Chapter 272

Chapter 272, Going Solo

“Show me how competent you are. As the great and powerful, it is within my rights to give you a chance. Show me how you… groove, Asley, to the best of your abilities.”

I don’t know how much I’ll achieve, but I feel that it won’t amount to much…

“Keep dancing… to the death, Asley. Well? Are you ready?”

He’s fearless… well, no, he’s just absolutely trusting in his powers.

Within his rights to give me a chance!? Hah! Then as the weak and insignificant, it’s within my rights to struggle all I can! To the death, dammit!

“Hah! Double Dragon!”

“Good.”

“You say that, while blocking it with just one hand!? See how you like this! Holy Lance!”

“This one is boring, Asley.”

Now he caught a Zenith-level spell with just TWO FINGERS!?

But catching it means he doesn’t want it to touch his body! Yeah, this is the Devil King we’re talking about… gotta use light-elemental spells!

“HOLY WORLD!”

“Switching to a wide-range spell now? How wise… HMPH!”

God damn, his arcane energy is strong! He just nullified my Holy World without even touching it!

“You’re not supposed to be praising me! You’re the Devil King, dammit! Holy Stamp!”

“Fool… Did you truly think there would be a blind spot above me?”

Lucifer deflected it just by holding up one arm.

Now he’s fully focused on what’s coming from above — that’s what I’ve been waiting for!

“Shining Blast!”

“Coming from below now? You are boring me again. HMM!”

“What the–!? Did you just… stomp it down!? How!?”

“I am the Devil King; nothing but the best of the best works against me. Now observe. I use no diversion…”

What’s he gonna do!? Anyway, I better hold my Drynium Rod forward first– gah!?

“GWOH–!? AHHHHHHHHH!!”

The next thing I felt was the strong impact running down my back.

And I suddenly saw next to me my Familiar… sleeping soundly.

“Master… I can’t eat anymore… Let’s pack the rest of it and take them home… Zzz…”

Don’t drool like that, damn it!

Anyway… Did I just get kicked? And knocked all the way back here…?

“You survived. The staff did not sustain a single scratch from my kick… It must be a masterpiece of a master at his craft.”

Man, I should go thank Garm again later.

He did mention putting extra work into it, so maybe it’s actually stronger than the armor pieces created in the same batch.

“Ngh… High Cure! Hng–!”

“If you don’t intend to stop, then come. Now I wish to observe your martial arts prowesses. It has been long since my feet have last touched the ground, and I would like to hone my senses to how they used to be.”

That kick of his… made an even greater impact than a direct hit of Lylia’s Earth Splitter would.

And it looks like he’s got plenty of energy left to spare… Man, things are starting to look genuinely bad for me.

Still, I’ve got to fight…!

“HAAAHHH!”

I dashed at Lucifer again, swinging my Drynium Rod down at him.

…And he dodged it! Of course! But I just have to quickly swipe it back up–

“No!?”

He dodged it again. And all the subsequent hits, too, avoided smoothly like he was flowing through the waves.

“Your attacks’ intentions are easily read. You may have prevailed over other adversaries with your power, skill, and speed, but I am not like them… You are a fool if you think otherwise. And you are full of openings.”

“Gwoh!? Oof–!?”

I suddenly felt a dull pain in my abdomen.

It’s worse than that time when Pochi jumped on my belly.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!!”

I threw out a series of swift kicks, spun around and swing my staff, used the centrifugal force to throw another kick… and then Lucifer sweep-kicked my pivot foot.

“–Oof!”

I managed to create an arcane energy platform in the air and grab its edge, and proceeded to pull myself up onto it.

“Hmm? An arcane energy manipulation method unknown to me. Interesting. Hmm… like this?”

“W-what the hell…”

After thinking over it just for a bit, Lucifer successfully created an arcane energy platform and easily stood on it.

“I worked my ass off to get the thing to work, you know! You can’t steal it just like that!”

“Steal? You humans did that first… Besides, this is called using a reference.”

Huh? Why do I feel like I’ve heard that before?

“Now, here I go, Asley. See if you can survive.”

This is…

“Hmph!”

NOT GOOD!

“GAH!? GUH– GA– OH–!? BWUH–!? –! SHIT!”

“Feeling like a punching bag now, are you?”

Before my body felt the pain of one blow, it received another… at which point the pain of the previous blow resurfaced.

That’s how overwhelming his attacks are. Can’t dodge them, can’t parry them, can’t take them… Hell, I can’t do anything at all!

Is there anything I could use to take him by surprise? Magecraft!? Magic!? Anything!?

“B-Burst!”

“N-gh–!?”

Ah… I hit him. Or… maybe it’s more correct to say that he didn’t dodge it.

If I didn’t see that the wrong way, he must have barely managed to block with his arm.

Regardless, Lucifer did get knocked back a few meters by my Drynium Rod jab.

“…A spell completely unknown to me. Interesting.”

“Gah…! Shit, you didn’t have to punch me so much! That really hurt, man! High Cure Adjust!”

Oh yeah, the Burst spell didn’t exist yet in this era.

I was surprised the first time Midors used it against me, too.

“A physical attack that landed before I could read its intention, I see. That would naturally make it impossible to avoid.”

“And you’re smart, too… Man, this is annoying! Is there anything you’re NOT good at!?”

“Listen to yourself, expressing jealousy toward the Devil King. For a creature so insignificant to be so competent… oh, I see. I know now. Hehehehehe…”

Lucifer started muttering to himself, then chuckled as if he had uncovered some amusing mystery.

What? What does he know?

“You possess Eternal Life…”

…He can see that, too?

“That would explain how you have such a deep understanding of the arcane.”

