CH 230

In a space dyed black and red, Arroganz and I continued our battle.



The “Realm of the Falling Sun” forcibly transformed a ten-kilometre radius into night and greatly enhanced the “Shadow” and “Darkness” skills.



However, since there were signs of other monsters, the area of effect was limited to about fifty metres so as not to affect the surroundings too much.



If I focus on fighting Arroganz, this is as far as I can go.



Incidentally, the skill is activated even if it is originally night.



It seems that the “night” generated by the “Falling Sun Realm” is different from a normal night.



“Uwaaaaaaaa!”



In addition to the skill enhancements provided by the ‘Realm of the Falling Sun’, I have the ninja sword I created armed with ‘High Grade Ninjutsu’, ‘Gale Speed’ that allows me to maintain my speed regardless of the terrain or environment, and ‘Diligence’ that further enhances all of my occupational skills.



And then there’s the item box, concentration, prediction, rage, acceleration, swordsmanship, physical enhancement, body strengthening, crisis avoidance, and many other skills that can be activated simultaneously.



This is the maximum power that I am capable of bringing out right now.



“Ha! This is amazing! If I’m not careful, I could get killed in a heartbeat!”



But even so, Arroganz did not falter.



Rather, he smoothly avoided my attacks and counterattacked.



“Che!”



“Guh…!”



If my “shadow” or “item box” tries to stop him from moving, the “blood” floating around him and the objects with blood on them will counter-block it.



(―― I am slowly understanding the effects of the ‘Blood Realm’.)



Perhaps the “Blood Realm” is a way to freely manipulate Arroganz’s own blood, and also to freely manipulate objects that have his blood on them.



Its area of effect is about the same as my ‘Realm of the Falling Sun’, and it is adjustable.



It’s strange that a zombie with no blood can produce blood, but if you have a skill, it can be explained in some way.



To begin with, he’s been raining a lot of blood down on us so far.



(I don’t think it’s wise to wait for the blood to run out…..)



If a monster like Peony had lost its reason, it would be possible to turn it into a battle of endurance and wait for it to run out of gas, but unfortunately, this guy has a mind of his own.



He thinks, observes, and always tries to outsmart his opponent, like me.



(―― How tricky…!)



He is not a fighting maniac like the High Orc.



Nor does he wield overwhelming power like Schwartz.



He just keeps on adopting strategies that his opponents don’t like.



“――Didn’t I tell you! You and I are the same!”



“…!”



Sparks flew as Arroganz’s magic sword clashed with my sword clad in lightning.



“I will do anything to win!”



A moment later, a flurry of red slashes spread out from Arroganz’s magic sword.



You’re kidding, right? How can he use this at such close range?



“Damn it!”



As soon as the attack spread out, I jumped backwards.



If Aka or Kiki were here, I could have easily defended against that but unfortunately, they are in the shadow right now. 



Even though I tried my best to avoid the attack, it still grazed me. 



“――‘Shadow’!”



I immediately draped a shadow over the area that was slashed to stop the bleeding and spit out his blood.



If his blood is capable of manipulating living things, it will end the moment it enters my body.



But blood manipulation has a slight time lag.



Even if I am hit by the slash, if I drain the blood immediately, I will not be affected.



Well, it hurts like hell.



“That’s the correct answer. If my blood had gotten into your system, I would have won at that point.”



“You’re so damn talkative.”



“That’s exactly why I am called ‘Arroganz’. Pride and arrogance are also things that increase my power.”



Arroganz held up his hand to the sky.



From the palm of his hand, a large amount of blood poured out, raining down on the surrounding area.



(This is the third time…!)



I can block it with my ‘shadow’, but I don’t think there’s anything around here that doesn’t have his blood on it.



Soon, the blood-soaked debris gathered and transformed into countless golems.



“Next up is numbers.”



“Don’t f*ck with me!”



No matter how similar the shape is to that of a golem, it is completely different from a real one like Titan.



It’s just a lump of rubble with no status or skills.



