I Dodge to the Left
I dodge to the left.
“I’m sick to death of having to kill the same bastard twice because of the undead.”
Hummm—
One by one, the spirits appeared behind me.
“Still, you look like you’ll be fine.”
Even if I have to kill you twice.
Whoosh— Boom!
The fox shifted positions in a flash and slipped free of the mana detonation.
“Whoa.”
He brushed off the charred edge of his collar where the heat had eaten into it.
“What kind of spirit moves that fast?”
“I haven’t even started yet.”
I stacked movement-speed buffs on the spirits.
Shriek!
Three spirits shot straight at the fox.
Bababoom!
But he ran along the wall and narrowly avoided every blast.
He was even faster than before.
“Hasgard…”
Amelia’s voice reached me weakly from behind.
“That thing… stole my eldest brother’s power… He’s faster than you think…”
She forced out everything she had learned just before collapsing.
“You hear that?”
The fox heard her as well and gave a lazy shrug.
“And Daywin, you still haven’t answered me.”
One tail flicked as he pointed at me.
“How did you get out of there?”
He was pointing at me, yet the question was not meant for me.
Kairon was nowhere in sight; he must have done something to him.
“I’ve got a question for you too. Answer mine and I’ll answer yours.”
“Fine. I asked first, but… I’ll be generous.”
“My brother told me something once.”
Boom!
A pillar of light dropped from the sky, punching straight through the ceiling of the Magic Tower’s top floor.
Pure white armor.
Piece by piece the gauntlets and plates clamped onto my body.
“He said foxes mark their territory by taking a dump wherever they feel like it.”
Clack—
The final pauldron locked into place and the armor was complete.
“You do the same?”
“…….”
The fox answered by giving a small shake of his head.
“If you don’t want to talk, just say so.”
“Yeah, I don’t.”
One spirit fused with my blade.
Kiiing—
The sword drank the spirit’s color until it glowed solid with holy power.
The instant it was full—
Whoosh!
I unleashed a massive sword aura.
Krrrrraaash!
The wave filled every inch from floor to ceiling so he had nowhere to run, surging forward like a tidal wave of light.
Boom!
Cracks spider-webbed across the tower wall where the aura struck, and the stone sagged at an angle.
The fox, however—
“Whew.”
—poked his head up through a hole he had already bored in the floor.
“Foxes dig pretty well too. Guess your brother never mentioned that.”
“Nice toilet.”
“…….”
An uncharacteristically sour look crossed the fox’s face before he slipped out of the hole.
Crack—
Fractures raced along the blade that had held the spirit.
That had been a fairly expensive sword.
One more use, maybe.
Next, two spirits latched onto my greaves, one on each leg.
Kiiing—
The stacked speed-buff spirits sang a high note behind my calves as if to say they were ready.
“Think you can keep up?”
The fox spoke, then vanished—so fast it looked like teleportation—and reappeared right in front of me.
But I had already moved my legs.
The second he closed in I drove a kick into him.
Crack—!
He had come within inches, only to be slammed backward by my boot.
“Heh.”
He used a tail to catch his balance and flashed a grin.
“Did you know? The First Prince obtained a spell developed right here in this Magic Tower—the best movement magic currently in existence. But he couldn’t even use half of it. Doesn’t matter how good the magic is if the body can’t handle it.”
He tapped his own chest with one tail.
“Someone like me, though…”
The fox drew a long breath and closed his eyes.
“I’ve spent my entire life strengthening this body.”
He exhaled.
White vapor curled from his mouth.
“Whatever I eat, I make sure the body can push that power to its absolute limit first. I ate tough humans, and ate them, and ate them again.”
Zip!
He appeared behind me.
He could have struck while moving, yet he deliberately did not—just to flaunt the speed.
“I still haven’t gone all out.”
The delayed wind pressure slammed into me the moment he stopped.
I turned—
Boom!
—and his entire body crashed into my back.
Not a fist, not a kick—just a full-body tackle.
The armor plating across my spine crumpled.
Of course I lost my footing and smashed into the wall.
“Hah…”
I shook the cascading dust from my hair and pushed myself up.
I glanced at the three spirits still circling nearby.
This opponent made it impossible not to remember the fight against the Fourth Karma.
Just like then, I had already laid a buff on the spirits.
Detection Ability Increase
Swish—
The spirits’ gazes locked onto the fox and tracked every twitch, spinning their bodies in perfect time with his movements so they would not lose him for even an instant.
Whoosh!
He closed the distance at blinding speed and threw a punch.
Bang!
What it hit was not my head, but the spirit already racing after his motion.
The spirit clung to his fist and blocked the blow.
“Oh.”
He looked genuinely intrigued by the spirit that had stopped his punch.
“So that’s how it works.”
He tested a kick next; another spirit intercepted the path and cut it off.
Boom!
The spirit that had caught his instep drifted back to my side.
“Now I get why Karma went down so helplessly.”
“So you were the one who sent Karma.”
“‘I,’ or maybe ‘we.’”
The fox gave a crooked smile and lashed with a tail.
Bang!
A spirit blocked that too—
Fwoosh!
—until the fox fanned all nine tails like a peacock’s display.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Each tail moved independently, raining down crushing impacts like a storm.
The spirits chased and blocked every motion, yet nine tails plus both arms and both legs—
“Looks like you’re a little short-handed.”
Crack!
A kick slipped through a gap; I caught it with both arms.
Crrk, fissures spidered across the gauntlets.
“Ahh, I see it now.”
The fox folded his tails and laughed.
He had thrown every part of his body—including those tails—into the assault, yet he showed not the slightest hint of fatigue.
