Tsuyokute New Saga (LN) - Book 5: Chapter 12

Book 5: Chapter 12

Kyle jumped back faster than he could even think, as he heard something cut through the air right next to him. Although he managed to evade Three-Arms’ destructive attack, his whole body was shaking. If he had been hit by that, he would have just been sliced in half.

“You’re quite skilled at evading! So far, nobody has managed to dodge my spear attacks successfully!” Three-Arms spoke with joy in his voice.

His spear was incredibly sharp, and a single hit from that would spell Kyle’s untimely death.

“This much is no problem!”

Kyle was busy focusing on evading, which he didn’t show on the outside, as he commented. This made Thee-Arms even happier, as his onslaught with spear attacks grew sharper, forcing Kyle to block an incoming salve with his sword. He managed to intercept it perfectly, but the power of the attack had him get blown off, slamming his back into the arena’s wall.

“This would actually be doable if he wasn’t just some muscle brain…Kah…”

He managed to block the spear’s attack, but the impact from the wall inflicted plenty of damage. It once again reminded Kyle of the innate difference in physical strength between them, but it wasn’t just that. Speed, skill, experience, stamina, vigor, Three-Arms possessed all of this in greater quality and quantity than Kyle, like he had simply been born to fight until his last breath.

“Good moves you got there. Sharp reading ability.” Three-Arms was overflowing with joy.

With this absolute difference in strength between them, Kyle had one single advantage—his memory. While remembering his previous encounter with Three-Arms in the previous world, he managed to read his attacks and evade them up to this point. And his memory gave him another important hint at defeating Three-Arms.

As I thought, his eyesight is impeded on his blind eye’s side.

He had felt something similar back when he first fought Three-Arms, but his defense on the left side was a bit slower than for any attacks from the right. He had to use a dead angle from the left side, otherwise he’d have no chance at victory. And just being backed against the wall would eventually end with Kyle losing his life, so he had to fight back.

“Oh, nice attack.” Three-Arms evaded Kyle’s sword attack with ease.

He was still simply enjoying the battle with Kyle, and that was the opening he had to use.

“Hm, sharpness and strength are good, too…But you’re lacking speed.”

Three-Arms sounded slightly dissatisfied, but that was to be expected. Kyle still hadn’t cast his self-strengthening magic [Haste], simply fighting with his raw speed. It was practically suicidal to not use that with an opponent like Three-Arms, but it was all for a single goal in mind. He had seen the perfect timing, finally using strengthening magic.

“[Haste]!”

His speed accelerated rapidly, as he succeeded in creating a feint.

“Hmph?!”

Three-Arms followed Kyle’s movement, but once he entered Three-Arms’ dead angle, he lost him for a split second. And since Kyle stomped on the ground to speed up further, it looked like he vanished entirely from Three-Arms’ eye. Reaching the diagonal left side of Three-Arms, Kyle swung down his sword.

Got him!

He celebrated in his mind as he put strength in his sword—however, that attack never connected. The very next moment, Kyle was slammed into the ground like a small fly.

“Gah?!”

He crashed into the ground, flung up into the air like gum, and rolled along the floor. The attack had him dizzy for a moment, as his body grew numb. Luckily, he still managed to get up one way or another.

“Th-That was…”

“Yep, this guy here.” Three-Arms skillfully moved his tail, showing off to Kyle.

“You slammed me down…with that? But I attacked you from a dead angle…!”

“That’s exactly why I used my tail. Folks like you love to attack from my dead angle. And the rest is just intuition.”

This must be the difference in their fighting experience. What Kyle couldn’t do, Three-Arms did so easily.

“Dammit…”

Kyle attempted to fight back with another attack, but his movement has gone dull.

“…So I still can’t win…”

He tried to slash at Three-Arms two to three more times, but they were all evaded at ease.

“Grrr…Raaaaah!”

Kyle roared in anger as he swung his sword once more. It resembled a scream that was meant to cast away all fear and terror he felt. Three-Arms did feel a level of pressure from the attack, but in terms of actual danger, it had dropped drastically. He swung his spear in annoyance as Kyle was flung away, slamming into the wall once more.

“You did well for a human…But you’re far from Randolph’s level.”

Kyle tried to use his sword as a stand to keep him on his legs, but his knees were shaking too much. The sword slipped from his hand, and he sank to the ground.

“Ah…Aaaaah!” He roared as he crawled on the floor, lamenting.

“Dammit…I still can’t win…?”

Just like his past defeat, he cursed his own inexperience and weakness, as he shed tears of pain.

