3 bar menu

Chapter 49 Part 17 – A memory from the previous「108 times」. The conclusion. They are dying, but their feelings transcend time. And the loop begins again.

「…… I won’t die with just this!!」

Alisa clicked her tongue and, like she did to the white owl, she tried to give Bradd a quick death.
Her expression froze. Her expression faded in surprise and became like a Noh mask.

「…… I can’t predict …… the path to his death ……!?」

She couldn’t see any path to kill Bradd. For Alisa, precognition had been with her since birth. It had never failed to work outside of the crescent moon phase. Alisa’s head went numb with a shock so strong that her eyes suddenly lost their vision.

While Alisa was in a daze, Bradd gave chase. He was as relentless as a machine. It was reminiscent of Arnold’s archery in「True History」as he silently continued to shoot through his target.

Landing on her feet, Alisa managed to throw Bradd off his mark. That Alisa went down on her hands and knees on the ground like a frog.
Her blond hair swishing and rolling, she barely dodged the attack.

「…… Well, it’s fine. I’ll stop minding why my precognition doesn’t work. I’ll swat persistent flies, that’s all there is to it.」

Alisa quickly changed her attention. Alisa’s dreadfulness lay in the fact that she did not rely on her strategies and special ability. She ran to the battlefield with the assumption that there was always a way to defeat every means. Her ability to adapt and move flexibly is Alisa’s true value. Her unperturbed mentality and experience supported her. Even just now, she immediately responded to Bradd’s unexpected attack.

Once again, using her evasive maneuvering, Alisa flung one of her legs up in a big, swooping motion.

「…… Haaa ……!!」

With a sharp exhalation, she slammed a roundhouse kick into Bradd’s medulla oblongata. The Sky Dance was just in time. The attack went right in. Bradd’s body tilted forward. If Bradd had been his usual self, he would not have taken the kick so easily. At the very least, he would have tried to avoid a direct hit. While still upside down, Alisa grinned.

「…… It seems that he was moving unconsciously, no wonder it was such a monotonous attack. Although I was directly hit by the unexpected first blow, I could have easily countered something like that. It’s a bit of a letdown for the final test of love.」

Alisa was sure of her victory.
Because she could feel Bradd’s cervical vertebrae being crushed with the tip of her feet.
If the nerves in the cervical vertebrae are damaged, the body will be paralyzed from that point down. That is why tigers bite their prey’s neck. However, Alisa was in for an unbelievable experience.

Bradd’s movements did not stop at all.
He grabbed Alisa by the ankles and slammed her to the floor.

「…… Ghh ……!?」

Alisa’s breath caught in her throat as she took a hard hit on her back. It felt as if her stomach had been turned upside down. Sparks flew in front of her eyes. The core of her head, which she didn’t manage to protect, went numb. Blood surged up again from her damaged lungs. The smell of iron and sour taste filled her nostrils and mouth. Without having a moment to cough, her body was lifted up with a jerk. She was about to be slammed down again.

Of course, Alisa was not planning to let it happen. She was furious and as ferocious as a panther, thrashing about with all her limbs. Alisa repeatedly kicked Bradd’s wrists in an attempt to escape, but unlike before, Bradd’s hands did not budge at all. Alisa was experiencing fear. She felt like she was fighting a moving stone statue or something. Alisa’s ankle bones creaked under the tremendously strong grip. At this rate, her ankle would be crushed or she would be slammed to the floor and killed. Realizing this, Alisa became desperate to escape.

Instead of going against the momentum of the swing, she used it to her advantage. She swung her entire body in a big swing and applied even more centrifugal force by accelerating herself toward the floor. She tried to pull him in, knock him off balance, and make him fall over, but Bradd’s legs were as unyielding as if they were made of steel.
Alisa changed her strategy and twisted her body greatly. This added a severe burden on Bradd’s wrist. Bradd swung Alisa’s weight around with one hand. She took advantage of that opening.
Alisa created a situation in which it was as if a heavy iron rod swung down with one hand had suddenly changed direction. If Alisa was the iron rod, the tip was Alisa’s ankle. Bradd held on to the tip of the rod and would not let go. Unable to resist, Bradd’s wrist was stretched.

Seizing the opportunity, Alisa kicked and broke the bones in Bradd’s wrist. But Bradd didn’t stop. It was just like what happened when his neck bone was broken. Alisa was slammed to the floor with frightening force. The impact nearly knocked her unconscious. She felt like her internal organs were going to come out of her mouth. Fresh blood was pouring out not only from her mouth but also from her nostrils. But this time she would be unable to protect herself because she had accelerated and kicked using a difficult posture.

