CH 317

Now that I think about it, my life really is full of fighting, isn’t it?

It really seems like I’ve been fighting nonstop.

This was in spite of the fact that I was just your average, quiet guy that you could find anywhere.

But these fights had a way of finding me.

Perhaps I was just wrong to want anything else in this post-apocalyptic world.

I had to continue to fight if I ever wanted freedom and rest… That’s how unfair life could be.

“…Now, come at me.”

This would be the strongest enemy I had ever faced.

The strongest person in the Demon World.

And so what? Who cared about titles right before a fight?

It didn’t matter now.

After all, it was his arrogance as someone powerful that led him to modify the residents of the Demon World.

The one who is trying to make beasts without fangs. And I would not allow him to do it.

And so I charged my whole body with mana.

It felt good. I could tell that it was spreading throughout my body.

Since I was in a vessel, I was limited when it came to using special abilities.

But I could use ‘Body Strengthen,’ and so I raised it to the limit.

As I had just fought two of Yamato’s men, I had consumed about half of my mana.

But I would make do.

I dodged Yamato’s swift attacks while launching counter attacks of my own.

My fists scraped Yamato’s face.

Even though I was close to hitting him, he remained expressionless.

He was still not going all out.

It was as if he was trying to measure how much power he needed to use in order to defeat me.

And I could tell, just by fighting him. He had a lot of power left.

Being merely strong would not be enough to raise you to Lesser High King in the Demon World.

“I noticed this before, but you are quite experienced when it comes to fighting.”

“Of course, I am. If you only knew how many desperate situations I’ve come out of.”

His voice was so calm. Damn it.

And here I was, giving it my all.

I dodged desperately and punched desperately.

That’s how it continued.

Yamato dealt with it silently.

But after a while, his fists started to move with more speed.

The only reason that I was able to keep up at all, was because I had trained so long with martial arts.

Both as a human and as an Ogre.

It was because I had the same soul.

All the training and techniques were a part of my soul now.

But things would only get worse for me.

That’s what happened when you fought someone who was stronger.

The possibility of winning was small. And so I prepared my usual trump card.

Only this time, the other me was not here.

My powerful buddy was gone. And I would have to fill that hole on my own.

(It’s fine. I can do it.)

As I dodged the attacks, I started to understand Yamato’s attack patterns.

While fighting him, I learned that Yamato and I really were similar.

This origin type, Yamato Takeru no Mikoto was supposed to be specialized in physical strengthening.

Usually, the physical types were weak to magic.

However, Yamato’s fighting style was different from the usual physical types.

He would fly in the air and even unleash magic bullets.

But was he an all-rounder? Not exactly.

To me, it seemed less like pure magic, and more like an ability that was the result of being very skilled at handling mana.

“Well, then. It’s time that I take this more seriously.”

“Oh, so you were holding back.”

He said with a look of disinterest.

Damn it. I wasn’t holding back. And yet, it hadn’t been enough.

And I did not have much mana left.

I had so much at the start, and now it was almost empty.

So, what to do?

I had to fight back with what special abilities I had left.

If there was one thing that I had a lot of, it was knowledge concerning combat.

It wasn’t just my knowledge. But the accumulation of thousands of years of warriors who trained in the art.

The result of theorizing, studying, and polishing.

And I had learned it.

But it was still not enough to be effective on Yamato.

So now, I would change tactics.

“…Oh!?”

For the first time, Yamato raised his voice in surprise.

Of course, he did. I had not shown this move even once before.

“Mana absorption. Where did you learn to do that?”

He sounded interested.

If you were in a Personification vessel, others would not be able to see your mana level.

But the fact that I was in a vessel at all would tell others that I was at least equal to a high-ranker.

In the past, when I had met Yamato, I was just a dying Ogre kid.

And so that’s how he would think of me.

Even though he understood that I had evolved, he would not be able to imagine ‘how I had evolved.’

(No…maybe he has seen through me, a little.)

He was like a monster.

So it wouldn’t be strange if he saw that much.

But…

“But…you didn’t expect me to be able to use this, did you?”

“Indeed. It’s a surprise.”

Perhaps he had thought that it was his own original ability.

I had never heard of anyone else absorbing mana from someone.

“Since you’re surprised, why don’t you show me how you do it?”

“I see… If that’s what you wish.”

He sounded a little enthusiastic for once.

Yes, the road I had chosen was incredibly simple.

To see who could steal more mana from the other.

That was all.

How did you have to move in order to get the advantage?

You had to think while fighting. It was like a battle of the mind, only mana was involved.

I would absorb Yamato’s mana and deal damage.

And Yamato would take back what I had stolen.

As of now, it was like a seesaw.

The mana was taken and then recovered.

Of course, Yamato was much better at absorbing it than me.

And so things would only get worse for me if nothing changed.

“And that’s where this comes in handy.”

I put my hand on Yamato’s chest and activated mana absorption.

Mana that was incredibly dense flowed into me.

(This really is like a cheat.)

Residents of the Demon World used mana just by living.

This was because mana was in every part of their body.

Mana was the energy that allowed you to move. It was like calories.

More of it was depleted if you moved vigorously or used magic.

You also used mana to heal wounds and recover from exhaustion.

So being able to absorb it from an enemy really was like a cheat skill.

This was one of the reasons that Yamato was the strongest in the Demon World.

Could there be anything that gave you a bigger advantage than being able to absorb your opponent’s mana?

And Yamato’s fighting style involved fighting at close quarters.

Not only was he good at this, but he had the skill and power to hit the enemy hard.

And he could steal mana at the same time.

Yes, Yamato really was overpowered.

“So, how does it feel? To get a taste of your own trick?”

The reason that I had waited to use it was very simple.

I wanted to fight a little first in order to decrease our mana.

And then we would absorb it from each other. It would look like it was something that I wanted desperately.

And Yamato fell for it.

Of course, he did. He was much better at absorbing mana.

And so if it became a contest, then he would win.

“…Why?”

He looked confused after having a great deal of mana taken away.

“Yes, I wanted to see that expression. But I’m not going to explain this.”

It was the iron rule of professional wrestling. Attack their weak spot.

Let him be afraid of what he didn’t understand.

I pressed my hand into his chest again and absorbed his mana.

Ah. It felt good.