If he is actually trying to hit me with it, it’s either a decoy or a way to buy time.



Until Shwartz, who is trapped in the ‘Sacred Realm’ by Rebel, is released――



(As if I will let you!)



Rebel said that the time she could buy was fifteen minutes at the most.



We only have about three minutes left.



I’ll take care of it as soon as I can.



“Art of Water.”



I immediately activate my “Super Class Ninjutsu”.



It is a ninjutsu that can literally create water.



A large amount of water flooded the area around me.



It’s a ninjutsu with little killing power in a city like this, but the purpose of me using it right now is different.



The golems hit by my water lost their shape one by one and returned to their original form of rubble.



“……I see, you washed my blood off with your water.”



Yes, I figured that the blood he had created with his skills could be washed away with the water I had also created with my skills.



I am glad that my guess was right.



“Arrogant, Arroganz…”



“What…?”



No matter how much you want to maintain your ‘advantage’, you are being too careless.



Did you not anticipate that this water ninjutsu would be especially powerful on a battlefield?



“――The Art of Thunderclap.”



A moment later, a pale blue light covered the battlefield.



“Guh…!”



I didn’t really expect to be able to take him down with this, but even so, Arroganz’s movements stiffened for a moment.



And that moment was enough for me!



“――Gale Break”



I immediately closed in on him and swung my sword.



This time, I’ll definitely kill him!



“Naive!”



But the moment Arroganz regained control of his body, he immediately tried to counter with his magic sword.



The speed of his reaction and the way he moved to counterattack was astonishing.



(You’re kidding me, right? Even with this, Arroganz is faster than me――)



I know it, I can see through it.



But before I could pierce his vitals, Arroganz’s magic sword cut through me.



“It’s over! Owner of Precocious!”



Ah, shit….



I hate the way he smiles.



…will I lose like this…



Even after everything I did, I still can’t beat him――？



The moment that thought passed my mind, I heard a voice echo in my head. 



≪――You have received a mail≫



“…Huh?”



“Eh…?”



At that moment, something changed.



The “something” that had dominated the place until now vanished all of a sudden.



“Wha…”



And before I knew it, my sword had pierced through Arroganz’s chest. 



The one who attacked first was me.



Arroganz looked at me with incredulity as if he couldn’t understand what had just happened.



“Guh…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”



“――!”



I immediately let go of my sword and dodged the counter.



When I moved away and looked at Arroganz, I saw that his face was no longer as relaxed as before.



“This… is…?”



He clenched his fist as if to check the condition of his body. 



That seemed to be more important than my sword impaled through his chest. 



“Could it be… That’s, ridiculous… I, Impossible…!”



At the same time, without removing my eyes from Arroganz, I opened my mail with my fingertips. 



Ichinose was the one who had sent me the mail.



When I saw what she had written, I understood the reason for the changes that had taken place here.



(I see… They won…)



I’m surprised that that demon-user girl had come back to life, but I am even more surprised that Igarashi had evolved.



(It’s just like her to have lied about her level……)



But at the same time, one question still remains.



How was she able to fool Arroganz’s “appraisal”?



Unlike me, Igarashi does not have “Appraisal Interference”.



No matter how much she parades about her false level, she can’t lie about her status itself.



So how was she able to deceive the Arroganz’s appraisal?



I thought about it for a while, and then I realised.



(I see, Ono’s ‘Jealousy’….!)



Ono’s jealousy can lower the target’s level, status, and skill effects.



She used it to intentionally lower her own level.



(I honestly never thought of something so outrageous… I never thought we’d be able to use the enemy’s “appraisal” against them.)



And Arroganz, who believed in the information from the appraisal, was completely taken for a ride.



Perhaps, he thought that everyone except for Ichinose, Rikka and me, who had evolved, were all insignificant people.



That’s why he lost.



Nishino and Igarashi.



The two people he thought were just normal human beings, ‘evolved’ at the last minute, and overthrew his plans.



