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Chapter 48 Part 4 – A memory from the previous「108 times」. For the sake of the people we love. And for our friends.

「…… You’re playing dirty ……!! You’re so strong, why would you do such dirty tricks ……!! Why don’t you fight fair and square ……!!」

Arnold gritted his teeth in frustration.
Having sharp ears, Alisa heard what he said and sneered.

「…… Fighting fair and square? Are you trying to tell me to fight like a man? Don’t make me laugh. I am a woman. A woman puts her life on the line for love. We don’t do stupid things like dressing up to look good in front of our love rival. If I had the strength to spare, I would do everything in my power to bite off my rival’s neck.」

Her arrogant smile was so vicious that Arnold was mortified. Slipping past Bradd’s guard, Alisa’s fists and kicks would get through and hit Bradd’s sides several times. He was no longer able to fend off the overwhelming number of moves. Even a sturdy big rock would be chipped away bit by bit and eventually shattered if it continued to be exposed to the whirlpool of madness.

Bradd’s body shook.

「…… Ahahaha!! Why won’t you fall over!? Willpower? Or is it just a man’s spirit? That’s so amusing, especially seeing that you can’t even fight back. If you want to die in so much pain, then I’ll give you what you want!!」

Blood came out from Bradd’s mouth.
A strange noise could be heard and several of his ribs were broken.
If the ribs punctured his lungs, it would be fatal.

「…… Hey!! Bradd is going to get killed!! Alisa’s fist is imbued with that 「Frenzy」 thing right!! If he keeps on getting hit by that, he’s going to ……!!」

Arnold recalled the scene of the benches becoming twisted and bursting open and his hair stood on end.
Bradd had already taken countless of Alisa’s attacks.

「Hey ……!! Seraphy ……!!」

He impatiently nudged at Seraphy beside him, but Seraphy remained motionless, observing the deadly battle as if probing for something.
His emerald eyes, peeking out from his orange hair, glinted sharply with conviction.

「…… No, Bradd is aiming for something ……!! It’s not over yet ……!」

He muttered quietly so that Alisa didn’t notice.

「……!!」

Arnold’s eyes widened.
Bradd’s knees finally buckled and fell.
Alisa sneered.

「…… Ahaha!! Is that the end of a man’s willpower? With a woman’s tenacity …… scatter!!」

Convinced of her victory, Alisa used her hand like a sword and made it fall down to cut off Bradd’s head.
In an instant, Bradd’s figure disappeared from Alisa’s sight.
A chill ran down Alisa’s spine.
She instantly understood that Bradd’s knees fell down in order to contract his body and then spring back.
Her eyes met Bradd’s as he crouched down.
Alisa saw the look of persistence in his eyes as he endured and captured his prey.

「……!!」

Alisa’s reaction was remarkable. She immediately jumped backwards, but her center of gravity was tilted forward more than usual because she was in a position to cut off Bradd’s neck. This caused a slight delay in her turnaround. Bradd’s feet crushed the stone floor, causing it to cave in. Alisa’s foothold disappeared as she tried to kick the floor to retreat.

「…… A trap ……!! …… It was all an act ……!! Since when ……!!」

Bradd said to Alisa as she glared at him in abhorrence.

「…… Who knows? But, you see, a man’s willpower is not something to be discarded.」

Bradd smiled fearlessly with a mouth smeared with blood.
The two were in close proximity, close enough to embrace each other.
However, their positions were worlds apart.
Alisa was precariously in the air, while Bradd’s feet were firmly planted on the ground.
By slamming his own body into hers, Bradd blocked Alisa’s rotation.
A cloud of white smoke rose up and Alisa was suspended as she gritted her teeth.

「Bradd ……!!」

「…… You must feel frustrated. Without footholds and rotation, even someone like you can’t use 「Frenzy」 or Sky Dance. …… I’ve waited a long time for this chance ……!!」

Once again, the stone floor around Bradd cracked and collapsed.

