“Hmph!”
“Guhah?!”
Lulune’s sharp kick slammed squarely into Vitor’s gut, carving a clean, gaping hole through his abdomen.
To any normal eye, it looked like a fatal, undeniably lethal blow. Blood sprayed from Vitor’s mouth as his body went flying. But even before he hit the ground, smoke began pouring from the wound. In mere seconds, the gash had sealed shut, and his body returned to its original, unblemished state, as if nothing had ever happened.
“Aaah, that’s the stuff… not bad at all! More! Come on… entertain me more!”
Wearing a look of unhinged ecstasy, Vitor charged with blinding speed. Lulune, in contrast, wore the expression of someone watching a mosquito buzz around her ear: annoyed, bored, and just a little bit tired of this nonsense.
She didn’t dodge. Instead, she waited calmly, then delivered a flawless spinning kick to the side of his skull just as he closed in.
There was a sickening crack as his skull fractured, the impact surely enough to pulverize even his brain. However, moments later, he rose again, completely unscathed.
Lulune let out a weary sigh.
“You talk a big game, but you’re nothing special. Just lie down already.”
“Don’t be like that! Don’t leave me hanging now! Come on… give me more!”
Despite the obvious, severe pain he felt each time he was struck, Vitor only grinned wider, completely unaffected. His regenerative ability might be supernatural, but so was his insanity. His ability to laugh through such agony sent a visible shiver through Origa and the others, their faces twisted in disbelief.
And yet… Lulune alone remained unfazed.
In fact, as she watched him, a flicker of familiarity appeared behind her eyes.
He reminds me of someone… No, of several someones… back at the guild headquarters, with Seiichi.
Vitor continued to charge again and again, relentless in his madness. His speed was utterly beyond what Origa or anyone else in their group could handle, but Lulune remained composed. Without even breaking a sweat, she effortlessly parried every attack, answering each one with a counter as elegant as it was destructive.
He regenerated. She remained untouched.
No matter how many times Vitor rushed her, he never landed a single blow. Meanwhile, Lulune struck back with cold efficiency, every hit delivered with the dispassion of someone swatting at flies.
Eventually, even she had had enough.
With a voice like a razor slicing through the air, she spat the words at him:
“That’s enough. I have more important things to do. I don’t have time to waste on the likes of you.”
“Lulune!”
Routier’s breath caught.
She had thought Lulune was only ever focused on food, on flavor, on chasing strange creatures for the next taste. But here she was, clearly remembering why they’d come to the Wailing Lands in the first place: to rescue Routier’s father.
So she didn’t forget… Routier thought, overcome with emotion.
And Lulune was right. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time. The Cult of the Wicked One might already be doing something to her father. Every second counted.
The appearance of Vitor had only deepened their suspicions, and with it, the urgency to reach their destination grew.
It wasn’t just Routier and Zora who looked at Lulune differently now. Even Origa, who was usually the harshest critic when it came to Lulune’s antics, was staring at her with an expression of surprise and, perhaps, renewed respect.
“I need to find a whole new kind of unknown food, as soon as possible!”
“Lulune…”
Yeah. She hasn’t changed at all.
At that moment, Vitor, blasted away yet again for who knew how many times, got back on his feet. Still unscathed. Still smiling. His body showed no sign of wear, no fatigue, no indication that his regeneration had any limits. He dusted himself off like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Tch… The problem with you run-of-the-mill types is that you don’t appreciate the beauty of a moment like this. But I get it. I do,” he said, cracking his neck.
“Huh?”
“You don’t get it? Fine. Let me spell it out for you.” His lips curled into a twisted grin. “I’m saying I’ll stop holding back.”
“After all that pathetic flailing, you still have the nerve to act like you’ve been toying with us?”
Lulune narrowed her eyes, her expression tightening. She had no idea where he was getting this absurd confidence from, but she could already tell she wasn’t going to like the answer.
Vitor, seemingly unconcerned by her disdain, casually rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms as if loosening up for a game. His wolfish smile widened.
“Come on now, you don’t go all out when you’re just having fun, do you?”
He rushed in again. Same movement. Same speed. There was nothing different about it, and Lulune’s expression twisted in visible irritation. She threw another kick, this time with real force, and aimed it straight at Vitor’s stomach.
“Gh—! GAH—!”
“…?! Glutton?!”
But it wasn’t Vitor who went flying.
It was Lulune.
She crashed backward, blood flying from her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.
The kick had landed. Everyone saw it. Vitor hadn’t dodged. He hadn’t blocked. He had taken it, full-force.
And yet, somehow, he was still standing.
And she was the one sprawled on the ground, a fresh bruise blooming on her abdomen where she had just attacked.
“Wh–What… the hell?”
Even as she swallowed the blood pooling in her mouth, Lulune had no idea what had just happened.
