Naiarotop’s increasing frustration was nearly palpable. My proposal was like a lifeline to the higher beings in charge of Locklore, so he rushed down here to take advantage of it…and now I was insisting on haggling over the rules and definitions. They weren’t going to be happy with that. Though I might even give them the hint that I might call off the whole thing if they couldn’t satisfy my conditions.
“How about, whichever of us is still alive at the end, you or me, is the winner. Is that satisfactory? No complaints?” said Naiarotop, as if rushing his words.
“I’m okay with that part, but…the other part—”
“I am not going to flee from a lifeform from a lower plane! And actually, you should feel relieved to know that no matter how far you flee, I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb! You don’t have to worry about being disqualified for breaking the rules! I’ll keep the others out!” said Naiarotop. He pointed at Lunaère and the others, and a magic circle appeared around them.
“Space-time Magic Level 23: Forced Relocation!”
They disappeared, then reappeared more than 300 feet away.
It’d been a long time since I’d seen Naiarotop cast magic, but now I remembered how insanely fast he could cast high-level spells. That kind of spell was already hard to handle, and not even Lunaère had a chance to react.
“Barrier Magic Level 27: Absolute Sanctuary.”
Next, a blue magic circle more than thirty feet across appeared around me and Naiarotop. A dome of light grew up from the edge of the magic circle, closing us in.
“How’s that?” said Naiarotop. “This barrier can’t be broken by human means. It’s so powerful, no spatial or time-based interference can break through. I prepared
the ring for our match. You can’t really mean to nitpick anymore, can you?” He glared at me.
“K-Kanata, this isn’t going to work! I don’t think…I don’t think you can win this fight! Stop it now!” Lunaère shouted desperately as she clung to the barrier.
“Lunaère-san…you promised,” I said.
“Ah…” Lunaère froze, taken aback by what I said.
My theory was right. Everything Zoras said was advice that anticipated what would happen. He had been absolutely correct.
“What do you say, Kanata Kanbara?! Rise to the fight!” roared Naiarotop.
I steadied my breathing and readied my sword. “Okay. I have no complaints with that. Let’s finish this, Naiarotop!”
Naiarotop’s smile was filled with malice. “You really were the greatest fool of all the travelers, Kanata Kanbara! Die as you despair at the difference in our power!”
-4-
“IT WOULD BE a bore if we finished this too quickly… This is Locklore’s last show, after all. I will pour all my hatred toward you into this fight, I will destroy every last inch of your body, I will torture you until you die in agony!”
Naiarotop came at me, trying to grab me.
A higher being—I couldn’t forget that. He was without a doubt the most powerful enemy I’d ever faced, though he couldn’t possibly be unbeatable.
Naiarotop cast magic the same way I did. I already knew that from the first time I saw him.
He looked down on Locklore for being a lower plane, but it used magic that operated on the same principles. Nothing was better proof that he wasn’t some sort of being utterly unlike me. He was on the same plane as me, just further ahead.
And if that was the case, he should have a level and stats. I didn’t think he could be so powerful I’d have no chance against him.
I checked his level. The all too familiar video game-like screen popped up in my mind.
ӢꭍꭍЖ§Å‰ƹ
Race: Demigod
Lv: 12388
HP: 75566/75566
MP: 72371/73089
He’s over level 10,000…
That was way higher than I’d anticipated. My spells were going to be too slow. I had no choice but to face him with my sword.
I swung my sword to meet Naiarotop as he leaped toward me, but the moment I did, his form blurred into three and he shifted behind me. My sword hit nothing but air as I spun around and swung again at him. He blurred once more, and I realized I’d swung my sword at nothing but an afterimage.
Just as I was wondering where he went, I felt a finger pressed against the back of my head. I hurried away and raised my sword again.
“Ha ha ha…all I did was brush your head. What are you so afraid of?” said Naiarotop with a sneer, his arm still raised.
“Enough with the weird tricks,” I said.
Maybe he had an item of some sort. If so, I needed to figure out its characteristics, or weak spots, or something.
“Tricks…? Ha ha ha ha! You really do say some funny things. This is simply the difference in speed between the two of us. I could kill you five times over in the time it takes you to swing your sword.”
I gulped. I might have underestimated the difficulty level of this fight.
“Really use your head and body, please. Give us a good struggle. This is a show, after all. Opinions of Locklore will fall if you can’t even give the audience something to see.” He flopped his head to the side.
He wasn’t on guard. He wasn’t coming at me with swift attacks to end this. My only option was to strike while he was acting this way.
I rushed toward him while I formed a magic circle.
“That magic circle…is it a space-time spell?” he said. “A lot of space-time spells ignore the target’s resistances and defenses, and they might even be effective against me. If you can hit, that is…”
I held the magic circle as I kept slashing at Naiarotop. He quickly dodged out of the way of each attack, antagonizing me again and again.
If I could just get a tiny opening, I thought, but there were no signs Naiarotop’s stance was going to falter. I had to just go for it.
After missing four times with my sword, I cast my spell.
“Space-time Magic Level 17: Fracture!”
Space itself fractured, starting from the center of the magic circle, turning the area around us into a broken glass-like space. Of all the space-time spells, this one was one of the fastest ones you could cast for getting a large area of effect.
But Naiarotop gave a carefree smile and wove his way through the gaps in Fracture as if it were nothing.
“What’s wrong?” he said. “If you keep this up, this is going to end with a real snooze fest. In the end, you people are nothing but puppets. You should be aware of that.”
I expected him to be able to evade Fracture. My goal was to use the area of effect from Fracture to limit where he could go.
Naiarotop was messing around too much as he dodged. Even with that godly speed of his, he shouldn’t be able to dodge my sword now.
“Here!” I shouted as I swung my sword at his head.
“Oooh!”
Naiarotop raised his left arm to protect his head, and my blade couldn’t cut through. The best I could manage was a slight tear in his clothes.
“No way, it’s too tough…” I muttered.
“Sorry, but you are hopelessly outmatched.”
Naiarotop’s arm bulged, splitting his sleeve, and root-like tendrils writhed out. One of those roots was blocking my sword.
“Agh!” I let Fracture go down and leapt backward.
“Maybe it’s about time I shift to the offensive, hm? Take this!”
Naiarotop swung his arm. The roots reaching from his sleeve instantly expanded, stretching all the way to where I stood. And now the tip of each root ended with a beast-like claw.
I leapt backward, evading them. I kicked at the roots right in front of me and twisted out of the way to put some space between us. But the roots kept chasing me, growing faster and faster, until they slashed across my chest. The claws dug in and flung me away, sending me tumbling across the ground.
I could hear Naiarotop cackling. The bulging roots shrank back down, rustling as they returned to his sleeve.
Then he came at me.
“Gah!” I barely managed to scramble to my feet and ready my sword. But the moment I thought he was coming at me from the front, his form blurred and he disappeared from sight.
Desperate, I spun around, wildly swinging my sword.
“Over here, fool!”