NOVEL WEB Chapter 194
Chapter 194. Superhuman Strength
Nymph twists her mouth into a sneer, readying her massive hammer. Her eyes gradually turn insane, and if left unchecked, things could get really bad.
Well, I don’t care about Nymph. The problem is my partner. Having her perception altered this much is troublesome.
It’s cruel that she can’t recognize it herself. I want to kill the creator who made the fairy machine. Same for the monsters. It’s obvious they used to be humans. Humans from Shizuku-san’s world, I guess.
But, I won’t hesitate. I don’t care if they were once humans turned into monsters. I’ve always killed opponents in the abandoned town. I’m not a hero of justice.
“Emergency! Emergency!”
“Reporting an anomaly!”
“What’s happening?”
The man-eaters stumble but dash towards us at high speed, uttering pitiful cries.
“Sorry.”
But don’t expect any sympathy from me.
[High Icicle Field]
I imbue mana and create a field of ice. In an instant, the area around me freezes, turning the approaching man-eaters into ice statues. The hall, the size of a gymnasium, transforms into a freezing world, breath turning white, the cold making bodies shiver.
“Sorry, but you can’t even get close.”
No matter how many reinforcements you call, it’s useless. My magic power is 1500, an average A-rank level. C-rank opponents can’t match me.
“Damn you, magician!”
Seeing this, Nymph realizes my magic is more powerful than she expected, judging me as a top-priority threat.
She shoulders her massive hammer, stomping on the metal floor with a thunderous noise, accelerating in an instant.
“Don’t forget about me!”
Shizuku stands in front of Nymph, ready with her sword, but Nymph laughs through her nose.
“Can you handle that equipment?”
Nymph gauges the mana in Shizuku’s sword, judging it insufficient to cut her.
“No problem.”
[One Flash]
Shizuku’s arm blurs as she delivers a high-speed strike. But Nymph doesn’t defend against the approaching blade.
[Regeneration]
She covers her body with healing magic, taking Shizuku’s slash. Normally, Shizuku’s powerful strike would easily cut through, but it only grazes her.
“What?”
Shizuku is slightly surprised by the unexpected result. Nymph, using her automatic healing ability, smirks as she heals the slight wound.
“Too bad! Take this!”
[Shock Hammer]
Nymph swings her hammer, enveloped in shock power. The fierce blow generates a shockwave towards Shizuku.
[Accelerator]
Shizuku accelerates backward. The hammer crushes her afterimage, tearing up the metal floor, and sending fragments flying, creating a crater.
[Spin Shock Hammer]
Nymph wields hammers in both hands, spinning her body to create a whirlwind, pursuing Shizuku like a tornado.
“A brute force attack, huh?”
“Skill doesn’t matter, strength is everything! Die!”
Nymph bares her teeth in a beastly grin, increasing her spin, intent on crushing Shizuku.
Shizuku stands naturally, a thin smile on her face.
“You think I can’t handle the shockwaves from your hammer? Let’s test that theory.”
With a light tap on the floor, she approaches Nymph.
[Storm Strike Dance]
Using a manual control range technique, Shizuku unleashes a storm of sword strikes on the approaching hammer. The tip of the hammer emits a metallic sound as its trajectory is altered and lifted.
“What the hell?”
Nymph stumbles, stopping her spin in surprise.
“I slashed continuously at the hammer’s tip, altering its path. It’s a skillful technique.”
[Swift Wind Sword]
Shizuku smiles faintly, delivering a lightning-fast thrust. Though aimed accurately at the heart, it only cuts the skin.
“Useless! Doesn’t work on me!”
[Bloodwood]
Sharp roots sprout from Nymph’s back, thrusting towards Shizuku. These roots absorb the blood of their target, a powerful magic.
[Mass Flame Shot]
Sakimori shoots flaming scattershots, accurately hitting the roots. The roots burn and deflect, Nymph’s face contorting in agony as she glares at Sakimori with hatred.
“I need to deal with you first!”
“I see now. Older models had useless abilities.”
Shizuku deduces why her attack failed.
“Weapons with low mana don’t cause damage. You’ve got a mana field, don’t you? It’s not in the specs, so you’ve been modified.”
“Ha! Understand and despair! Your attacks don’t work on me!”
Shizuku’s sword, modified from a Goblin King’s sword, is a D-rank weapon. Nymph has a mana field, a skill that prevents damage from low mana attacks. She mocks Shizuku, confident that there’s no countermeasure.
“It’s over!”
[Megaton Press]
Nymph envelops her hammer in fighting spirit, making it gigantic, more like a boulder than a hammer.
She raises it high, bringing it down on Shizuku. It’s a brute-force attack that can’t be blocked or dodged.
