kscans

Chapter 223 - The Last Trump Card

I was down.

Tina, her face contorted with rage, charged. The sword of light in her hand seemed to respond to its master's fury, glowing ever brighter.

Amon watched her, remarking, "Good spirit. But you're still immature."

His words held a hint of pity.

A monster was saying something, but to Tina, it didn't matter. In fact, she didn't even hear it. Only one thought dominated her mind: kill. That was it. She was completely different from her usual self, far from calm.

Tina put all her strength into a right horizontal slash.

Amon met the incoming slash with his flame-wreathed left claw. They clashed, their movements crossing as he parried her blow.

"Water Shot!" Tina shouted.

Innumerable bullets of water appeared around her and fired all at once.

From such close range, it was impossible to dodge. However, the bullets couldn't pierce Amon's body. But he grimaced in pain. It seemed they were at least causing him some blunt-force trauma.

"Child's play," Amon scoffed, creating a ball of fire from his right hand.

It was the size of a basketball, glowing with scorching heat. Tina fell back, but it was too late. The fireball was launched, flying straight for her. Given the distance, there was no time to dodge.

As the scorching ball of fire approached, Tina readied her sword of light in a high stance and brought it down with a single, swift motion.

The fireball was split in two. Though condensed, it seemed the magic's integrity was different at long range versus close range.

Tina immediately wreathed herself in wind.

"Gale Strike!"

She unleashed a violent gust of wind.

It had the power to blow away a house. Amon withstood it. He couldn't push it back, nor could he move. He was unable to counterattack, only defend. But he wasn't worried. Judging from her fighting style so far, the female warrior didn't have the skill to kill him head-on. Her sword of light was strong, but he could regenerate quickly. He felt no threat from her at all.

Just as he thought that, the wind stopped. In the cleared view, Tina was gone.

Where had she gone in that instant? He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Just then, he felt a murderous intent from above.

He looked up to see Tina, flying with her sword in a high stance. She had flown up the moment she stopped her attack.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Tina screamed, bringing her sword down with a battle cry.

Her target was his head. Was she planning to split his body in two? Amon instantly created a sword of fire from his right hand and blocked her sword of light.

The swords clashed. But Amon easily parried her blow.

Not only was their physical strength different, but since she was flying, she couldn't brace herself. The moment he found her, Tina's attack was doomed to fail. She was sent flying, bouncing twice before getting back up and charging at him again.

This was not Tina's usual way of fighting.

In the past, she would have calmly analyzed the situation and maneuvered to secure victory. But now, Tina lacked that composure. The sight of Shinsuke falling must have been a tremendous shock to her. After all, he had fallen before, but he had always been sturdy enough to get right back up. But this time, he had taken a direct hit while defenseless.

He was seriously injured.

It had been a year since she had seen him in such a state, since the Minotaur and the giant monster. If she were calm, she would have immediately checked to see if he was alive.

But her heart was so consumed by rage that she didn't even do that.

Amon mused, "Those in love are beautiful. But they also become blind."

His flaming tail slithered quietly along the ground.

The tail wrapped around Tina's body and unleashed a wave of heat. Tina screamed. The heat was so intense that sweat poured from her like a waterfall. The heat and pain caused her to drop her sword, and her body collapsed.

The tail released her, but Tina's body lay on the ground, unable to move. She groaned in pain.

Amon approached her.

"You were quite skilled," he said. "But you were too young."

He grabbed Tina.

Though battered and bruised, Tina glared at him, her fighting spirit undiminished.

"I take no pleasure in torturing the weak," Amon said. "I will cremate you."

As he spoke, his hand grew hotter.

Unable to escape his strong grip, Tina thought, so this is it, closed her eyes, and reluctantly accepted death.

Just then, a violent vibration shook the ground.

Amon's body bent into a 'C' shape, and Tina was released.

*

In my fading consciousness, I tried to assess the situation.

My body was heavy. A result of the fatigue from magic depletion and the previous attack. I didn't feel any bleeding, but several bones were broken. My left side, in particular, felt numb. This was very bad.

A loss of sensation was a sign of losing consciousness. I couldn't think straight. At this rate, I would die. But that couldn't be helped.

I had made my peace with that when I decided to live as a hunter. To think I would feel this way after living in Japan, a country where the thought of dying at any moment was a foreign concept.

So this is what it's like to die. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard a scream.

Tina was attacking Amon.

What was she doing? Why didn't she run? My mind was filled with such questions.

