Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Chapter 8.45

The waves of destruction from the battle mercilessly hit the [City Isolation Barrier]s that protected Mars and the others.

The dispersed magic power chipped away at the elements that formed the barrier, and rubble and debris, along with the magic power that could not be blocked, flew in through the gaps in the thinning barrier.

"Oraaa!"

While breaking out in a cold sweat at the creaking [City Isolation Barrier]s, Mars blew away the magic and debris that had come through the barriers.

His forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

A number of holes have already appeared in the barriers, and their number has been gradually increasing. Even the [City Isolation Barrier]s, with their superior ability to reconstruct themselves, were not enough to contain the aftermath of the battle between the two combatants.

But even this would be better.

Even though it was gradually being destroyed, the barriers protecting Mars and the others still remained in shape because of the presence of Nozomu between them and Vitora.

If not, the barriers protecting Irisdina and the others would have already been destroyed by a barrage of [Thin Garments of the Ice Demon].

Nevertheless, the limit is near. The speed of destruction is gradually surpassing the regenerative capacity of the barrier.

"Seriously, what's wrong with that vampire!? Something is obviously not right!"

"I can't see her limit. So this is a real monster, huh..."

Irisdina clenched her fists in frustration as she stared at Nozomu fighting Vitora.

She has no way to fight now.

She had been sealed from her own power by Nozomu's [Soul-Sealing Chains], along with the Vitora's magic power that was eroding her body.

Even if she were able to fight, she would not have been able to do anything.

"It's frustrating. I am so frustrated that I can't do anything at a time like this. In the end, I am completely relying on him..."

A weak voice that she unintentionally uttered. The words she let out slowly and steadily bound her heart.

At that moment, with a loud roar, the [City Isolation Barrier] that protected them shook.

The barriers, which had been shattered and repaired repeatedly, began to crack here and there, and the strength of the barriers fell at once.

"Kyaaa!"

"Damn it, I'm at my limit!"

Screams and cries of frustration were heard.

At that moment, countless bats flew in through the gap of the barriers.

"Excuse me, everyone."

The one who jumped in was Rugato, who had just fought with Mars.

In an instant, he transformed from bats to a humanoid, and quickly drew a circle with his fingers to fill in the gaps in the [City Isolation Barrier] with his barrier magic.

"Bastard, what are you playing at? No, you've saved us, but..."

Rugato, having closed the hole in the tattered [City Isolation Barrier], turned around to face Irisdina and the others.

"I do not want to cause my Lord any unnecessary concern, because that is my mission."

Vitora was truly enjoying her fight with Nozomu. Looking at her, it would be easy to guess why Rugato helped Mars and the others.

"It's a shame... Are we a hindrance?"

"I am sincerely sorry to have to tell you this, but ..."

"No need to make it vague. It's frustrating, but even as I am now, I ain't gonna interrupt that fight..."

If anything were to happen to Mars and the others, it would cause unnecessary feelings to be mixed up with the fight. Even for Vitora, who enjoys fighting, this would not be good.

Mars honestly acknowledged Rugato's words with a sigh.

"Rugato-san, was it? There is one question I would like to ask you."

"What is it? Elf young lady"

In the midst of all this, Shina asked Rugato.

"She is... What exactly is your Master?"

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"No matter how good a vampire she is with her individual abilities, her power is still too abnormal. She has completely surpassed even a juvenile dragon, nevertheless, it is still a dragon, the king of spirits."

Regardless of the difference in magical power and elements, Vitora's power completely surpassed that of the young dragon Azel, whom Shina had fought before. Vitora's powers are not the kind of power that can be contained in a humanoid creature.

Therefore, Vitora, like Nozomu, has some secrets. It was natural to think so.

"If Nozomu-sama has the qualifications, we'll find out soon enough."

"Qualifications?"

"You see, please take a look..."

Rugato pointed to where the balance of the battle between the two had finally begun to crumble.

=============================

A continuous arm strike.

Vitora's arms, which had undergone repeated physical transformations, were no longer humanoid.

Numerous wings, reminiscent of swords, sprouted from the huge reddish-black mass of flesh. The auxiliary arms, reminiscent of bat arms, move freely at the will of Vitora, rushing toward Nozomu.

"Fuh!"

Nozomu kept slashing away at the approaching countless arms with his [One Billion Severance].

The blood that danced up in the air blocked his vision, but he sensed the slightest hint of a presence flowing through the gap in the storm and brought out his blade at the optimum angle, speed, and power.

However, the battle gradually shifted towards Vitora.

