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Chapter 60 Part 2 – The Descent of the God of Combat

「…… I’m sorry, but I can’t let you guys go. Addis, those long-range arrows are coming from above. Ten seconds from now. Dodge it. You should be able to recover in five seconds. You won’t need any more help.」

Phantasma stood in the way of mother and Seraphy as they were about to rush over to me.

「Nuahahaha. That must be another whispered prediction from the ancestral spirits. That’s convenient. Thanks to you, I think I’ll be able to move. If the maid girl had attacked me as she was about to, I would have been dying. Nuahaha!! I can’t believe she fell for such an obvious provocation!? She’s such a big fool to miss the chance that was right in front of her!! I can’t stop laughing at the big fool that did so in the name of 「kindness」.」

Addis spoke quickly and guffawed.

This guy is really irritating!!

After recovering, Addis followed the advice, jumped up right before the ten second countdown was up, and jumped backwards.

「Nuahahahaha!! What a close call.」

Arnold’s arrows rained down with a thunderous sound and pierced into the ground, but it could only cut Addis’s clothes in several places.

The attack was interrupted again by the whispers from the ancestral spirits of Phantasma!!
This guy’s ability to nullify attacks is already troublesome, but his ability to predict things is even more so.
If it wasn’t for that, perhaps Arnold’s attack just now could have defeated Addis!!

「…… Get out of the way!!」

Sensing that something alarming had happened to me, mother’s expression became serious and she fired a flurry of arrows.
In order to break through Phantasma’s iron-clad defense, she discarded the various techniques that would cause the arrows to lose some of their energy and fired straight arrows with all her might. But when Phantasma shook his body, all the arrows were broken into small pieces. He was like a beast flicking off the drops of water on its body.

「Your skill with the bow is magnificent. You have done a great job with a woman’s body. How many times have I received your arrows in my body? If you were a man, this battle would have been …… No, this is an insult to a true warrior.」

Phantasma moved like a shadow as he said this.
It was a frightening speed that did not suit his huge body. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance.

「……!?」

There was a whooshing sound and mother’s back shook with a jerk.
Phantasma’s right fist, which looked like a chunk of rock, sinked into mother’s abdomen. It was his bare hands.

「…… It’s the vibrational waves that I specialize in. It won’t kill you, but it strikes directly at your nerves and paralyzes you. You’ll have a hard time staying conscious now. Sleep for a short while, you were a first-class warrior.」

Mother collapsed without making a sound, but she crawled on the ground and held one of Phantasma’s legs with both arms.
A look of surprise spread across Phantasma’s eyes.

「…… I won’t let …… you go …… I promised …… Scarlet that I would …… protect her ……!! When I did so, …… that child …… happily smiled at me ……!! Toward me, …… someone who tried to kill her ……!! How happy I was at that moment ……!! So, I have to …… protect Scarlet ……」

With her trembling body, mother desperately tried to stop Phantasma.

「…… Please!! I don’t care what happens to me ……!! But please, …… spare Scarlet ……!!」

She threw away her pride as a warrior and pleaded to Phantasma.

My heart felt like it was stabbed.
I had long forgotten that mother had tried to kill me when I was a newborn.
But at that time, mother was drugged, tormented by her in-laws, and was of unsound mind.
She was in such a severe situation that she was on the verge of a debilitating death.
In fact, in the previous 「108 times」, mother had a heart attack and died shortly thereafter.
Mother was not at fault at all.

And yet mother has always been bothered by it.
Moreover, I can’t believe that she cared so much about the promise I agreed to lightly for so long ……!!
Mother ……!!
I have been given tens of thousands of times more love from you than the killing intent that was directed at me only once ……!!

I wanted to run to my mother.
I wanted to hug her from behind and tell her that I love her hundreds of times.
But my arms and legs didn’t move a muscle, and the only sound I could hear was the rasping sound of my breathing.

「…… Let me correct my words. There are only a handful of people who have been subjected to my vibrational waves and still managed to move. You are not only a first-class warrior, but a first-class mother as well.」

Phantasma commended mother, then he swung his strong arms down at her.

「You were a better mother than anyone else. Don’t blame yourself. Just resent me for trampling on the wonderful love between a mother and a daughter.」

There was a buzzing sound again. Mother was once again hit by the vibrational waves.
Her hands left Phantasma’s feet and her body was slammed on the ground.
And yet, she still did not give up. She crawled and tried to reach out her fingertips toward me.

「……I’ll……go to ……you……now, ……Scar……let……」

「…… How sublime …… A person who has both a mother’s love and a warrior’s strength is such an amazing existence. She can no longer see or hear and yet she still struggles. She will not be stopped by a half-hearted measure. There may be some aftereffects, but forgive me.」

Phantasma drove the third vibrational wave to mother and she finally lost consciousness.

「……Scar……let……mother……will……immediately……」

Mother kept calling out to me until she was on the verge of fainting.
My heart broke as I watched her trembling fingertips fall to the ground from the corner of my eye.

Phantasma looked down sadly at my mother, who collapsed with tears in her eyes.

「This is a battlefield. I can’t wipe those tears. Forgive me. …… And I’m sorry to you as well, little warrior.」

Phantasma suddenly turned around. His body started to become blurry.
While mother was keeping Phantasma back, she stopped Seraphy, who was trying to slip through the blind spot, with her foot.

Seraphy is a warmhearted person, despite his cool demeanor.
It must have been a painful decision for him to abandon mother.
He must have bitten down to suppress his emotions because blood was coming out from the corner of his mouth.
Still, he tried to prioritize helping me.
He believed that this was what mother would have wanted.

Seraphy’s movements after perceiving the opportunity was so brilliant that it could fool a seasoned warrior.
His lack of physical strength was completely compensated by his willpower and intelligence.
But this time, the opponent was too terrible.

「…… Guhh ……!?」

Although Phantasma was holding back, the weight and acceleration were so great that Seraphy was blown away and rolled down the slope like a soccer ball. He got caught in a tree and stopped halfway through, but he had completely fallen unconscious.

「…… Your ability to read the wind and your intelligence are a threat. It’s too dangerous to leave you alone. The ancestral spirits also said that if we had this battle on the sea, it would have been our side who were cornered. Now that we’ve exposed our cards, I can’t let you join them.」

「Nuahahaha!! What an incompetent and idiotic captain boy. You spoke so highly of yourselves earlier and this is the result. The archer mama is as stubborn and funny as a dying cat. So thrilling!! …… Mnn~ That feels so refreshing. I guess it is stressful when a weak person keeps resisting. The strong will win. While I’m still in a good mood, I want to simply finish them off right now.」

Addis gleefully started to run, eager to stop the sound of mother’s and Seraphy’s breathing, but he was unwillingly stopped by Phantasma’s thunderous shout.

「Don’t insult my fight!! I will not allow you to lay a hand on these warriors!! Addis!!」

His body conspicuously became bigger.
The giant Phantasma looked furious, but I could tell from his sorrowful gaze when he glanced at me that it was half-intentional. He’s trying to prevent Addis from killing mother and Seraphy for the reason that he was the one who fought against them. His eyes told me that he also wanted to somehow save me and Bradd.