CH. 123: Happy Massacre Party III— Despair

"The way you move; it's identical to that of an assassin but you're clearly a swordsman, I can see it." Saeko said, at the same time she swiped her eyesight throughout the entire environment to analyze Ragnar's movements and eventually adapt to his speed.

Without saying a word in response, the dark elf reappeared behind her and slashed his blade vertically down on Saeko, "Behind!" She subconsciously mumbles. Saeko quickly turns around and blocks the blade slash with her sword. The two clash a few times at the same time before retaliating.

Ragnar focuses his eyes on Saeko, she was a tough opponent and he wasn't planning on losing. And suddenly, the stealthy swordsman reappears in front of her without giving her time to react, 'So fast! Was that teleportation? No. It was nothing but speed, incredible speed...' Saeko said in her mind.

But as she was prepared for this kind of act, she found no difficulty stopping his attack, and while they were both pushing their blades forward in hope of breaching each other's defence, Saeko raised her leg and gave Ragnar a powerful kick in the stomach.

This took him off guard, his mouth spit a few saliva due to the impact and he was sent back a few meters behind, though quickly picking himself up and trying not to show any sign of weakness.

"Strong..." Hogni simply says, in fact this was the first word he's pronounced since the start of the battle.

"Not so shy now aren't we? You're strong too, I'll give you that. But it's time to start the real game." Saeko says, to which Ragnar responds by standing firmly in his battle position.

Clenching the handle of her katana, Saeko prepares to reveal her trump card, 'I hope Akira is watching me...' She thinks. After, "Martial Art: Pace of the Wind— Martial Art: Possibility Sense." She says. And suddenly, Saeko's body shines in two different bright colors which was a sign of her empowerment.

Seeing this, Ragnar uses his extravagant speed and agility to disappear once again. Unbeknownst to him, Saeko had used <Martial Arts> and was now able to perceive all his movements in the decelerated world.

[Pace of The Wind] enhanced the user's speed meanwhile [Possibility Sense] drew all the possible patterns the user may adopt to emerge victor from the battle.

Without flinching by a single inch, Saeko's vision focused completely on the quick pattern Ragnar was adopting. His movements became very clear and now Saeko had a solid chance of winning without giving in much effort.

When Hogni was close enough and about to deliver the attack, Saeko quickly dashes behind him and delivers a fatal slash on his back without him even noticing.

"GYAAH!!" He groans in pain. The slash of Saeko's katana drew a clean bloody cut on his back which spread a lot of the red liquid around.

With barely any strength left, Ragnar jumps a few meters back and tries to heal his wounds. Meanwhile Saeko was very proud of this attack, it was the result of long and laborious training with Shizue Izawa back in Tensura.

But there existed someone even more proud of this than Saeko herself.. After seeing this sudden turn of events, Akira's jaw opened wide in shock and surprise as he watched the ongoing duel of swordsmanship, "Alice, did Saeko just use what I think it is?" Akira asks.

( Correct, Love. Saeko Busujima just used <Martial Arts> from the anime "Overlord". Therefore, she is now a <Warrior Class>. Her level, according to YGGDRASIL's scale, is 90. ) Alice replies in Akira's mind using telepathy.

"Level 90? That sure is powerful, just a bit more and she'll become as powerful as Pendora's Actor, a bit more she'll be able to rival Shalltear then Ains himself." Akira says.

'Though Level 100 is gonna be tough to reach... That ascension to Godhood won't be an easy task to reach. I'm gonna need to either make a challenge for her or just give her power. But if she's so powerful then she shouldn't be finding any difficulty facing that weakling dark elf... Oh wait, I can feel her holding back. I guess she could kill him in less than 0,1 millisecond using an [Oblique Slash] so she's showing off her progress to me." Akira thinks.

He smirks, "I'm proud of you Saeko." He complimented her, though he's gonna need to give her a better compliment when she finishes the fight.

"It seems my Saeko has finished her battle against the fucker. Look at him panting like a dog." Akira says as he looks at the battle that just ended.

Ragnar Hogni was sitting with bent knees on the ground, completely defeated. Saeko stares at the swordsman who's completely settled on the ground, panting for oxygen to regain futily lost stamina. He lifts his head up and stares at Saeko's blade pointing menacingly at his neck.

But as he was expecting a fatal blow to be delivered, the misericordian Saeko spoke.

"You were a formidable opponent. I'll leave it here, I don't see any need to kill you." Saeko says, bowing and presenting her respect as she sheathes her blade.

To that simple gesture of respect, the panting Ragnar bitterly smiles then rests his head, thinking the battle was truly finished and that Saeko wasn't like the others and was gonna spare him. This simple thought gave him the determination to become even stronger in the future and develop a more powerful and strong personality— to serve Freya even more and better.

Alas, the destruction of his Familia was imminent, but that wasn't gonna hinder him much, as long as his name was Ragnar Hogni and he was alive, he was still going to serve the goddess to repay his debt, and he wasn't going to die in peace before repaying the debt completely, that's what he swore to do.

"Thank... You..." Hogni mutters with force, his eyes were gleaming, almost crying knowing that his Familia didn't have much time left. Not just for that, but he also felt great respect for Saeko at the moment.

Ragnar truly felt grateful.....

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...

...

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....Or at least that was the case until you realize Akira had ordered a complete and utter massacre.

Saeko suddenly received a second telepathic message from Akira apart from the first one before the start of the battle. Answering the call, her ears felt blessed hearing Akira's sweet voice.

<< Saeko love. You've done a great job, I'm so proud of you dear, you proved yourself able to keep up with us during our travels by defeating that level 6 dark elf. >> Akira said.

"I-I can't describe how much I'm happy hearing those words my love.... I feel so happy and complete~!!..." Saeko replies with tears of joy in her eyes.

<< However, there is one more thing you could do that would make me even happier, dear... >> He adds, slowing down at the end.

"Anything dear!! Ask anything and I'll do it without hesitation or second thought!! Please tell me about this detail that could make you happy I beg you!!" Saeko replies worryingly, her yandere instincts kicking in.

<< I want you to kill that dark elf— *he gets interrupted by Saeko*— "Consider it done dear!!" She says.

But before cutting the call, Akira also adds a few additional instructions...

<< Don't just kill him. Fucking torture him. Show him pain, pain like he's never felt before. Break his mind, shatter his will to fight and erase his emotions. He knew the hope of leaving this arena alive and now I want you to utterly incinerate that hope from his eyes... Don't. Show. Any. Mercy. >>

<< This is not a Battlefield; it's a Slaughterhouse. >> Akira then proceeds to cut the communication.

Those words weren't too shocking for Saeko who embraced Akira's dark side with her own but surprisingly a sweat still formed on her forehead as she never ever killed someone just out of the blue, even less torture. But she wasn't gonna back down on the request, she was determined to show Ragnar a hell far, faaar worse than Hell itself.

Ragnar the Dark Elf who witnessed Saeko's telepathic communication cut tilted his head in confusion of what's gonna happen next. Then, Saeko speaks, but in a more cold tonality than before.

"Change of program. You are not leaving this place alive."