“Your strength is impressive. But it’s not enough to overpower my Aurum Cube!” Gauron said.
He clenched his free left fist and swung at me with a full-strength straight. I tried to defend myself with my black sword, but that was the wrong decision.
“Nrgh!”
That’s some power… Wait, why was that punch sharp…?!
Gauron’s blow had been heavy, sharp, deep, and strong. The incomprehensible impact knocked aside my sword and sent me flying parallel to the ground. I crashed through the wall of the National Crusade Coliseum and landed in the streets of Aurest.
“Haah, haah…”
What was that…?
His punch felt simultaneously like a blunt blow and a slash.
“Dammit…”
The fatigue of all this fighting is catching up to me… My legs feel dead…
I planted my shaking legs and forced myself to my feet.
That was when I noticed the tragic sight around me.
“No…”
People were lying facedown in the street, and buildings were on fire. I heard screams, swords clashing, and the sounds of destruction. Aurest had turned into a hellscape.
“Taking in the scenery during a duel?” said Gauron’s voice from above me.
“…”
Making a split-second decision, I rolled to the side, and a pair of military boots thudded to the ground where my head had been a moment before.
He just tried to flatten me without hesitation…
Before I could regain my balance, Gauron came at me even more aggressively than before.
“Royal Fist—Rakshasa!” he shouted, hounding me with golden punches that blanketed my vision.
He’s fast…but I can still keep up!
I swung my black sword, perfectly guarding against every punch. I felt the same odd sensation as earlier.
Again, his punches were weirdly light… In fact, “light” didn’t even cut it; I’d felt no impact at all, as if he’d stopped each punch right before it hit my sword.
My eyebrows knitted together in thought, and Gauron gently placed his elbow against my blade.
“This is gonna hurt.”
My vision blurred as I was knocked off my feet.
“Gah…!”
What’s with that power…?!
A massive impact traveled from my blade to my arms, my chest, and up to my brain. It took all my effort to remain conscious.
“You’re surprisingly tough. The reports of you being unkillable as a cockroach were true, it seems,” Gauron said. He cracked his neck, totally composed.
I decided to buy time to heal by talking to him.
“…I figured it out. Aurum Cube’s ability is absorbing and ejecting attacks, isn’t it?”
“Wow, you figured that out quickly. You’re surprisingly smart, too,” he said, not bothering to hide his ability. His praise also spoke volumes of how unthreatened he was by me. “However, understanding my ability doesn’t mean you know how to best it. True strength lies in one’s capacity to solve problems.”
He dropped his center of gravity low and assumed a combat stance.
A True Attire that uses absorption and ejection certainly sounds difficult to deal with…but I have plenty of options up my sleeve. Right now, he was only attacking and defending himself with those golden gauntlets, so I just needed to focus on those to avoid any devastating blows.
I think I should give up on close combat. The golden gauntlets will absorb my attacks, allowing him to perform an exponentially more powerful counter. This situation called for an ability that specialized in surprise attacks and middle-to-long range attacks.
I let out a short breath and channeled a new power.
“Conquer—Dragon King Fafnir!” Black and white flames enveloped my whole body, raising the temperature around us.
“What? Fafnir…? Oh, you’re imitating it,” Gauron said.
His eyebrows raised slightly, but he maintained his stance. No matter the situation, Gauron simply kept his eyes on his opponent and remained calm. He’d likely been through many more battles than I due to his age. The difference in our experience was clear.
“It’s my turn to attack now! Draconic Rage!” I shouted, swinging my sword up to send black and white flames high into the air.
“Huh…,” Gauron said as the scorching hot flames rained down around him, trapping him inside.
I prepared my next attack without a moment’s delay.
“Dark Shadow!”
Black and white flames smothered him from above while dark tentacles approached from below. There was no way he could block a multidirectional attack like this with just his two gauntlets.
At least, that was what I thought.
“Hah! Effugio!” Gauron shouted.
A giant golden cube appeared around him and absorbed the flames and tentacles.
“What?!”
“Hmm-hmm, I expected you to try a wide-ranging attack like that,” Gauron said. He snapped his fingers. “Dimittis.”
A golden cube appeared over a distant street. It unleashed my Draconic Rage and Dark Shadow on a crowd of fleeing innocents and the holy knights who were escorting them.
“What’s that…? Gaaaaaah!”
“I-isn’t this Allen Rodol’s darkness?!”
“Wait, really?! We have to fight him, too?! How could this situation get any worse?!”
Gauron’s redirection of my attack spread a great deal of confusion on the battlefield.
“My True Attire, Aurum Cube, has power over subspace,” he said calmly. “It allows me to absorb and eject anything. I’ll give you a warning: From now on, all your attacks will be diverted onto the people and buildings of Aurest. Keep that in mind as you fight me.”
“That’s…really dirty…,” I said.
“Dirty tricks are a weapon. You may think it cowardly, but anything goes on the battlefield,” Gauron said coldly. He threw his arms wide, opening himself up to attack. “Huh? Are you just going to stand there?”
“Ngh…”
He was testing me. He wanted to see if I would attack him even if it meant putting innocent lives at risk.
…Calm down. I need to think!
There was no such thing as an unbeatable ability. Even Shin’s Imperial Decree had the weakness of him not being able to apply rules to things he didn’t understand. Aurum Cube had to have a weakness, too.