episode_0177

The deafening sound of metal clashing against metal echoed.

A fierce battle was ongoing.

Wielded at speeds invisible to the eye in the hands of the two combatants, the dark staves collided repeatedly, emitting a strangely ominous sound.

Though made entirely of metal, it wouldn’t be strange for the staves to break during combat, given the powerful force with which they were being swung by Awakened beings.

Unless imbuing the weapon with magic like Check, the still-inexperienced Spade couldn’t do the same.

No. 13 also couldn’t afford to, as he needed to conserve as much magic power as possible. Imbuing a weapon with magic consumed several times more magic power than reinforcing the body.

They were constantly missing vital blows against each other by a hair’s breadth, or dodging each other’s attacks by an equally slim margin.

With the current situation already grinding their nerves, they were hesitant to bear the burden of the repulsive feeling from consuming large amounts of magic power, and the anxiety that their magic power might soon be depleted.

He thought that they were evenly matched as it was, and there was no need to take on unnecessary risks.

“――――!”

“Huh, what?!”

*Whoooom*

No. 13 jumped back in surprise, seeing the staff he had barely managed to dodge emitting a strange light from Spade’s hand.

He wasn’t mistaken. Light was gathering on Spade’s staff.

Weapon Enchantment, something Spade shouldn’t have been able to do, was happening at this moment!

To grow like this in this situation!

He certainly thought Spade had talent, but he hadn’t expected her to have this much.

There wasn’t even time to be astonished and shocked at the sudden change.

Spade closed the distance No. 13 had retreated, no, even more than that distance, and dove deep into his arms in one step.

‘Dangerous…!’

*Thwack!*

“Cough…!”

No. 13 staggered backward, half-falling from the blow to his abdomen by Spade’s shoulder.

*Swish!*

Not missing the momentary gap, Spade raised the staff she had reinforced with magic high above her and brought it down.

The destructive power of the staff reinforced with magic was tremendous.

The blow, capable of shattering even boulders like glass shards, was now falling to smash No. 13’s skull into pieces.

*Fwoooosh!!*

It seemed as if No. 13’s head would fly off with a deafening roar.

However, just before the staff reached his head, No. 13 narrowly twisted his body to dodge, striking Spade’s staff with his own.

No. 13’s staff also had the same magical light as Spade’s,

The moment the two staves collided, a roar like a bomb exploding erupted, as if they weren’t simply clashing hunks of metal.

Although reinforced with magic, the staves, already at their limit, shattered into pieces with this attack,

With the intense explosion, Spade also lost her balance, and a lull fell over their battle.

But that was only for a moment.

Spade regained her stance, and No. 13 rolled backward with his collapsing body, quickly getting up from his spot.

Both were unarmed.

Spade and No. 13 threw away the staves with only the handles remaining, neither one hesitating, and both became empty-handed.

─────!!

In the next moment, the battle of the two shifted from weapon combat using staves to a hand-to-hand fight using the pure limbs of humans.

Fists, kicks, arms, and legs intertwined, scattering intense shocks into the air again and again.

Fists with as much pressure as the metal staves from earlier flew toward No. 13’s head,

No. 13 judged that it would be difficult to completely avoid them, and twisted his head to minimize the impact, immediately transitioning to a counterattack.

Spade’s fist grazed past.

Half of one of No. 13’s cheeks was torn, and blood splattered, but as if in exchange, No. 13’s fist landed heavily on Spade’s abdomen.

Spade stepped back slightly, but it didn’t seem to have caused much damage, perhaps because she had reinforced her abdomen with magic before the fist landed.

To the point that No. 13’s fist, which had struck Spade, was throbbing.

*Swish!*

“Ugh…!”

Like that.

Around the time when No. 13 was briefly stunned by the pain in his cheek and fist, Spade, as if nothing had happened even though she couldn’t be completely without pain in her abdomen, immediately struck toward his heart with a hand blade strike.

No. 13, who barely dodged it, continued the battle, receiving Spade’s relentless attacks.

Each fist, each kick, all becoming fatal blows in the superhuman combat.

In this precarious situation, where one wrong step could lead to death, Spade still moved her body with a doll-like expressionless face.

—All of this is for the sake of the precious Apple-nim.

Right now, instead of her own ego, Spade was filled with only loyalty to Apple, and that was moving her….

* * *

‘Dangerous….’

‘This, this is really dangeroussssssss!!’

No. 13 was receiving Spade’s relentless attacks with his brow furrowed as much as possible.

Meanwhile, he was feeling immense regret in real time.

That’s because the still-immature Spade had grown considerably recently with the help of No. 13.

