60. Inversion
「DieKillDieeeKillDieGiveItBackDieDieDieGiveItBaaaaaack!!」
「[Subspace Rupture], activate.」
As countless cracks ran through space, Altora once again escaped from my range at super speed. His beastly intuition, irregular trajectory, and overwhelming speed made him impervious to even wide range attacks.
「-[Cocytus].」
Age of the Gods magic that freezes the entire space. The cold which could never be escaped from was controlled by Altora by spinning, even though it froze one of his arms. By increasing his sword speed he increased the rotational speed of his own body.
With that momentum, the man known as the Sword Saint struck me straight in the neck.
「AAAAaaaaAAaaaaa!!」
「[Vajra Barrier].」
The large blow was repelled by the strongest barrier – yet it did not stop.
「GaaaAaAAAAAaaaaaaaaaEeeeEEEeEeEee!!」
Altora continued to hit me with his sword while I was still enveloped in the Vajra Barrier. There was no reason in those eyes, but they firmly locked onto me. Altora’s fingers were torn, his nails were peeling, and blood endlessly gushed out.
There was nothing that could stop Altora who had paralyzed his own pain and fear due to overdosing.
「…You’ve always been like that.」
Seeing that figure, for some reason, reminded me of the past.
Altora and I met and formed a relationship due to us both possessing unique skills. Altora, who was the center of attention as a child prodigy back then, and I, who was said to have an unfortunate skill set.
Although we were in a contrasting position, I casually called out to Altora after witnessing his battle. “Does that not hurt,” I asked.
Back then, the [Sword Saint] did not have the same speed as it does now, and even then, Altora was fighting with fresh wounds all over his body. I was worried about what would happen if the speed continued to increase and he didn’t stop. So I lent him the [Hawk Eye] skill that I happened to have.
『As a reward, I’ll let you work in my party.』
I didn’t have an option. The environment did not allow it. He wouldn’t have let me go by saying, “Someone like you is refusing me?” or “I’m saying this for your own good.”
Gradually, I was no longer treated as a human being, but he continued to defeat numerous monsters, complete quests, and entered an S-class dungeon.
「–There is a conclusion suitable for us. Altora, do you remember the last dungeon we conquered?」
I used [Space Jump] to gain distance. He immediately grasped my location and rushed towards me, but that was enough.
“The Abyss Where Evil Comes From was a highly poisonous dungeon. You guys decided it was unnecessary, but I prepared resistance skills. A set of 17 skills that nullify poison. It’s inside me right now. And it continues to work in such a way that the “medicine” is allowed to circulate and “poison” is blocked.”
I held up my right hand.
「Now then.」
Altora’s sword loomed before my eyes. I saw through it with [God’s Eye Drive] and asked Altora as he missed and passed next to me.
「Is that medicine which eliminates pain still a “medicine”?」
This attack does not require skill activation. It’s just a matter of tweaking the settings of the skills that have already been activated.
I expanded the effective range of all the poison resistance skills that protect me, including skills [Insanity Resistance] and [Paralysis Resistance] to Altora.
「–[Universal Palm]. It will nullify the “poison” that you have been ingesting.」
Altora’s movements suddenly stopped.
“a……?」
The divine silver sword that he never let go no matter what damage he received… fell. As soon as the silver blade pierced the ground, Altora’s body convulsed violently.
“Pain” of slamming himself into trees and rocks in order to pursue Angelina.
「Ah, a」
“Pain” of unleashing an attack in order to destroy the hard golems that nearly tore off his arm.
「Agi, ga.」
“Pain” of evading slashes that encompassed the entire space and continued to hit the unmoving Vajra Barrier.
「Igigo, Geki…?」
All that pain never disappeared. He just didn’t feel it.
Now, the lock to that sealed off pain has been destroyed. At the same time, reason returned back to Altora’s eyes.
「Marge, you.」
“You will experience all the pain that you have ignored until now, and you will understand everything. That is the true conclusion.”
「W, Wait…」
Tears formed in Altora’s eyes, and sweat gushed out like a waterfall.
「It’s too late.」
In an instant. All the pain, the cuts, the lacerations, the overabuse, the screams of the self-chopped flesh and bones.
It tore into all of Altora’s nerves.
「A……」
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If I’ve not made any mistakes with the notepad, did he really put 1906 “A”s there?
For real?
But why?