Chapter 63 is here!
Anyway, here"s chapter 63, I hope you"ll enjoy it!
Chapter 63
The abnormal look in Kurats" eyes struck Cabernard with a fundamental fear. The fear of something beyond his understanding.
(―― The magic boost"s time still hasn"t run out. I can beat him if I just push a little further. I can beat him, d.a.m.n it!)
No matter how absurdly strong Kurats was, he did not seem to have the right att.i.tude.
Going for a contest of a strength by gripping the burning hot blade of the sword was not just reckless, it was delusional. Foolishly so.
Especially considering that he also had to look out for Ignat"s attacks at the same time.
(I can win for sure! There is no way I could lose in this situation!)
A deep feeling of terror was teeling Cabernard to escape, but he took that fear and used it as fuel to power his giant sword.
The magic boost should have given Cabernard enough strength to overpower even Kurats, who could crush rocks with his bare hands.
【”Don"t forget about me, monster!”】
Ignat launched what could have been a fatal attack against Kurats" defenseless back.
But of course, Kurats was not going to let himself get killed that easily.
He freed his left hand to catch Ignat"s sword.
Then, he took a deep breath.
And he roared like a wild beast threatening its prey.
【”OOOOOOOOOOOOH!”】
Thick veins were appearing on both of his arms, and the tips of his feet were digging into the ground like he was being pushed by an invisible gravitational force.
The surrounding smell of burning meat was growing thicker and more putrid.
But his beastly roar did not stop.
【”…What?”】
It was subtle but Cabernard felt it. His chaos was being pushed back.
It had only moved by a few inches (cm), but it was being pushed back.
(―― That"s ridiculous!)
For Cabernard, there was no way Chaos" weight and its extraordinary amplified strength could be pushed back by a single arm.
Cabernard raised the supply of magic power to his legs, and once again tried to push Kurats back.
Chaos was creaking. Its magic fibers had never received such dense magic power. They were like bowstrings being pulled to their limits.
Even so, Kurats did not budge by an inch.
On the contrary, it was Cabernard"s Chaos that became worse off. Unable to bear the burden of the excessive supply of magic power caused by the magic boost, its magic fibers were beginning to heat up.
Chaos had been overpowered.
And it was on the verge of overheating.
【”Not yet… I haven"t used my full power yet.”】
While still holding back the two magic swords that could easily cut through steel, Kurats widened the stance of his feet and focused his power on his abdominal muscles.
His feet dug even further into the ground.
Cabernard and Ignat could no longer keep up. They kept pouring magic power in excess into the hind legs of their two Chaos, to no avail.
【”Is he…Is he going to lift us up?”】
【”He can"t… That"s impossible!”】
Chaos weighed about 20 tons in total.
With its power strengthened by the magic boost, it could crush a rock that weighed a hundred ton.
But in spite of all this, Kurats was about to win in a contest of strength against it and then lift it up along with its sword? It was unimaginable.
Cabernard desperately tried to move his sword to shake off this nightmare, but the sword refused to move from the vise that was Kurats" right hand.
【”MOOOOOOOOOVE!”】
With the strength of his hip and his firmly planted legs, Kurats yelled out and raised the two Chaos up, like he was pulling a stake out of the ground.
【”d.a.m.n it! Chaos really was overpowered?!”】
Cabenard was left with no choice but to release his sword and land back to the ground.
When he saw this, Ignat did the same and then pulled a short sword that was stored in his Chaos" knee slot.
But neither of them could hide their agitation.
Chaos was the symbol of the empire"s military power, endless funds had been invested into creating it… and yet it had been overpowered by a single person, made of flesh and blood.
【”Tsk. I guess I"ll play a little more with you.”】
Kurats was unreasonably angry that the two enemies for distancing themselves before he could reach his full strength.
At this rate, he was going to just build up stress without reaching any sort of catharsis.
【”Ignat, I"m going to stop him from moving. You have to finish him off, no matter what.”】
【”Your excellency, what are you saying? I should be the one stopping him from moving!”】
【”My chaos has a higher magic output. Besides, you"re a greater swordsman than I am.”】
Using a magic communicator so that Kurats wouldn"t hear them, Cabernard and Ignat agreed on their next course of action.
Since their main weapons had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away, it was going to be difficult to even wound Kurats in a straightforward manner, let alone kill him.
After all, this was still the same absurd being who had blocked an arrow that crossed over the speed of sound with his muscles only. Would a magic short sword really be able to kill him?
If they failed to inflict at least one serious wound on his heart or one of his vital organs, the situation was only going to become much worse from here.
【”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”】
Cabernard poured all the remaining magic power into his magic boost.
His Chaos" magic circuits could burn from this but it did not matter.
He kept pouring more and more magic, going past the maximum limit, until the magic fibers started making a sizzling noise.
(―― I only have to hold him back for a few dozen seconds, that should be enough.)
If Kurats did not die within that time frame, that would mean Cabernard had lost.
Cabernard was not a man who would normally go for this type of do-or-die gamble.
Rather, he was the one they called the best strategist of Asgard. In the empire, he was the commander who could attain the best results with the least sacrifices.
He did not want to go through with this desperate measure, but he had no other choice as he couldn"t think of any other plan.
The hands of Kurats and Cabernard"s chaos joined together from the front. It looked like an adult was fighting a child.