I guess his heart was broken…

Three-Arms observed Kyle with a regretful gaze. His skills were pristine, and his attacks were strong, but his heart was weak and fragile. The way Three-Arms saw it, Kyle should still be able to fight. However, he had admitted defeat in his mind. And accepting your loss like this was the same as death.

If possible, I would have loved to fight him when he was a bit more experienced…

Three-Arms removed this thought from his mind as he shook his head.

“…Let’s end this, then.”

Three-Arms had no intention of playing with his food. There was nothing more gained from looking at the defeated, and in order to respect Kyle’s determination, he readied his spear for a single and decisive swing.

“This is it for you—”

However, before he could fire off his attack, Three-Arms’ large body jumped backward with speed unbefitting his size.

“Tsk!”

The one who attacked Three-Arms was Seran. The speed, destructive power, and timing, it was using all of this strength, but even that was evaded by Three-Arms.

“So you’ve come, after all.” Three-Arms couldn’t hide a grin as he looked at Seran.

“Fine, then. I’ll see if you’re worthy of using that swo—Gark?!”

Worthy of using that sword, is what Three-Arms tried to say, but a sharp pain assaulting him stopped him mid-sentence. Even as he jumped away from that place to gain distance, he couldn’t perfectly keep his balance after he landed.

“I-Impossible…”

Lying at the place he previously stood on—was his tail.

“I was waiting for you to drop your guard!” Kyle laughed out loud as he looked down at Three-Arms’ tail, which he previously cut off.

“Y-You bastard…!” Three-Arms looked at Kyle, who he had believed to be at death’s door, in disbelief.

His previously lost fighting intent and strong will had now returned to fill his gaze.

“What are you doing?! Go and finish him!” Seran complained but Kyle screamed back at him.

“What do you think I was trying to do?! His senses are way too sharp and his experience would’ve stopped me for anything other than this tail!”

“Useless as always, heh,” Seran grumbled and lined up next to Kyle.

“Impossible…I broke your will to fight.” Three-Arms took a step back for the first time.

“That was obviously just acting.”

“Yeah.”

Kyle and Seran both spoke with confidence in their voices.

“S-So everything…was a set-up?”

Even their falling-out seemed to have been fake.

“I was trying to make it realistic, but I guess I put too much emotion in there,” Kyle grumbled.

His fear, his terror, his regret at losing Lieze, everything just came gushing to the surface then.

“You were crying for real, right?”

“Shut up.”

Kyle and Seran were having some friendly banter, but Three-Arms was bewildered. Seran’s attack in itself he could dodge. Kyle’s leap at his tail was also not too much to intercept. However, their attack teamed up was what cost him his tail. Understanding that, Three-Arms grit his teeth and started breathing heavily.

“Oh, what’s that face about? You’re not gonna call us cowards, right?”

“Everything goes in a battle for the death, yeah? It’s your fault for looking away from your enemy.”

Kyle and Seran only tried to instigate Three-Arms’ anger further.

“And you’re the one who said everything goes, remember?”

“You were fine with us using whatever trick we wanted, right? How’s it feel to fall for the set-up of a human?”

Three-Arms’ body began shaking. Even as they laughed at him, the two were waiting for his next attack.

“You’re absolutely right. Lying to your opponent is a proper strategy, and you pulled it off beautifully. And I was careless, without a doubt.”

Suddenly, Three-Arms seemed almost eerily calm.

“O-Oh…?”

“Huh?”

The two were trying to instigate Three-Arms further, but being praised like that threw them off-concept.

“I guess I was the one being naive…” Three-Arms looked up at the sky and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Hey, he’s calming down.”

“Weird. I was thinking he’d throw a fit or leap at us…”

The two ended up flustered at this unexpected reaction.

“Normally, he should be screaming ‘You fools!’ or ‘Don’t you know any shame?!’ or something like that. We were doing all of this on purpose to get you enraged, you know?”

“Yep, yep!”

The two continued to get on Three-Arms’ bad side, but he just calmly shook his head.

“I fell victim to your plot. That’s all this is. You fought with everything you could, and cornered me perfectly. You should feel proud.” Three-Arms continued to praise the two with a smile, which made them feel grossed out.

“Hey, Kyle, this is bad. He’s like a samurai now.”

“Oh, whatever. Everything’s fine as long as we win in the end.” Kyle was clearly playing the role of the villain now.

