220

The tube left Kavasa’s hand.

As it was thrown toward me, I instinctively took a defensive stance.

What I had considered as a possibility was something that turned my enhanced five senses against me.

Sound?

Or smell?

If I were to flee while in a monster state, I had assumed it would probably be one of those two.

That prediction was correct, but its power exceeded my expectations.

Along with a small explosion, I felt as if I heard a sound.

I did not register it as a loud noise, only a high-pitched lingering ring, like tinnitus.

When I tried to take one step back to dodge Kavasa’s strike as he came forward, my legs did not move the way I expected.

The arm I instinctively raised stopped the spirit sword as it swung down, but that single blow threw my posture badly off-balance.

An obvious abnormality—and I immediately understood the reason.

I could not hear.

I understood that my hearing had been damaged, but I had never imagined it would be so severe that it would even disrupt my sense of balance.

While focusing on Kavasa, who was moving his mouth in front of me, I took the full brunt of the volley of bullets fired at me.

The damage was low, but that was separate from whether I could ignore it.

Kavasa, standing in front of me, did not miss the instant my gaze shifted and came slashing in.

I somehow managed to handle it, but because my stance had collapsed, I leapt backward and showed the ugly sight of landing on one knee.

Then a mana-charged bullet was fired at me.

I had been on guard, so I at least knew where it was coming from. By crossing my blackened arms to protect my head, I succeeded in blocking it, but the bullet pierced through the outer skin of my arms and lodged inside.

Of course, the attacks did not end there. Kavasa closed the distance and followed with a downward slash as if to split me in two.

Judging that taking it would be disadvantageous, I jumped sideways and avoided it.

My landing was disgraceful, but I immediately took a stance, showing that I had no intention of running and bringing the fight back to a reset.

The situation was clearly bad, but thanks to my emotion-suppression function, I could still act calmly.

(If I stay on the defensive, I can maintain this. Since that thing is a consumable, if I hold out until I recover, I still have a chance.)

I exhaled deeply, showed not even the slightest sign of attacking from my side, and gave a small laugh as I made no attempt to hide that I was completely devoted to waiting and countering.

Kavasa, who had probably noticed my intention, stepped forward.

Rachel, standing in the rear, also raised her arm and gave a signal, prompting the soldiers to begin moving.

I had expected them to go on the offensive as if to say they would not let me buy time.

Kavasa approached, and Rachel swung her raised arm down.

As I took a defensive stance, wary of a volley, I saw the spirit sword closing in. When no bullets came flying, I realized I had fallen for a feint.

“Fine work!” I clicked my tongue and tried to dodge, but after detecting a mana reaction, I changed to defending with Assault Mode.

I succeeded in stopping the spirit sword with my fist, but the mana-charged bullet that had been fired grazed my head.

Kavasa’s blow was heavy, and if my stance had not been thrown off, I might have taken a headshot from the side.

Granted, whether it would have reached the human-sized brain that I assumed was housed inside this huge head was questionable, but there was still a very real possibility it would have had some kind of effect.

More importantly, though, I now knew who had fired that bullet.

A small body holding the same gun I had clearly seen that day—Ernestia Hawkwood used her tiny frame to vanish among the soldiers.

(The reason their coordination seems imperfect is because this is an improvised formation… No, if they can do this much on the fly, it’s more than enough.)

I forcefully knocked the spirit sword away, but before I could even check the damage to my fist, I was hit by another volley. Without the slightest pause, Kavasa came slashing at me.

Though my senses were gradually recovering, my hearing had not yet returned.

They probably intended to push through like this, but my combat experience was not so shallow that I would allow that.

Fists and sword clashed.

Now that I had switched to a policy of accepting some injuries, stalling for time was easy.

Judging that he could not finish me off, Kavasa shouted something.

I could not hear it clearly, but I caught enough fragments to understand what he was aiming for.

A mana reaction from behind—I struck aside the spirit sword with my right hand, and in that slight opening, I pulled back my leg, twisted my upper body, and caught with my left hand the bullet that had probably been aimed at my head.

It had only happened to work by chance, but I calmly returned my gaze to Kavasa so they would not realize that.

I dug out the bullet embedded in my left hand and clashed with Kavasa again, but a volley was inserted at every critical moment, so my chance to attack still did not come.

However, as my sense of balance continued to return, my injuries steadily decreased.

