Chapter 157

When I think about it, every opponent I’ve ever fought has given me some sort of breakthrough.

The wicked dragon was a body degraded by hundreds of years of sealing.

The curse of Samaria was an attack by Nea’s magic.

Karon, the dragon person of Mia Rak, has taught me to combine physical technique and defense and evasion of my gauntlet.

The leader of the second legion of the Demon King’s Army, Koga, I used my healing fist to penetrate his defenses.

There is no such thing as an unbeatable opponent.

I’m sure I can give Rose a run for her money.

“Ooooooooraaaaaaaaa!”

“Uuooooo!”

“Hyaaaaaaaa!”

I’ve been thrown around with a tremendous amount of force from a contest of strength which made Nea scream and frowned as I glared at Rose, who was about to swing her fist down at me in midair.

It’s impossible to avoid fists when you’re stuck in the air, but I’ve got this gauntlet!

“Healing burst palm!”

“Ah?”

In the end, she was able to barely avoid my healing palm from my right-hand gauntlet.

I almost got hit with a real aerial combo……!

“Aguu! This!!”

I fell to the ground from my back, but jumped up in reaction to hitting the ground, and threw three healing magic bullets while falling back.

Even in the face of the healing magic bullets to buy time, Rose does not lose her composure.

“Ha, we think alike, don’t we?”

The next moment Rose’s right arm blurred, all the healing magic bullets that went towards her were drowned out.

They’ve been canceled out by the same healing magic bullets as me!

“Don’t tell me, Leader also has healing magic bullet ……!”

“It’s not that surprising, right? It’s faster to throw it than to release it normally.”

“…… True!”

“I think it’s just you guys who think this way!”

I simply didn’t have the talent to launch magic, but now I’m faster at throwing it.

Moreover, she is shooting it faster than me releasing it, isn’t that crazy…!

In the moment when Leader’s right arm is shaking once again, magic bullets are coming at us with great speed.

“Neaa! Concentrate on my left arm and its resistance to blows!”

“Yeah!”

The spell pattern of resistance is covered on the left arm that is not attached to the gauntlet’s hand.

With this, I can prevent Rose’s attacks with both arms! Now it’s just a matter of how many of my attacks go through!

I clenched my right fist tightly and unleashed it at Rose, but it was easily knocked down.

“If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, your fist will never reach me no matter how many years pass.”

“Tsk!”

In return, I swung down with a hand sword that shattered her shoulder, but she caught it with her left arm, which contained a spell of resistance.

The sound of the magic pattern cracking is heard from my left arm, but Nea immediately recasts the magic.

“!　…… So that’s your second magic.”

“There’s no way you’d use the same hand so many times ……!”

“Mugugu, what’s going on if it breaks after it’s healed ……?”

I was able to prevent the attack, but this won’t keep Nea around for long.

We have to go on the offensive!

I tried to step into her blind spot, but was forced to defend myself with my left arm as an elbow flew at me from the side, slamming into me to block it.

“Damnit……!”

I was forced to retreat without question, and the next moment when I looked up, Rose had grabbed me to hold me down by the chest of my clothes.

“From the looks of it, there’s a limit to the attacks you can take with that magic.”

“Ugh ……!”

This is it. I’m completely outmatched in my initial attack.

When I want to strike, I’m crushed before I can do anything and am force to be on the defensive side.

Trying to remove the grip from my collar, Rose’s restraints don’t come off so easily and I can only scream in agony.

“…… I’m going to use a little of my strength, so bear with me.”

“Fu- Nea! Get away from me!”

“Eh, Usa- ……”

The moment I pulled Nea away from me in a spur-of-the-moment decision, Rose let go of my collar as if to push me away, and hit me with a side kick with centrifugal force.

I was barely able to defend myself with my gauntlet, but the spell of resistance cast on Nea was shattered in an instant, and the impact I couldn’t take blew my body wide open.

“…… Ugh, guaa!”

My vision shifts in the blink of an eye.

This is bad ……! If this continues, I will crash into the trees outside the training grounds! I don’t want to play human pinball right now!

