“Alright, here I come! Time for my trump card!” (Dominique)
First, he threw magic stones on either side of me, to try and seal my movements. Following this, he threw the sword that he had previously stuck in the ground directly at me. While he had the right idea with sealing my movement, I was still left with more than enough room to dodge the incoming sword blade. However, there was something black extending from the bottom of the blade, back towards Dominique’s hand. Are those… chains? I thought the sword was simply large, but was this guy trained in a special fighting style after all?
“If you think you can avoid it, avoid it then!” (Dominique)
While yelling out those words, Dominique yanked on the handle to pull the sword blade back towards me. Furthermore, Dominique charged towards me at the same moment, and I saw a smaller blade connected to the handle. In short, I was sandwiched from front and rear.
I’m tempted to dodge to the sides, but if I did, it’s likely that I would get caught up in the explosion from the magic stones. Even without the use of both arms, he’s quite talented to be able to restrict my movements like this.
However, I have fought nastier enemies than this in my previous life.
Compared to those fights, this attack is full of holes. Of course Dominique will have taken measures against me evading, but I’m capable of fighting in non-standard ways. I could repeat my earlier strategy of using [String] to knock the magic stones away, towards him in this case. I could also escape into the sky with [Air Step]. However, I want to shatter his confidence entirely, so I think I’ll boldly challenge him from the front instead.
First, I used [Magnum] to destroy the magic stones on both sides of me. I then dodged the sword that was coming from behind, jumping over it and landing on its back, pushing it into the ground.
“That’s absurd!” (Dominique)
Lastly, I evaded the incoming thrust from Dominique, dropping low and slicing upwards with my own knife as we passed by each other.
Dominique’s remaining hand dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Defeated, he turned and looked at me with a resigned look on his face.
“So, that’s the end of it, huh? You’re the ‘Aniki’ that beastkin kid was referring to, right? He didn’t lie about you being the strongest…” (Dominique)
“To your credit, I believe you were trained well in various ways too.” (Sirius)
“What? That was just a cheap trick, you know?” (Dominique)
“No matter what method you use, it’s natural to use everything you have to try and win. You were generous in assuming I was a strong person.” (Sirius)
“I’ve never met a monster like you… I’ve completely lost. Ah, would you mind not stopping your attack here? I’d like to die before I feel the consequences of using the ‘life boost’ drug, if you’ll grant me that.” (Dominique)
“That’s fine. It’s impossible to kill yourself without hands, after all.” (Sirius)
I approached Dominique, preparing to shove my knife into his throat, and he starting laughing…
“Thank you…gah!?” (Dominique)
I hit Dominique’s chin with my palm, knocking his head upwards slightly, and forcing his mouth closed.
Flames burst forth from his eyes and nose, and he crumpled to the ground.
“Like I said, your assumptions were too generous.” (Sirius)
He had swallowed magic stones. It was probably just an elementary level [Flame] magic, but at that range it would’ve been significant enough to damage even me. Such a tactic would inflict serious damage unto himself, so this was likely his true trump card.
However, I saw that coming, so I forced his mouth closed. All of the damage was sustained by the inside of his body, and I was left uninjured. In my previous life, people who go so far as to consume large-scale explosives as a last resort, so comparatively I feel like his method was too soft to be effective.
I turn my back from the charred Dominique, and face down Gregory.
“Next is your turn.” (Sirius)
“Ah..w-why? Why are you aiming at me, you bastard!?” (Gregory)
“Haven’t we decided that it’s because of your hatred against beastkin?” (Sirius)
“I don’t know who you are though!” (Gregory)
“Is that so? How about now?” (Sirius)