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Over the Infinite – Chapter 9 (1)

 

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Translator: mii

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Chapter 9 – “Starving Beast”

-1-

“Haa, haa, haaa….”

I jumped away with all of my might and escaped from the Minotaur Ax’s crash at my hair’s breadth.

Cloud of dust rose from where the huge heavy ax crashed, obstructing my visibility.

This might be sudden, but there was something called a “flag”.

It was not those waving flags, but a terminology. In games, there was something called an “event flag”. In Modern Japan, it was also used when the story entered a convention plot.

Like, “I will come back and marry you after this war,”

Or, “How can I stay in this kind of place! I will return to my own room,” were the so-called death flag which indicated that the character would die in the next scene.

If the story suddenly focused on characters that rarely appeared before, it was also a sign of death.

Other than that, there were also survival flags and romance flags that were used in opposite meanings.

What I wanted to introduce was the following pattern.

Release a deadly blow to the opponent after recovering from a hopeless situation. The dust was blowing up and the character couldn’t see the attack, but it should’ve hit the opponent directly.

In this situation, lines like “Did I end it?!” was a flag that said “It hasn’t ended yet.”

Yes, that was the line that I exactly could use in this situation.

So I believed in such a convention and wouldn’t say “Did I end it?!” even under any threat. …I-I didn’t say it, okay!

…Well, actually, the results wouldn’t change even if I said it or not.

Look, I could see a figure rising up in the middle of the cloud of dust.

“Haa… Just die already.”

Now then, there’s nothing more that I could do.

I really didn’t have other ways to win this anymore. That ax was truly my last measure.

If that couldn’t stop her, I really couldn’t do anything anymore.

Anyway, I would also die even if I was just standing here because of the lack of blood. I had already surpassed the heavens by jumping over the limits of the super galaxy. I was even wondering why I could still stand now.

The cloud of dust cleared and a figure that was standing in the middle of that began to appear. The silhouette of the familiar cat ears came into my view.

“Did I failed?”

With a little hope, I bet on the reverse flag.

No, I knew that it was impossible, but I couldn’t help it.

With such a stupid dialogue, if I actually “end it”, this would be a gag.

“……”

Chitta, who emerged from the smoke, was tattered at best.

Her left hand was broken, unmoving.

I didn’t know if she took the Minotaur Ax directly. But her expression was full of pain and anger, oozing out with her murderous intention to me.

“Honestly…”

She started to talk.

It seemed like her condition was not that bad.

“To be honest, no matter how low-key I evaluated you, I think that you’re a monster that doesn’t fit the “non-standard rookie” category here.

I suppose both of you are the same, but you’re standing out even more, and I can’t even describe it with my words.”

Was she calling me a monster? I felt like she was more like a monster to me, though.

To think that she was at the lower rank of the intermediate level, adventurers were surely monsters with unbelievable ability. Wasn’t it possible for them to destroy a country alone?

“From the beginning, I knew that you are not the standard rookie. But I was underestimating you, since you are a rookie after all.

Stereotype is sure scary, eh. Even if I know that both of you are different, I still try to think within my own perception.”

…I recognized you. Both of you will surely go up, to the area that I can never reach. Not to say, at a fast pace…

But… I won’t lose here.”

Won’t she please just lose already to congratulate her junior, seriously?

“I won’t be careless anymore. Now, at this place, I will definitely kill you.”

After saying so, Chitta threw “something” without approaching me.

“Ugh…”

I couldn’t react before it pierced my shoulder.

A needle was stuck in my shoulder. The needle was not as big as a sewing needle, around 10cm long.

“Gh…”

Another one pierced my belly this time.

I guess she’s not going to approach me.

“…Haha, aren’t you acting like a wimp now?”

Even if she didn’t do it like this, I would die with only a push. My current condition was, “I actually will die if you stab me just one more time, you know!!” I would die even if my opponent was not the sword master.

Still, why was she taking safe measures after reaching this point?

Didn’t she know that this was basically asking for the weakest Four Heavenly Kings flag on the verge of my death? Even if she defeated me, she would still have to fight against three other Heavenly Kings!

“I don’t know what you’ll do if I approach you. Actually, you already did it. …I won’t approach you anymore.

I know that you can’t attack me from a distance unlike Yuki, so I will finish you off just like this.”

Was she planning to torment me to death?

“Ngh…”

This time, two needles came to me at once. What the hell, was she trying to make a hedgehog out of me?

Each of the needles didn’t do much damage. But for me who didn’t have any means of resistance, this method of being slowly attacked was equivalent to a torture.

With this throwing speed, I wouldn’t be able to catch up with the [Evasion] and [Emergency Evasion]’s reaction.

The needles pierced my feet, stomach, arms, and chest. Some of them would go off mark, but they were endless.

Chitta would throw knives too sometimes. Together with arrows. I could no longer distinguish whether she wanted to make me a hedgehog or needle-point holder.

Haha, just kill me already. Since I would do my final desperate tactic by then.

I walked towards Chitta.

…Why was I walking?

If I approached her this slowly, she could just take a distance from me.

This much should be fine, right? Wasn’t this enough? No matter what, no one could tell me that what I did so far was useless after doing this much.

I took a step. And another one step.

In the process, Chitta threw countless needles and some knives, piercing me.

…Who would dare to say that to me? Who would complain to me?

Was it Yuki? The lizard old man? The cat ears in front of me? I didn’t have any other acquaintances, but no one would say something like that to me.

…I was the one who complained. I complained to myself, “You’re pitiful.”

I took another step. And another step.

With my remaining power, I moved forward without meaning to do anything. Chitta was very vigilant as she didn’t try to open the distance. She always made sure that the distance between us didn’t change.

“Nguhhh!!”

A needle pierced my eye! Half of my vision was lost, and pain ran all over my mind.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts a lot. …But this pain reminded me that I was still alive.

Then, I still could do something, right? I still could do anything for one more time, right?

…No, it was impossible.

What could I do anyway? Would I actually release my hidden power from my left hand, or do something like that?

I could keep doing my best if I had means to win. I could still stand. But there was nothing I could do anymore. I also lost my chips to bet when I locked this guy with my judo technique.

Ahh, my consciousness was disappearing. …I couldn’t stand anymore.

So this was… my limit?

Rather, didn’t I work quite hard?

“…Ahh.”

…I’m… hungry…

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