Chapter 35: Direct Counter

"Ah…Heroes-sama. Thank you very much for saving us."

The boss was bowing his gratefully as he greeted the couple. Sakaguchi Seiji and Asakura Akane looked at him scornfully for a moment before they swept their gazes across the band of mercenaries. I shrank back and felt relieved when they seemed to scan past my semi-concealed figure. Good. It didn't seem that they were aware of my presence.

"Mercenaries, huh?" Sakaguchi remarked, his voice dripping with derision. If the boss noticed the condescending tone, he didn't rise to the bait.

"Yes, Hero-sama. We were hired by the military to scout ahead and find a path for the main army to advance."

Sakaguchi wasn't paying attention to him. He was still gripping his gigantic broadsword – the massive weapon that he had used to slay the Wolf Lord. I regarded it warily. In just one slash he had cut the monstrous behemoth into pieces.

This isn't good.

Never mind that Sakaguchi and Asakura were together and it was highly disadvantageous for me to fight the two of them at the same time…I instinctively felt a chill that warned me not to fight Sakaguchi. The guy was emanating a highly dangerous aura that prickled my intuition. I unconsciously shrank further behind Metzen and Bore.

"Are you here, as part of the vanguard?" the boss asked, trying not to be put off by Sakaguchi's rude behavior. The tall, muscular guy merely glanced at him with disdain, and then swung his massive broadsword.

"?!"

"…"

Thump.

Silence reigned in the air after that single, loud noise. Time seemed to freeze as the mercenaries stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

The boss had been cleaved cleanly into two, his two halves flopping helplessly onto the ground. A pool of blood spread under him, staining the grass crimson, and his eyes stared up lifelessly at the sky, losing their luster.

"…boss?"

Bold broke the silence. His question seemed to snap the mercenaries out of their stupor.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Meek screamed, drawing his dagger, Shadow. "Why the feth did you kill the boss?!"

Sakaguchi ignored him, the silver-white paladin plunging into the fray and slicing several more mercenaries into pieces. He glanced at Asakura, who was already immolating a few stunned mercenaries, causing the blazing men to scream and tumble about before they toppled over, cremated by arcane flames. She nodded.

"Leave no witnesses."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Witnesses? What did we witness!?"

The mercenaries were milling about in panic, completely caught off guard. They had never expected the heroes – the mighty, divine heroes chosen by the goddess of humans, Evelyn – to suddenly turn their blades upon them.

"Hey!" I shouted and I jumped to the front and barreled into Sakaguchi before he could cut another cluster of mercenaries apart. His immeasurable weight and significant bulk made it near impossible for me to move him, but I succeeded in catching his attention.

No. his attention had already been rooted on me from the start. He didn't look surprised, only gleeful.

"Whoa!"

I managed to jump and roll away as he slashed at me, his broadsword nicking a deep trench in the ground as it sliced deeply into the earth. Jumping to my feet, I hopped and backed away to avoid yet another lethal strike.

"What are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sakaguchi sneered. "Killing you."

"Why?!" I demanded. This was making less and less sense.

Sakaguchi scoffed. "Do you really need to ask that question? Because you're the loser Tanaka, of course."

"What kind of reasoning is that?!" I snapped. "What did I ever do to you?!"

I didn't remember ever offending Sakaguchi or Asakura. They weren't exactly part of the gang who directly bullied me, always keeping their distance, but they never once stepped in to intervene or help me out either.

If they weren't part of Kobayashi's clique, then they should have no reason to kill me. Kobayashi might be a bully who wanted me dead, and his gang and female followers could be blind sheep who mindlessly obeyed his sentiments, but it couldn't be possible that every single student in my class wanted me dead. There had to be at least one or two normal people among them.

"You exist," Sakaguchi replied simply.

"Huh?!"

I was forced to leap away as he swung his heavy broadsword at me. Fortunately, the weight and unwieldy size of his deadly weapon hindered his movements and I could agilely evade his attacks. Asakura spun around and supported him with fireballs, but I managed to weave through the hail and emerge unscathed.

"Well, then you can't blame me for killing you because you exist too," I snarled. Sakaguchi snorted at that.

