Only one day remained until the Reaper crossed into the sector where I lived.
The next day, I would clash head-on with the Reaper.
Therefore, I put in several times more effort than usual, honing and sharpening every weapon I had.
I reviewed the theories of magic countless times, and swung my sword twice as much as usual.
This time, without any stream hours, I invested all my time into training.
And so, the next day approached.
***
“Huu….”
I could feel my heart beating faintly.
With every breath, air thick with salt stung deep into my lungs.
Today was the day.
The eighteenth day since I had entered the deep sea.
The one called the ‘Old Reaper’ would come to this place where I lived.
I waited for it to arrive, caressing the grimoire in my pocket.
Truthseeker: Is it today?
Quickdraw Sword Saint: I’ve already worried about every last thing since days ago, so you’ve got to win.
Violence is Healing: Losing would be pretty ugly….
The stream was on.
There was no special reason; it was just to ease some of the tension.
Watching the time in the gallery window, I sensed it intuitively.
That the Reaper would come soon.
Jui slept as if it were ill, and I had put Absolution away in the submarine.
Now, all I could rely on was my skill.
Clack.
When I gripped the sword hilt, it seemed to make an unusually loud sound.
My heart beat faster and faster, and heat surged through my body.
And the next moment.
Screeeeak.
A sound that froze my body just to hear it rang out.
The spine-chilling sound of a scythe scraping against the ground.
A chill. I felt a chill.
A dark chill enveloping the city.
A black silhouette began to form in my pupils.
The bleached skull of a deer, utterly unreadable in expression, revealed itself through the black smoke.
The Old Reaper had arrived.
The distance… was about thirty paces.
In the Reaper’s perception, I had not yet been revealed.
Therefore, I pulled out the grimoire.
The grimoire that served as the prototype of the magic I had used until now, containing divine power.
Magic created to pierce a single point.
I tore the grimoire apart.
Riiip.
As the vellum tore, the flow contained within seeped out.
The green light of my mana, and the holy magic of the saint shining white and gold, manifested.
The flow drifted formlessly, then followed the path etched into the vellum.
It began to take shape, and when its beginning and end met—
—the magic manifested.
Kwaang!!
Unlike any magic I had used before, magic that pierced a single point to the extreme.
It was undoubtedly a force that would work even on the Reaper. And indeed, it worked.
Ttick. Ttick.
From the spot the magic had pierced, a brilliant flame erupted.
It was a flame that could not be easily extinguished, but—
“…Ha, unbelievable.”
The part hit was the left arm.
The head was too small a target, so I had aimed for the heart, yet….
Quickdraw Sword Saint: It saw and dodged. A formidable foe to trick.
Truthseeker: …It took less than a second from casting to impact, yet it dodged. Quite a high level.
The Reaper’s empty eye sockets seemed to fixate on me.
A foe that had twisted its body at the moment of impact, ending with only its left arm as the offering.
I wondered if I could fight it, but—
‘No, I have to do this anyway.’
The thought that I might die… no longer felt so immediate.
Because I had always marched forward with my life on the line.
I merely harbored a faint tension.
Holding the belief that I would win, that I would survive.
Hwaruk!
The flames burning on its left arm grew fiercer.
The Reaper seemed to know that the longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be, and began to move.
Thud.
Black smoke trailed behind it as the distance closed in an instant.
The scythe rushed toward my neck.
Taang!!
“Kk-eup…!”
It was still an overwhelming speed. Without auxiliary equipment, it was a gap too wide to even exchange blows.
But there was an opportunity to narrow the gap.
Taang! Taang!
Every time our blades met, my hand rang with numbness.
As if facing an overwhelming wall, I was barely managing to defend.
Aiming for the neck, the head, the heart, the leg, the arm.
Attacks poured in without any flow, as if rolling dice.
With every clash, the gap only widened.
‘The flow, how…!’
I tried to read the flow.
I tried to read the flow in the scythe’s movements, where no flow seemed to exist.
Crack.
A sound like something breaking occurred.
And my foot moved, following my instincts.
Thud!
The scythe that had been driving down vertically toward my head buried itself in the sand.
An obvious opening—the attack continued like flowing water.
Clack.
I picked up the mana rifle lying on the ground and fired.
Kwang!
A mass of mana struck the Reaper directly.
Part of the Reaper’s form crumbled away.
Swoosh.
I leaned my head back, and the scythe rose upward, its blade passing right before my nose.
Perhaps finding the rifle threatening, the Reaper swung its scythe toward the rifle again.
I naturally let go of the rifle.
Instead, I gripped my sword.
The scythe cut down the rifle thrown as bait, but it couldn’t stop the following attack.
