Published at 21st of September 2022 10:15 pm

Volume 15, Chapter 5 - Kill Steal (3.2)

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

“Just like your ideology, right? You reap what you sow. Ah, but it’s a bit unfortunate. I wanted to torment you more before killing you…”

Not a twitch could be seen from her blood-related father anymore. Zesshi moved her gaze to the Elf corpses around her.

Now that she thought about it, she really didn’t need to go this far. It would be a lie to say that her hatred towards her mother wasn’t a factor in her killing them all. However, most of all, she didn't wish for the country she loved to do the same things this bastard—whose very existence in the same world as her made her nauseous—had done. She thought that they would be better off dead, so she sank these female elves into a sea of blood.

Those people, who optimistically thought that these elves could have achieved happiness elsewhere, probably wouldn’t understand Zesshi’s actions. In a similar vein, Zesshi couldn’t understand those kinds of people either.

Zesshi suddenly looked at the entrance.

A dark elf girl could be seen in the gap of the still open door.

There was no doubt that she was one of “those kids” that drove the Elf King into a corner.

Upon seeing the mark of royalty in those eyes—each of a different color—Zesshi let out a small sigh.

Decem mistook Zesshi, who he had never met, for their mother. Then, this should be his grandchild—Zesshi’s niece.

A little surprised at her own unexpected reluctance to kill this child, Zesshi kicked the Elf King, already dead from getting his chest caved in, towards the child with her full strength.

Ordinary people, no, not even outliers should have been able to avoid it; yet, the girl did, by just jumping aside primly.

The corpse hit the opposite wall and bloomed into a bloody flower with a loud sound.

{To think that she avoided it…her physical ability should be comparatively high. That guy’s wound looked like it was from a blade though…}

The girl—her niece was holding a black staff, a weapon to bonk with. A glance at that guy’s wound was enough to know that it was from a different weapon. He actually did say “those kids,” so there should be one more at the very least. However, there were also magic items that could create blades of magic or could change themselves into blades.

She couldn’t disregard the possibility that this girl was the one who wounded the Elf King.

{Or maybe the other child caused the chest wound while this one smashed his legs? With her staff…or magic?}

But why did this dark elf girl wound the Elf King?

No, there were many things to hate him for. Perhaps she was the same as Zesshi, inheriting her mother’s hatred for the Elf King. This could be the case, especially since she looked too young to have her own reason to hate the Elf King enough to wound him so grievously.

It was also possible that she just wounded him while frolicking around, but the circumstances just now denied that possibility. Even though he was already dead, the girl avoided the body she kicked instead of trying to retrieve it.

“E-excuse me, y-you see. Where are you from onee-san?”

Very shy—a cute girl who was male fantasy made manifest. She was from a different world compared to Zesshi, such a girl asked her a question.

But a single glance was enough for her to see that the girl was different inside. The girl didn’t look like she was scared by the Elf King’s corpse behind her or the massacre done by Zesshi in this room.

{She can still behave like that after avoiding my attack? Uwaah. It's highly likely her shyness is just an act, that just makes me more cautious…well then, what should I do?}

How should she answer the opponent’s question? If possible, she wanted to avoid a battle and feed her false information while taking her time to gain as much information as possible from the other side.

But that was impossible.

The Elf King’s words implied there were multiple enemies. In case this was the one who wounded the Elf King, the fact that there wasn’t a single drop of blood on her—there should have been some even if she was healed—meant that there was an overwhelming gap between the strength of the Elf King and this girl.

Even if this girl wasn’t the one who did it, considering that she was chosen to be the one to give chase, she and her comrades shouldn’t be taken lightly. She didn’t know how strong they were, but even Zesshi would be in danger if she let them regroup.

This was her chance to deal with the girl alone, before her comrades arrived. Instead of gathering intel, she should seize the initiative and defeat her here in a short and quick battle.

{The idea that your enemy’s enemy is your friend is just optimism. You'd more likely be correct to treat them as a new enemy instead.}

She thought for a moment and then, with a smile to ease up her opponent’s caution, Zesshi finally answered.

“—Good morning. I am…someone from the Sorcerer Kingdom, but what about you? Are you alone?”

The girl’s face twitched a little. Her shy attitude didn’t change, but it slightly felt like she was thinking about something.

{I can’t read her. I’ve made a mistake. I should have asked a leading question…With this reaction, I can’t read if she doesn’t know about the Sorcerer Kingdom, if she’s from there, or if she sees it as an enemy. Considering that she didn’t immediately attack me, the possibility of her being hostile to the Sorcerer Kingdom went down a little, but maybe she is just stalling like me to gather more information…aah, maybe I would have gotten a different reaction if I had mentioned the Council State instead.}

She mentioned the Sorcerer Kingdom because there was intel that the Sorcerer King had a Dark Elf as one of his retainers.

They didn’t get this information by sending spies into the Sorcerer Kingdom’s internal organization.

It was because the Thousand-League Astrologer had confirmed the presence of a dark elf girl beside the Sorcerer King in the battle against the Kingdom on the Katze Plains.

They made a detailed report on the Sorcerer King and his forces after using illusions to recreate the scene the Thousand-League Astrologer saw. They also saw the dark elf who was the only one attending him through the illusions, but they weren’t able to see her face clearly due to the blurriness.

