Single-Point Focus
Single-Point Focus. By concentrating everything onto a single point, Frey pushed her maximum output to its absolute limit, drastically amplifying both its power and directionality. Before anyone could even realize it, the Death Knight's helmet began to melt. The molten metal was instantly swallowed by the heat ray, vaporizing into nothingness, and the bloodless, pale face hidden beneath the helmet began to boil hideously.
Of course, the Death Knight did not just take the hit lying down. A human has two arms. Even if he had lost his right arm, his left remained. But Frey was not the Death Knight's only opponent. A sudden, desperate counterattack aimed at crushing Frey's skull was instantly neutralized by a burst of crimson flames.
Left completely defenseless, the Death Knight stood exposed. It took only a fraction of a second for his helmet and head to be swallowed by the searing heat source, incinerating without a trace.
"Haa, haa..." Panting heavily, Frey kicked the Death Knight's torso. With a metallic clatter, the pitch-black armor rolled across the ground. The armor, which had once gleamed without a single speck of dust, was now soiled with dirt, stripped of all its former majesty.
"W-We did it..." I weakly muttered, coughing up thick, dark, dead blood.
The black knight—or rather, the Death Knight—was a moving corpse. Because of that, conventional methods couldn't kill him. How do you kill something that's already dead? Simply decapitating him, crushing his heart, or ripping open his stomach to drag out his entrails wouldn't do the trick.
The Death Knight's core. Its location was the head. More precisely, the center of the brain, protected deep inside the skull. That was what had to be destroyed. You couldn't just cut off his head; you had to completely crush it for the Death Knight to draw his last breath. Actually, that phrasing isn't quite right. Since he was already a corpse, should I say he finally found eternal rest?
And just now, Frey's heat ray had completely melted the Death Knight's head. The core inside must have vanished without a trace along with it. For a named monster at the very peak of pure monsters, it was a rather anticlimactic death.
But hey, that's how real combat works, right? Fighting isn't a game of rock-paper-scissors; being stronger doesn't guarantee a win. Unless you're overwhelmingly powerful beyond comparison, like a Demon God or a Commander, it's entirely possible for the strong to be toppled by the weak depending on the circumstances. Besides, it was a three-on-one fight, and we struck the moment his guard was down.
From the Death Knight's perspective, it must feel pretty unfair. No, it definitely does. He could have easily won, and he was only in Phase 1. If he had shed his armor and revealed his true power in Phase 2, a surprise attack like this wouldn't have worked.
But for the Death Knight, shedding his armor would have been an admission that he couldn't win without going all out. Why else would he seal his power inside that armor? To play around like some veteran gamer smurfing in a low-level zone? Maybe, but that wasn't his style. The real reason he sealed his power was that his physical body couldn't withstand the sheer volume of death energy inside him. Just by existing, his flesh would rot and decay, so he used the armor to protect his physical form.
So, while shedding his armor would make him significantly stronger, it would also start a ticking clock. He would either have to kill his opponent first, or be consumed and rotted away by his own death energy. Since we weren't his equals but clearly weaker, unleashing his full power was never on the table to begin with. And then, before he knew what was happening, he got caught off guard and missed his chance to shed the armor. They say a lion does its best even when hunting a rabbit, so this is the price of his arrogance. Take it as a lesson, buddy.
Still, it is a bit strange. Yujin and Frey fought much better than I expected. I can understand Yujin—he's shown a phenomenal growth rate since the field training. He's basically the embodiment of protagonist privilege, growing exponentially even in the middle of a fight. But why Frey? No matter how I look at it, she's opened the door to awakening. What on earth triggered it?
Even without any effort or training, just by doing breathing exercises, Aris—or rather, Frey—was already on par with the other members of the Golden Generation. As the greatest genius of her time and the most talented individual of the Golden Generation, Frey could probably open the door to awakening with just a minor resolve or trigger. So it's not entirely surprising that her performance far exceeded my expectations, but... wait, she looked stronger than a teacher, didn't she? She seemed stronger than Class 1-A's assistant homeroom teacher, Siul, or the temporary teacher of Class D. Though still not as strong as Angelica.