Since I was also slowly becoming able to hear voices again, I could learn the timing of their shots, and I succeeded in blocking Ernestia’s bullet a second time.

At that point, they realized I could hear again.

“You’re recovering faster than expected. Second Lieutenant, how many more shots can you fire?”

“One… no, two shots. I’ll make them count.”

Ernestia, out of breath, answered Rachel’s question.

Two more shots from the magic gun that I had to watch out for.

Of course, I had no way of knowing whether the two in the back were telling the truth.

Also, congratulations on the promotion.

Just to be safe, I considered it three shots, and with the situation tilting slightly in my favor, I checked my own condition.

(My hands are covered in wounds. I also can’t ignore the damage to my torso after being continuously shot.)

My recovery was not keeping up.

I had assumed their ammunition would run out first, but a resupply unit came from the base, so that possibility disappeared.

On top of that, they apparently had no intention of increasing their number of soldiers. Since they were fighting only with what looked like elite troops, my usual tactic of “attack the weakest point first” was difficult to use.

Or more accurately, their coordination with Kavasa made it impossible.

Above all, even if I broke through, the one standing in my way would be Rachel with a spirit sword.

(This is bad. I can’t think of a single way to break through this situation!)

Dragging this into a long battle of stamina involved too many unknowns with the enhanced Kavasa, and considering my own rate of attrition, the risk was too high.

On the other hand, turning this into a short decisive battle would be even riskier, because the difference in combat power was too small to force a win.

I had been put at a considerable disadvantage in this battle so far, but I had also obtained a lot of information, so at least I had no shortage of material to judge from.

The conclusion I reached was that I was “completely being strangled out.”

I had no decisive move, and I could not fight a war of endurance.

The only card I had left was Stealth Mode, and the disadvantage of lower defensive ability was fatal against Kavasa.

“No, seriously, what am I supposed to do here?” I felt grateful for the first time that my facial muscles did not do their job.

However, I was not the only one feeling impatient about this situation.

“You can hear again now, right?”

Kavasa, who had stopped to steady his breathing, opened his mouth.

“Of course. Its effect was greater than I expected. I can certainly understand how that could drive me away when I had lost my reason.”

“I see, so that was the state you were in…”

“If you want the details, read the remaining records. Assuming the relevant records remain, that is.”

As if to say the conversation was over, I lowered my hips and took a stance.

My hearing had recovered, though not completely.

From here on, I had to consider going on the offensive.

The time-buying phase was over, and as I shifted my thoughts toward achieving my objective, Rachel walked forward from the rear.

“Lieutenant Colonel, this is far enough. I cannot indulge your selfishness any further. I will join the fight.”

Saying that, Rachel stood beside Kavasa.

“Hey, come on. He’s finally an opponent I can fight seriously. Let me have a little more…”

“No. Judging from the soldiers’ level of exhaustion, continuing any further means we must be prepared for casualties. Lieutenant Colonel, what do you intend to say to the bereaved families if casualties occur?”

Kavasa sighed while looking straight at me.

“Don’t die, my future bride.”

I almost blurted out, “Seriously?”

(Is this a workplace romance? No, is she okay with him saying that?)

I felt like objecting a little, but Rachel cut down Kavasa’s words with, “I do not recall agreeing to that.”

Like my sister, she seemed to be popular.

Well, with that face and figure, men approaching her would probably be a dime a dozen.

I felt a little proud, but that same woman was now joining the battle.

In a sense, it would make my objective of “seizing the spirit sword” easier, but there was no doubt this would become a fight that required even more caution than before.

For the time being, I tried provoking him with, “Rejected, Lieutenant Colonel,” but he only replied briefly, “Shut it.”

“By the way, are you not hardening your entire body?”

Rachel asked, but it was obvious that she was probing whether that was possible.

So I gave the answer I had prepared in advance.

“Meaningless full-body hardening is nothing but wasteful consumption. If one seeks combat efficiency, it is only natural to transform the necessary parts at the necessary moments.”

Of course, I did not say, “I simply can’t.”

Since I also had to practice limited Stealth Mode, full-body Assault Mode was probably still far off. Still, perhaps thanks to repeatedly switching it on and off, I felt the time needed for transformation had shortened considerably compared to the beginning.

It should not have been my imagination, so the results of my training should be showing greatly in this battle.

With neither side having a starting point, and the situation close to a stalemate, this worked to my advantage because of my high healing ability.

