Chapter 104

"Now, bring it on!"

Scala tried to provoke me, as she seemed to be full of confidence . Well, I wouldn't fall for such a cheap trick though . Instead, I remained still at my place and calmly tried to use the skill[Appraisal]on her, but for some reason, I couldn't see her stats despite using the skill .

What's going on? Why can I not appraise her?

While I was trying to stay composed while hiding my astonishment, Scala issued me a warning . Apparently, she realized that I attempted to appraise her .

"I know you're trying to appraise my stats . You're just wasting your time; such a skill doesn't work against Gods . "

"Seriously..."

Come on, that's too clichéd .

It's not like I didn't expect her to say that, but having one of the most useful skills getting rendered useless in front of Scala made me reveal a bitter face . I was planning to delete her skills after appraising them, but it looks like this won't be as I hoped . All that's left for me now is to fight her head on . The moment I made that decision, Scala was the first to reach her limits and made a move .

"If you're not coming, then I will come for you!"

She rushed straight toward me . I didn't avert my eyes from her at all; not only that but, I didn't even blink while observing her; I made sure to not lose sight of her and always kept her under my field of vision . But despite all that, Scala was right before me before I even realized it .

"AHH!?"

She is too fast! Or did she perhaps use teleportation?!

Unable to react properly to Scala who closed her distance with me, I stiffened in my place . In the next split second, her fist was about to hit my abdomen .

"Doraa!!"

Letting out a scream unbefitting of her elegant look, her fist connected a direct hit in my abdomen; it was a strong punch . I felt my bones creaking from the shock . I felt an intense pain which I've never experienced in my life and let out a groan before getting blown away . I never predicted that she could use teleportation . I used[Wind Magic]to slow down my speed and barely managed to hold my ground . I held my abdomen and frowned, unable to hide the pain .

No good; I think my bones got hurt from that punch .

With my hand still placed in my abdomen, I elevated my head trying to search Scala's current position and as I expected, she already made her second move and was standing in front of me .

"Ahahahahaha!!"

While grinning and screaming like a psycho, she rushed to add another direct hit on me . I don't think I can stand a second punch, so I used teleportation to vanish from that place and avoid her fist .

"Oh?"

Missing her strike, Scala didn't hide her surprised expression . I need to do something about my current disadvantageous situation .

I ran behind Scala and prepared to pay her back for the first punch .

"ShippuuKen!"

A fist of wind stretched straight towards Scala's head, but at the last moment, it couldn't reach her . She dodged it readily by slightly leaning as if she knew about it all the time .

I couldn't believe that she was able to dodge it at first, but soon after, I started thinking about another measure since I didn't have the time to be astounded . Scala rushed toward me again right after dodging the fist in an attempt to lay a kick on my abdomen .

"You're slow!"

"Dam-!"

Scala succeeded in kicking me in the abdomen while shouting with ease . Luckily I was in the middle of dodging it, so I only got half the damage and teleported to another place .

Even though it was only half the damage, it still hurts a lot since I already had some broken ribs from the first punch . I cast healing magic at myself while working on arranging my disordered breathing . When I switched my sight back to Scala, she looked quite satisfied with the flow of the fight .

"Woah, you're pretty strong . It's a miracle that you're still fine after receiving a direct punch from me . "

"I'm not fine actually . "

Because of that punch, I think my bones have cracked .

I replied to Scala's delighted remark with tone exuding a faint sense of rage .

So this is the strength of a unique god, the second strongest god after the divine god . Things don't look very promising to me . I felt an unpleasant sweat running down my back from imagining to countless unknown skills Scala is still hiding .

Just what am I supposed to do to win...?

As I worked out my mind, contemplating various plans and moves, Scala was still making a satisfied face .

"But still, you're using teleportation skills; what a pain . "

"You're using it too!"

When I replied back with an annoyed voice, Scala tilted her head as if she didn't understand what I just said .

"What are you talking about? I'm not using teleportation . "

"...what?"

I couldn't keep my composure after hearing her say that . I even stopped thanking for an instant .

Eh? Hey, wait... no way...

"That, earlier... wasn't teleportation?"

"Of course it wasn't . I just moved normally . "

What's normal about that?

I lost my words from this shocking truth .

Are you serious...?

Honestly, this truth is too much for me . I leveled up all this time because of many factors and events . That is why I had some faith in myself that I won't lose against Scala . However, I never thought that I will meet someone who is fast enough to be impossible for me to confirm them by sight .

Shortly after our conversation, Scala raised a single hand and made a tiny ball of light appear from there . From that tiny ball of light, a giant sword gradually showed up .

Its length was the same as hers and she lightly wielded it with a single hand while smirking .

"I will be raising the difficulty from now on . "

Are you serious...

I'm already about to lose now and you're still going to raise the difficulty?

I couldn't object to her decision as she was the one holding initiative .

But still, a weapon, huh...

Gazing at the sword she wielded, I thought about a certain something .

"Alright . Bring it then! That is if you can land a hit on me . "

"We'll see!"

Falling for my cheap challenge, Scala raised her large sword over her head and rushed toward me . Perhaps it's because my eyes got used to her, or because the sword limited her speed, I was barely able to see her running .

"Hyaa!"

She let another psycho shout . That external look of her is really deceiving .

Scala readily swung her sword at me many times while I hardly dodged it by teleporting . She didn't give me the chance to counter-attack . I barely managed to dodge her swings .

I kept on avoiding her hits while waiting for the proper timing .

Not yet, I still need to wait .

"Hey Hey! All you can do is dodge?!"

