Ch.1113Look Into My Eyes

Should I take this as a sign that Invidius, who had taken my form, was somewhat clumsy at handling a human body… or should I say it was because my physical body was that extraordinary?

Thanks to Invidius hesitating for a split second before swinging his sword after stopping time, we narrowly avoided the catastrophic joke of total annihilation from a single moment of carelessness.

And so I realized.

What I had considered merely a heavy burden—my chest—was in reality not a burden at all, but rather a shield and weapon that steadfastly protected and defended us—

…No, what am I saying? Have I lost my mind?

Not a burden? This ridiculously large chest was definitely a burden. It’s just that this time, that burden affected not only me but my opponent as well.

Should I be relieved that it saved us, or should I cover my face in embarrassment that my chest could make even an evil god make mistakes?

“…Well, now that I know the cause, it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

What’s certain is that such unexpected luck usually ends after one occurrence.

It would be difficult to expect Invidius to repeat the same mistake, so from now on, I really needed to stay sharp and do my utmost to navigate this situation.

…So, how should I fight?

I know that well.

“Fight from as far away as possible! If you feel uneasy, use wide-area attacks!”

Maintaining a distance that can’t be closed with a single Defying Fate, and always preparing omnidirectional wide-area attacks in case the enemy somehow manages to approach.

That’s one of the few strategies to counter Defying Fate without acceleration abilities or time manipulation powers.

“What about Sky Slash?!”

“Can’t use that often! If they block or dodge it three or four times, we’ll have the advantage!”

I answered Demian’s question as he fluttered his wings and retreated far back, while I too kicked off the ground and accelerated backward.

“Eat this!”

To prevent him from chasing after me, I fired consecutive vacuum slashes imbued with the power of severance toward the enemy.

“Frost Dragon Scale Spear-!”

“From above…!”

Persiella and Millia also unleashed fierce attacks, not to be outdone.

– Crack!

Space-cutting slashes rippling with faint golden light extended out, slicing through earth and air, while on the opposite side, giant ice spikes formed a river, and from the sky, a rain of arrows compressed from dragon bones poured down.

Meanwhile, Demian and Kudsedra didn’t attack at all. Demian “chose not to,” while Kudsedra “couldn’t.”

“…I should start conserving power…”

Demian wanted to save his remaining strength. Among those left here, only he could support allies with divine barriers or spatial transfers.

「 Krrrr……I’m not sure if fire…would be effective. 」

Kudsedra’s main fighting style happened to be close combat and breath of fire, so apart from serving as a shield and mount, he was useless. Literally a flying meat shield.

Therefore, the rest of us, including myself, had to take full responsibility for the attacks.

– Kwagagagak!

The barrage of severance, river of ice spikes, and rain of dragon scale arrows—enough power to obliterate a small fortress in a single blow—all concentrated on the one woman standing firmly.

“Ha, what a spectacle.”

After surveying all those attacks, Invidius slightly raised the corner of her mouth and leisurely lifted her right hand above her head.

Ha, she’s overflowing with composure.

It was disgusting, but I couldn’t mock her arrogance. After all, even I could handle attacks of that level without much difficulty. The same would be true for her.

“Let’s see… is this how it’s done?”

A finger pointing toward the sky. What followed was an incantation all too familiar to me.

“Kenaz. Arrow (矢) of Destruction (滅).”

Celestial Demon Destruction Arrow.

A technique that compresses karma to the extreme and fires it as a beam of heat.

– Kwaoooo!

A black beam burning with dark mana instead of murder karma extended outward, melting the rain of arrows above like foam.

Its heat, like the sun.

Its speed, like a ray of light.

“Millia! Jump down!”

Before Demian’s urgent warning as he flew up could even finish—

– Tukwaaak!

The extremely compressed beam of dark mana penetrated Kudsedra’s head, then burst inside, burning and tearing through the fire dragon’s brain.

「 Krrrrck…? 」

Kudsedra, with a large hole in his head, let out a confused groan as he fell. Vacant eyes, stiffened wings. Unmistakably instant death.

“Kyaak!”

Millia screamed in surprise at the sudden fall.

“Millia! Over here!”

“O-Okay!”