She hadn’t let her guard down. Her strike had connected. She knew it had. And yet, she had been the one sent flying.
She wasn’t the only one baffled. From the sidelines, Origa and the others had seen nothing unusual. One moment, Lulune was on the offensive. The next, she was blown away as if by some invisible force.
As for the likely cause of this bizarre reversal—Vitor—he merely stood there, rubbing his stomach with an expression of mild annoyance.
“Man… soon as I get serious, the thrill’s just gone. No tension, no fun.”
“W-What?” Lulune’s breath was ragged, her voice laced with confusion and anger.
“Huh? C’mon, don’t give me that look. You’re the one who gave me those hits earlier, remember?” he said, flashing a toothy grin. “I just let you take them instead. What’re you looking so close to death for?”
“Gh…!”
Lulune surged forward again, vanishing from view in a blur of speed. This time, her spinning kick struck him clean in the temple before he could so much as flinch.
And yet—
“Gah!”
“Hm? A roundhouse kick this time? Nice shot. It hurts, doesn’t it? Ha ha ha!”
The one who went flying, again, was Lulune.
Worse, the damage was showing exactly where she had attacked him.
Every blow she dealt to Vitor… rebounded onto her own body.
What the hell is going on?!
“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden. Where’s all that fire from before, huh?” Vitor taunted, arms spread wide as he closed in, as if daring her to try again. His voice was laced with mockery, every word flaunting his inexplicable advantage.
But before he could get any closer—
“I won’t let you!”
A shout cut through the tension.
Zora, who until now had been unable to keep up with the pace of the battle, stepped forward. She tore off the enchanted glasses that had been sealing her power and locked eyes with Vitor.
Instantly, stone began to spread from his feet upward. His toes and heels turned grey, stiffening into solid rock.
“Huh? What the…”
“Demon Lord’s Hand!!”
“Oops.”
With Vitor’s feet turned to stone, he could no longer move from the spot. Seizing the opening, Routier rushed forward and swung a blazing fist, formed entirely from jet-black fire, straight at him.
But Vitor merely leaned back with a casual sway of his upper body, effortlessly dodging the blow.
Not that the hit needed to land. The attack had never been meant to injure him; it was just a distraction, a feint to buy a sliver of time.
And it worked.
In that instant, Origa dashed in, scooped up Lulune, and leapt back, putting much-needed distance between them and Vitor.
“Glutton… You okay?”
“Ugh… U-Unforgivable… I’ve had this throbbing pain in my stomach for a while now, and… and I’ve completely lost my appetite…”
“This is serious…”
Origa’s eyes widened. For Lulune to lose her appetite… That wasn’t just unusual. That was catastrophic.
Cradling Lulune in her arms, Origa rejoined Routier and the others. Meanwhile, Vitor, still tilted backward from his dodge, straightened up with a look of disappointment, then turned his gaze toward them.
“Aaah, seriously? Not only do the small fry jump in with cheap tricks, but even that snake girl over there, who I actually had a tiny bit of hope for, turns out to be a letdown.” He clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing. “Do you people even want to entertain me?”
“‘Entertain’ you? We’re not fighting for your amusement,” Routier replied coldly. “We’re fighting… to move forward.”
“No can do. You’re all going to die here. That’s the only outcome.”
“T-That’s not true!” Zora shouted. “I sealed your legs! If you try to move, they’ll shatter!”
Vitor responded with deep, amused laughter, completely unbothered.
“Ha ha ha! You think you sealed my legs? What a joke! Those ‘eyes’ of yours must be blind!”
“Wh-What are you… huh?!”
Zora froze.
Unbelievably, the stone that had crept up Vitor’s legs was gone.
There was no trace of petrification. No stiffness, no discoloration. His legs looked perfectly normal, as if nothing had ever happened.
“N-No way…”
Zora wasn’t the only one stunned. Even Routier and the others were shaken by the sight.
Normally, the petrification status was absolute. Once a person had fully turned to stone, they were essentially dead unless someone else used a rare alchemical solvent or powerful magic to reverse it.
So how is he just… standing there? Like it never happened?
In this world, petrification was universally regarded as one of the most dangerous status ailments, right alongside paralysis. Unlike more common afflictions, its effects were difficult to reverse and could render even the strongest helpless in an instant.
That said, if only a part of the body, like a hand or foot, was petrified, the condition could often be cured by the person themselves using magic or a potion, without relying on anyone else.
Vitor’s foot had clearly turned to stone.
And yet, he hadn’t used magic. He hadn’t applied any potion. He’d done absolutely nothing… and still, the petrification was gone.
Zora stood there in a daze, unable to comprehend what she’d just seen. Vitor, meanwhile, flashed her a savage, toothy grin.
“More importantly… are you sure you’re not worried about your foot right now?”
“Huh?”