My ■■■ (3)

I have much to say.

My original goal is to achieve the result of establishing a dialogue.

So even if the opponent rampages like a madwoman, I need to block and endure until I can create conditions for conversation.

It sounds simple in words but…

“Heeheeheehee.”

Putting it into practice is extremely difficult.

Don’t die, don’t kill.

While satisfying those two conditions, I need to hold out until the opponent strength drains and their burning rage subsides, even if temporarily.

“Well, well, look who came to find me. You must have a death wish, hm?”

She approaches with staggering steps.

Like a drunkard, she seems intoxicated by her own power.

Though extremely dangerous, this could be a perfect opportunity.

When power runs wild, its use inevitably becomes monotonous.

“Shall we have a little chat?”

“Chat? What chat?”

“Well, I understood enough about why you hate me from what you said briefly last time. But I still don’t know the exact internal circumstances.”

I make it clear that I want dialogue above all. I need to ensure those words remain somewhere in her mind even if we end up fighting later.

“So?”

“I want to hear why you had to hate me. Of course, I know this might be like rubbing salt in your wounds. But to die without knowing the exact reason… that would feel a bit unfair.”

“Hehe, heeheeheehee… Unfair? You dare say such words? Are you insane? Have you no shame?”

“That’s exactly why I can’t understand the situation. So let’s try resolving this through dialogue. How about we go somewhere for some warm tea…”

I set the stage for dialogue. I made my intentions crystal clear.

“Die!”

Her answer came in the form of a kick.

Since I’d anticipated this response, I could easily dodge it.

The attacks continue.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous assault makes it hard to even maintain my balance.

Before even considering corruption or poison, the raw physical force itself is absurd.

My chances of winning are extremely low.

After all, isn’t she a monster who single-handedly demolished Kruud, Titan, and countless hunters?

Even going all out, it’s impossible for me, who’s weaker than Kruud, to overwhelm her.

As proof of this, she’s been pressuring me with nothing but kicks since earlier.

She’s toying with me.

“If you have enough leisure… to play around! How about… we talk?! What will change if you kill me here?”

“Shut up!”

I barely manage to complete my sentences while dodging her kicks being swung and driven down.

Of course, she’s not even listening. She’s probably similar to Titan.

It’s a barbaric mindset that sees no value in listening to those weaker than oneself.

If that’s the case, I need to take appropriate measures too.

Click!

I draw my revolver and pull the trigger once toward her.

The sound of the hammer striking empty space rings out as the cylinder rotates.

I didn’t load a bullet in the first chamber. Even an accidental discharge could hit an innocent bystander.

And this is also a test.

“Huh?”

Through this sequence of actions.

I realize something from her expression of confusion.

Lilia doesn’t know what a gun is.

Her expression shows confusion about what I’ve drawn out rather than surprise that it didn’t fire.

“Hehe!”

The follow-up kick that comes shakes the ground tremendously. Of course, the ground proved safe this time too, suggesting the territory’s construction wasn’t shoddy.

However, completely blocking those vibrations is impossible. Even though I dodged the kick, my body staggers from the earthquake-like tremors that spread for a moment.

I lose my balance. Stumbling backward, I fall.

Then she charges in.

Believing my fall was entirely due to her ability.

She reaches out. The same weapon from earlier is in my hand.

She doesn’t know this weapon’s true value. Of course, she must be suspicious.

But the scene imprinted in her mind overrides doubt and hesitation.

That’s enough.

Bang!

This time a bullet is fired.

The metal bullet embeds itself in her forehead.

“Ugh?!”

The bullet penetrates.

But that doesn’t mean I inflicted that severe a wound. From the start, shooting bullets at this speed against a monster who can turn into mist will have predictable results.

Of course, if becoming mist is something she needs to actively control…

The situation becomes a bit more interesting.

“You bastard…!”

Blood flows from the brat’s forehead. Better results than expected.