“However, I am furious. Furious at my own foolishness. And more than anything, joy is filling my heart. I haven’t felt my heart quiver this much since my battle with Randolph…No, maybe even more than that.” Three-Arms laughed to himself, as the two felt clear tension and danger fill the air. “This is the end. I’ll fight with everything I’ve got.” Three-Arms raised one leg, stomping it onto the ground.

This created several cracks in the stone paving. Immediately after, Kyle and Seran’s bodies felt heavier. They both remembered this feeling.

“This is…[Gravity], huh?”

“This ain’t good…”

[Gravity] was a type of magic that could control the heaviness of the air in the atmosphere. In order to improve their training, they had received magic items that had the effect of [Gravity] imbued into them by their teacher Leyla. That’s why they knew how troublesome it could be.

“It heightens the gravity for everybody but me in a small vicinity…And, this is my special ability.”

It numbed the movement of his enemies while leaving himself free to move. It sounded woefully simple, but there could be no ability more terrifying when fighting him.

“My name Three-Arms comes from the fact that I press down my opponent with an invisible arm. Since no opponent forced me to use this, that fact had long been forgotten, that is.” Three-Arms threw away his spear. “I won’t need this, either. My specialty is hand-to-hand combat, but since everybody would die instantly, I opted to use weapons I don’t excel at…however, that won’t be necessary.”

It may have been a hallucination, but Three-Arms’ body suddenly looked a lot bigger than before.

“Kahaha…Now, what are you going to show me next?! Surprise me! Give me excitement! Reveal your everything to me!” Three-Arms laughed in ecstasy as he took a step forward.

“Um…I guess we gotta fight him head-on? Defeat your opponent in a straight battle to prove you’re in the right…type beat?”

“Yep, yep. Using small tricks wouldn’t be too manly, right?”

“Then, let’s go.”

Three-Arms stopped listening to the two, simply making his way toward them. His true strength wasn’t the absolute power he governed, but rather his experience and nimble movement unbefitting of his stature, and all of this combined greatly surpassed what Kyle and Seran could bring to the table. Adding his gravity-altering ability to the mix, he truly carried the name as the demon race’s strongest. If not for the two of them, any other human would have probably been turned into a puddle of blood by now.

The only reason they could even fight to some degree is because they were used to this type of magic. They knew how to fight even as their bodies had become more sluggish. And more than anything, a two versus one would allow them to use their unrivaled teamwork.

“Sha!”

Together with a sharp breath, Seran swung his sword at Three-Arms’ ankle. At the same time, Kyle leaped at Three-Arms’ neck with another swing. The two perfectly split up their attack, making sure to attack from absolutely opposite sides. If Kyle was the right arm then Seran was the left arm. Front or back, head or leg, their attack was in perfect unison for being exact opposites, as they repeated this onslaught. However, Three-Arms easily evaded that and fought back.

“Hmph, you’re keeping a good balance despite your dang tail missing.”

“Maybe it’s gonna grow back like a lizard’s?”

Kyle and Seran were trying to destroy Three-Arms’ composure, but he showed no reaction whatsoever.

“What a bothersome opponent…Well, that’ll make this a worthy challenge!”

Even during this battle to the death, Seran was relaxed enough to throw banter around mid-fight.

“I swear! This is supposed to be the strongest of what the demons have to offer? I expected more!”

Kyle evaded a swing of Three-Arms’ arm and continued to insult him. It’s because they trusted each other with their lives that they could fight this relaxed.

“Good…this is great, you two!”

Three-Arms continued to use his gravity-manipulating ability as he continued to chase after the two, fighting back with everything he got.

“What a sight…

Irumera watched this fight from the audience seats, praising the ongoing fight.

“Heh, that’s the least I expect from the guy who defeated me.” Ghrud grumbled again all by himself, but his eyes were glued to the fight.

“This is the best possible fight you could watch. Don’t look away, even crazier things are gonna happen now.” Shildonia said, as if she was bragging about herself.

“However, if they can’t finish this fight, they can’t beat Three-Arms. It’s hard to deliver a final strike.” Luiza said.

Even if Luiza declared victory or defeat, Three-Arms most likely won’t stop.

“No problem, Demon Lord. You’ll have to stop Kyle and Seran, not Three-Arms.” Shildonia spoke with confidence.

The three of them were fighting with everything they got, but the longer the fight continued, the more injuries they suffered and stamina lost. Everybody knew the end of the fight was approaching. Seran raised his head, as he seemingly realized something.

“Hey, Kyle.”

“…”

Kyle traced Seran’s gaze, and they immediately understood each other’s intentions.

“Yeah, let’s finish this, Seran.”

“Don’t drag me down, Kyle.”

