Chapter 17 — If You Have Never Tasted Defeat, Then Try and Claim Victory Here Too
“At any rate, I imagine it is obvious that you are my objective here.” The enormous girl wore a daring smile. It was likely she wasn’t actually a giant but rather had adjusted her size to match Suudoria’s.
“Oh? Are you saying you wish to fight me?” Suudoria asked.
“Indeed, but do not think so highly of yourself. I only happened to notice you due to your size and decided to play for a bit. I would have been just as content to engage in combat with that squid.”
“You sound like a fool, but I imagine you are serious, so I’ll have to defeat you here.”
Though the girl’s words were absurd, Suudoria could feel there was real strength in her. If left alone, she would likely be capable of destroying the world and would certainly wipe out the students in the school.
“If you are capable of entertaining me, then please do. I will wait, so feel free to unleash your full strength.”
“Oh, you can tell I am holding back?”
“I, too, am continuously suppressing my strength. It was obvious enough you were doing the same.”
“I see. Then I will accept your offer.” Suudoria released her power. It would add to the damage to the city around her, but she decided there was no other option. Releasing the magic making up her enormous body, she reabsorbed it and returned to her true form. As the layered seals binding her power came undone, the magical energy flooding out of her began to melt the stones of the buildings and roads around her.
That was why Suudoria kept her power suppressed. Even if she wasn’t using it for anything, the energy that unconsciously leaked out of her would destroy her surroundings. There was no way she could pretend to be an ordinary student now.
“So you have shrunk again? After all the effort I went through to match your size.” As she spoke, the UEG also shrank back down to the size of an ordinary girl.
“This is a tenth of my true power. Do you still think you will be a match for me?”
“I wonder. I suspect you should release all your power at once, though.”
“You can say that once you have survived this.” Suudoria unleashed a wave of magical energy behind her, launching her forward in a straight line at the UEG and swinging her right fist.
The UEG caught the punch in one hand. “There. I have survived. What is next?”
“I see. Then I will go a little stronger.” Suudoria poured energy into her fist and released it all at once. The magical energy turned into light, gushing out with a tremendous heat. The compressed beam of light tore a line through the city. Of course, since she was still holding on to that hand, the UEG couldn’t survive unscathed. The majority of her body was erased, leaving nothing more than her feet.
“I suppose that’s how it goes. Once I use a bit of my real strength, no one can keep up.” Suudoria was almost disappointed. She had thought this might have ended up being an actual fight, but it had ended so abruptly.
“Oh? So you are one of those who laments their own strength?” A voice came from the lingering left foot of the UEG. Flesh expanded from that foot, regenerating her entire body. Suudoria could have attacked her during the regeneration, but she decided to wait. The process was finished in no time, and even her clothing had been reconstituted.
“Yes,” Suudoria replied. “I have never known defeat. Honestly, I have begun to think life would be happier if I found some other motivation for living than the thrill of battle.”
“Perhaps you would fit in better at the Slow Life League.”
“Are you suggesting I defect?”
“That would be impossible. After all, I have just come from annihilating the Slow Life League and that kingdom of monsters.”
“Oh? I must admit, I do not know how strong they were.” Suudoria had never once stepped outside after being reincarnated at the academy. The school rules forbade anyone from going out, except for high school students on combat training exercises. She had never been able to witness the strength of the other factions.
“No matter. If you wish to know defeat, I will teach it to you. Though it will result in your death, so you will not have time to wallow in it.”
“Do you have any idea how many times I have heard those words? If you act so high and mighty, you may just embarrass yourself.”
“Let us begin with this, then.”
Suudoria’s vision went black. A moment too late she realized she had been struck in the face, warm blood pouring from her nose. It had been an ordinary jab. The UEG had delivered a straight punch so fast Suudoria hadn’t been able to track it with her eyes.
“You seem specialized in melee combat,” the UEG observed, “so I will engage you there.”
“I am specialized in anything I like, but if you wish to settle this with blows, I am happy to oblige you.” Suudoria returned with a punch of her own, which the UEG dodged with an exaggerated motion. Looking closer, she had slid to the side without moving her feet. “Are you not interested in doing this properly?” Suudoria asked as she dodged the counterstrike.
“As long as the form is proper, the rest does not matter.”
“Your form not being proper is the issue!”
Punch. Dodge. Kick. Dodge. Their movements gradually accelerated, growing stronger and stronger. With neither of them able to land a decisive blow, it seemed the battle would go on forever. However, Suudoria soon realized something was wrong. Neither of them were fighting at full strength. The fight would be decided once one of them reached their limit. Suudoria had plenty of strength left to spare, but she was beginning to feel her movements growing dull.
Her nose hadn’t stopped bleeding. Blood still dripped from her face, making it harder to breathe. She had rarely ever been wounded, but bleeding like this should have stopped almost immediately. Her endurance and regenerative capabilities were immense. Though it had never happened before, if her body were annihilated all at once, she would regenerate the entire thing in an instant. She wasn’t a being chained to a physical body. She was capable of changing the body that was her vessel at will and could even create multiple such vessels at the same time if she wished. However, the bleeding wouldn’t stop and her breathing was starting to grow ragged.
“So you have finally noticed?” the UEG said, still exchanging blows. “Saying you are impossible to defeat when you never grow tired and regenerate instantly leaves something to be desired, so I have suppressed those abilities of yours.”
“That is impossible!”
“Feel free to believe what you wish. The truth is your injuries will no longer heal. Moving will deplete your stamina, and lost body parts will never return. So how about it? If you have never tasted defeat, then try and claim victory here too.”
Suudoria hadn’t noticed anything happening to her. There shouldn’t have been any way to block her powers. But even so, she couldn’t bring herself to say she was at full strength. There was clearly something wrong. The bizarre new situation caused her to lose her composure, her movements slowing enough that the UEG was able to land a hit and take off her right arm.
