170. You've gone mad.
170. You've gone mad.
It was heavy.
And strong.
Attacks that made me not even dare to think of dodging.
—Kaaaang!!!
"Fuck....!!"
I had clearly stopped time for the dagger to block it.
So the shock transmitted to me should have naturally been zero.
But it pierced through. It pierced through the dagger and the impact reached my insides.
'How...?'
Since time was stopped, the dagger couldn't even vibrate.
The dagger that blocked the greatsword. Its attack shouldn't have been able to pass through me.
"A feeble wretch who relies on cheap tricks dares to touch our daughter Nae-miiiiii!!!"
"——Kghk...!!"
By common sense, that was correct.
But it was strange. The damage came through all the same.
No. It seemed to be mitigated somewhat, as much as I blocked, as much as I stopped, but even so, the pain I felt in my hands was beyond imagination.
I could endure if I wanted to endure.
But the fatigue that steadily accumulated in my body.
—Kagagak, kaang!
"Cough...!"
When I finally failed to absorb the shock and was knocked back, the man did not miss that opening and pressed the attack.
—Puhuhk!
"Kup——?!"
Faster than the speed at which I was knocked back.
He kicked off the ground. He struck my stomach with his foot.
I crossed both arms to block, but could arms really block a force that I couldn't even block with a dagger?
"Clench your teeth!"
"[——C-Counter...!]"
Fists flying in succession. Feet. Elbows. Knees.
Chrono used the best method he could manage to belatedly block the incoming shock and follow-up attacks and stepped back.
"Heng! Scurrying away like a little rat!"
".....Ugh....uu..."
For a moment, something seemed to rise up my throat.
The taste of blood. The taste of iron. A foul smell burning its way up from within my lungs.
My insides were wrecked. Pain reverberating in my internal organs. More than the pain burning on my skin, the pain of my insides being torn apart made my mind go hazy....
'...Insides?'
Insides.
Internal.
An attack that destroys the inside rather than the outside.
And in the game, seeing this phenomenon, it was answered 'like this.'
"Penetration..."
Dealing damage by piercing a certain portion of defense.
That was why, no matter how much I stopped time for the dagger to block, a certain portion of damage was transmitted to Chrono, who was holding the dagger.
"But now I know. I know your level. It's so pathetic it makes me want to die!"
"...Goodness."
Just as I was starting to get a feel for it, he even spat out a plagiarized line from some soccer manga as a finishing touch.
I think I understood. This was enough.
If I didn't know the reason, I couldn't cope,
but now that I knew the cause, the countermeasure was also simple.
"I won't even grant you 3 seconds of time until I kill you!"
Kuuuung!!
A true strike. The man kicked off the ground hard, rising up and gripping his greatsword in both hands.
I blocked the sword strike, brought down with all his might, with my dagger.
—Kaaaaaang!!!
"....You wretch."
"Huuuuu...."
The shock didn't come.
It was only natural.
'Penetration damage, after all, is damage you take when you 'defend'.'
In short, all I had to do was not defend.
All I had to do was defend without defending.
To anyone else, this would sound like utter nonsense, but at least for me, this was something I could fully realize.
Because, after all....
"Using... using cheap tricks on me again!"
I stopped the time of the 'dagger'.
The dagger with its 'time' stopped was frozen along with that space.
Just before the dagger and the greatsword met, I let go of the dagger.
Of course, I can only stop time for ordinary objects as long as I'm touching them—but it was a different story if I borrowed the power of Squite.
'Since Squite can adjust the time of anything she's wounded.'
I wounded Agape with Squite.
A wound, just a tiny scratch really.
And through that scratch, I stopped Agape's time.
Then, even if only for a moment, Agape could remain in a 'Time Stop' state even after leaving my hand—honestly, I wondered if it would work, but I was glad it worked out well.
"Fine, then I'll cut you along with your dagger!"
"....Huuu."
After that, it was simple.
I blocked the greatsword.
I dodged the kicks.
Attacks that were truly hard to dodge, I deflected with a counter.
At first, my muscles had frozen up against the overwhelming force and my reactions were slow, but once my body loosened up a bit, reacting became much easier.
As my body warmed up, my movements responded more flexibly, and toward the end, I seemed to have even a slight bit of leisure.
