02. Rank
02. Rank
She's definitely strong.
Way beyond someone like me, who hasn't had any training.
The searing pain spreading from my arm to my stomach was screaming at me to just give up and leave everything to Bari.
But you know.
I have to keep my word, right?
I already told Bari, and Rihana too, that I'd handle this myself.
So I have no choice.
-Sihwan-nim, are you okay? I'll step in after all.
Maybe conscious of Rihana, she doesn't approach directly but speaks through the Suit's built-in communicator.
Her suggestion tempts me again for a moment, but I shake my head.
Ha...
Time to reflect a bit.
I think I ignored Bari's advice and got too cocky.
"No, I'm fine."
-Really okay?
"Yeah. And even if I'm not, I have to see through what I said."
-...Understood. I'll still provide support. She's not an opponent you can handle with human dynamic vision.
"Yeah... no helping that."
I was stubborn, but there's no answer to that.
I could block the previous attack because it was straight on, but if Rihana had moved unpredictably, I'd have been smashed without a chance to react.
Her movements were that fast, and that powerful.
'Seems slower than Eleonore... but at my level, it's all the same anyway.'
"Hey, did you get a brain hemorrhage or something? Why so quiet? Should sis go again? Oh, surrender maybe?"
Rihana, thinking she'd completely seized the advantage, flashed her cute little fangs and grinned broadly.
Still furious, of course.
Hmm.
Honestly, I still don't know what her problem is, but it's a fact that I pissed her off.
First things first, gotta get out of this mess.
I casually stretched my body.
Like a knight poised for the final duel, composed and dignified.
Then I brushed off the dust from the Suit here and there.
I even touched the arm that had directly blocked Rihana's attack.
The slight crack showed just how ridiculous her destructive power was.
This thing's basically a superalloy made from Meta-atoms, right? Even if a living creature hits it with full force, not even a scratch should appear, let alone a crack.
Just how monstrous are the things living here?
"Surrender?"
I calm my mind and think.
No matter how skilled Rihana is, she's ultimately a ground-dwelling lifeform.
And lifeforms can never beat science.
What I'm wielding is science itself.
What she's facing is science itself.
"No such word in my dictionary."
"You little human punk, so damn arrogant!"
Rihana charged again.
Straight on again.
She really looks down on me.
"Bari, defense is yours."
-Yes.
Hwoong - !
The moment she seemed to vanish, Rihana's fully extended leg grazed right past my head.
Peoreong!
A horrific whoosh.
Just hitting the air makes that sound?
"Dodged?"
Rihana's mouth gaped in surprise.
Without missing a beat, she spun her body and stomped down with her other foot toward my head, but my body... precisely, the Suit moved on its own to evade.
Hwoong - !
Shwook!
Follow-up kicks in succession.
Quick yet heavy attacks.
Rihana whipped her legs like lashes, relentlessly pressing.
Is she getting faster, or is that my imagination?
This ain't no game with 3 kicks per second.
If I were bare-handed, the wind pressure alone would've knocked me over.
'Whoa, she's actually insane.'
Pakak!
At some point, her widely swung leg slammed the ground, and her back came into view at an angle.
Like a sumo wrestler, both legs firmly planted.
Isn't this a total opening?
Siiing!
The moment I leaned in to attack, thinking that, something flashed like lightning.
"Wha..!"
An attack incomparably faster than before.
My vision flashed red instantly, followed by excruciating pain.
Her foot, which had been aggressively attacking, suddenly stomped the ground—not because I dodged, but purely by design.
Using the stomp's force to twist her waist harder, adding recoil and body weight to her opposite leg, scraping upward at tremendous speed from below.
Thanks to that, the helmet protecting my head was brutally torn off, and blood poured from my face.
"Ah."
Luckily, no fatal injury.
Blood's gushing like crazy, but faces bleed profusely even from minor cuts.
Just stings a lot, and scars are a worry...
-Sihwan-nim! See...
"I'm fine."
If I hadn't mistaken it for an opening and rushed in, I could've dodged. Even the almighty Bari can't handle reversals, huh.
Total disaster.
Can't see with all this blood.
"Not bad? Even for a little human punk. Sis is impressed."
Is she going easy?
Rihana didn't follow up.
Just standing a bit away, watching me.
Utterly relaxed.
Swipe.
I somehow wiped the continuously flowing blood.
"I'm the impressed one. Ripping this superalloy with just your claws."
"Huh? What're you talking about? Against a hunk of metal like that, claws win, duh."
The culprit that blew off my helmet and shredded my face.
Her claws.
They look human now, but moments ago, they were definitely beast claws.
So sharp that the Meta-atom superalloy, which blocks hundreds of tons of force (hurts like hell though), got shredded clean.
Strength beyond imagination.
Still can't believe this makes any sense.
"Just surrender already. You can't keep going like that. Gonna fight while wiping your face?"
Ah.
Wanna quit.
Wanna treat this stinging face quick and flop down.
Hell, even call Bari and have her napalm the bitch so I can rest easy.
But can't.
My name's on the line.
Can't accept losing here, or surrendering.
"Of course I'll keepㅡ"
Plak.
"-fighting, but I'll handle the opponent."
"Bari?"
Bari stepped in front of me.
Couldn't just watch anymore, apparently.
