Chapter 382 - Country of Sakura, Cherin and the Seven Holy Swords [153]
I have confidence in the mental strength that I had cultivated through my billion years of training.
(But, practically speaking, Deal’s poison is incredibly potent.)
My side was still hurting like hell, ravaged by the poison.
(I can barely continue the battle by stifling my body’s senses and becoming mindless for a little while.)
To be honest, I have no idea how much longer my body can carry on.
「Fuu… haa…」
I took a deep breath and cleared my thoughts, quickly assessing the battle situation.
Ria, still unharmed, was diagonally behind me.
She was guarding Rose and the others who were unable to move, making it difficult for her to participate in the front lines.
And Rose, president, Lilim-senpai, and Ferris-senpai were lying on the ground.
They were suffering from Deadly Venom’s poison and were not in a state where they could fight.
Bacchus-san was engaged in a fierce fight with Von at a fair distance away. He was still unharmed and had the upper hand… but the earlier momentum had visibly diminished.
A stream of fresh blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. His sword hand was quivering slightly, and he held his chest with a pained expression. Perhaps because of the “incurable illness”, his body does not move as ordered.
On the other hand, Von never goes on the offensive, and just devoted himself to defense.
Apparently, he is aiming to draw out the fight until Bacchus-san strains his body too much.
(It’s not something I want to consider, but…)
If the battle continues as is, Bacchus-san will be killed in the not too distant future.
And we are currently on an uninhabited island in the sea.
Unfortunately, we cannot expect external reinforcements.
In other words, I need to defeat Deal, a true soul dress-user, all on my own before the poison consumes my body.
In addition, I have to go to Bacchus-san’s support right after that and beat one of the Seven Holy Swords, Von Mustang.
(…Bluntly, this is the “worst” situation.)
It would be difficult to think of a worse situation.
However, worrying about it will not improve this situation.
I put strength into the hand holding the black sword and placed weight on my toes.
「Let’s go, Deal!」
「Kuku, come then. I shall care for you at your last moment.」
Then I threw myself into a cruel battle.
■
The battle after that was terribly one-sided.
「Oh my, are you reaching your limit? It looks like you’ve gotten slower!」
Deal gripped a purple sword spit out from Hydra’s mouth, and attacked incessantly.
「I can do this… all day…」I said.
With each of his innumerable quick slashes, highly poisonous droplets scattered from Deal’s body.
I was trying my best to dodge them and couldn’t even unleash a slight counterattack.
「Dance for me – Hydra Whorl!」
Hydra’s heads grew larger from on top of Deal’s shoulder, and simultaneously attacked me.
A total of nine heads.
There were many, but their individual speeds were not that fast.
「Eighth Sword – Consecutive Yatagarasu!」
I shot 16 slashes and cut off all nine heads.
However, his attacks did not stop.
「Wha!?」
Hydra’s heads regenerated from its necks, and bared its fangs once again.
「Damnit…」
I continued to dodge and cut off the heads which were approaching from all directions, but…
「-HA! This is the third spot!」
One of the heads sneaked up to my feet without me noticing and bit my right foot.
「AHH!」
The sharp fangs cut into my flesh, and deadly poison permeated into my cells.
「Get lost!」
I cut the head biting me and jumped back greatly.
On the other hand, Deal was staring at me without pursuing.
「Haa…haa…」
Terrible, throbbing pain assailed my right leg.
(I… I should still be able to move…)
I clenched my teeth and readied the Seigan no Kamae stance.
As I did,
「…Can you please give it a rest already? You were hit in the side, left shoulder, and the right foot just a moment ago… Anyone who was injected with this much poison from Hydra would have died five times over by now… No, if you were human, you should have died already…」
He said, with a fed up look on his face.
「Bro, you might not know this, but “true soul dress” consumes a tremendous amount of energy… Just by activating this ability, it is gobbling up my spiritual power. I’m also getting a little tired, so let’s finish it here.」
As Deal loosely raised his right arm up,
「I-Impossible…」
A tremendous amount of spiritual power concentrated on his arm.
(This is impossible!)
It was in a completely different league.
Even World Judgement would not be able to offset it.
It was an unbelievably overwhelming output.
「Well then, sleep peacefully. Venom–」
When Deal took a big step forward,
「–Don’t get cocky, damn trash!!」
My left hand suddenly pushed forward, moving against my own will.
At the same time, the space became greatly distorted. Ten black swords surrounded Deal in a spherical formation.
「T-This is…!?」
Deal’s face turned deathly pale. He immediately cancelled his attack and–
「–Hydra Asylum!」
He coiled Hydra around his body and developed a thick poison barrier.
「–Drop dead.」
The moment when my left hand clasped tightly, the ten black swords were shot at a tremendous speed. A deafening explosive sound reverberated. Tremendous shock wave blew, shaking the entire island.
「Ka, ha!」
The jet-black blades penetrated the Hydra barrier and pierced deep into Deal’s body.
Deal suffered an injury for the first time after manifesting his true soul dress. It was also quite deep.
「Z-Zeon…?」I whispered.
「Tsk, what was that piss poor power of an attack… it’s pathetic even for me…」
A frustrated voice echoed from the depths of my chest.
(From my point of view, it was an unbelievably powerful attack, though…)
Apparently, it was a disappointment for the user himself.