When Demian called out to her as he quickly approached, Millia hurriedly kicked off the dragon’s corpse and leaped toward Demian.

Demian caught Millia with outstretched arms, held her tightly to his chest, and retreated with spatial transfer.

Perhaps because emotions had begun to develop in him since becoming the master of the holy sword, his reaction was more urgent and passionate than I expected.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?!”

“Y-Yes! I’m fine. But, Kudsedra…”

Millia bit her lip as she glanced at the falling Kudsedra.

She wasn’t sympathizing with the fire dragon who would revive even after death… she was probably lamenting the loss of a useful mount.

After all, Millia was the only one among us who couldn’t fly on her own.

“Demian! Stay close to Millia!”

So, to avoid becoming a stationary target, she needed to stick close to Demian.

“Hmm, one strike. Not bad power.”

After disposing of Kudsedra with the black heat beam, Invidius muttered with satisfaction… and then suddenly disappeared.

‘Defying Fate. Which direction…?!’

I heightened my senses to the maximum to perceive the enemy’s whereabouts in the stopped time.

Sight, hearing, touch, and even the sixth sense—all my senses sharpened at once to tell me the enemy’s position.

Left.

“Kuk…!”

The moment I recognized it, my sword extended first to meet the enemy.

Two lightning-like clashes between Durandal and Durandal. The colliding powers of severance canceled each other out, shattering and tearing the air to shreds.

“Tsk, you blocked it?”

Seriously, this woman is really only targeting me!

“Of course I can block it!”

The two longswords that collided with equal force bounced off simultaneously, and with that recoil, I twisted my body and unleashed Frosting, which was blocked by another Frosting, creating an explosive sound.

Crossing swords, punches, and kicks. With explosions like frenzied drumbeats, everything around shattered and scattered.

Four seconds, three seconds until the next activation.

“Get-away!”

With three seconds left until Defying Fate could be reactivated, I put strength into my right foot, stomped the ground roughly, and leaped backward.

– Kwaaaang!

The ground cracked and flipped like a cookie. Invidius, caught in the shockwave, staggered slightly, then raised her head sharply, glared at me, and bent her knees.

“You won’t escape-“

“Am I not worth your attention?!”

Persiella charged at Invidius’s back and swung her ice sword as the evil god was about to leap after me.

Approaching for close combat instead of fighting from a distance as instructed—truly characteristic of her.

“KENAZ!!”

Invidius roared and spewed black flames in all directions.

Black flames that seemed to testify to her personality. The rune’s black flames erupted like a storm, instantly engulfing Persiella’s entire body.

“Kut…!”

Persiella’s ice armor and sword evaporated instantly, leaving her exposed. The black flames caught on her body, burning her flesh and melting her scales.

“You half-baked lizard, stop interfering and get lost!”

With blood-red eyes blazing, Invidius swung her longsword and Frosting like a mad dog.

“Nonsense…!”

Persiella bent backward to avoid the slash and used her tail to grab the evil god’s left arm, stopping it. Her delicate face contorted with killing intent and tension.

“You’re the half-baked one!”

Her fingertips, thrust through the flames, grazed Invidius’s cheek.

“You dare bark at me!”

Blood spurted. Invidius, with her cheek torn, opened her mouth wide and bit into the dragonborn’s wrist, crushing it.

“Kugh…!”

Persiella groaned as her wrist was crushed to the bone. Invidius, holding her arm with her teeth, swung the black Durandal with her right arm.

– Kwaduk!

The tail holding Frosting was sliced like tofu, scattering scale fragments.

“A tail can grow back anyway!”

Ignoring this, Persiella stepped forward and swung her intact right hand with claws extended.

“I’ll take your head-!”

【 Defying Fate 】

Time stopped as if it had been waiting.

【 Extreme Ice 】

Similarly, space froze as if it had been waiting.

Persiella, unable to move in the stopped time, froze in place, and Invidius, directly hit by the space freezing, also stopped, wasting the stopped time.

After several seconds, both the time stop and space freezing were released. Invidius, reacting faster, avoided Persiella’s claws and kicked her.

“Kughk…!”

Persiella spread her wings to stabilize herself as she was about to fall backward.