Frowning at the intense pain tormenting my body, I slam my right fist into the tree to counteract the impact.

“Guoooooooooo!”

I managed to hit the ground while crashing into the trees that grew around the training ground.

Immediately, I applied healing magic while breathing heavily.

How far was I blown away ……? I can’t see the direction of the training ground because it is surrounded by trees.

Morever, how hard can that monster disguised as a human kick…….! If it wasn’t for me, you’d be in big trouble!

“Cough cough …… phew.”

It was painful to even breathe, but I was alive and well.

Thanks to Nea’s magic paired with the gauntlet, I’m not seriously injured.

Small injuries can be quickly healed with healing magic.

My heart is still unbroken —– I can still fight.

“…… Oh, shit, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been blown up like this. ……”

I’ve been beaten up by Rose many times as part of my training to learn evasion, but I guess she took it easy on me.

And now, she’s attacking me with more force than before, if not with all her might.

That means I’ve grown up enough for her to use that much power.

“But I don’t like the idea of being beaten up like this ……!”

I can’t just sit here and take a beating, and I’m not so innocent as to give up at this point.

I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do everything I can to try……!

“What I do will never change ……”

I’ve always found a way to make the most of my time in battle.

As I stood up, nearly fully recovered from my healing magic, I heard something that sounded like a breeze coming from the direction where the training grounds would be.

“What is it?”

I get a bad feeling about the unidentified sound.

I was stunned by the sound of something falling from above me, weaving its way through the trees.

“No, no, no, no! Are you kidding me!”

Several trees were pulled out from their roots.

The unreasonable and unrestrained range of the attack made even me scream and hold up my fist.

I was actually curious about how strong Rose, Usato’s master, was.

But I didn’t think that she was strong enough to let Usato do nothing and beat him to a pulp.

That was the healing magician I had first tried to rely on in this kingdom, Rose, the head of the Rescue squad. The person Usato trusts and fears the most.

“Hey, hey Amako. I heard a gargantuan sound that I can’t believe came from kicking a human just now. …… and I think we should stop the fight?”

Flana, who had just witnessed the sight of Usato being kicked away by Rose and disappearing into the woods, shook her voice and pointed into the woods.

“I think he’s fine.”

“Now wait a minute! You heard that too right! It sounded like GAH BAH BOOM! That’s not a sound you want to hear coming from someone!”

“I’m not sure how much damage she’s done, but I’m pretty sure he’s using his gauntlet to protect himself, and I’m sure Usato has softened the impact.”

“That’s not the point!”

I wasn’t able to follow it with my eyes, but I knew Usato could hold that much.

“Oh my god, my definition of human is about to collapse. …… Humans can move like that? Suzune also moved in a perverted way, but when it comes to Usato and Rose, there’s an inexplicable irrationality. ……”

I chuckled at Flana, who was holding her head and mumbling to herself.

Well, anyone who doesn’t know Usato would be like this. …… No, to be honest, I’m just being calm instead because Flana next to me is more surprised than I am.

“Speaking of which, have you stopped casting illusion magic on yourself?”

“I’ve been doing it myself, and it’s been empty. …… I’ve been shown more unrealistic sights than my own illusions. ……”

“Ah, I see.”

When Usato and Rose started to fight, Flana saw a scene so shocking that she thought she was being shown an illusion and cast an illusionary spell on herself, but …… the result didn’t seem to be very good.

“Wait, if Amako isn’t too surprised, does that mean Usato has done the same thing many times?”

“Yeah. He’s always being so reckless.”

“Aren’t you worried about ……?”

Of course I’m worried.

But I understand better than anyone that he’s not the kind of person to let that stop him, having traveled with him.

“I believe in Usato. Besides, he’s not the kind of person who would break so easily.”

“…… Haha, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to resist my illusion magic in that bare state, right?”

“Hmm?”

What am I talking about? Well, it’s fine.

Realizing that Usato had done something wrong, I turned my gaze to Rose.

After kicking him with unusual strength, Rose is staring at the edge of the training area, deep into the woods.

“About time…”

After muttering this, Rose put her hands on a nearby tree and pulled it out with force. …… What?

