Chapter 196: A wind and a flower
"Next time, call my name when you are in crisis."
It was fortunate that Isao had come, but if he hadn't, then...
So, he hoped that she would call his name next time so he could open the "Infinity Castle" for her.
"Um, I will."
Yet Isao's keen eye caught something peculiar about the lifeless body of the woman he had just beheaded. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled Aiz into his protective embrace, channeling his magic to heal her.
Aiz was obedient and clung to him directly when she was healed tightly, without letting him go.
"...if you hug me that hard, I can't breathe."
"...sorry."
Aiz apologized sincerely and loosened her arms, but she never let him go.
Her hero.
Before her father disappeared and left her alone, those were the words he told her.
"Find your own hero."
She found him, and she knew that he was the one.
Only Lefiya and Lulune were stunned when they saw Isao.
"Aiz-san..."
While Lefiya was in relief that Aiz was saved, she cried, feeling extreme sadness as the woman she longed for had become a woman in the embrace of a man; Lulune was stunned by the one who appeared.
"Th-The Centipede! Isao Iinuma!"
It was impossible for Lulune not to know Isao, especially due to his feat after defeating hundreds of the Apollo Familia and even killing its leader. Moreover, his way of fighting mostly made him stick his body almost near the ground, his unbeatable feat, along with the tattoo on his neck, making people call him the "Centipede."
Well, he was also called the "Higan," as the red spider lily flower tattoo on his neck was also impossible to ignore. This ominous yet beautiful flower of death had become one of his nicknames, too.
Among all the adventurers, while Loki Familia and the Freya Familia were famous for being the strongest Familia, if it was individual popularity, no one could ignore Isao.
Even a Level 4 adventurer wouldn't dare to say that they could defeat Isao easily due to how ruthless he was.
While others mostly knew him for his feats in the War Game against the Apollo Familia, his business, newspapers, and also his feats at making a free school for the orphans, Lulune knew his ruthless and notoriety side the most as many criminal organizations were slaughtered by Isao.
Singlehandedly, cleanly, mercilessly.
Those who tried to harm him were all killed by him and never realized that they were all killed by him, like a group of insects that were preyed on by a centipede that had invaded their nest.
Or rather, in the impression of her god, he said, "It's like he is trying to cover his ugly side. All the good things he does are just a disguise for him so people will think of him as a good person."
"Huh? Then, isn't he a bad person?!"
Hearing such a naive question, her god only laughed.
However, when Lulune saw Isao for the first time, she couldn't see the ugly, filthy, and evilness on his body. Instead, what she saw was an incredible charm that could even seduce anyone, including deities.
Isao appeared dangerous yet somehow bewitching, tempting those who saw him to come closer like a carnivorous plant that seduced an insect to come closer to being eaten.
"Stay here."
"What's wrong?"
Nevertheless, Isao didn't bother about Lulune and Lefiya, as his eyes were always on the corpse of the woman.
However, when his knife was about halfway through, she reached his hand, so Isao quickly let her go and escaped.
"Tsk! Don't you dare—"
The female killer thought that Isao would fight her to the end, but—
"Match with me, Aiz!"
Before the female killer finished her words, Aiz made her move and sent a killing blow!
"—?!"
The female killer raised her blade quickly, blocking Aiz's attack, but her hand was torn, yet at that moment, Isao came and cut her tendons!
"Dammit!"
Under the combination of attacks of Aiz and Isao, the female killer could do nothing.
"Dammit! Dammit! Fight me fairly!"
Yet, Isao and Aiz ignored her and kept attacking her together. This had never been a duel, and this female killer was too stupid to pick a fight against them!
Watching their combined attack, Lefiya, Lulune, Riveria, Finn, and the others were stunned, in a daze.
If Aiz were the wind, then Isao would be that falling flower that fluttered within the wind.
The flowers might be harmless, but they could disturb, and sometimes, this flower was also poisonous.
It was a beautiful combination, yet deadly at the same time.
The female killer was overwhelmed, and even if her body could regenerate as long as she could, she couldn't do anything against the two, who kept running, never facing her frontal, always never accepting a direct confrontation.
In the end, she was fed up and wanted to run away, but she suddenly lost all of her power and was seemingly about to melt.
She was startled and quickly focused on all of her power to regenerate her body!
"This... poison?!"
The female killer looked at Isao, this cunning and dirty guy who kept attacking her vitals with hatred, knowing that this was a guy who had put poison in her body, slowly, yet surely, until she couldn't move anymore, fully incapacitated. More importantly, she was also surrounded, and with her body, it was impossible for her to live.
Yet, Isao ignored her and looked at Finn, who had come closer. "Do you want her to die or live?"
"Can you keep her alive? I have many questions that I want to ask her."
"Okay, but take responsibility if you lose her."
"I am sorry."
"It's fine. I will make it easier for you to carry her to the surface."
"What are you going to do?"
Isao used his ice manipulation ability and froze this female killer.
"....."
Watching how he froze this female killer without hesitation, they knew that they couldn't make him an enemy no matter what.
---
I don't expect many of you to want an MC with a working adult background, but then again, let's see how it goes. It is rare to see an anime with an attractive adult woman as a main heroine, after all.
By the way, I am going out.