Maybe it was because Aris put down her books and started training. If Frey put in the effort to answer Aris's desperate desire to become stronger... yeah, she could definitely open the door to awakening. Then, in the end, the cause was... wait, me? Is Lucia the cause?
I'd love to ask her directly, but now wasn't the time for idle chatter. Nothing was over yet. The Rift in Space was still open, monsters were still pouring through, and we still had to clean up after the Death Knight. Up until now, the other monsters had been too terrified to approach due to the overwhelming pressure the Death Knight had intentionally exuded during the fight. But now that he was in this state, the monster-repellent spray effect had worn off.
"Hic..." I tried to stand up, but my body refused to cooperate. It was all thanks to the Death Knight's longsword impaling my heart. This sword was a demonic blade infused with the grudges of the dead. Having such a wicked thing plunged right into Lucia's soft, precious spot was bound to cause some serious trouble.
Death energy was spreading throughout my entire body, like drops of black ink falling into a puddle of water. Lucia's body was slowly being consumed by the energy of death. Yeah, this is bad. I was holding out with my Super Regeneration, but the energy sealed within the longsword was far stronger than my own power. At this rate, Lucia's egg-white, fair, and beautiful body is going to rot away, you know?
"Lucia!" Yujin rushed over, his voice filled with worry and urgency. But he was in no position to worry about others. Yujin himself was far from fine. Fortunately, he didn't have any fatal injuries. The problem was that he was so badly lacerated that it was hard to find a single uninjured spot on his body. Most of them were minor cuts, but there were a few deep wounds here and there. Leaving them untreated would be dangerous. Since they were inflicted by the Death Knight, they wouldn't heal on their own; instead, they would only fester and worsen.
"B-Be careful... Yujin, your wounds..."
"Is now the time to worry about me?! Think about yourself first! Why do you always—"
"R-Regeneration... isn't... ah, working..."
"What?"
Ugh. I could barely speak. My tongue was stiffening from the death energy. The bloody froth constantly bubbling up my throat didn't help either.
"I-It feels like a curse... It's interfering... with my healing... Yujin, your wounds... are dangerous..."
"...I understand. You don't need to worry about me. I have a way."
I know. Yujin always has a way. All he has to do is burn away the death energy invading his body with his flames. He can endure the heat with his fire resistance, and since he'll only burn the death energy, it's a clean solution. The problem is that this method only works for Yujin. Lucia doesn't have fire resistance, so if I try to burn it, I'll burn right along with the death energy. I mean, if you want to turn Lucia into charcoal, go ahead. I highly recommend it if you want to stay warm in the dead of winter. He-he, how about it? Once the heat dies down, you can just burn me again and reuse me!
"What are you doing? Stop chatting and pull the sword out first. Are you just going to leave it there?" Frey said, walking over to me as she caught her breath to recover her stamina. Unlike Yujin, who was drenched in blood, Frey didn't have a single scratch on her, save for a few strands of hair that had been cut.
Because of the longsword still impaling my chest, I couldn't even lie down and was forced to sit in an awkward, half-upright position. Without warning, Frey grabbed the hilt of the longsword. Perhaps she gripped it too tightly, because the blade twisted slightly, agonizingly grating against the inside of my wound. My mind instantly went blank.
"Eu... hg...!" A soft groan escaped my lips before I could stop it. Frey stared intently down at me, her lips parting slightly. Her face was so expressionless it felt cold, but there was a strange, burning heat flickering in her eyes.
"Bear with it, even if it hurts. Super Regeneration or not, you'll die if you leave a hole in your heart."
Just as Frey said, the foreign object that was the longsword was blocking my heart from regenerating. Since my heart couldn't function properly, my blood couldn't flow through my veins and was pooling inside me. Though I was barely keeping myself alive with Super Regeneration, leaving it like this was definitely a terrible idea. Above all, keeping a longsword packed with concentrated death energy plunged into my heart was practically suicide. Super Regeneration isn't omnipotent, you know? If the decay is faster than the regeneration, I'll die.
