Chapter 10 | The Assassin and the Hero Face Off
Standing amid the wasteland, I faced Epona alone. The view was flat in all directions, putting me at a disadvantage. We did pass through a forest to get here—that offered lots of places to hide. I could work with that.
“We don’t want to kill each other here. Let’s set a few rules. The match will last one minute. It will end as soon as one of us surrenders, faints, or breaks a limb. If we run out of time, it’s a draw,” I said.
“I like it. I wonder if you can handle my best for a full minute?” Epona responded.
Putting myself in mortal danger wasn’t the only risk with fighting Epona—I could also lose My Loyal Knights. It was originally her skill, and it allowed the bearer to lend skills and a piece of their strength to a maximum of three people. The catch was that the ability could deem one of the knights unworthy if they lost a duel, rescinding the powers. That would be problematic, and it’s why I suggested a time limit. The match would end in a stalemate if I survived for a minute, meaning I wouldn’t lose.
A minute was a long time against an opponent of Epona’s caliber. It might have been better to avoid this fight, given the risks, but getting a sense of our current gap in strength made it worth the danger.
“Naoise is a fool. He was doing plenty to contribute to world peace by keeping you in check… Yet he got it in his head that he was useless and was overwhelmed by an inferiority complex,” I said.
Epona would have lost herself long ago if not for Naoise. He’d undoubtedly done an excellent service toward protecting world peace. He was also legitimately strong. Naoise felt inferior to Nevan, Epona, and me, but he compared himself to the wrong people.
Naoise was an excellent man in his own right. He overwhelmed any opponent without superhuman ability and even bettered us superhuman types in some ways. He was great at everything without specializing in any one area. I wished that he’d understood his strengths and was proud of them.
“You should have told him that. He always indirectly hinted at wanting your recognition,” Epona responded.
“…I’ll tell him the next time, then.”
I drew my sword. The weapon was a decoy; I was best with a knife or a gun.
Then I used a spell Dia developed called Haste Bolt. It strengthened the electrical current within the body, significantly increasing reaction speed. It also bolstered physical strength. The magic was tremendously potent, but it damaged the body and threatened to render me immobile. Not even Rapid Recovery could keep up. At best, I’d last for a little over a minute. The time limit on this bout meant that wouldn’t be a concern, though.
Next, I injected a drug into my neck. It also enhanced my reflexes. I could never keep up with Epona’s speed, leaving me no choice but to rely on reactions to survive. This preparation should have allowed me to follow her movements.
And finally…
“Swift Wind Armor.”
…I cast my favorite spell. It granted me wind-based defense that deflected attacks and allowed me to release compressed air to propel myself.
“Are you ready, Lugh?”
“Anytime. Give me your best shot, hero.”
I beckoned for Epona to begin, and she smiled.
Epona charged toward me, the ground exploding at her feet. She moved silently. No, that wasn’t right; she moved so fast that she outpaced the speed of sound. Thanks to my body’s strengthened electrical current and the drug, I followed her, but only barely. I dodged with the minimum amount of movement possible, lacking time for anything else. She whipped past me, and a second later, an invisible hammer knocked me off my feet.
A sonic boom… Shock waves hammered the surrounding area, caused by Epona breaking the sound barrier.
She turned and charged again. I released a piece of my Swift Wind Armor to propel myself back and dodge, yet I was sent flying through the air once more. I barely managed to land safely, cracking a bone in my right arm.
I can’t even touch her. But that’s not a problem.
Epona was as quick as I remembered. There was enough distance between us now for me to act, though. I didn’t have time to cast a spell or evade in any way besides the most optimal. However, I did have time to draw my gun and pull the trigger.
Elite gunners could ready, aim, and fire in 0.2 seconds. And that was the best I could do in my past life. Now I could strengthen myself with mana and hasten my reflexes with magic, pushing my speed to 0.1 seconds—faster than humanly possible.
This should be enough to hit her!
I shot three rounds, as one did to make sure they took down their opponent. My arms felt liable to snap despite being strengthened by mana. I’d designed the pistol’s large bore for increased force and packed the bullets with as much Fahr Stone powder as possible without breaking the gun. The projectiles launched at an initial velocity of 1,020 meters per second, about three times the speed of sound and faster than an anti-materiel rifle.