And so,
as things went on,
—Sugak....!
"What...?!"
I turned the blade.
I tore the skin and cut the flesh and muscle.
In an instant, a long cut stretched from the man's wrist to his shoulder.
He blankly touched the wound with his other hand and stared at me.
"....Isn't this enough of a test."
"............"
I thought this was a very common cliché plot development.
He probably wants to see my skill. Saying he needs to know if I can protect Mars is probably an extension of the same reason.
And on that point, at least in terms of 'strength', I didn't think I was completely outmatched.
Since I had not only deflected his attacks but even managed to wound him.
So I wanted us to end this well without making each other's faces turn red....
"Since when did I say this was a test?"
"Huh?"
"I've never done any test!"
".....Heeya..!"
Why were the things a mother and daughter did so exactly alike?
And as if trying to show even greater recklessness than Mars, the wound I'd just given him was even slowly healing.
"You touched my treasure without any fear."
"That... if you want to go there, your daughter over there touched me fir—"
"——Shut up! Shut your mouth and dieeeeee!!!"
"Fucking seriously."
He ultimately gripped his sword again and charged.
It seemed he was slowly getting serious, as his speed and destructive power were higher than before...
—Sugak...!
"——Ugh...?!"
I hadn't gone completely serious yet either.
As I began to seriously split time and increase my speed, the wounds on the man's body started multiplying exponentially.
The cut wounds gradually increasing all over his body. Red lines of blood flowing out between them.
"You... stop flitting about and stay still!"
"If I stay still, you'll crack my head open, won't you!"
"Of course! I'll crack your head open and bring our daughter Nae-mi back!"
"How can I stay still when I hear that!"
As if I were some kind of idiot.
I increased my speed even further and inflicted wounds on the man's body.
His physical state soon looked like he should stop, if only because of the bleeding.
Just when his whole body was turning red with blood and I thought he would give up,
—Kuuuuuung!!
"Ugh...?!"
The man stomped the ground so hard it shook, drawing strength from somewhere.
Because I had been accelerating, my center was shaken for a moment and I had no choice but to slow down briefly, and in that instant, the man raised his sword again and struck down.
'It's coming.'
Once more, I crossed the two blades and defended with the Time Stop technique.
—Kaaaang....!
"Huh...?"
A weaker sound than I expected.
Not the full power he had before...?
"Did you think I'd only keep swinging my sword forever!"
"Kugh...?!"
He let go of his greatsword.
The man quickly closed the distance toward me as he released it.
As he followed up by swinging his fist upward as if scooping the floor, I crossed both arms and prepared a [Counter]....
—Chwaaak!
"Ugh, my eyes...!"
Scooping the floor was meant to grab a handful of sand on the ground.
As I faltered for a moment at the sand scattered between my arms——
—Shwiiiiik!
"I've got youuuuu!!!"
"Fuck...!"
I could feel it.
I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.
It was coming.
A fist.
Toward my stomach. A fierce fighting spirit, as if intending to pierce through my ribs and smash my heart.
I hurriedly lowered both hands to block and protect my stomach.
And then,
—Puhuhk!
"Kghk...?!"
A sharp pain I felt on my 'head'.
Pain that crushed my nose and made my vision go blank at the same time.
Ringing tinnitus in my ears. A dazed sound. Murmuring noise.
'I got hit in the head...?'
Even in a dazed state, I steadily analyzed the cause.
The fighting spirit had definitely been aimed at my stomach. I had tried to block my stomach.
But my head flew back. So the real attack was aimed at my head—on top of a dirty play, a fake using fighting spirit as well.
"Cra... (crazy...)"
I thought he would just come at me simple-mindedly, but he's a fellow who knows how to fight dirtier than I ever imagined.
As I clenched my fist to hide my trembling fingertips, I soon felt the vibration of the floor again.
—Kung....Kung....Kung....!
".....Heh."
He could have come right away if he wanted to.
Vibrations as if deliberately announcing himself. Movements as if warning he would beat me to death right away.
It was one of two things.
First, as he called it a 'test', this might be giving me a bit of a handicap.
Or else, it was a predator's amusement, telling me to slowly feel despair...