“You can’t summon them infinitely, can you?”
He pointed at the Light Spirits.
“Karma was a half-baked punk who only had two blades, so he got shut down for free… but I’m different.”
He waggled those annoying tails in open provocation.
“You haven’t gone past five this whole time. Is five the max?”
“Yeah. For now.”
“Huh. Didn’t expect you to just admit it.”
“You’re right—this isn’t like Karma. Speed, power, and those tails.”
“Yep, yep. Different league.”
“Then I’ll have to fight differently too.”
Whoosh—
All three airborne spirits slammed into my body at once.
All five.
They fused with the armor and reinforced every plate.
Instead of leaving them floating as a defensive screen, I would move myself.
From here on the buff targets would not be the spirits, so there was no need to keep them in the air.
“What, giving up on defense?”
“Spirits have different mana circuits from humans. They can take far more power. Keep strengthening them and eventually I can match even your top speed.”
“Hmm. Even if you match the speed, five of them still can’t—”
“—stop you. Not with those nine disgusting tails of yours.”
I pointed straight at the fox’s sharp, wide eyes.
“Which is why I’ve decided to strengthen you instead.”
Hummm—
Mana gathered at my fingertips and the buff took hold.
Movement Speed Increase
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“…What?”
“How’s that? Body feel lighter?”
“What… are you doing? What the hell are you doing?! I was enjoying this—why would you—this isn’t fair!”
“Your mouth is the real problem.”
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×2
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“You said you strengthened your body so it could handle any magic. Your limit for taking in mana is different from a human’s too, right?”
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×3
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“Didn’t you hear me? I can handle any magic. You think you’re going to overload me? That much won’t even scratch it.”
“Overload? No. That’s not the plan.”
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×4
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“As you can see, I’m only making you faster.”
“So you gave up on the fight… Is that all you’ve got? You can’t win so you’ll just turn me into an even stronger enemy? Figure if I’m an opponent you never stood a chance against, you can die with your honor intact?”
The idea that a life-or-death one-on-one duel had been soiled seemed to genuinely disgust him.
“Cut the crap! Fight me properly!”
He swung his arm in irritation—
Whoosh!
—and the momentum alone sent him crashing off-balance to the floor.
“…Huh?”
He planted a hand on the ground, face full of incomprehension.
“Getting it now?”
“What did you…?”
“I told you—I’m only making you faster.”
He shoved himself up on one knee, but even that motion staggered and nearly failed.
I did not miss the opening; I sent another buff.
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×5
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
Whoosh!
He charged me, yet never reached me—he slammed into the wall instead.
“What’s wrong? Hard to adapt?”
“You…”
“Karma was the half-baked one, just like you said. That’s why I couldn’t use this method on him. You, though—you’re so fast even my spirits are having trouble.”
The fox rose slowly.
“But that speed comes from stolen magic. Your body was never that fast to begin with. So what happens when someone like you suddenly becomes faster than even you can control?”
His eyes flashed and he lunged again—only to smash into the ceiling and crash back to the floor.
“Think you can adapt?”
“Kh… hah…”
Sprawled on the ground, he lifted only his head.
“So… you hadn’t given up… Not bad…!”
He began moving with deliberate, exaggerated slowness so he would not accelerate out of control.
“You can’t move too slowly either, you know.”
Kiiing—!
I closed in and brought my fist down at his skull.
He rolled aside and avoided the blow, but the dodge itself was still too fast; he slammed into the wall again.
This time he did not embed as deeply as before.
He was adapting, little by little.
“Arrogant bastard.”
He brushed the dust off and settled into a stance.
“I am a perfected life-form.”
While he was still, I tossed another buff.
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×6
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“No matter how fast I get, once I adapt it’s over.”
“I’m curious how long you can last.”
“You’re going to regret strengthening me.”
Boom!
He shattered the floor as he charged; all I saw was the stone exploding.
The fox’s movement had left the range of the naked eye.
I thought I had finally lost him to pure speed—
“Now what?”
—when he slammed into my body and whipped a tail across me.
There was no way to block an opponent too fast to see.
Crrrack!
An impact so heavy it stole my breath flung me away.
Even the spirit-reinforced armor failed; plates shattered and rained to the floor.
“Guh…”
Through the blinding pain I forced my trembling fingers to move.
Buff.
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×7
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“You’ve lost it. You’re still stacking more? I told you I adapt…”
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
I kept raising the speed.
“…Fine. If you want to die that badly, so be it.”
The fox prepared to charge.
“I dodge to the left.”
“What?”
When I gave no further answer he decided that was enough, shook his head, and kicked off the ground.
Boom!
He rocketed forward with a thunderous roar—and
Crack!
drove his own skull into the wall, spraying blood.
“Kh… hahk…”
The sudden impact must have rattled his brain; he staggered, center of gravity gone.
“What… the… You’re not even… supposed to be able to see me… How did you dodge…”
“I dodge to the left.”
“What the hell have you been… babbling about…”
Blood from his forehead ran into his eyes.
Because I had said I would dodge left, he accelerated toward my left side.
But—
KRAAAASH!
“Guh… gyaaaaah…”
Once again he slammed himself into the wall and writhed in agony.
Movement Speed Increase — Stack ×12
Target: Nine-Tailed Fox
“How… are you… dodging this…”
Repeated blows to the head had slurred his speech.
“I dodge to the left.”
“What the hell are you even—doing?!”
The moment the fox shouted, I checked the message window.
“Opposite side this time, then.”
No matter how fast the fox became—
even if he vanished from sight—
it did not matter.
Confirming the result of the choice…
You dodged to the left, but were struck directly by the enemy’s attack and die with 100% probability.