VS Mid Difference (2)
Driven by her twisted fanatical obsession, Spencer had voluntarily thrown away her own chance to enchant. And that became my opportunity.
Meanwhile, Jung Ayeon rose to her feet and charged straight at Jeong Bia while shouting at me.
"Got it-nym!"
"Do not speak in nymph-speak! It sounds fucking disgusting when the Young Master says it!"
"Fucking bitch."
Ah, shut up.
If not now, then when? Jung Ayeon clung to Jeong Bia with everything she had, desperately preventing any further enchants. Naturally, Jeong Bia attacked her without mercy, trying to shake her off.
Ayeon's condition was miserable. She'd been beaten everywhere, rolled across the ground, and trampled on. Blood streamed from her nose, and she limped heavily on her right leg. Her left arm dangled uselessly, clearly broken, while her right hand trembled so badly she couldn't put any strength into her fingertips.
Even so, Jung Ayeon fought with the desperation of someone facing death, clinging on with stubborn tenacity and interfering until the very end. Since her left arm wouldn't move, she bit down on Jeong Bia with her teeth to hold fast. With her still-functional right hand she grabbed clothing, hooked her legs to trip her, and kept trying to knock her down. The moment she managed even the slightest hold, she'd summon her creatures to crash into her together.
The sight seemed so heartbreaking to Jeong Bia that she screamed at her sister.
"Why are you going this far!! What's so bad about it that you'd do this!!"
"I... I don't want to be dragged around ever again!"
Meanwhile, I was sprinting as fast as possible toward Spencer, who was still struggling to get up. As I ran I activated my Mana Tattoos. The sequence was set: whip at nine o'clock, hand axe at four o'clock. I materialized the whip and clenched it between my teeth, then immediately hurled the hand axe. Right after, I slashed the whip diagonally.
"You still haven't learned a thing! That won't even leave a scratch!"
Spencer raised her left hand and flicked the hand axe away. But the whip that followed instantly wrapped tight around her left hand.
"I know, you son of a bitch."
"Huh?!"
The instant the whip coiled around Spencer's left hand, I yanked it toward me with all my strength. Spencer was dragged forward lightly, careful not to slam into her oversized chest, and hurriedly began chanting. I'd expected as much, so I readied my right arm already infused with magma.
"Here I go-nym! Nymph Secret Technique!!"
"The unfurled flames shall become a barrier!!"
"Dark Dog."
"Why the hell are you drifting with Akainu's technique!!"
Why? To piss you off, obviously.
A massive wall of fire erupted between us. I calmly swept my right arm from left to right in a wide arc, ripping the flame barrier apart.
"How is it breaking through?!"
"Because we're in a perfect superior-subordinate relationship!!"
Wise words indeed.
With that, the magma dwelling in my right arm vanished. But now it was close-range time. Yes. Tower time.
The moment the fallen Spencer scrambled back to her feet, I stomped down hard on her right foot with my left to stop her from gaining distance. Then I repeated the exact line Hyeji had used back in the Great Forest.
"Dance. Why don't you dance for me?"
I drew back the swung right arm and loaded it at my side. Mana for three consecutive Cheonma Repulsors began condensing in my palm. The even more ominous haze rising from it surged toward Spencer's abdomen.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!"
An explosion far beyond the previous one detonated in Spencer's gut. It was the first solid clean hit since the fight began. The skin at the impact site tore open, blood flowed freely, and bright red muscle glistened beneath. The remnants of her top barely covered half her chest, doing the absolute minimum to function as clothing while failing completely to hide the gruesome wound.
This was my last chance. I circulated mana through my arms and legs. My left hand grabbed for the book Spencer still refused to release. At the same time, my right fist and knee hammered her abdomen without pause. Of course, Spencer wasn't just taking the beating. She gripped the book with monstrous strength, and even while being pummeled she kept throwing her left fist, smashing every part of my body. Ribs. Thighs. Shoulders. Solar plexus. Jaw. The impacts carried a shocking intensity I'd never felt before. The harder she hit, the harder I gritted my teeth and kept attacking.
We were both burning through our final reserves.
At that moment, Spencer muttered something slower and heavier than before. One of the few sentences on the book's left page began turning black.
"If you sow."
I punched her face to shut her mouth, then used the edge of my hand to gouge at her wounds. I hammered fists and knees relentlessly to disrupt her breathing. It wasn't enough. She didn't let out a single groan. Her concentration was terrifying, as if the pain meant nothing.
"As you sow."
I abandoned trying to steal the book and used my left hand too, pounding her abdomen with both. Still Spencer only shuddered slightly. She forced out the final words.