That was something that couldn’t be helped. The Thousand-League Astrologer couldn’t divert her energy to remember a single person as she had to observe the entire battlefield. Plus, what happened after made such a strong impression on her that a lot of other information had flown straight out of her mind.

Remembering that vague picture, it felt like this girl wasn’t the same one as the dark elf that followed the Sorcerer King back then. They both held a black staff but the armor they wore was completely different. Well, there was also the fact that she didn’t remember anything except for the gear because the illusion was of very low quality.

If this girl really was from the Sorcerer Kingdom, what would she have chosen to wear when she planned to come here? The answer: she would have been completely geared up just like Zesshi was. This was a battlefield. Anything could happen here so it was impossible that someone would appear in their usual attire. Even the defensive gear Kaire and the Thousand-League Astrologer wore were chosen only for their ability, disregarding the fact of whether they suited them or not.

That said, the Katze Plains had been a battlefield as well. Truly strong people didn’t use multiple sets of serious battle gear generally.

That was because excellent gear was a necessity to ascend to higher tiers of strength, and they would need to polish their skill with a single piece of equipment for that. For example, there was someone skilled with a club who was given an axe after they were recruited into Black Scripture, they had to spend years to get proficient at using it.

Going by this logic, the girl from the Sorcerer Kingdom and the one before her should be different people, but there were too many things in common between them for her to come to that conclusion.

That’s why Zesshi asked a suggestive question to reap some information from her reaction but got nothing in return.

{I am better at reaping with this scythe though,} Zesshi thought and slightly strengthened her grip on the great scythe.

(Note: the original is a wordplay on ‘asking a suggestive question’ (鎌をかける) from the sentence before, which literally translates to “grabbing by a sickle/scythe.” Zesshi jokes that she is better at using the scythe in her hands instead.)

And there was also the fact that the girl was not human.

Zesshi could mostly differentiate between the faces of fellow humanoids, but she was not perfect at it. There were some things that one wouldn’t be able to perceive if they were not of the same race, so the other races tended to look all the same to her.

“Ah, eh, Y-yes. I am alone…”

“I see. Then everyone’s probably worried for you.”

{Haa. She lies so easily with such a cute face…absolutely different from how she looks. In that case, any information I can get from her is highly likely to be false. There’s no use in continuing this conversation when I already know that she has other allies here. First, I should incapacitate her with force and move to a different place. It’s better to draw the truth out of her at a later time, either through magical means or through physical pain…}

The girl shyly raised her hand which was not holding the staff to touch the necklace hanging from her neck.

A behavior like that was nothing out of place. It looked like her hand was just searching for something to grip to soothe her unease. One could call it a shy and girly action but Zesshi, who sensed the disconnect between the girl’s appearance and her true self, didn’t think so.

“Tch!”

Zesshi reduced the distance between them in a single motion, faster than her tongue click could dissipate in the air. While putting on her helmet, she swung the weapon she was holding—Charon’s Guidance—to graze the ground at the girl’s legs.

If she could, she would cut her legs.

A no-holds-barred attack with her full strength behind it—an attack even the man who was the strongest of her comrades would find difficult to avoid.

That attack—

Was deflected back by the girl planting down the staff by her feet.

The weapon that could easily cut through even steel was deflected, but Zesshi wasn’t surprised. She expected this possibility, but the fact that Zesshi's full-powered attack couldn't even make the girl’s hand flinch was beyond her expectations. Then—

{So she’s a martial-type.}

She has now got a clue on the classes held by the dark elf girl.

{…Wait a minute? A lightly equipped warrior? No way…though it’s not confirmed that the Elf King was his only child…her appearance…}

Both Dark Elves and the Elves had the same lifespan, so the speed of their growth should also be the same.

“W-what are you doing su-suddenly…”

{Is it possible that she was from a different bloodline? …Am I thinking too deeply into it?}

It looked like the dark elf girl was muttering about something, but Zesshi continued to swing her scythe, trying to think. She had already decided to fight her. From now, there was no need to talk anymore except if she wanted to stall for time or if she had won.

Zesshi burst into the corridor, chasing after the girl who jumped back.

Rotating the great scythe in a wide arc to accumulate a lot of inertia behind it, Zesshi swung at the girl’s ankles.

Swinging such a large scythe meant that she naturally hit the floor and the walls along the way, but that was not an issue. The weapon once held by the savior God of the Theocracy—no, of humanity—Surshana, could easily part the walls and the floor in its path. There was a slight resistance but it barely slowed down the great scythe.

But it was deflected.

Again.

And again.

The three attacks that followed each other like lightning struck at the same spot. All of them were parried by the black staff held by the girl. Her parries were not exactly graceful but the explosive power in them was massive. The girl’s lightning speed was on the same level as her without a doubt.

{She’s pretty good. A warrior on my level? This is bad. I will be at a disadvantage if she is completely focused on defense.}

She already understood something from this short exchange.

According to the Elf King’s words, the opponent had allies. If they were also on this girl’s level, then Zesshi could only put her full effort into escaping. However, it would be shallow to think that she could run away easily just because the Elf King had managed to escape. If the opponent was not an idiot, they would have some countermeasures in place now after letting the Elf King escape once.

That meant—

{—I will deal with her here in a short battle. Killing her—it can no longer be helped. Depending on the situation, I could just return with her corpse and try resurrecting her.}

Zesshi tried to suppress her urge to look at the girl’s navel.

