NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
23. I Acknowledge It
Colors shimmer like a beautiful rainbow, covering the boy’s entire body.
In the face of that brilliance, Luca’s slashes were completely ineffective.
Even with a sword that could cut through magical energy, Force Greed, and superhuman agility enhanced by factors──.
“I’ve never seen such tough defense before.”
Luca sighed softly.
Breaking through his defense with brute force was a daunting task.
From the previous exchanges, the duration of his defensive magic was probably about a minute.
However, even if he aimed for the moment when the effect wore off, and he became defenseless, Haruto would likely switch his defensive magic to reflect attacks just before blowing Luca away.
And before closing the distance again, he would activate the next defensive magic.
Moreover, he didn’t seem fatigued at all.
Despite continuously casting such powerful defensive spells at an extraordinary speed──.
Neither destruction nor exploiting the time lag of the effect expiration was feasible.
In essence, he could deploy defensive magic infinitely.
“We’re at an impasse. As it is now,”
Luca sighed.
If there’s a possibility of overcoming this, it’s only one──.
“Unleash it, your power,”
Luca called out to her beloved sword.
Vrr…
Mechanical sounds echoed as the sword split in two from the center.
She wielded the two swords with both hands, now half as thin as before.
“Dual-wielding!?”
Haruto’s eyes widened in surprise.
“[False Greed], [Lightning Form]. This is the true form of my sword. It grants the final annihilation form, which boosts the owner’s speed by 7.7431 times,”
With a clang, Luca removed her armor and dropped it to the floor.
Her body was now only clad in underwear.
The immature yet modest swell of her chest and the curvature of her hips asserted her femininity, and her supple figure evoked the image of a finely honed slender sword.
For the full-powered Luca, her armor was no longer necessary.
“…This is my serious mode.”
“I’m always serious. But this technique is special,”
Luca poised the two swords to intersect in front of her body.
“The fastest and strongest ultimate technique, [Greed Bite]── if you can withstand this, I will acknowledge you,”
Declaring so, she kicked off the floor.
Closing the distance in one breath.
“You’re a formidable opponent, who surpasses me,”
And then.
Now is the time for the conclusion──.
※
The figure of the female knight disappeared from my sight.
She must be charging at a speed beyond visibility.
The ultimate technique, [Greed Bite]──.
Faster and stronger than any previous sword.
In the next moment, Luca’s strongest slash should be landing.
Of course, I can’t react and defend against it, but I still have [Armor Phase] deployed.
With a sharp metallic sound, Luca’s slash struck somewhere on my body, invisible to me.
But it’s futile.
I’ve already switched my [Armor Phase] from receiving type to repelling type.
Just like before, Luca’s slash would hit me directly and blow me away.
──Or so I thought.
“I can see it──”
“What!?”
Luca’s muttering and my astonished voice overlapped.
This time, she wasn’t blown away.
The sound of slashing, clang after clang, continued without interruption.
“What does this mean──?”
I ask in disbelief.
“It’s simple. Since reflecting it blows me away, I’m just dodging it,”
Dodging it, she can’t possibly mean.
My repelling type defense barrier reflects the opponent’s attack with its full force.
No matter how skilled a swordsman Luca is──no, precisely because she’s top-tier, she can’t endure a slash of equal caliber and would get blown away.
So she’s reflexively dodging the reflected slash with superhuman reflexes and agility, maintaining close proximity.
Slash, reflect, dodge. Repeat.
It’s easy to say, but how much superhuman reflexes and speed does it take to execute that?
Moreover, Luca’s movements accelerate with each blow.
As evidence, the metallic sound produced during the slash is becoming shorter and shorter in duration.
Her movements become so fast that they’re beyond visibility──.
A dazzling brilliance appeared before my eyes.
The trajectory of Luca’s movements approaches the speed of light.
It’s a movement of ultra-ultra speed that surpasses human limits.
“Yes, a sword technique that combines superlative reflexes and sub-light-speed movements──that’s [Greed Bite],”
No matter how many times I reflected her attacks, she can evade them all.
I can’t blow Luca away like before to create distance.
If the effect duration expires──.
At that moment, I’ll get slashed this time.
A shiver runs down my spine.
It’s perhaps the first time since acquiring this skill.
The absolute confidence that no attack can harm me── is wavering.
When I look, the angelic motif shining in front flickers.
It’s been almost a minute since activating the skill.
The defense enveloping me will disappear, and the moment of vulnerability will arrive.
If I don’t maintain the distance with Luca at that moment── I’ll lose.
“It’s time for the decisive blow,”
Luca’s voice echoes, her movements unseen.
The moment I recognized Luca’s sword technique was the moment after I got struck.
“I’m done for──”
I grit my teeth,
“──No way.”
In an instant, a solution flashes in my mind.
Simultaneously, the angelic motif floating before me changes.
The number of expanded wings── six in total.
Different from the two wings of [Armor Phase] and the four wings of [Barrier Phase].
And countless silver lights burst.
“Eh!?”
Luca’s voice was filled with surprise.
The basic form of the skill [Armor Phase] has several defense patterns.
To intercept the opponent’s attack.
To deflect it in a random direction.
Or even to disperse its power and scatter it.
I’ve now specialized the skill into the last defense pattern.
It’s a new form distinct from [Armor Phase] and [Barrier Phase].
[Kaleidoscope Shift].
Not simply reflecting back at her, but──.
It divides the received attack into hundreds, thousands, no, tens of thousands, and releases them simultaneously in all directions.
No matter how superior Luca’s reflexes and mobility are. She can’t evade attacks coming from all directions at once.
Unavoidable, the ultimate counterattack.
“Kyaaah!”
Screaming, Luca is slammed into the walls of the arena.
Even if the power gets dispersed, she probably couldn’t dodge all of them── or perhaps she took dozens, hundreds, or even hundreds of hits and couldn’t endure it.
The overflowing countless reflected slash energies rage, piercing through the barrier and opening large holes in the walls.
Forming pillars of shimmering light, they rise into the sky.
In the sky, a gigantic angelic motif in vivid colors is drawn.
I’m entranced by its beauty, then immediately refocus on the fight.
“Kuh…!”
Luca weakly stands up against the wall.
I immediately deploy a new [Armor Phase].
Even if she comes at me with the same technique again, I’ll switch to [Kaleidoscope Shift] right before the effect expires.
Blow Luca away to create distance.
By resetting [Armor Phase] before Luca closes the distance again, there won’t be a lag when the skill’s effect expires.
“…If I can switch instantly, the result will always be the same.”
With the sword poised, Luca stops her movement.
“Yeah, your attacks have been sealed,”
I declare, and Luca sighs softly.
“…No, there’s no need to attack anymore.”
With that, she returns her two swords to their original single form and sheaths them.
Step by step, she walks towards me, her boots making soft sounds.
“Five minutes have passed. My sword couldn’t break through your defense,”
Saying so, Luca──.
“You win, Haruto Riva,”
For the first time, she shows me a smile.
It was a delicate smile, befitting a girl her age.
“I, Luca Abasta, acknowledge you as an exceptionally strong individual and offer you my utmost respect──”