No matter how many times Nozomu's blade continued to slice through the approaching threat, the magic power that continued to surge in like a tidal wave and the arms that had been restored with astonishing regenerative abilities continued to block any opportunity for a counterattack.

(Even though I can use Tiamat's power, it still isn't enough!)

Nozomu clenched his fist as he felt himself being gradually pushed.

The difference between the two was determined by the simple difference in power output and the difference in race.

Nozomu, who is thin and small and repeats optimal actions by focusing his power, and Vitora, who always flows his power at full throttle without thinking about the consequences.

Normally, the latter would be the first to get tired.

However, Vitora, who is out of the ordinary even among vampires with the highest abilities on the continent, and who is drunk on blood and unhinged, continues to raise her magic power even more the more she is injured. The more wounds she sustains, the more she raises her magic power, even to the point of self-destruction.

(Is this what I get for attempting to finish her off right from the start!)

Above all, the attack that should have been fatal was not fatal. This fact forced Nozomu to fight for a long time, and made Vitora draw out her magic power without limit.

(Phew...)

While launching his techniques, he adjusted his breathing and calmed his head, which was about to heat up.

I wonder what should I do to repel the attacks in front of me? How can I surpass her regenerative abilities?)

The key, of course, is the power of Tiamat. Now the question is, how do I strike it in a way that would surpass Vitora's regenerative ability?

The magic power that kept flowing out was still flooding into the [City Isolation Barrier], reacting to Vitora's thoughts, clinging to her deformed arms, and beginning to strengthen them. Unless he do something about this, it would be impossible to even get close to her.

And it was impossible to do so with [Phantom] or [One Billion Severance]. Even [Core Piercing] was not powerful enough. Even if he could annihilate a part of her body, she would regenerate it immediately.

So what should I do? There is only one way to do it.

(I have no choice but to do it... Here I go!)

Once he had made his decision, Nozomu began to take action at once.

Returning [Mumei] back to his other hand, he raised his fist, not his katana, against the arm strike that was approaching like a cleave.

"Hmm?"

"Guu~!"

While enduring the strain on his fist, he managed to knock up the deformed arm that had been cleaved off.

The auxiliary arms, with wings as sharp as swords, rushed in next, but he removed the scabbard from the sword belt at his waist and mowed them all down at once.

"Oooo!"

While stepping forward, he kicked away Vitora's outstretched left arm, rotated his body with the same momentum, and again slashed at the approaching swarm of auxiliary arms with his katana.

The movement was different from the solid movement he had just made and somewhat resembled dancing, making Vitora snicker.

"What is that? Are you asking me to dance!?"

As if in response to Vitora's thoughts, the magic power whirled around and the [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon] was released.

Making a gap in the storm of magic power that approached with the [One Billion Severance], Nozomu slipped in but only half of his body.

(Damn, my moves don't fit the pattern as I thought they would. Is it because I'm swinging my katana in the middle of it!?)

Perhaps because it incorporated movements that were different from the original movement pattern, it was not as effective as it should have been.

Vitora's random attacks were also preventing the pattern from being established.

(Don't match her moves. Guide her into my movement pattern instead. Her attacks, though powerful, are crude...)

In the midst of the storm of arm blows and auxiliary-arms blows that keep being delivered, Nozomu gradually adjusted his moves.

He took into account the pattern he was trying to change, his opponent's preferred movements, and his own thinking tendencies.

(Is it like this? No, maybe like this?)

"Hm?"

*clunk*, *clunk*, *clunk*, *clunk*...

The movements of Nozomu and Vitora gradually become more in sync, as if the gears were beginning to mesh.

And as they gradually modify their movements, Nozomu's eyes also become accustomed to Vitora's movements.

Indeed, both her speed and power of the attack were off the charts, but because of the enlargement of both arms, her movements were very limited. Cleave, strike, or thrust. There could only be three types of movement.

The same was true for the auxiliary arms. Even if she grew multiple arms, it would be hard to say that she was taking a sophisticated tactical approach.

That's why the means he was currently devising had a chance of working.

*click-clack*, *clack*... *snap*!

(... All right)

And the moment he felt the sensation that everything was in place, Nozomu started to move at once.

Like a fish rising up a rushing current, he began to move forward.

With a flowing motion, he cleaved away the swarm of auxiliary arms pouring down from above his head, and slammed the swung arm blows to the ground with a heel drop.

He repelled the magic currents that slammed into him with a spinning kick, and deflected the thrusting arms with a hip hook.

"What is ... the meaning of this?"

All of her attacks were repelled and avoided, with no sign of even hitting the target.

It was as if she was avoiding the target herself, and she let out a bewildered sound of discomfort.