"It's no use pretending."

"Pretending what?!"

"We know your true nature, Tanaka. You should have died when Kobayashi pushed you off the transportation beacon. But you didn't. You came back to haunt us, didn't you? You just refuse to die like the cockroach you are…we've to exterminate you. Otherwise we'll live to regret it. You'll definitely return to seek revenge on us one day! So we have to kill you before that!"

"What's with that twisted sense of reasoning!?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were using the exact same justification Tsukishima Tomoyo and Minamoto Kureha used when they first encountered me. In their minds, they already judged and concluded that I was a fanatical avenger, and they were so terrified of what I might possibly do to them that they decided to kill me first.

Shoot first, ask questions later. As long as they were safe and secure, with nobody to take revenge on them, they didn't care if they killed an innocent guy.

"When we saw your name on the mercenary guild list, we realized that you were somehow still alive. That you survived somehow, and came back to haunt us. My hunch was correct – you did flee to Midgardia to infiltrate Helsreach after all. Good thing we managed to track you down here."

"That was a lucky guess," Asakura remarked. Sakaguchi sulked.

"Come on, Akane-san. Give me more credit than that."

"You did guess right, I'll give you that."

"Hey! It's called gut feeling! My gut feeling is never wrong!"

I bit my lip in frustration. I didn't know how Sakaguchi managed to guess my route of escape so accurately, but perhaps he had some kind of precognition ability. The man himself turned to leer at me.

"Kobayashi-kun is right. If we leave you alone, you'll eventually return as a powerful avenger and take revenge on us. We've to kill you preemptively before that happens!"

"WHAT BULLSHIT LOGIC IS THAT?!" I roared.

Asakura sniffed before she blasted me with a fireball.

"There's no use pretending. We know your true nature. You're a loser who has been bullied by Kobayashi-kun and driven to the edge countless times. There's no doubt that your sanity has snapped after suffering so much abuse. You'll definitely fall to desperation and madness and return to kill us all if we leave you alone."

These guys…they were beyond saving.

"You even hid in a mercenary guild," Sakaguchi added casting a nefarious glance at the retreating mercenaries. "That's evidence of your true, violent nature. Instead of settling for a peaceful job, you chose a dangerous one. That's because you're training and grinding to increase your levels as quickly as possible to match us!"

"I don't know how you made such an absurd link, but...you guys are somehow so scared of me that you've gone delusional and grown paranoid. All because Kobayashi tried to murder me. What is this, you recognize that you're accomplices?!"

"Shut up!" Sakaguchi shouted as he slashed at me. I dodged his clumsy strikes deftly before spinning out of range of Asakura's flaming bombardment.

"Even then, if your target is me, then just aim at me. Why did you attack and kill the mercenaries?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Both Sakaguchi and Asakura bellowed in laughter when they heard my question. Exchanging glances, they shook their heads in disbelief.

"Because they're expendable?"

"Yeah, they're just NPCs. Who cares if they die? Besides, we've to make sure there's no witnesses. We can't have these NPCs returning to town and blabbering about how we murdered another human in cold blood."

Sakaguchi snickered as he elaborated on Asakura's answer. I scowled, irritated that they were still treating this world as some sort of game. Calling the mercenaries NPCs? What bullshit was that? To me, Sakaguchi and Asakura seemed more like the fake, contrived characters – caricatures who embodied the worst traits of bullies and exaggerated further for the sole purpose of becoming loathsome antagonists for the sake of it. In contrast, the mercenaries had a lot more depth and dimension to them, being actual living, breathing characters with proper personalities. I couldn't help but be amazed at the incredible irony.

But that wasn't the worst thing. It was Asakura's next remark that made my jaw drop in utter disbelief.

"Most importantly, we gain experience points from killing high-level opponents like them, and we'll be able to obtain all their treasure weapons and gold. We might even raise a level after wiping them out completely."

"You…!"

I was speechless at their vile, callous behavior. They had gone so far past the precipice of insanity that they couldn't differentiate reality from game anymore. To them, Restia was one gigantic virtual reality game, populated by non-human non-playable characters whose only use was to serve as mobs for their grinding.

