Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: 10 Minutes
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Low-lying chill.
The Extermination Squad members slowly tightened their encirclement, ready to respond if Pinden A so much as twitched.
But the one who moved faster than anyone was none other than Pinden A herself.
Her leap produced not even the faintest sound. The two axes moved without leaving so much as an afterimage, already slashing down from above the superhuman's head.
Kwaaaang!
“……!”
Even Oscop, called a superhuman, had to hurriedly raise his greatsword in panic—Pinden A's speed was too much to follow with the eyes.
“Grrrk!”
Clearly, he wore specially made exceptional Unbreakable Armor, so there was no way he should be outmatched in raw strength.
Yet he couldn't push back the axes crashing down with full weight behind them.
Whiiiiiing!
Thus, in humiliation, Oscop had no choice but to go all out. Golden energy surged into his greatsword, and its sawblade began to rotate.
But Pinden A, already aware of the greatsword's function, had swiftly pulled her body back.
The moment she landed on the ground, she charged at the Extermination Squad members again without the slightest hesitation.
The Unbreakable Armor they wore couldn't be broken by axes.
But she had faced countless Extermination Squad members and their armor already.
Woodddd-crack!
An Extermination Squad member's neck twisted unnaturally as the axe blade struck his head hard.
The armor was unscratched, but the man inside couldn't withstand the impact—his neck bone snapped outright.
“……!”
The Extermination Squad members faltered at her brutishly savage strength and fighting style.
Fear began to rise within them as their supposedly invincible Unbreakable Armor was breached in a single blow.
Her blood-red eyes swiftly hunted the next prey, seizing the moment.
Kwang!
Kwang!
Kwang!
It was strength beyond human limits. She snapped the necks of enemies clad in armor equivalent to a knight's plate mail with one strike each.
“Huuuuw!”
Each time her ragged coat fluttered, an Extermination Squad member fell.
Even if they tried to respond, it was their first time facing something like this—they couldn't help but fall into panic.
They had only ever hidden behind their overwhelming defensive Unbreakable Armor, carrying out one-sided slaughters.
That was why they were called Extermination Squad members—pest controllers.
But she was no mere pest.
If anything, she was a wolf.
One that had crossed the mountains.
In the end, the Extermination Squad members had no choice but to draw their rifles instead of their suppression batons.
Even shooting allies was fine—the armor would block it. So they pulled their triggers without hesitation toward where Pinden A was.
“Come at me, you bastards!”
The last of her mana exploded from beneath her feet, forming a storm.
The bullets, swept up like fiercely whipped snowflakes, flew into the sky.
And in that gap, Pinden A dove back into the midst of the enemies, swinging her axes.
She felt vitality continuously injecting into her through the gloves she wore each time she felled a foe.
‘It's called the Hand of Blood Clan. Feed it blood while using it, and you'll gradually feel your stamina recover.’
‘You're giving this to me?’
‘Yeah, it suits you well.’
Remembering that conversation as he gave it to her, Pinden A's lips quirked up pathetically.
Pinden A grew stronger the longer the battle dragged on.
But to her, life itself was a struggle.
27 years.
She had fought for a full 27 years without rest, battling unjust oppression and tyranny to seize her freedom.
“Graaaaaah!”
That essence erupted here and now.
Everything that was Pinden A poured out.
She could no longer be called a wolf.
Fierce Beast.
Pinden A had become nothing less than a monster—a calamity rampaging against the Republic.
Whiiiiiing!
“Settle down, you bitch-beast.”
A chilling whir accompanied the sawblade greatsword thrusting heavily into her side.
Bullets flew in at the same time.
Not aimed at Pinden A, but at the spaces she could dodge into—she sensed it instinctively.
In the end.
Kwadudududuk!
Pinden A blocked Oscop's sawblade greatsword with her already worn-to-nubs axes.
In the end, the axes shattered completely, and the sawblade greatsword tore into her flesh precisely before striking her.
Kwang!
Pinden A flew toward Kidron's main gate. She tried to force her trembling legs to stand again.
Tang! Tang!
Precisely aimed bullets embedded into her shoulder and thigh.
She didn't even have the energy to scream.
Her body, having poured out everything, met the external cold, billowing steam.
“Ha, ah…….”
Pinden A exhaled, desperately slipping her shaking hand into her coat's inner pocket as a final struggle.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
But fresh bullets slammed in, refusing to let her try anything—the hand went limp.
With it, items tumbled from her bosom.
