“Such confidence.”
There was an enormous difference in difficulty between the ninth Gate I had not intervened in and the ninth Gate I had.
The two people before me were the source of it.
‘Fredwin of the Strong Body,’ and...
“Royal Mage Rapaiyu.”
“Oh? You know me, Hunter from another world?”
“Yeah. An acquaintance of mine really hated you.”
The very man who had killed Devin and twisted the curse placed upon the Princess.
A grand mage who specialized in wind and curse magic.
At this point in time, he was a monstrous mage whom even Hwa Yejin could not defeat in a direct fight.
Though more than half that strength had been gained from the Mana he had siphoned from the Princess.
“Sa Ujin. You take care of that knight.”
“Are you ordering me around, Kang Seon?”
“...You said you wanted a doll with greater endurance than one capable of using magic, did you not?”
The corners of Sa Ujin’s lips curled upward.
That lunatic bastard. He had been planning to turn Fredwin into a doll from the beginning.
“Then shall I?”
Sa Ujin spread his web and charged toward Fredwin.
“Leia. We will take the sleazy-looking one.”
“Y-Yes?”
Leia seemed hesitant.
The reason was obvious, so I immediately added, “Those two are among the few true ‘evils’ in this kingdom. They know perfectly well that what they are doing is wicked.”
Having heard the Princess’s past, Leia’s gaze changed.
She was trembling, but she seemed ready for battle.
“Hey. You have waited a long time, have you not?”
“It is all right, Hunter from another world. I can afford to wait that long.”
“How merciful of you.”
“Was it not you who removed the vile curse placed upon the Princess?”
Rapaiyu spoke with ease.
Right. As a Royal Mage, he would have easily noticed what had become of the curse he had personally twisted.
“If you know that, I would like to take payment in the form of your head.”
“That will not do. I have already decided what payment to give you.”
[Rapaiyu has used the Skill 「Summer Day’s Sedimentation」(A).]
[Rapaiyu has used the Ability 「Oppression」(B++).]
[Rapaiyu has used the Skill 「Eternal Circle」(A+).]
“Your payment shall be a burial in the grave of this glorious kingdom. I shall make it appear that you died after exhausting your strength to save the Princess. That should be sufficient, should it not?”
RUMBLE!
Everything around Rapaiyu began to tremble.
The ground, the buildings, the decorations, even the air.
Each breath felt as though my Adam’s apple were being struck, and every time I blinked, pressure built behind my eyes.
My D-Rank body could not endure it for long. If this battle dragged on even a little, I could go blind—or die.
“Benefactor!”
“Do not! Stop!”
[Leia has used the Skill 「Ice Bullet」(B).]
That idiot! I told her not to!
Leia must have realized that this situation was bad for me, because she hurriedly fired an Ice Bullet.
The swiftly flying icicle shot toward Rapaiyu’s brow.
But just before it reached him, the Ice Bullet spun around and flew straight back at Leia.
“Duck!”
Leia froze in shock, but the instant I shouted, she reflexively lowered herself.
The Ice Bullet passed right over her head.
“For f×ck’s sake, I told you not to do that!”
“T-This cannot be happening! Ice Bullet has always been unstoppable!”
“Unstoppable, my ass! You are far too confident in a B-Rank projectile Skill!”
Rapaiyu’s Skill, 「Eternal Circle」.
Any projectile-type attack directed at the mage was returned to its caster.
It was a nearly invincible Skill against other mages.
But that did not mean close-range attacks worked well, either.
「Summer Day’s Sedimentation」 drastically slowed any living being that approached Rapaiyu.
“It seems you already know about my magic.”
Rapaiyu smirked as he watched me remain wary without carelessly approaching him, despite holding a sword.
“Indeed. There is nothing you can do.”
“Confident, are we?”
“I am not wrong. If you try to harm me from afar, 「Eternal Circle」 will stop you. If you approach me, 「Summer Day’s Sedimentation」 will leave you helpless.”
“And if we just stand still?”
“Then 「Oppression」 will kill you.”
He was right.
Rapaiyu was perfect evil in my eyes, and I hated everything about him.
But that did not change the fact that I could not break through that meticulous combination of Skills.
At least, not for around thirty attempts.
“Ha ha ha! Do you see, Hunter from another world? This is true magic. Did you think ordinary people like you could do anything against a mage who has finished all his preparations?”
“Sorry, but I have heard that damned lecture about a mage’s preparations so many times that it makes me sick.”
I drew my sword and charged forward.
[The Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) is activated.]
[Rapidly reading the ‘Mana’ in the ‘air.’]
The sight in one of my eyes colored the world before me like an infrared camera.
Green, dark green, pale green.
Rapaiyu was a powerful mage, but he was not perfect, much less invincible.
If I fought in an area where the ambient Mana was relatively thin, I could naturally lessen the effects of his Skills, however slightly.
It was about as effective as using a schoolbag instead of an umbrella in a downpour, but it was enough.
“Foolish. It will make no difference.”
It was a sword swung by a D-Rank body while under the effects of an A-Rank debuff.
Though he was a mage, Rapaiyu possessed the equivalent of B-Rank physical ability and A+-Rank mental strength by our standards. He could block my sword with one hand.
No matter how many times I swung, I could not leave so much as a scratch on Rapaiyu.
Instead, his expression only grew more vulgar with delight and arrogance.
“It is amusing to watch you struggle so desperately. Yes, the most meaningful thing ordinary people like you can do is roll about as signposts, showing us how far above you we stand.”
