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Chapter 45

It was exciting to see through the opponent’s intentions, and I enjoyed hiding my own.

Exchanging strategic blows and ultimately achieving victory was a great source of joy. This was one reason I preferred fighting master combatants over beasts and monsters.

However, in the same way that one couldn’t spend their entire life just eating their favorite food, I sometimes craved a different type of fight, a fight where I didn’t have to think and could win through brute force.

Boom!

That was the reason I was fighting Hariba head-on once more.

Of course, Hariba was strong. Right now, he was stronger than me, faster than me, and tougher than me.

But these factors weren’t that noteworthy.

I was used to fighting enemies stronger than me.

Crunch!

Although I called it a head-on fight, I wasn’t just trading blows like an idiot.

If I tried that, I would quickly be turned into paste.

However, I wasn’t running away from him either.

I never took a step back. I continued to fight in extremely close quarters with my gigantic enemy.

It felt like a heavy storm was raging right in front of my face.

It felt like if I let down my guard for even a moment, I would be swept up by his power and be shredded to dust.

However, even in this oppressive situation, I was able to have a decent fight against this monster.

There were two factors that allowed me to fight a superior enemy on equal grounds: my skills and my discerning eye.

A punch missed me and continued to the side, destroying a huge tree.

Crack!

It was proof of Hariba’s destructive power.

If I get hit even once, I’ll die.

But if I only focused on dodging, I wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

For that reason, as I barely dodged his attacks, I continued to deal small amounts of damage to Hariba’s body.

Still...

The fact that I was in a dangerous situation hadn’t changed.

Although I was acting like I had a lot of room to spare, my body and mind had been pushed to the limit at this point.

Hariba’s attacks were getting closer and closer to hitting me.

I wasn’t getting tired, nor was he becoming faster.

Rather, I was purposefully dodging by as little as possible so that I could focus more of my strength on attacking him.

Fwip—

Hariba’s fist grazed past my cheek and ear.

That alone was enough to tear my skin off.

Even though I had succeeded in dodging that attack, the pressure he was applying to me was insane. Moments like this made me think of what would happen if I failed to dodge.

This was the reason that, in many different ways, this battle was bad for my mental health.

Generally speaking.

“Haah...”

I let out a deep breath as we traded blows.

Although my entire body was covered with sweat, my breathing was still calm.

My head felt hot from excitement, and my heart was beating at a rough pace. However, seeing how the heat was building up within me with a pleasant aura...

I came to the conclusion that I might have become a little crazy since learning the Strongest Fire Technique.

Vwoong. I dodged Hariba’s attack once more. This time, I decided to respond in a different way.

I grabbed his wrist right after dodging his punch.

Of course, since his wrists were as thick as tree trunks, it was more like I “put my hand on his wrist”...

But the flames that bloomed from my fingertips ran up Hariba’s arm all the same.

“Kaaaaack—!”

It only took an instant for Hariba’s entire body to be engulfed in flame.

Even while he felt the pain of his entire body being burned alive, Hariba continued to swing his fists with all his might.

It was closer to flailing than calculated attacks, but since he was unfairly strong, I couldn’t outright ignore them.

However, because the trajectory of the attacks was much simpler, I was able to dodge them quite easily.

I held back my urge to laugh and taunt him as well. If I acted like I was having an easy time right now, it would ruin my plan.

“Lu... aaan—!”

Stop calling for me, you bastard.

As I grumbled that in my heart, Hariba’s body violently shook.

He looked like a beast drying itself after falling into a river.

He shook his body so strongly that the flames disappeared like they had never been there.

Still, judging from all the burn marks on his body, he was badly damaged.

In this state, Hariba continued to fight for a few more minutes. At some point, he started to shout like a beast devoid of any humanity.

I had a feeling that the time was soon coming.

Fwoosh!

A huge fist came flying toward me.

I recognized the attack, and just like when I’d first attacked him, I punched back.

Boom!

This time, though, I wasn’t flung back. I didn’t step back either.

I was still standing.

It was Hariba’s turn to be surprised as I felt his fist flinch.

I didn’t know if that reaction was Hariba’s true feelings or the reaction of the hidden person somewhere in the forest.

I wasn’t particularly curious either way.

This feels great.

Although I hadn’t entered my Flaming White state, I finally felt like my body’s condition had recovered.

When Hariba recovered from his flinch, he swung another fist at me.

I gritted my teeth as I smiled.

The greatest strength of the Strongest Fire Technique: the longer the fight, the stronger I got.

The power in my body had finally exceeded the point where I could match his strength and continue fighting...

Finally, at this moment...

Boom!

I exceeded Hariba’s strength.

***

I landed a solid blow on his solar plexus.

I felt my fist punch straight through layers of muscle and touch his internal organs.