...Or neither, or both.
'Anyway, one thing's certain: this is no time to be like this.'
Since I couldn't just keep getting hit, I stopped holding back and froze time.
"Huuuuu....ugh, kuhuhng!"
Tears flowed from my sand-filled eyes, and I could see a little ahead.
I blew out the blood filling my nose, wiped it roughly with my sleeve, and looked forward.
"....Is he a fucking bastard?"
Judging solely by the sound of his footsteps, there seemed to be a margin of at least 5 steps.
Because the footsteps themselves echoed from a bit of a distance.
Yet when I actually opened my eyes—a fist was right in front of me?
"He really fights dirty."
Even the sound of footsteps was a fake.
The real thing was a face punch with hidden fighting spirit and sound.
It was so dirty, so petty, and simultaneously only full of certain attacks that Mars's case felt downright gentlemanly in comparison.
'No, maybe it's actually fitting for a 'warrior'.'
He didn't hesitate to stomp the ground and use dirt and sand.
If it meant winning, he deceived fighting spirit and even sound.
A warrior uses whatever they can use. If winning is possible through it, there's no reason to hesitate.
"Suuuuu...."
If my opponent came out dirty, I had no choice but to come out dirty too.
As a side note,
[Suuuuu────!]
"Oh my.... It looks like Papa is starting to like your boyfriend, hey!"
The sight of him attacking, using feints and even covert maneuvers, unlike his usual self.
The sight of him using even things he'd been reluctant to use once he got into it, saying it was an attack of the weak unbefitting of the strong, seemed to genuinely amuse her a little.
'Anyway, if I'd known he could endure this long...'
...Would it have been better for that child if I had stepped up first instead?
"When Papa gets serious, it gets a little troublesome..."
Since he hadn't yet reached the 'blown his top' level, she could stop him if she tried, but she had a thought that the guy she jokingly said would become half a cripple might actually come out half-crippled.
[Shwiiiiik!!]
"...Is this as far as it goes?"
He was looking dazed after taking one hit.
Was his body actually on the weaker side, just as his appearance suggested?
Just as she was thinking she'd have to figure out a training schedule later, planning to teach him the Ares Guild-style physical training method once he came to his senses—
—Kwajik!
[Kghk...?!]
".....Oh my?"
An unexpected sound.
The sound of bones breaking and flesh splitting.
There was no way a punch merely touching a face would make that sound.
[...You did it first?]
[....You bas-tard...!]
"Good heavens...."
The moment she thought he had clearly lost his grip,
He held his sword in both hands and blocked Papa's fist by setting the blade 'sideways'.
He could certainly have set it vertically to block, but this was an attack laced with 'killing intent' shown 'to destroy the fist'.
"Does he have more backbone than he looks...."
Around the time she thought things would get a bit more fun to watch.
"....Mama."
"Hm? Why are you calling me?"
"That's.... that...."
Only Mars felt it.
"That bastard's eyes have kind of turned...?"
"Hmm... But it still doesn't seem like he's shown his 'true self' yet, shall we wait a little longer?"
"No, that's not what I meant...."
Chrono was by no means the type of person who showed 'fighting spirit'.
If he showed anything, it was 'killing intent'. If he possessed anything, it was 'viciousness'.
Not someone who enjoys combat,
but someone who fights solely 'to kill'.
'...That's the look of someone who's going to cause an incident.'
But still, wouldn't it be okay for now?
If only they didn't provoke him further, it seemed like it would end appropriately.
"If he can't get serious, shall we make him get serious?"
"Mama?"
Wait.
Mama, not that.
"Ah, a mic test!"
Ahem.
I said, not that.
"Come to think of it, I didn't tell you the penalty for the test, did I?"
"Mama....."
Mars clumsily tried to stop Mama.
But Mama was already resolved.
"If Chrono loses~~ Mars will be engaged to the top-ranked contributor of Ares Guild!"
[.....Pardon?]
"Ah, come to think of it, the top-ranked achiever this quarter is.....Jupiter? He's a student cadet at the same academy, isn't he?"
[...............]
"Ah."
Chrono's figure beyond the screen.
Mars knew it intuitively.
"We're doomed."
His eyes had turned.
And quite thoroughly at that.