Despite wearing a dress-like metal armor, her flat and smooth navel was exposed to the elements. The girl was boldly exposing a place stuffed with important organs, a place that’s considered vulnerable. That said, thinking that she could wound her deeply by attacking there was far too optimistic.

The armor’s defense could generally be said to be a sum of the infused magic in it, the metal used to forge it, and its special abilities. At the very least, that abdomen should still be protected by the strength of the magic power in the armor. Still, it lacked protection from the material used to forge the armor. There was no doubt that the defense there was weaker compared to other parts.

Then why was she wearing such a thing?

She was probably leading the opponent’s attacks there by intentionally exposing it. It’s highly possible that this was a trap in waiting.

Despite realizing that, Zesshi couldn’t help but slightly hope to kill the girl with a single hit by targeting that area. That was why she was trying her best to not look at it.

“[Power of Gaia]”

The girl suddenly cast a spell, making Zesshi widen her eyes.

“Hah!? Magic!? Not a martial class!? No, no, it’s not like there are no martial classes that could use a little bit of magic…but…eh?”

Zesshi could use a little bit of divine magic, but she has never heard of the spell the girl used. It didn’t affect her, so it’s possible that it was self-buffing magic.

If the girl’s main class was martial and she only slightly dipped her toes into the caster classes, then she needn’t worry much. Still, it would be a serious issue if her main class was actually a caster instead.

Being able to choose any approach through the use of myriad spells would make the girl far more flexible than a dedicated warrior at dealing with a wide range of situations. If luck was not on Zesshi’s side, it was entirely possible for the girl to overturn the situation with some awesome magic.

Zesshi’s thoughts about these spells were lacking in detail, only calling them “awesome magics” because she was not too knowledgeable about magic casters. That was why she had to be even more on guard now. In her experience, even being able to heal just a bit, like herself, was enough to affect the course of battle.

Assuming the worst possible case, that she wasn’t a warrior, what type of magic-caster could the girl be?

She didn’t have absolute proof, but by considering their short exchange of attacks, she probably wasn’t an arcane caster. She would have been weaker in their melee exchange if she was anything like an ordinary arcane caster. It was more likely that she was a druid or a priest, the kind of caster that was comparatively better at close-quarters combat.

She could also just be an atypical magic caster, or from other types. Psychic magic was one of them, but unfortunately, Zesshi was even less knowledgeable about those casters. There would be no end to it if she continued her conjectures down this path. It was fine to keep them in a corner of her mind and be on guard against the possibilities.

And—taking into account that she was a Dark Elf, she was most likely a druid, even more so given that she was related to that Elf King.

Unfortunately, Zesshi couldn’t do much if she really was a druid. So instead, she activated one of the two special skills she learned upon mastering the Inquisitor class. She activated it in case the girl was some kind of priest that could use high-tier magic that Zesshi didn’t know about.

“[Denounce Heretic].”

This skill made priests who worshiped a different God expend a little more mana than usual when they used magic around her. It wouldn’t show clear effects immediately, but it would slowly start hindering the opponent in a drawn-out battle or if they used stronger spells.

She didn’t plan to extend this battle but decided to use it anyway in case the opponent came out casting one high-tiered spell after another. Using a skill like this that aimed for a single, very specific effect was probably wasteful when she wasn’t sure about her opponent’s abilities, but such skills were useless if not activated at the start of the battle anyhow.

“[Elemental Form - Earth].”

The girl cast another spell unknown to Zesshi, turning her skin to a light brown shade.

Changing skin color was probably not the only thing that spell did. She also thought that perhaps the girl was showing her true form—that she was originally not a Dark Elf but a different race—but it’s useless to theorize about that.

She should not get caught up in questions that didn’t have answers when in a battle with her life on the line. Such gaps in knowledge should only be guarded against.

The same went for magic.

When she didn't know what some spell did, it was best to keep her conjectures about them to a minimum. Zesshi activated another skill like the one before.

“[Sentence Heretic].”

It was the other special skill she gained upon mastering Inquisitor. This one also had a similar effect in that it increased the rate of failure of activating a spell. Naturally, mana would be spent even if the spell failed to activate.

As she ended up using both of them, she wouldn’t be able to use any other Inquisitor skills until their active time ran out, but it couldn’t be helped. She would still have the physical durability and resistance against magic that was granted by the Inquisitor class so it would be tolerable.

Zesshi planned for a quick fight, but the battle went in a different direction than what she had hoped for. The present situation was not what she had in mind. For Zesshi, all paths to victory roughly fell into two categories: restrict the opponent by continuously pushing her advantage until they were crushed, or guard against the opponent’s attacks while gradually closing their avenues of offense to grind them down.

However, the girl came out unharmed through Zesshi’s attacks, turning her plan to decide the victory in a single strike into a battle of attrition, where each side took turns slowly bringing out their cards into play. Although it was irritating, Zesshi had to acknowledge that the girl was the one who had control over the field. If this was how it was going to be, then she would follow the opponent’s script and wait for an opportunity to derail her plans.

“W-well then, please excuse me.”

Perhaps two spells alone were enough for her or because she couldn’t use more than two, the girl swung her staff with an apology. It came down with such velocity that Zesshi’s hair stood on its ends instantly.

She shuddered.

