Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Thrilling
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Thrilling.
The basement reverberated as Debiona let out a booming laugh.
*Whooosh—*
A mace head the size of an adult man's torso cleaved through the air at high speed, swung toward Zero.
“Urk.”
Aura use prohibited.
That meant facing her now only with the naturally enhanced physical abilities gained from becoming an aura user.
Normally, aura users spread aura through their bodies to boost defense, but right now, they had consciously released it all.
Zero narrowly dodged and stared at Debiona, who cackled madly with unfocused eyes while swinging the mace relentlessly.
Zero's body had revived without consuming any living beings, making it fundamentally close to a mana body.
In other words.
‘Without aura—the mana flowing inside for body techniques and swordsmanship—I'm as weak as Lord Adelian.’
Physical durability at Adelian's level!
One solid hit from that mace, and he'd be out of commission!
‘Dangerous.’
“Hahaha!”
The moment Zero dodged Debiona as she slipped between him and Kane, gripping the mace long like a top and spinning in a wide circle, that thought crossed his mind.
Kane, meanwhile, was in danger for entirely different reasons.
“I'll smash your legs first. Heh heh heh, gotta save the face for last.”
‘I wouldn't know normal human durability.’
The mace grazed past his face, the wind from it tousling Kane's black hair.
Just a fingertip's breadth away.
Dodging by another finger's width, Kane slightly furrowed his brow.
‘Adelian's not even a good benchmark—that guy's honestly weaker than a regular person.’
Not using aura didn't mean downgrading the physical enhancements gained from awakening as an aura user back to normal human levels.
The issue lay here. Kane usually controlled his leaking mana to some degree, so to others, he appeared as a strong regular person or a skilled aura user with good mana control.
But in reality, he was currently an aura master.
So even without using aura, he had no feel yet for how much to dial back the naturally enhanced physical abilities from becoming an aura master.
Adelian was far too weak, and Zero was only a bit better than Adelian if he controlled his aura.
Debiona clearly had body-related traits; even without aura, she wielded what looked like a 100kg mace.
The casino staffer acting as spectator and referee had enhanced overall physical abilities from gathering aura without fully suppressing it.
Thus, there was no way to gauge the standards for aura users who had turned off their aura.
‘But Debiona would know.’
This wasn't her first or second time doing this, so overreacting would seem suspicious and ruin Adelian's plan.
Zero and Kane's thoughts aligned.
‘Dodge everything and end it.’
* * *
Not only did it belong to the Kruger family, but her looks were top-tier from any angle.
The thrill of being able to inflict violence on such a person.
Debiona swallowed hard, savoring the moment.
A massive mace that could serve as shackles just by placing it lightly on someone's body.
She swung it like a willow branch, chasing the two.
Like a lion pursuing rabbits.
‘I could devour them in one bite.’
Gray hair that looked like it couldn't kill even a single rat. How good would it feel to smack Zero's cheek?
Kane wasn't some delicate beauty mistaken for a woman, but prettier than most—how refreshing would it be to snap his ankle?
‘Just one hit.’
One strike anywhere with this monstrous mace, and they'd be groggy.
Then he could heal them just enough not to die with potions and enjoy them as he pleased.
“Just one painful hit, okay?”
My fist hurts more than a 100kg mace, though?
Debiona's eyes gleamed wildly as she spun the mace in one hand.
“Take just one hit, and then you can just lie there afterward?”
“I... decline.”
“Idiot.”
Her short temper made it hilarious that Kane spat that out after Zero finally answered her repeated questions.
“If Adelian throws you away broken, I'll take you.”
Isn't that noble virtue?
* * *
‘Ambitious dreamer.’
Pubescent girls are like that. Looks like she hasn't failed much before.
I watched Debiona, hyped up, smashing the iron bars with the mace head bigger than her body, punching holes in them.
Maybe because aura use was restricted, Kane and Zero were sweating a bit and breathing hard, so Debiona thought she had the upper hand, toying with them like a cat with mice.
‘I'll bet my wealth trait they sweated exactly that much on purpose.’
I acted a little anxious on the surface—trembling my leg slightly or whatever.
But it was pointless; Debiona, wary of suspicion, was already fixated on Kane and Zero.
So now I lounged with arms crossed, enjoying the show.
“Luna. Status upstairs?”
[It's back and forth with no big gap opening up.]
Cowards.
Rachel was obviously using dragon power just enough to recover losses when it looked like she'd lose.
“Take a hit! Come on, get hit!”
*Whooosh—*
Her speed had definitely dropped from earlier.
Debiona's traits only boosted physical strength—no stamina or endurance buffs.
“One dead is fine! Just die!”
Locked in stalemate, Debiona finally lost reason, leaping high and swinging the mace in a wide arc.
To disrupt Debiona's superhuman strength with unaugmented attacks, it had to be now, mid-air.
