Chapter 183: The Chase
"Hoo..."
The short haired man in the judo uniform let out a long breath. The muscles in his arms suddenly swelled, stretching the loose sleeves of his uniform taut over his bulging biceps. Thick blue veins stood out along his neck.
Judging from his stance alone, it was obvious he had received professional training.
"Oh, so he's a Combatant. No wonder he's so confident."
At Asagiri's words, Yuuki Asuna and the others immediately recalled the type of people Ashikaga Miwa had mentioned before.
Combatants were people who trained specifically for the combat competitions organized by various companies. They were similar to boxers or mixed martial artists, but their existence was far more secretive, and most ordinary people had never even heard of Combatants or combat competitions.
In Ashikaga Miwa's eyes, combat competitions were a way for major corporations to place their stakes and determine winners through duels. It carried the flavor of the samurai era, and Combatants were the equivalent of modern samurai.
But in Asagiri's eyes, just as he had once said, Combatants were nothing more than beasts in a pit fight, existing for the amusement of the upper class watching from above.
Whichever view was closer to the truth, one thing was certain. Combatants were far stronger than ordinary people. Even the most basic among them could handle seven or eight full grown men by themselves.
And this burly, short haired man in the judo uniform was clearly not only a Combatant by background, but also someone who had received system rewards and enhancements.
It was no wonder he was so confident. Even in the face of Chris Walker, that mountain of flesh, he did not retreat in the slightest.
"Accumulate!"
As Chris Walker advanced toward him step by step, the short haired man's right arm swelled even more, to the point that the sleeve burst apart. It had already surpassed what a human body should be capable of. The only explanation was that he possessed some kind of self enhancement skill.
In the next instant, a layer of radiant light gathered over his right arm.
Seeing that, Iwanaga Kotoko frowned slightly.
"A Divine attribute skill? This is the first time I've seen one..."
"Sacred Fist!"
With a roar, the short haired man rushed forward and closed the distance with Chris Walker in an instant. His right fist, grotesquely swollen and wrapped in holy light, distorted the air around it.
Bang!!!
A muffled impact echoed through the entire hall.
"No... how could this be..."
The short haired man lowered his head and stared at his right wrist. The bones inside had shattered and bent at a grotesque angle.
Then he looked up at the mountain of flesh in front of him.
Chris Walker had not moved at all.
Not only had the attack failed to break through his defense, it had not even left a mark on his abdomen.
The man's expression froze completely.
In the next second, Chris Walker reached out with one giant hand and grabbed the short haired man by the head. With the other hand, he pressed down on his shoulder.
Then, as casually as if he were pulling the cap off a pen, he ripped the man's head clean off his neck and tossed it aside.
Thud. Thud. Thud...
The severed head rolled gently across the wooden floor, producing a dull sound.
At the same time, the electric lamp began flickering for no apparent reason, dimming and brightening in irregular bursts. With Chris Walker's mountain like silhouette filling the hall, the atmosphere became even more bizarre and oppressive.
"Leader..."
Yuuki Asuna stared at Chris Walker as he slowly turned toward them, his gaze locking onto their group.
"What do we do now?"
"Run. Scatter. Retreat. Escape."
The moment Asagiri gave the order, Kato Megumi, Yuuki Asuna, and Iwanaga Kotoko instantly understood.
In the very next second, the four of them turned and sprinted toward the far side of the hall.
Before they had even run more than a few meters, Chris Walker's heavy footsteps thundered behind them. There was no need to look back. They already knew he was chasing them.
"Persona, Human Asura!"
Even while fleeing, Asagiri remained as calm and composed as ever.
Human Asura appeared to stall Chris Walker, while Yuuki Asuna drew Gleaming Light. It was not because she intended to fight, but because the crystal rapier emitted light and could illuminate the path ahead.
Iwanaga Kotoko also condensed a mass of Black Particles into her IBM and sent it alongside Human Asura to delay Chris Walker.
After forcing open a side door in the hall, the four of them charged into a narrow corridor swallowed in darkness. Both sides were cluttered with piles of debris.
"Keep moving!"
Holding Gleaming Light aloft, Yuuki Asuna took the lead.
Although she was still instinctively uneasy in such a strange and oppressive environment, besides Asagiri, she was the team's only real close combat fighter. Since Asagiri had already summoned Human Asura and could not freely switch Personas, she had no choice but to shoulder the role of vanguard.
