Chapter 107 – Labyrinth 

[Inch Punch]. A technique Arisa often used after closing the distance to the extreme.

I’d taken a few of those hits myself. I knew how it worked and had quietly tried learning how to use it.

That’s why I was able to pull it off just now.

Not that… what I did just now was on the same level as Arisa’s.

Even I thought it lacked polish.

“Whoa…”

But the power… was way stronger than I expected.

I thought the form had collapsed near the end, that the force would be weakened. Yet it still packed that much of a punch.

Samaela, embedded in the wall. Her ribs were probably all shattered. If I was lucky, one might’ve punctured her heart,but no, didn’t look like it.

Still, her spine, ribs, and probably a few organs were smashed. That was good enough.

With a satisfied sigh, I looked down at my still-throbbing fist.

It wasn’t just my fist that ached. My lower body, back, and shoulders were all sore. The fist was just the worst of it.

My fist felt like it had cracked. Thankfully, it was bandaged,without it, I might not have even been able to close my hand.

My shoulder felt like I tore a ligament. My back… probably shocked the muscles. If it wasn’t for this damn blood-spitting day, I wouldn’t have messed up my form.

If I hadn’t messed up my form, my body wouldn’t be in this state. And if my body weren’t in this state, I could’ve chased down that wall-smashed bitch and kept pounding her without pause.

If I’d done that… I could’ve finished her for good.

“Sigh.”

Regret was regret. I steadied my breath. Forced my Mana to circulate rapidly through my body to boost my condition.

I untied the ragged bandage, then wrapped it tightly around my left arm, which was in even worse shape than the bandage.

I’ll have to learn how to patch this up properly from Leona later.

Just as I finished patching myself up,

Goosebumps erupted all over my body. My breath caught. Dizziness hit me. The smell,something rotten.

Oozing Magi blanketed the area. A dreadful murderous intent wrapped around me, and instinct screamed out.

A gut feeling,sharpened even further than in my previous life,howled at me.

You can’t dodge it.

Block it.

You must block it.

I gritted my teeth. Raised both arms. Cloaked myself in Aura and braced my legs firmly against the ground.

I was sure I’d done that.

“Ghh… kahak…!”

But I was already rolling across the ground.

Stella’s scream echoed. Wet splatters hitting the ground. My heartbeat. It was all hazy.

What… just happened?

Did I black out just now?

My thoughts were disjointed. They didn’t connect. My head was hot. My insides were hotter. Thick, blackened blood poured from my mouth. Not just my mouth,my eyes, nose, ears.

Blood gushed from all seven orifices.

My vision was red. I couldn’t breathe. It was blocked, stifling,and more blood surged from deep within.

Only then did the pain hit me.

Like I’d been slammed by a giant boulder, or a monster. Agony pounded through my entire body. Blood poured from my left arm, which I’d previously sealed with Mana.

Not only had the wound reopened,it had worsened.

My entire body was the same. Punctures everywhere.

And every puncture had the same shape. A serpent’s fang.

Around them were countless slashes, like I’d been carved up with blades.

When?

No time to wonder. I threw my body to the side. 

Boom! 

The ground where I’d just been lying flipped violently.

Blood gushed from my throat. Felt like every bone in my body was broken. I couldn’t move at all. Gritting my lip till it bled, I wrapped myself in Mana.

Then I guided that mana with precision, using it to substitute for my shattered bones. Slowly,my body began to move again.

“Huuh… grkh… ptoo.”

I staggered to my feet. Blinked several times to clear my blurred vision. Spat out another mouthful of blood and looked around.

The dust clouded with poison. Among it floated glass-like fibers and blade-like fragments.

The thing that caused this devastation wasn’t visible. But I could make out its vague silhouette. A figure obscured within the floating dust.

It had eight heads. Eight tails. Each moved independently.

They looked at me, opened their jaws, guarded their master, flicked their tongues, gnashed their teeth, spewed venom, smacked their lips, and gleamed with hunger.

The body was singular. Long, thick.

The glow that shimmered off the blade-deflecting surface was from its scales.

Poison and thick blood oozed endlessly from those scales. In just half a day, it could flood the entire chamber.

Where the hell had that come from?

No need to think about it.

Those eight snakes that had been crawling around the chamber since we entered, 

From the very start…

“Eight Headed Serpent.”

It was Samaela’s [Intent Projection].

“I really was hoping to bring you back alive… or at least dead but intact. But that won’t be possible now.”

Samaela chuckled softly. And her [Intent Projection], the Eight Headed Serpent, straightened all eight of its heads into full, complete form.

Black scales oozed red venom and blood.

It was so massive, it looked less like a snake and more like a canyon where a waterfall of blood came crashing down.

Too huge, too grotesque to be called a snake.

That’s what hit me just now?

The fact that I’m not dead is a miracle.

“Fucking hell…”

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

This wasn’t the 7th Circle. This was the 8th.

And not just the beginning of the 8th Circle. To control an [Intent Projection] this well… meant she had fully mastered the 8th Circle.

And she’s maintaining the [Intent Projection] continuously?

No matter how much mana she had, even if she had absorbed a Legion Commander’s Magi, a human shouldn’t be able to sustain a [Projection] for long.

Maybe… the 9th Circle?

No. Doesn’t feel quite like that.

Then…

“…Are you a demon?”

“Close enough.”

“A half-breed, huh.”

“My, such a filthy mouth you have.”

Close enough…?

