Chapter 172: Brutal Speed
———Wiina———
<1: 18 pm>
“RAHHH!!!” He screamed out as he ran towards me.
*Thrust* *Lean*
He thrust his left arm towards me to which I simply leaned a bit to the left to avoid it. Very easy to read and prepare for.
*Swing* *Evade*
A right hook that I simply took a quick step backward. Many simple attacks. Certainly faster than the movement of the others, but still nothing I can’t easily deal with.
*Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Evade*
Attacks come in droves, and I only need to move just a bit out of the way each time. Surely he can come up with something better than that. Do these people just forget that magic is a thing now or what?
*Trip* *Kick* *Crash*
I lightly kick his foot which disrupts his stance and causes him to trip, and I follow that up with a kick to the stomach that sends him flying into a tree.
Just that alone wouldn’t be enough to take him down. That first kick to his head seemed to not slow him down at all. It seems that he is more durable than I give him credit for.
*Grab* *Throw* *Swat* *Crash* *Crack*
He got back up and threw half of the tree he slammed into, which I lazily swatted away and let it hit the barrier and break down into smaller chunks.
*Dash* *Sizz* *Blast* *Evade*
He threw out a large fireball towards me which is very telegraphed and easily avoided. I simply sidestepped it and let it fly past me and hit the building behind me, just barely missing any of the men on the ground still reeling in pain or afraid to get back up to help their boss.
*Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Evade*
“I suggest something a bit quicker on the draw, that wasn’t really anything impressive.” I said while dodging all the incoming attacks.
*Dash* *Whirl*
I then start sidestepping around him and causing a massive tornado that trapped him, with his face showing a clear sign of shock as he seems to be unable to even perceive me. I’m not even moving anywhere near close to my top speed and he already lost track of me.
“A-Aaaa!” He screamed out as the wind current got stronger and started sending him flying upward, dragged by the force of the tornado. The rest of them that were spectating or feigning unconsciousness are also caught up in the giant destructive whirlwind. They could seriously hurt themselves once they hit the ground. I can’t have that. Let’s make sure they aren’t dead.
*Snap*
I snapped my finger and manipulated the gravity within the dome to be way weaker to soften the impact. I should probably tie up anyone who isn't really in this fight anyway, just so they don’t waste their energy on a fruitless effort.
Hmm… I guess I could try this trick, it wouldn’t be too hard to do. I always want to try something classic like that anyway.
*Shoot* *Wrap* *Wrap* *Wrap*
I shot out some spider silk and tied up everyone caught up in the wind except the boss himself. Everyone falling down to the ground with less impact due to the gravity being cut down.
“Grrrr…” He groaned loudly as he got off the ground, clearly nauseous and finding it hard to concentrate, only knowing full well that he doesn’t like whatever the hell I just did to him. “You… What the hell are you?”
“Me? I feel like I have been all over the news for a while. Even on the government’s shit list. You seem to be quite behind the times.” I said with a smug smirk, knowing full well that it would just enrage him more. I might not have a natural instinct for ragebaiting like Kenni, but I do think not throwing a quip once a while is quite a missed opportunity. “Anyway, it doesn’t really define who I am. All that matters is that you don’t have any choice in the matter. You’re coming with me no matter what, tied up and gagged or in a bodybag.”
“You…” He clearly wants to insult me, but probably now understands that he doesn’t have a good chance at beating me, but not that there is no chance whatsoever.
“You got five seconds to get moving, starting…” I said while holding up my right hand with my palm open. “Now. Five…”
*Dash* *Swing* *Lean*
I leaned back as he ran at me with another ring hook. “Four.”
*Blast* *Leap* *Boom*
Another large fireball that I simply jumped up into the air to avoid, this attack being even bigger and crashing into the building and causing massive damage. “Three.”
*Leap* *Swing* *Zip*
“Huh!?” He yelled out in disbelief as he jumped up towards me with a punch winded up, only for it to miss because I can fly around and easily avoid it.
“Two.” I muttered as I slowly descended down while he dropped down at normal speed.
“Get the hell back here!” He yelled out as he raised his hand towards me.
*Crackle* *Shoot*
An ice spear appeared and shot itself towards me.
*Swat* *Shatter*
“One.” I said as I backhanded the spell and destroyed the spear, shattering it into many pieces and I touched the ground, him looking at me with a clear expression of dread, and no doubt that in his head, many things are going through his mind at a rapid pace. In fact, I could even sense it, the fear he felt became clear to me, any sense of arrogance that is still there is starting to get overwhelmed and overwritten as he realizes that I am going to stop screwing around the moment I said the word.
*Dash* *Swing* *Grab*
He threw his fist at me, but I grabbed it with ease without even moving an inch. “Zero.”
*Punch*
A quick punch to the chest the moment I let go of his hand, causing his whole body to shake and barely able to keep himself standing up straight.
