Divine energy began to spread throughout my body, coursing through the blood vessels of my heart.
The organs that had strayed from their original places returned, healing the damaged areas.
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The broken bones reattached, regaining their former solidity.
The torn and bruised muscles regained their shape, binding together strongly.
Of course, there are downsides to recovering so rapidly.
Because things that should naturally occur are forced to happen, my brain fills with pain.
Perhaps unable to endure the suffering, my consciousness flickered in and out, but by the time it returned, my body had already regained its integrity.
Along with it, the various unpleasant sensations that had been forgotten during my engulfment in fear returned as well.
Even with my eyelids closed, I had to face the corpse. Isn’t this a bit too much?
Exhaling deeply, I opened my eyes and disregarded the face of the corpse, instead observing my own body.
Thanks to my unwavering grip even while being beaten, Ankir remained by my side.
It seemed Luel's mace had flown somewhere, but that was alright.
As long as the mace is my possession, it must respond to my call.
Not long after I opened my right hand, my grandfather's voice reached my ear.
<Are you alright?! Are you back to your senses?!>
A voice slightly hoarse with moisture.
He must have been calling my name frantically after I lost the mace.
Grandpa, were you that worried about me?
‘Grandfather.’
<Oh! Thank goodness! Really, thank goodness!>
As soon as I replied, my grandfather began to fuss.
<How's your body?! Do you think you can move?!>
‘Yes. I can move well enough.’
My body, having received Armaadi’s mercy, was almost completely restored.
Although I had used all the divine energy to heal my body, leaving me with virtually no divine energy to use right now, it wasn’t a major problem.
As long as I have the divine light to illuminate Ankir, I can face Nakrad.
I stood up while hearing footsteps approaching from a distance.
<From what I just saw, have you lost your hearing as well as your senses?>
‘Not at all.’
Thanks to Ankir’s ability, the hearing I managed to keep was still functioning properly.
It was just that Nakrad had hidden his sounds somehow.
<He’s hiding his sounds?!>
‘Yes.’
<...Damn it. There’s no way you can fight while your senses are impaired! Fall back for now.>
‘It’s alright, Grandpa.’
<What do you mean it’s alright?!>
‘I’ve done something similar before.’
Of course, I was referring to the time when this was still a game.
But now, I feel like I can recreate that memory in this place.
A few months ago, I had to crawl on the ground against Nakrad without being able to do anything.
There had been such a gap between us.
Even now, there’s still a clear difference between Nakrad and me.
No matter how steeply I’ve grown over the past few months, how could there be no difference between me, who cannot use divine energy, and a pervert who’s been tormenting me without any minor exertion?
However, that difference isn’t as great as it was when I first encountered him in the back alleys of the Academy.
It’s not the gap between an ant that must die when crushed and a human, but rather just a difference in strength between a child and an adult.
This isn’t a small difference, but for me,
for this rotten water,
this difference is enough.
If I’m allowed to struggle, then that will suffice.
‘So please trust me and watch.’
<Are you confident?>
‘Yes. Of course.’
<If that’s the case... I understand.>
With my grandfather's reluctant response behind me, I fully raised my body.
As soon as I did, the footsteps stopped, and the disgusting sound of trash flowed out.
“You’re making a fuss. If you have that much strength, wouldn’t it have been better to bite your tongue instead?”
“Then why don’t you bite your tongue?♡ Wouldn’t it be better to die and protect your disgusting hikikomori master instead of living as a pervert who torments girls?♡”
With every word I added, the fear that once resided in me was gradually replaced by exhilaration.
The rising thrill made it clear to me:
The reason the sanity of the being in front of me was gradually disappearing.
“Ha. Talk all you want. The angrier you make me, the greater the pleasure will be when your bitch screams later.”
“Wow~♡ The thoughts of a filthy hikikomori who’s been chosen are on another level compared to a normal person♡ It’s so disgusting I can’t even bring myself to imitate it♡”
Seeing that my exhilaration was growing, it was clear he was getting heated, yet no retort came back.
The reason was clear. He must have been silent because he lacked confidence in winning this verbal battle.
He truly is a petty little shit. Once I seize the upper hand, he’ll undoubtedly start rambling excitedly.
“Is something strange?♡ Why so quiet?♡ Just a moment ago, I could hear your disgusting voice next to me?♡”
I kept moving my lips, drawing up my senses.
Even when I had been ambushed for the first time, and my hearing had been neutralized in that moment, my iron wall had still done its job.
It always warned me of the danger that lurked in front of me.
It was just that I couldn’t follow that warning.
So this time, I focused solely on the voice of the iron wall from the beginning.
Ignoring all the trivial things, I listened only to what the iron wall was saying.
‘Straight ahead.’
Following the command of the iron wall, I moved my body, and I realized just how messed up my body had been a moment ago.
My body moved this lightly.
Haha. No wonder I couldn’t keep up with what was being told and ended up in shambles.
Just as I smirked, the shock of an impact hit me.
This wasn’t the shock of being struck by something.
This was the shock delivered by magic.