I guess he was so obsessed with me that he didn’t think that someone ‘other than me’ would be the key to turning the tides of the war.



In a way, it seems it really was his ‘arrogance’.



“Stupid … If she died, the skill should be transferred to me …. Was she captured? Then why hasn’t the remote suicide triggered……! This can’t be! This can’t be happening!”



Arroganz scratched his head.



It seems that he had planted something in her head so that the demon girl would explode if she died.



But that too was neutralised when she was charmed by Igarashi.



And if the demon hunter was neutralised, then Schwartz and Momo must have been released as well.



In other words, all his pawns are gone, and Arroganz is stripped naked.



“――Looks like the situation has been reversed.”



“～～～～～～～!”



At my words, Arroganz looked at me bitterly. 



I could hear the sound of his teeth grinding, to the point I felt like he would break them. 



“Why? Why did it turn out like this? The odds were in my favour! The situation should have been hopeless! So why, just why is my victory faltering?”



“Hah……”



It’s just like a child throwing a temper tantrum.



When things don’t go your way, you scream and yell.



I don’t know how you’ve survived this long.



Yes, that’s why he has been able to survive so far. It’s because he has believed himself to be absolutely right, and because he has been more honest about his desires than anyone else.



――But, you can’t continue on from there alone.



There’s only so much you can do by yourself.



That’s why you need to make friends to compensate for your shortcomings.



Each small cog in the wheel turns a larger cog and creates a bigger result than you could ever achieve by yourself.



If you think of your friends as nothing more than pawns, you wouldn’t understand this.



“Waun!”



[T/L: Ah, I missed this bark.]



“Momo!”



Momo came out from the shadows and looked at me. 



≪Momo is looking at you as if she wants to become your friend. Would you like to let her join you?≫



Ah, yes, that’s right. 



She was forced out of the party.



Naturally, I agreed.



≪The application has been accepted. Momo has joined your party.≫



“Uuun….”



Momo rubbed her body against mine.



It looked like she was saying, ‘I’m fine now.’



“……! (shake shake)”



“Kyuuuー!”



After that, Aka and Kiki were next to appear.



Now that the demon girl had been incapacitated, there was no reason for them to hide either.



“――Then, do I really need to go through all this again?”



“Kazutoー! Even Shiro! We still need to fight togetherー!”



Sora and Shiro, who had been waiting in the sky above, appeared on the battlefield.



≪You have received a mail≫



It was from Ichinose.



[――Even I am here!]



I guess she is already in a sniping position.



Of course I’m counting on you.



Ah, I am relieved. 



Ichinose, Momo, Aka, Kiki, Sora, and Shiro.



Just the presence of my friends gives me so much strength.



“It’s only ’til here, Arroganz…”



“What…?”



So far I was preserving my strength. 



But now that everything is over, I don’t need to preserve my power anymore. 



Right now, in this situation, I can go all out and use all my skills and powers.



“―― ‘Hero’s Anthem’ activate!”



A dazzling light enveloped the area.



≪Application accepted by the Chaos Frontier System Server.≫



≪Kudou Kazuto’s unique skill “Hero’s Anthem” has been activated.≫



≪All stats will be greatly increased.≫



≪The power of all skills will be greatly increased.≫



≪Party member Momo has acquired the unique skill “Jet-Black Run”.≫



≪All stats will be increased.≫



≪Party Member Ichinose Natsu will gain the unique skill “Meteor Strike”.≫



≪All stats will increase.≫



≪Party Member Aka gains the unique skill “Perfect Imitation”.≫



≪All stats will increase.≫



≪Party member Kiki gains the unique skill “Reflective Armour”.≫



≪All stats will increase.≫



≪Party member Sora gains the unique skill “Blue Scale Dragon King”.≫



≪All stats will increase.≫



≪Party Member Shiro gains the unique skill “White Dragon Queen”.≫



≪All stats will increase.≫



Inherent Skill: “Hero’s Tribute”.



The effect of this skill is an increase in all stats and granting unique skills to party members.



My trump card with foul effects.