It’s not just Flana who is speechless, but me as well, because the behavior is so out of the ordinary.

“Pull the tree out, time to throw it.”

After shattering the tree with her bare hands until it was just the right size, Rose grabbed the splintered log with one hand and threw it carelessly.

The tree was thrown into the forest where Usato couldn’t even be seen, and after a few seconds or so, Usato’s scream and the high-pitched sound of something being popped with an iron could be heard.

I couldn’t believe it, but it seemed to be throwing in anticipation of Usato’s position.

“Hey, Amako. I’m going to ask you one more time, are you sure Usato is okay ……?”

“………He might not be okay after all.”

Perhaps I had underestimated her a bit.

I’ve often heard that disciples resemble their masters, and Rose was no exception.

No, if anything, she was someone who acted even more outrageously than Usato.

“That evil spirit demon devil, even that’s full of shit!”

She shattered the logs that were raining down on her with her fists as she pushed straight for the training grounds.

Thanks to her, there was no time to rest!

“So.”

When I realised I was almost hit by the log, I quickly released my healing burst palm and accelerated to roll sideways and dodge.

In the meantime, I kneel on the ground and try to breathe on the spot to assess the situation.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to use my healing palm here.”

It’s a technique that can be used for evasion, defence and recovery, but it’s also very useful to deal with attacks that you can’t move fast enough.

But there’s no point in using half-hearted evasion in front of Rose.

In the meantime, she can dodge the healing palm, but the follow-up attack will come with tremendous reaction speed.

“…… Release magic?”

Wait, can’t we put this to good use?

If the acceleration of the release of magic power can be used for emergency evasion, it may also be used for acceleration when attacking.

As the logs were falling around me with great force, I lost myself in thought.

If I can find one possibility, all I have to do is pull it together.

“In the first place, why am I assuming that the Healing Burst Palm is a technique that can only be used by palms?”

In addition to its incomparable firmness, this gauntlet given to me by Falga-sama also assists me in manipulating my magic power. I’m sure I can use the healing burst palm from the arm, back of the hand, or fingers covered by the gauntlet.

I focused my attention on the gauntlet on my right arm and released magic power from the side of the arm covered by the gauntlet in the same manner as the healing burst palm.

“Whoa!”

With the same sound of popping air as in the bursting palm, magic power bursts from the side of my arm, nearly throwing me off balance.

It’s not impossible. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not used to it, or if I’m not able to adjust the power, but this is more than enough for now.

The corners of my mouth naturally rose.

There was a glimmer of hope in what had seemed like a hopeless battle.

“Usato——-!”

“Hmm?”

When I looked up at the shout from above my head, I saw that Nea, in her owl state, was descending towards me with tremendous force.

Immediately, I caught her with both hands and she jumped on my shoulders, revealing her anger.

“You little! Stop throwing me around when you’re in danger! I can take care of myself too!”

“…… Oh, I’m sorry. That’s right, you’ve been fighting with me too.”

I was taken aback by Nea’s words for a moment, then smiled.

“Nea, let’s go.”

“What are our chances of winning? There’s no point in trying any more.”

“I’ve come up with a new way to fight. I’ve named it the ‘Healing Accelerator Fist’, the third method of combat!”

“…… At least make it the Healing Speed Fist. It’s so lame it’s not even funny.”

…… I think it’s cool.

It seems that Rose has also stopped throwing the log, as if she has confirmed that Nea is flying towards me.

It’s a quirky idea, and I’m sure she can’t attack Nea in a way that might involve her.

“Come on, let’s go all out. I won’t spare any energy either.”

I’m going to give Rose a run for her money, regardless of how much magic I have left.

Determined, I set off in the direction I knew Rose would be waiting for me.

Author’s Note:

Healing Acceleration Fist

This is a new fighting style derived from the Healing Burst Palm.

In simple terms, it is the ‘kame●meha’ theory.

Rose’s fighting style this time around was gruesome to say the least, crushing Usato’s attacks with her spinning elbows, grabbing him by the collar and restraining him before delivering an unavoidable body-crushing kick.