The silent, swift swipe of Ayaka’s unique skill sword came for Wormgandr, but…
Claaang!
He blocked her strike with his right arm.
It’s so hard?!
“Hyeh hyeh—you can’t even cut me?! I’m puttin’ most of my strength into fighting them divines, and that’s all you got?! Is this all you humans are capable of?” Wormgandr swung his arm, so large that Ayaka thought it might knock her off her feet. “This ain’t even fun!”
Ayaka twisted backward to dodge and strengthened her unique skill sword’s toughness to try and defend herself. The impact was intense. The same exploding sound that accompanied Wormgandr’s landing now burst in midair. Ayaka had swiveled her hips just in case, ready to dodge if she really needed to.
If I make my sword as strong as it can be, then I can block this. We’ll be evenly matched. I can do something about the size of this weapon by using my unique skill, too… I can draw even with him in this fight!
Ayaka created a number of floating weapons behind Wormgandr’s back and began to use them to attack.
Clang!
The weapons were all repelled by Wormgandr’s tough skin. He didn’t even turn around to acknowledge their attacks, but simply turned his fist upon Ayaka and her unique skill sword.
…Gah! That fist—I won’t be able to slice through it with my sword.
In an instant, Ayaka transformed her sword into a sledgehammer. She had to apply her strength differently to wield the new weapon, lowering her hips to the ground so it was easier to heft. The moment they made contact, Wormgandr’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“Ohh?!”
The fist and the hammer collided with a dull yet high-pitched metallic ring that caused an invisible explosion. The wind battered them both as their weapons met. Ayaka’s hair flew back as she tightened her grip on her sledgehammer and followed through with the strike, like a golf swing with a bit of a twist. It pushed Wormgandr back, and he went flying.
He crashed into a two-story brick house. The wall crumbled, sending dust flying into the air. Perhaps because the shattered pillars of the house had been load-bearing, the whole building collapsed.
Ayaka steadied her breathing.
“Haah… Haa-h… Ah.”
With this enemy, I don’t think the advantage I have in extending the reach of my weapons is going to be very effective. He likely knows that I can instantaneously change the shape of my weapons at will…
I caught him by surprise that time, but from now on, it’s more likely that changing the shape of my unique weapon will only present him with an opportunity to attack me.
With a rumble, a great silhouette rose from the dust of the crumbled house. Wormgandr brushed the debris from his arms, and emerged as the clouds began to clear.
“That ringin’ sound is dullin’ my moves a bit, then, eh? Closed off my organ and made it so I can’t use my divine magic, have ya…? Hyeh hyeh, I bet Vicius is pissed at you.” Wormgandr looked at his arms, then back to Ayaka.
“That strength o’ yours… It ain’t just the blessing, is it?”
Blessing…? He must be referring to my stat modifiers.
Ayaka steadied her breathing, wiping away the cold sweat that had run all the way down to her chin.
I need to figure out how to attack…
“Must be somethin’ you were born with, then, eh? You’re right up there at the top of the humans I’ve met. Hyeh, hyeh… Yo, Vicius? You go summonin’ heroes with real talent, and this is how they end up? Man, there ain’t even any evil in your eyes… They’re all pure and clear, like. Bit o’ danger in there, though. Y’could drown in that madness, heh… But it’s the Goddess’s role to make sure that don’t happen, yeah? Dontcha think she coulda done a better job with you?” Wormgandr’s mouth was always open—always smiling.
He never blinks, either. I can’t use the moment he closes his eyes as an opening. Doing so might even backfire and give him the chance to get an attack in of his own. Against an enemy of this caliber, faking a blink myself might similarly give him an opening to strike. If I can jam my spear into his mouth… He wouldn’t be able to harden himself against that attack, would he?
No… Perhaps that open mouth is a trick to lure me into attacking him there. There’s no guarantee that such a strike could damage him. He might even be able to harden himself on the inside. Then there’s nothing for it but to…
“You do exist then, huh… There are good ones left. But your whole human society’s made to hurt the good ones. It’s your destiny. Y’hear me, Vicius? Humans ain’t all trash scum like y’said they are! It’s just that most of ’em are. Problem is nobody goes sortin’ through—pluckin’ out the failures and findin’ the pure ones before they get rotten. That’s what gets ’em damaged. You humans ain’t got no way to purge yourselves. Might sound paradoxical, but most of you humans value your own personal desires more than the needs of the whole. The more your civilization advances, the worse it gets. That’s why the gods have gotta come and purify you, so you can make it to paradise. Get you all in order. I really wanted t’see paradise, y’know? A whole society of the chosen ones, reachin’ its full potential at last.”
The way he’s speaking… Is he talking to himself? Addressing humans at large?
Wormgandr placed a hand on his shoulder, and swung his neck around, making a loud cracking sound.
“Hyeh, hyeh—ain’t like Vicius will listen t’any of this now though. She friggin’ hates humans, down to the bottom of her heart. She just says she loves you ’cause you’re intelligent toys for her to play with.”
“You…” began Ayaka.
“Hmm?”
“If you understand she’s wrong—don’t you ever think of trying to defeat her?”
“Hyeh… I’m already dead, by the way you’d reckon it. Just a creepy walkin’ corpse. I’m of her element, so she dies and I disappear right along with her… And since she gave me her element, I can’t defy Vicius’s orders. Complainin’s the best I can do.”
“That’s not what paradise is.”
“Eh?”
“Humans…people, we…we create society of our own free will. We shape the world we live in. We seize it for ourselves and find the answers on our own. That’s what human society is supposed to be. That’s the world that we’re meant to have. We don’t need divine intervention. And…”
I believe this.
“People aren’t as bad as you think they are.”
Nobody is born evil. I’m sure they just take a wrong step somewhere along the way, for whatever reason. If we make society better—make the world a better place—then we should be able to reduce the number of people who do wrong. If we use our strength right.
“Those people that you call failures… They might not be failures forever.”
I changed. I took the right path because they saved me. People… We save each other.
“We can reform and turn to the light—isn’t that what you mean by potential in the first place?”
Wormgandr laughed. “I ain’t gonna argue—but it’s just theoretical.”
In a single step, he closed the distance between them.
His steps are so light… I didn’t know he was capable of this. There isn’t even a print left in the soil where he stood. It’s as if he teleported over here… But no, this isn’t teleportation. His footwork is so incredibly light, and yet he’s so fast!
“Hyeh hyeh! Who cares what I want? The dead don’t get their damn wishes granted! All I gotta do is keep followin’ Vicius… Get my revenge on them divines in the heavens! That’ll do for me!”
He delivered a series of blows that Ayaka tried her hardest to deal with, redirecting their force as much she could.
But just parrying will make me too predictable.