Not because the speed of her attack was unbelievably fast.

But because she felt the girl’s heart was not in the apology. There was no hint of it either in her tone or in her expression. It’s like she was apologizing by command—like some kind of puppet—

“—don’t think!”

That’s not the important thing. The attack coming down on her was more pressing right now.

This attack was not up to her standards if as she had assumed, the girl was a warrior. It was just too simple, without even an attempt at a feint.

It was impossibly fast but it was easy enough to receive it or avoid it.

Zesshi chose to receive it. She had gotten a general idea of her opponent’s evasion and parrying skills, so this time she would measure her strength.

Zesshi’s great scythe easily held the attack—or that’s what she expected

“—too heavy!!”

She should have been able to receive it easily, but instead, both her elbows and her knees were bent from the force. Forced down, the staff came near her forehead.

Zesshi gritted her teeth and with a spirited “hngh!!” pushed it away with all her strength. Even though the weapon was pushed back, the girl didn’t break her balance at all. However, the staff’s recoil made the girl wide open.

A chance.

Trying not to stare at her defenseless navel, Zesshi activated several martial arts.

[Greater Wind Stride], [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Piercing] [Greater Ability Boost], [Greater Possibility Sense].

It was for this moment that she held back from using martial arts before.

Her speed, agility, damage from her attack, piercing damage, and strength were all increased along with her sixth sense being sharpened to the extreme.

She was aiming for a single spot.

Her navel, which looked so defenseless.

Perhaps it was a trap, but she was confident enough in her ability to break through it if there was one. And most of all, she couldn’t resist the hope that she could wound the girl seriously enough to completely turn the tides of the battle to her side. Zesshi had a reason to resolve this battle quickly.

She shrunk the distance between them at lightning speed and swung her weapon so fast that the sound left behind by the scythe cutting through the air couldn’t catch up with the blade. She then directly hit the girl’s soft navel.

Zesshi’s sudden acceleration due to the rise in her abilities surprised the girl, who couldn't defend herself in time. After some resistance that was more than what she expected—hard enough to make her doubt if it was really skin—her scythe broke through and smoothly pierced her skin.

{Yes!}

She couldn’t help but smile.

Zesshi had a class called Executioner. It greatly increased the damage from a critical hit and sometimes even killed the opponent in a single hit. Originally, it also had the ability to deepen wounds from slashing weapons, but because she used the middle blade to pierce her instead of slashing her with the crescent blades that extended to the sides like wings, that ability wouldn’t trigger in this case. Even so, this attack should have damaged the girl considerably.

However, her joyful expression soon turned serious.

The feeling that she got from her weapon was too strange.

Especially because she couldn’t feel the sensation of her innards being cut.

Before she could understand the reason, a black silhouette appeared in her peripheral vision.

“[Instant Counter]!”

But it was too late. Just too late.

Even though it was only for a moment, her getting caught up in feeling her weapon was a mistake.

Gah! A loud sound echoed.

Her head received a hard blow from the weapon with a tremendous force behind it.

She immediately used pain suppression and jumped back a great distance using [Greater Wind Stride]. At the same time, she forcefully pulled back the great scythe, dealing more damage to the girl in the process.

Her scalp had probably split from the strong blow as blood started to trickle down Zesshi's face. Even though she was suppressing the pain with a martial art, just moving her face was enough to make pain rush through her, making her light-headed.

Zesshi was wearing the armor of the one known as the God of the Wind. Despite that, she took enough damage to make her legs unstable. It had been a long time since she was wounded to such an extent.

“—[Heavy Recover]”

While Maintaining enough distance that the opponent couldn’t reach her in a single step, Zesshi cast the highest tier magic she could use to heal herself. It was far from healing her completely, but it should be good enough as first aid for the time being. While she cast the spell, she continued to observe the girl, guarding against a follow-up attack.

And then she widened her eyes.

Putting aside the matter of her innards, the girl’s abdomen wasn’t even bleeding. Still, it’s not like she was completely unhurt, evident by her face twisting in pain and the large gash in her earthen-colored skin.

“P-painful.”

The girl took a scroll out of nowhere and activated it.

“[Heal].”

It’s a spell from a higher tier than the one she used.

{—Sixth tier! Why, such a scroll! This is bad! She probably healed most of her damage from that. I don’t know how much health she has remaining but I am probably the one with more damage unhealed! And, the feel of that abdomen… considering that extreme hardness, it really was a trap!}

The defense provided by the armor’s enchantment probably had the attribute to negate critical hits in that part, but it looked like the girl still felt the pain of getting stabbed in the stomach. The trap worked splendidly at leading her opponent’s attacks to that part, but it seemed like the girl would have to pay the price of pain for it.

Zesshi clicked her tongue, wondering what wicked person could make this kind of armor. If they knew they were going to be targeted there, they should have added pain resistance to it. This was no different than cursed armor.

Zesshi wanted to furiously scratch her head from irritation, but suppressed the urge. She didn’t want to do anything that would increase the pain, but she didn’t have the option to do that anyway.

She couldn’t feel happy that she made her opponent use a sixth-tier spell. She was not certain that was the last scroll the girl had. Maybe she had multiple stowed away. In that case, there was no chance of Zesshi winning if she fought like usual. But, she had a trump card that could kill the girl, however many scrolls of [Heal] she might have.

