In just one step, he closed the distance between us, drew and swung the sword at his waist.
It was an exact replay of what had happened before.
But the speed, strength, and refinement of his technique had all improved extraordinarily.
A swing that was released in perfect condition, fully meshed with the rush and the drawing motion of the sword, closed in on me at a godly speed.
In that instant, the scene of me being cut into two flashed across my mind.
A perfect and infallible quick-draw slash. Not just bone and muscle, it was as if each individual cell had been controlled to produce that movement. Even my blade-resistant Black Dragon Coat would be easily cut by this sword. And after that, my body too.
I certainly felt the premonition of my own death --was made to, forcibly.
But, in my current state, I could dodge it.
Faster than the horizontal swing of the sword could cut, I escaped upwards. It was a height that couldn't be reached by just a jump. It was thanks to the wire gimmick in my wristwatch. The super-fine wires that I had entangled in the building's window grate beforehand pulled me up at high speed.
This wristwatch was also an item made from Beast materials. Not only did it tell time accurately, it also incorporated a wire gimmick and a miniature gun.
I had succeeded in avoiding Kouga's slash.
The usual me would likely have been cut into two before I could react, but thanks to the effect of the combat stimulant, I was able to see through his movements. Also, due to the anti-person training I had with Alma--structured sparring, my eyes had also gotten used to fast movements.
I hadn't merely avoided his attack successfully, I had also taken the high ground.
I was now 10 meters above Kouga's head. Because he didn't expect me to escape straight up, Kouga had been confused and his reaction was late. It was only by a blink of the eye, but he should definitely be late in dealing with my counterattack.
If I wanted to kill him for certain, I should use Stun Howl here. The fight would be settled in an instant if I stunned him. No matter how tough Kouga was, it would be over once I slit his throat with my knife.
But I didn't use Stun Howl. To be accurate, I couldn't.
If I trusted Kouga's words, the Rank of his Job is C. He probably wasn't lying. Because he's the same Rank as me, the stun should work on him normally. A problem would only occur if the Job of Bladesman has a resistance to mental debuffs.
Bladesman--If I remembered correctly, it's a Far Eastern vanguard Job that's comparable to the Swordsman Job we have here.
But I don't have exact information on it. Kouga had said that its trait is to manipulate slashes, but it may also have other resistances. For example, like how Scouts are highly resistant to poisons.
If I used Stun Howl and it didn't work, I would be throwing away my current advantage. With Kouga's physical strength, he should be able to reach my location in one jump. As I couldn't move effectively in mid-air, if he was allowed to pursue me, I would be a sitting duck.
That was why I couldn't use Stun Howl here.
What I should use, is Flame bullet.
I squeezed Silver-chan's trigger and fired a Flame bullet at Kouga. Despite his late timing, Kouga still managed to react to the shot from overhead and dodged the Flame bullet that should have scored a direct hit on him.
To be able to see and dodge the bullet within that sliver of time, what unbelievable reaction speed. But the true power of the magic bullet only starts now.
「What, flames!?」
The pillar of flames released by the Flame bullet caused Kouga to panic.
It's too late to panic now. I don't know the resistances that a Bladesman possesses, but it's highly unlikely that a physical-type vanguard has fire resistances. If that's the case, he won't be able to stay calm if he's enveloped by flames.
Even if he escaped from the pillar of flames, the fire burning his clothes won't be extinguished easily, and will cause him great damage. If that happened, then the rest would be easy. Killing him then would be like taking candy from a baby.
Was what I was thinking--
「Not so fast!!!」
Kouga, who had become a shadow swaying inside the flames, swung his sword with all his spirit. The wind from his swing rolled around like a tornado. And blasted away the pillar of flames.
「You're kidding!?」
I yelled inadvertently. No matter how much wind he created with his swing, it made no sense for the flames of the magic bullet to be erased so easily.
Then, why did they get erased? The answer was simple. That swing had created a vacuum around him, depriving the flames of the oxygen they needed to continue burning.
In other words, Kouga had slashed the air itself.
During the instant that I was shaken up by his far too superhuman feat, Kouga looked up at me and turned down the corners of his mouth.
「Tch, damn you!」
It would be bad to stay in this position. I kicked up off the wall of the building to reach the opposite wall, then used that momentum to repeatedly kick up off the walls until I was able to escape onto the roof of the building.
