Redge quickly pulled his sword back and then swung it sideways at me. Frantically, I spun my twinblade in my left hand and leapt back as soon as I sped up. He was too fast. On top of that, he had somehow cut off my right arm. If he was powerful enough to destroy an Azure Wall, that meant I had no way of defending myself against him. I would just have to dodge every single attack he threw at me.
...But how? Without my right arm, I had little means of attack. I had also used up most of my star power in the battle with Grom. If I kept going like this, I’d either run completely out of star power, or my body would reach its limit. Was there any way to defeat him with what little I had left?
...No. I can’t beat him.
Then, just as I began to accept my defeat–
“Big brother!” Towa ran towards me.
“Stay back, stupid!”
“You’re the stupid one, big brother!”
She was right. I had nothing to retort with.
Towa reached out to me. “Stop hesitating. Hurry!”
“...Okay.”
I pressed the switch on my shoulder, removing my prosthetic arm. As the remaining part of my severed right arm fell to the ground, I began the chant that would turn my little sister into a weapon.
“Liberation – Ruinmaker.”
Towa’s body began to glow, then disappeared. Her light gathered around my shoulder and transformed into a new silver arm.
I clenched my right fist once more. “Let’s do this.”
“Okay.”
Behind me, Towa’s ghostly apparition appeared. As soon as Redge saw this, his eyes widened.
“Azur Étoile’s Ruinmaker...”
He was staring at my right arm. When we first clashed, it had seemed like he was very calm, composed, and powerful, but as I saw the bloodlust that seeped out of his eyes now, I started to feel like I had gotten the wrong impression.
“So... you killed my mentor...”
Even if you gathered up all of the hatred and resentment that filled the pits of Hell, it still would have sounded weaker than the enraged miasma that spilled out with Redge’s cold, determined words.
Mentor? Me? I had no idea what he was talking about. But there was no denying the genuine emotion I could feel behind Redge’s voice. Either I or Towa, or perhaps both of us, were clearly connected to his mentor somehow.
This man was from Khaos Schwartz... And he had changed the moment he saw Towa become my right arm.
Suddenly, one possibility popped into my head – and the moment it did, I understood why he had become so upset, and felt my own rage bubbling up from underneath.
I struggled to retain control and opened my mouth. “Ten years ago, a man and woman were killed in a laboratory here in Azur Étoile... You were there when it happened, weren’t you?”
Redge laughed. It was a very hollow laugh, as if to say ‘Yes, I’ll be happy to play along with your little charade.’
He stared at me with indifferent eyes and nodded. “Yeah... which means you must be the one who used the Ruinmaker back then.”
Formal confirmation. Our connection was now clear.
“...Thats’s right, I am.”
A moment passed, and then he spoke again. “Ten years... I’ve been waiting ten years for this.” Emotion slowly began to warp his face. Hatred, rage, and joy. “Now, I can finally kill you with my own hands, and avenge my mentor!”
At that point, he had ceased to be a ruler – he was brandishing his sword for purely personal reasons. That’s how much he hated me.
My smile probably looked as hollow as his. I struggled to keep my laughter down, and instead erupted with an uncontrollable bellow of rage.
“You invaded our world, killed my parents, and now you have the nerve to say that?!”
He’s the one who killed them. He’s the one who stole all the joy from our lives. He’s the one who pushed a cruel fate onto Towa. “What could possibly make you think that you have the right to get revenge?!”
I could feel my mind drowning, submerged in a color darker than any shade of black, overflowing with murderous rage. It was the same feeling I had gotten that night, when my parents died before my eyes.
Kill. That voice echoed in my mind again.
I kicked off the ground and instantly sped myself up. That movement alone was faster than anything I had displayed so far. I was faster than I’d ever been, because I had access to way more star power. I was like a completely different person.
I swung down my longsword from above, and Redge blocked it. He unleashed his star power as well, and I felt multiple cuts make their way across my body. So these are the invisible slashes Yukihime was talking about.
I leapt back. He seemed more capable than me when it came to close-range fighting, but this was the only option I had.
I spun my twinblade to the left. I think I’ve figured out a way to beat those invisible slashes of his...
Spinning my twinblade to the left slowed time down. Usually, I had no use for this, but now that I had Towa’s power, I could send my star sorcery out beyond my own body.
I shot my star power out into the atmosphere, slowed time down around Redge, then ran up to him again. The wounds created by his invisible slashes now appeared to be much slower, and Redge himself had also slowed down.
I thrust my longsword out. Redge caught it with the side of his greatsword, so I quickly pulled back and slashed out again. This time, I aimed for his neck, and it felt like I was going to hit – but then Redge suddenly sped up and blocked it with his greatsword again.
No, he didn’t speed up. Blood gushed out of numerous places on my body. The flow of time just went back to normal.
The slowdown usually lasted for five seconds, but this time, I hadn’t even been able to maintain it for three. Absolute Zero hadn’t even worked on him, so in a way it made sense that time slowdown was no exception.
I leapt back out of his range, while Redge swung his sword sideways. It was glowing with a silver aura, and as it flashed across the air, a silver slash shot out. Redge and I were standing over ten meters apart, but his silver crescent of light covered the entire distance. Immediately, I poured star power into my twinblade until it began to glow with a golden light. As the slash approached, I swung my glowing blade and created a golden slash to match it. It was a long-distance attack, which I would have never been able to use without Towa.
My golden slash collided with Redge’s silver slash. A blinding flash preceded an ear-splitting boom as the two slashes canceled each other out.
Immediately, I swung my dagger and sent another golden slash flying toward Redge. As if to mock me, Redge lazily swung his sword with one hand and sliced my slash in two.
At this rate, it’ll never end. I doubted I would run out of star power in this state, but there was no telling when my body would give in. I just wasn’t built for long battles, which meant I needed to finish this fast.
But how? What should I do? The way this is going, I’ll lose for sure. I couldn’t even beat Yukihime with Towa, and she lost to this guy! There’s no way I’d be able to win.
It seemed impossible – which meant that I simply had to do the impossible. I recalled what Yukihime had told me. Redge had nullified Absolute Zero, but she had still been able to attack him. It had been a shallow strike, and incapable of defeating him, but it appeared that even though Redge could nullify time manipulation, it at least took him some time to do so.
If I can stop time, then I can attack him.