The mental landscape changed brightly.
The burned field regained its vitality, and above it, it was not a sky choked with exhaust but a bright sun shining down on this place.
A warm breeze brushed past the tip of my nose... and a vivid sunset tickled my vision.
Was this Dongrang's final state? His true mental landscape?
I quietly watched him, returned from a half-beast monster to human form.
The white funeral clothes and yellow outer robe he had worn even in his monster state. And, finally, a bamboo hat of the same color.
The enormous plow, which had looked bigger than at least one person, had also shrunk to Dongrang's size.
I, no, we know exactly what that is.
...E.G.O. Equipment shaped from one's own heart.
By now they had been trying to tear each other apart, but Dongbaek and Dongrang really did have a lot in common.
Manifesting E.G.O at the end, for one. Both of them trying to kill Yi Sang, for another. Plenty of things.
And beyond personality, there was also that tree over there, and that tree, and that tree, and that tree.
How long are they going to keep using that gimmick? They're not exactly easy to deal with just because they aren't attacking.
Haa... So they really are from the same hometown, huh. Even the useless parts are alike.
"..."
Silence stretched between us for a moment, and then...
"Yi Sang. I think, after all, I don't need the past. So you... will have to die here."
"..."
Dongrang swung his plow first and charged at Yi Sang.
As if I'd let that happen.
- Ching──!!
Dongrang's scythe and my glove collided, producing a vicious sound.
"Did you really think I'd let you go that easily?"
"Don't get in the way..."
Dongrang raised the scythe high into the air.
Wait, shit. I need to defend first...
"I refuse!"
- KWAANG──!!
"Kuhk...!"
- Thud!
My body was sent flying by Dongrang's scythe and drifted through the air for several meters.
"Sara! Are you okay?!"
"Somehow... Ngh..."
What monstrous brute strength.
I definitely blocked it, and he still sent a person flying that far.
Haa... This is rough. Can I really pull this off?
In my vision, I saw Ryoshu grab the collar of the dazed Yi Sang, pull him back, and immediately begin trading blows with Dongrang on equal footing.
Incredible. No matter how strong she is, there has to be a limit to the difference in raw physical ability.
So I'm supposed to join that fight soon, huh.
...Still, as always, it wasn't impossible.
My physical condition had recovered, and the opponent had an obvious limit too.
I also had one last card I'd saved until the very end.
Strictly speaking, it was more like something I had avoided because the risk was too high.
But considering this was a Nest, there'd be time until the next mission... so I guess being in pain for about a month at most wouldn't matter.
Let's push it. If I end up losing after dragging this out and leaving my back exposed here, there's nothing more ridiculous than that.
"..."
Maximum activation of the eye.
Something I had practically never used properly since the Kromer showdown.
Ha. If not now, then when would I ever use something like that?
Self-destruct moves are supposed to be used when you're at your most comfortable, aren't they?
───!
Immediately afterward, the world was overlaid with an illusion of possibility.
"Haa..."
This cold, heavy sensation. It was time to return to the Saramago of that day.
One, two.
Lightly stepping forward, I approached Dongrang's flank.
"...!"
Dongrang looked this way at once.
Well, of course he noticed. It didn't matter much, though.
No matter what he did, I could see through it and react.
Dongrang used his scythe to throw out a small feint.
The reach of his weapon changed slightly... no, clearly, it lengthened.
That unexpected variable broke Ryoshu's tempo, and in the brief opening that inevitably followed, he charged at me.
But he didn't reach me.
- Hwoong─!
His already-read attack brushed past me by a hair's breadth.
An attack focused purely on speed is hard to evade unless the difference is enormous.
At the same time, light flared in my eyes, and strength gathered in my hand.
Right arm, straight.
"Was it that knowledge is power?"
- KWAANG──!!
"Kuhk..."
The moment my attack landed cleanly, Gregor and Ryoshu quickly closed in on either side of him.
"Where do you think you're going!"
- Whooosh──!!
Dongrang violently spun the scythe, and both of them failed to land their attacks.
