CH 50

Critical Moment

At the same time as the battle started, I released a <Bullet>.

“Ahaha! You can’t kill me with that peashooter!”

Oz promptly activated <Rage> and easily avoided my attack.

While I chased after Oz, I saw the wreckage of the carriage from the corner of my eye.

That the carriage would be destroyed was within my expectations.

When chasing after fugitives, the first priority should be to destroy their means of transportation. It would have been nearly impossible to hide the carriage anywhere in this wasteland. Even if I didn’t say anything, Oz would have destroyed the carriage nonetheless.

“Then, how about a pea bomb?”

After successfully luring Oz, I detonate the <Bomb Trap> that I set up earlier.

The area beneath Oz’s feet exploded, setting off a series of ear-splitting roars.

“That’s– dangerous, ugh!!”

Oz moves both hands by her feet and pulls the triggers of TD02.

A torrent of magic power bursts forth, and Oz is lifted into the air from the recoil.

If she’s in the air, then she can’t avoid this. I point my fingertip at Oz and release multiple <Bullets>.

However, Oz smiled fearlessly–

“I told you, that won’t work!!”

The tips of TD02 lit up and two voluminous rays of light were released.

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue and immediately jumped to the side.

With TD02, Oz can fire a volley of attacks that would kill in a single hit. Certainly, from her perspective, my <Bullet> is just like a peashooter.

All of my attacks were swallowed up by Oz’s barrage.

Oz’s barrage has excellent power, capable of attacking and defending in the same move.

As I thought, in a head-on battle, she has the advantage.

“But–”

— Oz also has her weaknesses.

The power of TD02 is tremendous. So much so, that if its shots land in close proximity to the caster, they themselves would suffer from the impact as well.

I instantly activate <Rage> and sprint towards Oz. As long as I get close enough, she won’t be able to carelessly fire off a barrage.

“Of course, I’ve already taken countermeasures!!”

Oz, who understood her own weaknesses, pointed TD02 at the area beneath my feet and fired.

Left or right, no matter where I run to, I wouldn’t be able to avoid Oz’s attack.

As a result, I had no choice but to leap upwards to escape.

“It’s no use, even if you escape upwards, 28.”

Oz laughs as she points both of her magic wands at me.

But I didn’t approach her without thinking either.

— <Flash Blade>

An invisible blade that would definitely cut down an unmoving enemy.

While flipping myself in mid-air, the thin blade that extends from my hand flickers.

“– ugh!!”

Predicting my attack in an instant, Oz undoes her stance and dodges to the side.

The swung blade cut through empty space. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to conclude this– but there was a large opening created.

As soon as I landed, I rushed towards Oz, who had undone her stance.

“Th, is– ugh!!”

“Too slow.”

Oz flexibly twisted her body to kick upwards from below.

I stopped it in its tracks and slammed my fist into her side.

“Gah!?”

Oz tries to retreat after getting hit.

But I gripped her slender right arm and pulled her towards me.

“– I won’t let you run.”

I create a dagger in my left hand with <Fixation>.

Without hesitation, I thrust its tip towards Oz’s heart.

Clang! The sound of metal colliding with metal rings.

Oz held TD02 in front of her chest, blocking my thrust.

For a moment, our gazes met.

With a swishing sound, Oz releases a kick aimed at my solar plexus. When I twist my body to avoid it, Oz also twists her body in the opposite direction, escaping from my grasp.

Oz isn’t unskilled in physical techniques.

If a skilled warrior were to fight Oz, they would try to fight in close quarters. But Oz has fought many such enemies until this day and survived. As a result, Oz inevitably gained experience in close-quarters combat.

With her small stature and keen kinetic senses, Oz’s physical techniques are sharp.

What she lacks in physical strength, she makes up for with speed.

“There!!”

Immediately after I avoided the sweeping kick, a palm strike came directly from the front.

I cross my arms to block it. Oz, perhaps anticipating that it would be blocked, uses the recoil to leap backwards.

“Naïve, 28.”

Oz says while holding up TD02, but–

“That’s my line.”

In the next moment, the ground beneath Oz’s feet exploded.

It would be back-breaking to constantly have to block Oz’s attacks in close-quarters combat. Anticipating her movements, I had gradually lured Oz to the position of a trap.

Through the dust cloud, I try to approach Oz once more.

But two shots that pierced through the atmosphere stopped me in my tracks.

“Ouch… Just when I thought you weren’t going to pursue me, there was an explosion.”

Oz gets up from the explosion faster than I expected.

It seems that she momentarily increased the output of <Rage> to protect her body from the explosion.

“Hmm, the traps are in the way, huh?”

After Oz said that, she pointed both hands above her head.

— <Meteor Cannon>

Pan. Only that light sound echoed over and over again.

It may have seemed like she was firing blanks, but that isn’t the case. The shots fired from TD02 were a condensed version of Oz’s magic power, ready to cause an Outburst at any time. Normally, the Outburst would occur at the same time that the shot is fired, causing a large-scale bombardment, but now, it seems like the timing of the Outburst is delayed a bit.

Oz’s forcefully condensed magic power is shot into the sky before it slowly falls down.

The unstable magic power that rains from above– suddenly triggers Outbursts, which turns into an innumerable barrage.

“… There’s no doubting it, she’s a Tyrant.”

Remembering Oz’s moniker, I retreat.

The innumerable barrage crashed into the ground, filling my vision with dust in the blink of an eye.

As I focused all my efforts into running away, a dense barrage closed in on me from the side.

“Guh–!?”

The poor visibility delayed my reaction.

The barrage grazed me– but even a mere graze was enough to almost render me unconscious.

“I wonder, have I destroyed all the traps?”

Oz says as the dust cloud disperses.

The <Bomb Traps> I had set up were all destroyed in an instant.

“28… You’ve gotten weaker.”

Oz says while looking at me.

“… Do you think you’ve already won?”

“Yup. As 28 is now, I don’t really feel like I’d lose.”

Oz stares at me, as if she had come to her senses.

“I won’t say anything bad about it, so come back to the Bureau… You can retrain your dulled skills.”

“… I’ll decline.”

If she had asked me that immediately after the Organization was disbanded, I definitely would have accepted.

Since then, I have changed a lot. I find that strangely funny, so I let out a small chuckle.

“Oz. I don’t think I’ve gotten any weaker.”

But I’ve gained various things and am struggling with the weight of each one.

“Besides… I haven’t revealed all the cards in my hand yet.”

As I said so, I took something out of my pocket.

“What’s that, a stone?”

“That’s right, it’s just an ordinary stone.”

It was just a nondescript stone I picked up on the way before Oz showed up.

I throw it to Oz, who widens her eyes.

In the next moment.

The ordinary stone that was thrown in the air– exploded…