“...You have no intention of hiding your true nature now.”
“Indeed. I considered persuading you if you proved exceptional, but since you are this incompetent, I have no choice but to use you after killing you, as originally planned.”
Rapaiyu caught my sword between his index and middle fingers and chuckled.
“How much longer can you last, I wonder? You have endured well for someone with your physique, but you are exposed to 「Oppression」. Ten minutes at most? Struggle a little longer until then. Your flailing is as entertaining as an insect’s.”
In truth, even though I had been fighting where the Mana was sparse, my body was reaching its limit.
The capillaries in my eyes had burst, blurring my vision, and even the effects of 「Rapid Reading」 were beginning to cut out amid static.
But...
“Hey. How many minutes do you think have passed since we began fighting?”
“What an odd question. Let us see...perhaps five minutes?”
“Close. Five minutes and twenty-eight seconds.”
“So?”
CLANG! CLACK!
Rapaiyu knocked my sword aside, and my body rolled across the ground.
My insides had been damaged from enduring 「Oppression」, and blood welled up from my mouth.
Five minutes and forty-one seconds.
I grabbed my sword again and charged.
Five minutes and fifty seconds.
I swung again and again, but I still could not pierce Rapaiyu’s skin.
And then, six minutes passed.
CRASH!
My sword shattered, scattering fragments across the ground.
“Now you do not even have a sword. Give up and—”
“I could never defeat Fredwin, even if I died and came back to life.”
“I wondered what you were talking about. Naturally. I may be stronger, but that woman is still a knight of this kingdom.”
“But I can defeat you.”
Rapaiyu burst into laughter at my words.
A provocation had to come from someone of comparable standing to count. Coming from a sparrow that could not even reach his feet, it was nothing more than a foolish little performance.
“Ha ha ha ha! What nonsense. You, crushed by 「Oppression」 and unable to move under 「Summer Day’s Sedimentation」? Go on, then. How will you kill me?”
To Rapaiyu, I was no more than a sparrow.
But...
“That preparation you are so proud of. I made some preparations too.”
A sparrow was not a bird that meekly accepted being pushed around every day.
I pointed my broken sword at Rapaiyu.
[Cloth of Regret (A)]
: Remaining Time 00:00.
“I was waiting for the two hours to run out.”
Startled by the sudden surge of Mana, Rapaiyu turned his head.
Leia was casting a Skill.
[Leia has used the Skill 「Froststep」(C).]
A sloped sheet of ice formed beneath Rapaiyu’s feet.
Thinking it was an attack, Rapaiyu twisted his body in surprise.
His posture collapsed in an instant, and he staggered.
“Leia!”
“Yes!”
I did not miss the opening.
[Leia has used the Skill 「Winter’s Touch」(B+).]
Before entering the ninth Gate, there was one thing I had repeatedly nagged Leia into doing.
- “Hey, what kind of goddess cannot even memorize this one thing?!”
- “I made something similar! What is wrong with that?!”
- “It has to be identical! Identical, you blockhead! That is how it gets stronger!”
- “I do not care! I do not care, I do not care, I do not care! I will not do it! I will not!”
- “Then you are not eating today! Go hungry, you shaved-ice-brained idiot!”
Memorizing the structure of ‘this sword’ perfectly.
Winter’s Touch created a specific form out of ice.
The closer that form and structure were to the original, the higher the item’s Rank became.
[One Dragon Sword (Imitation)(B++)]
An ice-carved dragon ornamented the hilt.
The blade was entirely black.
Its edge was on a completely different level from any ordinary sword, and its penetrating power did not depend on its wielder’s strength.
And it had one greatest effect.
STAB!
[The unique Ability 「Bloodless Sword Art」 of the One Dragon Sword (Imitation) has manifested.]
When the sword pierced Rapaiyu’s body, darkness wrapped around him.
Anyone stabbed by this sword was completely prevented from using Skills and Abilities. Since this sword was only an imitation, the effect lasted only while it remained embedded in its target, but that was enough.
Rapaiyu’s wide-eyed, trembling body soon crumpled.
“Ah, ahh...”
With his chest pierced, Rapaiyu could not even speak properly.
I released the sword and grabbed the head of the fallen Rapaiyu.
“See? I told you I could defeat you.”
No matter how strong someone was, there was always a way to counter them.
And no matter how weak someone was, they always had a strength.
Rapaiyu had been drunk on his own power and failed to see his weakness.
I had focused on my strengths and exploited his weakness.
Nothing in this world was perfect, so Rapaiyu, consumed by arrogance, could never defeat me.
“S-Spa...huff...spare...”
“I do not kill people lightly if I can help it. If you take lives without hesitation, the mind of the person holding the blade eventually breaks.”
Rapaiyu’s face brightened a little.
Judging from the silent movement of his lips, he seemed to be saying, “Th-Thank you.”
“But you are different.”
The one who had consumed the most of the Princess’s Mana.
The human who had placed the blessing of immortality upon the Princess out of greed.
Because I knew the pain of one who could not die.
Because I knew the despair of a life filled with nothing but suffering.
I gripped the hilt of the One Dragon Sword.
“D-Do not...! Do not do it...!”
There would be no more chance for this man to return.
Because of my regression, he would never again exploit the Princess’s Mana or trample others beneath his feet.
This was my final life.
And this was the final world.
His desire and wickedness would remain a bad ending forever.
“Close your eyes forever, you bastard.”
I pulled the sword from Rapaiyu’s body and swung it at his neck.
SLASH!