Chapter 94 - Chapter 84 - All I Can Do Now

)—Reus—

The first time I felt scared of Aniki was when I left the mansion as a child.

I, who was scared because I was a Cursed Child and left without permission, was beaten by Aniki. At that time, my body really shivered, and I was scared that I was going to be killed.

It was scary, but… since I was aware of Aniki's kindness now, I didn't feel scared anymore.

Although there were times that I became scared, like when I was being selfish or when I got scold at the time of eating snacks, the feeling didn't make my body tremble.

The anger that Aniki showed in the labyrinth at the school, I didn't think that it was scary because it wasn't directed at me. Rather, it was reliable and made me want to become stronger.

And now… the bloodlust unleashed by Aniki was thrown at me.

Even though Aniki was just standing there, I felt that my body was naturally trembling and my heart was tightly held.

Although I had encountered strong enemies and I had been directed by bloodlust during training… today's bloodlust was incomparable.

"Reus. This is the first battle, so come at me with the intent to kill." (Sirius)

Aah… was there such a thing?

With those words just now… I noticed that it was pointless to lightly think, whether he was being serious, or with all his techniques.

If I didn't fight Aniki with the intent to kill, I would be killed instead.

I instinctively… understood.

{…} (Announcer)

The Announcer-neechan was silent, maybe because she was also overwhelmed by the bloodlust that Aniki unleashed.

The game won't start without the signal from the female Announcer, and it seemed there wasn't even a single complaint from the audience in a situation where the match wouldn't start until so much time had passed. It looked like the audience was also overwhelmed by the bloodlust and they couldn't say anything.

And I, who personally received the bloodlust, desperately tried to suppress my body from trembling without averting my eyes away from Aniki.

"…It is unlikely that the match will start if it stays like this. Shall we begin without the signal?" (Sirius)

This was… Aniki's true appearance.

From that warm and calm voice of Aniki, which was like Tou-chan, there was no emotion in it, as if I was an unrelated person.

If Aniki loathed me, he would ordinarily show such eyes and voices.

To that extent… I don't like it.

"What's wrong? Are you hesitated with this degree of bloodlust?" (Sirius)

I don't like it… but since I don't want let you down, Aniki… I will muster my heart.

It wasn't a scary situation.

Although Aniki wasn't angry at me, for him to hurl such bloodlust… I was being tested.

To be tested like this, I was starting to be recognized by Aniki.

So…

"Ooooooo!" (Reus)

I roared with every effort after pulling my partner out, forcibly suppressing my fear.

To begin with, I wasn't used to fear.

Fear was a sensor that perceived hostility, and if you could feel it, you could know and avoid danger. That was why Aniki said that it was important to control fear.

What I did just now was control the fear, and I would use all of my strength to fight Aniki with the intention to kill.

That's… just it!

{…Ha!? I'm sorry! I was caught up with the bloodlust from Participant Sirius! Since Participant Reus is also prepared enough… I think that I will start the match. Well then, the Final Round… Begins!} (Announcer)

That Nee-chan had somehow responded and the match began with the signal.

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And as the gong resounded, Aniki ran and was already several steps closer to me. That unusual speed was still the same as ever.

Compared to Aniki, I was slow, so I raised my partner overhead without moving from the spot and wait.

"I'm going, Aniki!" (Reus)

I swung my partner down, and Aniki pulled out a knife at almost the same time, but I thought that I was a bit faster, since I wasn't moving.

However, since I didn't even think that my sword would connect, I swung my partner down with my right hand, and immediately released a left hand blow towards the rear.

At that moment, my Tekkou collided with Aniki's knife, who went around behind me, and the sound of scraping metal resounded.

"Hmmm…" (Sirius)

"Kuhh!" (Reus)

Although I defended well against the knife with a backhand blow swaying with intuition, Aniki was definitely aiming for my head.

And since Aniki was using a knife made of Mithril, I might have been killed if I used a common Tekkou. However, since my Tekkou was also made of Mithril, I was able to stop the blow.

