Chapter 68

“Guh, aaaaaaaah!”

Flam roared, kicked the ground hard, and leaped backward.

This was more of an action to endure the fear of her skull being destroyed rather than the pain itself.

However, moving on one leg had its limits.

She lost her balance and her body rolled on the ground.

Thanks to the movement, the spinning stopped.

It seemed that the force was being applied to the spot where she was standing rather than directly at Flam.

In other words, as long as she kept moving, she wouldn't be completely twisted like her right leg or left arm.

Still, even though it had already regenerated, the direct physical damage to her skull and brain was an unimaginable horror.

Vomit spewed from Flam's mouth as she lay on the ground, and she choked and coughed.

She never wanted to experience this again, but Luke showed no signs of easing his attacks.

“Ooo... Ooo...”

The groan was slightly lower than Mute's.

He didn't stretch out his hands or tremble; he just slowly approached Flam, tilting his head slightly.

With each step, the force he emitted caused strange phenomena around him.

Crack, crack, scrape—

The sound of something breaking and grinding reached Flam's ears.

The noise came from the ground where she lay.

The vibrations she felt were familiar.

The ground tilted and formed a blade-like shape—probably about to start spinning at high speed and swallow her.

Finally, using her newly regenerated leg, Flam ran to escape the vortex.

The moment she got out of range—

“Guh, gah...!?”

A dull sound accompanied by a twisting of her waist.

Her internal organs were crushed, and blood rose up her esophagus, spilling out of her mouth.

Without any warning, why—Flam, lying on the ground, was confused by the unexpected attack.

“Ooo... Oooo...!”

Luke's voice sounded almost delighted.

His muscles pulsed, and red fluid seeped through the gaps in his body.

“Predicted... and set...!?”

Invisible traps, though simple, were troublesome.

Flam's body gradually untwisted as it regenerated.

Her paralyzed lower body also started to regain sensation.

But she couldn't afford to wait for a full recovery.

Flam crawled with both hands, struggling to get away from Luke.

Blood seeped from her nails, which were about to tear off.

Still, the distance between her and him, who could move on both legs, didn't seem to be closing.

A creaking sound, like her skull deforming from the inside, reached her ears again.

“Giiii...!”

Flam, in agony, pressed her right hand against her head and channeled the magic of reversal.

Crack!

The rotational force inside her body clashed with the magic, creating a shower of sparks.

“Ahh, gyaahhhhh!”

Flam arched her back and writhed on the spot.

It was a pain she hadn't felt since Sera cast a healing spell on her.

A self-inflicted disaster, her right eyeball burst, blocking her vision, and the right side of her face burned and scarred.

Part of her skull was completely exposed, but fortunately, her brain wasn't damaged.

“A... ahg, gah...!”

She continued to move forward.

Her burned right hand stretched out.

Her palm, covered in a transparent fluid, slapped the ground, dragging her body forward.

Next, she extended her left arm, hooking her blood-soaked nails into the grooves of the stone pavement and exerting force.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!

The ground started to spin again.

Despite her already slow speed, her body was caught in the rotation, making it difficult to move forward and escape.

Besides, even if she escaped, there would surely be more invisible traps ahead.

“Oooo, ooo!”

Indeed, Luke's voice sounded delighted.

Flam pondered and then—she channeled the magic of reversal into her torso where it touched the ground.

“Reve... sal!”

Crack!

Again, the forces clashed, creating a bright flash of light.

Flam's torso, thrown into the air by the impact, scattered internal organs and ribs.

But as long as her heart was intact, she wouldn't die.

Even with the pain reduced by enchantments, the severity of her injuries almost knocked her out.

Amid the pain, as if her insides were being churned by a windmill, Flam drew her Soul Eater in mid-air.

This was her reaction to Luke's first offensive move.

He thrust his fist diagonally upward.

A tornado-like spiral force shot straight at her.

“Tsuuryaaaaah!”