They were both putting their strength in their fingertips, trying to hold each other down.
Little by little, their hands rose horizontally, allowing them to look each other in the eyes.
Even after going for a full boost and letting his Chaos overheat, Cabernard was roughly at the same strength as Kurats.
However, Ignat"s hands were free, and this stalemate gave him a decisive opportunity.
【”This ends here!”】
Ignat gripped the handle of his short sword with both hands and swung it downward, aiming for Kurats" heart.
It seemed like there was no way for Kurats to dodge that attack seeing as he was still confronting Cabernard.
However…
Along with the sound of magic fibers tearing off, the left arm of Cabernard"s chaos was ripped away from its shoulder joint.
The left arm drew a half-circle towards Kurats" back and made a high-pitched metallic noise as Ignat"s short sword met with it and scattered into splinters.
The Chaos had lost its balance when its arms was teared off, but before it could stabilize itself, Kurats picked it up by its chest, and knocked it down on its head.
Amazingly enough, Kurats used the momentum of the juggernaut"s fall to also tear its right arm off.
Having lost both of his Chaos" arms, Cabernard was no longer capable of fighting.
Ignat was not safe either.
When that left arm hit his short sword, the elbow joint on his own Chaos" left arm was twisted at an angle that prevented him from moving it properly.
His short sword was broken as well, and he no longer had any weapon that could oppose Kurats. He had lost.
As a realist, Cabernard realized that the fight was over.
The moment that reality hit him, he pressed the red b.u.t.ton on the black box inside his c.o.c.kpit, without hesitating for even a shred of a second.
【”Your majesty, please forgive this foolish subordinate for losing Chaos so easily.”】
Ignat understood Cabernard"s decision, and he similarly pressed a red b.u.t.ton, so that Kurats would have no path of retreat.
This forbidden b.u.t.ton launched the Chaos" self-destruct sequence, which was used in order to wipe out its magic engine and its highly confidential equipment.
The self-destruction was given a power that rivaled an anti-military spell, to make sure that no part of the destroyed Chaos remained.
(You"re coming with us, monster!)
And so, Cabernard"s consciousness was wrapped in a white flash of light, and he was forever liberated from the restraints of this wicked world.
Frigga was bewildered when she saw the gigantic pillar of fire that rose hundreds of meters (feet) in the sky.
She had been spectating part of the fight from a distance. But the moment she thought Kurats had won, there was a sudden explosion.
The explosion was supplied with the high energy of extremely expensive magic stones. It was powerful enough that Frigga thought that maybe even Kurats wouldn"t be able to survive.
【”MASTER!”】
While forgetting to fix the way she addressed him, she rushed over to the explosion site at full speed on top of her griffon.
The violent explosion had carved an enormous crater in the ground, even blowing up Alexander, who fallen earlier in battle, along with his machinery. All that remained was a rising cloud of dense, black smoke.
Any layman could tell that no soul could have survived in that area.
【”Master! Are you alright?! Please answer me!”】
Frigga was shouting with tears in her eyes.
After landing, she kept calling out to Kurats in confusion, like a lost child looking for her parents.
【”You don"t have to worry so much, I"m not dying any time soon.”】
At that time, Kurats finally answered her.
Though he had some stains here and there, he had almost no injuries.
But from the tone of his voice, he seemed somewhat grumpy.
【”Thank G.o.d, you"re okay! What on earth was that explosion?”】
Overcome by emotion, she clung to Kurats" neck.
The painful gazes of both foes and allies were all focused on her, but she did not worry about it in the slightest.
【”It was just an explosion, nothing more. There is no way it could break through my punching barrage.”】
Kurats scratched his cheek and looked away with a sulky expression.
The impact of a simple explosion could not hurt Kurats.
Rather, the only real threat upon his life in that exchange had been Ignat"s short sword attack.
【”Even so, I still wasn"t able to use my full power in the end….”】
Kurats was disappointed.
The feeling of tapping into that unknown power for the first time had been exciting; arousing even.
But he wanted to release even more power next time. He wanted to know how much power he really had.
As for where he would find a worthy opponent to satisfy his childish desires, it did not seem like that would in the Asgard empire"s army, seeing as one of their commanders had been utterly crushed by him.
【”Please don"t do anything this dangerous again. Look closely, you"re full of injuries, aren"t you?!”】
After reluctantly separating her cheek from Kurats" chest, Frigga scrutinized him from his feet to his head.
Although his punching barrage reached the speed of sound, the defense it provided to the lower half of his body was obviously thinner as it was far away from his arms.
Frigga found that there were many cuts under his knees from the flying debris that came from the explosion.
―― But that was not all.
【”Oh no, master, your beautiful hair… It"s all frizzly…”】
【”W-what? NOT AGAIN!!”】
The nightmare of Crowdagen"s afro resurfaced in Kurats" mind.
In a panic, he touched his head with his hand to check the extent of the damage.
It did not seem like he had an afro this time, but he could clearly feel that his hair had become crisp, likely from the temperature of the blast.
【”You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! You"ll pay for this!”】
【”H-huh? P-please wait for me! I"m coming with you!”】
The Asgard army had just lost both their commander and Chaos, the symbol of their power. What could they possibly do to stop Kurats from exacting his wrathful revenge?