And once they were done playing with them, they would loot the poor residents of Restia of their belongings, and used the "victory" to accumulate experience points to level up. It didn't matter that they were committing cold-blooded murder. To them, this whole thing was a game, and the people of Restia were not human.

It made my blood boil.

Retrieving my staff from my magical pouch, I managed to parry a strike from Sakaguchi's broadsword, then twirled my weapon around to throw him off before jabbing at his gut. Sakaguchi reacted in reflex, parrying my thrust before delivering a riposte that would have cleaved me from shoulder to hip had I not deflected it with my staff.

Behind, Asakura launched a fireball at the fleeing mercenaries, but I broke away from Sakaguchi to conjure a Dark Barrier that succeeded in blocking the flaming projectile.

"…!"

Asakura glanced at me, stunned. The mercenaries were equally surprised, but I yelled to snap them out of their stupor.

"Get out of here! I'll hold the heroes back! Hurry up and escape!"

"But…" Metzen protested.

"Their target is me! It's my fault for leading them here, for causing you guys to be attacked. I'll take responsibility and handle this."

"Hey, don't be daft!" Bore shouted. "We heard what those so-called heroes said!"

"Yeah!" Meek shouted. "They are no heroes! Talking about us as if we were livestock, and then looting our bodies? They aren't heroes, they're bandits!"

"Revenge for the boss!" Bold bellowed.

Asakura's barrage of fireballs slammed into a group of them, incinerating the howling men after several agonizing seconds.

"Shut up, mob characters. You exist only to be farmed. Just die already."

"Kill them all, Akane-san. Leave no witnesses."

"Leave it to me, Seiji-kun."

The mercenaries were backing away now, finally comprehending how outmatched they were.

"Aaaaah!"

With a yell, Meek lunged at Asakura from behind. Without even looking at him, she raised a hand and engulfed him in flames. With a scream, the immolated figure of Meek ran about, thrashing desperately before he was reduced to ashes and cinders. All that remained of him was his dagger, Shadow, which dropped to the ground, charred.

"Hmm, this looks like a good weapon," Asakura marveled as she picked up Shadow.

"Just go!" I yelled at the surviving mercenaries. "There's nothing you can do against them! They're too powerful!"

Having witnessed Meek's instant demise, the remaining mercenaries scattered obediently. Asakura scowled.

"After them, Akane-san," Sakaguchi shouted as he traded blows with me. "Don't let even one of them escape!"

"On it!"

Asakura was about to give chase when she noticed something. Pausing at the edge of the clearing we were dueling in, her eyes came to rest on the staff I was wielding.

"Isn't that…Tsukishima-san's staff?"

"…that's right!"

Sakaguchi almost stopped his relentless attacks from shock. I seized the chance to quickly maximize the distance between us, retreating safely. Glaring at me from afar, Sakaguchi's lips curled into a dangerous snarl.

"You…I knew it. I knew you would start hunting us down and taking your revenge! Kobayashi-kun was right!"

I wasn't surprised that he jumped into such conclusions without asking me about it. My former classmates were really becoming caricatures of pure evil antagonists who were shallow, had no redeeming features and existed solely for the purpose of making my life miserable. It was as if they existed only to be antagonists, and for nothing else, completely lacking any depth or sense of realism. Or perhaps I was the one with a distorted view of them.

"How dare you kill Tsukishima-san?!"

Asakura's voice was filled with righteous indignation, and she launched another flurry of fireballs at me, which I easily blocked with my Dark Barrier.

"You guys obviously don't realize that it was Tsukishima who attacked me and tried to kill me first, do you?" I snapped irritably despite knowing that it was futile to convince them. "I didn't even do anything to her, she just behaved just as irrationally as you guys and attacked me! It was self-defense! What was I supposed to do? Let her kill me?"

""YES!""

Sakaguchi and Asakura responded in unison. My jaw dropped. This was utterly ridiculous, and I had a sense of déjà vu. Right…didn't Minamoto Kureha say the exact same thing when I protested about Tsukishima's murder attempt?