‘Again, straight ahead.’
As soon as I made a judgment, the iron wall warned me of danger once more, so I moved my shield.
And once again, I felt a massive shock.
That bastard Nakrad.
If he didn’t want to create variables by approaching me, he’d rather suppress me safely from a distance.
Yeah. I knew you would act like this.
I knew you were a petty, cowardly piece of trash.
“Big, cowardly wretch♡ Are you scared?♡ You ran away because you thought you’d lose if you got close?♡”
After getting my game knowledge dismantled by the skeleton, I had pondered for a long time.
In a situation where I couldn’t trust all the boss strategies stuck in my head.
“Puhaha♡ Well, you’re a coward and a complete weakling♡”
But as I kept thinking, I realized one thing. Most of my strategies had indeed been correct.
Unless the opponent noticed my strategy and moved while being mindful of it, my knowledge was spot on.
“If I poke you, you’ll break, so what will you do?~♡ You’ll have to run away, dirty and ugly♡”
This tendency grew stronger the less reason the opponent had.
The angrier they got and the more they couldn’t make a normal judgment, the more it escalated.
From this, I came up with an idea.
If I could just blow away their sanity, then I could move according to my knowledge of this rotten water.
“I get it~♡ The middle school syndrome wretch ran away regardless of whether his lover died or not♡ Compared to that, running away from a girl is nothing♡”
While I spoke, the iron wall urgently warned me of danger.
Before I could think, I raised my shield, and the shock came through.
“Are you mad because I mentioned someone you abandoned?♡”
The voice of the iron wall, warning me of danger, continued unbroken, and following it, I felt another shock come from beyond the shield.
That shock was by no means light, but I stubbornly continued my words.
“Puhaha♡ Why didn’t you act like this when your lover was dying?♡ Ah♡ Is that it?♡ The monster attacking your lover looked scary, and I looked like fodder?♡”
“...”
“You cowardly little shit♡ A piece of trash who abandoned the person he loved to save himself♡”
“That’s not true! I didn’t abandon her!”
Kwaaaang!
With Nakrad’s voice, almost like a scream, an enormous shock was delivered to my shield, incomparable to before.
It felt like a cannonball exploded right in front of my shield.
Since I was in no state to even attempt a parry, I had to endure the entire shock, clenching my teeth and trying to hold onto my body, which felt like it would fly away.
“I said that’s not true!”
Alright. I think I’ve achieved my first goal with that.
Now it’s time to move on to the second.
Verifying my thoughts.
I have to check if Nakrad will move according to the pattern.
Grimacing, I defended against Nakrad’s onslaught.
While doing that, I engraved his attacks into my mind.
My eyes were still filled with the faces of corpses.
All I could smell was the scent of blood.
The only sensation on my skin was the feeling of bugs crawling around.
The only sound in my ears was Nakrad's voice.
In examining the opponent's attacks, the only things I could rely on were the iron wall's voice and the pain transmitted from beyond the shield.
This was enough to decipher Nakrad's patterns.
Losing his sanity.
Losing his thoughts.
Attacking like a beast based on instinct, Nakrad was no different from the mid-boss Nakrad that appeared in the game.
What would come next after this pattern was surely an area attack, right?
After waiting for 0.5 seconds, I rolled to the right twice to evade.
“Does the middle school syndrome wretch have worse eyesight than me, who can’t see?♡ Why are you attacking thin air?♡”
“Shut up!”
Next, it would be one of two things.
Either a surprise attack using teleportation or a barrage of magic bullets from a distance.
Since I could hear his voice from afar, it seemed like it was the latter.
Taking a step back.
Then two steps forward.
After that, I stepped sideways and charged straight ahead.
“Ah~♡ Is it because you’re old?♡ It must be!♡ You could see your dying lover's face clearly when you were young, right?♡”
“Shut up and die!”
With every time I deciphered Nakrad's pattern, his voice echoed closer.
If he had even a shred of sanity, he would have thought to distance himself.
But he didn’t have the luxury for that.
As he became distracted by the meager voices of the mesugaki breaking through the trauma he held, he was too busy trying to shut me up.
Thanks to that, I could keep advancing.
“Can’t you see me well?♡ I’m such a cute and pretty girl, you know?♡”
By continuing to provoke him, I didn’t give him a chance to think.
“Do you happen to like older women?♡ Is that it?♡”
“You filthy trash like a bug!”
One step. One step.
I was getting closer and closer to Nakrad.
“Ah~♡ I see~♡ Then you should be able to see the face of the lover you haven’t forgotten until now~♡”
Eventually, I reached the point where Nakrad's voice was right in front of me.
“What are you doing!”
What was the pattern when we were this close?
Using Tariki's energy to push the user over.
What was the counter?
Banishing the darkness with Ankir’s divine energy.
“Zebaal!”
I charged forward.
“Shut that mouth!”
I thrust the mace into Nakrad's face.
Puh-rrr!
The thought that the mace had struck something flickered through my mind, and a rough sound pierced my ears.
Not long after, I heard the sound of a human body tumbling pathetically to the ground.