CH 55

After they finished having lunch, the four started tidying up.

The packed the tools they used for cooking in a backpack, and Helvi noticed something as she was sending it back into the sky.

“…Hm, it appears we have an uninvited guest.”

“Eh?”

Theo did not understand what she meant at first, but soon, even he could feel the bloodlust, even before its source showed itself.

With a chill running down his spine, he looked towards where this presence was coming from.

Xena and Celia did the same, but also prepared themselves for battle.

“What is this presence? I feel sick.”

“It feels like that bandit guy from earlier, but different.”

Both were on high alert.

Theo’s fear made him take a step back, and Helvi responded by stepping in front of him.

And then, they saw it.

Some sort of black haze came out of the boss’ body, and although Theo did not know what it was, he did know that was the source of the presence he felt.

“What is that? Gross…”

“What happened to his left arm?”

Almost everything about his body was the same, but one thing was clearly different, the arm that the boss cut down to allow himself to escape from Helvi’s attack.

Somehow, it was back in its place.

Helvi did see the arm being retrieved, so she was not surprised to see it attached.

And although growing it from scratch would be difficult, Celia could put it back in place with her magic.

However, the arm looked strange. It was swollen, seemed to be about five times bigger than the right arm, and was dark red.

Clearly, it had been reconstructed when it was re-attached.

“Hi again.”

The desperation the boss had on his face when he ran away was gone, and it was replaced by a grinning expression.

“I didn’t want to see you again though.”

“No argument here. And that’s why I’m gonna make you disappear from this world.”

“That’s my line.”

The moment Celia said this, the boss closed in on Xena.

He moved so fast, all Theo could see was an after-image, although Xena and Celia could see him moving normally.

If anything, he seemed a little slower than before, probably due to his enormous left arm.

Said left arm was swung, aiming for Xena’s face.

“…!”

Xena crouched to dodge it, and took a big step back before the next attack could come.

She had confidence in her steel magic. Most attacks would bounce of her hardened body so, even though her reflexes were better than a regular person’s, she would often not bother dodging attacks.

She bled when the boss attacked, but she would have to be hit dozens of times in the same place for them to be fatal.

But this one, she dodged.

Usually she would respond to an attack on her face with one of her own, perhaps even a headbutt, but the senses she had been honing through her hundreds of battles told her she had to dodge this time.

“Hey hey. When we fought before you only dodged attacks to your eyes. Let’s have a nice brawl, this time I’m not dodging either.”

The boss said while grinning. He knew very well why she dodged.

“I don’t want to be touched by your gross arm.”

“Ah, is that it? It’s alright, it’ll only touch you for a second. After that, you won’t be in this world anymore.”

Said the boss while laughing, before noticing something and looking around.

“Then touch my magic for a second. Goodbye.”

Celia unleashed the magic energy she had been building up, and attacked the boss with wind magic.

She did not hit even once when they fought before, but thought the bigger target and slower speed would make him easier to hit.

“Oraaah!”

The boss swung his left arm, and smashed Celia’s magic.

“Wha…!?”

“What’s wrong? I touched it, but I think I’m still here.”

Celia’s magic had enough power to cut down a large monster like the black bear with one attack.

No matter how strong her opponent was, it should at least be injured if hit by it.

Even her partner’s skin would be cut, even with her steel magic.

But, even though her magic clearly hit his arm, there was not a single scratch to be found.

This meant that this strange arm surpassed even Xena’s steel magic.

If Xena and Celia were to continue fighting, they would have to target other areas of his body, but that would be hard due to the size of the arm, and how great of a weapon it was.

It seemed like a hopeless situation, but the two daringly smiled, as this made the fight more interesting.

“It seems this is more than you can handle. I can take over.”

Said Helvi, not knowing or caring about those feelings.

“Geez, are you going to steal our thunder again?”

“We can’t fight anything interesting with you around, can we?”

“Hmph, I see. Then I will face you when we get back, and I will not hold back.”

“No, we’d probably end up dead wouldn’t we?”

Helvi did not answer, and faced the boss again.

“I have something to ask you. You will not run away this time.”

“That attitude… It’s pissing me me off…! You’re not going to walk around thinking you’re the strongest for much longer! I’m the strongest!”

Said the boss without the same confident look he had before, almost as though he was trying to convince himself.

Helvi on the other hand looked calm, and responded to his opponent in a mocking tone.

“I am the peak, not someone indulging in power given to him. Know your place.”