In that instant, Kane slid across the floor, forcing her ankle up and altering her stance, while Zero kicked the wrist gripping the mace.
“Eek...!”
*Boom!*
A massive crash.
The mace slipped from Debiona's grasp mid-swing, tracing a parabola, gouging a long trench in the floor before embedding itself. Debiona rolled across the ground too.
“Doesn't matter, I can do it barehanded!”
Kane charged at Debiona as she sprang up like a coiled spring, maintaining her momentum.
One wrong grab from those hands, and a normal person's flesh would tear off in the shape of her fingers.
So that's why he didn't mimic that far.
“Ow! Let go!”
Kane grabbed Debiona's wrist, wrenching her arm back while pressing her nape with his other hand. She screamed, and Zero hesitated.
In that moment, Debiona shoved Kane back with superhuman force like toppling backward, twisted free, hurled him into the iron-bar wall, and lunged at the hesitating Zero with arms wide.
“Ugh...”
Zero seemed to resolve something, dodging her hands and diving into her embrace instead, cupping her cheeks with both hands and locking eyes.
“...!”
“What the—! Stop! Stop right there!”
A silent scream.
In that split second, Debiona convulsed and toppled backward. The referee casino staffer shattered the iron bars with aura and rushed in.
“Killing's against the rules!”
“She's not dead.”
As Zero laid the limp Debiona on the floor, the staffer yelled at him, and Kane replied.
Apparently, Zero had briefly emitted killing intent to knock her out, but it was so intense the staffer thought she'd been killed.
“But that strong killing intent... Anyway, she's breathing.”
That's buoyancy for you. The desperate shout from moments ago didn't register.
The air in this room right now was imperceptible.
He guessed Zero had just unleashed killing intent to faint her, but he couldn't feel that tension.
As if I weren't here.
As if I didn't belong, merely floating.
“The match is decided, it seems. Tell her when she wakes to pay up on the bet.”
It served as a defense mechanism protecting me in this unfamiliar world, or like now, strongly affirming my detachment from others.
I smirked at the casino staffer lifting Debiona, then led Zero and Kane out of the basement.
“Zero, why'd you stop midway?”
Wouldn't it be harder to knock her out with killing intent?
When Kane had her pinned briefly, he could've just struck then—why hesitate? Zero replied he'd messed up.
“Without aura, I didn't know how much force to use to knock her out in one go...”
“Ah...”
“Yeah, that was tricky.”
Fair enough; it must be hard for Kane and Zero to grasp the standards of aura users not using aura.
In the empty hallway, I pulled out the codex, purifying and cleaning their appearances spotless before heading upstairs where Rachel was struggling.
“By the way, Zero, you've grown a lot.”
Worth picking this guy up. Back when I dragged him from the first labyrinth, he cried over bread.
Shaking off the odd sentiment, I spoke with a pleased feeling, and Zero answered with a subtle expression.
“Um... I was already taller since the spirit forest.”
“You two idiots.”
I reached to confiscate Kane's perception-lowering badge as punishment for picking a fight, but he stepped back.
“Zero. How many hairs from that beauty salon madam do you have left?”
“Didn't count precisely, but a few more remain.”
I grinned triumphantly at Kane, flashed a deliberate smirk, and opened the door.
“Ughhh!”
“Huff... huff.”
Blazing heat poured out.
Dmitri was drenched in sweat, Rachel's hair disheveled.
Leaf dozed off, and only Luna sat straight.
Though her eyes stared blankly into space.
“What's the situation here?”
Kane and Zero, hungry from the workout, headed to the food table inside as I muttered blankly. Rachel glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
“It's a crucial moment right now, so don't break my focus!”
“Yeah! This is life-or-death for us!”
Dmitri too. What the hell.
Trembling hands playing 1-coin, 2-coin bets—it seemed like a big deal to them.
“Young master... you're here?”
“You look tired.”
I laid the dozing Leaf against the wall properly, draped my robe over him, and looked at Luna's somewhat relieved smile.
“They've each bet 150 coins, and neither's dipped below 50.”
I popped a crepe and grape wine Zero brought into my mouth, shrugging.
“Guess the green juice tasted good?”
I tossed a casual jab at Rachel with a grin; her shoulders twitched.
“The... world of competition doesn't allow cheats.”
Suit yourself. Who can stop a dragon's stubbornness?
I fiddled with the ring under my leather glove.
Kaiman, neutralizing the fire essence by pouring in ice and water mana stones, would gradually attune to it, eventually unable to separate for long periods.
‘That's what I'm banking on while stirring things up.’
But if Kaiman failed to neutralize it and absorbed it himself, that happened late in the process.
So it was wise to assume he might roam more freely than expected now.
Building my foundation before he targeted me was one approach.
Connect with the rear factions.
Connect with the imperial family.
And.
“I... I won!”
I burst out laughing at Rachel jumping up in tears and Dmitri clutching his neck, collapsing.
‘Make my party stronger.’