Words were unnecessary.

As long as she could maintain consciousness and move her body, the pronunciation didn't matter.

Flam roared.

She thrust her Soul Eater at the approaching spiral.

Crack, crack, crack!

The forces were evenly matched.

In their previous battle, Luke's rotational force was easily broken by Flam's reversal.

But with the use of a second core, her magic had increased, showing power equal to or greater than before.

If Luke had to gain such power by sacrificing his life, it was a testament to how poorly matched they were, but unfortunately, he had no mouth to laugh.

“Ooooooo!”

He roared instead.

He infused more rotational force into the spiral and launched it at Flam.

“Guh, I'm... losing!? Kyaaaa!”

Defeated in the power struggle, her body was blown backward.

Luke rotated the air at his feet, creating a current that lifted him into the air.

He accelerated and attempted a counterattack on Flam.

Seeing the red creature approaching, the corners of her mouth curled up in a smirk.

“Reversal... now!”

Instantly, Flam's direction of movement reversed, and she sped toward Luke.

The sudden change in direction put a great strain on her body, but compared to the pain she had already endured, it was nothing.

“Huff!”

The two bodies passed each other in mid-air.

Flam's blade severed Luke's right arm.

“O, ooooh!”

A pained groan echoed around.

The wound twisted, and the bleeding stopped.

But Luke turned with a movement that suggested anger and exerted force on Flam as she landed.

“Ahh, guh...!”

A sharp pain shot through her chest as she tried to run.

Luke was attempting to crush her heart directly.

Of course, it didn't work that easily.

He repeatedly aimed rotational forces at her head and chest, but couldn't catch her as she fled.

On the other hand, she seemed to be trying to distance herself from the guild where Ira, Slow, and Kiril were, and after putting some distance between them, she turned a corner and hid in the shadow of a building.

Luke didn't use such a cumbersome method to find her.

In the air, he spread his arms and—

“Oooooooooo—”

He let out a clear, almost singing voice.

Of course, Flam, hiding in the shadow of the building, could hear it.

Leaning against the wall, she panted and smiled bitterly at her tattered, blood-soaked clothes.

The battle had just begun, and she was already in a terrible state.

But she couldn't afford to worry about her appearance.

He was undoubtedly preparing his next attack, even though she couldn't see him.

“Suuu... huuu...”

She took deep breaths to calm herself.

The pain had subsided, but the nausea remained.

Especially the damage to her internal organs left a bad aftertaste, and she still felt waves of nausea.

Still, it had been unusually quiet.

Despite the intense attacks just moments ago, what was he—

Crash!

A deep, rumbling sound shook the ground, and a building a short distance from where Flam stood crumbled.

No, it wasn't so much crumbled as it was pierced.

“What was that...”

A massive, pointed object was moving in a straight line at high speed, destroying any buildings in its path.

Crash!

Another building was destroyed.

Flam hurriedly looked in that direction and saw the source.

“A pointed... rock?”

A gray mass, sharp at the tip, spinning and charging forward at high speed.

It gouged the ground, pierced buildings, and continued in a straight line, destroying everything in its path.

Rumble—

And the third shot came from directly behind Flam.

Realizing it was too late to escape, she—

Crash!

Dived forward, narrowly avoiding it.

The shockwave raced through the alley.

A large trench was left where she had been standing, and the building she had been leaning against was completely destroyed, with a large hole in the center.

On the other side of the trench, Luke's figure, with red streaks, was visible.

Standing on the rubble, he placed his hand on the wall of a nearby stone house.

Infusing rotational force into the building, it began to peel away from its foundation and spin.

Eventually, it became a four-meter-wide, pointed rock, which Luke aimed at Flam, who was lying on the ground.

And—

“Ooooooo!”

He launched it.

Whoosh, crunch, crunch, crunch!

The entire building, shaped like a drill, charged at Flam.

She stood up and ran, then fell forward.

