The Unbreakable Hand (1)
The body felt hot, as if beer had been poured straight down the throat. Nathan briefly lost himself in the sensation, savoring it completely. After the dry sunlight swept over him, his body felt light enough to float away. Microscopically severed blood vessels reconnected. The throbbing bones felt brand new. Even the minor malfunctions he hadn't noticed were being healed. It had been a long time since he'd felt what a perfect body was like.
The demon, however, could not endure the sun's heat. A pungent sulfur stench rose from its pitiful screams. Melted abyss seeped out—from its mouth, its fur, its hide. And most critically, from its eye sockets. The creature only regained a sliver of vision after one of the hands groping the ground was severed. The sound of skin tearing, the sound of bone splitting. Then, a dull thud.
"Graaaah-!"
"Hurts that much? I've only cut one."
It had taken two strikes, and the cut was far from clean. Half the fault lay with the chipped blade, the other half with the demon's dried, frozen muscles. Still, precise movement and raw power eventually tore through ligaments and thick bone.
'Body feels light, so it cuts easy. Was a nightmare even with a proper sword earlier.'
Thud. Pitch-black meat dropped. Hook-like fingers twitched like a corpse. Black blood sprayed in every direction.
"Cut both and it'll really lose its mind."
Drawn by the noise, the monster roared. Only one hand had been severed so far. Its right hand, brimming with freezing cold, flew toward Nathan's left side.
'Beasts that know how to set up always swing their forepaws first.'
Yes, Father. I know. I knew and did it anyway.
'Trying to block it is foolish.'
He's right. The opponent is stronger and faster. A chill runs down the spine. The moment he tries to block, the sword will freeze and shatter, and the second chance the blessing granted will scatter into dozens of pieces along with him...
'So don't plant your feet like roots. Move nimbly.'
An old lesson, yet carved into his bones. Nathan obeyed. If he couldn't take the hit, he had to close the distance and end the attack the instant it finished. Well, he knew. He'd been beaten with a stuffed bear paw until he learned. No real madman like that. And that madman was his father.
Mornid blinked his smoke-filled eyes in shock. Perhaps because they hadn't fully recovered, it looked as if his hand had passed straight through Nathan. Had the man become a ghost? How many unknown spells did that loathsome Sapiens still possess?
Enraged, the demon reached out again...
"It's gone, you idiot."
Agony shot through the severed wrist as it struck concrete. The demon screamed, clutching its ruined arms. Nathan withdrew cleanly and delivered a graceful upward slash. He was satisfied. The demon's right hand spun through the air, cleared the unfinished railing, and plunged into the lake surrounding the building. The water rippled with a satisfying splash. Nathan was satisfied. Damn, nothing felt this good.
"I know exactly what it feels like to lose both hands."
A fiery pleasure surged through him. The knight laughed silently.
"Feels refreshing now that the spot you thought you'd never scratch again is exposed, doesn't it? You bastard?"
Sheathing his sword and settling into stance, Nathan spat the words out. Severing the hands hadn't been purely revenge. Only those hands could freeze things. Removing the greatest threat brought relief. That pig subordinate of his had probably thought the same.
"Damn. Should've done the same to him."
'Don't let your guard down. A beast without weapons will bite.'
Yes, Father. Every single thing you say is correct, as always.
Without hands, only the bare-bodied demon remained. Yet even that was lethal. The demon crouched. Nearly three meters tall, its head would touch the ceiling if it stood. Watching such a creature compress its body was impressive in its own right. Nathan knew it wasn't afraid. It was preparing to charge, just like before.
The next instant, the monster's gaping maw hurtled toward him.
'If you can't dodge, offer your arm as a last resort.'
Shut up, Father. Can't you see I'm busy?
Only seconds remained before death. Even now, the hallucination intruded. Without a doctor's diagnosis, it was hard not to call him a patient. Nathan even knew the name of the illness. Bone disease. As Andau said, his father's teachings hammered into his bones like steel.
'Even if the teeth crush plate armor and leave the arm dangling, it's better than the torso being bitten.'
As if entranced, Nathan extended his hand—not the arm, but an open palm. A deliberate motion meant to make the beast bite the hand first. Of course, he had no intention of losing his newly recovered left hand within minutes. He wasn't that far gone yet. Still, a strange certainty filled him. It felt as though the echo of that light still lingered, pushing at his back. Even after the brilliant radiance vanished beyond the mist, Nathan's hands continued to glow faintly, like weak morning sunlight. Perhaps...