Did that catch her that off guard?

If I’d known this would happen, I should have tried something bolder. But it’s too late for regrets now.

No time to think. When you catch an opportunity, press it to the maximum.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more shots fired. This time all pass through without even leaving a scratch.

As expected, once she knows about it, the gun can’t exert proper force.

Then onto the next method.

Clang!

I block an attack I’d been continuously dodging until now.

With a body doped by holy magic, I swing my master’s sword that boasts extraordinary durability.

Though I can’t imbue it with holy power, the blade itself is solid enough.

Clang!

Once, twice. Like that, I block her kicks with my sword while retreating.

I don’t use my master’s sword techniques. Focusing purely on defense with just the basics as I fall back.

A grueling war of attrition.

And just when it becomes familiar, in that moment of consciousness preparing for the next move, assuming the next attack will be blocked too.

Bang!

I pull the trigger once more.

As she launches her kick, I aim for her blind spot, and the bullet grazes her thigh leaving a red line.

She couldn’t avoid it by turning to mist. Not only was it in her blind spot, but I had been tediously blocking her attacks with my sword.

That monotonous action momentarily froze her thinking.

From the start, kicks inevitably leave many openings.

How huge a risk is it to extend one of your two supporting legs upward? I didn’t abandon defense to attack. From the start, if successful, there’d be no need for defense.

“Kuh!”

She loses her balance while swinging her foot toward me.

She’s not used to pain.

I confirmed that in our previous fight.

With her expression distorted, the unbalanced kick barely grazed my bangs.

I’ve played my sword technique card, and no bullets remain in the revolver’s cylinder.

Instead, a big opening has appeared.

“Whew…”

Body enhancement through holy magic. I lean it toward defense.

Taking proper stance, I throw the revolver into the air then grip my sword with both hands and steady my breathing.

Lilia’s gaze follows the revolver that landed the surprise hit for a moment.

When she realizes that too was part of the plan and turns her gaze back.

Horizon.

The technique my master taught me unfolds. Her mist transformation ability has three weaknesses.

First, she can’t turn her entire body into mist.

Second, it takes a slight but definite time to activate the ability.

Lastly, she can’t avoid attacks through aura.

That’s why she takes damage from surprise attacks. That’s why she couldn’t perfectly avoid the hunters’ attacks from blind spots.

Then what about an attack so fast she can’t react even knowing it’s coming?

The hunters’ attacks wounded her but couldn’t deliver fatal blows. Because her senses are so sharp she can turn to mist the moment weapons pierce her body.

That’s the same reason the bullet wounds earlier only left a scratch on her forehead.

Slash!

This time I cleanly slice off part of her body.

I didn’t aim for her neck. I have no intention of killing her after all.

That’s why I aimed for her arm.

Cut it clean off.

“Aaaaargh!”

With her scream, the intensity of hatred and killing intent pouring toward me deepens.

This is it. This is how it needed to be.

If she’s too angry to want dialogue, then we need to amplify and exhaust those emotions instead.

By nature, the stronger emotions are, the faster they burn out.

For the first time, she who had been playing like a cat with a mouse reaches out to grab my neck.

The severed arm turns to mist then quickly reattaches at the cut surface.

I’m neither despairing nor dumbfounded.

According to her, she was originally a half-demon. For half-demons who can survive even decapitation, there’s no way this level of injury would be unrecoverable.

I take one step back.

Her hand keeps reaching for me. If she catches me, my neck will probably be torn clean off.

Yet I only retreat one step.

Bonk.

The revolver I threw up earlier falls toward Lilia’s head.

“Ugh?!”

Having been hit before, she startles back with a jump.

In that brief time, I shot her thigh and cut off one arm.

Of course she’d be startled by this sudden situation.

She had forgotten I threw the revolver into the air, so blinded was she by rage.

I made her that way, led to this result.

Thud.