*Grab* *Swing* *Crash* *Swing* *Crash*
I grabbed him by his arm and started swinging him around into the ground multiple times.
*Throw* *Leap* *Kick*
I then threw up and jumped up to him and kicked him flying up even further.
*Crash* *Grab* *Drag* *Drag* *Drag*
The moment he hit the ceiling of the barrier, I grabbed him by the back of his head and started dragging him along the barrier’s wall as I flew around at high speed.
*Kick* *Zip* *Kick* *Zip*
After dragging him around for a while I let go of him then started kicking him hard from one side of the barrier to another, flying around and kicking him multiple times in a row, slightly gaining elevation with each kick.
*Zip*
Before he could hit another side of the barrier, now floating in the middle of the arena, I flew towards him with my right leg raised up high and almost to my face.
*KICK* *CRASH*
A downward swing of my leg sent him straight down, crashing onto the dirt floor below and buried him deep inside the pit the impact created.
“It’s quite nice to have a durable scumbag like you. Makes for a really fun punching bag.” I said as I slowly descended down to earth. He doesn’t seem to have the strength to even get himself out of the hole. Well then, if he’s not going to do it himself, I’ll do it for him and the rest.
*Float*
I lift him off the ground with my magical power, not even needing to walk over and pull him out of the ground myself. I am also doing the same for the rest of them, none could even get out of the area with this barrier in the way.
Let’s go rendezvous with Rico, then I can go back home and check up on Karra. She should be doing some small exercise inside the dungeon right now.
Hmm… I don’t sense anything on that side aside from a small blip that should be Rico with her power repressed. It seems that she finished on her end before I did. As to be expected, she might not always be the most practical or considerate in a fight, but she rarely holds back and drags things out, especially against a large group. It’s like dealing with a lot of ants, annoying in groups so you’d rather crush the whole group quickly.
*Zoom*
“Ah. I was waiting for a while, you know?” She said while standing in a field of blood. Hmm… Most of them aren’t even dead, is she gonna let them bleed out or is this out of a twisted desire to see them in pain? It’s not for sustenance, a special demon like her rarely needs to distract emotions from humans. I’d rather not ask her what her actual reason for this is. “I guess you can go now. I’ll deal with them myself, since you kindly asked.”
“Yeah…” This feels extremely awkward and ominous, but at least it’s not my problem anymore. I should get the hell outta here before I see something horrifying.
*Zoom*
And here I am, back in my home in less than a second. I don’t really have a place of interest nearby that I wanna visit, so I just teleport straight back.
…Doesn’t look like Karra is back yet. She is doing fine right now at least with the tracker I put on her. Probably going quite deep in the dungeon if I were to guess.
…I guess this means I don’t have anything else to do or worry about for a while. Let’s go play some games th-
*Knock* *Knock*
“Wiina, can you be a dear and help those plants in the garden? They’re in really bad shape.” Mother said as she opened the door.
“Do you really need to worry about… Nevermind.” They’ll probably spring back to life on their own once winter is over, but if she’s that worried, then there’s nothing I can do but do as she asked. “Alright, I’ll make sure they don’t get frostbitten or whatever…”
———Lynda———
<1: 24 pm>
*Slash* *Chop*
“This baby can really cut things into pieces.” I remarked as we finally took down the boss. “Alright, let’s see what loot we’ll get today.”
*Shine*
“Bunch of junk…” Just weapons that will be turned into scrap metal eventually. No potions for easy payday. “Alright, Glery. Looks like we need to go a bit deeper today, let’s do ten more floors before going back to the surface.”
“Alright.” She said while helping me pick up these trash loot. Not even a sword or spear, just some daggers.
This ice axe is hella powerful. How did Gregori even learn to make this? Is the power of being a nerd really let someone magically make something like this? Or is it just because he’s part of that class?
I guess I can put that thought away for now, let’s go deeper and hopefully get more than chump changes. No idea who even supplies all the funds for the guild when it seems like support is at an all time low. I might need to rush and get all the good loot I can before the whole system gets dismantled.
———Jeff———
<1: 30 pm>
*Punch* *Kick* *Smack*
“They’re going at it real hard.” I can’t help but comment with how fast they’re going, hitting each other and keep fighting nonstop. Was the last time really not enough? They’re even building up an audience again, if less so than last time. I think witnessing something like this once is enough for some people.
“Those two will never stop fighting, it seems.” Gregori said in response. “They’re probably thrilled to have such a large arena for their antics. Though it would probably be better for them to at least share a bit of space and not hog the entire field. The field itself is big enough for multiple battles to occur.”
“They are certainly two peas in a pod.” Orrel muttered while observing them. They move so damn fast it’s really hard to keep track of where they are at.
A good deal of us are here spectating the event, with the usual suspects not coming to see like those big shots with lots of power, Jass who is probably just lazing around at home, and a few more of us probably doing something productive if less fun.