Chapter 113: Three-Way Battle - 12
Chapter 113: Three-Way Battle - 12
As Jiha drew his sword and moved forward, Asira raised an arm to block his path.
She shook her head, her expression fraught with distress.
"That's enough. I'll handle it from here."
"Don't go back on what you promised."
"I know you were right, so just—"
"Mayan."
At Jiha's call, Mayan, who had been listening from outside, stepped in and stood beside him.
As per his orders, she'd been keeping watch outside alongside Asira.
With Enril's aide Mayan now at his side, Jiha spoke coldly.
"Let me make something clear, even now. Your faction and mine are separate. I'm the one directing this, and I decide how it ends."
.......
Jiha stared hard at Asira, who was struggling to suppress her shock and anguish.
"You still haven't properly grasped the situation. Allow me to make sure you do."
Jiha pushed her arm aside and stepped forward.
Asira clenched her fists and bowed her head.
Having witnessed the duplicity of her most cherished subordinate, she was too shaken to move.
Kamain blinked at Jiha as if staring at a ghost.
"How are you completely unharmed...?"
"If I were you, I'd be looking for an escape route instead of running my mouth."
Jiha shrugged casually.
"You prided yourself on how sharp you are, so you should've figured that if you just killed me, you could manage the aftermath. Isn't this where you desperately try to placate Asira and keep this from going public?"
"...It was all a trap!?"
Kamain roared like a wounded beast, and Jiha nodded.
"That's right. Go ahead, try thrashing your way through the net."
Boom!
Kamain mustered every scrap of Mana he had and lunged with the Triangle Jump he'd shown so many times, sword swinging.
Flames as thick as a man's thigh tore violently through the air.
But Jiha wasn't there.
"Wha—"
Thwack!
Kamain, caught off guard mid-charge, staggered backward as a kick slammed into his face.
Jiha, who had taken to the air to strike, descended back to the ground.
"Wings...?"
Jiha could fly for short bursts.
The reason he'd fallen from ten meters without a scratch was that he'd deployed his wings partway down.
The sound had been the result of carefully adjusting his descent speed to deceive Kamain.
"Ever hear the saying, 'Above every jumper, there's a flyer'? Guess you'd be hearing it for the first time, being a half."
.......
Unlike Asira, a pureblood demon, or Yura the succubus, Kamain the half had no wings.
Kamain groaned.
"H-How does the likes of you have wings when even I don't..."
"Save it. All you need to understand right now is that you're about to get beaten black and blue."
"Urgh... nnngh..."
Kamain's old assumption—that Jiha's Mana was, at best, only good for shadow tricks—shattered completely.
His gaze unconsciously flicked past Jiha to Asira, who watched in somber silence. Kamain let out a battle cry.
"Hraaaah!"
"Oh? Don't want to lose in front of the lady?"
Kamain charged desperately, sword swinging and fists flying, but Jiha evaded them all while landing clean counters at will.
Kamain's flame-wreathed sword was certainly threatening, and his acrobatic agility would overwhelm an ordinary person.
But Jiha had already seen Kamain's attacks and movements countless times.
Flame or lightning, as long as the blade didn't touch him, it didn't matter.
And for all his acrobatics, most of it derived from Triangle Jumps and leaping variations.
When it came to mobility, Jiha with his wings had the advantage.
Against a 2.5-dimensional Kamain, Jiha could respond in three dimensions.
Jiha vaulted clean over Kamain's frontal sword swing and drove his heel hard into the back of Kamain's skull.
It was an unconventional counterattack, made possible by long hours of wing practice.
"Grrk!?"
Kamain, hit from a blind angle, tumbled ingloriously across the room.
He lost his grip on his sword. It rolled across the floor and its flames went out.
"Nnngh..."
Watching Kamain struggle to rise, Jiha steadied his own breathing.
Continuous wing use drained his Mana heavily. He might look dominant, but Jiha was barely holding on.
'I need to smash this bastard myself here and now.'
Bringing in Enril or Yura to subdue Kamain had been an option, but Jiha had other ulterior motives—and plans for the future—so he intended to catch Kamain with his own hands.
Kamain, still straining to get up, looked back at him.
His face was swollen from Jiha's blows, and his bloodshot eyes held none of his usual composure.
Jiha, masking his labored breathing, sneered.
"You don't really grasp what you're doing right now, do you?"
"What..."
Kamain, who had been struggling to get up, froze at the next words.
"The moment your true nature was exposed, you started trying desperately to kill me. Am I wrong, Sir Knight?"
.......
And all of it, right in front of Asira.
Kamain's face went white as he finally realized.
He'd self-destructed, walking right into Jiha's provocation.
So convinced that he could quickly kill someone like Jiha, that a swift kill was the only way to smooth this over, he'd been slow to realize what he was actually doing.
More than anything, all the pent-up resentment toward Jiha had simply erupted.
What must Asira be thinking, watching him now?
Watching him swing his sword with killing intent, not out of righteous duty but to hide his own disgrace?
"Ah, Lady Asira..."
Asira was gazing at Kamain, her expression filled with grief.
Sickened by the continuous unveiling of her most trusted subordinate's ugliness, her fists were trembling.
"We're still fighting, remember?"
Jiha curled his fingers at Kamain.
"Hurry up and get back on your feet. Come at me."
.......
Now, no matter how Kamain fought, no matter how he tried to kill Jiha, he could never recover Asira's trust.
If anyone grew suspicious and dug into his past conduct, all the crimes he'd committed would be laid bare.
Kamain had now lost everything.
The only thing left was his sword.
