Ch.32Chapter 32: The End of the Second Day

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A battle fought in an environment where nothing was to my liking.

The thick fog, which made even my own body appear blurry, grew even denser the moment the fight began.

I didn’t like the situation where I alone had to remain tense, preparing for an opponent who could deliver a fatal blow to me at any time in this fog.

But beyond these two factors, there was one element that particularly grated on my nerves.

-Kehehehe.

What especially irritated me was the laughter of the being who had summoned me here—the only thing it revealed was its frivolous mockery while completely concealing itself and all traces of its presence in the fog.

Crunch

It was laughter that provoked such anger that my teeth ground together involuntarily.

It was so nerve-grating that I would have preferred hearing the fierce growling voice it had used when first dragging me here.

But I didn’t even have the luxury to burn with anger at this absurd situation.

Swoosh-!

Just like now, whenever I let my thoughts wander and tried to loosen the tension even slightly, a sharp whistling sound would immediately reach my ears.

It wasn’t comparable to the first strike that had targeted my head, but the whistling sound was actually a vacuum blade formed by extremely compressed fighting energy.

“…This time from behind.”

Though it flew with a threatening trajectory at high speed, it wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t respond. I turned my body toward the direction of the incoming vacuum blade and lightly swung the dragon sword in my right hand.

Clang

With a crisp sound of blades meeting, the vacuum blade was deflected before it could reach me.

Despite the successful defense, my mind was only stained with anxiety.

“…It’s getting faster and more precise at exploiting my weaknesses.”

Compared to the first attack, which was a simple strike delivered with overwhelming power using the edge of a hand.

Though the intervals were long, the subsequent attacks came at increasingly faster speeds, cleverly obscuring my vision.

It was as if testing how long I could block and endure.

Drip

I felt cold sweat running down my face without realizing it, unable to properly gauge the true abilities of my opponent who was leisurely toying with me, but I couldn’t afford to lose focus.

“Huff….”

I quickly recovered from my sword-swinging stance and tried to scatter my energy sense toward where the vacuum blade had come from to find traces of my opponent.

“This is maddening.”

But I failed again.

Whether it was because my abilities were insufficient to find my opponent.

Or whether my opponent was completely concealing their presence with the help of the fog.

I still couldn’t locate whoever was attacking me.

“Tch. Another failure.”

This was already the fifth time.

In this fog that blurred even my sense of direction, I would deflect an attack aimed at me.

Then attempt to locate my opponent by scattering my energy sense in the direction the attack came from—and fail.

“This is really infuriating.”

To settle this match, I needed to find my opponent and finish this properly, as is standard.

I could only feel anger at the current situation where I couldn’t even find a trace of my opponent.

-Kikikik. That’s what you get for crawling when you should have rushed here when called.

And as if it could clearly see my anger and irritation even in this fog.

The one who had summoned me here provoked me with a voice full of mockery rather than just snickering laughter.

Normally, I wouldn’t even bother responding to such cheap provocation, but now was different.

It was like being slapped in the face when I was already on the verge of tears.

“Would you listen to someone who rudely wakes you up and then starts ordering you around?!”

I didn’t hold back and shouted with fighting energy infused in my voice, filled with anger and irritation.

It was just a shout intended to release the frustration built up inside me, but.

“…?!”

Surprisingly, the fighting energy in my shout spread like an echo, creating the side effect of partially clearing the fog that was obstructing my vision.

-Oh… I thought you were just a fledgling, but you’re more useful than you look.

As I turned my head toward where I heard what sounded like admiration from my opponent who had been looking down on me all along.

Through the slightly cleared fog, I saw what I had been searching for so desperately.

It was the silhouette of a being resembling a human form, shrouded in a reddish aura.

Though it was still blurry due to the fog not completely clearing, that was enough.

Tap

Without hesitation, I leaped toward the silhouette.

In the past, I wouldn’t have even dared to attempt such a leap.

But now, with my physical abilities enhanced by the Iron Body technique, it wasn’t an impossible distance.

“Got you!”

As I leaped and closed the distance, the silhouette was still blurry, but.

-…Huh?

As if it hadn’t expected me to be allowed this opening, the blurry silhouette of my opponent showed signs of panic with a somewhat dumbfounded voice, clearly trying to widen the gap between us.

“…I’ll cut you down along with the fog.”

Fortunately, my movements were faster than its attempt to create distance.

Woong-!!

The dragon sword, already prepared to unleash fighting energy during my leap, emitted a fierce-sounding blade cry.

It was as if reflecting my will to land a solid hit on the opponent who had been mocking me all along.

The dragon sword I had first gripped when preparing for battle now felt suddenly lighter in my hand at this moment, fitting perfectly in my grip.

“Haaaaa!!”

All that remained was to deliver my desperate slash, filled with my frustration, toward the opponent who had failed to widen the gap in time as my leap completed.

