Chapter 43: Me and Sena vs. Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life (Part 2)
Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, had recovered from the damage. He seemed to realize that I was his opponent for now, and I could almost see the relief wash over him. It made me angry to acknowledge my own weakness, having fallen for such an obvious ploy.
“Looks like you’re up first, Holy Knight.”
“‘Up first’? You won’t get a second chance.”
“How dare you mock me, you wretched creature! Have you grown bold now that you have allies?!”
“Aren’t you embarrassed to call me a ‘wretched creature’ when you were the one trying to starve me out of fear?”
“YOOOUUUU!!!”
Ainika roared as he lunged at me. However, my thoughts were already racing ahead—I calmly dodged his attack while tapping into the power Sena had granted me, unraveling its potential.
Sena had assured me that I had the capacity to wield Divine Qi.
Power—Sena’s Divine Qi flowed through my veins, seeping into every single cell. It was a sensation unlike any other, a blend of weightlessness and intoxication, excitement and calm, a contradiction that somehow harmonized into an unprecedented feeling. It guided me, transforming my prepared Qi into Divine Qi.
Of course, not all of my Qi turned into Divine Qi at once; the transformation occurred gradually, over and over again. It felt as if Sena was demonstrating, ‘Ichiro, this is how you do it.’
While dealing with Ainika’s relentless slashes and the barrage from his dark arms, I continued to focus on grasping the necessary sensations for converting my Qi into Divine Qi, using Sena’s example as my guide. There was no room for error. My opponent was the King of the Undead. This was undoubtedly a battle of extremes.
How much time had passed like this? But finally—
“Mu?! Could it be that you…!!”
Ainika noticed the change in me, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
I could sense his tremor of fear.
“This is our third round, isn’t it?”
There had been two resets in this battle. The first was thanks to the ritual symbol from Sena, and the second was an interval arranged by her for my sake.
“They say the third time’s the charm, so let’s end this.”
I converted a portion of the Qi I had absorbed into the minimum amount of Mana necessary to sustain my body, while the rest was transformed all at once into Divine Qi.
I addressed Ainika, who stood still, his massive sword poised.
“You plan to defeat me and then annihilate humanity, right? You could say this is a prelude to your extermination of mankind. Yet, I don’t sense an ounce of confidence from you.”
“GUUUUHHH!!”
“I think you’re not cut out for this. So let’s skip the formalities—”
I turned my palm upward, curling my fingers invitingly.
“—Come at me already.”
Ainika’s face contorted in rage.
“You little brat!!!”
The King of the Undead, wielding the ultimate darkness, let out a thunderous roar.
“GUOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”
It was pure, unrestrained fury. His rage knew no bounds, and the soundless scream shook the very air around us. With it, the castle walls began to crumble with a series of explosive crashes. Ainika, possessing a power far beyond that of previous boss monsters, had grown even stronger through our battle, reaching nearly maximum levels in all aspects: physical strength, Mana, resistance to physical and magical attacks, and more.
Yet, as the castle rapidly fell apart, his massive form became even more formidable, resembling a giant straight out of a special effects film.
“UOBOOOO, UGUURAAAHHH!!”
To surpass one’s limits, some form of sacrifice is necessary. Ainika’s words had lost all meaning. Once, he had been fearsome yet somewhat rational. But now, there was not a trace of intelligence in his expression or demeanor.
He had stripped away his intellect to unleash the primal instincts of the undead, pushing beyond his limits. It wasn’t just his body that had transcended; each of his dark arms had grown thicker than logs, and their number had doubled.
Ainika took the initiative—his newly empowered arms launched a furious assault.
“UGUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!”
His absurdly thick arms, contrary to their clumsy appearance, moved with incredible speed—now doubled in number, each strike produced a sound that sliced through the air like a thunderous roar.
“I’ll take it head-on!!”
I channeled Divine Qi throughout my entire body, including the eleven arms of light extending from my back. Then, I activated Autobahn—
“OOOAAAAAHHHH!!”
It was my voice that rang out. My arms of light clashed against his dark arms in a spectacular confrontation.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG—my fists collided with Ainika’s, scattering particles of light and darkness all around.
From here on, I wouldn’t lose even a bit.
“ORUAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
I pierced through the oncoming dark arms, one after another—one, two, three, four—until I obliterated them all, and then I readied my two Grams to face Ainika himself.
As the mindless Ainika let out another roar, the walls of the castle crumbled even faster.
“Ichiro, this space will soon cease to exist. We don’t have much time left in this battle.”
With that, Ainika unleashed a roar more ferocious than before, growing even larger both vertically and horizontally, pumping himself up to the extreme.
Though he fought purely on instinct, Ainika had somehow mimicked my dual-wielding stance, wielding two jagged greatswords in each hand.
“GIGIGYALUUUUUUUUU!!”
He screamed in rage. The end was near.
“GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
Ainika swung down his twin swords.
“HAHHHHH!!”
I unleashed a fierce battle cry to meet him head-on—cleaving through his attack—returning my swords to their sheaths—
“This ends now!!”
I poured every ounce of Divine Qi I had into my attack—
“Stinger!”
A true, one-hit kill.
“NUGUUUOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Ainika let out a horrifying scream. When the undead perish, they simply vanish. There is no soul to speak of. So perhaps this was a scream born from the fear of his own impending dissolution.
From the point where my fist struck, his body began to dissolve into the air like mist, crashing to the ground with a thud from the chest up.
“Why… how could you…?”
Had he regained some semblance of reason? Ainika questioned me.
“Why, you ask? That’s obvious.”
He fell silent, waiting for my answer.
“Because I had the Goddess of Victory—Sena—by my side.”
“The Goddess… is a distant existence for me.”
With those final words, Ainika faded away, dissolving into the air completely.
“I win.”
Though I could barely stand, I raised my right hand triumphantly, managing to declare my victory.
“Ichiro—”
I felt Sena’s presence behind me. Finally, finally, it all felt like it was over.