“Kouki, stop!”
But Shizuku’s desperate cry didn’t reach her childhood friend. Kouki rushed forward, leaving a trail of light in his wake. He didn’t even spare Shizuku a second glance. His gaze was fixated solely on Hajime, his sworn enemy. Shizuku’s attempts at persuasion had failed. The copy’s grin grew wider, and Hajime clicked his tongue in annoyance. The emotion drained from his eyes, replaced by a cold, calm stare.
Shizuku paled as she watched the change in Hajime’s expression. A deathmatch between the two of them was the worst possible outcome.
“Wait, I can stop him!”
Under the effects of his Limit Break, Kouki’s stats beat out Shizuku’s by a fair margin. It was unlikely she could stop him, and attempting to do so would only end with her getting hurt. Still, she couldn’t bear to see two people she cared about try to kill each other. She pushed her exhausted body into action and jumped in between Hajime and Kouki.
“Yaegashi, to your right.”
“Huh? Ah!?”
Though she was confused, Shizuku’s body moved on reflex. She lifted her katana to her right and turned around. Kouki’s copy was running straight at her. A shiver ran down her spine and she prepared for impact, but before the copy’s sword reached her, a familiar object wedged its way in between them. One of Hajime’s Cross Bits. It glowed crimson, indicating that it had Diamond Skin active. It was there to cushion the force of the copy’s blow, making it easier for Shizuku to block. Unfortunately, the copy had been strengthened beyond belief thanks to Kouki’s weakness.
“Ngh!”
Groaning in pain, Shizuku was blown away by Kouki’s copy. Wisps of black mana trailed behind the copy, filling the space between Kouki and Hajime. Kouki swung his sword down at Hajime with enough force to split a boulder. But Hajime blocked it with an azantium-coated Donner. As a sharp metallic clang rang out, Hajime heard Kouki’s copy say, “I’ll keep Shizuku company. You focus on your hated foe.”
Shizuku narrowed her eyes and shouted, “Ngh, you little— Get away from me! I don’t have time to waste on you!”
“Give it up. That guy can’t see anything but Hajime Nagumo. This trial’s between him and Hajime now. Don’t interfere.”
“Don’t just go deciding that on your own!”
It seemed the copy had decided to use Hajime for Kouki’s trial. This was now a test to see whether or not Kouki would be able to calm his rage and accept reality for what it was. The copy was content to see how the fight between the two of them played out. Annoyed at being used as a trial examiner, Hajime glanced over at where Shizuku and Kouki’s copy were dueling.
“You sure you wanna fight me? Your precious childhood friend’s under attack.”
“That fake’s a part of me. It won’t kill her. And roughing her up a bit will teach her not to get brainwashed by scum like you again.”
“Didn’t you call it a monster earlier?”
“It’s a monster with my personality copied into it, isn’t it? In that case, even if it is a monster it won’t kill Shizuku.”
“That doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Kouki truly was the master of interpreting reality in the most convenient way possible. Though he’d just disavowed his copy by claiming it was a monster, he also believed it wouldn’t hurt Shizuku because it was his copy. That logical inconsistency didn’t seem to bother him one bit, though. In fact, regardless of rhyme or reason, Kouki seemed to have convinced himself that really was the truth. He put even more force into his blade, trying to cut right through Donner. But even with his Limit Break-enhanced stats, he was unable to make Hajime budge. It was like he was facing a fortress of steel. Furious, he shouted, “Prepare yourself. I won’t let you have your way with Kaori, or Yue, or anyone else anymore! I’ll free them all from your tyranny!”
Kouki flicked his wrist and turned his overhead slash into a horizontal one. He aimed for Hajime’s neck without hesitation. But of course, Hajime blocked the blow with ease. This time with Donner’s muzzle.
“Wha!?”
Kouki yelped in surprise, and Hajime brought his face closer to the hero’s. He glared coldly into Kouki’s eyes and said, “When you’re this stupid, there’s no point in even pointing out your stupidity. But let me say just one thing. Who do you think you are, saying Yue’s name without honorifics? You bastard.”
“Ah!?”
Hajime unleashed his bloodlust, letting it cascade over Kouki in waves. The pressure Hajime emitted was so immense, he could hardly be considered human. In the face of such overwhelming, monstrous might, Kouki stiffened.
