Chapter 41: Continuation of the Holy Knight vs. Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life (Part 5)
“Uoooriiiaaa!!”
I held Ainika from behind and, with all my strength, hurled him high into the air, twisting him as I did. He was shouting things like “Guuwaa” and “What are you doing?” but those words no longer mattered. With a spin that far surpassed a triple axel, he was helpless against gravity, crashing headfirst into the ground like a cartoon character.
“Dasshaa!!”
With Ainika’s head embedded in the floor and unable to move, I kicked his torso with all my might. His body flew off, leaving his head behind, and smashed into the wall, creating a comically shaped hole.
Soon, from the hole in the wall, a black, squirming mass crawled out, merging with the head buried in the ground.
He would revive anyway.
I would do this over and over again, and I would say it again and again. All I could do was push myself to the limit—nothing more, nothing less.
The King of the Undead had finished reconstructing his body. I was already fully prepared. I had created eleven arms using Light Magic, twisting them together in a tight spiral.
Ainika, just resurrected, clearly flustered, muttered, “What the—”
Before he could finish, I unleashed the prepared attack. It was a follow-up. The massive screw I had created overwhelmed Ainika’s newly revived body with sheer force.
“BAOooooo!!!”
He let out a loud, bizarre scream, scattering black particles before exploding.
There’s a term called Singularity. Recently, it’s often associated with technological singularity, a phrase that has become quite familiar. It’s usually mentioned alongside artificial intelligence, suggesting that as AI technology grows, it will reach a point (the singularity) where its growth becomes incomparably rapid.
However, this concept of singularity doesn’t apply solely to artificial intelligence. It can also be observed in our human growth process. There are many stories of people who, through persistent effort, suddenly find themselves able to do things they couldn’t before, marking a significant turning point.
What I’m trying to say with all this is that during this battle, it seemed I had reached my own Singularity of Growth.
I could now use Light Magic without worrying about my Mana, wielding it as easily as breathing. The limbs I had created to replace my lost ones felt completely natural.
In fact, I had gained many replacement parts made from Light Magic that were stronger and more flexible than my original body. My movements now perfectly matched, and even surpassed, the ideal image I had in my mind.
But—
“Now I’m going all out!! I will completely annihilate you!! I won’t just kill you! I will erase your very existence!! I will obliterate your abominable body!!”
“Huh?”
“Then you will finally be quiet!! This farce ends here!!!”
“…”
Ainika let out a scream. Above him, a dense mass of darkness began to gather. It grew darker, larger, pulsating as it rapidly expanded. The pitch-black sphere I had seen earlier, about ten meters in diameter, had now swelled to a size that could easily destroy the ceiling of the faux Royal Castle, reaching at least fifteen to twenty meters across.
However—
“That’s not enough.”
Now I understood. It was just big. It lacked compression, and its insides were hollow. It was nothing like—
“I can’t be defeated.”
Three seconds was more than enough.
“Charge!”
I formed a gun with my right index and middle fingers, compressing the Mana into a bullet, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing, compressing—
“Take this!!”
Ainika roared, launching the massive dark sphere at me—at the same time, I released the tightly packed bullet of Light Magic—
“Full Bullet!”
—And unleashed it.
“To think you’d try to face me with such a small spell, have you lost your mind?!”
In my accelerated vision, I could see the trajectory of the light bullet. It made contact with Ainika’s pitch-black sphere—at that moment—Bohyuuu…—with a ridiculous sound, the massive sphere completely vanished, and the light bullet, barely diminished, pierced through Ainika’s chest—
“Gyaaaaaaa!!”
It obliterated his sturdy undead body completely.
Upon his resurrection, I could see clear fear in Ainika’s expression.
As Ainika fell into a panic, he let out a pathetic scream, “Uaaahhh!!” and charged at me. He was fast, but far too straightforward. I calmly countered with the Condenser—
“Ah, huh?”
With a swift series of slashes—one, two, three, four—Ainika, oblivious to his dismemberment, let out a foolish cry that I found amusing.
Ah, Sena—
Sensei—
“You just don’t learn, do you?”
With a desperate expression, Ainika unleashed a barrage of dark magic—I deflected every single one back at him.
“Uggghh!!”
Drenched in the dark magic he had cast, Ainika was engulfed in black flames.
Hikaru—
My body was now covered in deep wounds that would normally be fatal, all concealed and replaced by Light Magic. My original arms and legs were long gone, replaced by the pseudo-limbs created from Light Magic.
Grandpa, Grandma—
With a fierce expression born from desperation, Ainika swung his great sword horizontally. He sliced through my torso in an instant. In less than a second, I reconnected the severed area with Light Magic.
“—So?”
When I asked, he screamed, “Uoooooohhh!!!”
He raised his sword again, but it was too slow. I stepped back and threw my Gram with all my upper body strength.
“Dun!!”
It pierced his heart, and Ainika collapsed. I finished him off with the Condenser.
I’m sorry, Dad, Mom—
From atop the fallen Ainika, I pounded him with my light-infused fists—pound, pound, pound, pound, pound, pound, pound, pound—until he screamed, “Stop, stop, stop!!!”
Everyone—
I hurled Ainika into the air again, countering his dark arms with my light arms—immediately, I leaped up, locking onto his body—and slammed him down with a piledriver.
I might never be able to go home again.
I countered Ainika’s ten dark arms with my eleven light arms—already in motion, I climbed up Ainika’s massive body, wrapping my legs around his neck, and spun him clockwise with all my might, snapping his neck.
How long will this continue—
It was yet another clash. Ainika’s dark arms collided with my light arms, shaking the air with each impact. The constant explosions rattled my eardrums. Ainika himself seemed to grow weary of our repeated exchanges.
At this point, the scales of power had tipped significantly in my favor. However, as is often the case, good fortune is often accompanied by misfortune.
“In this long battle with you—”
As Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, declared, a hidden arm buried in the ground behind me suddenly shot up with a loud thud—there was no way to evade it—as it aimed straight for my heart.
“At last, I can put an end to this!”
However, that was not to be.
Zzzzzzz.
The final talisman, infused with Qi, protected me.
“Well, that’s fine. That’s just fine, Holy Knight. That accursed and bothersome item of yours must be at its end, right? I can see it clearly.”
I had no words to respond.
“Why not take a moment to calm down? I stand unscathed, while you are nothing but a patchwork of injuries. It’s obvious who holds the advantage and who is at a disadvantage!”
I remained silent.
“Even in such a state, you are still merely human.”
Ah—
“I won’t utter such foolishness as ‘instant kill’ again.”
Ah—
“I shall honor you with my presence in this space until you wither away and die of starvation.”
Ah, everyone—
“How long can you survive? A week? A month? Or perhaps a year? Ten years would be fine too. In any case, it matters little to me. For one who lives through the ages, spending even a fleeting moment with a fragile human like you is but a trivial matter!”
I wanted to see you just one last time—
“Hm?”
Ainika’s voice, laced with curiosity, broke through the tension. I followed his gaze and saw what appeared to be a red blade materializing from the air.
“At last, I’ve found it.”
It was a beautiful voice, reminiscent of bells rolling softly, one I had heard countless times before. The red blade moved gracefully, slicing through the air as if it were cutting through tofu, tracing a long rectangle. From behind that rectangle, a delicate white hand pushed forward. The rectangle toppled over and melted away into nothingness.