Disciple of Immortal

「《Double》… Defence Mode!」

Blue steam was rising from Mitsuru's back. After being taught by Dragon Saint Odio, he intended to fight with the Peach Dragon Village swordcraft.

Peach Dragon Village swordcraft was a defence-oriented swordcraft. He was sure that was the best way to fight Lovis since he managed to drive the latter to the brink of death.

「My bad, Reaper, ain't have the intention to going down with ya.」

Mitsuru held his greatsword with a backhand grip, a defensive stance called the 《Dragon Fortress》. Hearing that, Lovis only revealed a bestial smile akin to that of a monster as he made a beeline toward Mitsuru.

「《Short Gate》!」

Lovis' figure shone for a moment before vanishing, and appeared right before Mitsuru a moment later.

「Too bad, I'm not aiming for yer blind spot!」

Mitsuru received the brandished scythe of Lovis and unleashed a counter that was aiming to cut open the latter’s abdomen. Lovis twisted the elbow of his left arm and took that slash head-on. The blow broke Lovis' bone and tore his flesh.

「HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!」

Lovis raised an eerie laugh as he brandished his scythe to Mitsuru's abdomen.

「GUHA!」

Mitsuru backpedaled while holding his abdomen with his left hand.

「What a terrifying fighting style. Are you insane!?」

By the time Mitsuru roared, Lovis had already brandished his scythe toward him.

「GUH!」

He parried the scythe with his greatsword as he retreated. Lovis kept swinging his scythe with his right hand even when his left arm was already hanging loosely. His swing lacked power, which is why he spun his body to add more momentum.

It was a daredevil combat style, like a desperate struggle before he died. And yet he had no opening at all. The Peach Dragon Village swordcraft barely allowed him to match Lovis' skill so far, yet now the Reaper once again surpassed his expectation.

「You fu*cking madman!」

Mitsuru roared as he got frightened by Lovis' tenacity.

The current Lovis was in the zone; he entered a state of extreme concentration. Due to excess endorphins secreted in his brain, his head was full of clarity, and he felt as if the world was moving at a slower speed. Lovis, whose physical ability was enhanced in that state, would definitely kill his opponent. It was as if he left his mortal body and became one with the scythe.

「Y-Yozakura… Are you okay!?」

Damia was nursing Yozakura, who got blown to the side by Lovis' slash. Yozakura's eyes opened a bit, looking at Lovis' fight with an entranced look on her face.

「Congratulations, Lovis-sama… You finally reached it, the divine territory…」

It was no exaggeration to say that every cell in Lovis' body was specialized for combat. He might indeed be reaching the divine territory, or maybe the Reaper's territory.

Mitsuru was completely overwhelmed by that.

（The Old Lizard's swordcraft ain't working anymore! Half-hearted attacks don't work on him anymore!）

Using 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》 would surely kill Lovis. But that was the only way to stop Lovis.

Even Lovis was powerless before the 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》's erratic movement. The problem was that 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》 came with a fatal weak point. The way it charged forward left him with too many openings, thus he would be a sitting duck if Lovis used 《Short Gate》.

Not to mention that using 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》 drained his stamina. A single use of it drained most of his stamina.

And his opponent was the Berserker Lovis. There was a chance that he would try a head-on clash with him. But it doesn't mean that he wouldn't use 《Short Gate》 to dodge his charge either.

「But ain't got any choice but to bet on this. 《Double》… Speed mode!」

Mitsuru’s body released yellow steam. He jumped back and unleashed the 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》.

「KAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!」

Lovis closed in the distance at once without a shred of hesitation. It was as if he was confident in his victory. It was all or nothing; Mitsuru kicked the wall behind him and flew straight toward Lovis.

「《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》!」

After that, he changed his 《Double》 to assault mode to add variation to his technique.

Fortunately, Lovis didn't choose to dodge with 《Short Gate》. He just smiled eerily as he charged toward Mitsuru with a scythe in his hand.

Mitsuru swung his greatsword toward Lovis, fully intending to end the battle. That moment, Mitsuru saw Lovis' eyes opened wide, following every single one of his movements with terrifying accuracy.

He couldn't think of it as a mere coincidence. The current Lovis could completely capture the motion of 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》.

「No time to hesitate… Here goes nothing!」

Mitsuru spoke to himself while swinging his greatsword.

Lovis spun his body and leaped up to dodge Mitsuru's sword. If this attack missed, Mitsuru wouldn't have the strength left to fight Lovis. He pushed toward Lovis.

The 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》 exploded on Lovis' body.

「KAH!」

Lovis' body got blown away, bouncing twice on the floor. At that moment, Mitsuru was convinced of his victory. When Lovis' body bounced on the floor for the third time, his body suddenly spun in the air and then landed perfectly on the floor.

「N-No… way?」

Lovis jumped back right before the 《Dragon Whirlwind Fang》 hit him, minimizing the impact. He used his limbs to protect his chest and the vital spot that was targeted by Mitsuru.

Lovis' brain capability was running at maximum capacity. That also revealed his true nature: a lump of combat instinct. Survive and kill his enemy. He turned into a killing machine that chose the best method to kill his opponent. Any kind of pain inflicted on him was just mere information about how much his body could move in his current situation.

Mitsuru fell to his knees, his breathing erratic.

「Dammit, this guy is a tough nut!」

Mitsuru clawed his own leg as if to force it to move. Falling down here meant that Lovis would kill him. Ironically, he was fully aware of the fact that he had already run out of strength.

「H-He's different from the Lovis-sama that we know until now. The current him is more… More terrifying.」

Damia was at a loss for words seeing the battle of Lovis. On the other hand, Yozakura was looking at Lovis with a satisfied smile.

「KAHAHAHAHAHA!」

Lovis charged toward Mitsuru.

「Urgh… Dammit! Like hell, I'm going to die here!」

Mitsuru's eyes were already blotted with tears. He had long since prepared to face his own death after coming to Locklore. But this was the first time he was brushing so close with death.

「KAH!」

Lovis leaped high as he brandished his scythe. Seeing that, Mitsuru looked down, punching the floor in frustration.

Yet the scythe blade never came down to decapitate Mitsuru's neck. Lovis just jumped over Mitsuru's head.

「Eh?」

Lovis suddenly threw his scythe, landed on his knees, and slid on the floor with his knees in a seiza posture. The friction wore out the fabric of the clothes on his knees. Lovis then placed his head on the floor as soon as he stopped sliding.

「IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, KANATA-SAMA!」

The one who stood in front of Lovis, who suddenly regained his sanity and took a prostrating gesture immediately, was… Kanata.

「… Uhm, can you explain the situation?」

Kanata asked with a troubled face. In the distance, Damia and Yozakura were looking at Lovis, who might have just scored the record of fastest sliding dogeza in Locklore, with looks of contempt on their faces.

===

(~’.’)~You Can Read Cheaper Advance Chapter by Becoming My Patron~(‘.’~)

(~’.’)~Support Me With Ko-Fi~(‘.’~)