Chapter 32: Holy Knight & Sena the Spell Symbol vs. Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life
In front of me stood a translucent girl—Sena the Spell Symbol—who had just pierced through the pitch-black great sword with her fist. She leaped out in front of Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, striking a pose with an impressive flair, reminiscent of a special effects hero.
“Thank you for saving me, Sena.”
She turned her face toward me, showing a shy smile. For some reason, Sena didn’t speak. But at that moment, it was more than enough for me.
—Don’t worry about it, Ichiro.
Even without words, her feelings reached me.
“You just said I was lonely, right? That’s a big mistake. I have you, Sena.”
I stood up after finishing my recovery, rotating my shoulders. Just as we were about to take down our foe together, Sena held me back.
“What’s this? ‘Just watch my fight for a bit’?”
Sena crossed her arms and nodded twice, confirming my words. Yay! So cute!
“Muuh!!”
Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, let out a voice of frustration as he swung his great sword at the speed of light to intercept Sena, who had leaped in. However, with a flurry of movements, Sena elegantly deflected all of the Giant Corpse Person’s attacks, rendering them completely ineffective—then, with a double palm strike!
“Uggghh!!”
Boom!! Ainika fell backward, smoke rising from his robust body. I could clearly see some kind of power being unleashed from Sena’s palms. It was only after I learned to absorb Qi myself that I realized something. I transformed the absorbed Qi into Mana, but Sena and Sensei, whom I had witnessed before—
“Guooohhh!! Why can’t I regenerate?! Why?!”
—They converted the absorbed Qi into some other form of power and utilized it. Ainika, struck directly, struggled to regenerate and roared in anger.
“You lot!! I won’t let you leave here alive!!”
Malice surged through the air, palpable enough to make my skin tingle.
“Die!!”
I was ready. The fastest strike aimed at Sena was executed by me—
“Out Strider del Sole!”
I deflected the attack, kicked up the hilt of the great sword, and aimed my fist at his exposed torso.
“Stinger!”
With all my might—without taking a breath, I unleashed a flurry of punches.
“Come on! Let’s do this!!”
A lightning-fast barrage—over a thousand strikes rained down. And as Ainika was sent flying, Sena was already waiting for him—she twirled, delivering a series of graceful blows to his chin, heart, shoulder, side, and neck, like a dance, sweeping his legs out from under him.
Ainika fell once more. From the points where Sena’s fists had struck, an immense cloud of smoke erupted. And then—
“What is this…? The space—”
Part of the castle crumbled and vanished into thin air. In response, Ainika’s wounds healed, and before I knew it, he stood up without a single scratch. He began to speak nonchalantly.
“This is—Divine Qi. I was born from pure malice toward humanity—this power can completely annihilate me, Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life.”
He gestured dramatically, raising his voice. What kind of confidence is this—
“However, I can now see her weakness.”
In an instant—he vanished from in front of me. At the same time, I was kicked from the side. The one who kicked me was Sena.
In slow motion, I watched a part of my bangs float in the air.
“The weakness is you—Holy Knight.”
Sena unleashed the true Stinger once more. Ainika’s expression twisted in agony, but his momentum did not cease. A multitude of black hands that had captured me during our first encounter erupted from his body, propelled by dark Mana with explosive force toward me.
Still suspended in the air, I could no longer control my body—
“Checkmate.”
But—Sena, without regard for her own safety, leaped in front of me to protect me—her small frame—was pierced through.
As she was lifted with the arm still impaled, a multitude of dark arms formed from Ainika’s body, all aimed at the immobile Sena, ready to unleash another devastating attack. It was about to become fatal for her—