'Of course, if what you're wearing is mythril forged by dwarves, then go ahead and offer the arm.'
Shut up, Father. I think I have something better.
The charging monster swallowed Nathan's arm whole. Not just the palm—its teeth sank deep past the elbow joint. Eyes gleaming with triumph, the demon snapped its guillotine-like jaws shut.
Nathan felt a violent shock. Not to his body, but to his mind. And it was oddly positive. The one suffering physical shock was Mornid. The demon felt its jaw throb painfully from trying to close an unclosable mouth. It was like chewing a coil of climbing rope with Eleim teeth before the transformation.
Nathan had been right. This hand would not be severed. Not for anything. Never.
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"Taste good?"
Nathan drove his hand deeper and clenched his fist inside the maw, targeting the weak spot beneath the lower jaw. Usually teeth would injure the intruder first, but if the hand could reach it, the spot was unfailingly lethal. The windpipe-blocked monster gasped in terror. Ordinary beasts would have opened their mouths from the pain, but abyss monsters retained only the nerves necessary for combat. The demon's jaw merely loosened slightly. A follow-up was needed. Without hesitation, Nathan drove the two-hander's blade into the demon's lower jaw.
"Chew on some steel while you're at it."
"Kahaaak-!"
No matter how dulled the nerves, having tongue and palate pierced together could not feel good. Nathan felt the iron blade inside the creature's mouth and chuckled inwardly. In the past, this stunt would have cost him his fingers. He would have been chewed to a one-armed man before that. Yet all he felt on his arm now was the pleasant resistance of teeth and metal being forced apart.
The monster twisted its head. Nathan held firm, and the blade tore through the demon's skull, shredding flesh into rags. In distant agony the creature stopped thrashing. Convinced of victory, Nathan smiled meaningfully. Arms severed, jaw pierced—the demon could neither bite nor strike. Nathan, however, could inflict as many terrible wounds as he pleased. The advantage was overwhelming. At least as long as the severed hands didn't grow back—
Crunch.
The sound of the demon's hand gripping and crushing the concrete floor. The knight flinched.
"I only thought about it."
Bones regrew like clumping ice, muscles wrapping around them like frost. The sight of ice filling the gaps was grotesque. The settled ice strands soon transformed into blood vessels and flesh. The demon's sun-scorched eyes were regenerating as well. Refocused pupils glared at Nathan with murderous intent.
'Recovery far exceeds a normal demon. Well, it resurrected like this even before transforming.'
This was unfair. No matter how special the bloodline or how deeply it had sold itself to the abyss, wasn't this too simple? Hands regenerating so easily. Someone had used a once-in-a-lifetime blessing just to reattach one...
"...Come to think of it, did the balls I cut off earlier grow back too? Congratulations. At least you won't stay a eunuch."
The arm remained trapped in the demon's mouth. Still gripping Nathan, the creature growled and tried to swing him. Triumph flashed in its wide eyes.
"Direct hit-!"
That triumph exploded within seconds of regenerating. An enormous arrow burst the demon's eyeball. It froze mid-motion and let out a whistling scream. Nathan glanced back. The arrow that had grazed his ear nearly made him tense, thinking the subordinates had returned. Instead he saw a man with a refreshingly bold face. Seeing the rounded ears, Nathan relaxed. Except for the Pheres family, it had been a long time since he'd seen another human. The weapon in the man's hands matched his cool smile—refreshing in its own way. A monstrous bow as tall as a person. He might have looked even more impressive holding it, if not for the hospital gown and the fact that he was soaking wet.
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"Just a moment."
While Benny argued with the veiled woman, the patient in the back seat with a bow slung across his back muttered.
"The pierced right chest of the late king, Your Majesty. Damn this world. Where the hell did that Hrozka bastard go? Don't tell me he already jumped—"
Ramkaf the skeleton, startled, clamped a hand over the man's mouth.
"Shh. We all know except you."
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"Now's the time, Federation man!"
At the ally's booming shout, Nathan answered with action. This was the only opening. For an instant, strength left the demon's jaw and neck. Nathan felt it. Gritting his teeth, the knight yanked his waist backward. The world before his eyes seemed to turn white, yet he endured. Fail now and he would die. And if he died, he couldn't kill this bastard.
Veins bulged along Nathan's forearm. Using the pierced maw as a pivot, the demon's massive body was hurled upward. Nathan executed a grand suplex. The bowman staggered as the floor shook, then muttered in disbelief.
"...I meant for you to pull your hand out."