“Kuah...”

Some liquid—I couldn’t tell whether it was blood or spit—dripped from Hariba’s mouth.

I didn’t want to get any closer to him, so I kicked him away.

It was no secret that that kick was an imitation of what I’d seen Sellen do.

Her martial arts were pretty good.

And they were too intense to be some basic self-defense martial art.

Where had she learned something like that?

No, now’s not the time to get distracted.

I looked over at Hariba, who had collapsed to the ground. It didn’t look like he would ever move again.

When I’d made that final attack, I’d put my entire body into the strike, and I had focused more on destroying his internal body than on creating external wounds.

Seeing the results, I knew I’d chosen the right strategy.

Now then...

It was time to display my acting!

“Kugh...”

I let out a gasp of pain and collapsed to my knees.

Then I contorted my face as if to say that I couldn’t move anymore.

“That hurt...”

That was pretty good.

I was seriously getting into the act and was even judging my own performance.

Honestly, the truth of the situation was apparent in the color of my face, but the night tonight was as black as the void. No matter how good someone’s eyes were in the dark, they wouldn’t be able to see my expression in all its detail.

Anyway, I continued to act like I was writhing in pain before I finally fell over to the side.

This was what true acting was like!

However...

...

...

It didn’t seem like my opponent intended to take the bait.

This bastard, had they just left me here?

If that was the case, acting like this was beyond pointless.

If I had just acted my heart out without an audience, I might die of embarrassment.

Had I perhaps judged them wrong?

What if there was no controller here? What if it was pure coincidence that Hariba had stopped whenever he got too close to an obstacle...?

* * * * *

* * * * *

Rustle.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps in the grass.

They were so faint that even I nearly missed them. I probably would have if there was any other noise in this forest, even if it was just the sound of bugs.

They’re approaching me.

Soon, I was able to see the silhouette of the controller.

I waited for them to get closer to me, and when they were within my range, I instantly rose from where I’d collapsed.

When I reached out to grab them...

My hands only grasped thin air.

They dodged?

“...”

I stared at the person who had created a bit of distance between us.

Their entire body was covered by their robes, so I couldn’t discern their identity.

From the build, I suspected they were a man, but since that could also easily be falsified by their disguise, I couldn’t be sure.

“So, you still have enough strength to move.”

The voice sounded male.

“Who are you?” I asked, not particularly expecting an answer.

But he replied with something completely unexpected.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

“I asked who you are.”

“You don’t need to know that.”

What the hell? Then why did you act familiar with me?

Anyway, from the voice, I could tell that he was a man.

I stood still before quickly reaching out with my palm.

It was flaming wheel.

A gust of flaming wind in the shape of my hand flew out toward the mysterious stranger.

He seemed unperturbed as his robes flapped, revealing darkness blacker than the night sky.

Then something surprising happened.

My flaming wheel disappeared under his robes.

I couldn’t see a single sign that my attack had landed.

Although this was beyond my expectations, I had closed the distance between us after firing off the flaming wheel.

Flap!

As the robes flapped once more, something that looked like iron chains shot out from the darkness.

It doesn’t seem like magic.

Was it a blessing? Or maybe a curse?

Regardless, it was easy to tell what the chains were for.

He was trying to bind my movements.

I didn’t slow down and added slight movement to my upper body.

I was using Kayan’s hidden steps.

I was glad to have learned it beforehand.

“...!”

Since not a single one of the chains landed on me, he seemed to be a little surprised as he took a few steps back.

I grabbed one of the chains that had moved past my body and pulled on it strongly.

“Ugh...!”

My opponent’s body was flung toward me.

I stared down at him as he flew toward me and put strength into my fist.

I was planning on just punching him right in the jaw when he entered my range...

But then I had a change of plans.

I quickly ducked my head.

Cling!

A chain had flown at me from behind.

If I hadn’t noticed it, my neck could’ve been bound.

What the?

How did a flying chain change trajectory midair?

Was it a godly relic?

Or...

Another wave of chains shot at me from the back.

They were faster than before.

I stopped trying to pull him closer to me and decided to focus on dodging.

There are a lot more of them now.

There were about twice as many chains as before, and I realized why that was the case as I turned around to look at them.

A second mysterious stranger was standing there in a similar outfit.

He mockingly said, “You didn’t expect there would be more than one?”

“Don’t get too cocky just because you have a friend with you.”

“How about two friends?”

“What?”

At that moment, hands appeared from the ground beneath me and grabbed my ankles.

“What the hell?”

Even I hadn’t expected this.

In the moment my movement was halted, chains flew at me from my front and back and tightly bound my body.

In an instant, I had turned into a bug wrapped in spider silk.

“...Live capture complete.”

The stranger let out a bleak laugh.