The disadvantage was Rachel’s other hand, held behind her while she readied the spirit sword.

If I checked the gazes of the soldiers behind her, she was clearly giving some kind of order through hand signals.

Should I interfere with that?

As if taking advantage of that instant of thought, Kavasa rushed forward.

“Honestly, he watches well,” I thought, feeling as if the difference in our combat experience was being shown to me, but being able to react to it with composure was exactly what made a genetically enhanced soldier what I was.

I met the spirit sword with a fist reinforced by Assault Mode and knocked down every blow in his flurry, but Kavasa’s movements neatly crushed every chance I had to counterattack.

(His sense of distance really feels like that of a battle-hardened veteran.)

This was no time to be impressed, but I could only take my hat off to his skill, since I had not managed to land a direct hit on him even once.

Then Rachel, concealing her presence, would interfere from the side.

If considering damage, it was obvious which attack I should take.

However, accepting the damage and crushing Rachel first would probably be the correct answer.

The problem was that this contradicted my objective, so I could not choose it. On top of that, I had a feeling that her own movements and the existence of the magic gun would prevent me from doing so.

Therefore, my target was to neutralize Ernestia.

It involved danger, but first I had to make her shoot.

To do that, I needed to attack.

I would create a situation where they needed support.

Facing me as I shifted to the offensive with a flurry centered on simultaneous Assault Mode in three places—both hands and my tail—Kavasa could not fully keep up and began to be pushed back as he mixed in evasive movements.

If I moved so that Rachel, who had the shortest reach among the three, could not function as a combat force, their available moves would be limited.

Just as I had aimed, I succeeded in cleanly blocking the real shot hidden among the support fire with my fist.

“One shot left, was it?”

I glanced sideways and confirmed Ernestia’s figure, but her movements were not sharp, and I could tell she was in a state of mana depletion.

It would take time for her to fire the next shot—judging that, I strengthened my offensive so as not to let this chance slip away.

However, Kavasa was strong when he focused on defense.

He was magnificently handling my attacks, even though I was attacking with the intent to exchange damage.

Even while ignoring the support fire and keeping Rachel outside the exchange, I still could not land a decisive blow.

(Haha, he certainly can claim to be the strongest human.)

Even though he held a spirit sword, a weapon beyond human understanding, I felt something close to awe at his strength, which was no exaggeration to call equal to mine.

But sadly,

because of that extraordinary strength, he was not understood.

He can hold out against this much—I had realized I could not break through, but unlike me, she had only just taken the spirit sword in hand and could not accurately grasp the situation.

There was a reason I continued my fierce assault.

There was also a reason I kept pushing Rachel out of my range.

She fell into the trap I had laid in order to achieve my objective: taking back the spirit sword.

However, I could not blame her.

Because Rachel was not someone who belonged on the front line, but a commander.

That was precisely why she misjudged this tightrope walk.

When Rachel tried to force her way into the battle, I had limited myself to checking her with my tail after it had been knocked back.

Unlike Kavasa, Rachel did not have the option of receiving my attack.

Therefore, she did not miss the opening when I concentrated my attacks on Kavasa and stepped forward.

I had believed that if it were her, she would surely move that way.

The spirit sword was thrust from directly beside me.

If it struck a part in normal mode, then with her strength, cutting through me should be no problem.

However, that was not the result I wanted.

So I cancelled Assault Mode, shifted into partial Stealth Mode, and offered my arm to receive the blow.

Rachel’s face filled with a mixture of shock and confusion at my arm vanishing from sight, and the blade of the spirit sword pierced through it.

I was strong against pain.

Even so, I clenched my teeth and endured, then smiled at the perfect timing when I could no longer maintain Stealth Mode and it解除ed.

“Caught you.”

The spirit sword, deeply embedded, was trapped by my muscles and could not be pulled free.

Since I overwhelmingly surpassed her in strength, there was almost nothing she could do at such close range.

Now, if I could just escape, I would achieve my objective.

There was still a troublesome opponent right in front of me, but if I used the woman I had captured, I should be able to do something.

Immediately after I became convinced of my victory, the situation was overturned by a single sentence.

“I’m certain now. You’re ‘Yunos,’ aren’t you?”

At hearing my name, my legs stopped just as I tried to withdraw.

The being in front of me was not the kind of opponent who would miss that.

A blow that could become the decisive strike was swung down, and for an instant, the word defeat surfaced in my mind.