However, Alisa did not miss the opportunity when Bradd’s grip loosened slightly. Even if he did not feel any pain, if the bones in his wrist were destroyed, his strength would inevitably loosen due to its structure.

Alisa spun her body as fast as a spinning top. Her ankles, held in place by Bradd, were twisted violently, but regardless she still continued to twist her body. Her Achilles tendon made a sound and was torn, but she finally managed to escape.

But now she could no longer fully utilize her legs. She can no longer dodge attacks by flying or jumping.
After being released from her Divine Ancestor state, Alisa was unable to move her body properly for a while due to the backlash. She cannot use the stepping technique 「Setsuna」 and the evasive technique 「Subtle Beauty」. Sky Dance is barely usable, but its power was greatly reduced. This was even more so now that she can only kick the ground with one leg.

The weakening after using the Divine Ancestor state that she had told Bradd was not a lie.
The reason why Alisa had sent the white owl to its death with her precognition was also because she currently did not have the remaining strength to use a one-hit-kill level of martial arts. But for some reason, she could not foresee Bradd’s death.
Her hands were half broken and she could not unleash her signature move, 「Frenzy」. With her reduced blood flow, it is impossible to create a vortex that will serve as the starting point for the Demon’s Cry. However, a Sky Dance without the support of 「Frenzy」 would not be enough to stop Bradd.
She was cornered.

Alisa turned around and glared fearlessly at Bradd, who attacked her like a devil. Alisa was a vicious woman, but she would not abandon the battle, no matter the odds. Her pride was her only virtue.

‘…… I never thought I would end up doing the same type of action as Bradd did earlier ……!!’

Alisa made up her mind to bet everything on a single counterattack.
She took a deep breath and focused her attention.

In terms of simple physical ability, Alisa was far behind Matzo and Bradd. She may be fast and flexible, but she is vastly inferior in terms of muscle strength, weight, reach, and attack strength. If they were to collide as they are, no matter how perfectly timed her counterattacks are, she would be pushed aside by force.

That is why Alisa removed her physical limiter. She stopped considering the aftermath and gathered strength from all parts of her body. Her muscles ripped and bones creaked. Capillaries burst and her skin bled internally here and there. In order to perfectly control the force, Alisa did not cut off her sense of pain at all.
A lightning bolt of intense pain seared her entire body, but she did not let out a single moan of pain.

Even to the battle-experienced Alisa, the current Bradd was terrifyingly tough, quick, and relentless. However, as she has just discovered, his attacks were simple. Bradd’s consciousness must be dazed, after all.

Alisa had intended to destroy Bradd’s skull with her elbow that has her whole body’s momentum and weight on it. Although her elbow would break, it would transmit all of Alisa’s strength. Although she rarely uses her elbows in battle for fear of the damage, elbow attacks are a specialty of Alisa’s.
She cannot defeat the current Bradd with such a halfhearted attack as cutting off his consciousness. The brain itself must be knocked out of his skull, just like how she killed the white owl earlier.

Alisa timed her counterattack cautiously for the approaching Bradd.
Then she nodded. She had the rhythm perfectly mapped out. With this, she would be able to slip past Bradd’s attack with one hundred percent accuracy, and then launch a counterattack. With only one leg, her step would inevitably be too weak, so she threw herself forward and leaned forward to take advantage of her weight.

「…… I’m reluctant to part with you, but this is the end. …… Farewell, my rival in love.」

Alisa concentrated all her strength in an instant and tried to explode it.
Alisa was sure of her victory. But right at that moment, she felt her knees become weak.

「…… No way …… my leg …… why ……!?」

Alisa let out an uncharacteristically startled grunt and her mind flashed back to her previous battle with the three men. Alisa gasped and realized what had happened.

The power of Bradd’s full force attack, which she had thought she had offsetted by sacrificing her left arm earlier, had reached deep into her body and inflicted more damage than she had expected. The damage had been smoldering in the depths of her body for a long time, but she had been unaware of it. It had been simmering in the depths of her body for a long time, and now it bared its fangs all at once.

The trigger was because Alisa removed the limiter of her entire body.

She recalled what Arnold said.

‘…… No matter how monstrous your techniques are, your body is that of a woman.’