Chapter 157: Revel in Battle
———Wiina———
<1: 17 pm>
Certainly an impressive attack. Unfortunately, it caused a lot of people to be caught in the crossfire. What a bad time for me to be here.
I feel kinda bad leaving Karra alone for my morning warm-up so I was thinking about giving her some fancy snacks from the big city.
People were already running away, seeing that the building had been attacked. The studio is a bit far out from the populated area, but even out here there are still people roaming about and noticing the attack. As for me… I don’t really feel sorry for those folks for being attacked, but it’s not like they are supervillains as far as I’m aware, death is a tiny bit too far.
Not to mention, I don’t think the attacker is a vigilante exactly… Hmm… What to do…
*Zip* *Zoom*
I fly into the burning studio and teleport all except one person out of the building. This place looks like it could collapse and the last thing I need is for some poor soul to get killed under my watch.
“Wha- Where the hell are they!? Where did they go!?” The one who attacked the studio said in confusion. A big gray lizard guy with very large arms and legs.
“Sorry, big guy. I just happen to walk around the area and see that this place is up in flames. It’d weigh on my conscience if people die under my watch, you know?” I said before teleporting in front of him, still concealing my appearance with this black hoodie I am wearing.
“Who the hell are you! You bitch!” He said, growling with anger. He must have quite the grudge with this place, or maybe he gets mad easily.
“I don’t really care that much that this particular place is damaged or whatever. Never the fan of that news channel, so I’ll let you off easy if you walk away. What do you say?” I said while tilting my head, my face still covered by the shadow. My tone is a bit condescending, but it wouldn’t matter much either way.
“You got one hell of a nerve to stand in my way. Where did you put them! What the hell was that magic!” He yelled at me, clearly not interested in running for it. He didn’t put it together that the earlier interference alone indicates that I am far above him in power. When will I actually find someone who has a good sense of self-preservation?
“Haaah… I guess it must come to this…” I said before summoning a plain-looking sword while he simply sneered.
“Hah! You think that lame weapon can even pierce my skin? You made one hell of a mistake.” He said with a confident grin. So that’s where his ego stems from. Those lizard scales are indeed quite tough and act as natural armor, but in a world of magic that alone isn’t anywhere near enough defense. Some people still think a bit too… mundanely.
*Dash* *Evade*
He tried to attack me with a swipe of his massive claw-like hand, which I didn’t even bother leaping out of the way and only did a simple sidestep.
“Huh?” He seems quite confused that his attack was so easily dodged. Objectively speaking he is quite strong, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to launch such a sudden attack that goes through multiple solid walls, but compared to me, he is like a mere child.
*Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Evade*
“You think you can dodge forever!?” He gets more and more frustrated seeing that I only move just the right amount to dodge his attacks, but nothing more than that. Each one only managed to hit the air and nothing more. “Stop doing this! You bitch!”
“And what would you want me to do?” I playfully said while still dodging his attacks with no problem. To me they are so slow it felt like moving out of the way of a snail.
“Why don’t you! Fight back!” He said while his voice was already sounding strained. Why doesn’t he try using any magic? The initial attack used up quite a lot, but he still got a bit left. He erroneously concludes that he doesn’t need it for this fight against an unknown person. What a terrible mistake, but then again, opting to fight me in the first place already set his downfall in motion. I might not be eager to kill, but anything at the edge of that is fair game to me.
*Slice*
“AAaaaaaa!” He screamed out loudly once I cut his hand clean off. Like a hot knife through butter, that defense he boasted so loudly doesn’t mean anything in front of me.
He retreated and held the stump left behind, trying to stop the bleeding.
Just how many times am I gonna end up doing something like this, I wonder…
“It really is just that easy.” I mockingly said to him while he kneed down, reeling in pain. “So? Ready to leave? Or shall I test those scales of yours again? What about the one on your neck?”
“S-Stay away from me!” He said before running off. Guess he can choose something else besides picking a fight.
…Alright. Guess I should look around a bit for some juicy documents. I want something to blackmail those news people and upload it on DieChan later, if something like that exists. I only teleported all of them out of the building, but I doubt they’re that eager to get inside when they aren’t even sure if the coasts are clear or not. So I can take my time a bit…
Ah right. The gifts. People were running away and spreading panic so the line for that dessert place got cut down a lot. Let’s just take all the papers and other stuff and get out quickly.
———Karra———
<1: 51 pm>
“Whoa! These things are some fancy desserts, ain’t it? Did you get them just now?” I asked while checking the brand on the box.
“Yeah. Sorry for being away for a while.” She said with a wry smile. I didn’t even get mad at her for that. It’s not like this is the first time we’ve been far apart for a long while.
