Chapter 19 Change (4)

I am shaking, and that's for sure. Upon coming to this world, although I have only spent a day here, I can surely say that every beautiful woman of this world is crazy.

"Are you just going to stand there all day? Come on, I'll give you some slack, so come and have a go at me."

Looking at the happy grin on Millonia's face, I can easily tell she is thinking about what she will do to my body after she kills me. That grin—that terrifying grin conveys anything but good intention.

"Layland."

At Valeria's call, I turn my head abruptly to her. "Y-Yes?" I am surprised that Darth Valeria can call my name correctly.

"You won't die—I guarantee you."

In other words, what will happen from now on is undoubtedly dangerous—we use weapons after all!

Sighing lightly to myself, I smile bitterly. "I think it would have been better if you didn't tell me that..." Of course, my muttering went unheard.

I turn my gaze back to Millonia; she is still grinning like a kid who has gotten a new toy to play with. Looking down at the short sword in my hands, I gulp drily, and hold it the way those game characters I played hold it.

As I point the short sword to Millonia, I think about my next course of action. 'Calm down, Layland. You are bad at fighting, and you have no prior knowledge about it. What you have to do is manner what those game characters do.'

Pushing my left foot slightly forward, I slightly bend my knees to fortify my stance. 'Crap! I must look like a joke in front of them. But, hey, who cares?! As long as I am alive, I don't care how stupid I look.' Taking a deep breath, I then stare at Millonia silently.

"Hoh? You have a good posture, Layland. I'm impressed."

'Huh? Really?! Is she joking? She must be joking, right? Right?!' I am slightly excited by Millonia's praise, but I am experienced enough to not just accept a praise. The last time I did that, the entire class made fun of me after all.

—Layland, you will make a good wife with your cooking skill.

—Oh, thank you.

'Ah, no! My dark history! Why, Layland? Why?! Why were you so stupid back then?!' I am close to drown in sadness, but Millonia's sharp gaze awakens me from my thought. Correcting my stance, I stare at her seriously once again.

"You were thinking about something else, weren't you?" I keep my silence, and Millonia smacks her lips afterwards. "Well, since you don't look like having any intention to come at me, I'll come at you first."

Millonia holds her sword sideways, then starts walking toward me slowly. Slow, however, is not a really correct way to describe her pace, since it lasts only for a couple of steps.

"W-What?!"

"Dodge it well, Layland!"

By the time I realized it, Millonia is already in front of me, and she is swinging her sword at me. We were at least 65 feet apart from each other, but she eliminated that distance in just a second.

Swish!

Thanks to my newly enhanced body and the instinct I have honed from the beating I got for the past ten years however, I manage to dodge Millonia's sword. I then immediately take a step back, and thrust my short sword at her.

"Nice try, Layland!"

Of course, Millonia dodges it easily, but I'm still excited nonetheless. 'Holy shit! My body moves the way I want it to move!'

Due to my weak physique, I have never been able to move my body at the exact same time I picture my body move. Now that I can do that after getting my body enhanced, I am excited at how much I have grown.

'This might end better than I thought.' A grin slowly creeps on my face as I stare at Millonia.

I tighten the hold on my short sword as I think about the maneuvers those game characters I have played do, before deciding to do the easiest one.

Dashing at Millonia at a speed that slightly surprises me—I have run at my full speed to get away from the weird-ass tiger less than an hour ago, so I'm not really surprised—I jump when I am just a feet away from her.

I hold my sword vertically, fully intending on swinging it down fiercely upon my landing. With my weight added to the equation, my swing should produce a fairly strong impact on Millonia.

"This kid..." As expected of me, even Millonia is impressed—one can easily tell by her astonished look. "He is surprisingly dumb."

'Huh?' Her second remark terrifies me, but her next action doesn't allow me to dwell on it. 'Shit! She is swinging her sword at me!' At this moment, I realized I shouldn't have jumped that high; I give her time to swing her sword at me because of that.

