Chapter 58: Rematch (II)

Haruki grinned as he found himself in the same forest where everything started, now facing off against Medusa. Shinji cowered behind his servant, already imagining Haruki's spear impaling his chest.

"Don't interfere," Haruki ordered the servant trio. Medusa might still give him some trouble, but victory would belong to him nonetheless. It was a simple truth, not arrogance.

"They will do it though," Arch retorted. "Medea will do it even if it makes you mad."

Everyone gave Haruki and Medusa the space they needed.

Medusa bent forward and touched the ground. She vanished from his sight. Haruki quickly turned and blocked Medusa's explosive kick with his spear. She still pushed him a couple of steps back. Her Monstrous Strength skill temporarily boosted her strength parameter to B-Rank, giving her an edge over Haruki.

'I'll be crushed if I rely on my sight to fight.'

He raised his strength to near B-Rank via reinforcement. Medusa disappeared again and maneuvered around him, leaving several afterimages in her trail. Every opening she got, she attacked him. Honor and chivalry meant nothing to the monster of legends. She targeted him from every direction, throwing her daggers at his weak spots like an assassin. At the same time, she regarded his reaction to her attacks and added a few faints here and there.

"I'll kill you gently," she whispered behind him and kneed his back.

His reinforced back ate the full brunt of her knee. He staggered a few steps before he regained his balance.

By the time he turned around, Medusa had vanished in the veil of dense forest. She darted from tree to tree, creating a web of chains that extended from her hair. Her superior experience pushed him into a corner, or so it seemed from Semiramis's perspective.

They were entangled in a furious whirlwind of blows. Violet arcs clashed with pink as Medusa's serpent-like fluidity clashed with Haruki's precise spear hits. The ceaseless noise of metal on metal echoed throughout the forest, frightening every other life form including Semiramis' familiars.

"He is losing," Semiramis said as she turned to Medea. "I'm still surprised my master can keep up with Rider. She is stronger than me."

"You're wrong," Artoria said, her eyes unmoving from Haruki and Medea's blazing battle. "Master is being defensive on purpose."

Medea nodded. "He hasn't used his trump card."

"The truth was far from my observation." Semiramis put on a serious expression as she looked at Shinji. "That boy is fated to perish here today. He shouldn't have angered my master."

"What did he do?" Artoria asked, clueless about Haruki's hatred of Shinji. "Can you fill me in?"

Medea told Artoria everything she knew about Shinji's past.

Meanwhile, Medusa struggled to put a scratch on Haruki. Her daggers couldn't actually pierce Haruki's reinforced body. Haruki blocked every attack aimed at his weak spots as though he could foresee her attacks. Then again, she expected a 'monster' like herself to be this formidable.

"I'm inferior to others," Medusa admitted. "I'll feast on your blood to regain my strength."

She wondered why she provoked him when his calm expression hadn't flinched since the start of the battle. Maybe she just wanted to raise his unease.

"Yeah, no. My blood is for me and me alone."

Haruki swung his spear in front of him, and it answered with a crisp swish that tore through the air and parried another dagger thrust from Medusa. This time Medusa rebounded from his strength. The effects of her "Monstrous Strength" skill wore off, leaving her with C-Rank strength. The lack of magical energy sapped her parameters even further.

Haruki closed in on Medusa and swung down his spear on her head. She crossed her daggers to block; the force pushed her half a foot into the ground.

Haruki let go of the spear and delivered a spin kick to her gut. She crashed into a tree, tossing wooden splinters everywhere.

"There she goes."

Haruki relished the utterly terrified look on Shinji's face. As Medusa got back up, he dashed out and traded a couple of blows with Medusa. She still had her Noble Phantasm "Bellerophon" but she lacked the magical energy to pull it off. So she focused on fighting by instinct, which wasn't enough. Her movements slowed down considerably after losing the skill boost. Nothing she did got her through Haruki's perception. She had analyzed Haruki's fighting style to a tee. Yet, she couldn't do anything against an opponent who was vastly superior in both parameters and had a bottomless supply of magical energy.

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'It's not hard.'

Haruki idly thought. He followed Medusa's snake-like techniques thanks to his enhanced perception and his experience in the Land of Dead. He had a hunch that the authority in his eyes was related to 'perception' or 'time.'

"She is super nerfed," Arch chuckled. "She isn't using her Mystic Eyes. Considering your Magic Resistance skill, it will only lower your parameters."

"Give up, Rider," Haruki said as he tilted his head to dodge her dagger and shoved his fist in her gut. "You can't beat me."

The non-lethal punch sucked all the air from her lungs. She fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. She expected more attacks to pour down on her defenseless back, yet no pain came. She raised her head, peering through her blindfold. Haruki wasn't looking at her as if he was done with her.

'My defeat was inevitable.'

She could still pull off her blindfold and try her Mystic Eyes. She could push her Monstrous Strength into becoming a monstrous entity that might evolve into an unstoppable calamity. A glance at the pathetic fear on Shinji's face, and she gave up every notion to fight. She had done her job as a servant. She tried more than anyone would do in her position.

'He isn't worth the rampage.'

She might have done it if her master treated her with respect and kindness. She just couldn't find it in herself to become a monster to defend trash like Shinji.

Meanwhile, Haruki grinned at the notification panel floating in his face.

[Awakening Progress: 4.5%]

More than three dungeon floors worth of progress in one fight. He'd gladly take this growth any time of the day.

"Caster, seize the Grimoire from Shinji."

Medea cast the 'Atlas' spell on Shinji. The air grew heavy and trapped Shinji in one place. It could freeze a servant who possessed C-Rank mana parameter or lower. Shinji, who didn't even have magic circuits, could do nothing as the chill of the spell seized every fiber of his being. The Grimoire flew out of his grasp and came to Haruki's hand.

"W-What… what are you doing?" Shinji's eyes shook in pure terror, the only body part he could move at the moment. "Matou Family won't spare you… you if anything happens to me."

Haruki smiled at the threat as he sparked a fire in his hand. The Grimoire, which gave Shinji a sense of authority, burned into ashes within seconds.

"Don't worry," Haruki said, walking to Shinji. "You won't be getting an easy death. About the Matou Family," he sneered. "Your old man will join you in hell."

"Why?" Shinji growled, realizing he won't be getting mercy now. "What DID I do?"

He couldn't find anything wrong with himself. He always minded his own business after Haruki began his bullying. He only attempted to kill Haruki after all the suffering he went through at his hands.

"I didn't save Sakura because I couldn't… You BULLIED me every day. You beat me up like I was your personal punching bag. You are the BAD guy. You won't get away easily."

Haruki shook his head. "I don't care if I'm good or bad. You'll die. That's all there is to it."

He might be innocent in this timeline, but he was simply Haruki's most hated character.

Tired of Shinji's excuses, he slapped Shinji with his spear and knocked him out.

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