Heck, I bet she left behind a body or something to keep track of everything. She does that rather often. Even less than a percent of hers is enough to protect this small town, if her words are accurate, which they should be.
“Don’t worry about that. Also these are pretty damn pricey. I’ve seen the videos, aren’t the lines pretty long?” I don’t think even her would find a way around that.
“I just got lucky.” She dismissively said.
“I see.” Nothing else to say on that, seems pretty clear-cut.
I guess it’s time to enjoy these desserts. We don’t have anything planned today anyway, and the collab stream is still a few days off.
“...There’s carrot cake on the menu there? I didn’t know that.” I said after opening up one of the boxes. “Wait… Are you for real?”
“What? It’s not like I didn’t buy other things for you as well.” She said before scratching the back of her head. The audacity of her… “Just enjoy them. I have to travel quite far, as you know.”
“Stop talking like you can’t just teleport anywhere you want.” I said before picking a fork to eat the cake with. There are a few slices in here. “Did you even look at anything else in the big city? Or brought anything else?”
“Nah. If I need anything there then I can just go back to it later.” Yep, basically proving my point on that one. “I doubt that city will get wrecked anytime soon. Not like it’s near one of those warzones with warlords and other lunatics.”
“...Speaking of which. Have there been demon sightings at all? Last time you went to one it’s because there was one, right?” I asked while enjoying the cake.
“Nah. If there was, I would've intervened right away, but there isn’t, so I don’t feel like it.” She said while shrugging her shoulders. Certainly have a few conditions on her for her to act. Unlike some people around here…
———Emmie———
<2: 17 pm>
“So? Where is your base located?” I asked while still holding him, lightly squeezing his neck, just making sure to not crush his windpipes.
He weakly pointed in a vague direction. How useless, but don’t need a specific coordinate anyway. Still, he wasn’t being all too helpful, so unfortunately…
*Crush* *Crack* *Thud*
I crushed his neck and dropped him down. Hopefully for his sake, that was a quick death.
Now then, let’s see what his warlord is capable of. Hopefully this one won’t be a disappointment like the last one. I’ll even give them the first turn just to be fair. Time to search for power signatures and look for the biggest one in that direction.
*Bang* *Catch*
One of them tried to shoot me, but a bullet from a simple handgun couldn't even so much as scratch me. A poor choice.
*Flick* *Pierce*
I flicked the bullet back and it pierced right through his brain. He should’ve known to run away like the others. Such a sneak attack simply won't work.
…Now then. I think I caught that glimmer.
*Leap* *Crash*
“I-Intruder!” Someone yelled out once I landed inside the building.
*Dim* *Slash* *Slice*
I walked around and cut everyone into pieces with the sword made out of the dark substance. Being a bit experimental today. No need to use the same weapon all the time, especially in a casual scenario like this one.
“So, you must be the boss around here.” I said once I walked up to a giant man on his makeshift throne. Can’t even be bothered to make something half-decent with all the influence you got.
“You got a lot of nerve coming here. Who the hell do you work for?” He asked, looking like he’s about to lose it already.
“No one. I’m only here for someone to entertain me. You’re the strongest one around here, so you’ll be my playmate for today.” I said while twirling the sword around.
“You making fun of me?” He said before standing up and picking the giant halberd at his side. “I’ll make sure to parade your corpse around, you little swine.”
“How confident. Let’s see how that serves you then.” I said while standing still, waiting for the first move.
“...So you think you can even live a single hit? I’ll show you how outmatched you truly are!” He yelled out while increasing his power, going full throttle right out of the gate. “I was looking for a change of scenery anyway!”
Hmm… If this is in fact all he has… then…
“Raaah!” He screamed out and let out an explosive wave of power that engulfed the room we are in and even the building itself.
*Crash* *Crumble*
The resulting display of power had destroyed the entire building, a massive abandoned factory. Everything was blown away including the subordinates, dead or not. Leaving only us and the debris that is now the only evidence of a building ever being here.
“...You’re still alive?” He said in disbelief. What a fool.
“That attack might cover the whole area, but in terms of power it’s nothing impressive.” I said while shaking off the dust from the collapse of the factory. “I guess it’s my turn.”
*Slice* *Thud*
I sliced him vertically in half before he could raise his weapon to defend himself. Someone with such poor energy management would’ve burned out too quickly even if I went easy on him. Looks like this is another dud…
…Rather unfortunate that he had to take down the entire place with him before his last whimper, but it is what it is. I don’t have all the in the world to look through the debris to see if there is anything valuable left in the pile of rubbles and junk.
Looks like I don’t have anything else to do here then. I still have plenty of energy for another round… or go check the dead bodies for any cash on them and leave it at that for now. This is enough physical activity for today anyway.