Chapter 738

It was supposed to be a simultaneous assault that dealt certain death. However, our expectations were overturned. Was it evaded? Or did she slip through somehow?

『Damn!』

Before I had time to think about it, I sensed the presence of an attack, and I hurriedly activated my teleportation. I saw a magic bullet piercing the place we were standing earlier.

I was wary that Hilt would follow us, but she showed no signs of doing so.

When I checked again, I found Hilt glaring at us in a readied stance. Her right arm was deeply slashed and her left arm was crushed in half.

In addition, a large amount of blood was pouring out of her eyes and nose.

However, her position had not changed at all from the beginning. Then how did she manage to avoid our attack?

《I believe the attacks from the individuals Fran and Urushi had been perfectly recognized, and thus her body could be turned halfway to block both of them simultaneously.》

What Hilt did was simple. She rotated her body counterclockwise and used her left elbow to deflect Urushi's charge while parrying my blade with her right hand.

《This is not impossible considering the physical enhancement of Dimitris Style Secret Art, Heaven. Success rate estimated at 20%.》

『So Hilt took a gamble and won.』

《Affirmative. However, her arms were still damaged due to being unable to perform a complete parry.》

That said, I never thought that she would survive our lethal attack with that level of damage……

『So the blood coming from her eyes and nose are the price for pulling off such a stunt?』

《Those are believed to be caused by the recoil of the Dimitris Style Secret Art Heaven.》

『But did that happen when she used it against Neidhart?』

《It is very likely that this is a costly technique. Since she was unable to recover in the two days since the last usage, the repercussions are even greater than before.》

I guess these Dimitris style secret arts are a sort of double-edged sword, equivalent to our Potential Release.

If she uses it continuously in a short period of time, she may be shaving years off her life expectancy. Even so, Hilt wanted to win that badly. It took tremendous determination.

Fran felt the same way.

「……Amazing.」

She muttered in a respectful tone.

Their gazes intertwined. Hilt, however, does not move.

Was she too drained by secret art to move? Or has she switched to a wait-and-see strategy? She still has a huge amount of ki surrounding her body, but has taken great damage as well.

It was especially bad in her right arm, which had been deeply wounded by Heavenly Judgment. It had barely regenerated at all due to the effect of the divine attribute.

Although our lethal attack was avoided, we still have the advantage. Fran readied me with a renewed look of determination.

（Master, Kanna Kamui!）

『On it! Urushi, get in the shadows!』

（Woof!）

I activated Kanna Kamui, one of our trump cards that nearly killed even Diaz. Bolts of white lightning poured down on Hilt, intertwining with each other.

But Hilt showed no sign of evasion. Still in her stance, she raised her wounded right arm towards the lightning.

Was that supposed to be a defense?

「Aaaaahhhh!」

The mass of ki released from Hilt's right hand collided with my Kanna Kamui. For a moment, it seemed as if the two were in competition, but the force of the thunderbolt soon prevailed and a white flash of light engulfed Hilt.

Boooooom!

Just like in the battle against Diaz, thunderstorms raged through the barrier, accompanied by shockwaves and roars.

There was no way she could block this at the center of the blast zone. I don't know if that was enough to be a victory, but it surely did some good damage.

（Let's go!）

『Yeah!』

Fran's face was filled with determination. She was about to run through the thunder and shockwaves and grab her victory, when…

Crack!

「Ugh!」

With a dull thud, Fran's ankle was suddenly crushed. Yes, crushed. It was as if she had been grabbed by an invisible force.

Fran lost her balance and tripped forward.

I quickly supported her with my telekinesis and fully deployed my barrier. And at the same time, an additional tremendous impact shook my barrier.

『It's Hilt's Air Grasps!』

There was no doubt. She had counterattacked even under these circumstances. And that's not all.

『She's coming!』

In the aftermath of the still raging Kanna Kamui, I sensed Hilt's presence dashing at us in a straight line. Her speed was ridiculously fast.

「Haaah!」

「!」

I couldn't warn her in time, and by the time we realized it, Hilt was already right in front of us.

Hilt had a horrifying look on her face, and her whole body was covered in wounds.

Burns from the explosion. Bruises and lacerations from flying debris. The right third of her beautiful face is burnt off, including her now-nonexistent right eye and eyelid. Yet, I could still feel her beauty, perhaps because of the overwhelming aura she exuded.

Her right arm, which had been thrust out against Kanna Kamui, was already gone from the shoulder onwards.

That was not an attempt to block Kanna Kamui. She had intended to survive by using her right arm, which could no longer move, as a shield.

She must have thought that she could turn the tables as long as she was alive, so she purposely took our big move to lure us into a false sense of security. It was a desperate strategy that I never thought Hilt would dare to play against Fran, since Hilt was considered the superior fighter.

Hilt, who was worn out from the Neidhart battle and unable to utilize her full strength, may have been prepared to be on the losing side from the beginning.

It looked like she had concentrated all her healing power on her left arm. The fracture was already healed.

I could see Fran gasp in the face of the fastest movement we've seen all day.

「Dimitris Style Secret Art - 'Dragon'!」

For a secret art, the movement was extremely simple. She lowered her back and thrust her left palm out, twisting it in a spiral motion.

However, everything was done with super godly speed, and the divine attribute was concentrated in the palm of her hand.

A divine blow with all her might, delivered with the physical boost of the secret art 'Heaven'. Simple, and at the same time, the most powerful. This was the true nature of the Dimitris Style Secret Art 'Dragon'.

Maybe the huge cost of 'Heaven' was due to this usage of the divine attribute too.

Hilt's palm easily broke through my barrier and slammed into Fran's abdomen.

Boom!

A heavy thud echoed through the air, a sound no human should be able to make, and Fran was sent flying horizontally. I think she might have broken the sound barrier there.

If she had been slammed into the barrier, she might have died outright. However, a black creature intervened between Fran and the barrier.

「――!」

「Gyah……!」

It was Urushi. He tried to cushion Fran by using his body as a shield. It was better than the hard barrier wall, but neither Fran nor Urushi are left unharmed.

The sound of bones cracking could be heard all over Fran's body as she let out an inaudible scream. Blood and gastric juices gushed from her mouth like a fountain.

Urushi was in the same condition. No, Urushi took the majority of the impact, and was perhaps even worse off. All he can do is crouch on his hands and knees with broken limbs, breathing irregularly.

「Gah…… Buf……」

『Urushi! It's too dangerous to keep going! Heal your wounds in the shadows!』

（Kuu……）

With that, Urushi was out of the match. With superspeed regeneration, he should recover in less than an hour, but it would be difficult for him to come back in time for this battle.

Fran managed to avoid death, but was also mortally injured. Yet she did not collapse.

「A…… ah……」

Her unfocused eyes were still fixed in the direction of Hilt's presence, and Fran stepped forward with an unsteady gait.

She tightened her grip on the hands holding me.

『Fran! Can you use instant regeneration!?』

（I'll still…… still……）

But she didn't hear me. Her consciousness seemed to be in a daze. I'm using healing magic, but damage from the divine attribute was slow to heal. Without regeneration, it will take her a long time to get her out of the danger zone.

（Still…… win……）