That said, she shouldn’t use it yet. She should try other methods first.

First of all, she probably wouldn’t have used [Heal] for just a scratch. So, considering that she could attack the girl to deal a lot of damage, she should just continue attacking without giving her a chance to use [Heal].

After deciding on that plan, Zesshi took a stance with the great scythe again. While the martial arts that raised her abilities were still active, she approached the girl in a single move.

She would aim for the wrists next.

{What!}

The girl didn’t look like she was going to avoid it.

Previously, it was because she wasn’t able to catch up with the sudden increase in Zesshi's abilities, but this time it was different. It felt like she didn’t even intend to defend. For a moment, the previous exchange of blows surfaced in Zesshi’s mind, but there was no choice for her except to attack at this stage.

She spun her body like a top right at the edge of the girl’s reach, swinging around the great scythe with the greatest inertia possible and hitting the front of the girl’s arms.

The blade went through her body, causing the girl's arm and armor to fall to the ground with a spray of blood—or not. The girls’ wrists were unharmed even after receiving the slash that easily cut through all the armor it had met until now.

—it felt tough.

Completely different compared to her navel.

That was obvious because her hands were covered by the armor unlike the navel. Still it was too hard even after taking that into account. Maybe that armor rivaled the ones worn by the Six Great Gods, or maybe she was using a special defense-type martial art.

And the most fearsome thing of all was that she received the blow with all of Zesshi’s might behind it with just a single arm of hers and didn’t even lose her balance.

But Zesshi didn’t have the time for further thought.

Realizing that her right arm was being aimed at, the girl held her staff by her left arm alone and was about to bring it down on Zesshi right at that moment.

Remembering the pain from before, Zesshi desperately moved her body using [Instant Counter] and [Evasion] to avoid it.

She didn’t have the time or the space needed to draw the great scythe back to parry that.

But she couldn’t avoid it.

Even if she had adjusted her body with the [Instant Counter], it was difficult to avoid the attack even if she used the martial art at the same time.

Zesshi’s arm was struck by the blow, but she was ready for it, unlike last time. She was able to activate a martial art at the same time.

[Greater Reinforce Defense].

It was a martial art that increased defense. [Reinforce Hide] was better at reducing damage, but as a Half-Elf, Zesshi didn’t have a hide to speak of.

Despite using a martial art, the pain from the blow coursed through the depths of Zesshi’s body nonetheless. [Greater Reinforce Defense] was nothing but mere consolation. Perhaps it eased the pain just a little bit compared to the previous strike, but that’s about it.

She killed the whimper that rose up her throat as she didn’t want to let the opponent know she was hurt. But—

{This is bad…}

The exchange this time confirmed the girl’s intentions.

Thinking back, she had been doing the same since the start.

The girl matched her attack for attack. It felt like the girl would bruise her own fist to break her opponent’s jaw.

It was possible that she was doing this because she couldn’t hit Zesshi if they fought normally, but that was probably not the case. The girl intentionally chose to fight in this way.

{She is confident about defending…a tank like Cedoran? …That’s why she left her navel exposed? Because she will heal any damage with [Heal]?}

It was sound to assume that this girl who rivaled Zesshi in her strength was a tank specialized in defense, who could use magic but was slightly bad at offense. That blow from before was just a bit too strong for this to be the case though.

Or perhaps that staff was a magic item of enormous power. It couldn’t be cut even by a weapon of the Six Great Gods, so that was entirely possible.

Her suspicion that this girl was probably the same one that had been beside the Sorcerer King deepened by the second. If it was the Sorcerer King, the one who could cast tremendous magic and who led monstrous armies, it was possible that he would have such stupefying gear in his treasury that he could lend out to one of his underlings.

After putting a little bit of distance between them, Zesshi keenly observed the girl’s movements while taking a stance with the great scythe.

The girl stood solidly, rooted to her place; in contrast, she had to jump in and out throughout the exchange.

This battle was slowly devolving into a foregone conclusion between a superior and inferior.

“It’s really bad…”

If you asked her who had the advantage at the present, she would answer that it was the girl.

She had received Zesshi’s attack with her body and in return hit Zesshi with a single unavoidable attack every time. Health, defense, offense, and healing magic, she couldn’t understand which of those the girl placed her confidence in. The fact that the girl chose to trust the simple method of trading blows with her and healing afterward showed that she was confident in winning if she continued to do so. Though it was also possible that she was intentionally fighting with a handicap to make Zesshi reveal her hand.

Considering that the girl didn’t seem like she intended to attack proactively, it was also possible that she was just stalling for time until her comrades arrived. Zesshi didn’t know how strong the girl’s allies were, but their addition would solidify the tides even further against her. That could be the reason why this girl chose to fight a war of attrition that was sure to accumulate damage on both sides.

There was little Zesshi could do here. The ideal development was to beat her at her own game while playing along with the opponent’s strategy. This meant that she would have to hit her while blocking all of her blows, but it was impossible for that to turn out as she had hoped.

The girl’s armor was impossibly strong, so she would have to approach quite close to her to be able to land an effective hit. Then, the girl would certainly aim for the gap in her defenses that would be created while she was focused on landing the hit. What should she do then?

{Such a difficult question…Should I use them?}

Zesshi glanced at the great scythe in her hands for a moment.

