no mean feat to accomplish. Besides, the fact that he made that choice meant he still had the will to fight left in him.

Moreover, even in a situation where death was just on the horizon for him, Bride was only thinking about killing me exclusively.

「You are seriously the best. You really are the man I once recognized as my rival.」

「What are you talking about?」

「Oh my, won’t you look at that? I might have gotten too excited and just blurted that out.」

「Answer me! Just who are you?」

「Hmm…… Oh well, what the hell? Hey, Bride, does my name sound familiar to you, by any chance?」

「It’s Aun! And I feel that I have yelled out that name so much that I have become sick of it! But, the first time that I have ever met you was during that Ranking Battle!」

「Well, yeah, I suppose so. It was about fourteen years ago, huh? Not only was my face and body like that of a different person at the time, but even my race has changed since then.」

「F-Fourteen years ago……? W-What are you……!? A-Aun…… AUN!!! Aun!!!!!! You bastard……!」

「What? Have you finally noticed?」

「I knew that there was something unnatural about the conversations I had with you…… I see, so that’s what happened…… But Aun was supposed to have been killed by Mardas on that day……」

「So you really were behind that incident after all. I knew that was the case, but…… Hearing it again from the horse’s mouth really pisses me off, you know?」

「Tsk, so…… Mardas and the others screwed the job up.」

「No, that’s not it. I definitely died once that time.」

「…… W-What do you mean by —!? D-Damn it! My HP is already……」

「Yeah, I guess so. So let’s stop the pointless talking for now.」

「…… Yes, that’s right. I will use all my remaining Magic Power for my next attack. But you are going to be one who will die first here, Aun!!」

「Go ahead and try it, if you can! I will cut you down head on!」

The magic sword Orgnus in Bride’s right hand glowed bright red. Then, a huge flame sword was formed around the magic sword. It was so huge that it would easily exceed the length of three meters in size. It really seemed like he was putting all of his Magic Power into this attack. If that was going to be the case, I would face him with all of my might as well!

I naturally sheathed Shiranuemaru and loosened it slightly inside of its scabbard while channeling my magical power through it, and then I took a stance as if I wanted to draw my sword.

I could feel in both of my hands the energy flowing through Shiranuemaru, so strong it felt like it might explode inside its sheath at any moment now, but my mind was strangely calm. I took a deep breath and carefully observed Bride’s every single move.

— With the next strike, our feud up until now would finally be settled.

Bride took a high stance, and I took a stance to draw my sword.

While we were clearly trying to kill the other, a strange time passed, as if we were both reluctant to take a step forward, which would cause the battle to end. It was a quiet time, so quiet that I even forgot to breathe at some point.

It was Bride who started the attack.

He took a big step from his high stance and powerfully swung his magic sword Orgnus down towards me.

An immense amount of heat was approaching me really fast. Just that alone made my skin feel like it was burning and charring. If I were to take that attack head-on, I probably would not get away with it. But I was not in a hurry at all. Even at this stage, where I had already been taken by surprise, my unsheathing sword reached its target before Bride’s did.

A few moments later, the distance and timing between the two of us matched up to my ideal vision.

— SHUPAAAN!!!

Shironuemaru drew its sword in a straight line, cutting the Demonic Sword Orgnus in half as it was swung down, slicing deeply into Bride’s chest.

「Gubah……!」

With a small groan, Bride’s body collapsed, looking up to the sky. Splashes of blood spurted out from his chest, and the tip of the Demonic Sword Orgnus, cut in half, pierced the ground a few meters away from him, and a black mist rose up into the cloudy sky before finally disappearing.

I shook off the blood from Shiranuemaru and sheathed my sword, then took another deep breath as if I had forgotten how to breathe.

Looking back at it now…… as a kid, I was a truly competitive person, but it was because I had a rival like Bride that I was able to truly want to become stronger. You could say that it was thanks to my death and becoming a monster that I was able to meet my comrades once again and that I was able to truly change.

Of course, Bride did many unforgivable things to fulfill his own ambitions. He deserved to be punished for that, and even if he died here, he will never be forgiven by society.

But as for me, as an individual, I choose to forgive Bride.

That is my way of making amends as an old friend and rival who parted ways with him fourteen years ago.