Chapter 245: A Hidden Move

“Teyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I charged recklessly while putting all I had in my spear. Or so Gideon interpreted my attack. In fact, I did not even believe that a direct charge like this would be able to get me anywhere with someone as skilled as him.

That said, I had to do something or my life would end right then and there. Besides, Maxwell’s familiar that had separated from me should have seen this situation too.

If Maxwell rushed to me due to that, it could lead to Klein successfully making his escape. And the more this battle dragged on, the higher the risk of his escape, as well as for their reinforcements to show up.

In order to achieve our goal, I had to defeat this guy as quickly as possible.

“You’re charging at me this late in the game? That’s really a turn-off.”

He blocked the spear with an exasperated expression and tried to knock it down. But I barely managed to endure it. The spear swayed a little, but I still managed to hold on to it. This weapon was my last stand—is probably what he was thinking.

However, that sliver of hope had been blown away by his next attack. The spear I barely managed to hold on to was also flung up from my hands and embedded itself into the ceiling. The ceiling was high enough to accommodate a chandelier, so it was impossible to quickly retrieve it given my low height.

Having lost my weapon, my body also lost its support and fell forward. Right where Gideon stood.

He pierced my right shoulder as I was falling. I barely managed to endure a scream due to the sharp pain that reverberated through my bones. But unlike the scream that I could suppress through my willpower, my body itself was in a hopeless state.

My gouged-out shoulder had lost its function and dangled limply.

Seeing that, Gideon dropped his left sword, grabbed my left hand, and raised me up. With my right arm immobile and left restrained, I had been completely robbed of the means to attack.

“There, this is a complete checkmate.” “Kh…”

I wanted to spit, but the pain did not allow me even that. A part of me complained that had my weight not been so light, there was no knowing how this battle would’ve gone.

But a loss was a loss. That said, I had not the slightest intention of giving up just yet.

“This will be my last question to you. How about it, would you become my disciple? If it’s you, you might actually even reach the level of Reid who was one of the Six Heroes.” “…Hah.”

I responded in a small sneer. Wasn’t that natural? Telling me, Reid, that I could one day reach the former me just sounded ridiculous.

Naturally, Gideon would have not known that, so what he said was not so strange.

Instead of a reply, I kicked him in the abdomen with my dangling legs. I had no ground to stand nor enough space to build momentum, so it was not able to deal any real damage.

Seeing my insignificant struggle, it was Gideon’s turn to return a scornful laugh.

“Hmph, staying disobedient to the very end I see. I don’t hate that, but it’s true that I am short on time. Sorry but you just let your final chance go.” “Wrong, this is the end for you.” “Oh, and what can you even do in your current state?”

My right arm was too injured to move and my left arm was restrained. I had a laceration on my right side, and even my ribs appeared to be damaged.

My feet were dangling in the air, useless for attacks. I was in a complete deadlock… Or so Gideon assumed.

“Doesn’t seem like you can’t do anything, huh? In that case… Go and wait for me in the afterworld.”

Spending life in battle meant that he too would one day die. Gideon’s choice of words reflected that. Yet I rejected even those words.

“Not…in a million years!”

Gideon assumed that my right arm was immobile, but that wasn’t actually the case. Other than normal body part movements, I could also control the muscle fibers directly. That meant that regardless of whether I had a hole in my shoulder, or whether my nerves were severed, or even if my muscles themselves were severed, I could still control them with my Thread Manipulation.

Still, that would be nothing but a meaningless struggle. Given my bad position, I had no way of putting any power into my fist. It was just a hand strike. Gideon casually shifted his head and dodged it.

However, this was all according to my plan. My real goal was…

“Hah?”

Seeing me grinning despise him dodging my attack made him raise a questioning voice. But he was too late.

I withdrew my hand while rubbing him on his neck.

—Yes, while I had my pinkie side facing it.

The gauntlets I currently had equipped had a small protuberance for supporting one’s weight. It was made from the Evil Dragon’s fang, and was especially firm and sharp.

It was only around a centimeter long at best. But that was enough to easily gouge out the artery in the neck.

Gideon, who thought my arms were restrained, and then misinterpreted my punch as a meaningless show of resistance, had no way of dodging this.

A sensation of something snapping was transmitted in my hand. And following immediately was a bright red fountain. That unceasing crimson color was proof that I managed to damage his artery.

“Agh..ga….A-Aghhhhh!?”

Not understanding what happened, Gideon could do nothing but hold down on his neck to block the wound. But that also meant that he let go of my left arm.

As I rolled on the ground, I sent my thread towards the spear embedded into the ceiling and returned it to my undamaged left hand without a moment’s delay.

Damaging his artery did not mean instant death. Normally it would be a few seconds… But with someone like Gideon, there was perhaps over a minute left. It was not impossible for him to finish me off before that happened.

As such, I had to follow up with attacks while I had the upper hand.

Gideon still had a sword in his right hand while pinning his neck with his left. As expected, he was not just going to quietly await his death. It was admirable that he immediately resolved himself to death and decided to use the few seconds he had to take me down with him.

Still, he was far too late for even that.

He stared fixedly at me with his eyes that were quickly losing their light. Even so, his battle instinct to keep on fighting without losing his will was impressive.

That said, I had no obligation to meet his sword. The fact that he was using his left hand to pin his neck meant that his defenses on that side were weak.

And his heart was towards that side too.

I held the spear that I retrieved with my thread on the waist level. I lowered my low posture even further, and released a diagonal upward thrust from there.

Gideon’s right sword was raised overhead, while his left was pressing on his neck wound. As such, there were no obstacles between the spear and his heart. Faster than he could swing down his sword, my spear managed to pierce through his heart.

He coughed out blood mixed with foam. He had lost right after he was convinced of his victory. He had a look of disbelief, and yet, mixed with satisfaction.

The man who had established a first-class sect with his sword skills alone had slowly collapsed on the spot, wearing such a mysterious expression.