There was a loud boom as Hajime pulled the trigger, and his railgun-accelerated bullet knocked Kouki’s sword away as if it were no more than a plastic toy. Kouki’s wrist was unable to withstand the impact, and he was forced to let go. His Holy Sword spun through the air. Before he even had time to register what had happened, Hajime hit him with a powerful front kick.
“Gaah!?”
His bones let out an ominous crack and Kouki shot backward at unbelievable speed. Hajime chased after him and followed up with a roundhouse kick. Kouki felt as though he’d been run over by a truck as he changed directions from backward to sideways. He was traveling so fast he didn’t fall downwards at all, like a human bullet. With no way to stop himself, all he could do was cover the back of his head as a protective measure. That small measure was what saved him from falling unconscious as he crashed into the ice wall with enough force to pulverize it.
Still, he’d taken a significant amount of damage. Kouki coughed up blood as he struggled to all fours. Even though he was wearing the strongest armor in Heiligh and using Limit Break, he’d been nearly taken out of commission by a kick from Hajime. On top of that, Hajime hadn’t even activated his Limit Break. Kouki ground his teeth, frustrated by the difference in strength between them. But of course, Hajime wasn’t going to give him any time to wallow in regret.
Before Kouki could get to his feet, another loud boom echoed throughout the room. Two streaks of red light shot toward him. But Kouki managed to sense the attacks coming and rolled to the side. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. Hajime had fired a third shot in the direction he’d predicted Kouki would roll, and it clipped his shoulder as he struggled to his feet. Pain lanced through him, but Kouki had no time to register it.
That last bullet was way faster! Indeed, Hajime’s third bullet had been magnitudes faster than his first two. The reason for that was simple. Hajime had wrapped his first two shots in mana to make it look as though he’d accelerated them with Lightning Field, but in truth, he’d only accelerated the third shot. And the reason he’d fired two normal shots was so— “Gaaaah!?” they’d ricochet off the ice wall instead of destroying it. By utilizing the uneven terrain, Hajime had accurately bounced his bullets so they’d pierce through the gaps in Kouki’s armor and shatter one of his kneecaps.
“Ngh! Come, Holy Sword!”
Lying on the ground, bleeding from his leg and shoulder, Kouki nevertheless called out to his Holy Sword. It answered his summons and flew to his outstretched hand. But of course, it flew in a straight line. Meaning before it could reach Kouki’s hand, Hajime intercepted it and pinned it under his boot. Whether out of loyalty or just because it was designed to, the sword struggled underneath Hajime’s foot, straining to reach its master. However, Hajime’s foot didn’t budge in the slightest.
“Pathetic. Why don’t you use the extra features I added to your equipment? You’d put up more of a fight that way at least.”
There was no disdain in Hajime’s voice. He was just calmly stating the truth. But that calm analysis of reality pissed Kouki off even more, and his hatred burned fiercer than ever. There was nothing resembling the old, charismatic Kouki that had once existed in his expression. The man who’d condemned murder more than anyone now resembled nothing more than a crazed murderer. Hajime leaned down and pressed Donner against Kouki’s forehead. Like Kouki, he was emanating enough bloodlust to cause normal people to faint
. It was obvious Kouki’d been checkmated. All Hajime had to do was pull the trigger. But a desperate voice called out to him before he could.
“Nagumo-kun, please don’t do it! I promise I can bring him back to his senses!”
Even as she fought Kouki’s copy, Shizuku pleaded with Hajime to spare Kouki’s life. That didn’t please the copy one bit.
“Looks like we need to get you off this stage, Shizuku.”
“Agh!?”
