Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162 - Before the Dawn Breaks (2)
Those events unfolded in a short span of a few seconds.
Thinking about it that way, it was strange. It was the first time I had reached this stage, and it felt like it had been going on for a very long time⋯⋯.
I felt like laughing dryly. The actual time spent was only this much compared to the pain I felt.
“……It was only this much.”
It was the round closest to success in the most ultimate sense among all the attempts so far, but I didn't feel much elation or excitement from that fact.
Just quietly contemplating and searching for a method.
‘I will definitely…… not let you go just like that.’
To inflict fatal damage by any means necessary on the enemy who blocked my path and had given me pain until now.
It was a rather strange sensation to be maintaining such a calm state even though I was clearly angry.
A sensation as if the blood and brain fluids flowing in my head were chillingly cold.
Thinking about it, the situation might have been similar to when I killed Gabriel.
The hatred for the guy who gave me pain, and therefore the one I absolutely wanted to kill.
The situation where that negative emotion was the driving force.
But the temperature of the emotion I had was the exact opposite. For what reason?
Well, actually, none of that mattered anymore.
It was time to focus only on the task at hand.
***
The moment Rain rushed in, Salvatio was sufficiently wary of Rain's moves.
‘I heard he has a means of attack that ignores all defense.’
What was it, an artifact in the form of a dagger?
This was certainly fatal to Salvatio himself. The reason he wore this thick armor was to hide his identity, but more than anything, the issue of durability was a major one.
An incurable disease that ate away at his once strong body, and aging that worsened the illness day by day.
Based on The One's words that Rain Enlight would have grasped all of our side's information, there was a high possibility that Rain also knew about his weakness.
Therefore.
Clench.
Salvatio put strength into the crude greatsword in his hand, which contrasted with his brilliantly decorated armor.
‘I will never let him get close.’
The distance for a dagger to inflict an effective blow was, without a doubt, short.
Therefore, the plan was simple. Do not give him the distance. It was a truly basic, but effective, judgment.
That wasn't the only trick up his sleeve, though.
Rain also knew that Salvatio would do so. Do not allow him to approach, as it was the most intuitive solution.
But just because the method was simple, didn't mean the way to break it was also simple.
There was a reason why he stuck to that strategy even though it was easy for anyone to think of.
‘……’
Judgments quickly went back and forth in Rain's mind.
It was a strange sensation. He was angry about the pain he had felt so far, and about the provider of that pain, but he was also in an endlessly calm state.
Everything on the battlefield was as clear as if it were in the palm of the boy's hand, and his vision was wide open.
The chain of judgment became entangled like a puzzle fitting together perfectly in his mind.
He felt the information of the battlefield with his skin, and used that information purely as a basis for judgment without any contamination.
And…… the boy executed it into action faster than judgment.
Yes, in that moment, the boy was clearly seeing through everything on the battlefield.
As if looking down at the ground from the sky, that is, as if observing the world from a transcendent position.
Swoosh-
Rain, who was rushing in with 『Spellbinder』 in his right hand, put his hand into his pocket just before approaching Salvatio's effective range.
What that meant was clear.
‘The boy's ranged attack options are two, a dagger or a pistol!’
Salvatio understood that action perfectly. Just as Rain had a thorough grasp of this side, 『Ad Astra』 also knew all of Rain's power.
The actions that would follow from that were not endless.
‘Either he shoots the pistol, or he takes out the dagger and settles the score……!’
A choice of two options. In it, the action Rain took seemed to be narrowed down to those two at first glance.
However.
Tadadak-!
Instead of rushing in with his acceleration, Rain pushed his foot forward and put a sudden brake on himself.
This action produced two results. One was that it induced Salvatio's bewilderment.
“……!”
And the other was that, due to the aftermath of the sudden stop, the 『Knight Robe』 he was wearing was blown forward in front of Rain according to the principle of inertia.
And this meant that the motion of Rain taking something out was hidden by the flapping of the coat.
‘The motion of taking it out is not visible, was this his aim……!’
Salvatio couldn't help but shudder inwardly.
He had felt it when he rushed past the other two to get to him, but could he display this level of wit at such a young age?
He could be sure. This was a monster.
If he let him live here, the monster would grow even more and return, and it was obvious that this would become a great threat to Ad Astra.
“That's why…… I can't let you live!!”
Salvatio roared loudly with his voice modulated by the helmet's effect, and raised all his senses.
Rain had used a trick to delay Salvatio's judgment, but the options themselves had not changed.
‘If he shoots, I'll endure it with the armor's durability. Any other action will be shot down with the greatsword.’
A state where he could counter any unexpected ambush, having raised his senses to the point of clearly feeling every single flow of blood.
Thinking about it, it had been a considerable amount of time since he had last drawn out this much power.
This was clearly an expression of Salvatio's will to completely discard any carelessness towards Rain and face him with all his might.
Perhaps, from that point on, everything might have gone wrong.
Flap-!
The Knight Robe fluttered and concealed Rain's form, and for that short period of time, there was no way for Salvatio to fathom what Rain was doing.