With the balance of offense and defense between them shattered, the fight was over almost immediately. A kick took out her right leg, knocking her to the ground, after which the UEG stomped on her left arm and crushed it.
“There you go. The defeat you have so longed for. Are you satisfied?” the UEG asked, looking down proudly at her victim.
“No way. This is...impossible.”
“Hm? How strange. Did you not wish to do battle? Were you not sick of your continued success, longing for someone to come and defeat you? Why are you in such shock now? A powerful enemy has finally appeared. Should you not celebrate that? Is this first experience of defeat not refreshing for you?”
Suudoria couldn’t answer.
“I have met many of your like in the past. The majority are fools trying to act cool. They say they wish to know defeat, but never once actually believed it. The moment they come close to losing, they immediately begin begging for their life. How about you?”
“I-I...”
“Ah, I forgot. I have no desire to hear it. I have long grown tired of such answers.” The UEG made a show of lifting her foot up over Suudoria’s head.
The simple but elegant sole of her shoe was the last thing Suudoria ever saw.
◇ ◇ ◇
Yogiri and Tomochika stood facing two soldiers from Himeln. One was covered from head to toe in plate armor, while the other wore a tight-fitting white robe and called herself Childa.
Yogiri was getting fed up with this. They had finally reunited with Scott only to be interrupted by enemies again.
“Takatou, if Scott gets sent flying again, it’ll be a huge pain.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I’ll protect him this time.”
“I realize it’s nothing I’ve done, but sorry,” Scott apologized.
Yogiri’s unconscious protection only extended to Tomochika, so in order to protect Scott too, he would have to do it consciously. Scott was effectively immortal, so Yogiri didn’t have to worry about him being in danger, but it would be hard for Scott to guide them around if they kept getting separated.
“Just to make sure, by revenge, you mean you are going to kill us, right?” Yogiri asked the woman in white.
“That’s right.”
“I told the others this too, but I only killed them because they attacked us. I don’t know if that justifies your taking revenge.”
“The cycle of revenge is so sad, isn’t it? But if you die, the cycle will end, no?”
“Okay. We have places to be, so we’re heading that way. If you follow us, I’ll kill you. You’ve been warned. Scott, please take us to that settlement you mentioned.” Yogiri decided there was no point in talking anymore.
“All right. This way.”
They began walking again. The armored soldier followed them. Yogiri had thought they were trying to keep the soldier alive, but he had warned them. He used his power, and the soldier fell to the ground.
“Huh. What did you do to him?” Childa asked, but Yogiri kept walking. He was done with talking.
“Are you sure this is okay, Takatou?” Tomochika asked.
“Talking to people in this world never gets us anywhere.”
“I’m well aware of that, but doesn’t ignoring them completely make you feel a little guilty? We haven’t really settled things properly.”
“If we keep talking with them, more will come. I feel like it’s better to just ignore them at this point.”
“All right. I’ll try my best to do the same!”
“Umm, I’d really prefer you didn’t,” Childa called out to them. “You’re going to make me sad. Even if we’re going to kill each other in the end, there’s no reason we can’t get along until then.”
They ignored everything she said. However, despite the distance they had walked, she still sounded close by. Thinking she had followed them, Yogiri turned to look and found Childa right beside them.
“I didn’t follow you or anything. You just haven’t been going anywhere.” The armored soldier was still lying on the ground at her side. Yogiri highly doubted she had dragged him with her.
“You know, since I can manipulate time, I can manipulate space as well. So I tried shrinking the space between us.”
“What does that even mean?!”
Tomochika was baffled. Yogiri didn’t much understand what was happening either.
Space and time are part of a single indivisible whole, so control over one may lead to control over the other, said Mokomoko. But an opponent with such unlimited control may prove quite a nuisance.
“So could you please answer my questions?” Childa asked. “I reversed this guy’s time, but he didn’t come back to life. What did you do to him?”
“This is your last warning,” Yogiri replied. “I’m not going to answer you. I don’t care if you’re messing with space or time or whatever; if you mess with us again, I’ll kill you.”
“Fine, fine. If you’re not going to play along, this is just boring. You can die now.” Childa immediately dropped to the ground. Whatever she had attempted, Yogiri’s power had automatically killed her first.
“We killed the guy who was watching us, so maybe they’ll stop coming for us now?” Tomochika said.
“It’s probably best to assume they’ll still try. It’ll be a pain.”
Himeln knew they were here, and they had no way of leaving the area quickly. If more of them came to this area, the three of them would be found immediately.
“We’ve had lots of interruptions, so let’s hurry,” Scott said.
“Yeah. Lead the way.”
With Scott in the lead, they began walking again. After walking for a while, they finally made it out of the barren field and back to where there was plant life. There was a paved road cutting through, so they followed that. A lot had happened recently so they had almost forgotten, but the grass here was infected by the Seyla and was therefore quite dangerous.
After walking for a short time, they came across the settlement Scott had mentioned. It was a small village, similar to the one Scott had lived in. Though it was getting late, they had managed to arrive before sunset. Yogiri was a little relieved, but Tomochika didn’t feel the same way.
“Nothing else is going to happen, right?” she asked as she looked around, still suspicious of everything.
“Considering what’s happened so far, it wouldn’t be strange if something did.”
“I just want a break. I’m so tired.”
“I feel the same way. No one we’ve met listens to anything we say.”
However, just as they were hoping nothing more would happen, the area around them went dark.
“Uhh...seriously?” Tomochika couldn’t help but sigh, knowing nothing good would come of it.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, I suppose, offered Mokomoko.
Yogiri looked up to see something enormous descending towards them.
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