Chapter 67: You Guys Are The Scary Ones
Normally, the match would have been decided the moment he lost an arm, but for Kazuma, it was nothing more than a convenient handicap.
A moment ago, the four of them had been terrified to their core by the glimpse of Kazuma’s killing intent, but they hadn’t lost their will to fight.
Now, with Kazuma’s arm gone, they were grateful that an opening to attack, greater than before, had appeared. After all, they were now able to fight on equal footing.
“Hahahahahahahahaha! What’s wrong! I’m missing an arm, you know! And yet! Do you even have the will to fight! You lot!!!”
“We’re doing our best as it is! You’re the strange one, being so strong it’s like you haven’t even lost an arm!”
“Modern people are scary! I’ve fought plenty of enemies, Ibinom and criminals, but this is the first time I’ve met someone this crazy!” Hayate exclaimed.
“I agree! I’ve fought countless enemies alongside my brother, but there’s never been anyone this outrageous! Is he really human!?” Raika questioned.
“He’s human, as you can see! The one thing I can say is that he’s unreasonably strong!” Souji stated.
Kazuma didn’t yield a single step against his four opponents.
Souji, Hayate, and Raika felt the absurdity of Kazuma, on whom not a single blow landed even though all four of them were attacking simultaneously.
And then there was Shiori, who, while respecting this as Kazuma’s true essence, was also getting thoroughly pissed off by it.
Since he’d lost an arm, she wanted him to be at least a little weaker, yet far from it, he seemed even stronger than ever before.
In reality, that was likely the case.
After all, he had the upper hand against her, who was fighting with all her might, in addition to Souji, Hayate, and Raika.
Irritated and angry, Shiori unleashed Elec from her eyes, attempting a surprise attack, but Kazuma had already seen through it.
“Whoops!!!”
“How did you know!”
“I’ve seen it once, so I can read the origin of your attack! However, that aside, you’re still scary!”
“Scary…? Huh, what is?”
“Even if you ask what, there’s only one thing. It’s you, Saijo-senpai.”
“Me?”
She didn’t understand what he meant.
Kazuma, who boasted unparalleled strength in combat and didn’t yield an inch even against four opponents, was saying he was scared.
Shiori had absolutely no idea what on earth he was afraid of.
“Seeing that look on your face that says you don’t get it at all, it seems you really don’t, so I’ll give you a brief explanation.”
Saying that, Kazuma sent Souji, Hayate, and Raika flying with his blows as easily as twisting a baby’s arm.
At the unbelievable sight, Shiori’s jaw dropped, but it was an undeniable reality.
“What I’m scared of is the unknown factor, you see.”
“Unknown factor…?”
“That’s right. This isn’t just about you, Saijo-senpai. Souji-senpai and Hayato-senpai are also unknown factors, and that’s scary. Why? Because you all follow my teachings, greedily absorb knowledge and techniques, and grow every day. Of course, you’ll eventually hit a ceiling. Your strength might plateau, and you might stop growing. However, the experience and knowledge you’ve gained up to now will become nourishment, part of your very being. And that’s how you become stronger.”
“…Kazuma-kun, you really are a mysterious boy, aren’t you? I wonder, between your usual self and your current self, which one is the real you?”
“Well, please find that out for yourself.”
The three who had been sent flying got up and flew towards Kazuma.
Deciding he couldn’t afford to be leisurely any longer, Kazuma fell silent and readied his fists.
Shiori also decided to continue this line of questioning after the battle was over, and launched Elec at Kazuma.
“Even though we were just chatting until a moment ago, you show no mercy, Saijo-senpai!”
“What are you talking about! This is something a certain someone taught me, isn’t it!”
“Fuhahaha! That’s right! It was something I drilled into you!”
Dodging the approaching Elec, Kazuma slipped into Shiori’s guard.
Having entered her range, Kazuma stepped in to deliver a finishing blow, but Hayate jumped in at that moment.
Kazuma, his attempt to defeat Shiori thwarted by Hayate, leaped backward to avoid being surrounded and distanced himself from the four.
“…Shall we settle this soon!”
Kazuma had finished learning Hayate’s and Raika’s movements.
Kazuma smiled confidently, now able to predict to some extent how they would move next.
However, there were just two elements of uncertainty.
Those were the existences of Shiori and Souji, whom he himself had mentioned earlier.
If these two, through this battle, showed new growth and achieved further evolution, they might become a threat to Kazuma.
That was precisely why Kazuma excluded Hayate and Raika—whose strength was already complete and finalized—from his immediate targets, and decided that Shiori was the opponent he should defeat first.