I’d built the gun with the best possible suppressor, but it still wasn’t enough to stop the recoil completely. This meant I had to steady the gun with my mana-strengthened arms to prevent the muzzle from wavering, and the shock wave cracked a bone in my left arm.
“Quit holding back, Lugh!”
Epona charged directly at the three bullets—each housing a force greater than an anti-tank rifle—and head-butted them out of the way.
You’re joking…
Destructive energy increased the faster two objects moved toward each other. Epona charged toward those bullets faster than sound, which should have increased the force of the impact. Yet she was uninjured.
I fired the rest of the bullets in my magazine, but she deflected them all and threw a punch at my stomach once she entered point-blank range. I released my Wind Armor to propel myself backward and dampen the blow, but she was too swift. Her fist connected with my gut. There was an unpleasant crunching sound, and I was hurled away.
“Huh? That didn’t feel like bone. How interesting!”
Epona tilted her head and laughed as I fell to my knees and coughed up blood. She’d broken the frame of my bulletproof vest. It was designed to break to cancel the force of an excessive blow. The vest was made of monster bones that were so light and tough they could survive the full-speed charge of a ten-ton truck, and Epona broke it with one punch. Without it, I would’ve lost all my ribs.
I chanted in midair to summon more Swift Wind Armor. Epona extended a hand toward me.
“Fireball.”
Fireball was among the first fire spells one learned. It produced a fist-sized sphere of flame when cast by a regular mage, but the hero’s version was quite different.
The burning orb turned to plasma because of its immense heat and rocketed toward me with the speed of a laser cannon. I responded by pulling a Fahr Stone engineered to produce a directional explosion from my Leather Crane Bag and throwing it. The stone exploded and scattered mithril chaff in midair, diverting the plasma away from me.
I’d managed to defend myself, but that was hardly one of Epona’s best attacks. It was a beginner spell. That meant…
“Fireball.”
…she was able to cast it again immediately. The new Fireball evaporated the chaff and pierced my body, distorting its shape.
Fortunately, that was just an illusion I created using a wind spell to bend light. The magic was normally unusable after dark due to the lack of sunlight, but the glow from the plasma made it possible. I’d calculated the best place to spread the chaff produced by the Fahr Stone to disperse the plasma and enable my illusion. It didn’t matter how fast the hero was if I hid beyond her view.
Got her.
I wasn’t dumb enough to say that aloud. I moved silently while hiding my scent and stabbed a knife at Epona’s neck from behind as hard as I could.
I heard the dull sound of bone breaking—my wrist. Epona’s skin was too hard, sending the entire impact of my full-strength attack back into my hand. My dominant arm was now unusable with that and the other cracked bone.
I wanted to scream from the intense pain, but I didn’t have the time. Epona turned around with a backhand blow, and I dodged by a paper-thin margin. Or at least, I thought I did. By the time I realized it had grazed my skin, I was already hurtling backward through the air, as if I were a bullet.
I flew dozens of meters before landing. I was in terrible condition. My clothes were ragged, and my skin torn. The spinning had wrecked my inner ears, and my sense of direction was completely thrown off. I couldn’t even stand.
I need to find Epona… Wait. I rolled on instinct, and a crater formed where I’d been a moment earlier. Epona had soared down from the sky to kick me from above. The ground ruptured, and I was tossed into the air again.
I finally regained my sense of direction. That’s going way too far for a duel. She would have smashed my face in if that kick had connected. If that’s how she intended to play it, I’d respond in kind. Fortunately, I’d been knocked a good distance from her. And by miracle or chance, she was standing on the point I designated for my trap.
“Cannon Volley.”
I chose Epona’s current position as a killing point before the duel. On the way here, I used magic to produce cannons from my Leather Crane Bag and put them in place while running behind Epona. I couldn’t hurt her with regular attacks, and there was no time to prepare powerful moves while fighting her. Traps were a different story, though.