Used by the God Surshana in the past, Charon’s Guidance was made from a metal that was yet to be discovered by the Theocracy. Its extreme toughness and offensive strength were suitable traits for a God’s weapon.

It also enabled the wielder to cast [Death] two times every eight hours.

And there’s even more.

[Undead Flame], that added negative energy damage to its attacks.

[Undead Avoidance], which protected the wielder from undead without intelligence.

[Create Undead], that literally created undead.

[Disease], that could cause illness.

[Sleep to the Undead], which triggered a chance to destroy the undead without turn resistance in a single hit.

[Evil Eye], which lets you select an ability from the different gaze effects.

[Death Mask], which defended the wielder from gaze attacks while strengthening the fear effect caused by the user.

[Hand of Glory], which could be used in two ways.

She could choose among them and use them five times every four hours.

Other than this, it could also summon the special undead, Spartiate. It was similar in ability to the Fifth-Tier summon [Heavy Skeleton Warrior], but with superior gear. However, they were also weaker in a sense because buffs from special skills wouldn’t affect them. This scythe could create a total of 30 every 24 hours, with a limit of 5 being active simultaneously. This weapon was an extremely powerful magic item.

It made her feel like it was too soon to start thinking about using her hidden cards.

Revealing her own hand while knowing nothing about the opponent’s would push her into an inferior position on a mental level, which was not good.

She should try out a few more things with this simple method of fighting.

“E-excuse me, aren’t you coming?”

Zesshi clicked her tongue loudly at the girl’s hesitant question.

{She wants me to attack? This brat! Then, how’s this!}

Zesshi jumped backward while activating a martial art at the same time.

After using [Double Air Slash], [Steeled Arm Strike], and [Flow Acceleration], two blades of air flew from the arc created by the slash of the great scythe.

The girl moved into their trajectory.

Yes, into their trajectory.

Martial arts that produce ranged slashing attacks like [Air Slash] were generally weaker than physical hits. Still, one had to be mad to move forward while taking them head-on without a second thought.

{No, I did the same thing to that child in the Black Scripture. This would be seriously taxing on anyone's mental state.}

The girl only made an expression of slight pain—which looked too fake—when the blades of aura hit her. The moment she had Zesshi in her range, she swung her staff without even trying to hide her intention.

Zesshi managed to avoid it, but barely.

The girl’s attacks didn’t pass a warrior’s bar as usual, but they were always the most efficient attacks. In the beginning, Zesshi was able to avoid the attacks somehow but now, even if she was completely ready, even the slightest delay in response would guarantee the blow connecting with her.

{Laugh, laugh! Make her think that I can see through her!}

Zesshi pursed her lips into a thin smile and started laughing, loud enough to make the girl hear.

She wondered whether or not she had succeeded. Her stiff smile—got hit again.

{It will be bad if I don’t preserve enough power to use [Greater Evasion].}

She tried to create distance between them by retreating backward, but the girl matched her speed by advancing ahead.

She couldn’t widen the gap at all.

“[Spartiate].”

Five undead appeared like a wall between the girl and her.

The girl’s first blow immediately took one down.

The five Spartiates would need five hits to be dealt with at most, but that was enough for her.

Zesshi kicked the wall and leaped in the air, nearly grazing the ceiling while trying to land behind the girl.

Just when she thought that the girl had sunk her body down a bit, the girl kicked the floor with enough force to break it into pieces and jumped backward. She probably disliked getting pincered. The Spartiates weren’t much of an opponent for her but they could bother her enough to divert her attention for a bit.

It was not like the Spartiates had been able to damage her after all.

After that explosive jump, the girl struck the staff down into the floor, carving out a rut as she quickly came to a stop. Her movements were too haphazard. She was forcibly regulating her explosiveness with her unbelievable physical strength.

{What a weird…movement. Not used to her full power? …or not used to fighting?}

“U—n, u—n” the girl muttered as Zesshi stood before her with two Spartiates on both of her sides.

Zesshi transmitted “go!” through her thoughts to the Spartiates. The fearless undead swarmed the girl at the same time. Zesshi followed them a moment later.

The girl took out another scroll.

“[Firestorm].”

Fire bloomed outward like a storm that encompassed everything. The raging tongues of flame burned Zesshi, but they disappeared in a moment like they had been just an illusion. Her stinging burns, however, showed that they had been real. Luckily, the damage wasn’t that great, probably because it was activated from a scroll.

The Spartiates could still move but barely; they were on their last legs. All of them would be wiped out if they were hit by the spell once again.

Zesshi swung the scythe horizontally with her body as the axis and hit the girl with the pommel of the scythe. She wasn’t exactly sure because she had hit the armor, but it didn’t feel like the girl was particularly hurt from the hit. The Spartiates matched her attack and threw all of their spears at the same time, but a single swing of the staff, strong enough to create a gale around, took care of them. Just as she thought, only Zesshi’s attacks could reach the girl.

Taking advantage of that moment, Zesshi again started rotating as if she was dancing, going low across the floor like a spider and attacking with a very low slash at the girl’s ankles.

Meanwhile, one of the Spartiates was split into two, disappearing into the air just like that. But, that’s what summoned monsters were good for.

She slashed with the great scythe as if to gouge out the girl’s Achilles’ tendon—sparks flew.

It was tough there too.

Even with [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Slash Strike], and her class abilities, it didn’t feel like the weapon managed to penetrate deep.