「You’re awesome. You are a genius. You probably consider everyone else in the world to be an idiot …… but there’s one thing you don’t understand ……!」

Starting with Bradd’s two steps, a spiral of power rushed up from his feet.

「…… In order to look cool in front of the woman he loves!! A man will put his life on the line!! Sink!! Alisa!!」

With a roar from Bradd, his fist, which he had put all of his strength into, pierced into Alisa.
She tried to defend against it with her left arm, but her arm was crushed and slammed squarely into her stomach.
Alisa bent over and vomited blood.
Alisa’s black dress was shredded by the impact.
An expression of anguish appeared on her face.
The disappearance of her usual faint smile told how powerful Bradd’s fist had been.
Bradd gritted his teeth.
Alisa’s body was made flying.

「…… He did it!! That guy!! He sent her flying!!」

「All right!! Go for it!! The second blow ……!!」

Convinced of victory, Arnold leaped to his feet and Seraphy clenched his fists.

But Bradd didn’t chase after her. He couldn’t.

Along with a thunderous roar, the atmosphere distorted, warped, and swirled around the two fighting people. The chapel rumbled. Clouds of dust and dirt obscured their vision. Bradd and Alisa disappeared behind a white torrent. Debris from the floor rose up and the remaining stained glass on the ceiling fell to the ground.

「…… Not good!!」

Rather than analyze what happened, Seraphy used his back as a shield and covered Scarlet that was laid down on the bench to protect her.

「…… This is …… no way ……!」

Seraphy was in close contact with the remains of the Queen, who seemed to be asleep, and gasped in surprise.

「…… What the!?」

Arnold was about to run but stopped when he saw that Seraphy was covering the Queen and was also startled.

Because this time Bradd was the one that broke through the smoke and was being flung toward them. It was reminiscent of spinning tops that collide and repel other spinning tops. Bradd, an exceptional martial arts expert, was limp as he was sent flying with great momentum.

「A tie!? …… Oh no!! Is he out cold!?」

If Arnold had not thrown away his bow, jumped out, and held him, Bradd would have plunged into the floor that has sharp debris littered over the area and gotten stabbed by it.

「…… Aah …… I blacked out for a moment …… how can I faint after acting so cool. Thank you for helping me ……」

In Arnold’s arms, Bradd had just woken up from a blackout, then he moved slightly and smiled bitterly.
Arnold shuddered.
He could feel the blood soaking through his clothes through his hand.
Though the color of his clothes made it invisible except for his face, Bradd’s body was in tatters. He incurred wounds all over his body in that instant.

「Hey ……!! What the hell happened!! Didn’t you give it your all ……!?」

When Arnold asked, Bradd smiled bitterly with his bloodied face.

「…… I did. I put my all into it, no doubt about that. It’s just that Alisa was much more of a monster than I expected. That woman used and sacrificed her left arm with no hesitation ……!」

Alisa was also sent flying in the opposite direction from Bradd.

Twisting in mid-air, she lost her momentum and landed on the floor, her blond hair fluttering.
She stumbled faintly and giggled.
She looked embarrassed, like a gymnast who has just missed a landing after a perfect performance. Her black dress and underwear, ripped in many places, were no longer in pristine condition and were nearly torn to shreds. Alisa was half-naked. She was not wearing a corset. As it was not necessary for her perfect proportions.

The whiteness of her skin stood out even more because of the clinging black dress. Even in her shabby clothes, she does not look miserable in the slightest. She was as imposing as a noblewoman with a fake beauty spot to create a contrast between her skin and that color.

Arnold was horrified by the beauty of this monster, which grew more beautiful the closer she got to nudity.
He noticed that Alisa’s skin was unscathed by the attack.
It was such a stark contrast to Bradd, who was covered in blood.

「…… I’m not fine …… The part from the elbow down can no longer move …… I can’t dance a waltz anymore with an arm like this, and I can’t even do a lady’s greetings …… I wonder how you are going to take the responsibility for making me wounded.」

Alisa was deliberately lamenting, but her mouth was smiling in a frightening crescent moon-like shape.