The two still grinned at each other, showing no fear despite being one mistake from death. All they had was their confidence in their faith. Three-Arms felt the air change, as his cheek twitched.

“Great! Come at me!”

He was filled with anticipation and excitement to see what Kyle and Seran would do next. That being said, he certainly did not let down his guard, and he won’t look away from the two. The moment he fought against the opponent’s strongest with his own—that is what gave Three-Arms the greatest joy, and his reason for living. First, Kyle started the attack.

“Raaaaaaaah!”

This time, he screamed with all his power, not as a last effort. Three-Arms was met with the full force of this roar, as even the deepest part of his soul began quivering. Kyle’s attack had all of his energy left packed into it, sharper than any before as it aimed at Three-Arms. At the same time, Three-Arms’ counterattack hit closer and closer each time, but Kyle continued. However, his partner Seran was standing in the back.

What are they plotting now?

Three-Arms kept his focus on Kyle right in front of him, while keeping one conscious gaze on Seran. After several more exchanges of blows, Kyle suddenly stepped backward.

“Come!”

Three-Arms didn’t chase after him and simply awaited Seran’s attack. However, he didn’t move. Right as Three-Arms grew dubious about what their plan was, a shadow came soaring down from the sky. It was a genuine hawk.

“Wha…?!”

Shildonia had moved away from the audience stands, changing her shape into that of a hawk. Since everybody watching this fight was so entranced by the battle between Kyle and Seran against Three-Arms, nobody realized that Shildonia had disappeared. Not even Luiza, in fact.

“Hee, hee. Never said I wouldn’t be participating!” Shildonia spoke as she joined close-quarters combat like this for the first time.

That being said, all she did was fly above Three-Arms to distract him, and she immediately moved away again. As planned, of course, as her sole duty was to get Three-Arms attention for even a second. That’s all Seran needed, as he instantaneously closed in on Three-Arms.

“Eat this!”

His Holy Sword Rand bit right into Three-Arms’ neck. However, Three-Arms reacted toward that, slamming his right arm against it. Thanks to his intuition and experience, this attack landed deadly on Seran. He was flung away and slammed into the nearest wall which created cracks all over.

“Gah!”

Seran coughed up blood as he tried to back up again, but his body wouldn’t listen, leaving him collapsed on the ground. For the first time in 300 years, Three-Arms was close to tasting death, but he was far from done. Seran’s attack caused his body to lose balance, which is exactly what Kyle waited for as he jumped towards him in a straight line. He strengthened his physical body with magic to its utmost limit, as he aimed for Three-Arms’ heart.

“Take this!”

It was an attack with all his might. And he definitely felt the sensation of bone being crushed.

“W-Wonderfully done…”

However, Three-Arms was still alive. He had used his left arm to protect himself and take the sword’s impact. Through this, his arm had been crushed completely, and the tip of Kyle’s sword had pierced his chest, but it was too shallow. It wasn’t a lethal injury, but that arm of Three-Arms’ would not be useful anymore, as blood came gushing out of it like a fountain.

“What a shame…Your strategy was perfect. However, I survived it by sacrificing just one arm.”

“Before, it was a simple scar, and now it’s a whole arm…Well, I guess I’ve grown a bit.” Kyle laughed in a self-deprecating manner.

“…Huh? Well, you…you’ve all done well. Not even Randolph could have shown me such a fight. Rest assured, I’ll let you meet your maker quickly.” Three-Arms raised his right arm, but Kyle showed no reaction as if he had run out of steam entirely.

“You’re right, I’m completely out of strength. But…you’re the one who’s gonna meet your maker. You said we could attack you with as many people as we want, right?”

Three-Arms didn’t understand what Kyle was saying. But even if he didn’t understand his words, he grasped the meaning behind them. Because of their height difference, Kyle looked up at Three-Arms, who in turn looked down at Kyle. By the time Three-Arms understood that this was a plot to direct his attention toward Kyle, it was already too late.

Lieze appeared inside the arena, rushing towards Kyle’s back. If this had been an attack toward himself, Three-Arms most likely would have realized it sooner and protected himself. However, Lieze’s goal was never him. Instead, she slammed her fist right into Kyle’s back.

“Gah?!”

With Lieze’s speed and heavy punch, Kyle’s body was flung forward, the impact conveyed to his blade, as the tip of his sword pierced Three-Arms’ skin, reaching his heart.

“Impossible…With such a method…”

“This time, I’ve reached you…huh?”

Three-Arms collapsed to the ground, as Kyle flashed a grin while suffering from the severe pain in his back.