We chose a wasteland with a clear view as the site of our duel, but I wasn’t so kind as to spend the whole fight engaged on terrain disadvantageous to an assassin. I had been luring her toward the forest, where I could hide and set traps, for the entire duel.
Cannons fired at Epona from all directions with thunderous booms, kicking up a dust cloud. Attacks were stronger when there was less room for the target to escape. Epona knocked me all around during the duel, but the best way to ensure all the force of an attack connected with a target was to strike from all sides with equal strength.
Preparing this trap was difficult. I’d determined the best location for it, but there was no guarantee it would go well. There was limited time to set it without Epona realizing, even with magic to help. I repeatedly compromised and recalculated, and while the location I landed on wasn’t ideal, the trap was still plenty lethal. I’d lured Epona to the spot while pretending like she was trouncing me.
“Attacking from all sides with multiple Cannon Strikes upgraded to achieve maximum power. By my estimate, this should exceed Gungnir, but…”
I searched for Epona with a probing spell while still on guard. It didn’t take long to find her. She was still moving.
Damn, she’s charging right at me.
I tried to react, but my body felt like lead. Was this because of my injuries? No, this was from Haste Bolt. Being a millisecond too slow in this fight could cost me my life.
Epona’s nails hardened and sharpened to swords’ points, and she stabbed them through my throat… No, she paused just before.
“Darn, I was so close. One more second, and I would’ve won.”
“Yeah, our minute’s up.”
Epona stopped because we’d reached the time limit.
“I’m surprised. You were able to keep your composure until the end this time,” I said.
She kept track of the time down to the second. That would’ve been impossible if she had lost her mind.
“That was lucky. My vision went red when I saw your Cannon Volley—I could tell it was going to hurt—but getting hit by those bullets actually returned me to my senses… See, I didn’t get hurt that badly.”
Her left arm hung limp, broken. I succeeded at harming the hero… Although I didn’t feel like celebrating, considering it took an attack of Gungnir’s level just to break an arm. Epona was more absurd than I thought. I was ready to kill her if necessary, but this reminded me that it would be difficult, even with my new abilities.
Still, I’d say this went well. I confirmed Epona’s current strength and proved an even match for her without revealing everything in my arsenal, I thought. Nearly everything I employed in this match was something from my battle against the orc demon. I didn’t reveal any new tricks, preferring to keep those for emergencies. Were I not so picky, I would’ve done even better.
“Sorry about that. I can’t hold back when fighting you,” I apologized.
“Don’t worry. It’s already healed. Thanks for going all-out. Anything less would’ve been unsatisfying, and I feel sharper than I have in ages.” Epona waved her arms to show she was okay, including her left one, which had been broken a moment ago.
The injury that nearly cost me my life was already gone. Even my Rapid Recovery skill couldn’t keep up with that absurd healing rate. It took all my effort to stand. I didn’t look hurt, but I was worn out from boosting my body with magic and the drug. The nerve damage would take a while to heal.
I was unable to dodge Epona’s final attack because I’d lost my increased physical strength. I had to expend a lot more effort than anticipated, shortening the time I could maintain my physical strengthening by a few seconds… This didn’t happen during my tests. Learning that fighting Epona would push me to this extent made this worthwhile.
“Let’s fight again sometime. I want to get stronger. I have to.”
“Because of that promise?”
“Yeah. But that’s not all. I have a skill called Future Calculation, and I don’t know why, but it makes my heart pound with fear. It’s a vague feeling, but it’s like a warning that I’ll be in trouble if I remain weak.”
That lined up with the private conversation between the goddess and the Puppeteer that the Alam Karla overheard. Under normal circumstances, the hero fought multiple demons and gained strength before fighting the Demon King, but I took those opportunities from her. During the battle with the pig demon—the first we encountered—Epona demonstrated she had what it took to be the strongest hero in history, but she hadn’t fought a demon since. I didn’t know if she still had that potential.
I need more information.
Epona’s weakness wouldn’t be an issue if we managed to kill all the demons and prevent the Demon King’s resurrection. But if the Demon King returned and the goddess was right that only the hero could defeat them… Then I’d be responsible for leading the world to annihilation instead of salvation.
If that came to be, I would have to take responsibility. I had to protect this world.
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