Because of her desperation, Shizuku had revealed an opening. The copy took full advantage of that and hit her while she was unguarded with a full-power Light Burst. Shizuku stumbled backward, and the copy followed up with a Celestial Flash - Shatter. It seemed the copy had no qualms about using the extra features Hajime had added to its equipment. Before Shizuku could even think about defending herself, Hajime’s Cross Bit appeared in front of her. Thanks to Hajime’s prompt protection, Shizuku managed to avoid taking serious damage. The copy had, of course, held back to avoid killing Shizuku as well, so the shockwaves from the shatter effect of the Celestial Flash were only strong enough to give her a concussion and knock her out. They also blew her backward, but Hajime’s Cross Bit caught her before she hit the wall. It then gently placed her on the ground, leaving her leaning against the wall. It then created a spatial barrier, protecting Shizuku from anything the copy might try to do to her. Smiling, the copy shrugged and turned to Hajime. It pointed its Demon Sword at him and unleashed a barrage of black light. The spiral of black energy was large enough that it’d hit Kouki as well as Hajime. It seemed the copy was planning on burying them both in one go. Hajime spared Shizuku a glance, muttered “God, what a pain,” and jumped away. Naturally, he left Kouki where was he was.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”
With one kneecap smashed Kouki couldn’t even stand. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to dodge, he screamed and assumed a defensive posture. But just before hitting him, the blast changed trajectory and bent toward Hajime. It seemed the beam was a homing beam. Hajime focused on the input coming from his Demon Eye. In doing so, he was able to see the nucleus of the spell. He fired Donner, shooting the nucleus down with pinpoint accuracy.
The copy didn’t seem to mind, though. It appeared its goal had just been to get Hajime away from Kouki. Unconcerned, it turned toward Kouki. Kouki weakly thrust his sword at it, but the copy easily batted it aside and leaned in to whisper in Kouki’s ear. It looked like a devil trying to lead him into temptation. Hajime had no idea what it whispered to Kouki, but once it finished Kouki started glancing back and forth between Hajime and the copy, his eyes bloodshot. Then, as if resigned, he nodded. A second later, the copy’s outline began to blur, and it started fading away. Motes of black light rose up from it and started circling Kouki.
“Now then, it’s time we truly became a hero. Let’s strike down evil and save our beloved heroines!”
“Shut up! I don’t take orders from you! I’m just using your powers to defeat Nagumo. Once he’s gone, you’re next!”
The copy grinned. It then turned entirely into black particles and went inside Kouki. A second later, Kouki’s body began to throb. It throbbed so loudly the noise echoed through the room, and streaks of black started appearing in the white light surrounding him. It was like drops of ink had been spilled in a pool of milk. Kouki staggered to his feet. His shoulder and knee had been completely healed.
“How long are you gonna make me wait?”
Surprisingly, Hajime had waited like a good villain for Kouki to complete his hero transformation. But now he’d gotten tired of standing around and he fired Donner and Schlag at Kouki. That wasn’t all, either. At the same time he pulled the trigger, he also lobbed a grenade at him. Kouki didn’t bother to dodge at all, and streaks of red light punched through his shoulder and leg. The grenade exploded on him as well, dousing him in fire.
“That won’t work anymore.”
Kouki walked out of the flames, completely unhurt. His voice was trembling in barely suppressed joy. White and black mana flared up from within him, blowing the flames away. One of Kouki’s eyes had turned dark crimson, giving him a mismatched look. The damage he’d taken from Hajime’s earlier bullets was mostly healed too. It seemed some of Kouki’s hero skills, such as Physical Resistance, Advanced Healing, and Shock Absorption had become far stronger with his sudden increase in mana. His hair was also streaked with white now, and a spiderweb of dark crimson veins covered his pure white armor. Most importantly though, he now wielded two swords. His original Holy Sword, and his copy’s Demon Sword.
“You two fused?”
“I don’t like it, but yeah. It’s the only way I can beat you. But I’m taking this guy down next.”
“Moron. You’ve already lost to temptation.”
“Bark all you want. You can’t beat me anymore. With this new power, I’ll take back everything that belongs to me!”
“How the hell haven’t you figured it out yet? It’s because you’re like this that you ended up in this sorry state to begin with.”
“Enough talk. Have at you! Overload!”
Kouki’s mana ballooned to massive proportions. He’d used Limit Break’s only derivative skill, Overload, which multiplied his stats fivefold. That, combined with the fact that he’d fused with his copy meant his stats had passed 10,000. He was just as much of a monster as Hajime now. Kouki raised his twin swords, then vanished.
“Haaaah!”