Nymph thinks so. But Shizuku laughs it off.
“A mass attack that can’t be parried, huh?”
[Storm Parry]
Shizuku unleashes her sword at high speed on the massive hammer. The repeated strikes at the center make a metallic sound, altering its trajectory again.
So, with a light step, I shift to the right, and the hammer ends up creating just another crater on the floor.
“Strength-focused, huh? You rely on auto-regeneration to keep moving. That’s dumb.”
“But you can’t damage me either!”
“As long as the weapon has mana, right?”
I toss my sword aside and clench my fist, smirking.
“What?”
“My fists will do. I’m good at hand-to-hand combat.”
With a smooth motion, I close in on Nymph. She reacts too late, confused, and hurriedly raises her hammer.
“Take this! Gah!”
“Jab jab jab jab.”
I rhythmically jab Nymph’s face with my left hand. Unable to withstand the flurry of punches, she stumbles.
“Damn it!”
Realizing her hammer is useless, she throws it aside and tries to punch me instead.
But as she punches, I counter, deflecting her blows with my own. My right fist connects with hers, deflecting it, and my left jab lands on her face even faster.
We exchange punches like boxers, but Nymph’s blows don’t land, while mine hit their mark. She relies on brute force, but I’m too skilled for her.
“Jab jab jab straight hook, jab.”
“Ahhh!”
Her auto-regeneration heals the damage, but she still feels pain and can’t attack. Nymph’s face is battered, and she retreats.
Despite her groans, I show no mercy. Smiling, I continue my assault.
“Take this, and this, and this, and this!”
[Teleport]
Desperately, Nymph uses teleportation to escape my relentless attacks.
“So, you put some distance between us.”
[Mass Force Lance]
Sakimori conjures four magical spears of fire, ice, earth, and shadow, launching them at Nymph. With his magic power at 1500, the spears radiate immense mana.
Realizing their power, Nymph raises her hand.
[Dimension Shield]
She distorts space, creating a rift to block the attack. However, the spears of fire and ice dissipate the barrier, and the remaining two pierce her body.
“Guh!”
Confident in her defenses, Nymph is easily pierced and sent flying. Bleeding on the floor, she hastily uses healing magic.
[High Heal]
The holes in her body close, and she stands up, staggering. The enemy is far stronger than expected. Though her mana reserves were vast, she had thought herself superior and judged wrongly.
“Emergency. Requesting support.”
She sends a mental signal to the guards, but there’s no response from the frozen floor or the roots. She decides to retreat using spatial magic.
[Teleport]
Setting coordinates to a safe place, she attempts to teleport, but her body stiffens.
“Won’t activate?”
“You’ve shown too much magic. I’ve spread my mana thinly throughout the room. Without matching wavelengths, you can’t teleport. Though it consumes a lot of mana.”
The man smirks, causing her to tremble. Indeed, her mana detection reveals the room is enveloped in a cocoon of his mana. She grits her teeth at the absurd usage, but still thinks she can break through it easily by gathering mana in her hand.
“This level of mana barrier is nothing!”
“I know. But it’s already over.”
Feeling uneasy at his unwavering smile, she notices Shizuku approaching with a dark, glowing sword in her hand.
“This sword will do the job.”
She turns to face Shizuku, who’s now holding a magic sword shining in the darkness.
[Core Magic Sword]
Using the magic sword secretly crafted by Sakimori, Shizuku employs her technique. Holding the magic sword horizontally, she delivers a finishing blow.
[Storm Strike Dance]
Nymph crosses her arms to block, but it’s futile. Her body is sliced more easily than paper. Gleaming lines run across her body, causing it to fall apart with a wet, unpleasant sound, creating a pool of blood on the floor.
“Finally. I’ve always wanted to say, ‘Good grief’.”
“Glad you enjoyed it.”
Shizuku pretends to adjust an imaginary hat with a smile, a gesture I decide to ignore.
“Well, with the two of us, this enemy was no match.”
“Being strength-focused, it seems we can handle about a one-level skill difference.”
Shizuku agrees with me, but…
“We killed her.”
“It would have been better to immobilize her, but too bad.”
“If you use a technique that slices into tiny pieces, they’ll die.”
Shizuku shakes her head regretfully, but the technique she chose was certainly lethal. Whether intentional or not, that’s the question.
I approach the body, wondering if humans have a core. White particles rise from Nymph’s body and enter mine.
[Obtained Nymph Core]
Good. It seems she can be regenerated. I sigh in relief. Now, how should I handle Nymph’s revival? First, I need to deal with the fox girl. She might be unhappy being saved by an old man on a white horse.