The Former Prodigy Vs. The Self-Proclaimed Varnir-Like Thing

As if he had suddenly trained his muscles to the extreme, the self-proclaimed Varnir’s body swelled up. He looked as though he had grown a whole size larger.

“Fuhaaaaaaaaaah……”

Varnir raised his sword.

“You insolent bastard…! You alone I will never forgive――!”

The instant he spat that out, Varnir lunged at me. His sword came slashing down at a ridiculous speed.

――!?

The force I felt when I knocked it aside with my dagger was nothing compared to before.

“Ha—hahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

The self-proclaimed Varnir burst into loud laughter.

“Well!? How do you like my power!? My strength and speed are on a completely different level from before! How long can you endure it!?”

“No, I do not really need to endure anything.”

I kicked the self-proclaimed Varnir away.

“Hehboooooooo!”

Once again, the self-proclaimed Varnir went flying while screaming his head off.

…Well, it was true that the “force was nothing compared to before,” but that was all. Even if he had grown stronger, he was still nowhere near my limit.

I pointed at the self-proclaimed Varnir.

“Do not expect me to be impressed by that. You are way too weak. At that level, calling yourself one of the Eight Stars is a stretch, you fake.”

“Y-y-y-you bastaaaaaaard!”

The self-proclaimed Varnir shrieked.

…? I was definitely provoking him, but was that really enough to make him that angry?

“I will not forgive you! I will not forgive youuuuuuuuuuuuu! To think you would make a fool of me!”

As he shouted that, the self-proclaimed Varnir pulled out a bright red medicine.

“I truly, truly did not want to use this one thing――but fine! If it is to kill you! Then I will steel myself!”

With a snap, he broke off the tip of the container, and the self-proclaimed Varnir drained it.

“I will stop being human, Iiiiiilviiiiiiis!”

In that instant――

The air exploded around the self-proclaimed Varnir. It was as if the life energy overflowing from inside his body had detonated.

Th-this is――!?

The self-proclaimed Varnir’s body swelled even further. He was now around two and a half meters tall. The sleeves and pant legs of his clothes, stretched to the limit by his bulging muscles, tore apart because the fabric could not withstand the thickness.

The whites of his eyes showed, and thick veins stood out across his head and arms.

“Uuuuh, aaaaaaaaah……”

Strange, incomprehensible sounds leaked from his mouth.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Crack!

With that scream――the self-proclaimed Varnir bent the sword he was holding with both hands. The next instant, the sword snapped like a dead tree branch.

“Buuhaa,” the self-proclaimed Varnir let out a huge breath. Tiny sparks flickered from his mouth.

…Was that even human?

Right after that, the self-proclaimed Varnir sprang at me!

He rushed at me with speed incomparable to before and threw a punch at tremendous speed.

That was――

“Whoa!?”

It was fast enough that I could barely react in time.

No, perhaps I should put it this way――it was a speed where barely reacting was the best I could do.

I did manage to guard against the self-proclaimed Varnir’s attack.

――Tch!

A dull pain traveled through from the opposite side of my arm.

…This was no joke…!

“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The self-proclaimed Varnir mercilessly kept hammering blows into me.

Heavy sounds rang out as flesh smashed against flesh. With every strike, a numbing pain ran through my arms.

Even so――

“You! You! You alone I will killuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

“Too slow!”

Seizing the opening in his attack, I countered the self-proclaimed Varnir. He had not adjusted to the fact that his body had grown larger. He was being swung around by his enormous muscles, his movements had become sloppy, and he had not even realized how much larger his body’s hitbox had become.

A giant body that only wielded violence――no, that was not right. A giant body that was only being flung around by violence could not even reach someone like me, who had only been a little outstanding back in my student days.

Your body is wide open!

My full-force blow smashed into the self-proclaimed Vardir’s side. It crushed even his armor of muscle and drove deep into his flesh.

“Obboaaaaaaaaaah……!?”

That must have been excruciatingly painful. Pressing a hand to his side, the self-proclaimed Varnir staggered backward.

All I had to do was hit him a few more times and render him unable to fight!

But before I could――

Boom! The self-proclaimed Varnir’s muscles swelled even larger.

“BURAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

With that roar, the self-proclaimed Varnir slammed his fist at me.

――!?

It was truly fast――and my movement was just a little too slow. I did not make it in time either to shift my body to the right or to wedge my arm in to block.

His oversized fist, like an enlarged hammer, struck me square in the chest.

“――Gah!?”

An outrageous agony tore through my body. The scenery streamed backward. That was because my body was flying through the air. It ended――

“Gofuh!?”

with the searing pain of my back smashing into the wall. The air rushed out of my lungs like a torrent.

…What was this…?

My body hurt too much to move. The force was unbelievable. My once-clear consciousness was rapidly growing hazy. Ah, if I were to lose consciousness like this――

It would be easier.

I could be free of it.

A small smile touched my lips. Surprisingly, that might not be so bad. I had never been the type to greedily want to enjoy life in the first place. I had only drifted through it listlessly. There were even times when I thought living itself was a bother.

I would not mind dying. My life was practically like death already.

I could hear the inhuman monster in front of me laughing wildly.

“Ahyahyahyahyahyahyahya! This is what happens when you make me angry! I am Vavavavavavaarniiiiiiiir! I am not some being that the likes of you can look down on. Hyahyahyahya!”

My vision began to darken.

That was right, if it did not matter whether I lived or died――

Then I would die here.

If I died, everything would end. I would not have to think about anything anymore. I would not even need to regret having lived a life filled with shame.

Yes, that would be best――

“Incineration! Incineration! Filth must be purged with fireeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The monster drew in a slow breath, then spat crimson flames straight at me.

The vortex of fire burned through the air as it rushed toward me, trying to incinerate me where I lay helpless.

Ah, if this swallowed me――

At that moment, I thought I heard someone’s voice.

――Big brother, you absolutely must not die, okay?

Arisa’s voice.

In that instant――

My right hand drew my dagger and slashed through the flames.

“W-what!?”

I could hear the monster’s voice. But none of that mattered. Right then, all I did was follow the memory flowing up from the depths of my consciousness.

It was from four years ago――when my father died.

It was from the time when Arisa and I became each other’s only remaining family.

After our father’s funeral ended, after the two of us prayed at the family grave, Arisa cried for the first time. She sobbed and sobbed, and then she looked at me and said this.

“Big brother, you absolutely must not die, okay?”

“I will not die.”

“Really? Do not leave me all alone, okay? Promise me?”

“Of course.”

I see――so that was why Arisa never said it.

To a burden like me, a useless freeloader who had been as good as dead for two whole years――

Go ahead and die.

Arisa never once said those words. Even in that state, she still did not want me to die. Because even someone like me, she still wanted me to keep living.

She had thought that just being alive was better.

Ah, I see.

Arisa did not want me to die. All this time, as if praying, as if wishing, she had waited for me to stand back up again.

In that case――

“Do not screw with me! There is no way flames can be cut――!”

The monster spat fire.

My dagger cut the flames apart.

“Wh――!?”

The monster fell speechless.

I let out a small breath.

“I thought it might not be so bad to be burned by the flames of purgatory here today. To let my shame-filled life burn with me. But… sorry――”

Scattering sparks all around me, I continued.

“My noisy crybaby little sister told me to keep living anyway.”