A second later he reappeared behind Hajime and swung his twin swords down diagonally with a battle cry. He was so fast that Hajime didn’t even get to turn around. I’ve got him! A sick sense of satisfaction welled up within Kouki, but then a second later he heard three familiar booms. His swords were blown out of his hands, and something hard hit him in the stomach. The air was driven out of his lungs and he flew backward. Gasping for breath, he somehow managed to right his stance in midair and land safely.
I thought he didn’t have enough time to react!? Cradling his stomach, Kouki looked up in confusion. The answer to his question was right in front of him. Donner’s muzzle was pointed right at him, though Hajime was still looking forward. It appeared that Hajime had reversed his gun’s grip without even looking and accurately sniped Kouki down. In truth, Hajime’d had more than enough time to react. He just hadn’t needed to turn around to stop Kouki.
“Don’t fuck with me!”
Seething with rage and humiliation, Kouki once again charged Hajime and swung his swords down.
“Celestial Flash - Storm!”
Finally, he started using the abilities Hajime had endowed his sword with. Kouki no longer had any pride left. He’d been reduced to a beast acting purely on rage. Countless blades of wind assailed Hajime from all sides. They were all invisible, attached to the shockwaves of light he’d released. With his upgraded stats, Kouki’s Celestial Flash was powerful enough to annihilate an army.
But Hajime just swayed like a leaf in the breeze, dodging the majority of the barrage. The few attacks he couldn’t dodge he shot down or deflected with Donner and Schlag. Even if something was invisible, so long as it was magic, Hajime’s Demon Eye could see it. Plus thanks to Riftwalk enhancing his senses, he could easily see a way to dodge the storm of wind. Add to that his wealth of experience, training, and rational approach to combat, dodging invisible wind blades was a piece of cake. And since he wasn’t focusing his full attention on dodging, that meant he could counterattack. As he dodged, Hajime naturally aligned his guns’ sights on Kouki. He fired, and his bullet weaved between hundreds of wind blades to slam into the ground at Kouki’s feet. Of course, this was no miss. He’d aimed there on purpose.
“Whoa!?”
Crimson shockwaves rippled across the ground. The ground bulged underneath Kouki, sending him flying. He managed to stick his sword in the ground to regain his balance, but that left him open. Before he knew it, Hajime was in front of him. He once again ate one of Hajime’s front kicks, and was sent hurtling toward a corner of the room like a pinball.
“Godda—!?”
Kouki didn’t even get a chance to finish cursing. Hajime was already pointing Donner and Schlag at him even as he flew backward. He quickly activated Aerodynamic to get out of the way, but Hajime adjusted his aim and targeted the spot Kouki would end up in. Expression stiffening, Kouki watched in slow-motion as Hajime moved to pull the trigger, but then momentarily hesitated.
Hajime was debating whether to fire, or adjust his aim slightly to go for the head. His instincts told him to put an end to things here and hit Kouki with a lethal shot. But at the same time, he recalled how Shizuku had been pleading with him to spare Kouki’s life. How desperately she’d tried to save her childhood friend. He also thought about how devastated Kaori would be if Shizuku became depressed over Kouki’s death.
Sheesh... Hajime smiled ruefully to himself and pulled the trigger. He fired thrice in quick succession with both revolvers. Unable to change his trajectory, Kouki was showered in bullets. He jerked like a ragdoll as streaks of red light shot through him. Hajime had even taken into account how each bullet would cause Kouki’s body to contort, ensuring each of his shots hit no vitals.
A second later, blood sprayed from Kouki’s numerous wounds and he fell to the ground with a wet thud. From a distance, Kouki looked like a corpse. But it was obvious he wasn’t when he started moving. Using his twin swords as crutches, he staggered to his feet. His shoulders, arms, and legs were bleeding profusely, but in seconds those wounds closed.
“What are you holding back for? Are you looking down on me!?”
Each of Hajime’s shots had been calculated to immobilize Kouki, not kill him. Humiliated, Kouki’s face twisted in rage. Even though he wanted to kill Hajime so badly, Hajime wasn’t even interested in a deathmatch with him. Casually tapping his shoulder with Donner, Hajime replied, “If I kill you, Yaegashi and Kaori’ll be depressed. It’d be way more of a pain to kill you than to just leave you alive. I’ll just beat you to a pulp and let your childhood friends sort you out.”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 10 Page 14