She said Stella was a created being.

And Samaela knew that.

Then does that mean this Black Magician was also created? Mixed with demon blood?

Stella too? A hybrid between human and demon?

My head was a jumbled mess.

I bit down on my lip, hard, seeking a fresh wave of pain.

The pain… was faint. Not just that, my entire body felt numb. I’d been poisoned. What kind of poison? Can I neutralize it?

The sensation in my limbs was fading.

Actually, this… kinda works in my favor?

What could be fatal for someone else might actually benefit me, since I can control my body with Mana.

“Still, you can’t hide that expression. Huhu. I like that flustered face.”

Tap,

Samaela took a step forward. The Eight Headed Serpent didn’t move. It didn’t need to.

It was so massive that just lowering its head would be enough to crush everything here.

“Yes… girls like you, so feisty… you’re always prettier when that haughty look gets twisted into fear.”

“You into girls too?”

“Too? I’m nothing like that crow. But… sure, a brat like you’s not bad. Would be fun breaking you, fun pinning you down and listening to you whimper.”

Licking her lips, Samaela swallowed her saliva like she meant it.

“Even those mutt eyes know beauty when they see it. You’re right, I’m pretty. Every time I get out of the shower and look in the mirror, I can’t help but laugh with joy.”

Suppressing the goosebumps crawling over my body, I sneered.

At the same time, I searched for a path to victory.

A path… a way to win.

I can’t beat that snake. Maybe in my past life, I could’ve crushed it with a flick, but not now.

So what’s the answer? There’s only one way. Kill Samaela.

To do that… I’d have to avoid all eight heads and tails and beat her down.

And even that’s no easy task.

That Samaela, whose ribs and organs I’d just crushed, was already back to normal.

An insanely monstrous regeneration.

Not quite as fast as a true demon, but close enough to be called one.

Even without that regeneration, Samaela’s base combat ability wasn’t lacking.

Her body was absurdly durable. Philaon’s bones broke with a light smack, but that woman? She only broke a few bones after I went all out with [Inch Punch].

And even those healed in no time.

Then… is this unwinnable?

“E-Eliaernes… are you okay? Y-you’re so hurt… It’s… sob… it’s all because of me…”

Stella had somehow crawled over behind me, tugging on my tattered clothes, dripping snot and tears as she clung to me.

“C-can you move…? I-I’ll buy you time… just run… run while you can. I’ll… I’ll try to stall her…”

“You? Against that?”

“Y-yeah… Samaela, she said she wouldn’t kill me… so I’ll be okay. If I… if I take the hits for you, you can… you can escape…”

“You’re… really kind. So human. Not like me.”

At Stella’s trembling voice, Samaela gave a strange smile.

“That’s right, Stella. My dear niece. Just like you said, if you stand before me with your whole body to protect your friend, your aunt won’t be able to kill her. I’ll have to just watch as she runs away.”

“You heard her, right? So… Eliaernes, you… you should go. I’ll stay… they only need me and Pina anyway…”

Her trembling hands gripped my right hand tightly.

Cold and damp.

She cried so much I could hear the droplets hit the ground.

And yet, she still told me to run. How endearing.

This wasn’t the first time.

Back during the entrance exam too.

Not quite the same, but similar.

Even then, she said the same thing.

When the trial maze turned out to be a real labyrinth, when she stood before a basilisk immune to magic, Stella told me to run.

What did I say back then?

Right. I said, “It’s fine.”

Why? Because I was absolutely certain I could kill that basilisk.

Then what about now?

“It’s fine.”

It’s fine now too.

Because I’ll win.

“Wh-what’s fine?! That thing… that’s an [Intent Projection]! That, that Black Magician is 8th Circle! What do you mean it’s fine?! Just run already! H-heey… you lunatic… you’re so hurt already, what else are you gonna fight with?!”

I placed a crushed macaron and a candy on Stella’s trembling hands.

“…Huh? What… what’s this…? Hey! Stop messing around! I said run! Why are you trying to fight?! You’ll die!!”

“Quit whining. If this were my day, I’d have smacked your butt raw. You brat. Go sit in a corner and just watch.”

I gently let go of her hand and stepped forward.

“Finish that before I’m done.”

I looked straight ahead.

Samaela.

A Black Magician who maintained her [Intent Projection] at will. 8th Circle.

A mutt, possibly mixed with demon blood.

Behind her stood thee Eight Headed Serpent.

Eight heads. Eight tails.

A body massive like a canyon, spewing venom.

And in front of that…

Was me.

A girl not even 145cm tall, weighing just over 40kg.

A martial artist. A student of the Academy. Rank 5.

Eliaernes Eustetia.

There’s no way I can win. The only reason I’m even still standing here is because that Black Magician’s feeling generous. Because she’s giving me time. Because she’s amused.

Eliaernes Eustetia… can never win.

But.

Ronan Lujarak,

Even with just half.

No, just thirty percent of what he had back then,

Can win.

I unwrapped the bandage tightly bound around my left hand.

The dried blood crust broke off. Fresh blood oozed from the open wound. The pain was still dull.

I raised that arm.

An open hand.

Five fingers.

[Five Gates].

The pinky finger.

The first.

“I really should start carrying a dagger.”

I clenched the finger tight and twisted it.

“[Purgatory – First Gate].”

Crack, With a snapping sound, the sealed meridian burst open.

“[Release].”

Cherry blossom-colored Mana exploded into a frenzy.