Even though he'd figured out how to properly use his skill, the problem still remained…
It costs way too much mana!
The training period had increased his Energy stat a bit, but not by much…
Specifically, it went up by only 1.5 points. So now his Energy was at 2.
That number was still laughably low compared to a normal person—they usually had 5.
But hey, at least he could keep the skill active a little longer now. That was something.
Because right now, he was countering Irelia extremely effectively.
"EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR YOU!" Kai grabbed one of the frozen spears that was locked in place by his Stuck, spun it around once like a pro, and hurled it straight back at Irelia.
Irelia immediately yanked her horses and veered sharply to the side, successfully dodging the attack.
The spear slammed into the wall behind her and instantly froze the entire section solid.
"What the—? Was my throw speed too slow?" Kai was genuinely surprised by how quickly she reacted, so he started thinking of another approach.
"Kai! Need any help?" Reito shouted.
Kai glanced over at the group, then at Baron.
"…Yeah, actually! I've got a plan, guys!"
So the whole team huddled together. Irelia tried to attack during the discussion, but Kai kept using his skill to make sure none of her strikes landed.
"Hey!! Hurry up and think of something! She's trying to wipe us out again!" Lily urged.
Kai just gave her a thumbs-up and went back to planning.
"Why do they look so unserious? It's like they're just hanging out…" Violet scratched her head, watching some of them look surprised while others were straight-up grinning.
"Imagine you're the enemy and you see them casually planning right in front of you, ignoring you completely. I will be shocked if you weren't pissed," Kanna chimed in.
"Hey, is this actually gonna work?!" Baron asked nervously, looking at Kai.
"It's reckless, but I love it!" Vakoth clenched his fist, clearly excited about the plan.
"Pipi!"
"Ughhh… Fine, I'll try. But after this I'm probably gonna crawl home because I'll be completely out of mana," Abaric sighed.
"I'd be shocked if I don't die doing this, Kai," Reito said, looking uncertain.
"We're out of options anyway. She's too fast. There are safer plans, but they'd take forever. This one's suicidal… but at least it's fun and not boring."
The whole group looked at Kai and broke into grins.
They'd been fighting her for a while now. They just wanted to finish this with laughter and go home happy.
"Alright, let's do this, brothers!!"
Irelia watched as Baron piggybacked Kai. Abaric transformed into a shark and dove into the stone floor. Reito stood in the center, and Vakoth now gripping the Icebreaker had change the curse stood on top of Abaric.
Instantly, Baron unleashed a storm of lightning. His whole body glowed like the sigil on his chest.
Since Kai was being carried by Baron, he was getting constantly electrocuted but he looked weirdly calm. Pandora, on the other hand… was about to become grilled octopus.
Right after, Baron and Kai vanished.
Irelia suddenly saw them chasing after her at insane speed.
"UUUUUUU!!!" Baron's voice roared as his legs moved like lightning.
Is he going to sing Umapyoi Legend or something?
Irelia immediately steered her chariot in another direction and launched a barrage of ice spears at the two of them.
But the moment she threw them, she felt an overwhelming pulling force dragging her toward the center.
The entire volley of ice spears got sucked in.
She realized instantly—it was a black hole.
And it was growing bigger!
"Grrr!!!" Reito poured more and more mana into it, making the black hole expand massively.
When it grew to an absurd size, Vakoth who had been clinging to Abaric charged forward together with him, swung the Icebreaker, sliced a chunk of the black hole, and shoved it upward.
And just like that, a completely independent black hole was created, one that didn't cost Reito any more mana. Though it would disappear once Reito's original black hole ran out.
Irelia immediately understood the plan.
Baron and Kai would keep chasing her relentlessly to stop her from targeting the other three.
The other three would spam as many black holes as possible to disrupt her.
And if they got lucky, one of the black holes would swallow her whole and end her for good.
A straight-up kamikaze plan. The kind of thing only someone with a death wish would try.