"So shall you reap."
The instant she finished, razor-sharp thorns erupted across everything Spencer wore. Not just her clothes—thorns even burst from the shoes I was stepping on, piercing straight through my left foot.
"Fuuuuuck!!!!"
"It's round two!"
Spencer shrieked in a voice that sent chills down my spine as a number floated above her head and increased. I reflexively threw a punch.
Ah, shit. The attack judgment already went through.
I viewed the future before regression through the mirror shard created by Spencer's regression. In it, I delivered one final heavy blow to her abdomen and Spencer collapsed. A future where I won.
But it was time to return to reality. The moment I did, my fist was already flying toward her abdomen just like in that future. To change it, Spencer attempted an attack I never saw coming.
"Not a chance!"
"Shit."
Her left foot whipped around like a lash and slammed into the side of my right knee. I lost my balance and began to fall, causing my fist to shift trajectory upward from her abdomen. Straight toward her full, heavy underboob.
For the first time, pure panic flooded Spencer's face.
"Eh! Eh! Wait! Stop!!"
"Hey, don't call this MeToo. I can't help it."
My fist sank deep into Spencer's chest. An unnaturally soft sensation met my knuckles, and then her chest burst.
"......"
"......"
The tension of battle vanished in an instant. What replaced it was sudden, crushing awkwardness. Every single person in the dueling arena stared at the spot where Spencer's chest had been. Even Jung Ayeon and Jeong Bia stopped fighting, eyes wide with shock as they gawked in our direction.
Like a midsummer night's dream, the chest that had suddenly vanished left Spencer's clothes clinging tightly to her now-flat chest. Her actual body hadn't exploded—there was no blood or fat splatter. And above all, in that brief instant when her chest burst, I saw it clearly: flesh-colored silicone fragments flying everywhere and, behind them, a small-cup bra.
I scratched my head awkwardly and muttered.
"So that giant boob dispenser was factory-made."
"Sob... sob... hic!!"
The massive shock must have canceled all her magic, because the thorns on her clothes had vanished completely. As Spencer clutched her chest with tears glistening in her eyes, the watching students began hurling incredibly cruel remarks.
Hyeji suddenly shot up from the bench and vanished in a blur. A moment later a faint gunshot rang out somewhere, followed by a short, cut-off scream. Before long she returned to her seat wearing a bizarre expression that mixed relief and pure annoyance.
Meanwhile Spencer was desperately trying to hold back her tears. But since I'd witnessed it firsthand, I had to say something.
"Mid is missing."
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!"
Spencer finally collapsed on the spot and burst into loud sobs. The arena's atmosphere turned ice-cold in an instant. The stares directed at me felt a hundred times more stinging than before. Jung Ayeon looked at me with utter disdain.
"To make a woman cry... I didn't think you were that kind of person. I'm disappointed."
"Those bastards were the ones simping like crazy!"
"You still landed the final blow."
Fuck.
Boos rained down from every corner of the stands—thicker, nastier, and more vicious than when our team name had been announced before the match. Flustered, I carefully grabbed Spencer's shoulder.
"Hey, don't cry. Why are you acting like this after you exploded on your own?"
"Hic... Waaaaah!!"
"Hey! If you think about it, those guys started it!"
"Moooommmmmy!!!"
"There, there! No more crying! Hush now!"
I frantically tried to comfort her. As her sobs slowly quieted, I spoke to her gently.
"It's okay. Breast size isn't everything."
"Sob... hic... Really?"
"Of course."
Spencer looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. I gave her a soft smile.
"But I can't forgive you for deceiving everyone with fakes."
I detonated the stored Cheonma Repulsor in the hand resting on her shoulder. With that, Spencer was completely retired.
I spoke firmly to the now-unconscious girl.
"Rather, be proud of your chest even if it's as flat as Hyeji's."
"Shinwoo. We're talking after this."
"Ah, fuck."
Hyeji's glare pierced me like a blade. I deliberately avoided her eyes and turned toward Jeong Bia, who was still standing. The fight wasn't over yet.
"Now it's just you left."
"I forfeit."
Jeong Bia declared her surrender without the slightest hesitation.
"I refuse to fight such a filthy piece of trash. I'd rather kill myself."
"You son of a bitch."
With that unnecessary remark, and following Jeong Bia's forfeit, the professor commentating the match spoke in a drained voice.
......The winner is the Heavenly Demon Rider team.
But there was no victory cheer. Only endless criticism followed. I tried speaking to Jung Ayeon one last time.
"Hey, Jung Ayeon."
"Do not speak to me. Could you please keep your distance?"
She rejected me coldly. It was a painful, dirty victory.