Chapter 84 – Common Language
Mantis…… No, Toulowe’s thrust was unleashed with terrible instantaneous power.
The sharp blade swung and missed, only the sound of it cutting the air was heard, and a vacuum wave flew.
If you can do it in succession, it’ll be a complete storm.
“Haiiiii!”
“eto”
I avoided it by just a skin’s depth, and I also increased the speed while throwing a series of left hits.
Avoid Toulowe’s attack, keep an eye out, find an opening on it, and thrust my right.
For that purpose, I can’t stop my hands and feet…. I guess that’s the theory, but….
“eh… Earth…”
I’m flesh and blood. A single hit would be fatal. Death may be a matter of course.
I won’t underestimate such a thing.
I can’t let my guard down in the slightest.
The task wore down each and every nerve.
But I wonder why….
“Honey! Don’t stop, you have to use your feet more, or you’ll get caught again!”
Before I knew it, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Toulowe’s sickle, which accelerated further, attacked me, and Shinobu’s voice echoed.
But. I stopped deliberately.
“…… dear…”
“…… Wh, what’s going on? Toulowe…”
Hmm? Were Bro and the Dark Elf staring at this fight before they knew it.
Somehow, the dark elf was sitting on the floor as if exhausted, did they have a fight?
“… Toulowe’s attacks… steadily accelerated faster… but… not a single blow…”
The cyclops was in a dumbfounded state. Apparently, the people around me have turned their attention to this situation.
“…… not hit…”
Toulowe blurted out as he unleashed a fierce slash.
Yes, even if I stopped, I didn’t eat Toulowe’s sickle any more.
“【Great Demon Flicker】!”
“eh, tsu, this!?”
No matter how sharp a sickle or sword is, there is a ‘bulge’.
If you hit your fist directly against the blade, you will hurt your fist, but if you hit the ‘bulge’, there is no problem.
Therefore, I used the flicker to hit the ‘blade bulge’ as the blade that was swung down or thrust out, and knocked it off.
“Ho, Honey … is dispelling that Mantis demon fist … with one hand …?”
Oh, I can see the trajectory perfectly now.
『You have come… to ‘Enter’…the ‘Zone’… at that time, the battle against the Second Sword Saint is being reenacted… to repeat at this level once more…』
At that time, the voice of Tre’ainar, who seemed to be in a good mood, reached my ear. Well, that’s far from the point. Don’t let your guard down. Focus, concentrate.
『Dynamic visual acuity … Peripheral vision … and….. the fight with Aka, and it bloomed at the end of this battle… ‘Spatial Awareness’… to grasp the existence around oneself… everything from the speed, size and even the sense of distance… so long as you enter the extreme concentration state of the Zone … child … no one will be able to catch you anymore!』
I’m not simply going to ward it off any more.
The moment Toulowe attacked and tried to pull his arm back, I will inconspicuously dive in all at once.
“Here!”
A huge and strong body. Half-hearted blows will not work. Earlier, I did damage by aiming at the neck, but Toulowe was also quick to guard against that.
So I had to aim for another point.
And now that everything looked slow, my field of view is wide, and my concentration has increased, I realized that looking closely at Toulowe’s body, there’s a spot where I can hit as much as I want.
“Gieeeh!?”
“And again!”
“Fugi!?”
It’s the ‘joint’ of the foot. It seems that the joints are the only part of the body that can’t be trained.
Under normal circumstances, the joints of Toulowe’s legs, which are much larger than mine, are at a position where it’s easier to aim and strike at than a body blow against a human.
The moment I punched him, a distorted voice leaked out of Toulowe.
“What’s wrong? Your leg is twitching like a newborn foal! Are you giving up? Is that the best you got?”
“eh…… shut up! Not yet!”
The moment I agitated him, Toulowe, who was about to collapse for a moment, raised his sickle with an uppercut from below.
The sickle passed by my face, as I dodged at the last minute with the sway.
“Heh, that’s right! It’s not over yet!”
My legs stopped. But my hands haven’t stopped yet.
At first he was puzzled by me, but again, Toulowe’s fighting spirit was ignited.
“How many days?” How many months? How many years? How much has it accumulated?”
“Haiiii!” Hai hai hai hai hai hai hai!”
“Don’t put it in words, just let it out!”
“Noisy!”
There’s no point hitting someone who has lost the will to fight.
But if he’s still giving his best… if he hasn’t burned out yet… I’ll fan that spark.
“You, push luck!”
“Ah…”
Ah, did I push it too far? When he jumped into my pocket, I thought it was an upper with the left sickle, but as I was focusing on the bottom and he actually tried to swing his right down from above.
If that was the case, it will hit. But if I jump now, I could avoid it.
But…… even if I charge in like this…
“【Great Demon Cork Screw Blow】!”
“Bpupu!?”
I rushed in regardless, and threw a right cork screw to Toulowe’s body. A half-hearted punch won’t work, so add a twist to increase the penetrating power.
And at the same time, blood spilled out from my face ….
“tte~… you cut me… but, shallow!”
“you… on purpose…”
Toulowe’s sickle slashed my cheek. But after all, it’s just the cheek. It hurts, but it’s not a fatal wound.