"You are just a lowly loser, Tanaka. How dare you even think of fighting back? You should just stand still and let us kill you!"

"The fact that you even conceived of ever defying us is disgusting to the extreme."

Sakaguchi glowered while Asakura wrinkled her nose in revulsion. I shook my head in disbelief. I didn't understand what was going on. I just didn't. Why the hell did my classmates hate me so much? Why did they enjoy emotionally abusing me to this extent?

Just why did they want me dead so much?

"Just die! Atone for your sins and die!" Asakura shouted as she flung fireball after fireball at me.

"What about you guys?!" I retorted as I dodged the barrage. "Are you going to atone for your sins too?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakaguchi sneered. "We didn't sin."

I glanced at the mercenaries' corpses and shook my head. Never mind their attempted murder, they had already slaughtered a bunch of innocent people who weren't even related to their unreasonable vendetta at all.

As if she had read my mind, Asakura snorted.

"It's not a sin to kill vermin like you. No…in fact, it's a good deed. We're exterminating pests like you and making the world a much better place."

"Have you guys heard yourselves?"

I was completely baffled by their cruelty and fanatical determination to kill me at all costs. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to ponder over their mysterious motives. While I deftly dodged Asakura's assault, Sakaguchi had closed in to swing his broadsword.

"Whoa!"

"Stop jumping around and let us kill you already!" Sakaguchi hollered, an insane glint in his eyes. While I evaded his first strike, he rapidly yanked his blade up to deliver a backswing that would have sliced me in half had I not pulled my upper body back in reflex.

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to listen to you?!"

"Of course you are! You're Tanaka, the most stupid idiot in the universe! There exists absolutely nothing in this universe that is less intelligent than you! Even planktons are smarter than you, you brainless moron!"

Oh, shut the fuck up.

I had enough. I had no obligation to listen to their insane logic and endure their relentless abuse. If they were so bent on killing me, I just had to kill them first.

"Sorry," I whispered, and then activated my special ability. All around me, the dead rose back to un-life, the slain mercenaries staggering to their feet as I breathed dark magic into their corpses. Within seconds, an army of zombies filled the forest. Clad in armor, wielding all sorts of weapons, the undead shambled forward to overpower Sakaguchi and Asakura.

"Zombies?" Sakaguchi scoffed. "Do you think you can beat us with zombies?"

"I knew it. You've sacrificed your humanity and completely given over to the darkness. It is our duty to destroy one as corrupted as you."

In contrast to her cocky boyfriend, Asakura was glaring at me grimly, her fingers dancing daintily across the air to weave an incantation. However, Sakaguchi stopped her.

"Leave Tanaka to me. I alone am more than enough to stomp the likes of him."

I couldn't help but smile. Good. Underestimate me more. Let your guard down so that I could turn this disadvantage around and kill my foes off one by one. To throw away his advantage because of pride or because he wanted to show off to his girlfriend…this stupidity would prove to be Sakaguchi's undoing. Not that I was complaining.

It was a good thing that these caricature antagonists were so one dimensional, predictable and utterly idiotic. I still had a hard time believing just how shallow and stupid they were. Thanks to that, I could use that to my advantage and claw a victory from a desperate situation.

It was so predictable that I almost found it boring.

Focus on the battle first. Don't let your guard down. Just because he's stupid enough to come at me by himself doesn't mean I've automatically won the battle. I still have to actually defeat him first. And he's tough.

In a single swing, Sakaguchi decimated my zombies, holy magic pouring off his broadsword and expanding rapidly across the forest. Scores of zombies fell, twitching, never to get up again. Not unless I casted Regeneration on them.

And I didn't have the mana or stamina for that…

"That the best you can do?!" Sakaguchi leered as he slowly closed the distance between us, hacking and slashing through the crowd of zombies. I shrugged and raised my hand. After using the special ability several times, I had finally managed to strengthen it enough.

I was finally able to summon a bunch of zombies to replenish the depleted ranks of undead. Not only did I restore the number of zombies to their original count, I even added four zombie knights who rode skeletal horses.

Sakaguchi chuckled when he caught sight of the reinforcements.