The moment I reached the roof, Kouga was already swooping down on me.
With the full moon in the sky at his back, he swung his sword downwards from high above his head.
On the verge of being split like a log, I rolled sideways and avoided the slash.
I came out of the roll and tried to aim Silver-chan at Kouga, but he had already closed the distance again and was already at the ready to perform follow-up attacks. I dodged his continuous swings by a hair's breath.
This was bad, I was in serious trouble. Let alone shooting him with Silver-chan, I didn't even have the time to draw the deep breath needed to use Stun Howl.
I was managing to dodge successfully for now, but I would likely be cut down the instant my breathing became ragged. In that case, I had only one option left.
Clang!! Sparks flew in front of me as the sound of hard objects clashing rang out.
The knife that I had pulled out deflected the trajectory of Kouga's sword. I followed up by diving into his chest in a low posture and swinging my fist at his testicles.
But Kouga back-stepped in time and avoided my low-blow.
「Y, you! No matter what, isn't a low-blow going too far!? What are you going to do if the balls get crushed!? Stop using such foul methods!」
At Kouga, who had pointed at me in protest, I shrugged my shoulders.
「Are you an idiot? Aren't we fighting for our lives? Blinding attacks, low-blows, biting, anything goes. Foul? Haa, as if words like that mean anything」
「You're talking big, but the difference in strength is clear, isn't it? I can only think that you're tightening the noose around your own neck by talking like that」
「The difference in strength is clear? Who gets to decide something like that?」
I held my knife in a backhand grip and lowered my waist.
「Come on, I'll face you with this」
「......A rearguard like you intends on having a frontal clash of swords with me?」
I didn't answer, but simply beckoned to him with my free hand.
「......I see. Talker Noel Stollen, I'll return to you the words you said back then. --You're the best」
Kouga's sword swings descended on me like the rain.
Their speed and strength were at a level that was impossible for my knife to handle. However, anti-person combat techniques were created so that the weak could defeat the strong. By never receiving it directly, and using the smallest and most efficient movements, all the sword attacks were parried away.
「Hahaha, well done! As expected! But for how long can you keep this up!?」
It was the opposite. While the situation was gradually deteriorating as I parried, it was possible to break the opponent's posture by using parries. It would be difficult to get Kouga off balance since he looked like he had strong core strength, but it was possible for me to do so. Kouga's sword speed was increasing with every attack I parried, but in exchange, my eyes were getting used to their speed.
The severity of the training that I received from Grandfather--Over Death was nothing like this. I had thought that I had become stronger after gaining experience as a Seeker, but I seemed to have slowed down compared to my training days.
It would work. Kouga's sword swings were starting to get disarrayed as he increased its speed. I parried one of Kouga's big swings and unbalanced him successfully. I switched my knife to a normal grip and aimed for Kouga's throat.
「Urgh!?」
So close. He dodged backwards just before the knife reached. But the distance between us had opened up, and on top of that, Kouga was still unbalanced because of his dodge.
I wasn't fool enough to miss that opening.
I lobbed a flash grenade towards Kouga. The blinding light dyed the night white.
「Gyaa, a blinding attack!?」
Kouga, whose eyes were burnt by the flash of light, didn't let go of his sword, but was covering his face in pain. His movements were as good as sealed.
「I did tell you before, anything goes」
I aimed Silver-chan at him. It was over.
The moment I was convinced of my victory, I felt my hair stand on end.
What? Is danger imminent? Just what is it?
「I did tell you before, the ability of a Bladesman」
Kouga, who was suffering, grinned.
「What!? Could it be!?」
「--Dance, Swallow Reversal」
I trusted my intuition and took a big leap backwards. That instant, countless invisible things came flying and cut the metal chimney right ahead of where I was standing into ribbons.
「When you said, manipulating slashes, is that what you meant!?」
That was most probably a Bladesman's Skill. Guessing from the situation, he was probably able to fix the slashes in space and release them whenever he pleased.
What a troublesome skill. I'll have to think of countermeasures immediately.
But that thought was far too fatal.
「Over there」
Kouga, who should have been blinded, closed in until he was right before my eyes, and then swung a powerful swing. I blocked it instantly using Silver-chan, but I was blown backwards slightly by the powerful impact.
「Damn it!?」
There was no roof--no foothold behind me. At this rate, I was going to slam into the ground below. I spun my body round in mid-air like a cat to prepare for the landing.