A clear turning point in the match.
‘The crucial moment is definitely now.’
Therefore, Rain took a gamble.
Heads, and tails.
Which one would it be?
Rain's subconscious had already reached the result.
***
Whip-!
Just before the fluttering Knight Robe returned to its original position, something flew out of Rain's pocket at high speed.
‘As expected……!’
To Salvatio, that action meant only one thing.
The throwing of a dagger.
It was an unexpected ambush. He was clearly in a disadvantageous position, having to respond without being able to capture the preparatory motion.
Udeuk-!
Salvatio's years, the proof of his survival, were speaking.
That this too was just a wall to be overcome.
Kaaang-!
Salvatio swung his greatsword and deflected the object that was flying in at high speed.
The first of the options Salvatio had considered, if a dagger flew in or the main body rushed in directly, he would intercept with the greatsword.
And that option had now succeeded perfectly.
It was possible because all his nerves were focused on that goal, and because he had the physical ability to achieve it.
However.
Something was strange.
‘……?’
The sensation at his fingertips was telling him. What he had just deflected was not a blade.
That means.
In that brief moment, Salvatio was able to capture it.
The pistol that had flown in at a threatening speed, but had been shattered to pieces after hitting his greatsword.
‘How, can this be……!’
Shwaaak-!
Before judgment could catch up with reality, something flew again from Rain's fully revealed form.
Something in the form of a complete dagger.
Thwack-!
Rain accurately pierced the spot where Salvatio's spleen was located.
By throwing the weapon he had been so wary of, 『Fortress Kill』.
“Kuh, haaaaaa-!!”
Salvatio let out a scream in his grotesquely modulated voice, which was unrecognizable from its original form.
His body, which had been weathered by the waves of time and had become infinitely weaker compared to the past, was also screaming.
“With just such a petty trick……!”
However, Salvatio did not collapse from that attack. No matter how much of a serious problem his durability had become compared to his prime, he was also one of the world's leading powerhouses.
It meant that even if it was powerful, he was not a man to be brought down by a single dagger.
His only misfortune was one thing.
That in Rain Enlight's vision, the next step also existed.
‘The greatsword swung wide, aiming for the 『Outlaw』. There's a short interval before he can readjust.’
There was still no agitation in the boy's inner self.
He just moved to accomplish his goal, based on a judgment based on clear facts.
The goal of harming the opponent before him.
Thwip-!
By the time Salvatio, who had screamed in pain, regained his senses, Rain had already reached his front.
And in that moment, Salvatio would have glimpsed something in Rain's eyes.
Something that had been the raw emotions of anger, which had accumulated and been pressed down, and had hardened coldly at the bottom of his spirit.
Udeuk-!
When the boy made the preparatory motion to swing the sword in his right hand, such a sound of muscles being crushed could be heard.
That innumerable pain, the anxiety about the unseen future, the hatred for those who hammered them into him.
All emotions were condensed in that grasp.
And the story of what followed was a very simple one.
The boy swung his sword.
The target was the hilt of the dagger embedded in the armored giant.
Kwaang-!
Kwaddeuk-!!
As the sword strike, filled with power beyond the limits of what the boy's body could handle, exploded on the hilt of the dagger, the dagger received that force and dug deeper into the giant.
Like hammering a sharp nail.
“Kuaaaaaak-!!!”
A tearing scream.
Unconcerned by the scream, the boy swung his sword once more with a frighteningly cold and static gaze.
Kwaang-!!
The moment the roar, the sound of the sword swinging, and the scream intersected.
Perhaps, in the boy's eyes, another emotion might have been mixed in.
***
It was pathetic.
Kwaang-!
With every single blow, I felt the pain of the past rushing back.
Kwaddeuk-!!
It was a journey of being cut, pierced, crushed, and dismembered.
“Kuaaaaaak-!!!”
The pain itself wasn't the only problem. As I had repeated and rehashed countless times, the bigger problem was the unseen hope.
Kwaang-!!
The contempt that those guys had conveyed to me in the process was also painful.
Kwaddeuk-!!!
But what was more painful was the reality that I couldn't let go of everything.
It was a regret for myself for having rejected the option to be at ease, even when it was right in front of me.
It would have been better if I had just lost my mind.
It would have been happier if I could have gone crazy.
Nevertheless, I couldn't go crazy, and in the end, I had no choice but to complete this insane marathon.
The anger and pain that had been boiling hot overflowed past their threshold, and thus fell to the bottom of me.
Time passed again. The something that had flowed down to the bottom had at some point cooled down coldly.
Like molten iron cooling down and hardening coldly.
That was the difference between when I killed Gabriel and now.
Kwaang-!!!
I swing my sword.
I swing my sword until my arm breaks.
With the emotion that has cooled down and stuck to the bottom, I surpass the limits of my body.
Salvatio's scream hits my eardrums.
The sensation of his life fading is transmitted to my fingertips.
And.
‘……Ah.’
It's embarrassing, but I'll confess one thing.
I was truly feeling joy in this moment.