This is a tough situation.
In a space where light rain was falling indoors, I couldn’t help but complain inwardly. The battle with the god had become so close that there was no other way to describe it. Currently, I was barely holding on by mobilizing everything I had: Future Sight, Time Stop Barrier, magic, body reinforcement, sword techniques, and intuition.
“Perish!”
The clone of the god was about the same size as his main body, but his strength, magic power, and speed were all on another level. Any damage I inflicted healed in an instant, and he unleashed attacks that would leave no trace of me if they landed squarely. It made me want to just give up.
“I refuse!”
Since I was at a disadvantage in terms of mass, I had to compensate with other powers, so I couldn’t afford to clash head-on. However, I couldn’t evade all of his attacks. I intentionally plunged my right foot into the ground, using it as an anchor. I activated Pile Regret on the back of the Ore Tree and fired it, temporarily increasing the power of my slash attack. My intention was to counter the weight of the sword slash from the god’s Divine Sword.
Or so I thought.
“Guh.”
Was I still being pushed back even with this?! I was pushed back along with my right foot, which I had planted as an anchor, and I forcibly stopped myself from being thrown backward with sheer muscle power.
“To challenge me without the skill to back it up, how foolish all humans are. Even after abandoning your humanity, you possess only this much skill.”
Barely managing to maintain my posture, I instinctively deflected his counter-slash, as I couldn’t possibly clash with it, and created distance. From binding the god with my sword, I learned one thing: this guy was completely self-taught, having never studied swordsmanship. He lacked any set forms. A seasoned swordsman would have predetermined movements for certain attacks and counter-attacks, but this opponent instinctively chose the optimal move for each situation and executed it flawlessly. In a sense, it was close to the pinnacle of swordsmanship, “mushin” (no-stance), but it wasn’t anything noble. It was merely violence driven by instinct.
While wielding the Ore Tree and reacting to his movements, even with Future Sight, I could only barely intercept his attacks. I had originally intended to challenge the Sun God with the full force of a general’s mobilization, but the plan had gone completely awry, and I was now foolishly challenging a god by myself.
I didn’t think I had failed, but I now realized how reckless it was.
“If that’s the case, then the god who still can’t kill such a half-baked existence must be quite incompetent.”
With a sarcastic smile, I threw him that remark, which only made the god’s already fierce face grow more menacing. Was this what it meant to incur a god’s wrath? His slashes became more powerful. The frequency of his indirect, long-range magical attacks decreased, but his physical attacks—kicks and open-palm strikes meant to kill directly with murderous intent—increased.
“Hey, hey, can’t you just brush off a single word, especially a sarcastic one from a human? It shows the measure of a god’s capacity.”
I was literally adding fuel to the fire. My aim was simple: to make his anger make him less careful, robbing him of his composure, and simplifying his attacks.
“Whoa, scary, scary. As expected of a god, a slight mistiming and my head would be severed from my body in no time.”
A giant blade flashed past my neck at lightning speed. I didn’t know how to measure a god’s capacity, but I shrugged my shoulders playfully. Based on the information from Future Sight, I pieced together an evasion sequence and focused on buying time. He unleashed horizontal slashes, overhead chops, diagonal slashes, upward diagonal slashes, and thrusts, all aimed at me, who was smaller in stature. If I concentrated, I could evade the attacks themselves. However, counter-attacking and defeating him was another matter entirely.
…I don’t think I can cut him down, even with all my strength. The crucial element for conceptual attacks is the fixation of the concept. In my case, I specialized in the concept of “cutting” and had the conviction that I could do it.
“Whoops, so close, so close.”
Dodging a thrust, I used the massive blade as a foothold and closed the distance in an instant. Then, I attempted to slash at his chest. I cut him. But that was all. Seeing the wound heal in the blink of an eye, it seemed his regeneration ability was set quite high, even when cursed. I maintained my taunting tone, but the smile of confidence never wavered. However, whether I was taking hits, evading, or counter-attacking, everything was life-threatening. My eyes hadn’t blinked since the battle began. Evasion reactions based on visual perception were not enough, so I had dedicated both eyes entirely to Future Sight. The moment I saw his next move, I moved my body, constantly adjusting to move at the perfect time, which was causing an unbearable headache.
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve been saying all sorts of big things, but I’m perfectly fine!!”
My physical condition hadn’t hindered my fighting yet. It was bound to happen eventually, but the time limit… was still there. While fighting, I constantly monitored my body’s condition. I had been provoking him so much that I lost count of how many blood vessels in my forehead had burst and regenerated. I even showed him my middle finger, then beckoned him forward with the familiar gesture, and tried every other method I could think of to draw the god’s killing intent towards me. Though I couldn’t quite manage to turn my back and smack my backside at him.
“Perish!”
The storm clouds that had begun to gather were dispersed by the Sun God’s furious attacks. That was a decoy, but was it not yet time? It wasn’t the time to fight and win yet. Or rather, I *was* unleashing attacks with the intent to kill if I could. However, based on the feel of it, a normal god would probably have realized by now if he had sustained such an attack. And they would likely be thinking of something.
“You think I’d get hit by such pathetic attacks?! What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! In return, I’ll chop off that arm of yours!”