"It doesn't matter how many zombies you summon. The result will be the same!"

I smirked. The moron was absolutely clueless. He would never expect what I had in mind.

I didn't summon these zombies merely to replace my losses. I was already working on my next plan, gathering mana for my ultimate spell.

"Thousand Astral Graves!"

The 1,008 graves sprung all over the forest, their shadows stretching and looming over the dwindling army of zombies. Magic crackled and danced over them as their bodies grew, expanded and hardened. With the twelve different arcane symbols glowing golden in the dark interior of the dense forest, the zombies were buffed and enhanced. Transforming into fearsome behemoths with various special abilities, they pounced.

"!"

Credit to Sakaguchi, he reacted with godlike reflexes, his broadsword cleaving through the behemoth zombies. However, unlike before, his broadsword was unable to kill them in one swipe. Maimed, wounded, the first trio of zombies staggered back, but under the ominous golden light of the twelve astral symbols, they began to rapidly regenerate.

"…! Monsters!"

Sakaguchi gritted his teeth as he prepared for the next onslaught. Claws and fangs scrabbled at his pristine armor, which glowed gently with a silver halo to protect its wearer. I frowned when I saw that my enhanced zombies weren't even able to leave a single scratch. Whoever forged that armor was excellent. Or perhaps it was Sakaguchi's defensive abilities that were formidable.

Pushing my glasses up, I used Absolute Appraisal. Within a second, Sakaguchi's information and profile were both laid out before me.

Name: Sakaguchi Seiji

Species: Human

Job/Rank: Paladin/Hero

Special Ability: Divine Defense, Holy Judgement, Holy Blessings

What the hell? Paladin was such an overpowered job, granting Sakaguchi not one but three special abilities?! Then again, Minamoto Kureha's special ability, Sword Saint, could still probably allow her to fight on par against people with multiple special abilities, so she only needed that one. I wondered which of the abilities I would get if I ate him…

"Uoooh!"

I realized I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatched. With a loud bellow, Sakaguchi was blowing the enhanced zombies away with brute strength. His armor hissed and glowed, the blessed defensive runes carved into its surface emanating an almost blinding light. Huffing, he glared at the approaching four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

My trump cards. I had unleashed them as soon as possible to finish off Sakaguchi quickly before Asakura could join hands with him.

"They're strong…"

I could see Sakaguchi perspiring profusely, his bare head gleaming with sweat as he panted from the unexpected exertion. He glanced at the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse warily, instinctively understanding the threat they presented.

"I see…"

Sakaguchi was murmuring to himself. Even though he was cornered, even though he had four formidable foes charging him, he did not panic and stayed calm. Asakura also remained cool and composed. She had not stepped forward to help her boyfriend even once.

Even though I should be pleased that they were offering me such an advantage so freely, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

What's with this situation? It's almost as if…

"…so these gravestones are what's buffing your zombies."

Sakaguchi nodded thoughtfully. I remained silent, but inwardly my heart pounded. I tried to calm myself. So what if he knew? It wasn't as if he could do anything about the countless gravestones even if he knew what they were the source of my zombies' current tremendous power. No, he still had to contend with the endless waves of enhanced zombies…

"Holy Blessings."

"!"

I stepped back instinctively and shut my eyes as night turned into day. The shadows in the forest were washed away almost immediately, replaced by a blinding golden light…holy light. Even when deprived of my sight, from the warmth and punishing sting, I could intuitively tell that this wasn't just any light. It was holy light.

F…!

My unease turned into dismay when my worst fears were confirmed. I clenched my fists and slowly opened my eyes.

My thousand and eight gravestones were gone, slowly crumbling away as they were eroded by the holy light that currently flooded the forest.

Just like my gravestones, my zombies were shrinking, decaying and breaking apart from the sheer power of the holy light, which purified what dark or unholy magic within its domain. I could feel myself weakening, my limbs growing lethargic and my mind becoming heavier. My throat constricted, almost as if I was suffocating.

This is…?

I quickly tapped on the Holy Blessings tab and quickly scanned through the details.

