Chapter 138: The Raging One Comes 2
*
Before my thoughts could catch up, instinct reined in my Physical Enhancement from its peak.
Simultaneously, a nosebleed and vomiting blood, and then my thoughts caught up to me.
It all started when I was exposed to “that” gaze from Master—that is, that dense Magicka enveloping my whole body, making it impossible to tell where she was looking.
Even I think it’s clearly abnormal, but the moment my body was exposed to that Magicka, it abandoned all thought and used Physical Enhancement at full power.
It’s instinct now.
Or rather, did my instinct accept taking damage that would leave my left arm almost unrecognizable?
I must be crazy.
While honestly thinking that, I used my left hand, which had recovered its shape, to try and pry off Master’s hand holding my face in a tight grip.
Whoa, it won’t budge.
Even considering that Master’s hand should be slippery from being covered in my nosebleed and vomited blood, it won’t budge at all.
Master— “Kind Barbara,” Faltar’s Rank 9 adventurer, Barbara Aldarab.
Her long black hair, the same color as mine, still swaying from the inertia of her movement, Master spoke while holding me suspended with one hand.
“Hey, hey, disciple.”
“What is it, Master?”
While answering thus, I kicked at Master, but the sensation was like kicking a giant boulder.
“Isn’t it common sense to report a marriage directly?”
That Barbara is talking about common sense!
While stunned by the incongruity, I tilted my head inwardly.
Strange, I should have written everything in the letter.
Namely, that the woman I fell for got caught up in a little conspiracy and was looking for a partner for a sham marriage, so I was throwing my life away for her.
That definitely shouldn’t be considered a marriage report.
“It’s a sham marriage!”
Giving up on prying off Master’s hand gripping my face, I just kept punching her.
No matter where I hit, she didn’t flinch.
No way, damn it.
I knew and understood that Master held back during our training.
But to think the difference was this huge… I was shocked anew, and frustrated by the gap.
“She’s the one you fell for, right? And you’re throwing your life away at her request. That’s basically creating a fait accompli and declaring you’ve reached the goal line, isn’t it?”
With a face that nine out of ten people would describe as beautiful, Master wore an expression as if asking, “What foolishness are you spouting?”
Master’s chivalry level was lower than Eguchi-kun’s.
“Moreover, disciple, while I wasn’t looking, you even learned how to overlap identical Magic Circles, something I was planning to teach you. How thoughtless towards your master.”
Saying that, Master pointed to her own chest.
When I looked, two Physical Enhancement Magic Circles strongly leaked Magicka, asserting their existence.
Master is one of the few people who know I can see Magicka.
I’ve never explicitly said it, but Master is completely convinced.
“I was happy when I saw you’d mastered it on your own and hadn’t died, but you know, your Master feels lonely, okay?”
That face, with her thin eyebrows lowered as if truly happy yet lonely, was utterly terrifying to me, one of the one-in-ten who wouldn’t call her beautiful.
This face is—.
It was the face that said, “Then it’s okay if I put a little more strength into it, right?”
Ow ow ow ow!
Master’s hand, its Physical Enhancement intensity increased, squeezed my head.
Unable to bear the pain, I tried to pry her hand off with both of mine, but it didn’t budge. I instinctively reached for my Sword.
At that moment, my vision caught sight of red flames.
Whoa…
That’s her opening move? Whoa.
Her red hair, as if manifesting the fierceness within her.
Erica, whose hair was literally blazing red, roared.
“Die!”
So direct!
*
According to Erica, the Solntsaari Secret Technique.
The power of that magic, which temporarily turns her beautiful red hair white—inflicting great misfortune upon all humanity, even if only for a moment—is frankly absurd.
Its power, easily surpassing an average Dragon’s Breath, probably rivals or exceeds the Breath of an Ancient Dragonkin.
Moving to Master’s side to avoid hitting me, Erica stomped on Master’s left foot as if to ensure she wouldn’t escape, and unleashed the Solntsaari Secret Technique.
While my eyes were seared by the Golden Magicka unleashed at point-blank range, I could see an expression of astonishment appear on Master’s face.
The Solntsaari Secret Technique, its power could be called abnormal, but if it were just that, humanity could replicate it with Chant Magic.
Chant Magic isn’t called Destruction Magic for nothing.
Master quickly switched the hand gripping my face from her left to her right—just let go already, dammit.
Master’s left hand met the Golden Magicka head-on.
My eyes, capable of seeing Magicka, reflected the “Iniquity.”
A Barrier, looking like an enlarged version of Master’s left hand, grabbed the Solntsaari Secret Technique.
Don’t grab something like that!
Before my protest against the Iniquity could leave my throat, the momentary balance shattered.
Master’s left hand, which had intended to crush the Solntsaari Secret Technique, was forcefully knocked aside.
Upwards—thank goodness it was deflected upwards—my gaze was momentarily drawn to the deflected Golden Magicka.
“Oho?”
That’s why I missed the moment when Master, the genuine “Kind Barbara,” let out a cry of surprise.
I sensed Master starting to laugh.
The Solntsaari Secret Technique’s performance.
Its most absurd aspect is that the destruction achieved by skilled Chant Magic users through long chants…
Yes, it can be fired consecutively.
Master’s right hand peeled off my face.
“Die twice!”
As I felt my body begin to yield to gravity, I heard Erica’s second, brutally direct shout.