She was an adventurer, too. She should have been prepared for something like this. And yet, she didn't stop her attack. On the contrary, she was caught by Amon and was about to be killed.

No. Even if I was prepared, I didn't want to see her die in front of me.

That feeling took over, and I unconsciously muttered, "...'Awakening' Skill."

I had used my final, final trump card.

*

Amon didn't know what had happened. He felt a sharp pain in his side. Had someone attacked him? But that was impossible. The only one challenging him was the reckless female warrior. The others were still fighting the monsters. And yet, he had been attacked and sent flying.

Who could it be? No, impossible. There was no way he could be alive after taking that much damage.

Even if he were alive, it would be impossible for him to stand up.

But then, Amon saw before him a man glowing red from head to toe.

Power overflowed from his body. My magic was restored, and the pain subsided. No, that's not right. I just couldn't feel it. In fact, my left arm moved, but I had no sensation in it at all. It didn't hurt; I didn't even feel like I was moving it.

As I was thinking this, Tina, who had collapsed next to me, said, "Shinsuke? You're alive... or rather... that's..."

She was relieved that I was alive, but she looked at me with a mixture of surprise and concern.

"I'm ending this here," I said curtly, sheathing my katana and charging.

Now that I had activated this skill, there was no time to spare. Running out of magic didn't just mean defeat; it meant death.

Amon looked at me. "To think you're alive and moving. You're like a demon of war!"

He created claws of fire from both his hands.

Seeing Amon's attack, I thought... purple. Should I call it anti-demon? He was wary of that power. The fact that he was condensing the flames instead of wreathing himself in them was proof. But while that power was certainly effective, it had a drawback.

It lacked attack power. It nullified and cut, but it was just a normal slash. It didn't have the power to defeat an opponent in a single blow. The fact that I had wounded Amon but not defeated him proved it. I had learned that in this battle.

That's why I decided to switch to an attack method with high power per hit.

I drew my katana from its sheath with all my might. Sparks flew dramatically, glittering like fireworks. I manipulated the sparks, added more heat, and wreathed the blade in a blue flame that surpassed red flame.

It was a trump card I hadn't intended to use since defeating Danmes and the giant monster a year ago.

"True Inferno, Kagutsuchi."

The blue flame formed a long blade.

Seeing the flame from my katana, Amon shouted, "That flame... it's beyond the realm of what a human should be able to use!"

He charged, his claws of fire lashing out.

I met his attack head-on, swinging my blade down in a left diagonal slash. The katana and claws clashed. But there was no stalemate.

My katana sliced through the claws of fire. With a reverse swing, I sliced off his left hand. The hand fell, but no blood flowed. The cut surface was charred black. It had been cauterized in an instant.

"Kuh... Don't underestimate me!" Amon roared.

Flames erupted from his entire body, and his left hand was restored.

An absolute defense of regenerating flame. Since it wasn't anti-demon magic, he could recover quickly, but the pain must have been considerable.

I took a high stance.

"Cheeeeeeeestooooo!"

I brought my blade down on his defenseless right arm.

An undefendable blow that couldn't be properly blocked. Amon screamed. Realizing he would be killed at this rate, he immediately dispelled the flames and took to the sky with his wings, as if to put distance between us. His right arm hadn't regenerated. It seemed he was prioritizing escape. He hovered in the air, and feathers flew from his wings, raining down wreathed in flame.

The feathers moved erratically, making them difficult to read. But that didn't matter. I shot fire from the soles of my feet and flew like a rocket.

Several feathers attacked me from the front, but I countered.

"Fire Shot!"

I unleashed a burst of fire buckshot.

It hit the feathers, and they exploded and vanished. When I emerged from the smoke, Amon was preparing something.

His mouth was glowing divinely. A brilliance that couldn't be compared to any of his previous flames. I thought that defending would be fatal and that I should try to go around it.

As if reading my mind, Amon shouted, "Try to dodge! If you do, the female warrior dies!"

He glanced behind him.

Tina was pinned down, unable to move, by the flaming feather attack. A hostage to ensure a certain kill.

"Then I'll just have to meet it head-on!" I roared.

I raised my katana to a high stance.

Amon declared, "Your resolve is admirable! Receive this! Extreme Heat Wave (Spicule)!"

A scorching inferno shot straight toward me.

Its brilliance was that of the sun itself. A direct hit would leave not even the bones of a human behind.

"If you're the sun, then this is the flame that slays gods!" I shouted.

With a battle cry, I brought down Kagutsuchi.

The sun and the god-slayer clashed.

What would be the outcome?