Haijen-ryu, First Form.
Flash Bisection閃光兩斷.
Swoosh.
The sword cleaved horizontally, leaving a deep wound.
Following my instincts, I sheathed the blade once more.
Haijen-ryu, Second Form.
Chain Slash連鎖斬.
Taang!
The tip of the scythe blade rushing at my heart got entangled in a mana shockwave and stopped.
In that gap, I moved my feet again.
With every step I took, the scythe brushed past by the width of a sheet of paper.
Watching the flow, following my instincts.
The Reaper’s scythe was launched at a speed I could barely handle.
But my ‘eye for the flow’ narrowed that gap.
My senses showed me the path forward, and prepared tools created openings.
Pwang!
Mana burst from the acceleration device in an instant, and the distance widened in a flash.
At a physically unreachable distance, I picked up the rifle I had thrown on the ground earlier and aimed.
Fire.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
From the continuous firing, the mana rifle melted and became unusable, but two shots hit.
If I kept this up—
Swoosh.
“!”
A throw of my body relying on instinct—that instinct horrifyingly proved true.
A chunk of flesh was torn from my shoulder, and terrible pain crawled up into my head.
Swish-swish-swish!!
Waves of sword qi split the sand and scattered.
At that terrible sight, I had no choice but to focus solely on evasion.
Sand sprayed up, beginning to obstruct my vision.
Yet the Reaper seemed to perceive me clearly even within that sandstorm, and the sword qi advanced straight toward me.
I gritted my teeth and prepared to counterattack somehow.
Mana flared, and I began to concentrate.
Evasion was left solely to instinct; my mind focused on magic.
The flow of mana traveled along my body, and by will, mana clustered together.
Mana burrowing from the circumference toward the center.
As the flow of mana’s beginning and end met—
Water · One Pierce 水 · 一貫.
A hole was punched through the sandstorm, and the Reaper’s figure became visible.
…It missed. Evasion was growing harder, yet I couldn’t land my attacks.
‘Is there… no way?’
It felt like a great wall stood before me.
A wall too high to overcome by my own power.
Would it end like this?
….
No, it wouldn’t. I hadn’t staked everything yet.
I just had to do what I hadn’t tried until now.
Mana began to gather in my sword and hand.
Quickdraw Sword Saint: …! No way.
A focus I hadn’t dared attempt because the mana was too vast.
A technique that gathered mana into a small area.
“Kk-eeeuk!!”
A burning pain like fire erupted from my hand.
Pain like thousands of needles piercing my hand.
Ungoverned by that pain, I drew my blade.
Swoosh.
Sand scattered, and the yellowed air was instantly cleared.
The tidal wave of sword qi also stopped simultaneously.
A green light seemed to flash. A green light trailing like a meteor.
The Reaper was still standing. Was it not dead yet?
I swung my sword again.
The air twisted with the sword’s swing.
But the Reaper was still standing.
I swung once more.
The Reaper was still standing.
Again, again, again.
Like that, until the mana hit rock bottom.
My mana was exhausted. But I could still swing my sword.
I gripped my sword, rushed forward, and plunged it into its skull.
So that it could never move again.
Crunch! Crunch!
Along with sand, bone fragments flew up.
It was undead, so even if I killed it like this, it could revive.
I plunged my sword in once more—.
Truthseeker: Stop. It’s already dead.
The comment window in the gallery covered my vision.
The sensation of ██ that had filled my head slowly subsided.
Blinking my eyes, I looked down at the Reaper below; it was horrifically shredded.
The flames burning with divine power had gone out, and the Reaper’s scythe lay shattered as if announcing its defeat.
“…Huh?”
Had I… done this? I had clearly swung my sword following my senses, but.
To have shredded it… so horribly?
Why had I shredded it to pieces when it was unnecessary?
I had clearly followed that sensation of ██—.
“Euack!”
My head hurt as if it would split. It was similar to the pain I had experienced when drawing a magic circle before.
My hand too was wracked with terrible burning pain.
Perhaps because the battle’s excitement was fading, I could barely endure it for even a moment.
Somehow grasping the strands of my consciousness that were growing hazy, I moved my feet.
Dragging my legs, I walked toward the submarine.
Walking while barely keeping open eyes that could hardly see.
“Huu, huu…,”
Walking while breathing raggedly in pain, I found myself before the hatch of the submarine.
I turned off the stream and grabbed the hatch, but my condition seemed too poor to open it.
With the door right before my eyes, I had no choice but to lose consciousness.
***
Whir.
…I was experiencing again a sight that had already happened before.
Absolution taking care of me, and Jui licking me.
Seeing that sight, it finally felt real.
That I had killed the Reaper.