Holy Blessings: creates a holy field that buffs allies and weakens and damages enemies. Especially effective against undead and demonic beings. Reduces the effectiveness of unholy spells by 90%.

God-Emperor of Man!

I couldn't believe what I had just read. What the fuck was with this stupid cheat skill? And if it was this powerful, then why didn't he use it against the Demon Lord during that supposed final battle!? This was practically against the rules! A direct counter not just against the Demon Lord himself but against all demons!

This bloody fucker could essentially solo the demon territories by himself and come up top! That was how freaking cheat and imbalanced that ability was! He was basically the anathema or antithesis to all demon existence!

I could feel perspiration pouring down my face. This time it was my turn to be cornered by the bastard, who was looking around with an almost impatient expression.

"All of them still not dead yet? Well…I did just only earn this special ability recently. I guess I'll need to level it up first."

…what the f?

Well, at least it explained one thing. Sakaguchi didn't use such a cheat, overpowered ability against the Demon Lord because during that time he hadn't obtained this special ability. He probably only gained Holy Blessings after that historical battle. I wouldn't be surprised if he earned it because of the Demon Lord's demise.

It was like how I somehow obtained the Devour special ability after killing the cockatrice.

However, I was more taken aback by the fact that Sakaguchi lamented his current Holy Blessings as weak. Just one blast and my entire yard of gigantic gravestones were destroyed. All my zombies were dead or dying, unable to withstand the purifying power of the divine light. Even the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, now reduced to normal zombie cavalry knights after losing their buffs, were gradually crumbling away.

"Holy Judgement!"

Slamming the tip of his broadsword against the ground, Sakaguchi unleashed a wave of holy light that rippled across the forest, eliminating the surviving zombies and instantly rendering them into ash and dust. The tombstones – or what remained of them, anyway – were completely obliterated, their titanic shapes disintegrating and disappearing into utter nothingness.

In just a minute, Sakaguchi had turned the tables and returned me to square one. Bereft of my army, even when not buffed, I suddenly felt very alone and very vulnerable.

There was no way Sakaguchi was going to waste the opportunity. He barreled down on me with his broadsword, swinging it and knocking me away with sheer strength. Unable to withstand the raw power, I was sent hurtling across the forest.

"Ugh!"

I crashed through the trees before slamming into a trunk that snapped cleanly in half, almost falling on me. I rolled away and staggered to my feet, my wounds already rapidly regenerating in spite of the damage and the Holy Blessings that suffused the area.

At least Regeneration still worked, even under the divine domain that Holy Blessings created. I could thank Lyia for that.

My arms trembling, I tried to raise my staff. I had used it earlier to parry Sakaguchi's powerful strike, but I was nearly unable to endure it. It felt as if my arms were ripped off their sockets. Evidently Holy Blessings had blessed his strength to unholy lengths.

"Akane-san, I'll leave the mercenaries to you. Make sure you hunt every single one of them down. We can't leave witnesses."

"Roger that."

Seeing that her boyfriend had unleashed his ultimate technique, Akane saw little reason to stick around. She turned away and disappeared into the forest.

"Wait…" I began, but was silenced when Sakaguchi slashed at me. I grunted as I deflected his broadsword with my staff, twirling it around to parry a few more furious strikes. I almost couldn't withstand the furious barrages, his strength amplified by Holy Blessings and my own reduced drastically. I wheezed as I was flung back several more meters.

"You're one tenacious bastard, aren't you?" Sakaguchi growled as he delivered another series of assaults that I barely kept up with. Damn…my speed had also gone down under this divine domain, hadn't it?

"Have to be, when everyone is trying to kill me for absolutely no reason whatsoever, except maybe as a plot device to force me into the path of revenge and justify it?"

"You and your trashy jokes…" Sakaguchi snarled. "I hope that rubbish sense of humor dies along with you!"

"So that you can throw my rubbish sense of humor into the rubbish?"

"Just shut up and die!"

Another powerful swing sent me staggering backward, with new wounds opened up in my arms and chest. They quickly regenerated, but the bleeding had barely stopped before Sakaguchi attacked again and sent me skidding backward.

"F…!"

