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Having coated her form in a reflective layer that shrugged off every blow, the slender, featureless opponent moved with a wild, almost deranged abandon. She cast aside all semblance of defense, every swing of the roaring chainsaw aimed with vicious precision at Ryoji's limbs.
Under her terrifying, almost preternatural perception, a host of fleeting openings danced across Ryoji's body. He met the assault with blade and principle, using the profound smoothness of Taiji to effortlessly guide the chainsaw away, then instantly slashing back toward her core.
He ignored the frustrating, fundamental fact that his attacks were having absolutely no effect. Instead, he simply immersed himself in a ceaseless, brutal flurry of steel.
"Is he trying… to bleed her dry of Od?"
Totokubara Kanata whispered the realization aloud.
Draining the opponent's magical energy, or Od, was indeed the most logical way to combat a reflection-type Warlock.
Typically, Reflection Warlocks didn't maintain a permanent reflective coating over their whole body; sustaining it for any length of time would drain their Od at an unsustainable rate, leaving them utterly defenseless when it ran out.
They would usually only activate the ability in the split-second before an attack landed, minimizing consumption while still using the reflected force to defeat the foe.
Yet, this pitch-black, stick-figure woman had activated a full-body reflection layer from the very start, defying all conventional wisdom. It certainly made her a blade- and bullet-proof menace, a perfect, unstoppable hedgehog.
But the price in Od had to be staggering.
Ryoji, aware of this, ratcheted up his attack frequency, launching a relentless series of fierce strikes. Forced to continuously maintain the reflective barrier to avoid being cleaved apart, her consumption of Od was skyrocketing.
At this rate, the well had to run dry. And when it did, she would be completely at his mercy.
"Just how much Od does this thing have?"
The fierce, close-quarters combat had already stretched past five minutes.
Deep, ragged gouges from the chainsaw scarred the concrete, nearby streetlights and waste bins reduced to sliced metal and plastic.
Yet, the enemy still swung her weapon tirelessly, showing no sign of weakening, nor any indication that the reflective layer might vanish.
Ryoji was stunned.
He couldn't precisely gauge the cost of the reflection layer, but to sustain it like this… she had to possess Od reserves of at least Rank B, perhaps even Rank A.
People of that magical caliber were anomalies, rare individuals who stood at the absolute zenith of power worldwide. To encounter such a monster here, now, was unbelievable.
"It doesn't matter!"
Ryoji's eyes burned with unwavering conviction.
No matter how immense her reserves, she was only delaying the inevitable. Even if she truly held Rank A Od, she had maybe a few more minutes at most. When that moment came, the victory would be his!
"Look out, behind you!"
Suddenly, Kanata's scream of panic ripped through the night, sharp and laced with fear.
Even without her warning, Ryoji felt it.
A dense, powerful killing intent manifested behind him with zero warning, sending a shock of ice down his spine. He immediately exploded into motion, leaping sideways in a blur faster than the human eye could track.
Where he had just been, an assassin solidified from the shadows.
His build was slender, almost womanish, but his height matched Ryoji's. He held a short, black-bladed dagger, clearly meant for a fatal thrust, but it froze in the air, the target already gone.
Just like the reflection Warlock, his face was smooth and featureless, his entire body pitch-black, another of the 'stick-figures.'
"This guy… I didn't feel him at all?"
Ryoji repositioned himself in a defensive triangle, keeping both shadowy figures within his field of vision, his mind reeling with shock.
His sensory capabilities were already among the best, yet this assassin had entirely bypassed his detection. There wasn't even a whisper of abnormality until the instant he fully emerged.
If not for a deep, primal danger instinct kicking in, he would have been struck dead without knowing what hit him.
"Thank the gods…"
Seeing Ryoji narrowly dodge the assassin's strike, Kanata let out a ragged breath, only to immediately clench up again, staring nervously at the two converging enemies.
"There are two of them… Be careful, Ryoji! That man came out of your shadow!"
She was right.
The assassin had materialized directly from Ryoji's shadow. The streetlights stretched his silhouette long and dark across the pavement, giving the enemy ample room to operate within.
Emerging from a total blind spot, it was the perfect angle for an assassination attempt. If that was the case, did their unnerving, pitch-black bodies relate to the ability itself?
"Shadow control… I feel like I've heard of this ability somewhere before…"
A faint, unsettling memory flickered at the edge of Ryoji's consciousness.
But there was no time for contemplation, he was still mid-combat. He mentally shoved the feeling aside and focused on the immediate problem: how to defeat this new, impossible pair.
Glup…!
Before he could form a new strategy, the ground beneath the assassin seemed to ripple like black water. In a blink, the man simply dropped straight down into it and vanished.
He disappeared? Into the shadows covering the ground?
Ryoji's senses screamed a silent alarm.
If the assassin could manipulate shadows, he could move freely through any area of darkness, and he must now be coiled up nearby, waiting like a venomous serpent for the perfect moment to strike.
Unable to follow, Ryoji could only wait passively for the attack he couldn't see coming.
"You troublesome bastards!"
Ryoji drew a deep breath, steeling his resolve.
Reflection and shadow manipulation, each power on its own was a perfect counter to a pure, physical swordsman like him. Working in concert, one attacking head-on and the other from behind, they were completely pinning him down.
But there was no place for fear.
So far, they hadn't managed to so much as graze him. Their abilities countered his style heavily, yes, but that did not make victory impossible.
"Raaah!"
The stick-figure girl shrieked, swinging her chainsaw and charging in again from the front.
"So damn annoying!"
A flicker of pure, lethal intent flashed in Ryoji's eyes.
He swung his blade in an act of impatience, driving forward with the full force of his body, colliding head-on with the roaring chainsaw.
BOOM!
A deafening shockwave erupted.
The blow completely rebounded, violently flinging Ryoji's arm wide and sending his body careening backward, seemingly out of control, as if he'd been hit by a wrecking ball.
His stance was utterly broken.
Any observer would assume he had lost his composure, and that a massive, fatal opening had just appeared.
If one wanted to press the advantage, or even end the fight in a single, decisive strike, this was the optimum moment.
", , "
In utter silence, the second assassin rose from the deepest part of the shadow, dagger reversed in his grip.
Though his face was blank, his murderous focus was absolute, the unflinching concentration of a hunter who had locked his prey in sight, pouring everything into this one, critical move.
However,
Ryoji, still airborne, violently shifted his posture.
What had looked like a helpless rebound now seemed like he had used the opposing force to propel himself, realigning his entire power chain mid-air.
And his eyes, suddenly sharp as a hunting hawk, locked onto the assassin rising from the ground like a target-seeking radar.
"Shraa…!"
A blinding flash of steel, like white lightning.
The assassin was caught completely off guard.
His right arm was severed instantly at the elbow, the black hand still gripping the dagger, spinning uselessly away through the air.
(End of Chapter)