As she lay there, protecting her head from the flying debris, she heard footsteps approaching.

It was Luke.

He was approaching Flam, bringing death with him.

As she tried to stand up, he also—clearly, with the intent to attack, ran toward her.

His black blade and spinning left arm clashed, and sparks flew, illuminating the alley.

They continued to clash repeatedly.

Flam, desperate to reach the core in her chest, launched a rapid series of attacks.

However, with equal power, the faster strikes of the fist had the advantage.

She was gradually pushed back, her feet retreating.

Luke then made a motion as if to punch with his missing right arm.

It was a bluff, of course, but Flam's body instinctively leaned back to avoid the attack.

An invisible force grazed her bangs.

It was a rotational force mimicking his right arm.

More accurately, it was a weapon that could tear through flesh with a single touch.

“Guh, I have to get away!”

The arm she had cut off had returned in the worst possible form.

Fighting head-on with one arm was dangerous.

She swung her sword, using the impact of the forces colliding to retreat.

But a trap awaited her.

“Gah, ah... damn—!”

She had considered the possibility.

Her right foot twisted at the shin, shattering the bone and turning it inward.

She gritted her teeth as she landed and tried to retreat further, but her movement was inevitably slowed.

“Ooo...”

Luke stepped forward, raising his invisible right arm—

It touched Flam's chin.

She couldn't escape.

The moment the sensation of fingers touched her skin, a chill ran through her body.

They pierced her skin, embedded themselves in the soft tissue of her jaw, and entered her mouth from the underside of her tongue.

She could barely tilt her head back to avoid it.

“Geh, puhh”

The fingers reached her palate, then her nasal passages, continuing to advance.

Strange sounds involuntarily escaped from Flam's mouth.

Then, they pulled out both eyeballs from the back and destroyed part of her frontal lobe.

Her face was severed, flew through the air, and fell to the ground.

In other words—Flam had lost the front half of her head.

Her world, deprived of sight, was enveloped in complete darkness.

Perhaps it was a blessing.

At least she didn't have to see her own condition.

She sniffed, and blood gushed back into her mouth.

With the remaining part of her tongue, she could only taste and smell iron.

“K... a... a...”

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It was painful, unbearable, and she wanted help.

“A... a, a...”

But humans—don't die just from damage to the frontal lobe.

Death only occurs when the brainstem, deeper within, is damaged.

So it had to be crushed.

Just piercing wasn't enough.

But there were changes, or rather, damage.

A collapse of the balance between reason and instinct.

Or a transformation of personality and emotions.

In the brief time before regeneration—Flam's mind was "broken."

“Ooooooooh”

Of course, Luke reached out to further destroy her brain.

In her current state, she couldn't counterattack, so he launched a bold attack.

On the other hand, Flam extended her hands as if searching for something.

Then—

Bang!

A sound like an explosion rang out, and something pierced Luke's forehead.

“Ooo... ooo...”

Flam shouldn't have had such a quick, long-range attack.

Luke was confused.

But she continued to fire.

Bang, bang, bang!

This time, three in a row, something pierced his shoulder.

“Ooooo...”

“Aaaaaa...!”

The two monstrous beings groaned.

Clearly, Flam was the one being cornered, but Luke was slightly hesitant.

She probably located him by sound and pointed her fingers at him.

Her left pinky, ring finger, middle finger, and index finger were already gone.

But they were regenerating and would soon be reloaded.

So the next shot would be from her right hand.

Magic flowed to the tips of her fingers.

"Reversal" would cause anything stuck to explode.

"Reversal" would release anything inside to the outside.

In other words, the rational Flam used her own body as a weapon.

The bones of her fingers remained.

The flesh was frozen and reinforced.

And the bullets, infused with the magic of reversal, pierced through the Origin's protective force and changed the dire situation.

“Aaaa, aaaa...!”

—What the now sane Flam would think of this, was another matter.