A cigarette case and lighter.
And.
A single photo.
A picture of Deus Verdi staring impassively from in front of a wall painted with wings.
Blood poured from her entire body, but for some reason, not a drop stained that photo.
“Hah.”
In absurdity, Pinden A let out a hollow breath.
“Fuck, still handsome even now.”
Finding her own sentiment ridiculous, Pinden A slowly raised her head.
Beyond the prison camp's ground, past the encircling Extermination Squad members and Oscop, a pure white sky loomed, ready to dump down massive snowflakes.
Was that man looking at a sky like this too?
Looking at the same sky as her?
They were so far apart, yet somehow connected—the feeling wasn't bad.
For him, death wasn't the end, so she hoped he wouldn't grieve her finale too much.
She hoped he'd feel proud that she, seeding this land as the cornerstone for freedom that would someday come, was dying as the woman he loved.
‘As the me you loved, I can die.’
No telling when.
‘Just gratitude.’
Surely, they'd meet again.
“No! Hey! I made a promise with the professor!”
An irritated girl's voice rang out. A black-haired girl was holding something to her ear—apparently in communication.
Her interlocutor was snapping back just as irritably.
- Who didn't? I promised Deus I'd go back to Graypond and behave!
“You and I are different! I have reasons I can't explain to you! Argh, if you weren't the princess, I'd really…….”
- What? Really what! You're getting executed the moment this is over! No, wait! Hurry and plant the warp marker so I can come with Tairn and execute you right away!
“Funny! That old man's been nicer to me since he chewed me out at the palace last time!”
- He said he only used one arm because watching you sulk was pathetic! Right, Tairn?
- P-Princess! You must maintain decorum! There are people around……!
It was absurd.
Just moments ago, she had been bidding her final farewell to this world.
Yet now, the black-haired girl standing before her was throwing a tantrum exactly as she had back in her academy days.
- Ah, hurry and plant it! That thing takes time!
“Got it! But I'm saying, you have to keep this secret from the professor! Don't hog all the points for yourself!
- …….
“Why no replyyy!”
Kwaang!
The black-haired girl, fuming irritably, slammed the sharp-tipped pillar she held in one hand into the ground.
The golden mana within it spread out brilliantly, as if waiting.
Soon, it surged skyward as a massive pillar of golden mana.
“Done.”
- Yeah, it's detected here too. Good job. Just hold out for 10 more minutes. You can do it?
“What? You said 5 earlier!”
- What? Chzzzt! Can't hear well. Chzzzzzt! Is the comms glitching?
“Look at you mouthing it. Sigh, the kingdom needs flipping upside down once.”
- I heard that just now. You rebel leader! I'll tell big brother and you'll be executed on the spot!
“The rebellion was something your first-loop self was gonna do, idiot!”
Kwaduk!
Aria Rias smashed the comm device on the ground.
Having vented her irritation, her eyes naturally met Pinden A's behind her.
“Kid……?”
“Dearie me, you're in rough shape. Take these first.”
Aria pulled out a bunch of rare items from her bosom—elixir tonics she had handpicked from times she'd been on death's door in the first loop.
Even top-grade recovery potions supplied only to the palace were mixed in.
“Help yourself. I need to buy some time.”
With that, Aria tied her robe tighter and turned her gaze to the Extermination Squad members and Oscop staring dumbfounded from behind.
“Who are you?”
Oscop asked the suddenly appeared Aria. She had materialized in the blink of an eye, like some magic trick, filling him with an eerie unease.
At Oscop's question, Aria winked cheekily and replied.
“Just your average girl about to start second year.”
“G-Girl? Student?”
It sounded like the ravings of a madwoman, but what followed was anything but.
“Yes! But for 10 minutes.”
Kwoong!
A massive greatsword appeared in her hand from nowhere, slamming into the ground.
The ominous jet-black greatsword, merely existing screaming that it was no ordinary weapon, sent deep reverberations through the entire prison camp.
A chilling wind heralded ill omens.
“Exactly 10 minutes.”
Overflowing bloodlust.
Surging mana.
A colossal tsunami of mana swirled within the girl, so immense that bullets couldn't even leave the barrel.
Facing Oscop Baltan—the Republic's superhuman who had claimed countless lives—she drew a leisurely smile.
The girl declared.
“I'll be the Hero.”
Exactly 10 minutes.
Aria Rias shed her identity as a ‘student’.
And returned as a ‘Hero’.