Here it is! Huyghe realized what was happening too and, with his face twisting into a frustrated grimace, stepped back. Honestly, Huyghe was far, far superior to Flum in terms of skill. His stats exceeded Flum’s, and in truth, it had only been Flum who had suffered injury in this fight. Therefore, he shouldn’t retreat here but rather deflect the attack and launch a counterattack. But he didn’t do that. That was because he knew that he couldn’t.
Scorch Maiden sank into Flum’s neck. A wound was opened, spewing blood, and when the attack reached her esophagus, it became difficult for her to breathe well. But this was the third time; once she had gotten used to it, it wasn’t that big a deal. More importantly, the crucial part was that Huyghe’s movements stopped at this very moment. It was a mere fraction of a second. However, in a battle, that was a fatal length of time.
Souleater came for Huyghe from overhead. By the time he regained his awareness, a blade full of murderous intent was already right there in front of him. No matter who he was, it was at a distance that was completely impossible to dodge.
“I will not die, not until I fulfill His dream!” Huyghe had no choice but to sacrifice his right hand, his dominant one, to escape with his life.
“Ohhhhhhhhh!” Flum mercilessly unleashed another attack on him after he lost an arm and collapsed, so as not to give him time to recover. He dodged by rolling away and moved behind Flum.
“Three minutes remaining until launch.” Behind Huyghe was the door to the room, and behind Flum were the controls. It was as though their positions from the start of the battle had been reversed.
“This is good. I can destroy the control equipment from here.”
“Hmph…and what are you planning to do after breaking it? Do you seriously think that destroying the equipment will stop the attack? This is only a control terminal. Destroying it will only eliminate the means of stopping the missile.”
“Seems like I have no other choice but to make you spit out how to operate it, then.”
“You seem to think that you can beat me. But even with one arm, I can hold out for three minutes.”
“Even though I know you can’t use your Justice Art anymore?”
“I see, so you were aware of that and intentionally used that against me. Yes, I suppose that’s it. We really do have the worst possible compatibility. That feeling of ‘time flying by’ when I used Scorch Maiden. That must be your Justice Art.” Justice Arts was a technique that changed the remnant of a past life left in a soul into energy, turning into a power that could be wielded. Therefore, this ability was greatly influenced by the will of the past life existence. And Flum Watermoon, unlike the Church Knights, had disappeared from this world of her own will. In other words, what remained in Flum now was only the “empty” energy, without any color or shape, in her sword.
“Blank. Or perhaps I could call it Anti-Justice.” For that reason, Flum couldn’t use her Justice Art herself. Instead, when she made an attack that drew on her very soul, it was wrapped in empty, colorless energy, which flowed back into her opponent’s soul. When the soul received an unusual stimulus, it temporarily ceased to function due to shock. This affected the body in the form of fainting, creating an illusion of time displacement.
“This evil entity, which could be described as a symbol of distortion, seems to be capable of reversing even justice itself and transforming it into evil.”
“From my perspective, you’re on the evil side, so I guess what I have is true justice.” In the face of Flum’s provocation, Huyghe’s face twisted with irritation.
“You’re the one who… Very well. If that is what you wish.” Huyghe could no longer maintain his usual expression of calm but instead wore a nasty smile befitting a villain. He took a step back and knocked on the door with the sword with his left hand. “I figured you understood that I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goal.” I’m sure that someone important to you is on the other side of this door. That was what he was telling Flum. And he was also certain that Flum wouldn’t be able to stop him from murdering Milkit from where they stood.
“What a cowardly thing to… Waittttt!” Flum shouted in a panicked manner. Huyghe smiled scornfully and slashed at the door with his sword. But then…
“A smokescreen?!” He had noticed Flum’s—no, Milkit’s trap. Dark Fog was a dark attribute spell. It was a basic spell that only emitted black smoke from the palm of the user’s hand. It couldn’t be used to attack. It was a spell for self-defense that Milkit had learned from Eterna before they headed off to the battle in Tokyo.
And beyond the smoke, Milkit was brandishing her gun. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bullets were fired in rapid succession. Since Milkit didn’t know where Huyghe was on the other side either, her shots were random. But one of them just happened to graze his ear. Flum zeroed in on him from behind while he was shaken.
“I’ve gotten accustomed to reading the thoughts of vulgar lowlifes like you!” The black blade was raised from a low position, aiming for Huyghe’s back. He immediately blocked it with his sword in his left hand and went for a counterattack using Prana Shaker. Flum’s arm was shattered from the inside. However, she realized that if her slash already had momentum from the point her bones were broken, she could break free of the prana-based capture technique.
“Nuoryahaaaaaaaa!” Flum let out a fierce war cry and pushed Huyghe’s sword forward with all of her strength, carving a deep wound into her opponent. At the same time, she unleashed Prana Shaker, so even after her slash was made, it continued to dig into her opponent’s body.
“Guh, oh, ohhhhh!” Huyghe stopped the blade partway through, thanks to his strong muscles and the prana in his body.
“I…will not…die! Not in a place like thisssssss!” And with a burst of energy from his own war cry, the Prana Shaker exploded and disappeared.
“Recovery… Healing…” Huyghe knelt down and tried to heal.
“I’ll finish thisssss!” Flum’s murderous intent loomed from overhead.
“Guoh, uaaaaaaaaah!” Huyghe gave up on healing and ran with all his might, gritting his teeth, with his torso still exposed. Flum put her Souleater away and chased after him. Huyghe reached for the control equipment with a frantic look and shouted:
“Lower the bulkhead!”
“You’re not getting awayyyyy!” Flum still hadn’t caught up with him yet, but she thrust Souleater forward and fired Prana Stinger like they were bullets. The trajectory was aimed precisely at Huyghe’s forehead, between his eyebrows. However, a transparency barrier wall that fell forcefully from the ceiling blocked it.
“Two minutes remaining until launch.” The emotionless countdown continued. Flum struck the barrier wall protecting Huyghe and the control equipment with her sword, but it didn’t even budge an inch.
“Don’t run from me, Huyghe! Come out and stop the missile!”
“Haa…haa…haa… Ha ha ha ha ha… This reuses the same equipment that was used back then. It’s something that was touted as being able to withstand even nuclear weapons. It won’t be easily broken, no matter who comes.” He first placed his hand over his wound on his torso, attempting to heal. However, perhaps because the wound was deep and he was unable to concentrate his magic well, it was healing slowly.