「It's not over!」
Kouga pursued me in mid-air. I was sure of it. That this guy had a Skill that allowed him to sense his opponent's position without relying on sight.
「STOP!!!」
An all or nothing Stun Howl. However, Kouga showed no signs of being stunned. It was as I feared, he was resistant.
I guarded against his slash using Silver-chan again, but this time I was blown towards the ground. As my back slammed strongly against the ground, I felt my consciousness slipping away......
†
†
「......urgh, it hurts......」
Sharp pain brought me back to consciousness. I steadied my breathing and checked my physical condition. It seemed like I had broken my fall properly and none of my bones were broken. Since I couldn't smell blood when I breathed, there should be no damage to my internal organs.
But I couldn't move my body much. Rather than being damaged by the fall, the reason for this was likely the rebound from the effects of the combat stimulant running out.
In other words, my fight had already ended.
「It's my win」
Kouga pointed his sword at me after I had awakened. It seemed like his eyes had recovered while I was out.
「Noel Stollen, you're an amazing guy. By no means did I think that a rearguard would corner me to that degree. Without a doubt, you're the strongest opponent that I've faced」
Complimenting the loser, huh. Looking down on me. We're not playing sports here. There's only victory and defeat in fights. Anything else is worthless.
Above all, unless I'm dead, I haven't lost the fight. There are still ways to overcome this situation. All I have to do is win Kouga over with some placating words and make him lower his sword.
This guy had not wanted to fight with me. If I led him on skillfully, he would definitely put down his sword. Even if I couldn't do that, it would be fine so long as I bought some time.
How should I persuade him? As I was choosing my words, I felt that something was off.
「......Hey you, why aren't you trying to finish me off?」
I didn't even have to persuade him. He was clearly hesitant.
「Didn't you say that when you're told to kill, you had to kill no matter who the opponent is?」
「Of, of course I know that!」
「This won't be the first time you're killing someone, right? Then why are you hesitating?」
「I, I don't know! I, I only......」
「......You bloody idiot」
I forced my upper body up and grabbed the sword that was pointed at me. Blood flowed from the new wound on my palm, but I didn't care about something like that.
「Wha, what are you doing!? Hurry up and let go!」
「Don't act like a spoiled child!!!」
「What!?」
Kouga flinched at my loud rebuke.
「Don't show your enemy sympathy when you're just a slave! If you spare me here, your master, Albert, will never forgive you!」
「Th, that's......」
「Nothing in this world is more important than your own life! Don't throw away your life for others, much less your enemies!!!」
Just what on earth am I saying? What an awful charade.
I felt like vomiting in disgust at how I was acting like an actor in a comedy.
But I couldn't suppress it. Because I had the thought that I didn't want this man to die...… I just couldn't forgive him for making light of his own life......
「I, I am......」
Kouga was confused. By his own emotions. By my words.
But there was nothing I could do. It was a problem he had to resolve by himself.
Besides--
「Time's up」
I let go of the sword and sighed.
「What did you say?」
Kouga, who had his head tilted, sensed the abnormality and went into battle preparations immediately. He looked up, then swung his sword as he clicked his tongue.
A furious exchange occurred in a blink of the eye, and sparks from clashing swords filled the night sky like shining stars.
「What's with this person!?」
Kouga, who was getting steamrolled by the attacks, ate an even sharper spinning back kick to his stomach and was blown away.
And there stood a white reaper, as if to protect me.
「You're a nuisance. The only one who can push Noel down is me」
I don’t need to tell you who that is right? It’s a bit more up in the air in my translation but the reaper uses boku in that last line so it really wasn’t meant to be a mystery since only one character uses that.
What an intense battle though! Noel with that Batman move. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
But if you go back through it again, Noel actually keeps losing every step of the way despite throwing everything he had at Kouga. I love that despite it still being a cool battle where Noel isn’t completely useless because of the martial arts learnt from his Grandpa, he’s still the weakest out there after all and it’s really difficult for him to fight alone.
And yes, Kouga’s skill is Sasaki Kojirō’s Tsubame Gaeshi. His skills are all pretty famous Japanese moves and frankly, I was really torn over whether I should translate or leave them in romanji. But well… I’m a translator after all…
Noel vs Kouga II may be over, but Reaper vs Kouga is next! wkwk! ＼＼٩( ‘ω’ )و //／／
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