“…All right, you got me there. You know, I could land you a hit that hurts real bad, if you’d just let me. Stand there and don’t move for a bit, will ya?”

“There is but a single thing that is important to me in all this world: ME. It is only natural that I move around and make a good show of myself, don’t you think?”

“OOOHHHHHHHHH!!”

Can’t spare any arcane energy now. Gotta unleash my Ultimate Limit as much as it can go!

“Come on!”

“BURSTTT!!”

“Ngh–! Hah!”

“Burst!”

“It can defend, too!? Good thinking!”

Shit, shit, shit! It’s the only thing I can use now!

“But how long will you last? Hah!”

“Burst! Burst! Burst! Burst! Burst! Burst! BURST!”

“–! Tch!”

I grazed him! All right! I’m on the right track here!

Gotta wring out every pint of arcane energy… all my voice… all my soul!

“BURSTTT!”

“Gwoh–!?”

“Hahahahaha… I… I got a hit in!”

Lucifer put his hands over his abdomen.

He’s staring at the hurting spot even harder than I am.

“YOu have injured me. Commendable. And my body has warmed up nicely. Now I will deliver you the death you so seek.”

“Nope, I never asked for that!”

“You stood up to the Devil King. You HAVE already prepared for it!”

Uh, he’s shaking… Is he actually pissed?

“HAAAAAA!!”

“Huh!?”

Holy shit… I thought he was going to blow away absolutely everything for a second there. The pressure of his arcane energy is tremendous.

Up until now, the Devil King has been in his ‘sober’ state, so to speak. But from this point on…

“THIS is my Ultimate Limit. Now see how long your life will last you.”

…I’m up against him going all out.

“Drop dead like the fleeting creature you are, Asley.”

“I’m gonna be the brightest star ever, damn it!”

“HAAAAAAAA!!”

“OOOHHHHHH!!”

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“……Hmm?”

“…Agh…”

“You have the makings of a good wind tunnel, as your comrades do, Asley.”

He’s strong… Hell, not JUST strong.

He’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever faced. Scarier than any enemy I’ve ever crossed.

“You refuse to fall? At least try to close the hole in your body first.”

Lucifer still considers me a fun little distraction because of how strong he is.

I’d thought that was his weak point, the one thing I could take advantage of… but the difference between us is just too great.

“G-guh…!”

“What are you trying so hard for? When you could have it easy by simply accepting everything that comes? Things have been hell to you up to now, true, but it will be even deeper hell from here on. It does not have to be that way. You have the option to stop while you can.”

“S-shut up…! High Cure Adjust!”

Shit… this freaking hurts!

Can I even heal this damn hole up anymore!?

All I can do is believe and wait. Do what I can, believe, and wait to see how it goes…

“What is it that has driven you this far?”

“…Well, listen here, you little shit! Unlike you, I didn’t have a shred of talent the moment I was born! So I studied! I worked my ass off! I trained to hell and back! All to get back at the people who insulted me! But I took so damn long, they all grew old and died by the time I got to them! Yeah, I didn’t even know when it happened! But that didn’t matter anymore! All the things I did never went to waste! Even my failures will lead to success in one way or another! Hell, even talented people have to take long roads to achieve success! That’s why I kept failing and failing! That’s the only way I could be successful at things! You get it now!? One success is there because there were countless failures it was fixed from! Failures that could only happen when it didn’t count! Experience that could only be gained when it’s not so important! The one success that must come from them before the world ends! Yeah, that’s what I’m saying! Talent!? Hah! Pochi already ate it all and shat it down the earth! What’s a world that only shows talent!? What’s a world that only shows success!? NOTHING! The world’s made up of countless failures, like roads that converge and divert… and eventually make up the one town called success! Yeah! It’s not the city that I want to see, but the roads that connect it all together! How everyone’s failures amount to something in the end! Right here, right now, even if I can’t win… someone’s gonna walk over my failure and beat the crap out of you someday! You may not believe it, but we humans sure as hell can do it! There are people who believe it! That’s why I’ll stand up again as long as I still can! All my failures, all the frustrating shit I’ve been through… They’re pushing me to never give up! Not here, not now! That’s it!”

“……You sure can talk. With passion, to boot.”

With that, Lucifer induced his right hand with arcane energy and held it over me.

…! All right!

“I will wait for that ‘success’ to appear, Asley… AFTER I conquer this world, that is–“

“–Look, I did mean what I said, but I was also buying myself some time…”

“Whatever you were stalling for, it will not matter. You will die here and now. Farewell, Asley… HAH!”

Lucifer shot out an energy blast.

My wound hasn’t exactly completely healed yet, so I can’t deflect it. If it hits me directly, I’m sure to die.

“IF it hits directly, that is…”

“What!?”

The energy blast was swiped away by the Hero’s sword.

He’s back, in all his golden-haired and handsome-faced glory. Man, any girl who sees him now is sure to want him to hold them. But I’m not. And I don’t.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

“Took you long enough… Giorno.”

“Tch… You managed to recover already!?”

Lucifer attacked again, unleashing countless energy blasts. This time, they were blown away by the Warrior’s sword.

Here she is, with her beautiful emerald green hair and light blue eyes.

And she looks like she’s enjoying herself… she really is driven by her hunger for carnage, this Elf.

“That speech you did about humans… applied to Elves as well, right?”

“Of course it did, Lylia.”

And she’s got her enthusiasm back, too.

“Hmph, more of God’s lapdogs…!”

“What, you didn’t know?”

“We’re the Holy Warriors!”

“Yeah! There’s THREE of us!”

All right, healing complete!

“Hwahhh… Huh? Is it time for lunch yet, Master?”

Oh yeah, Pochi’s here, too.