And they were actually doing it.
Forget the success rate—just looking at it, anyone could tell this plan was insanely bad.
No wonder people say guys die before girls. Truly insane.
Irelia desperately tried to steer away from the growing number of black holes while also dodging Baron and Kai's pursuit.
A brutal mana-draining battle. She still had plenty of mana reserves, while they were burning through it at a ridiculous pace.
Meaning—if she could just stall long enough, they would burn themselves out and she could finish them with ice spears!
More and more black holes appeared. Reito was on the verge of passing out. Abaric swam as fast as he could to escape the swarm of holes.
Baron's stomach was cramping violently—his speed was dropping because of the curse-induced diarrhea.
Irelia actually started laughing at how stupid they were.
Did they really think this would work?
"Huhh… I think… I think I can't hold on anymore," Kanna panted, collapsing.
Yes, Reito had been borrowing Kanna's mana. The moment Kanna ran dry, it was over.
All the black holes vanished. Reito collapsed.
Irelia smiled and raised her spear.
Abaric was out of mana. Vakoth was being crushed by the curse backlash from his weapon.
Baron was fast—but no longer fast enough.
She was confident this next spear throw would wipe out everyone below.
…
If only it were that easy.
"?!"
Irelia suddenly sensed something was wrong. She looked around—and her eyes widened.
Everywhere. Literally everywhere, countless floating needles hung suspended in the air.
That's when she realized: the whole black-hole spam was a decoy!
And she never imagined Kai had fired so damn many needles!
"UNSTUCK!"
Instantly, the storm of needles shot out in every direction—except straight down.
Irelia desperately tried to dive her chariot toward the ground, but there were simply too many needles—she couldn't dodge them all.
Both of her ice horses were riddled with needles and shattered completely.
She herself took between 14 and 25 needles. Debuffs stacked instantly + massive spirit drain + soul damage.
Overwhelmed, she crashed to the ground and struggled to stand.
"IRELIAAA!!!"
She snapped her head up.
Kai was falling toward her, wielding both his regular sword and the now curse-restored Icebreaker.
Baron had disappeared somewhere—probably to deal with his exploding stomach.
And Kai was about to finish her!!
She raised her hand, trying to prepare another spell, eyes wide with desperation and fear as she stared at him.
In that split second, she saw a phantom image—exactly like Kai right now.
It was the man who had once saved her!
Slash!
Icebreaker cleaved straight through her shoulder. Blood sprayed everywhere.
"STUCK!"
Icebreaker locked solid inside her body.
Kai swung his other sword, slashing into her armpit.
"STUCK!"
Both weapons were now jammed deep inside her.
Then she saw Kai channeling mana into the strange gauntlet on his right hand.
It was Baron's Gear, the curse had been swapped so Kai could use it.
The gauntlet glowed brighter and brighter, lightning surging inside.
Blood streamed from Kai's left eye; red veins crawled across it from overuse—but he didn't slow down.
"RAI—"
In that instant, flashes of everyone who fought alongside him passed through his vision.
"KOU!!!!!"
The punch slammed into her stomach with earth-shattering force—her back actually bulged outward from the impact.
Then the lightning exploded outward, blasting Irelia straight into the stone throne behind her, shattering it completely.
Her entire body cracked and fractured—until finally, she reverted to the appearance of a girl roughly the same age as him.
"…" Lily, Violet, Kanna, and Aura stared in stunned silence at the fight that had ended in seconds.
…They won?
"Haa… haa… haa…" Kai panted heavily, sweat pouring, staring at the hand wearing Baron's Gear.
That hand was charred black—completely burned from his body being unable to handle the lightning power.
"Pipi!!!" Pandora looked at his ruined hand in horror, on the verge of tears.
"It's fine… my hand will heal. But damn, it hurts like hell…"
Kai walked over to where Irelia lay. Her eyes were still wide, unable to believe what just happened.