“Not yet…!”

Even as she bent over and vomited a bowlful of blood, she once again released cold energy and cast the hero’s tale of space freezing.

【 Extreme Ice 】

Space froze and stopped with the extreme cold enhanced by karma.

However, perhaps due to the pain and shock from the kick that ruptured her internal organs, her aim was significantly off.

– Kaddduk…!

The space frozen by extreme ice was not around Invidius’s body but beneath her feet. She couldn’t walk, but it wouldn’t hinder her from swinging her sword.

“What are you aiming at!”

Invidius, not frozen or stopped, swung her sword with a vicious smile, and the black arc carved in the air cut into Persiella’s right arm, splitting it in half.

“What will you do now? Your mental technique missed, and both your arms are in tatters!”

“Arms grow back too!”

…No, that’s not right, no matter how you look at it.

“And it didn’t miss either!”

Persiella covered her body with her two wings like armor, then jumped up sharply, swinging her left hand with its torn wrist.

“Haaaah!”

“Stop your tricks!”

Invidius tried to jump up to meet her, but her legs were frozen in space, so she swung her sword upward from where she stood.

– Kwaduk!

Persiella tried to deflect the evil god’s arm with a kick, but it wasn’t enough. One of her legs was sliced off, joining her tail and two arms.

“Kuuugh…!”

Yet, despite this—

“I still have my wings!”

Persiella flapped her wings forcefully and charged forward with the momentum, gathering her claws like a spear.

She aimed not at Invidius’s head, but at a target slightly above it.

“You, don’t tell me!”

Invidius looked up in surprise.

“That’s right!”

The dragonborn’s left hand with its torn wrist penetrated the target.

The halo of flesh floating above Invidius’s head, and the grotesque eyeball floating in the center of the darkness filling it.

– Pueok!

The evil god’s eyeball in the halo burst, scattering black blood.

And then.

– Kwajik!

As the price for that strike, Persiella was hit directly by the black Durandal, scattering flesh and blood as she was thrown back and crashed.

Though the explanation was long, in reality, it all ended before I could even land from my earlier leap.

In an instant, Persiella crashed onto the sand, gushing blood, with both arms damaged and one leg, wing, and tail cut off.

Nevertheless.

“Khu, kuk, kuhek…! Khue, hu, khuhuhuht…!”

Even though she looked on the verge of death, coughing blood, she was smiling with satisfaction.

“You…! You knew?”

“Khu…! Your tactics and abilities all changed…but two things remained the same, didn’t they…?”

Persiella said with difficulty, grinning.

“The power to seal hero’s tales and…those eyes staring at that woman. Only those remained the same…khut, obviously there must be some connection…!”

The reason she destroyed the eyeball in the halo instead of Invidius’s head.

“Did you think…this one would risk such severe injuries…for nothing…? You’ve paid…paid dearly for your carelessness. How foolish…!”

Did Persiella’s mockery hit a nerve? Invidius’s face contorted.

“…Ha, fine. If you’re so eager to die, I’ll personally grant that wish!”

Invidius kicked off the ground, charged at Persiella, and swung her sword down.

Persiella tried to rise and resist somehow, but she no longer had the strength to move.

Of course, if she could cast her hero’s tale ‘Extreme Ice,’ she might stop the charging Invidius, but…

“I won’t give you time to freeze anything!”

【 Defying Fate 】

Before Persiella could cast her hero’s tale, Invidius stopped time once more and charged forward, swinging the black Durandal.

– Swaaaak!

As the blade descended like a guillotine to sever the helpless dragonborn’s neck—

“…That won’t do.”

A golden longsword suddenly appeared beside her and swung upward to meet the black Durandal.

———!

The two longswords clashed silently.

In the time frozen to the extreme, Invidius, whose sword thrust was blocked, turned her head to glare at the enemy who had stopped her blade.

“It seems ‘watching’ really meant exactly that.”

At me.

“…But not anymore.”

Yes. Her power could no longer bind my hero’s tale.

The power of the eyeball floating in the halo, the ability to seal hero’s tales by watching the opponent, was destroyed along with that eyeball.

That was what Persiella had accomplished by sacrificing all her limbs.