I catch the fallen revolver while simultaneously putting all my strength into distancing myself. Then I search inside my clothes and pull out a six-round magazine set.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Loading complete.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I immediately fire 4 shots.

The targets are both arms and legs. If her mist transformation has a specific center, she’ll dodge.

“That won’t work!”

But she didn’t dodge. Her mist transformation isn’t based around some central point. She can change any desired location by any desired amount.

Unfortunately, it seems not quite such an easily exploitable ability.

Bang! Bang!

I fire the remaining two shots.

Again she charges at me, completely unfazed.

This time I use holy magic not just for body enhancement but for attack.

What I borrowed in exchange for holy power is the celestial god Jupiter’s lightning.

Crackle!

Perhaps because this is a city of rain, it feels like it blends well with the environment.

I immediately throw it at the beast charging straight at me.

Whoosh!

This time she dodged.

Then the hypothesis arises that holy magic can’t be avoided by mist transformation.

It’s not impossible since she was wounded by Kruud’s aura. She’s unstable.

She is not the <Corruptor>.

She’s an opponent I can definitely defeat.

Clang!

Once again I block her attack with my sword. However, this time I didn’t block with proper force.

Though her attacks are fierce, she’s still blinded by rage.

I block the arm swung with reckless momentum then bounce away.

Created distance again.

Check the second magazine.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

After loading it into the revolver, I immediately aim at her.

A smile appears on her face. The function of ‘thought’ returns to she who had lost reason to rage.

Recovery is surprisingly fast.

“How long do you think you can keep running away?”

“Finally in the mood to talk? Since it’s come to this, why don’t we have a proper conversation? Your reason for hating the Pantheon Temple. I really want to hear it properly.”

“If I tell you, can you fix it?”

“Nothing’s impossible. Anyone can try, right?”

“If you want to fix it, die here. There’s nothing else.”

“People can’t always get the best results. I’d like it if you could provide an alternative.”

“Alternative? Hmm… then.”

Bang!

In the middle of speaking, she charges with ridiculous momentum.

I expected this.

From the moment a smile appeared on her face, I could tell she was plotting something.

A tantrum-throwing child.

That’s not wrong. Her thought process is already at a child’s level.

As if I’d fall for something like that.

Bang!

This time I pour out all the bullets loaded in the revolver’s magazine.

Bang!

But I take my time.

I need to find gaps in her ability. I’ve confirmed how far she can transform and that there’s no central point.

Bang!

Now it’s a question of the ability’s duration. Since checking multiple spots at once is impossible, I just keep shooting the same spot with time delays.

Bang!

Fingers brush my nape.

Just from that, I, Lost, so fragile, bleed.

Bang!

Though it’s for verifying through time-delayed attacks, this is quite painful.

I realized how difficult it is to face her while taking time by the third bullet.

I want to pour out all the bullets at once and create distance from her.

Resisting such temptation is no easy feat.

Bang!

Sixth bullet.

My revolver can load 6 bullets, so until I reload it’s now just dead weight.

And the opponent knows this too.

I’ve already shown her me loading twice.

You’d have to be an idiot not to notice.

The bullets I fired at once were six. The bullets loaded in the cylinder were six.

Six shell casings on the ground.

Even a monkey could figure out this weapon’s limitations.

Therefore…

Bang!

She who doesn’t suspect I showed such an obvious opening that even a monkey could think of will definitely fall for it.

A seventh bullet is fired.

Her eyes go wide then harden in an instant.

She who had been maintaining her offensive doesn’t retreat.

Well, that’s natural.

Though she’s been continuously troubled by this thing called a gun, she’s realized it’s not a major threat.

She thinks she can just turn to mist and avoid it…

“Kuh!”

The bullet made of holy power embeds itself in her body.

Geppetto’s special product that doesn’t need separate ammunition preparation from the start.

A trick using that.

“As expected, Nidavellir products are different.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I’m quite satisfied.