But that wasn’t the only reason she aimed for her legs.

Zesshi immediately spread her legs apart and gritted her teeth, she swung the great scythe up with all her effort even as it stayed stuck into the girl’s legs. She was trying to destroy the girl’s balance. But—

The girl didn’t even flinch.

She was like a great tree.

Impossible.

But, that was the truth.

She used her full might with the opponent’s strength in mind, but it felt like she would be the one to lose balance and fall forward instead. There was too much of a gap between the weight she was feeling and the lovely appearance of the girl before her.

Perhaps she was using some special skill or a magic item, but it felt like Zesshi was dealing with a humongous tree that had its branches spread towards the sky. Considering the response that she received, it didn’t look like she would be able to make the girl fall no matter the amount of strength she put into it.

She suddenly felt cold, sensing something bad was going to happen.

The girl probably found Zesshi’s loss of balance to be a good opportunity. She extended the staff in her right hand as much as possible and brought it down on Zesshi in between the Spartiates trying to obstruct her.

An attack with the greatest reach and the most force possible behind it, an attack that made Zesshi’s spine go cold.

Her stance was too awful to be able to avoid it. The Spartiates couldn’t resist it more than a few strands of hair would, so it was useless even if she used them to obstruct it.

Still, Zesshi sent an order to Spartiates through her thoughts.

Immediately, one of them that was standing beside her tackled Zesshi with its body and sent her flying away. The girl’s staff swung down like a black comet and the Spartiate that took Zesshi’s place was smashed into tiny pieces.

While rolling across the floor, Zesshi gracefully adjusted her weapon and freed it from the girl’s legs. In the same motion, she quickly stood up, holding the great scythe in front of her as if to hold back the girl.

But the girl didn’t follow with an attack on Zesshi. With a violent motion of her body, black winds raged and the Spartiates were blown away into pieces.

Amidst the scraps of bone disappearing mid-air, the girl stood calmly, readjusting her grip on the staff. Then, she started fidgeting like she just remembered something.

{Should I summon Spartiates again?…But, I have to confirm something first.}

Zesshi started spinning the great scythe above her with a deliberate motion. The sound of the blades cutting through the air filled the room. The girl stood still, observing, taking on a completely defensive stance.

Little by little, by a nail’s length each time, Zesshi approached the girl.

With the distance reduced—

Zesshi took a sharp breath and swung the considerably accelerated great scythe towards the girl’s left wrist.

The girl wasn’t slow when compared to the blades that were so fast that they physically slashed the air apart. Instead, it felt like she intended to take the hit again like a machine while getting ready to land a blow on Zesshi. Perhaps she had already gotten used to Zesshi’s speed, as she didn’t falter in her movements.

But—the blades that originally parted apart the air to aim at the wrist suddenly arced upwards.

A change in the pattern repeated till now.

Zesshi was aiming for the neck this time.

Would the girl die if she sent her neck flying? Improbable, considering what she felt from the previous hits. However, her neck was exposed just like her navel. It could be a trap as well but if she managed to hit her, it would be highly likely that she could hurt her just like when she cut her abdomen. If she did manage to do that, she could probably wound her enough to turn the tide of the battle with all of her class skills put to use in a single strike.

From their exchanges till now, Zesshi understood that she was the better fighter. It was for this very moment that she didn’t use any feints till now, she only used simple attacks. The girl who got used to Zesshi’s simple-minded attacks would be taken by surprise by the sudden change just like when she used martial arts before, and would fail to defend her neck.

The great scythe slashed the girl’s neck. And—

“Guh!”

—Zesshi caught the staff’s blow in return.

She endured the pain but still ended up letting out a whimper.

Zesshi took a great leap back and then widened her eyes.

“…not again.”

There wasn’t even a drop of blood coming out from the girl’s neck, but there was a faint slash mark left behind.

It was impossible for the girl to be unhurt, maybe she had an ability that nullifies strikes at vulnerable points. In that case, many of the skills Zesshi had learned wouldn't even trigger.

{Is she even really alive? Maybe…is she an undead made by the Sorcerer King?}

The girl probably sensed Zesshi’s discomposure as she hesitantly put a proposal forward.

“E-excuse me. W-won’t you, surrender, please? Y-you see. I will not cause you any more pain if you do that, and will guarantee your safety afterward.”

Zesshi’s impression of that was—nauseous, to say the least.

It had been the same since before, but she couldn’t even sense a hint of hostility or killing intent from the girl’s attacks. Whether this could be considered gentleness or something different depended on the person, but it was hard to think that the opponent was being gentle when she was trying to cave her head in just because she wasn’t being hostile or showing killing intent.

Zesshi felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart by this girl. She could be her niece, but Zesshi didn’t feel even a bit of familiarity with her.

If the proposal had been from pity or a sense of superiority, she might have felt unpleasant, but then she at least wouldn‘t have been so disgusted. She couldn’t feel such emotions from the girl.

{…It’s reasonable if she is just an undead without emotions who is just acting the part.}

She felt everything about the girl was incoherent, making her wonder if all of her words and actions had been an act. However, that wasn’t the important thing right now. Zesshi’s personal opinions on her character were irrelevant.

The important thing was how she should proceed here to break through the situation and lead to a result that was beneficial to her. She could try acting like she was willing to surrender if that could lead to some advantage.

