Chapter 22: Chapter 21

"I found… you~"

I slashed her neck immediately without giving her enough time to wake up.

My mind cannot think straight. My body is shaking yet I try to control my deepest hatred towards her.

Losing my temper might cost me my revenge.

Even though she killed my friend, it was still a painless death. I want to give her a painless one too. Even if she killed him by accident, I will not yield.

Hobgoblins will exact revenge even if it means everything we have.

Still, it has been a long time since I attacked her with a knife. Why hasn't it come in contact yet? As if the world has been slowed down…

My instincts… does that mean my life is in danger? Shit!

I strengthen my senses to the maximum, alerting myself, and preparing for the worse yet nothing happened.

Confusion is the only emotion I felt. My instincts shouldn't forcefully activate any of my spells if I'm not in danger. Something is wrong but I can't put my finger on it.

I looked into her bloodied face and saw nothing but a corpse. That was until she moved.

She slightly moved. I'm sure of it. It's all for nothing, I have to end it all right here, right now before she wakes up and kills me.

With all of my strength, I tried to make the beheading faster. My body is at its limit. Every single fibre of my body is at its limits but as long as I move, I will not yield.

Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, DIE!!!!!!!

Then, it came with contact.

That short moment was the moment I knew… that I won. 

With all of my rage put in, I decapitated her head with ease.

It was strangely easy. No, it would be more accurate to say that it was smooth. Seconds after the cut, my body instantly fell from the pressure I put on myself. 

I cannot move an inch, that was the only chance I had. If I had waited for a tad bit longer, maybe I would be the one to perish.

"Hehehe…"

I chuckled.

"Hehehe…"

My satisfaction began to raise. As if an unopen lid came upon the world.

"HEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! This is for you, Boro!!!" I shouted full of happiness "I avenged your death!"

I laughed while coughing off some blood. It seems that the power I exerted was too much for me. It didn't even matter though, all that mattered is Boro's revenge.

Others might see it as petty, but my emotions say otherwise. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That is the hobgoblin's way.

5 minutes have passed. I was laying there, resting my body. Seeing the ceiling of the cave, with no skies. Skies are a myth after all.

My strength was recuperating at a faster rate than normal. That's not all, my speed of thinking, reflexes, recovery rate, all of that got a boost albeit slightly.

This is not normal. My body shouldn't be this strong. Was it due to breaking my limits?

This is only a hypothesis but is my body adapting to my current state? Maybe it concluded that my environment was too much for the current me to handle so it adapted based on that short extreme second earlier. 

It sounds impossible but with the help of aura, everything can come true.

I got up wobbly and looked at my surroundings.

The destruction that entity caused is enormous. This is not worthy to be called a face now.

"To think that I killed someone capable of doing this… it shouldn't be this easy."

Reaching that conclusion, I looked at the entity's body yet what welcomed me alerted me to the fullest.

My guts flared up.

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Goosebumps all over my body.

The body is gone, with no trace and sound whatsoever.

I activated my perception spell to think this one through. 

I'm sure that I killed that thing. I am so sure of it. Where did it go then? Was it an illusion spell? No, the slice felt so real. There is no way that wasn't the real one… either way, I shouldn't let my guard down.

I slowly draw my knife with the intention of killing everything that moves.

The drops of water from the top of the cave are the only sound I'm hearing. With my extraordinary senses, I should be able to sense her coming. 

Seconds passed. 

My body is tense to the point that I can barely move a muscle. The entity must've fled long ago yet something is telling me that that is not the case.

Suddenly, a fluctuation of mana behind me materialized. I only knew one answer to it.

With all of my stock-up strength, I swung my knife to my back in a circular motion. The move was so explosive and powerful that the mana outside tore through my skin. 

Even with all of that, it all stopped with the entity's block.

Surprisingly, She caught my attack with no problem.

We gazed at each other for a brief moment. This is also the first time I have seen her clearly and what's weird is that she has no wounds.  

Some bits of her face is missing. The mana from the surrounding area appears to be automatically repairing her body at a seemingly infinite rate. Her wounds earlier might just be a hoax now.

Even with this realisation, I didn't give up. I took advantage of the situation and dropped the knife as a distraction. 

She didn't flinch.

The knife slowly descended to the ground. Normally, everyone would look at the only weapon the enemy has but nope, she didn't fall into this one.

With that conclusion, I kicked the knife at high speeds aiming straight at her head. It was so unexpected that she released her grip.

She blocks it with her hand injuring it in the process. This is the only moment that I may have the advantage so I continued my attacks fiercely by following up with a drop kick.

She reacted to it pretty quickly and blocked it with her non-injured hand changing the trajectory of my attack.

It threw me off balance. 

That's not all, the hand that she used to block the knife suddenly gathered a lot of mana. It's an attack that I can't avoid.

"Wind: hasta Aeris."

Shit. She's using her injured hand to conjure a sure-kill spell towards me. That's beyond unexpected. There's no hobgoblin in the world insane enough to make a spell while in that condition. It's too idiotic and the chance of it failing is off the charts.

Even with that, she's still doing it. Will power nor focus isn't the problem here. She's just not in the condition to fire it.

I should prepare for the impact. If this bitch wants to die then she shouldn't take me with her.

I back away in an off-balance state. Worst-case scenario, the attempted magic attack will explode in her hands. If not, I'll go and attack her again.

Then it hit me. What if the magic worked? What if she's capable of doing that? My instincts momentarily warned me but my rational side came in and took over my decision.

With that said, the mana in her hand started conjuring. First, it was just a blade. A blade the size of my head. Then came out the transparent handle, it's a spear precisely.

This should be the moment where the mana destabilises. This should be the moment she explodes yet she's preparing her spell smoothly.

Finally, the magic got released.

My thinking speed and my reaction time aren't in harmony. I can see the spear coming right after me at super-sonic speeds yet all I could do is nothing.

I closed my eyes in acceptance of what was about to come… 

Death.

At least I'll join you now Boro.