CHAPTER 351: RESOLUTION (4)

0% Spinning Fire Wheel narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two humans before him.

Since they had declared they were gonna do some crazy shit, he made sure to keep a closer eye on them.

...Still, nothing really changed...

But, their battle pattern had been the same so far.

A Far Eastern sorcerer’s—especially one at their peak—Cursed Speech could become both a spear and a shield. Then again, considering that they could even twist the ‘phenomena’ of reality itself, it would be strange if they couldn’t do at least that much.

And Spinning Fire Wheel stood at the peak among that peak.

It was no wonder that the humans before him were struggling so much.

“-Ugh!”

“This fucker is really a pain in the ass!”

Eleanor groaned while Iliya yelled—both twisting their bodies.

If they hadn’t, they would have been sliced clean through by the ‘slash’ that popped out of nowhere.

The ability to mess with the world’s laws was actually way more dangerous than it sounded.

Turning the air around someone into blades was one of the things one could do with it.

“Ridiculous...! Such an absurd thing...!”

“To hear that assessment from a Devil and a Hero. That’s quite the honor.”

Spinning Fire Wheel smirked as he said so, but the situation was really that absurd that even the pair had to point it out.

Attacks suddenly slowed down, the ground twisted out of nowhere, ordinary objects turned into deadly weapons in a blink of an eye...

It was to the point that it’d probably be better to fight with their eyes closed since they had to constantly doubt everything that was going on around them.

That was what everchanging ‘phenomena’ meant.

In a way, this fight was even worse than Dowd’s fight with the pope. At least the pope was just sitting there tanking hits.

With that fight, all they needed to do was to break through with ‘firepower’, the attack method was clear, unlike this one.

This one however, the skill gap between them was so large that finding an opening was nearly impossible.

“—We didn’t come this far just to give up here.”

At that moment, Iliya declared as such.

Then, they charged in again; the same tactic they’d used dozens of times already.

...Nothing new this time either?

That was a spirited shout for sure, but they’re just doing the same thing again

Such was his thought, until...

Iliya suddenly ‘wrapped’ Eleanor around her body.

“...?”

Before Spinning Fire Wheel could even question it in his head...

...It quickly became clear why they took on that formation.

Iliya was using Eleanor as a ‘shield’ to tank whatever came their way.

“Aaaaaaaargh—”

“—If this doesn’t work, I’ll pay you back double later—!”

“...”

These bitches are batshit crazy...!

Sure, they can just tank shit with their specs but...

Relying solely on that to charge in recklessly like this is some berserker-level shit...!

Every attack, every time the surroundings got twisted, if they were to deal with those while moving forward, they’d have to slow their advances until they eventually stopped.

Instead of being stuck in that loophole, they decided to go fuck all and bank it on one person being healthy enough to go all the way while letting the other one tank all the hits.

Still, do I look like a pushover to them?

At this, Spinning Fire Wheel smirked and created a few more spells.

He was powerful enough to seal even the mythical, ancient beings.

Let alone two lunatics who came throwing their bodies at him like this. They were just exposing themselves to his full-power attacks.

“Bring it on then!”

But...

While Eleanor was doing a decent job at defending and deflecting most attacks...

It was clear that she wouldn’t last as a human shield if this kept up.

“Hey!”

“Got it! Switch!”

That was...

...Only if Iliya and Eleanor hadn’t suddenly switched places like they were passing a baton.

“...Keuk, cough! This shit hurts like a bitch...!

“Shut your trap when it’s your turn!”

And, just like before, they kept rushing forward while taking hits head-on.

Despite the accumulated damage, a Devil was still a Devil. The moment she received a room to breathe from all the attacks, her wounds immediately started to regenerate.

“...”

And they kept repeating this.

They’d make one person stand up front, taking all the hits, while the one behind used them as a shield to advance and recover.

...Are they gonna keep doing this while getting pummeled all over?

Wow.

Just, wow.

Spinning Fire Wheel was at a loss of words.

Even as they were slashed, stabbed, blown up, and burned, they still took turns using each other as human shields, and kept advancing—it sent shivers down his spine.

He couldn’t remember the last time he faced opponents who cared so little of their lives.

-But still!

Even as he watched them closing in, he still remained calm.

After all, even if they reached him, they’d be all battered, and they’d still have no means to take him down.

Once they got close, he just needed to land a fatal blow.

But, it was clear he wasn’t the only one who knew that.

As if getting close wasn’t the real plan, Iliya immediately took action.

“Huuup—!”

She grabbed the Soul Linker on her arm and threw it with all her might.

It was a regular throw with raw strength, there was nothing special to it, so Spinning Fire Wheel just stared blankly as it flew toward him.

He watched with narrowed eyes as it bounced a few times in front of him.

What was the point in all this?

“Ah.”

Fortunately for him, he soon got the answer to his question.

Energy started gathering inside the bracelet, and soon...

...Something that looked like a soul was ‘materialized’.

“—It’s been a while, Cursed Speech User.”

“...Huh?”

“Valkasus... You might not recognize that name. Does ‘Boy King’ ring a bell?”

Boy King. Now, that was a name that he recognized.

After all, they had worked under the Prophet together once.

Although he had completely ignored the guy, he at least knew of his existence.

But... If he was supposed to recognize him from that name...

Valkasus, huh...?

Spinning Fire Wheel narrowed his eyes as he stared at the guy for a while.

The small man in front of him was definitely...

“Yep. No clue.”

“...”

“Who are you again?”

Valkasus—who was in his soul form—just let out a chuckle at this reaction.

“I see. You don’t remember at all, huh?”

“Come on, give me a hint or something, will ya?.

“You cursed and destroyed my family, my relatives, my country, my home. Does that help?”

Hmmm.

Someone whose family I killed, whose country I destroyed, and whose life I ruined...

“Do you know how little that narrows it down?”

He genuinely couldn’t remember.

After all, he did all those things to quite a few people in the past.

“...”

No doubt.

This was probably the most insulting way to treat someone who had spent countless years sharpening their blade just for him.

But even after facing such a reaction, Valkasus just nodded impassively.

In fact, he had already expected this.

“This might actually be better.”

“-Come again?”

As soon as Spinning Fire Wheel removed some of the talismans on his body, Valkasus calmly raised his hand.

Come to think of it, it’s just like he said.

Thankfully, this person is this kind of filthy trash.

“For all those years I’ve accumulated—”

What I’m about to do to this person...

“—were for this very moment.”

I won’t feel guilty for it at all.

●

“-Haa.”

Marquis Bogut let out a deep sigh as he surveyed the battlefield situation in front of him.

“Tying up the Holy Kingdom’s forces isn’t difficult as expected... But the real issue isn’t that, but this.”

The equipment used by the Tribal Alliance was excellent. It didn’t only capture the vital signs, but also the flow of energies in the vicinity, making everything clearer.

Right now Dowd Campbell and another person were going deeper and deeper into the Void Zone.

“...If we leave them be... Uh... Won’t they die...?”

“Then why the fuck aren’t you doing anything, you goddamn bastard?!”

“Uh, I mean... Looking at his movements... It’s like he’s trying to say that he’s going to handle the matter himself and we shouldn’t interfere...”

“...”

Kasa puffed her pipe as she listened to him.

“...That means he has his reasons.”

“Of course, but we still can’t just let them be.”

“Got any bright ideas?”

At Kasa’s question, Marquis Bogut, after tapping his cheek for a while, let out a smile.

“Well, there are people who are dying to get in there.”

Of course, whatever that guy’s reason was...

There was no way that they’d just ignore someone who was risking his life all alone like that.