“Here I come!!!”
“He’s coming!!! Everyone, resist with all your might!”
Souji shouted, and the four of them clashed.
Kazuma maneuvered skillfully to avoid being surrounded, knocking down Hayate, who was clad in wind armor, and crushing Raika, who was boldly attacking with Elec.
The remaining Souji and Shiori gnashed their teeth at Kazuma’s overwhelming strength, but they steeled themselves, knowing that defeat would be inevitable if they let their guard down even for a moment.
While protecting himself with a Protective Barrier, Souji attacked with his last Copied Gift, Telekinesis, but Kazuma saw through it all from his preparatory movements and eye movements, and dodged it.
“Damn it!”
“If you have time to curse, then show me more of a struggle!”
Against Kazuma, who was closing in right before his eyes, Souji put up a Protective Barrier to solidify his defense.
As if for good measure, he crossed both arms, using them as a shield to protect himself.
However, for Kazuma at this point, it didn’t matter whether he was blocked by a Protective Barrier or if Souji used both arms as a shield.
“I’ll show you! This is a Satsuki-ryu Secret Technique! Rakan Phoenix Fist!”
Although it was a fabricated martial art, its power alone was real.
Kazuma, taking a stance despite his missing arm, unleashed a blow with his remaining arm, rotating it spirally, and struck Souji’s Protective Barrier with his palm heel.
Souji, protected by the Protective Barrier, seemed to have taken no damage, but the true essence of the Rakan Phoenix Fist began from here.
“Gahak!?”
“This is a technique used against opponents protected by thick armor, you see. It’s what you call ‘Penetrating Force.’ It deals damage directly to the opponent’s insides. It should have worked well enough even through the Protective Barrier, right?”
Although he wasn’t rendered incapable of fighting, Souji, who had slammed his back onto the ground, was clutching his stomach and writhing in agony.
“Well now, the obstacles are gone! Saijo-senpai, prepare yourself!”
“You think I’ll go down that easily!!!”
With Elec crackling and surging from her entire body, Shiori charged towards Kazuma.
Shiori proactively aimed for his one-armed side, attacking relentlessly.
Kazuma was persistently targeted on that side, but he held no ill feelings whatsoever.
If anything, he was inwardly pleased.
Exploiting an opponent’s weakness is crucial in battle, and it’s neither a foul nor cowardly.
In fact, it was something to be encouraged, and Kazuma himself had been taught as much.
After all, if you lose, you lose everything: your life, your dignity, even your history.
Victory itself is justice, and the validator of history.
If that’s the case, then defeat is absolutely not an option.
That’s precisely why one must catch the opponent off guard, induce carelessness, and aim for their weaknesses.
“Hahahaha! You’ve become quite devious, Saijo-senpai!”
“Watch your wording! ‘Devious’ sounds kind of unpleasant!”
“However, I can’t think of anything else.”
“At least, words like ‘vicious’ or ‘ill-natured’—there are other ways to put it, aren’t there!”
“I see! I’ve learned something!”
Saying that, Kazuma leaped in from directly in front. Shiori intercepted, but the moment she made contact with Kazuma, his figure vanished.
“An afterimage!? Then, this way!”
Shiori, displaying astonishing speed with her Elec Gift, instantly turned towards Kazuma, whom she presumed had moved behind her, and threw a backfist.
Then, just as Shiori predicted, Kazuma was behind her, but the moment the backfist struck, he vanished like a heat haze.
“This is an afterimage too!? No way!”
Shiori instantly looked up.
However, Kazuma wasn’t there.
“He’s not here!? Then, where is he!?”
“I was in front of you all along!”
“Eh…?”
The moment she heard Kazuma’s voice, Shiori turned around.
The moment she let out a dazed sound, a heavy impact shot through her chest, and when she looked down at her chest, Kazuma’s spear hand was thrust into it.
“Ah…”
“And with this, it’s over.”
The moment Kazuma tried to pull his spear hand from Shiori’s chest,
“You touched a maiden’s chest, don’t think you’ll get away with it scot-free!!!”
Just before she logged out, as a final act of resistance, she unleashed Elec from her entire body.
Even Kazuma couldn’t hide his surprise at this, his eyes widening.
However, if things continued like this, he would be caught in Shiori’s self-destruct and be rendered unable to fight.
In that fleeting instant, in that fraction of a second, Kazuma used Transposition to make a large number of trees appear between himself and Shiori, thus escaping the desperate crisis.