Her feeling was right. Vitora was now gradually falling into Nozomu's trap.

"Kuh, What is this sickening sensation!?"

Vitora's heart was shaken by the sensation that she was being seen through, even though she was pushing in with an overwhelming difference in ability.

This impatience further led her to fall into the trap that Nozomu had set for her.

A master of martial arts can see several moves ahead of his opponent just by being face-to-face with him/her. The number of moves ahead is determined by the relative difference in skill, experience, and tactical sense.

If there is an overwhelming difference, the martial arts master can lead his opponent to do as he wishes.

The direction of one's gaze, the way one moves one's body, the opponent's tendencies. He is able to instantly recognize everything from his own skill and experience, and fit it into a predetermined "pattern," even dozens of moves ahead.

And to fit his opponent into that "pattern" is Nozomu's aim.

"Ugh!"

By the time she realized that she had fallen into the trap, it was already too late.

The surrounding magic power began to flow toward Nozomu. Even the magic power released by Vitora was absorbed by Nozomu against her will.

"Hmph!"

Finally, he began to repel Vitora's brute force head-on.

While she was still wondering how in the world he did it, Nozomu was smashing Vitora's attacks and closing the distance between them.

"What kind of magic trick did you use? Nozomu Bountis"

"I'm not doing anything special. I just guided you to fit into my pattern and made you offer your magic power to me."

Ritual Body Technique [Rinne Kaiten]

Originally, by continuing to perform the movements using only body techniques, the surrounding magic power would be absorbed, and the body would continue to be strengthened.

However, it would be impossible to surpass Vitora's attack with body techniques alone. Therefore, he changed his movement pattern to that of wielding the katana and continued to guide Vitora's attack so that the pattern would not be broken.

Nozomu understood the movement pattern of [Rinne Kaiten] perfectly, having it fully engraved in his body. He knew what each move meant and which techniques it corresponded to.

That is why he was able to change the patterns without changing the effects of the [Rinne Kaiten] techniques. Vitora's fighting style, which was more poorly developed than expected, was another factor that made this improvised development possible.

As a result, a ritual body technique was established.

The high-density magic power floating in the surroundings was poured into Nozomu, raising his physical capabilities at once.

Furthermore, as the ritual body techniques began to interfere with the surrounding mana, both the power and accuracy of Vitora's magic dropped significantly.

Originally, her magic did not receive any support from her techniques. Her magic was only activated as a result of the enormous amount of magic power reacting to her will as the owner of the magic.

Furthermore, by being included in Nozomu's movement pattern, she herself was also included in his [Rinne Kaiten].

As a result, she ended up offering her own magic power to Nozomu.

And now, by multiplying the absorbed magic power with Tiamat's power, Nozomu went on the offensive at once.

"Phew!"

When the footstrike, which was accompanied by magic power, knocked off Vitora's log-like arm and countless auxiliary arms collectively, the collected magic power and the power of Tiamat were infused into [Mumei].

In the previous battle with Jihad, Nozomu was unable to control the magic power gathered by the [Rinne Kaiten].

However, the [Soul-Sealing Chains] perfectly handled the control of magic power, which Nozomu is not good at, and made a blade in the form he wanted.

"Ha-, ha ha... What the hell..."

Admiration leaked from Vitora's mouth.

The blade, which concentrated all the magic power within the [City Isolation Barrier], was clad in a pale blue light that seemed to envelop Tiamat's five-colored elements.

"Eat this!"

Then, he unleashed a thrust with all his might.

Vitora reflexively had both of her bloated arms blocked the thrusting blade, but the blade burst through her main arm and all of her auxiliary arms in a single instant.

The blade gouged out and obliterated her from the chest down, scattering an enormous amount of magic power and elements, while crushing her bloated arms into powder in an instant.

"Gaha~!?"

The pain of losing nearly 70% of her body at once nearly knocked Vitora unconscious.

Then, Nozomu closed the distance to a point-blank range at once and struck her with his "main" blow.

"Phew!"

The fist that was delivered pierced Vitora's chest, which was in the process of regenerating.

Furthermore, with Vitora, who was still only has the upper half of her body, floating in the air, he slammed Tiamat's element into his fist with all his strength.

[Rinne Kaiten], [Core Piercing], and everything else were just preparation for this.

They were only preparations to completely finish off Vitora, who could not be destroyed from the outside.

"This is the end, annihilate her soul!"

Then, he slammed her body into the ground, and released the Dragon of Destruction's power toward her heart.

[Light of Extinction]

The released elements of destruction burned Vitora's body in an instant, even annihilating her soul, while creating a huge pillar of light.