Rather, it was more of a risk to jump in haphazardly and lose my stance for fear of being injured.
I wouldn’t have thought or calculated like this before…. but today my head is buzzing.
“Hehe, how’s that? Manly, right?”
“Huh!?”
“That’s right… if a man is afraid of one or two injuries… how can he go out into the world?”
And, because it jumped in without fear of the injury, Toulowe’s body wobbled for a moment by the blow.
Now was the time to strike.
“So~~~~reeeee!! 【Great Demon Rush】!!”
The high-speed rush of lefts and rights were beat into the body.
Toulowe’s weak point might be his neck, but I don’t have to aim for it.
Already in the fight against Toulowe, he was struck with a smash, corkscrew and body blow.
Then, with this barrage of hits…
“Earth… Gah, Gu, same point…”
Yes, don’t just hit the body. Focus on the same points that I’ve hit so far.
That way, the accumulated punches….
“I’ll blow a hole in You!”
“Picuaaa!”
“…… oh?”
Then, Toulowe finally jumped back, and retreated with some distance from me to escape.
Apparently, he still had enough legs to jump?
“Gih… gugi. brat…”
“…… heh, you’re looking down on me just because I’m a kid, right?”
Toulowe stared at me like he’s grinding his teeth.
However, he was unlikely to let the momentum get the better of him and jump on me again or anything.
Toulowe’s legs seemed to have already reached their limits.
He was beaten with my fist, his body was hurt and his movement was already dull.
And then……
“Fu, ha, fuhahahahahah, g-good, Earth, that’s right, viciously beat that bug and capture it right away, that it is!”
…just as I was feeling better, a pig’s hoarse voice sounded.
“H-Here, if you do the credit for saving me and catching the bug, I’ll do you the favor of permitting you in the Imperial City again ――――.”
“Shut up, damn piiiiiiiig!!”
So, I said that. I shouted a foul-mouthed word at the Minister from a prestigious family.
“P, Pig… pig?! Wh, who are…? Earth! You shit, w-who the hell, who are you talking about?”
“So, Shut it! Me… this guy and… it doesn’t matter if you’re human, demon, or hoodlum, we all speak the common language called ‘fighting’…. don’t interrupt with your pig language.”
Yes, you’re a nuisance.
We’re clashing with each other.
I won’t let anyone interfere with this.
“…… Human too…”
“What?”
“That… see as pig?”
At that time, Toulowe asked me so.
Thinking a little bit about it….
“Well… no, maybe it’s disrespectful to pigs, right? Pigs are really smart creatures.”
“…… I see…. Earth…… violent but…. amusing.”
“Heh, is that so… hey, wait a minute! V-Violent, you cut me, bit my shoulder, you’ve gone beyond violent and into savage, you know!”
“Wrong. Earth scary”
“Wha… haha…… geez… don’t lose focus and chat in the middle of a fight.”
I also felt relaxed for a moment and smiled bitterly at the friendly conversation between the acts of the fight.
I wonder if it’s the same with Toulowe, as a somewhat subtle atmosphere flowed.
However…..
“But we still have to settle this.”
“…… I know…”
Yes, it’s not over yet. Even Toulowe hasn’t gone all out yet.
“I catch… you okay…”
“…… So….. don’t say things like that in the middle of a fight.”
“…… catch…. can agree…”
He felt a little eager to die.
“Toulowe… it may be cheesy, but I sympathize with your situation… it was bad luck to be caught and spotted by the minister…. that’s why he’s special, not everyone in the Empire is like that…. oh, I can’t tell you what I am… I am me, and I left the Imperial Capital because I couldn’t stand a lot of things.”
“…… Earth too.”
“And… I can’t say I’m going to save you… can’t tell you that I’m going to let you get out of here and take you to the Demon Realm… I can’t change anything right now. But…… so the least I can do now…. is put my body on the line and get along with you…. all the way to the end.”
“…… understand”
But no matter what happens, there is no objection to the fight now on either side.
“This is my strongest blow”
And, Toulowe opened his legs wide and was poised. With trembling feet, you can’t jump in, but you can firmly support your body.
Without taking a step back, he took a stance as if to intercept me.
In other words, I’m the one who should come first.
Then, I also launch the strongest blow which jumps in without fearing for injury or life.
“Let’s go! 【Great Demon Jolt Blow】!”
Like throwing yourself out, a full swing with the power and weight of the whole body!
“【Praying Mantis Demolition Fist】!!”
I was intercepted, with all his might, Toulowe put his strength into one mid-level thrust.
Unlike previous high-speed attacks, he focused his strength on a single point.
The thrust deeply dug into my side as I jumped in….
“Bhugug!!??”
By that amount, my Jolt pierced the same point even deeper, without an inch of difference ….
“…… Pu, pu… oof.”
Finally, my knee completely collapsed and Toulowe went down.
And Toulowe…
“…… not win…. enough…………… give up…… Earth strong…”
In the end, that was all he said, and fell down on the spot with a thud.
Like that, my rival….
“I’m the one… who is grateful… thanks to you… I will move on to the next stage.”
I expressed gratitude for my growth and declared that I would move forward.