I heard Scala's voice ridiculing me, but I didn't give it my attention . I remained repeating the process of teleporting and dodging while waiting for the perfect timing . My magic was diminishing every time I teleported, but I had nothing to do about it .

Finally the timing I was waiting for came .

Now!

The moment she raised her sword while facing me directly . This time, I didn't teleport and instead waited for her to swing the sword down .

"Take this!!"

Scala who thought that I couldn't avoid her hit this time, swung down her sword with all her might . I kept standing in my place without flinching and shouted the words of victory while looking at Scala right in the eyes .

"Disappear!!"

The moment I screamed, her sword vanished from her hand . With this, I made a chance for myself by making Scala lose her balance from having her sword disappearing all of a sudden .

I prepared to give her the most harming blow I could make by stretching both of my hands to her abdomen .

"Target restrain . "

A magic circle emerged in Scala's abdomen making her suddenly stiffen and lose the ability to move .

"What's this?! I can't move!!"

Realizing that she can't move, Scala started losing her composure .

Well, I can't blame her for doing that . That's the kind of magic I cast on her, after all .

Although, I'm not sure how long this skill will keep working on her . I wouldn't be surprised if she broke out from it using brute force . I need to settle things with her as soon as possible .

"Did you know? This magic circle doesn't only block you from moving . "

Following those words, I thrust the strongest blow I could make into the magic circle .

"Blow off!!"

The instant I hit the magic circle, a tornado of fire and wind strenuously emitted from it .

"Uoh!? Guua!... Guaaaaahh!!"

The tornado of fire and wind covered up Scala and took her all the way to the mountains before blowing her away . The sound of her crashing on the ground reverberated in the mountains . Many trees were broken and clouds of dust concealed the place .

Oh man, I feel bad now for destroying that place . Well, whatever .

For now, I think that I won .

I took a deep breath of relief, not knowing that my naive way of thinking was so foolish . I didn't even check if she lost her consciousness or not .

The instant I took a breath, a terrifying shiver ran down my entire body .

"!!??!?!"

This was the first time in my life I felt every hair in my body standing from fear . It was like someone behind me was pressing a sharp tool against my neck .

Don't tell me...

Dominated by an uncomfortable premonition, I turned to check the place where I blew off Scala . The clouds of dust were about to completely disappear, but right before that happened, a huge crash abruptly occurred there causing a larger amount of dust to cover it .

Scala appeared from there, with her clothes ruined but her body still unharmed .

"That was pretty effective, yo . "

She then spoke with delight to me who was still shocked from seeing her standing like nothing had happened .

Hey, come on now . What's up with this goddess .

You should have received some damage at the very least, you know .

"A monster..."

This is too absurd .

I couldn't control myself from muttering that word .

As I started feeling hopeless, Scala asked me with a smirk .

"Hey, what's your level?"

I took a short while to think of a way to answer her, but at the end, I spoke honestly .

"... 318 . "

"Really?! You can do this much with just that level?"

Apparently, my level was somewhat of a surprise for Scala as she seemed to get more delighted . I checked my level only recently . I didn't check it since my battle against the red dragon so I was surprised as well, but now, that didn't matter at all .

While grasping Scala's position with a sidelong glance, I contemplated a plan to win against her .

"My level is 523 . You were able to pull a fair fight with me this far just with your level . That's pretty amazing!"

"You're kidding, right...?

I stopped thinking of a mean to win after hearing her astoundingly high level . She's on a completely different dimension . I had no chance to win against her from the very start .

As I remained standing silently in daze, our surroundings suddenly began shaking .

"Did you notice? I still haven't used a single skill until now . "

She then spoke as her hair started ruffling . She was right; all that she had been doing until now is either using her first of her sword . She never used her magic or skills .

Now what? What should I do in order to survive this battle...

Despite giving up only a few moments ago, I still decided to think of a way to get myself out safe .

The ambiance around us got more terrifying and Scala's hair kept on floating in the opposite direction .

"Is it possible for me to admit defeat?"

"Of course not . "

Yeah, of course not . I knew it anyway .

Scala cruelly refused my request to end this fight by admitting defeat .

Now what? Should I fight her fairly?

No, that would be too dangerous .

What about long-range magic attacks?

No, it would be terrible if I was to piss her off like that .

As the time limit approached, I gradually lost my composure and my ability to properly think .

I guess it can't be helped, huh...

Reaching a dead end, I stiffened in my place . Though, I didn't expect Lina to show up before me .

"Scala-sama! Please stop it! Continuing this fight any longer will cause a serious damage to this world!"

Lina, as well, noticed the strange ambiance around Scala and stepped forth to stop her . I was hoping that Scala would stop just from hearing Lina's call out, but she wasn't the type to halt what she is doing from only that much .

"What you are saying is futile!!"

At that moment, Scala who was releasing a dreadful ambiance started to abruptly shine . Immediately after noticing a faint ray of light, my instincts pushed me to hold Lina in my arms .

"Lina!"

Making sure I caught her, I teleported from that place .

Immediately after the teleportation, everything got annihilated, starting from the place we were at up to a radius of a few kilometers

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Bonus

The reason of destruction

"Scala, you're more like a criminal of destruction, right?"

"Well, leaving aside the way I'm called, that's right . "

"Didn't you think of fixing that habitude?"

"That's impossible . "

"Don't answer without even thinking . "

"Instead of that, I think the other gods should make more effort in building stronger worlds . "

"Don't tell me that's the reason you became a god . "

"Eh? It is . What about it?"

"Is it...?!"