9-23. Once Again
Reizen, who was standing in front of me, quietly took a stance.
I also unseath the kageorochi.
Slave mark …….
As long as it is there, this guy will have to keep fighting.
I’d like to find his master and get rid of him somehow, but for now, I think I’ll have to neutralize him first.
I am the only one who can stop him.
That said, …… and probably I’m the only one here that can kill him..
I’m only going to incapacitate him.
With that in mind, I decided to fight.
Reizen lowered his posture and lunged as if to leap out of the way.
In close combat, Reizen has an overwhelming advantage.
It would be unwise to face him frontally.
However, they were on a roof.
It would not be possible to gain good manoeuvrability on a foothold that was always at an angle.
Apparently, Reizen was the same way, moving slower than usual.
But for some reason, I was able to move like usual.
It felt nostalgic.
With a light step, I moved backward.
Just by doing that, I was able to keep a certain distance.
Of course, Reizen, who was running at full speed, was faster than me, so if I kept going like this, the distance between us would be completely closed.
“[Explosive Fist]!”
Reizen, who has a total resistance, released his explosive fist at his feet, gaining mobility.
Reizen’s sudden approach took me by surprise, but I tried to deal with it calmly.
The second explosion fist was unleashed.
If someone were to take it at close range, it could be fatal or seriously injure them.
“[Water shield.]”
The water shield is dug into Reizen’s fist.
The explosion occurred in the water, and the power of the shield was rapidly reduced.
He tried to pull his fist out immediately, but it would not be so easy to let go.
By manipulating the burst water and the remaining water, I pinned Reizen to the spot.
“This is going to hurt a little bit!! Clench your teeth!!”
I clenched my fist while screaming.
With his fist clenched tightly and firmly, I hit Reizen in the face with all my might.
“[Wave Fist]! Shockwave version!”
“GHA-!?”
The damage was dealt normally, thanks to the defense penetration.
The shockwave was delayed for a moment and blew Reizen’s body away completely.
It appears that the defense penetration can also ignore resistance.
If it were this much of a blow normally, Reizen’s resistance and shock would have been enough to nullify it.
It would indeed kill Reizen if I used the rupture and the internal disturbance wave, so I went as easy on him as possible.
That’s probably the best I could do.
After rolling on the roof several times, he fell off the roof.
I jumped down after him.
I’m a little worried about the rest of the guys, but …… you know, …… I’ll hold this guy back.
“Fufu, hahahaha ……”
“What’s wrong, buddy? Looks like you’re having fun.”
“That really hurt, bro.”
“Obviously.”
After standing up quickly, he brushes off the dust from his clothes.
Pain is something normal for him.
Rather than something normal….. that was quite some damage for him for a long time
He rubs his cheek and smiles again.
He stretched and lightly jumping to see how his body was feeling.
“……Ouren-aniki,……. I’m really sorry …….”
“I’ve heard the story. No need to apologise, since all of your movement is …… controlled by the slave mark.”
“That’s right. It would be meaningless if I, who should be able to contribute to everyone, was sleeping.”
Reizen bowed his head.
Even if his movements are restricted by the slave mark, he is able to communicate at least a little bit.
After that, he …… quietly took a stance.
“……Please forgive me,……!”
You don’t know what will happen to Prince Kreis if you don’t do it, do you? That’s fine, then.”
“……”
“Moreover,……”
I drew my Kageorochi.
I deployed Water Spear Volley around me, and pointed its tip to Reizen.
“I’ve always wanted to fight seriously once.”
“I’d take you on if you’d told me.”
“I’m sure you’d go easy on me.”
“Y-yeah, maybe. ……”
“Right?”
There are only a few people who can match Reizen in close combat.
Someone with excellent control of their body language.
Most of the attack can’t get through Reizen’s defense, and he also moves as if he’s flying around.
This guy is really a moving fortress.
Well, under the current circumstances, Reizen can’t take it easy on me, so if I lose, I die!
But don’t worry.
I’ve prepared countermeasures.
“Don’t blame me if something happened!!”
“Bring it on!”
If we’re going to engage in a battle, I want it to be a fun one.
We laughed at each other as we stepped into the fight.
He ran forward with a low posture and hit the ground first.
“[Earth Spirit].”
“Eh?”
Earth Spirit out of sudden!
No way, wait a minute!
The ground rose up and became like an arm and attacked me.
Thinking this was a bad situation, I immediately moved away.
However, it seemed to have a tracking function and attacked me to catch me.
“I have no idea it could do these things! Hnggh-…! Wave fist!”
I clenched my fist and unleashed it at the mass of dirt that attacked me.
The moment a dull thud sounded, the lump was broken up and fell to the ground.
However, Reizen comes flying at me from behind it.
I quickly swung my blade to attack, but Reizen was watching me closely and deflected my trajectory with his explosive fist, avoiding the attack.
After slamming his fist into the ground, he once again went low and lunged at me.
Without using my skills, I would not be able to win.
With that in mind, I deployed my water barrier first.
However, there was no way he would charge into the barrier.
As I expected, Reizen jumped over the barrier and approached me.
Then, I deactivated the water barrier.
Using my infinite water manipulation, I manipulated the water and caught Reizen.
“Ghee!”
“Off you go!”
GAGAGAGAGGGA!
A series of water spears were created, and they hit Reizen at once.
Although this did no damage at all, it seemed to be enough to blow Reizen away.
After slamming his body into the ground several times, he readied himself with his hands at the right moment.
The moment he landed cleanly, he hit the ground again.
“[Earth Echo]!”
“Uaah!”
… grumble grumble grumble!!!
The ground shook.
It knocked me off balance, and I couldn’t stand properly.
However, because Reizen has earthquake resistance, he is able to run straight through the terrible shaking.
At this point, he would surely land a blow.
“[Howl]!”
A voiceless roar completely stopped my opponent’s movement.
But the ground rumbling still continued.
I must get my feet off the ground as soon as possible.
I grabbed one of the reamed water spears and lifted my body into the air.
Reizen seemed to be still unable to move, so I launched a flurry of attacks.
“[Water Bullet <Sharp>].”
Successive water bullets are fired from the infinite water manipulation.
This is another attack that is completely meaningless to Reizen, and yet it did not cause any damage.
After being attacked for a while, Reizen was finally able to move and began to move the ground again with his Earth Spirit.
“That almost killed me, dangit!”
“In my case I already killed two times!”
“Oh that’s right!”
I gripped the hilt of the Kageorochi.
Lowering it to the flanks, I checked my surroundings with the haze, and also grasped the attacks from unseen positions.
From the front and the right side.
These attacks are coming from these two directions.
Double attack.
It is enough to neutralize all the attacks!
“Kageorochi, [Tenwari]!”
Slash up the Shadow Serpent toward the right side.
Before he could confirm that the slash went flying, he pulled back the hilt and made a horizontal cut.
Two tenwari flying almost at the same time.
BHAAAMMM!!!!
ZBHAMMMMM!!!
The clumps of earth that had been created were cut in two, and Reizen was caught up in the second tenwari and blown away.
I take a deep breath while cutting.
“Fuuh ……. My bad. Didn’t mean to make so much noise.”
I just apologize for that.
I don’t regret it, though!
Blasted away, Reizen was looking at the sky as it was.
Sighing heavily, he remembers the time when he met The Voice again.