I loaded my strength to blow away the knife, but Aniki tilted the knife to catch my fist, twisted his body in the air and released a kick.

I avoided the kick aimed at my face by crouching down, and then, I swung my partner up while turning around, but Aniki avoided it in midair by using [Air Step].

When I thought whether he was taking some distance away from me with that momentum, he put away the knife and held his usual sword this time. It seemed like he was going to restart all over again.

{Eh…? Just now, he made an incomprehensible movement in midair… A-anyway! Even though we have seen the match with Participant Beowulf, Participant Sirius swiftly and skillfully went around the opponent's rear… and to add to that, the sword and fists wielded by the fury of Reus! How far have both participants trained!?} (Announcer)

I used [Shattering Strikes] towards Aniki, who attacked from the front, but they were all avoided, as I expected.

And then, Aniki took the opening that occurred after the end of the six slashing strikes and thrusted his sword, but I defended by using my partner as a shield. I purposely made a smaller swing on the last slashing attack to reduce the opening, so I was able to defend because it was a greatsword with a wide blade.

While using my partner as a shield, I tried to blow Aniki away with a ram attack.

"Not yet!" (Reus)

Swinging my partner up with one hand, I chased after Aniki, while cladding my other fist with flames; but Aniki, who rearranged his posture in midair, pointed his palm at me.

"[Impact]!" (Sirius)

"[Flame Shot]!" (Reus)

[Flame Shot] was an original spell that I made and it had the same power as the Intermediate Fire spell, [Flame Lance].

Normally, it might be good to use [Flame Lance], but this spell was convenient because I could hit or skip it based on the situation.

The flame wrapped around my fist jumped out at the same time as I activated the spell. It hit Aniki's [Impact] and caused a big explosion.

I couldn't see anything because of the smoke screen. Without being concerned about it, I swung my partner down at a place where he could be, but there was no response.

"—!? Is it that way!?" (Reus)

The smoke was blown off when I swung my partner at the direction where Aniki could be based on intuition and smell, and then I perceived Aniki, who had bent down to avoid the sword.

Aniki came closer by crawling on the ground from his bent position, so I unleashed a kick, trying to intercept him.

"…Ouch!" (Reus)

I thought that Aniki would avoid that, but he accepted my kick with his arm.

Although my posture wasn't stable, the kick unleashed with [Boost] was powerful enough to easily blow people away. However, Aniki didn't even make the slightest tremble, as if I was kicking a huge tree. …Or perhaps I should say, I was the one who felt pain!

Since the feeling of kicking felt strange, I looked at Aniki's feet and there was a big crack on the cobblestone of the platform.

The shock received was dissipated through his feet, and by the time I realized that it was the technique used to ward off Jii-chan's killer technique…

"Aaggaahh!?" (Reus)

Aniki's fist sank into my stomach.

I was blown off to the rear with a blow that made me think that there was a hole in my stomach for a moment, and I was rolling on the platform.

It hurts so much, but… I was prepared for this much, so I could bear it!

As I arranged my posture, I stood up with both feet while rolling, but… there was an arm wrapped around my neck at the same time.

At the time when I noticed Aniki's hand, my legs were swept and I was thrown down with my back on the floor.

{Participant Sirius, far from having caught up with Reus, who blew away, he threw him on the floor. Obviously, the speed is getting higher than the previous match!} (Announcer)

This was bad… Aniki's assault was stronger than I expected.

At the last moment, I took a defensive stance to lower the damage, but Aniki hit my back and then he pointed his palm at me who was still choked.

"—!?" (Reus)

Although my breathing was disturbed, I had no time to relax.

Right when Aniki released the [Impact], I separated from the situation to react as it struck the floor, and got blown away from the aftermath.

I got up after being blown away, just like earlier. I somehow managed to stop myself from falling off of the platform.

Thanks to the big distance between us, Aniki didn't continue his pursuit. Finally, I was able to arrange my breathing.