Whoosh!

It feels like a wind breeze—it doesn't feel like a sword just opens up my abdomen for the second time that day. I land right in front of Millonia just a second after, and stare at her dumbly.

"You should keel over, unless you want your organs to spill out, kid."

"W-What do you mean?"

Millonia points her finger at my abdomen, and my eyes follow it obediently.

Spurt!

"That's what I mean."

I have seen blood before, but I am still appalled at the amount of blood gushing out of my abdomen. I merely stare at it silently because I am so dumbfounded, I don't know what to do.

"AAAHHHH!"

Of course, when the pain hits me, the story is different. I immediately keel over, drop the short sword in my hand, and clutch my opened abdomen as tight as I can.

"AAAHHHH! IT HURTS LIKE HELL!"

My eyes tear up for the second time that day, and I clench my teeth as hard as I can to somehow cope with the pain. Needless to say, it fails splendidly, so I ended up rolling from side to side on the ground, and wail like a pathetic baby.

"Tsk. This kid sure is loud. Just how low is his pain tolerance?"

"That's why I let you train him."

"With all due respect, Lady Valeria, this kid won't last even a second in the battlefield."

"That's why I let you train him."

"Huuh... I understand."

I can clearly hear the conversation between Valeria and Millonia—I am as awake as someone who has just had a good nap—but I can't focus on their conversation. I am too overwhelmed by the pain I am enduring.

"Oy, stop moving!"

Bam!

"Gah!"

I suddenly feel someone's foot on my head, and my body stops rolling entirely. Since I am held in my place however, the accursed pain is getting worse than before.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Tsk. You sure are loud, aren't you?"

I can see the disdainful look Millonia is giving me while she has her foot on my head, but I can't feel offended by that even in the least bit. She is pressuring me with Mana, and I can't even let my voice out.

With a wave of hand, she says, "I have cast [Silencer] on you, so you shouldn't be able to let out a single sound out of your mouth." She then smirks at me, and stabs her sword on my opened abdomen. "Enjoy your pain."

"..."

The pain comes afterwards.

I try to scream, but as she said, I can't let a single sound out of my mouth—not even a whimper. All I can let out is my breath that conveys none of my pain.

I feel a movement inside my opened abdomen, and I can see Millonia stirring my viscera with her sword. Just like when the weird ass tiger got me, I am wishing for the adrenaline to kick in, but that thing never comes.

Knowing that my situation is pretty much hopeless, I grit my teeth so strong I might risk breaking them, then grasp Millonia's sword with my hands. Her sword stops moving, but it doesn't take long until it moves again.

"Ku-ku-ku. You can be tough when you want to, can't you?"

"..."

As I try stopping her sword, I glare at her murderously, which is honestly surprises me—I didn't know I can do that. She quirks her eyebrow at first, but then she smirks in, what I can say, appreciation at me.

Her sword doesn't move even an inch ever since, and just like what happened to my feet when I was caught by the weird ass tiger, I can't feel the pain on my hands that are clearly cut by Millonia's sword.

'Ah, shit... I feel sleepy.' My vision turns hazy in each passing second, and I can feel my grip on Millonia's sword weakens. My head feels light, my body feels cold, then in the next moment, I lose my consciousness.

...

"Guhaa!"

I wake up with a startle, and quickly sit myself up. Patting every part of my body, especially my abdomen, I find that my body doesn't have a single scar.

"There are bloodstains everywhere, but I am fine, huh?" Looking down at the Demon King's Mark on my hand, I sigh bitterly. "This accursed symbol is both a blessing and a curse."

I look down on my clothes, and realization immediately dawned upon me. "Oh, my clothes can also fix itself—dope." I stand up, then pat my butt to clean off the dirt sticking on me.

"You have recovered, huh?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, my heart quickly sinks to the bottom of my stomach. I slowly turn around, and meet the owner of the voice.

"Let's go for round two," says the lunatic Millonia with a grin.