Boom

I created a loud noise as I forcefully planted my foot on the ground upon landing.

Swoosh

The whistling sound of the dragon sword, swung downward with the sole intention to cut, rang in my ears.

My opponent still hadn’t properly widened the gap between us.

The trajectory drawn by my fighting energy-infused dragon sword was perfectly positioned to split my opponent’s body in half, starting from the middle of their head.

I’ve got this.

Even at my worst, I should be able to inflict a fairly deep wound on an opponent who seemed stronger than me.

I was certain of that, and a smile of victory was about to form on my face, but.

Smirk

The only distinguishable feature on my opponent’s face, obscured by the fog, was their mouth, which curled up ominously.

-You took the bait so easily when I deliberately exposed a weakness. You still have a long way to go.

“…!!”

Without any warning, my opponent rapidly closed the distance, moving to a position where my deadly slash couldn’t reach.

-Well then. Let me put you to sleep with this!

They uttered those words with complete composure.

Simultaneously, my vision, which had been focused solely on moving forward, spun dizzily.

BOOOM-!!

“Guhk!!”

My body made a violent noise as I was roughly thrown to the ground, landing on my back.

“Cough! Cough!”

The impact on my back was so severe that I had difficulty breathing, but thanks to instinctively breaking my fall, I could only be satisfied that I hadn’t ended up in an even more dangerous state.

The entire process of how I was defeated was completely omitted, and all that remained was the fact that I had been thrown to the ground at a ferocious speed.

What was that?

What happened?

I clearly had the perfect distance to deliver a fatal blow to the opponent, but how did that distance disappear, and why was my body so pathetically sprawled on the ground?

Along with the intense pain running up my back, all sorts of questions arose, but.

“Hehehe. You’re not bad, but you’re a hundred years too early to see my true form. Next time I call, come running immediately.”

These questions were cut short by the mocking voice of my opponent who had violently thrown me to the ground.

“Wait….”

Trying to hold onto my fading consciousness, I reached out my hand toward my opponent who was looking down at me indifferently, attempting to speak.

“Unfortunately, time’s up. I can’t play with you any longer, so let’s end it here for today and send you back.”

The unidentified opponent reached out their hand, wiped across my eyes, and completely blocked my vision.

The last things that entered my eyes as my consciousness faded from the pain were the opponent’s rough hand wiping across my eyes and a glimpse of their blood-red eyes.

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“…Ugh!!”

As soon as I opened my eyes, I involuntarily cried out from the intense pain rising from my back.

“…What?”

Just moments ago, I had been fighting an invisible opponent in a foggy place I didn’t even recognize, ending up in a dire situation where I was pathetically slammed to the ground and lost consciousness.

“I’m… back?”

When I opened my eyes, I found myself sprawled on my room floor in a similarly pathetic position as before.

It was as if the fierce battle I had just fought was a lie—I had returned without any warning.

“…No, there was a warning.”

I heard the echo-like words of the unidentified being with blood-red eyes saying “send you back.”

The clearly mocking tone was vividly included as well.

“Well, I’ve become like a toy that a child got bored with and tossed aside.”

Though I was angry, I had clearly lost to someone with superior skills, so I accepted my defeat with a bitter smile and slowly got up.

The pain in my back was quite intense as I rose, but my super-regeneration ability had activated, and I could feel the pain rapidly healing.

Before long, the pain in my back was completely healed.

“Now then….”

After the pain was gone, I turned my head to the floor, intending to look for the one who had led me into the fog.

Woong

The dragon sword Fafnir approached me slowly with a light blade cry.

“…Was it you?”

I questioned Fafnir with a slightly playful voice rather than an accusatory tone.

Woong woong

As if understanding my words, it nodded by lightly moving its blade up and down twice.

“Heh….”

I couldn’t help but laugh at its honest admission without even trying to deny it, but it wasn’t a laugh of disbelief.

“Hehehehe.”

It was a light laughter that came from knowing I could quickly get revenge on the opponent who had irritated me and created such a humiliating scene.

“I can’t stand losing.”

Separate from acknowledging my opponent’s skills.

My determination to get back at the one who had completely treated me like a child and disrespected me.

Along with my resolve to become stronger, it awakened my competitive spirit that had been dormant for a long time.

“Even if it takes days, I’ll break your pride.”

Following my resolve to become stronger and worthy of being by Shizu’s side.

A new determination was added—to get back at the opponent who had one-sidedly toyed with me.

“…Let’s wash up and sleep first.”

As I finished making my resolution, the tension drained from my body now that I was out of danger, and the smell of sweat assaulting my nostrils disrupted my senses.

I slowly made my way to the bathroom to make final preparations for rest.

Chirp chirp chirp

The sound of insects coming through the slightly open window reached my ears at this hour.

Tick tock

The clock was pointing to 10 PM.

The second day after my regression, which I had started by staying up all night because I wasn’t tired, had turned out to be such a long and exhausting day.