"Ugh, hic, ah...!" Frey slowly pulled back the hand gripping the hilt. As she did, the blade tore through my flesh. I gasped at the burning, searing pain, my hips twitching involuntarily. It hurts...! With my senses already hyper-focused on my chest, the added external stimulation made my body shudder and convulse pathetically.
I could feel the edge of the blade scraping against my breastbone. I felt the sensation of my muscles tearing, and the split skin stretching even wider. My fingers trembled uncontrollably. My vision blurred. After a few blinks, warm tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Hi... he... ah, ugh..."
"...Lucia. Hold on." Frey's voice barely registered in my mind. Honestly, it was nothing. This level of pain was nothing compared to what I usually put myself through. But this time, it wasn't self-harm, and I wasn't alone. The feeling, the sensation, the mind-melting pleasure piercing my brain... it was completely different from usual. Two people were watching me. I hadn't realized it earlier because the situation was so urgent, but now that I had a moment to think about it... He, he-he-het.
It felt as if my broken heart—my physically ruptured heart—was beating wildly. My consciousness began to drift. Holding back the sounds trying to escape my lips was an absolute torture. If it were just groans of pain, I would have let them out, but I felt like I was about to let slip a sweet, high-pitched whimper I had never made before.
"This isn't working. Yujin, hold Lucia down."
"Aris, what do you mean...?"
"She's trembling too much. The wound is going to tear wider at this rate. It's hard to pull the sword out."
Ah, but I'm trembling on purpose... Doing this makes the hole piercing Lucia's precious spot even wider, making me feel all fluffy inside while sending sweet, electric shocks straight to my brain. But obviously, I couldn't say that out loud. So, I bit my lip tightly and looked up at Yujin with wide, innocent eyes. Ah, my cheeks are so hot. A ticklish sensation traced its way down my face.
"...Alright." Meeting my gaze, Yujin's expression stiffened. He hesitated for a moment as if debating with himself, but soon nodded. He stepped closer and firmly gripped my shoulders. I was the one with a hole in my chest, yet for some reason, Yujin looked like he was the one in agonizing pain.
"Ugh, ah, aaah...!" Once she saw Yujin holding my shoulders down, Frey pulled the hilt again. The blood-slicked blade slid out slowly, scraping against the raw wound. A white-hot jolt shot up my spine, nearly making my back arch. If Yujin hadn't been holding me down, I definitely would have.
"Almost... it's almost out, Lucia. I'm sorry. Just a little, just a little longer..." Liar. Yujin is such a liar. It wasn't even a quarter of the way out yet. Still, I knew he was only saying that to comfort me. I gave him a soft, silly smile. It wasn't a forced smile, but one that slipped out naturally. I thought it was a pretty decent smile, but Yujin's face only darkened with deep pity.
"...I'll speed it up a bit. It'll hurt less that way."
"Y-Yeah... p-please... ah, uggghhh...!" My oversized white shirt, which I had actually quite liked, had long since lost its original look to dirt and blood. But now, even the tiny speck of pure white that remained was completely stained. A shocking torrent of blood erupted, making it hard to believe that a petite body like Lucia's could even hold this much fluid.
True to her word, Frey yanked the longsword out in one swift motion. But perhaps because she wasn't used to handling swords, her hand holding the hilt trembled slightly midway, seemingly nicking something that shouldn't have been touched. As if an artery had been severed, blood gushed out like a fountain. Consequently, Frey, who was standing right in front of me, was completely drenched in my blood.
She closed her eyes and wiped the blood from her face with her fingers. Then, she slowly licked her lips. Eu-he, that's kind of erotic. My legs kicked and flailed as if I were being electrocuted. Incoherent whimpers spilled from my mouth like static from a broken radio. Was the fluid dripping down my jawline saliva, blood, or perhaps tears?
The pain didn't vanish even after the longsword was pulled out. Although the foreign object that had been driven into me like a stake was gone, I couldn't even bring myself to think about regenerating, my body simply shivering from the lingering afterglow. Forcing my melting consciousness back together, I activated my Super Regeneration. As expected, it didn't work as smoothly as usual. Something was still interfering with my recovery. Now that the sword was out, it wasn't impossible to regenerate, but... Maybe I'll just stay like this a little longer? He-het.