She… she had tried so hard… and still lost?
"Oi."
Kai's voice made her look up at him.
He pulled both weapons out of her body, then pointed his sword right at her face.
"I win."
"…"
Violet suddenly stood up, startling Irelia.
Kai raised his sword, preparing to swing.
Irelia stared at the blade and closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
Slash!
"…?"
She opened her eyes—Kai's sword had stabbed into the ground right next to her head.
He looked down at her, eyes deadly serious.
"You still haven't paid me, you bastard."
"…"
"Don't just stay quiet! You promised me all kinds of things, then pulled this betrayal crap and gave me the biggest headache ever! You'd better pay me back. And until you do—you stay alive."
"…You're sparing me?"
"Sparing? Nah. I'm about to drag you to the knights or the police or whoever so you can face trial, execution, whatever—I don't know. But hey, I'm definitely not killing you."
"…Why? Why not finish it?"
Kai narrowed his eyes, blood still dripping from his left one.
"You've got a mountain of crimes. You don't value anyone's life. I hate people like you the most. But I'm calm enough to know there has to be a reason you did all this. Every living being has sins—and there's always a chance to fix them. And you still have that chance to make things right. I'm guessing?"
"…"
Irelia stared at him for a long moment, then let out a long sigh.
The last of her mana leaked out. Kai flinched as he saw it wrapping around her.
"You win. I don't have any reason to keep living anymore."
"You're not gonna pay me back?!"
"Money-obsessed idiot. Everything I have left is in my room at the inn."
Then she closed her eyes.
"…And sorry… I killed your pet once."
"…"
"Everything failed. My will is broken. If you guys are happy living in this place or want to rise up and fight like I did—do whatever. I don't care anymore."
"I'm tired." She said smoothly.
Ice slowly spread from her feet up to her stomach. She had fully accepted her end.
Click.
"…Violet, what are you doing?" Lily asked, watching Violet open her ice gun.
Then Violet poured three-quarters of her remaining mana into creating a strange bullet.
"Saving Irelia," Violet said casually.
"Saving?"
"Yeah. What Kai said… it matched exactly what I was thinking. She needs to atone… And I don't want to lose my friend either."
Kanna looked confused. Aura, unable to turn her head, had no idea what was happening.
"You know, my S-rank skill has its reasons. The price it takes from others can be brutal… but for me, it's tiny. So—"
Violet gave a gentle smile, loaded the bullet, and raised the gun.
"Please remember me… and remind me of who I am, even just a little."
Bang!
A bullet the same color as her name shot out, streaking past Kai.
It struck Irelia straight in the chest.
Irelia's eyes flew wide open.
[Target locked: Gerda (Irelia) Winterbell
Purpose of skill use: Save
Scanning subject's life… Done
Searching for optimal solution… Done
Successfully selected salvation method: Reform Gerda into a better person
Scanning parallel universes, realities, timelines… Done
Applying changes to reality… Done
Rewriting everything… Done
Calculating skill cost… Done]
Kai watched as Irelia's entire body started glitching—like reality itself was breaking.
Her form flickered and distorted, emitting strange noises.
[Gerda (Irelia) Winterbell successfully saved]
Then she burst into light. Kai shielded his eyes.
"…What the hell is happening?!"
When the light faded, Kai slowly looked back at Irelia—and his eyes widened.
The gravely wounded young woman was gone.
In her place was a smaller girl, dressed in thick winter clothes, with a cute rather than beautiful face.
So many things were different… but it was unmistakably still Irelia.
"…" Kai and Pandora stared at each other, both completely dumbfounded.
'Holy crap… am I still hallucinating or what?'
*****
Origin-Changing Bullet (S): When you load the bullet and shoot it at a target, depending on your desire/intent, the bullet can either erase the target completely from the world or alter their origin/fundamental essence. It fully depends on how the user chooses to apply it.