Damn, this is troublesome. If he keeps swinging the scythe like that, the odds of us losing ground are annoyingly high.
Just one more person would be nice... ah, there.
While Dongrang glared at us furiously, Hong Lu suddenly appeared behind him.
- Slash─!
"Haha, what an interesting moment~"
"Kuh..."
- Swaaash──!!
"Haha, I dodged~"
His tone was relaxed, but Hong Lu still widened the distance to about the same degree as the rest of us under the objectively sharp attack.
What naturally followed was a four-way encirclement.
At that moment, the eyes of the four of us met.
We were probably each thinking different things, but instinctively, we all knew where those thoughts were headed.
Maintaining the encirclement.
In cold-weapon combat, when multiple people face one, there's no more efficient tactic than this.
"..."
A strange silence flowed among the five of us.
A situation where everyone was just watching each other, and no one was willing to move first.
As a result, the advantage was ours.
We still had nine people left, after all. Though right now, they were all busy destroying trees.
If this kept up, Dongrang would lose the moment the remaining prisoners who had finished with the trees joined in.
But even knowing that, he couldn't act recklessly.
Unless his attack landed exceptionally well, the moment Dongrang tried anything, the four of us would react instantly, pressure him, and use our numerical advantage to pull away at once.
And even then, the encirclement held by a thread.
Hit-and-run using numerical superiority. And in an encirclement, no less.
"Kuh..."
"..."
That continued for a long time, and at some point Dongrang, who had been standing still, suddenly let the strength drain from his body.
The gaze peeking from beneath his bamboo hat was fixed precisely on Yi Sang, somewhere behind me.
"...The past is all useless. I'll burn it all away."
Ah, shit. That bastard's leg strength is disgusting too.
"Yi Sang, I'd like you to disappear too."
He bent his knees and leapt high into the sky.
A mad gamble. Is this guy insane?!
"..."
His target was Yi Sang. No one had expected this, but I instantly moved to follow him.
I was certain that when it came to reading and moving in anticipation, I wouldn't lose to anyone on the bus.
Dongrang's scythe, after several somersaults in midair, aimed directly at Yi Sang.
...I'll block it.
"Hup!"
- KWAANG──!!
The scythe and my glove began a direct contest of strength.
This... can I hold it...!
It was a hair-trigger situation. Just as I was about to collapse completely...
A voice full of killing intent scraped past my ear.
"Into the flames."
- KWAANG───!!!!
Sinclair's powerful strike burst out from the side in a surprise attack.
Hit by it, Dongrang's body was flung far backward.
"Nice, Sinclair! That was excellent!"
"...Focus on the fight."
Tch. Maybe because it's his personality, he's not cute at all. Not even fun to tease.
Not that this is the time to be looking for that kind of thing.
"Haa... You're in the way."
Even while staggering, Dongrang burned a cold rage toward us.
At the same time, the tree of Negru grew again.
Damn it. My hand is pretty numb, so how am I supposed to block the next one?
My eyes moved nonstop, searching for the newly created variable.
The act of desperately trying to find an answer. Then, suddenly...
- Drip.
A red liquid flowed down the corner of my eye.
...Blood.
More precisely, blood tears.
Interesting. My eyes aren't even normal eyes, and yet blood tears are coming out.
Could that even be possible? I've never seen eyes like this before, so I'm not sure.
It wasn't a normal situation, but even so, I didn't stop using my eyes.
It'll work out somehow. If I die, what else is there besides resurrection anyway?
"Haa..."
The four who had surrounded Dongrang earlier scattered once more.
Since this was limited to defense, it was a strategy we could use because none of us were being one-sidedly overwhelmed.
Dongrang, who had taken considerable damage from the earlier gamble, showed his displeasure openly.
"Could you move aside a little?"
When he finished speaking, Dongrang was looking directly at me.
"Especially you. You're extremely irritating."
Right. I am the weakest of the four.
But not weak enough to just get beaten one-sidedly like before!
Dongrang spun through an acrobatic somersault and drove the tip of his scythe straight at me.
Was he using all the strength he'd saved up?
- KWAANG──!!
