CH 287

Episode 287 – At the End of the Struggle to the Death…

Author’s Note: This chapter is written from Ahmed’s POV.

What commenced from that point on was both the best, and worst, fistfight ever. If Kronak were in a calm, sane state, he definitely wouldn’t have traded blows one for one with me like this, in an all-out clash of strength.

If I punched him in the right cheek, Kronak would punch me right back in the right cheek. If I drove a fist into his stomach, he would send a fist right back into my stomach.

My body was already at its limit, and I was only holding out due to sheer willpower alone. I was striking with my fists in a way that would focus the damage inside of the body instead of outside the body. In such a close-range fistfight, only my blood was being scattered, and Kronak’s body, which was covered in a black exoskeleton, was gradually becoming dyed with crimson.

Though Kronak had no visible wounds on his body, he must have sustained considerable damage. The carefree expression on his face had contorted into a look of desperation. It might have been subconscious, but his body was slowly backing up as if he was running away.

It was proof that in the face of my overwhelming strength, he wasn’t accustomed to engaging in a fistfight on equal footing. He seemed to dislike voluntarily taking damage, and so he was subconsciously trying to run away.

“Kyahat! …Why aren’t you collapsing?!” (Kronak)

“If I… fall down… this fun time… will come to an end, won’t it?” (Ahmed)

While swinging our fists at each other, we were practically speaking right in each other’s faces. My face was a swollen mess and my field of vision was poor, and I couldn’t even make a proper facial expression. Even so, the glint in my eyes was enough to convey to Kronak how much fun I was having.

“You’re insane… Die, die! Hurry up and die!” (Kronak)

Letting his impatience show, Kronak rushed forward with all of his might, but I countered the rush with a flurry of blows. The actual insane one just called me insane, but there was no way I wouldn’t enjoy fighting an opponent that I couldn’t beat even with all of my strength.

Every time I swung my fist, I felt my movements becoming sharper and sharper, and I could actually feel myself getting stronger in this short period of time. I wished that I could spend the rest of my life indulging in this melee, but I could feel the end of this period of supreme bliss approaching.

Once every few blows, my consciousness would fade out, and I would only remain standing through pure determination. Only after receiving the next attack would I be able to momentarily regain my consciousness.

I knew that the light of my life had already gone out, but I would absolutely never fall down before this guy in front of me.

“Why?! Why won’t you fall?!!” (Kronak)

“Heheh. You’ve… run, too… far. C-Come, here…!” (Ahmed)

The moment Kronak tried to retreat again to escape the force of my fist hitting him directly in the heart, he noticed that there was a wall right behind him.

Indeed. After trading several dozens of blows with Kronak, who had been gradually backing up the whole time, I had finally cornered him against a wall.

“Y-You… can’t, run…away, now…” (Ahmed)

“Guuuhat. ―Pant, pant. Can’t run away…? Me…?” (Kronak)

“Don’t… run, away, with, magic. Fight… with, your, fists… to the end.” (Ahmed)

One more hit. I slammed my fist into his heart just like before. With the wall behind him, my left fist connected, perfectly transmitting the force throughout Kronak’s body.

He spat out a mouthful of bluish-black blood, and the magic spell that he had been trying to form fizzled out. Kronak leaned against the wall and slumped down, but I wasn’t going to stop this fistfight until one of us was dead.

I drove my right fist into his chest once more as he fell, forcing him even further down. I waited for a bit to see if he would strike back. But as soon as I saw that he didn’t, I immediately followed up, this time slamming my left fist into his heart.

From continuously punching his hard exoskeleton, there were shards of bone sticking out every which way from my fist, but that didn’t stop me from hitting him.

Then, after a few more punches… as I swung my fist down, I felt it sink in along with a cracking sound.

I looked and saw that a crack had formed in Kronak’s exoskeleton, and my fist had gouged out his heart, piercing all the way through his back. Bluish-black blood spurted and flowed out, and Kronak’s expression was dyed with horror as he tried to struggle and do something or perhaps try to punch me.

……It’s over, huh?

I watched Kronak’s arms droop lifelessly to the ground, and I realized that the life-or-death struggle that I had enjoyed from the bottom of my heart had come to an end.

I had lost heart for the first time, but now―with a rush, a sense of fatigue that I had never felt before assailed my entire body, and my vision began to fade.

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I was glad that my body could hold out until Kronak was defeated, but… judging by the feel of it, I was going to die soon, too. I couldn’t even move a finger, and my body was unable to even resist the weight of gravity anymore.

I could no longer stay on my feet. But just as my head was about to hit the ground, I felt my body being propped up.

Seeing that both parties had stopped moving and that the fighting had stopped, Dion and Smash, who were cheering loudly for me, rushed over and caught me before I fell to the ground.

“Eliza! Are you okay?! Dion, quickly pour all of the recovery medicine we have on her!” (Smash)

“I’m pouring a high-grade recovery medicine on your back! But, the healing of the wounds is…” (Dion)

“It’s… a waste, so… don’t. I don’t… have, long, left… to live.” (Ahmed)

I couldn’t even feel the sensation of recovery medicine, but it seemed that Dion had used a high-grade recovery medicine on me. I told him it was a waste and tried to stop Dion’s hand.

“Let’s hurry up and return to the city! We can still make it in time to see a doctor!” (Smash)

…That’s right.

I thought I wouldn’t have any regrets if I ended up winning the best, and worst, fight of my life, but…

I wish I could have talked to Lewin more.

I want to go to more places with him.

Even now, I still regret being strangely shy and pushing him away when we reunited again.

At least at the end, I wish I could have talked to him one last time.

“…Di…on. Smash… Thank you. Please… take, care, of… Lewin.” (Ahmed)

Using the last ounce of my strength to thank them, my vision grew darker and darker as the regrets swirled around inside of me like a tempest. Soon after, I could faintly hear their voices, but I wasn’t able to make out anything they were saying anymore.

And then, my consciousness became distant… and I drifted off into a deep sleep from which I would never open my eyes ever again.