Gripping his sword tight, Kamain sprang to his feet.
"Gruaaargh! Graaaagh!!"
The living room shook from his roar of despair and ruin.
The flames burning along the blade turned blue, and from behind, Asira cried out in alarm.
"Stop, Kamain!"
"...Fuuuh."
As if her plea hadn't reached him, Kamain fixated on Jiha alone.
The whites of his eyes were darkening to black. Jiha knew instinctively that his opponent was no longer the same.
'He's awakened his power as a demon.'
The flames, no longer content to merely engulf the sword, spread onto Kamain's arms.
Even as his own arms slowly burned away, Kamain's gaze stayed locked on Jiha.
"I'll kill you, you piece of shit! If it's the last thing I do!"
"Guys who say that sort of thing always seem to fail."
Jiha sneered outwardly but remained cautious inside.
He couldn't let it show, but he'd burned through substantial stamina and Mana himself. In contrast, Kamain had thrown everything he had and resolved himself to die in order to kill Jiha.
A man who's made his peace with death isn't to be underestimated.
'He'll charge straight ahead. It's obvious his acrobatics lose out against me. His reason is nearly gone, so he can't pull any clever tactics. Pure, raw emotion toward me is driving him to endure even his own arms burning.'
Kamain intended to bulldoze through with overwhelming power.
'I've been sticking to hit-and-run this whole time. He must believe that in a straight-up contest, he can still beat me.'
By objective specs alone, Kamain was far ahead.
Jiha had researched Kamain's information in advance while concealing his own.
At the same time, by forcing Asira to learn the whole truth, he'd completely shattered Kamain's mental state.
Now, Kamain was attacking with nothing but hatred.
Calculating carefully, Jiha curled his fingers again.
Whoosh!
At the provocation, the blue flames blazed furiously and spread all the way to Kamain's shoulder.
Burning even his own flesh, Kamain charged.
'Don't evade. No, I mustn't evade.'
Jiha's instincts screamed a warning. That flame-clad sword was different now. Dodging it would be dangerous.
As Kamain rushed him, Jiha leaped a beat later, summoning Shadow Hand.
Kamain swung his sword and lashed out at the Shadow Hand trying to ensnare his arm.
But that was exactly what Jiha wanted.
"Hup!"
Strike before the strike!
Having delayed Kamain's attack timing by two beats, Jiha carved his blade down diagonally.
Facing Jiha's direct attack for the first time, Kamain faltered slightly but clenched his teeth.
A mere Grade 3 sword. Against his Mana-reinforced body, a fatal wound was impossible—
Shrrk!!
But Jiha had wrapped the Wind Blade, pouring every last drop of Mana into the slash.
Invisible wind sliced viciously along the path of Jiha's sword from Kamain's shoulder down to the opposite hip.
"Grraaaugh!!"
Kamain, his body torn along the diagonal, screamed with bulging eyes.
His torso ripped open, his upper body in tatters, Kamain squeezed out the last of his will and swung his sword.
"Guh!"
Jiha flung himself backward, but the flames on the sword surged and swelled as it sluggishly neared.
He had definitely dodged properly, yet the exploding flames caught his upper garment.
Jiha ripped off the burning clothing and hurled it away. The garment tumbled across the floor and soon crumbled to ash.
Had he shed it a moment later, his body would have burned with it.
"That was close..."
Even though he'd torn it off on contact, his skin was reddened and blistered. Jiha steadied his breathing while looking down at his own torso.
Truly a razor's edge.
The ability Kamain had displayed at the very end clearly allowed his flames to spread even without contact.
If Jiha had tried dodging again—no, if he'd retreated even an inch slower—his whole body would have gone up in flames in an instant.
It was a victory won by hiding the Wind Blade until the final moment.
Jiha looked down at the fallen Kamain.
Drenched in blood. He still breathed, but left as he was, he'd die.
"Fuu..."
The sense of accomplishment was fleeting. Pain seared through his upper body, drawing out a groan.
His stamina and Mana were both nearly depleted, making even basic movement difficult.
The injuries weren't immediately fatal, but Jiha's wounds were severe as well.
"Well, then..."
But he had spectators. He couldn't let it show.
Just as Jiha turned, schooling his expression, a cool sensation washed over his back.
The heat in his body subsided, and the blisters vanished.
Asira had placed a hand on his back and was healing him.
"...You worked hard."
Her voice was drained and heavy as she spoke, her gaze lingering on the fallen Kamain.
Severe blood loss. Kamain's condition was critical.
Jiha frowned and warned her.
"Don't waste your pity. That's exactly what's going to ruin you."
.......
Once Jiha's wounds had improved somewhat, Asira pulled her hand away and walked toward Kamain.
"Hey. Don't."
"I will take responsibility."
Even as Jiha objected, Asira answered firmly.
Looking down at Kamain, she lamented sorrowfully.
"...I've made a terrible mistake."
The knight knelt beside her dying subordinate, placed her hand on him, and began channeling Mana.
'You explain it to her and she still won't listen, just keeps choking herself.'
Jiha frowned at the sight of her giving treatment even to a subordinate who had continuously deceived her, but he said no more.
She wasn't the type to listen anyway.
Mayan approached and spoke.
"...So it's over now."
She glanced at Jiha for a moment before clearing her throat.
"I'll say it on Lady Enril's behalf. You did well."
"Over? What's over?"
At Jiha's curt reply, Mayan furrowed her brow.
But Jiha wasn't teasing. He meant it.
His gaze was fixed on Asira's back as she tended to Kamain.
Does a war end just because you catch a swift horse?
You've got to catch the knight riding it.