The scythe and glove once again produced a destructive sound. Still, I wasn't being pushed back one-sidedly.
I'm already pushing myself like crazy, so I'm not going down that easily...!
"Tch...!"
With a click of the tongue, both of us were flung back at the same time.
A draw. I had acted on the possibility that flashed through my eyes for an instant, but I had no idea how I'd done it. A miracle.
Dongrang twisted his body in midair and tried to widen the distance again... but.
Did he really think I'd let that happen?
As Dongrang hurried to pull away, the rough shaft of the scythe in his hand was caught precisely by my hand, which had followed immediately after the clash ended.
"This is..."
At the same time, with my remaining hand, I grabbed Dongrang's collar and yanked him back as he tried to flee.
"If you're going to fail an attack so carelessly, you should pay the price."
"Let go of this!"
Dongrang violently tried to shove me away, but it was too late.
The objective had already been achieved.
"This might turn out to be a decent piece. Hold on tight."
- Slash─!!
"Kuh..."
Ryoshu, the first to join in, cut across Dongrang's back with her sheath.
"Wait. It's not over yet."
- Slash, slash──!!
Then two more strikes, clean hits.
Dongrang twisted his body while looking at me, and only then did he kick my stomach and send me flying.
- Thud──!!
"Kehk..."
Even so, because the process wasn't swift, several prisoners who had been watching for an opening from the side quickly closed in.
Then came a barrage of effective hits.
All we gave up was my injury, so it was a worthwhile exchange.
I quickly caught my breath and got back up. There was no time to lie on the ground and rest after taking one hit.
The fight wasn't over yet.
"I've... decided to erase the entire past. So if Yi Sang disappears, then I have no business with you."
Dongrang grimaced deeply, as if thoroughly displeased.
"And yet... why do you keep interfering?"
He stood still, gathering strength as if preparing some major attack.
...Dangerous. It's too close for me to handle.
If we somehow block it well, it'll become an opening, but... ah.
It's coming soon. I need to stop it now.
"I know. Shi. Da."
Hearing Dante's order, Ryoshu reached Dongrang in an instant.
Immediately after, she let her sheath hang long and, precisely toward Dongrang's opening...
- Thunk─.
...stabbed it in.
"Kuh..."
Dongrang's strength drained away from the deep thrust of Ryoshu's attack.
...Success. Good. If that had failed, it would have become a real nuisance.
Big attacks come with big costs, so from here on out he should be easier to deal with.
Dongrang, the one on the receiving end, seemed deeply offended and now openly showed his hostility.
"I understand your meaning... Fine. I'll just make all of you disappear along with Yi Sang."
As he muttered that, a considerable amount of blood was flowing from his body.
Soon enough, one side or the other would be finished.
All I wanted was for us to be the ones who won that bloodbath.
...! It's coming. Something very strong.
"Please become my nourishment."
- Whirl!
Dongrang spun his body wide and launched himself into the sky.
A movement fundamentally different from anything he'd shown so far.
Instinctively, I knew this was the equivalent of his finishing move.
Can I block it? No. I can't. I'm already losing strength to that bastard, so there's no way I can win.
Considering the power, what's needed is... probably E.G.O.
Something I can't use right now.
So I'm not the right one.
"That would be amusing."
The one chosen was Ryoshu.
At Dante's words, her outfit changed in an instant.
A black Japanese-style garment. A cloak with the character for "flame" embroidered on the back of the skirt, oddly enough.
Her left hand had transformed into a monster's arm, and in that hand she held a rough, matchstick-like weapon.
I heard its name was the Fourth Match Flame.
The great E.G.O that had closed out the last Limbus Pass.
By my estimate... the strongest E.G.O we have.
That thing manifested before our eyes.
"This fire, too... is the ecstasy of art."
The heat was so intense it was hard to keep my eyes open, so I instinctively shielded my vision.
This was... the highest-powered technique we could bring out.
In that place where it felt like I'd be burned alive, the two weapons met...
"Kuh..."
"Tch. How dull."
- ─────!!!!!
And then, a scorching blast of heat spread in all directions.
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