NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 301.1
Chapter 301.1. The Warrior
Shizuku is taken aback by the enemy before her. This girl is stronger than she had imagined. She had heard that Tia was strong. Stronger than herself.
She recalls her conversation with Tia. It was after she had easily defeated her. She had tied her up with ropes, and while Tia was in a cocoon-like state, she had gotten information from her.
This was after the battle had ended and they had immediately returned to the abyss.
“Shizen-chan is strong. I haven’t fought her, so I don’t know for sure. But it seems she single-handedly wiped out all the dragons from the world where my sister was.”
On the verge of death, Tia had surrendered easily. Showing the pitiful behavior of a small fry who, fearing for her life, handed over the dungeon core. After being healed by Sei, she had told her this.
“That certainly sounds strong. But honestly, I can’t imagine just how strong she is.”
It should be surprising, but it doesn’t quite click. In her original world, she wasn’t strong enough to fight, and now she’s become too strong, making it hard to gauge the power of dragons.
And Tia’s subjective opinion is completely unreliable. She’s just a foolish girl who has gained immense power.
“Her foolishness has also leveled up, poor thing.”
“Serika-chan. I can’t agree with that. I’m not that foolish. I’m normal. Normal.”
While Serika-chan adjusts the dimensional gate, she says something incomprehensible, and Tia pouts and retorts. It’s quite rude.
“A dragon… I can pretty much imagine it. At our current level, we should be able to defeat it without any problems.”
“Speaking of which, I heard that you’ve encountered dragons in the past, Sakimori.”
Manipulating the board of the [Equivalent Exchange Store], Sakimori hesitates while deciding which skill to exchange for the L-rank core he had obtained.
He had heard that Sakimori had encountered dragons in the past. A man with the [All Creation] skill had fought them to a standstill. He must be recalling that time.
“But that was just one or two. Fighting multiple dragons would make victory difficult… I see, we need to come up with a strategy.”
Feeling reassured by Sakimori, who says it’s difficult but not impossible, she smiles and thinks. Indeed, a strategy is necessary. The enemy is strong. We must prepare in various ways to win.
One of the strategies was to chip away at Shizen while blending in with the attacks of the familiars. But the familiars, which should have been enough to hold Tia back, were used as shields, obstructing our movements and only getting in the way. The strategy failed.
“Quite the swordsmanship. With more training, you could become a fine swordsman.”
While deflecting my sword with her small hands, Shizen looks at me with sleepy eyes and says. High-speed consecutive strikes. From feints with her gaze to illusionary follow-ups filled with killing intent, she shows a ever-changing sword dance, yet this girl doesn’t even get grazed.
She looks weaker than me, and I can’t sense any power from her. But that just means she’s completely in control of her strength. Her martial arts skills are superior to mine.
Honestly, even if there’s a difference in power, I didn’t think I’d lose in skill. I’ve honed techniques on the battlefield that surpass skills. My experience is different from enemies who rely on skills.
But Shizen sways slightly to dodge the sword I swing down, grazing her hair, and after an upward slash, she releases a cross slash, matching her palm to the sword’s trajectory, which should be invisible, and shifts it so it doesn’t hit her body.
In contrast, Shizen’s attacks aim for my openings. She’s aiming for counters. Like feathers fluttering in the air, she continues to deflect my attacks, and the moment she sees my stance falter slightly, she strikes.
But it wasn’t a heavy attack. It was like a jab, meant to gauge my strength. As I deflected it, my sword was pushed hard, causing my stance to falter slightly, and Shizen’s counter punch landed in my side. The moment I thought that, Shizen pulled back her fist and swayed her body unnaturally.
It wasn’t that she was holding back. Shizen wasn’t pulling her punches. Just before her fist landed, an extremely thin dark thread entered its trajectory, aiming to blind Shizen.
It was Sakimori’s cover. When my stance faltered, he stepped in to help, in perfect sync.
So both of us switched positions and fought as if a whirlwind was colliding, but neither of us got hurt. It was a fierce but quiet battle. It continued as if the two of us were dancing.
Shizuku understands that the balance needs to be broken. Shizen is enjoying this battle without any rush and wouldn’t mind a prolonged fight. She’s prepared, and even in a long battle, her concentration wouldn’t waver, and her inner strength would remain.
Shizuku also has no problem with a prolonged fight. She hasn’t had a similar battle with an opponent who surpasses her in skill, but she has experience in long battles. She’s even fought non-stop for three days.
However, Sakimori can’t do that. He doesn’t want to waste mana.
It’s dangerous. It’s dangerous, but we need to take the risk. Shizuku decides to release her power.
[Red Mode]
Connecting her power to the primordial force, she gains that power. Her hair and skin turn crimson, and her aura spreads like ripples around her. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head. A sense of omnipotence takes over her body, and a euphoric sensation circulates.
Feeling a significant increase in her power, she readies herself against Shizen.
“The game is over, Shizen-chan.”
“I was enjoying the endless game, but you’re quite impatient. Impatience leads to loss. I think it’s one of the reasons for defeat, even for gods.”
Shizen responds without flinching to the deified Shizuku.
“Ha!”
Shizuku unleashes an attack stronger than ever before. Her sword speed has reached the speed of light, and all that can be seen is a gleaming line. She varies the strength and slightly shifts the speed of her sword as she attacks.
“Quite an interesting attack. I applaud you for not being a brute. But even if the speed changes, it won’t work on me.”
In response, Shizen, like a celestial maiden wrapping herself in bands of light, generates golden particles in her palm and dodges with movements at the speed of light that can’t be seen.
Even after powering up, Shizuku understands that her attacks won’t work. That’s the level of her opponent’s skill. But she’s not alone.
Sensing her resolve to end the battle, Sakimori moves behind her.
[High Dark Field]
The ground turns dark, attacking Shizen like a bottomless swamp.
[Step]