It was also to face Rahe, and in the first place, he had judged that the stronger she became, the more it would benefit him, as she had completely fallen into his hands.

But unfortunately, that decision had come full circle and was now strangling him.

‘More than anything.’

‘The scope of her growth is more outstanding than I thought.’

‘…Was she this excellent of a woman?’

That the Spade he had raised would fall into the hands of the enemy, furthermore, that he would end up fighting her one-on-one, and on top of that, that she was so excellent and overflowing with growth potential to the point that she even awakened the method of ‘weapon enchantment’ on her own.

This and that were all outside of his expectations.

Spade’s attacks and his reactions were so fast that his mind couldn’t keep up with his body anymore.

He felt like his eyes were spinning, and he couldn’t even tell if he was standing on the floor, the wall, or the ceiling.

The body he was pushing to its limit was creaking, and on top of that, he had recklessly imbued his weapon with magic to counter Spade’s attack earlier, so that was also precarious.

His body was a mess from recklessly handling magic power, and on top of that, the magic power that would reinforce his body was also starting to run out.

The worst upon worst was piling up.

At this rate, he wouldn’t last long.

The continuous battle with his body reinforced to its limit was evenly matched at first, but as time passed, it gradually turned disadvantageous for No. 13.

Spade was speeding up as if her body was just now warming up, while No. 13’s speed and power were steadily decreasing.

‘I’m screwed….’

‘At this rate… I’m gradually being pushed… back…!’

He had to find a way to break through somehow.

But unfortunately, Spade wasn’t an opponent easy enough to face while thinking of other things.

As a result, No. 13 ended up revealing a fatal gap to Spade by trying to come up with a means and turning his thoughts.

*Fwoooooooosh!*

“Ugh…!”

An intense blow capable of easily destroying his internal organs landed on No. 13’s stomach.

In the moment when No. 13 was briefly stunned by the impact he hadn’t fully blocked, Spade struck No. 13’s chin, shaking his brain, and threw him against the wall next to him with a flowing motion.

*Thud!*

“Cough…!!”

No. 13’s body collided with the wall and bounced back from the impact.

And toward that bouncing body, Spade’s merciless barrage of fists flew.

──

─────!!!!

Continuous strikes, continuous strikes, continuous strikes.

A flurry of punches with the momentum of flames, punishing the villain with his back to the wall and nowhere to run.

Spade’s black-gloved fists were flying with the intent to kill the opponent with each and every blow.

No. 13’s bones were breaking all over his body, his internal organs were ruptured, and he coughed up blood from his mouth.

His nasal bone was broken, and blood flowed from his nose, his eyeball was ruptured, and his vision flew away.

His brain was shaking as if his reason was rolling around, and his lungs were torn, and he was overcome with intense pain.

In fact, No. 13’s body judged that he had died once during that barrage of punches, and his body automatically proceeded to 『Resurrection』, instantly healing his ruptured eyeball, ruined organs, and broken bones.

But even after being healed, Spade’s fists didn’t stop.

No. 13 was backed against the wall, unable to even perform slight evasive maneuvers, and continued to be beaten like a sandbag.

*Pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow pow!!*

*Crack!* *Thud!* *Thwack!* *Snap snap snap!*

*Crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack…!!*

“Cough…!! Keuh…!!”

And.

The barrage of fists that seemed like it would never end continued until No. 13 roughly experienced his second 『Resurrection』.

His body was healed again, and he was beaten until he fell into a groggy state again.

At the moment when his vision was spinning, blood was gushing from both nostrils, and one of his teeth was flying through the air.

Spade stopped the terrible barrage with one last punch to No. 13’s forehead.

Even if the fists had stopped, No. 13 was in a groggy state where he couldn’t even stand up on his own right now.

Grabbing No. 13 by the collar and pulling him, she turned him to the side instead of the wall this time.

The position Spade had turned No. 13 to face.

There, Apple was still looking this way and aiming her gun.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

“…!!”

Apple noticed Spade’s intentions and pulled the trigger without hesitation, aiming for his vital points.

Although the 9mm bullets had low killing power, No. 13 momentarily choked and died, with the bullets accurately piercing his neck and heart area.

He was dead.

He had passed away.

A fatal wound that no human could ever survive.

Along with that, No. 13’s body slumped down in Spade’s grasp, dripping dark red blood onto his feet.

*Rattle…*

And.

His body, which had been drooping with death, suddenly began to writhe hideously as if bugs were crawling inside.

It was the prelude to ‘Resurrection’, automatically manifested at the same time as death.