Chapter 289

After setting the stage like this, Nehyor would not be able to refuse.

Not only that, but the situation was becoming increasingly more disadvantageous for him.
Legras was under Tralzard’s foot.
And his other soldiers were being hunted down by Tralzard’s soldiers.

Tralzard seemed to have brought quite a lot of men with her. It was now entirely impossible for Nehyor to lead his men and turn the tide of battle.

He had two options left.
He could run away now, or run away after beating me.

As long as we were fighting, Tralzard would not touch him.
And if ran away without fighting, he would become a laughing stock.

A former subordinate had challenged him to Gekokujyo. People would say that he ran with his tail between his legs.

“So, what will it be?”
Upon hearing this, Nehyor turned to me with a look of pure hatred.

“I accept, of course. But I’m quite surprised by you, Golan.”

His face showed that he was almost certain that I was weaker now.
Well, it was no surprise. I had been fighting differently compared to before, so he was bound to notice.

“Alright, let’s do it.”
I stepped forward while racking my brain.

(I can’t use the hexagonal club. Besides, it was just an ordinary club if I can’t charge it with mana.)
And so I had lost an advantage.

While I could still swing the Deepsea Dragon Sword, that too could not be charged. And so I wasn’t sure how effective it would be against Nehyor.

In the first place, I had cut him in half with it before. And so he would be extra cautious if I used it.
(Hmm. I can’t think of a way to beat him.)

What did this mean? I had been the one to challenge him, and yet I had no good strategy.
I had only wanted to stop him from escaping. But perhaps there was a better way to do it?

It might have been better to just leave it to Tralzard.

(Well, I had already challenged him. So there was no going back now.)

Even though I was weakened, I could still do my best.
After all, I had learned how to fight when tired, and even how to fight when one of your arms was cut off.

I had also learned how to fight after tremendous blood loss, and you felt dizzy.
Though, I had always thought it was ridiculous to fight in such conditions.

(But it’s quite close to the current situation, isn’t it?)
I would not use any weapons in this fight. That seemed to be the right answer.

“That stance…I’ve seen it before.’

I stretched out both arms and crouched, just like Atlas.
This would make things easier to deal with, but I had apparently shown it to him before. Oh, well.

“Now, come!”
“Then I will!”

Nehyor answered as if an echo. And he moved immediately. First, he attacked with his nails.

I parried the claws that stretched towards me.
My arm moved as if drawing an arc, and one after another, I dealt with the chain of attacks.

(This move, I thought it was a load of shit…but it’s actually quite effective.)

When teaching me it, the dojo master had said something silly about getting the idea from a movie.

He had called it the Full Moon Defense.

As for me, ‘there is no way that I can use this,’ I had grumbled even while practicing. However, he had turned out to be right.
It was rather useful.

And so I was able to parry the attacks that came in rapid succession.
Nehyor was looking at me with an expression of wonderment.

Why weren’t his attacks reaching me? He could not understand.
Hell, even I thought that it was unrealistic, in spite of understanding the logic behind it.

As long as the timing was right, the circular movement could block every attack…according to the dojo master.

By the way, because he had created the ‘Full Moon Defense’ so quickly, he also lost interest in it. He was strange.

“Hey, Golan. Why are you…always…using such odd moves?”

“In order for the weak to beat the strong, it’s necessary to rack one’s brain all of the time.”

“So my claws aren’t hitting you because you racked your brain?”
“That’s what I said.”

“Hmph. Then how about this?”
Nehyor vanished.

I couldn’t even tell if it was just that he moved at a high speed, or actually disappeared.
“Woah!?’

Pain suddenly shot through my neck.
Apparently, I had sensed his presence and dodged him instinctively.

Before I knew it, Nehyor’s nails had slashed at my neck.
Had I not moved out of the way, he would have likely cut through half of it.

“Huh? So you can dodge that as well.”
“…Well, yes.”

I had only dodged him due to chance. I wouldn’t be able to do it again.
I would only realize that I had been attacked after his nails were deep inside.

(Shit…the battle had almost ended in a flash.)

I ignored the blood running down my neck and stood still.

The problem was the difference in power between us.
I didn’t have enough power to defeat Nehyor.

On the other hand, Nehyor could easily do enough damage to give me a mortal wound, if only his attacks landed.

At a glance, it might have looked like we were equal, but it was only like that on the surface. Because I had created that illusion.
I was actually at a great disadvantage.

(What should I do? I do have a trick I could use…)

Well, I wasn’t sure… It wasn’t even finished.
But without any strength left, it would be difficult to continue fighting.

(I better make up my mind.)

I decided to use it.
I moved out of my stance and spread out my army. As if I was waiting for a hug.

“…Hmm? What are you doing, Golan?”
As I was acting strangely, Nehyor became cautious.

As this was a duel, no one else would interfere. Still, it was interesting that he still seemed confident.
When all around him, the Wild Hunt were being hunted down.

But perhaps he had decided that they were all as good as dead anyway.
He didn’t care about them. He was only thinking about beating me and making his escape.

“There’s no need to talk. Just come!”
“Hmph… You sure are confident. …Alright, I will.”

He was sure that I had no power left in me now.
I could see it on his face.

Nehyor’s attacks were not about usiing misdirection, feints, or attacking from the back.
He just used his pure ability…which was very high. And so…

Nehyor moved towards me at top speed.
However, it was just in a straight line. As he was taking the shortest route, I could see the trajectory.

“I’ve memorized your timing during the last fights!”
With both arms, I pincered Nehyor’s outstretched arm.

–Slam!

“!?”
It sounded like a fly being hit.

Nehyor jumped back in shock.

And then he slowly looked down at his arm.
Black smoke was rising from it.

He understood what had happened.

—That I had stolen his mana.

“It’s called ‘Mana Eater.’”

I said with a grin.

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Makai Hongi