I wheezed and panted, but held up my staff again to block yet another relentless trike. Sakaguchi certainly was determined to kill me.

"Huff…huff…"

Another slash took the skin off my shoulder, but I soldiered on and retaliated with my staff only for Sakaguchi to effortlessly block my weapon with his shining gauntlet. The silver-white armor glowed for a moment, and then he roughly shoved me back.

"…!"

I almost stumbled back. At the same time, Sakaguchi capitalized on the moment to deliver the finishing blow. Cursing, I dropped my staff and threw out both my hands to do a cartwheel to flip myself over and up. Blood splattered across the ground as Sakaguchi's blade caught me in the back, but the superficial wound knitted together in no time at all. Other than a slight sting, I almost didn't register the injury.

"Hu…"

Placing a toe under my staff, I kicked it up and snatched it from the air before parrying another blow from Sakaguchi.

"I don't get it."

I didn't get what Sakaguchi didn't get, but I wasn't in any condition to listen to him complain. I was too busily focusing on staying alive. Block that blow there, withstand that strike here, and then dodge that heavy, two-handed slash…

My evasion wasn't perfect and I continued to sustain minor injuries all over, but they fortunately healed quickly enough.

"Huff…"

"Why haven't you died?"

"Because…I'm still alive?"

"Fuck you!"

Roaring, Sakaguchi pressed on, and another geyser of blood erupted from my shoulder. Winded, I staggered back and tried to pull away.

Fortunately, Sakaguchi didn't try to chase me. He kept his distance and glared at me.

"Where did you learn to fight like that? Normal people wouldn't be able to keep up with my moves or withstand my strength. Yet, you've met me blow for blow and survived this long, while exchanging over a hundred blows. How is this possible?!"

"Because it's not impossible?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Then stop asking stupid questions."

Sakaguchi growled and swung his sword, but I matched him with a well-placed block. Even then, my legs buckled and the earth split apart beneath my feet, unable to withstand the raw power from Sakaguchi's strike.

F…I think the bones in my arms just snapped.

I winced and drew back, deftly dodging Sakaguchi's next strike and retreating to a safe distance. Meanwhile, the bones and tendons in my damaged arms repaired themselves and before long I was as good as new.

To be honest, I was completely outmatched. The only reason I had survived for this long was because of the immature Sword Saint ability that I had plundered from Minamoto Kureha when I devoured her. That special ability had allowed me to move like a weapon master, anticipate Sakaguchi's strikes and defend myself flawlessly. It was unfortunate that I still hadn't reached the level where I was proficient with a sword or staff to the point where I could counterattack or go on the offensive, but I had enough of the basics to keep me alive.

No. that wasn't totally true.

It wasn't only the Sword Saint special ability that kept me alive. Several times throughout our exchange, I had been forced to directly block Sakaguchi's superhuman strikes. The one ton-power of his crushing strikes would have been enough to squash any target with brute force, and indeed directly blocking those attacks had resulted in no small amount of broken bones, ruptured tendons and wounded arms and legs.

However, my Regeneration had kicked into overdrive, rapidly repairing the damage I took and allowing me to keep up in battle. But as the battle dragged on, I could feel the Regeneration slowing down. My wounds were no longer healing as quickly. The relentless hail of attacks from Sakaguchi were taking its toll and slowly draining my mana and strength away.

I wouldn't last in a battle of stamina with him.

"Hah!"

"Kuh!"

I finally slipped up. It was a stupid mistake – just a single one – but it was more than enough to condemn me.

Exhausted, I was barely able to knock away Sakaguchi's broadsword, but my arms slipped from being continually depleted of strength. Noticing my sudden weakness, Sakaguchi exploited it and quickly rammed his elbow into my face. My head snapped back, blood flying from my broken nose and my glasses almost driven into my eyes.

"Gah…"

I wasn't even given a chance to complain. Even as I staggered and desperately tried to recover, Sakaguchi wasn't merciful enough to patiently wait for me.

In one fluid swing, his broadsword cut through my collarbone and the massive weapon lodged itself deeply in my torso, sending a geyser of blood spurting violently toward the heavens.