The team had only advanced less than ten meters when Iwanaga Kotoko suddenly swayed, and at the same time Asagiri felt the destruction of Human Asura.
Less than five seconds had passed in total.
In under five seconds, the powerful Human Asura and the Black Particles IBM, famed for their defensive power, had both been torn apart by Chris Walker.
[Your Persona Human Asura has been destroyed. The characteristic [Regeneration of the End] has activated. Strike resistance and curse resistance have increased.]
The heavy footsteps sounded behind them again.
At the front, Yuuki Asuna saw that the path ahead was blocked by a mound of debris. Only a narrow gap at the bottom remained, just large enough to squeeze through.
She frowned and raised Gleaming Light, ready to use a sword skill to blast the obstruction apart, but Iwanaga Kotoko suddenly stopped her.
"Crawl through the gap!"
Yuuki Asuna did not understand why, but in a situation like this, she trusted Iwanaga Kotoko's judgment without hesitation.
Still, she did not go first. Instead, she stepped aside and let Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko crawl through before her.
By the time the two of them had made it across, Chris Walker was already less than five meters away.
"Sword Skill: Stardust Splash!"
Yuuki Asuna switched to the Exorcist Longsword and unleashed her skill without hesitation. Eight flashes of sword light shot forward simultaneously and stabbed into Chris Walker's body.
Bang. Bang...
Even after taking Stardust Splash head on, Chris Walker merely staggered back half a step.
Forget piercing through him. The attack did not even leave a visible wound.
Taking advantage of that tiny opening, Yuuki Asuna immediately dropped down and crawled through the gap.
Asagiri followed right behind her, but just as he lowered himself to enter, Chris Walker was already upon him and about to attack.
"Blow yourself up with him."
The moment Asagiri's voice fell, Crazy Mita appeared with a wild grin on her cute face. In her hand was a grenade with the pin already pulled.
She rushed straight at Chris Walker, shouting excitedly,
"I'll blow up with you!"
Boom!!!
The explosion filled the passage with smoke and dust.
By the time it cleared enough to see, Asagiri had already crawled through the gap and regrouped with Kato Megumi, Yuuki Asuna, and Iwanaga Kotoko.
Chris Walker, who had taken the grenade blast head on and still remained unharmed, revealed an expression of pure fury. He stomped one foot into the ground so hard that the whole building trembled slightly, then let out an enraged roar like a beast.
Strangely, although the obstruction between them was nothing more than piled debris, tables, chairs, broken railings, and loose gaps, and although Chris Walker had already displayed enough raw power to smash through such a barrier with ease, he did not break it.
He only stood there roaring, like a hunter who had just lost sight of his prey, furious and unwilling.
His resentful gaze locked onto Asagiri.
Then, after a long moment, he turned away and left. His gigantic body gradually vanished back into the darkness of the corridor.
"Phew... that was way too close..."
Yuuki Asuna let out a breath of relief and leaned against the wall, still shaken by what had just happened.
"There's really a monster like that in this Dungeon..."
Asagiri showed no sign of tension or fear. His tone remained as calm as ever.
"If it weren't for that idiot Player, we wouldn't have been exposed to Chris Walker in the first place."
Kato Megumi also remained composed. Although her breathing was slightly quick from the frantic escape, her emotions were steady.
"Why didn't he keep chasing us?"
"This is why."
Iwanaga Kotoko lifted her cane and reached toward the debris pile. Before the tip could touch the obstruction, it was blocked by something like a layer of black mist.
"This is...?"
"Like I said, Kyozan Mental Hospital itself is an Anomaly "
Iwanaga Kotoko studied the black mist at the tip of her cane, deep in thought.
"Although the obstruction looks like nothing more than a pile of debris, it is actually part of the Anomaly itself. Since Chris Walker is also part of that Anomaly, he cannot break through this barrier. As for whether we can destroy it... I don't know. But even if we wasted stamina and mental strength to break through it, there would be no benefit."
"I see."
Yuuki Asuna nodded, her expression complicated.
"That Chris Walker... he's just too strong. Crazy Mita's grenade, my Stardust Splash, Human Asura, even that Player's Divine skill from earlier. None of it could break through his defense..."
"That just makes it more interesting."
Hearing the worry in Yuuki Asuna's voice, Asagiri instead spoke with obvious excitement. There was even anticipation in his smile.
"A dark and terrifying environment. Being hunted by monsters while searching for a way out. Just thinking about it..."
He grinned.
"It's exciting."
.....
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