But still.
I said I'd fight, and she barges in like this.
"Hey, I said I'd fight."
"It's impossible. Plus, as I said earlier, that Suit was made purely for 'protection.' Not suited for combat."
Bari ignored my orders and even turned her head to stare at Rihana.
No intention of listening anymore.
"Even that protection's broken, so no more combat actions allowed."
"Heh... Allowed, huh."
I'm your master, why do I need permission?
Swipe.
Bari turned back.
Her two eyes completely red.
Full-on combat mode.
"...Yeah... fine... win this."
"Good decision."
Bari faced forward again.
Not chickening out.
Purely strategic judgment.
Better if Bari fights. Obviously.
"Heh. Your turn now?"
"I'll turn you into ground meat."
"Ooh, scary. But killing's prohibited, remember?"
"Metaphor. Though I'll give you equivalent pain."
"Ahaha! What? Mad 'cause your human punk got hurt? It's just a graze anyway."
"Shut your trap already."
"Ha... Like master, like doll. Don't you two need speech lessons? Keep that up, and I'll get seriously pissed."
"That all you got to say?"
"...You need a beating too."
I step back from the battlefield a bit, wiping blood with a handkerchief and spectating.
Just as the red vision clears, Rihana charges at Bari.
Or rather, I saw her vanish.
With my helmet gone and no optics, I can't track her movements at all.
Just guess from her disappearing.
"Sihwan-nim said this."
Huh?
What did I say?
Ppeoeong - !
"...!!!"
Hit.
Thought she was charging, but suddenly Bari's fist was buried in Rihana's gut.
"I'll punch your gut."
+++
"Ugh... stings."
"Bear with it."
Bari won.
As expected, I guess? But kinda shocking how she won? Or anticlimactic?
Took her down with one punch.
A gripped nuclear fist straight to the charging Rihana's belly.
She passed out on the spot and is currently in the infirmary getting treated.
"Should've left the fighting to me from the start."
"No, a man's gotta do more than just get protected... Hngak!"
"Sihwan-nim is human, and humans are meant to be protected."
"But... yeah, kinda true..."
Can't argue when she puts it like that.
AIs were born to assist and protect humans... Can't counter straight facts.
"You fought well, though."
"...All I did was get my ass kicked."
And that lasted less than a minute.
One to the arm, one to the head.
Does that even count as fighting? And that was with Bari's help.
"How many hits doesn't matter. Standing at the end does. In that sense, you fought well, Sihwan-nim."
"Ugh... You're like a mom."
What is this, touching.
"Pathetic. Think you can gather ten million gold like that?"
Yu Ina approached us while treating my face.
With so many injured, classes end here today.
So she, me, and the lightly hurt ones get a free day.
"Praised Bari for fighting well."
"Hmph. Ridiculous."
Looks like Yu Ina, a Noblesse-nim, ain't satisfied.
"Thought there might be something, but nah, just a plain nothing human. Gotta rely on this doll for everything?"
"You here to pick a fight? Go home if you're bored."
Why's she hanging around picking fights.
What a personality.
"What nonsense. I told you, right? Your homeroom teacher will per.so.nally. Guide you. Forgot already?"
"...Ah."
"You slipped by yesterday, but no more starting today."
Wasn't that just talk...
"No... I'm injured right now..."
"First, train that pathetic stamina."
"Hey. I'm injured, I said?"
"Dynamic vision... can't help that. Doesn't improve short-term. How about a thousand hits for starters."
What the hell is this bitch.
Ignoring me again???
"Sigh. I told you to stop pulling aggro."
"..."
Even faithful Bari sighs and betrays me.
Bari... you too...
"You said it yourself, Sihwan-nim? Can't rely on protection forever."
"No... you just said humans need protecting."
"Yes. But your words take priority over mine, right? Hohoho."
"......"
You seductive thing.
You've been holding a grudge too.
.
.
Yu Ina didn't go easy for being injured.
Seriously questioning if this counts as "guidance."
Ain't she just beating 'cause she wants to?
"Kraek."
I rolled hard on the ground.
Partly from falling, but gotta roll or get hit again.
"No! Why! Am! I! Doing this shit!!"
"Nothing dumber than bravado. Knowing your limits is basic of basics. You're human incarnate. Bottom of the bottom."
"You damn...!"
"Don't like it, but this is for Luna too. Guiding you to survive in The Tower."
"Don't need it! Don't need it!!"
This is a massacre.
One-sided hunt.
'Stamina builds with rolling, but dynamic vision's the killer. No other way. Gotta learn by getting hit.'
Under that horrific pretext, Yu Ina wailed on me wildly.
At this point, feels like I was her ex who cheated in a past life. Each punch packed emotion.
"Can't grasp 'don't close your eyes'?"
Ppeok!
"Kkwek."
"Keep 'em open and watch."
She didn't use fancy stuff like Nobling.
Just swung her innate Noblesse overwhelming physical prowess.
Enough to kill me.
"How to dodge without looking? Hate getting hit? Open your eyes. Can't even do that?"
Her words are spot on.
Dead serious too.
As a mentor teaching a student, she must be approaching with a grave expression.
But...
Hee-hik.
This damn bitch is smiling.
Smiling while beating me!!
Knew it, this is just her venting.