Chapter 243: I Dare You to Hit Me Again!
Luke, who had watched the anime, naturally knew the ability of the person in front of him.
His so-called carelessness and mental relaxation just now were all a deliberate act.
However, the disappointment was indeed real...
Taking the opponent's attack head-on was done intentionally by him, because he wanted to personally confirm the ability of Smile's Device.
And the result could be said to have surprised him a bit.
"L-Luke! Are you okay?!"
Right at the same time Luke sent Smile flying, Stella, not far away, pulled Shizuku and ran to his side.
Perhaps afraid of exposing her identity as a princess, Stella was currently wearing a large sun hat she had snagged from who knows where.
Although Smile's strike did not cause any damage to Luke, it shattered his clothes.
Stella looked somewhat worriedly at the boy's exposed abdomen after his clothes shattered, leaned in, and then touched it with her two small hands.
"I saw you get hit directly, are you not hurt?"
"Wow, there's not a single sign of injury."
"What a solid body..."
"...Th-This is a man's body."
Luke was originally a bit touched by Stella's concern, but right after, he noticed that the Princess's state seemed a bit off.
Not only was her face gradually turning red, but her stroking motions showed no intention of stopping; those two small hands even gradually began to move up and down.
Luke, somewhat conflicted, caught her naughty hands causing mischief on his body, and then spoke:
"I say, Stella, although I'm very thankful that you're worried about me, now is not the time to be doing this sort of thing."
Luke's words gained the approval of Shizuku, who had been pulled over together with Stella.
"That's right, whether it's worrying or wanting to do weird things, leave it for after the incident is over."
"Our current situation is not too good..."
Shizuku said while looking at Stella with a peculiar gaze.
And Stella, after being reminded by Luke and Shizuku, also snapped out of her inexplicable mood.
Looking at her hands caught by the boy, Stella, realizing what she had just done, instantly flushed bright red with shame.
She quickly pulled her hands out of Luke's grasp, then vigorously shook her head to dispel the distracting thoughts.
Right at this time, Smile, who had been sent flying by Luke, clutched his face and barely recovered from the dizziness of the heavy blow to his head.
Crawling up from the ruins, he looked at Luke somewhat blankly, and only after two or three seconds did he recall the current situation.
"Wh-Why?!"
"Why are you fine???"
It wasn't just Smile himself who couldn't understand; the surrounding ordinary Rebellion members likewise couldn't comprehend it.
As the team that Smile had always led, they had quite an understanding of their boss's ability.
In their eyes, this ability that could absorb an opponent's attack and return it completely intact was simply unsolvable.
When Smile 'deceived' Luke through his usual trick, these Rebellion members were even ready to cheer.
Then they saw their own boss go flying out.
The cheers about to blurt out directly caught in their throats, and everyone stood dumbfounded in place.
"I-I see... I understand now."
"You have a Defense-type ability!"
"To think a damn brat would use such a despicable method..."
"That sneak attack speed at the very beginning was the ability of one of the two girls beside you, right!"
"First disguising yourself as a Speed-type Blazer to make me careless, and then relying on your own Defense-type ability to withstand my counterattack."
"Tch, I'll give you credit for having some brains."
Smile, who was gradually recovering his ability to think, completed his 'analysis' of Luke's ability in an instant.
In his view, it was impossible for the boy to take his counterattack ability without getting hurt, so the only possibility was that Luke possessed a defensive ability.
After all, judging from the feel of it just now, Smile could be certain that his strike was not blocked by magic power, but had truly and solidly hit Luke's body.
This actually couldn't be blamed on Smile; before recognizing Luke's common-sense-breaking physical constitution, it was impossible for anyone to make the judgment of a physical body withstanding a Device's attack.
"Hmph, a Defense-type ability and an Acceleration-type ability, huh? That really is disadvantageous for me."
Smile's Device, 'Judgment Ring', was a pair of rings, one on his left hand and one on his right.
The ring on the left hand could absorb any damage dealt to him as 'Sin', and the ring on the right hand would convert the absorbed 'Sin' into 'Punishment' to strike back at the opponent.
This ability could be said to be very excellent, but unfortunately, Smile himself was a pure ability user.
That is to say, he did not have the habit of training his body, nor had he studied martial arts or taijutsu.
Although under the enhancement of magic power, Smile could still make movements far surpassing ordinary people, compared to Speed-type ability users, he fell far short.
Furthermore, having all his skills rely on his ability meant he lacked powerful offensive methods, so he also had no way to deal with a Defense-type Blazer.
If Luke and the others were truly like he guessed—one being Defense-type and one being Speed-type—then at this very moment, Smile already had absolutely no chance of winning.
However, facing this 'desperate situation', Smile did not have the slightest fear; on the contrary, he smiled.
"Hehe, hahaha, a pity, what a real pity!"
"I might as well admit my defeat."
"I admit that in combat, I am not your match."
Openly admitting defeat, Smile's face bore a twisted grin.
"But!"
"You missed the opportunity to kill me twice, and now I won't give you a third chance!"
"I will make you pay the price for what you have done!!!"
"Everyone, get ready!"
With Smile's command, the surrounding Rebellion members holding firearms immediately raised their muzzles and aimed them at the shivering crowd.
"Now, the tables have turned, hahaha!"
Shizuku looked at Smile's rampant appearance, feeling extremely unwilling.
"That's why I said not to be impulsive... now we have completely fallen into a passive state."
"As long as we cannot resolve the problem of the opponent having 'hostages', we have no chance of winning."
"Heh, brat, this girl beside you understands the current situation very clearly."
Hearing Shizuku's reluctant words, Smile revealed a mocking grin.
"It's exactly as she says."
"Now, all of you, obediently stand where you are, especially you, brat!"
Smile pointed his finger at Luke.
"If you dare to move an inch, I will kill a hostage!"
Smile said this while walking toward Luke again; he was certain that Luke absolutely wouldn't dare defy his orders at this moment.
"You were very arrogant just now, weren't you? To actually dare to send me flying twice?"
"Try it again now! I dare you to hit me again!"
(PS: Vote for more chapters this week. If this fanfic reaches 100 powerstones, I will upload 5 more chapters next. So, hurry up! It's almost 100!)
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