"Gohooo! Haa… Haa… that's dangerous…" (Reus)

Aniki, who was looking at the platform which got hit by [Impact], looked over. However, he was still releasing bloodlust with cold eyes.

Aniki was only slightly serious from the earlier exchange of blows, but I could see it.

I'd strengthened my body with [Boost], and if I wasn't used to getting hit, I would've fainted because I couldn't defend and avoid… no, if I didn't do good, I might've died. That was the degree of his assault.

In particular, the strength of the [Impact] was enough to crush the platform, so I would certainly lose consciousness if I directly received it.

{The assault has finally stopped, and a part of the stage was broken because of Participant Sirius' spell! That was a chantless blow… Aah, I'm falling in love!} (Announcer)

"Is it over?" (Sirius)

"That's… not it!" (Reus)

After rearranging my breathing, I kicked the ground and ran towards Aniki, while enduring the pain that covered my body.

Although I didn't like the difference in strength between me and Aniki, I understood that to certain extent. Even though I continued fighting like this, Aniki calmly handled my assault and made a precise counterattack.

Besides, even if it was said that we were killing each other, it would be alright to leave the platform or surrender if I thought that it was impossible.

However… I would absolutely hate it if this ended without being able to do anything.

Even if all of my assaults could be avoided… I couldn't give up until I got defeated.

Even if he was stronger, even if the level was too different, Aniki was the same person as me. Whether Aniki would be careless or not, if my attack surpassed Aniki's expectations, even for a moment, it was definitely reachable.

Jumping into Aniki's bosom, I unleashed a fist while swinging my partner, but Aniki handled it and took the opportunity to unleash a fist.

Although the fist unleashed was stopped with the Tekkou, the weight of the blow, which was higher than the defense of the Tekkou, made my whole body jolt and that was gradually depleting my stamina.

If it's just power, I had more than him. My body became bigger than Aniki, so I thought that was the only thing I had more than him.

Nevertheless, by making a small adjustment to his [Boost], which was incomparable to mine, Aniki overwhelmed me and averted my assault with minimum effort.

Using Beowulf's technique, [Heat Haze], Aniki kept moving after creating two afterimages, but I was coping with my partner swaying according to my intuition.

It wasn't really a proper swing. My intuition seemed strangely sharp, unlike Aniki's. In particular, the place where I attacked was where Aniki moved.

The present me was winning against Aniki only in regards of pure strength and born intuition. I was somehow able to keep up because of that, but… it was only a matter of time before I collapsed.

Far from Aniki jumping to avoid the swing of my partner, without being confused by the afterimage, he jumped into my bosom with a triangular jump in midair by using [Air Step] and thrusted his knife.

I somehow managed to defend it with the Tekkou; but Aniki jumped over my head and went to my back, and the backhand blow that I released in reaction was avoided this time.

"Guhh! Not yet!" (Reus)

I tried to defend the released fist with my partner, but I couldn't make it in time. Hence, Aniki's fist sank into my body.

Rather than swinging my partner as a sword anymore, I used it more as a shield to intercept Aniki's assault, but even with that, it didn't stop the assault. I just couldn't stop it.

I had no other choice but to attack now. Regardless of being beaten, I kept wielding my sword and fist while defending only my vital points.

{Participant Reus is boldly attacking, but that doesn't rival Participant Sirius' fierce attacks. But… Participant Reus still hasn't been defeated yet! What an unbelievable will and strength!} (Announcer)

As Aniki avoided my kick, I tried to defend against his counterattack, the knife swung, with the left-handed Tekkou, but he aimed at the uncovered part of the Tekkou and blood poured out because it got stabbed.

"Uooo! Wha!?" (Reus)

So I gave up on my left hand.

In short, I had to sacrifice my left arm and swung my partner, but Aniki calmly avoided by bending his leg like a whip, and then he aimed at my flank.

Defense… I won't make it.

I will endure—…!?

{Participant Reus! He received attack again—…} (Announcer)

This was bad… it was more than I expected…

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