What was needed were time and timing. The chance would come only once; if he noticed, it would be over. While fighting the god, I scanned the surroundings for any presence and discovered golems working inside the temple, desperately trying to conceal their presence. Kaido was giving them instructions, but…
“…”
The god noticed the golems’ movements.
“You thought you could deceive me with the same trick?”
The god’s anger subsided instantly, and he smirked, as if he saw through my intentions.
“What can these mere puppets possibly do?!”
He unleashed his solar flames like lasers, not only sweeping away the golems but also firing beams from his entire body towards the entrance.
“Hmph, are all the puppet dolls within the temple gone now? In the end, it’s just human foolishness.”
Faced with the god’s clearly murderous beams meant to destroy, even Amili-san’s golems lacked the durability. They were destroyed.
“Ah well, I messed up.”
“What?”
It was all according to plan. The god’s satisfied smile faltered at my words.
“A bluff.”
“You never know, do you? After all, some things gain value by being destroyed!”
Completely destroyed, the nearby golems had vanished without a trace. While the god might have seen it as a bluff, it was a different story if the golems were made of special materials.
“Nnngh!?”
“Yep, adding more curses! Although, it’s just a simple curse meant to return hatred.”
It was a simple curse that returned the full force of the attack to the recipient. Normally, it would have no effect, but when cursed, one curse would call forth another, becoming a source of cursed energy, leading to the curse becoming more active. That was what I had assumed, but it turned out to be a resounding success. I had only considered it a bonus if it worked.
The Sun God clutched his chest in agony and glared at me as I grinned.
“One or two, perhaps, but you destroyed them all at once, so you must feel some pain.”
“Yo-you bastard.”
“It’s all your own fault. Good for you. You learned something new?”
“Human!”
“Yeah, remember that humans still have some human elements left, so don’t underestimate us.”
A brief moment of silence. In that time, I caught my breath, though my sweat didn’t abate. My heart continued to beat with a dull, thudding rhythm. The repeated tension served to sharpen my mind, in a way.
“And by the way, watch your step.”
“What?”
That was precisely why I could deliver such a lie at the last moment. Seeing me act as if I had become complacent, the god glanced down, thinking there was something there. Exactly as if exposing his neck to the ceiling.
“Ground Fall.”
It was a perfect opportunity for the Dragon King, who had soared into the sky. The Dragon King, who had been fighting the sky-filling enemy, had joined the fray belatedly. With a full-powered dragon’s breath attack from the sky to shatter the temple ceiling. It seemed he was rampaging outside, but it would be a mistake to think he was struggling indefinitely. Caught off guard, the god, who had looked down, was pushed forward by the force of the dragon’s breath. He managed to support himself with one hand, avoiding lying face down, but he was forced into the humiliating posture of kneeling.
“You mere lizard!”
“Kekekekeke, and who is the god who’s being made to look pathetic by that lizard? Ah, I hate it, I hate it. If such a pathetic god were my Overgod, I’d be sick to my stomach.”
I could hear the taunts clearly, even as I dodged the temple debris and put distance between us. The Dragon King, hovering elegantly above the temple, was in his white-scaled form. Despite his hoodlum-like speech, his appearance was so mystical that it exuded an aura of majesty.
“I’ll kill you!”
“Oh, oh, you’re putting on quite a show! A god who can’t even kill a single human!”
While he continued to provoke, and the god’s attention was momentarily diverted to the Dragon King, I dashed forward. Focus. The target was his neck. I bolted forward, exceeding the speed of sound, focusing solely on cutting and swung the Ore Tree at his neck.
*Gakin*, a metallic clang echoed. An intense shockwave traveled up my arm. It was hard!? Even though I had only aimed for his neck, it didn’t budge.
“Hey! Human King! If you’re going to surprise him, finish the job properly!”
“My apologies, I thought I had.”
He had surely been distracted, yet he was able to react to my attack. As expected of a god. Or perhaps there was a way of perceiving things that I didn’t understand.
“That’s what complacency is! No matter how trashy the opponent, they are still a god. Don’t hold back!”
“Understood!”
I hadn’t intended to be careless, but perhaps, as the Dragon King said, I had placed too much faith in my slash. No, it would be more accurate to say I hadn’t completely believed in it. From now on, the god would have to be mindful of both the upper and lower directions, making it harder for him to fight. I deliberately moved in a zig-zag pattern close to the ground.
“Dragon King! Don’t worry about me and attack! I’ll just dodge as best I can.”
“From the start, I have no intention of attacking while worrying about you!”
This served both to distract the Sun God’s attention and to prevent him from focusing on the Dragon King’s attacks from the sky by making him wary of his footing. Leaving the attacks from high positions to the Dragon King, I dodged his attacks and focused mine on the god’s feet, using the god’s body as a shield.
“Even if a lizard and a human join forces, they can’t do much…”
“No, and a giant too.”
And the moment the god tried to intercept the dual attacks from above and below, the Giant King, who I wondered how he had managed to transport his enormous body, leaped out from the temple wall with incredible agility and struck the Sun God’s side with his great oar.
Today’s word: The allocation of people is of paramount importance.
Thank you as always for your comments and notifications of typos. If you find this interesting, please leave a comment, rating, or bookmark. I am currently serializing another work, “Pandora Pandemic Panic.” The Pandora’s Box has been opened again, but I’m dealing with things in secret bases and other locations!! Please check that one out as well!!