“I am fine with surren—”

Zesshi suddenly turned silent.

That’s right.

It was better to limit talking to when one needed to stall for time or when one had won.

And was the girl winning?

—No. There wasn’t a clear victor yet. The girl had a slight advantage but that’s all it was. In that case, couldn’t it be that she started talking because she was stalling for time?

“—Tch!”

Clicking her tongue loudly, Zesshi again reduced her distance from the girl. Even if she attacked using martial arts or from range, the opponent had the magic from the scrolls. She didn't know how many were left—and where she was storing them—but assuming the worst-case scenario that she still had a lot left, a battle of attrition would be to Zesshi’s disadvantage.

Luckily, it could be conjectured that the opponent didn’t have any means to attack long-range except for the scrolls. If she had any, she wouldn’t need to use scrolls in the first place.

{Does she have rogue-type classes that focus on using scrolls like this? …no, she cast something like a self-strengthening spell by herself so it’s very unlikely.}

Zesshi didn’t have any effective long-range attacks either, so she thought there was no chance of victory in fighting from a distance.

Then what about a close-quarters fight?

Not a bad idea. So Zesshi chose to fight like this.

This time, Zesshi aimed the great scythe at the girl’s face. Maybe she couldn’t let her face get wounded, the girl deflected the scythe with her staff.

Even Zesshi's hands became numb from the force of the collision.

The girl counterattacked with her staff, swinging it down in a large arc. Zesshi easily avoided that by activating both [Greater Evasion] and [Instant Counter] at the same time.

They were evenly matched, or maybe not. Maybe the difference in their ability as combatants—the ability to predict an opponent's actions and adapt one’s own to match them—was finally showing itself on the surface, the scales were somewhat leaning to Zesshi’s side now. That said, no matter what amount of damage she did to the enemy, the girl could instantly turn the tide with a [Heal] and she would lose in the end with certainty.

{Should I use them here then…}

Zesshi held two trump cards.

One was a skill that was a surefire way to kill the opponent.

The other one was an extremely adaptable skill.

She could use the latter to either kill the opponent or to escape, so she shouldn’t be using that so easily.

Then, should she use the first one here?

The girl showed pain when she was hit, but was she really feeling it? There would be no end to it if Zesshi started doubting that.

All of Zesshi’s conjectures till now were based on assumptions, so they could all be wrong. Perhaps her opponent really was a cute girl who disliked fighting as she appeared to be.

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of anomaly from the girl.

{What should I do…If…if there are others here who are on par with this girl, I am not sure if it’s good to use it here…but…Ideally, I’ll want to kill this girl before she can reveal her trump card…is it possible though?}

If asked whether she could do it or not, she could only answer: “I don’t know.”

If those were all the scrolls of [Heal] she had, then she could probably succeed, but it was impossible to finish this quickly.

Of course, Zesshi continued to act even as she contemplated. She was slashing continuously with her scythe, but she wasn't able to make the girl bleed. All the while, she was receiving counterattacks from the girl’s staff.

Unlike the girl who only needed to stay still and aim for her, Zesshi had to repeatedly jump in and out of her strike range while swinging her scythe, using her legs to control the distance while handling the weapon for attacks. Without such concentration when trying to evade and defend against the attacks, it would be difficult to defend against the enemy who was countering her while ready to take damage in return.

Though the girl was fine with taking hits on her navel or on her armor, her face was the only part she didn’t let Zesshi hit.

Zesshi started to analyze the information she had gathered until now.

{Should I just…use it? I will win for sure if I use it…}

The only issue was whether to use it now or later.

They exchanged blows multiple times after that.

In return for slashing the girl, Zesshi received a clean hit in her flank.

She was blown away, the sound of creaking bones echoing through her body. Suppressing her urge to vomit from the pain, Zesshi forced her heels into the floor to stop herself.

That blow was unexpected. It was a bit hard to even breathe. Though her sides stung from pain, Zesshi made an effort to look nonchalant, sticking the scythe’s shaft into the floor and leaning on it. She then crossed her legs, took off her helmet, and sneered to make it seem like she wasn’t affected at all by the hit just now.

She could do this only because she knew that the other side wouldn’t proactively attack her.

“Well, it can’t be helped then.”

She muttered to herself in a light-hearted tone and resolved herself to it. She would use one of the trump cards to kill the opponent here.

The girl didn’t try to approach Zesshi, who had opened up some distance between them.

That was a saving grace.

“…you there, you asked me to surrender before, right? I want to ask one thing…are you an undead created by the Sorcerer King?”

“Eh? B-but why are you asking such a question? Don’t you want to ask about how you will be treated after surrender?”

“Answer me.”

“…N-no, you are wrong. Just as I appear, I am not an undead.”

“I see,” Zesshi replied and started thinking.

Did the girl not answer immediately because she was confused by the question? Or because—she wanted some time to think of an answer?

{In the first place, I asked her that question because I couldn’t figure that out from her appearance…that aside, did she just completely ignore how I brought up the Sorcerer King's name? But, well, whatever. It doesn’t matter whether she is an undead or something else, she will die without doubt.}

Zesshi put on her helmet again and activated the power she was born with.

By guiding that power into the weapon once held by a God, she could use the greatest power wielded by the God of Death, Surshana. And so—

“[—The Goal of All Life is Death].”

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