Chapter 179
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「UWOOORIYAAA!!」
I grab Ainika from behind and, using all my strength, twist and throw him high into the air with everything I’ve got.
He makes noises like 「guwaah」 and 「what are you doing?」 but none of that matters anymore. He starts falling, spinning helplessly in a motion that makes a triple axel look tame.
「DASSHERR!!」
As his head comes down to my feet, I shout and kick with perfect timing.
His head shoots forward like a bullet.
His neck smashes into the wall and gets stuck there, while the rest of his body is impaled into the ground.
Black tentacles crawl out from the hole in the wall and rejoin with the body stuck in the ground, like something out of The Ghost Story of Yotsuya.
He’ll regenerate anyway.
I’ll do this as many times as it takes, and I’ll say it as many times too.
All I can do is keep going as far as I can.
I create eleven arms using Light Magic, twist their tips together into a single point, then suddenly release them. A follow-up attack. I stab this giant screw-like formation into Ainika, who is clearly panicking after just regenerating—
「BAOOOOOAOOOO!!!」
He lets out a huge, strange cry and explodes, scattering black particles everywhere.
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There’s a term called 「singularity.」
This word, which can refer to a technological singularity, is probably fairly familiar to most people.
It’s almost always mentioned together with artificial intelligence—it’s that concept where once AI technology grows and reaches a certain point (the singularity), it begins to develop at an unprecedented rate.
This concept of singularity isn’t just applicable to artificial intelligence.
I think the same could be said for human growth processes too. Even with seemingly imperceptible progress, there are plenty of stories where people suddenly become able to do things they couldn’t do before after continuing to put in effort.
To get to the point of this long explanation—in this battle, it seems I’ve reached this 「growth singularity.」
The Light Magic that I’ve been using continuously without worrying about mana has become as natural as breathing, and when used as a replacement for my missing limbs and other body parts, it now feels completely normal.
No, more than that—by replacing my normal flesh with Light Magic constructs, I’ve gained stronger, more flexible limbs and many other replacement parts. My body’s movements have not only caught up to my ideal image, they’ve completely surpassed it and left it behind.
However—
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I negate Ainika’s ten arms of darkness with eleven arms of light—I’m already running as I smoothly climb up Ainika’s huge body, wrap both legs around his neck from a position like I’m sitting on his shoulders, build up momentum spinning clockwise, and twist his neck clean off.
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I see fear appear in Ainika’s expression.
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Ah, Sena—
Sensei—
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Whether consumed by panic or not, Ainika lets out a pathetic scream of 「uaaaaaaaaaa」 and throws a huge ball of pitch-black darkness created with Dark Magic at me.
I calmly shred it to pieces with my Condenser—one slash, two slashes, three slashes, four slashes—along with Ainika who was on the other side.
「Huh, what?」
Ainika lets out a stupid sound, not realizing he’s been cut to pieces.
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Hikaru—
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「You just don’t learn, do you?」
Ainika, now wearing a desperate expression, fires his gummy shots—I deflect every single one back at him.
「UGUWAAAAA!」
Ainika is engulfed in black flames as he takes the full brunt of his own Dark Magic.
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Grandpa, Grandma—
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There isn’t a single spot left on my body without injuries, and what would normally be considered fatal wounds are all hidden and replaced with Light Magic.
My arms and legs have long since disappeared, now replaced by artificial limbs created from Light Magic.
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I’m sorry, Mom, Dad—
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With a demon-like expression born of desperation, Ainika swings his great sword. It cleaves my torso clean in half. In less than a split second, I connect the severed parts with Light Magic.
「…And?」
When I ask this,
「UOOOOOOOOOAOOOOO!!」
He screams and raises his sword high again.
Too slow. I throw Gram using just my upper body strength while stepping backward.
「THUNK!」
It pierces his heart, and Ainika collapses. I finish him off by making him disappear with my Condenser.
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I might not be able to go back anymore.
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From a Frankenstiner into a mount position, I pound pound pound pound pound with fists of light. Ainika screams 「Stop, stop, UOAAAAA!!」 and his upper body disappears.
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How long will this have to continue—
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I throw Ainika into the air again, naturally negating his arms of darkness with arms of light—I immediately jump too, locking his body in mid-air—and slam his head into the ground with a piledriver.
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This is who knows how many exchanges we’ve had.
Ainika’s arms of darkness clash with my arms of light, creating explosions that shake the air. It produces endless bursting sounds that shake our eardrums. Even Ainika himself has crossed swords with me countless tiresome times.
At this point, the balance of power has already reversed, with me having the upper hand.
However, as they say, misfortune follows good fortune.
「After this long battle with you—」
Just as Ainika declares this, from the ground behind me—BOKO—a hidden arm he had buried in the ground suddenly—dodging is impossible—aims for my heart—
「—I can finally put an end to this!!」
But it doesn’t succeed.
Jijiji.
My last talisman activates, protecting me by unleashing ki.
「Well, fine. That’s fine, Holy Knight. That was your last of those cursed items, wasn’t it?」
I can’t say anything.
「Now that things have calmed down, look—I’m unharmed while you’re all patched up. It’s obvious which of us is at a disadvantage and which has the advantage!!」
I still can’t say anything.
「No matter what form you take, you’re still just human in the end.」
Ah—
「I won’t underestimate you by saying I’ll kill you instantly anymore.」
Ah—
「Out of respect for you, I’ll keep you company in this space until you starve to death.」
Ah, everyone—
「Will you live for a week? A month? Or perhaps a year? Either way, it’s just a trivial matter to me. I, who live for eternity, will keep your fragile human self company for this tiny fraction of time that’s less than the tip of my little finger!」
I wish I could see you all one last time—
「Hm?」
It’s Ainika who makes this questioning sound with a puzzled expression. I look where he’s looking too.
I thought it was a bad photoshop at first. A crimson blade seems to rise up out of the space itself.
「Finally found you.」
It’s a beautiful voice like rolling bells that I’ve heard many times before.
The crimson blade moves smoothly as if cutting through tofu, drawing a rectangle. From behind the space, a thin white hand can be seen pushing it. The rectangle falls forward and dissolves away.
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