61 — Chapter 61

“You…”

Michael squeezed out a raspy voice.

His eyes were wide and bloodshot as he leveled his magic sword toward me. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth while he ground his teeth together. Despite the terrifying aura radiating from him, his movements were as heavy as lead.

His killing intent was palpable. It didn’t seem like he had any intention of having a conversation. What a troublesome guy.

I gave a thin smirk and pressed the muzzle of the gun harder against the red-haired girl’s temple.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s enjoy a little chat, shall we?”

“Who… who would ever talk to someone like—!?”

Enraged, Michael shifted into a forward stance. He was fully prepared to cut me down.

I aimed the handgun at him and pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the wall with a sharp metallic clang. I hadn’t missed on purpose; Michael had simply vanished.

He had teleported right next to me. But as he tried to lunge from that position, he took a spectacular tumble.

“—! …Guh!”

Falling onto all fours, Michael vomited blood. He hacked and coughed repeatedly, even dropping his magic sword in the process.

“Hey, what happened to all that spirit from a second ago?”

I lined up my sights and fired again. Michael managed to block it with his sword, sending the deflected bullet into the ceiling.

‘He didn’t even use time-stop. He really is running on empty.’

If he wanted to dodge a bullet, stopping time would have been far safer. He wouldn’t have had to take the high-risk gamble of parrying it with a blade. In his current state, Michael couldn’t even manage a proper evasion. It seemed the recent spamming of his skills was finally taking its toll.

“Haah… haah… ugh…”

Michael’s breathing was ragged. He clawed at his chest, glaring at me through tears of blood. I centered my crosshairs on his forehead.

“Give it up. You’ve reached your limit, haven’t you?”

“……”

Michael tried to stand, only to collapse again. His legs were convulsing. For a split second, his form blurred, but nothing more came of the movement. He had likely tried to stop time and failed.

He was weakened to a point beyond recovery. The consecutive use of time-stop had driven him to the brink of self-destruction. However, there was one more reason for his condition.

It was about time I revealed it. For the sake of what came next, I needed him to realize the truth. I looked down at Michael and spoke in a gentle tone.

“You look like you’re having a rough time. You shouldn’t even be able to move properly anymore. Sure, there’s the backlash from the time-stop, but there’s another cause as well. Any idea what it is?”

“Urgh… guh…”

“Ah, close, but not quite. To tell you the truth, I’ve scattered an odorless poison all throughout this area. It’s slow-acting, but it packs a punch. If you think I’m lying, why don’t you take a look at your Status?”

Michael stared into the empty air, his expression shifting into one of slight shock. He had clearly noticed the status ailment icon. Since it wasn’t information that could be intentionally hidden, I thought he might have spotted it on his way here, but it seemed he hadn’t had the mental leeway to check his Status. His head had been too full of bypassing traps and rescuing the red-haired girl.

Michael stared at his own hands, which were stained crimson. Slowly, he shifted that gaze toward me.

“You… despicable… coward…!”

“That’s just how fighting works. The world is designed so that the cowards win,” I replied nonchalantly.

I’d heard this kind of accusation so many times I was bored of it. At this point, I wasn’t about to start feeling regret or remorse.

The poison was far more interesting. When Michael and his group first intruded, there was a lever I’d pulled right at the start. That had activated the mechanism. Since then, a poisonous gas had been constantly permeating the entire area.

The substance ravaging Michael’s body was a lethal toxin derived from dragon carrion. It wasn’t something lukewarm like the paralytic poison I’d used for sniping. Recovery magic couldn’t alleviate the symptoms; the body simply, gradually, died. Alice and I had taken a specialized antidote, so we were completely unaffected. Thanks to that, we were perfectly fine. Sitting beside me, Alice was still elegantly enjoying her tea.

“You were the only one moving while time was stopped, right? That means you’ve inhaled that much more of the poison. Your symptoms are progressing much faster than normal.”

“D-Dammit…!”

Michael lunged as if falling forward. He swung his magic sword in a horizontal arc. It was an impressive move for someone on the verge of death.

“Oops.”

I stepped firmly onto the incoming blade. Pinning it between my sole and the floor, I halted the slash. Then, I punched the defenseless Michael square in the face. He was sent tumbling across the floor, groaning as his head slammed into the wall.

“Ghi… guh…!”

“Stop, just stop. You know better than anyone that you can’t push yourself anymore, right? If you don’t want to die, stay still. Or do you plan on letting your comrades’ sacrifices go to waste?”

I fired the handgun at Michael. The bullet pierced his left leg. Michael merely trembled as he endured the pain, falling into a heavy silence. I advised him in a calm, steady voice.

“You can’t even trigger your time-stop anymore. I suggest you give up. It’s not like I want to hurt you unnecessarily.”

“Not… yet…”

Spitting out blood, Michael somehow managed to stand. He was using his magic sword as a crutch just to stay upright. His body should have reached its limit long ago. He was holding on by sheer willpower alone.

He still intended to fight. The murderous intent in his eyes showed no sign of fading; if anything, it seemed to be gaining intensity. I let out a long sigh and decided to try a different approach.

“Fine. I’ll use the magic words that’ll make you stop.”

I pointed at the red-haired girl I still had restrained. Michael charged without a change in expression, his magic sword glowing brilliantly. I continued talking, unbothered.

“This young lady is also being eaten away by the poison. If left alone, she’ll die, of course. However, hers is a life that can still be saved.”

“……!”

Michael skidded to a halt just inches away. The blade of his magic sword was trembling. He was desperate to cut me down, but he was suppressing that urge with the last vestiges of his reason.

Michael was a fool. But he wasn’t so foolish that he’d lose sight of his goal entirely. He was a man who put his life on the line for his friends. I knew he would stop here.

I slid the handgun back into its holster and made a proposal.

“Why don’t we call off the fight? Let’s make up. If you do, I’ll tell you where the antidote is.”

“Call off… the fight…?”

Michael looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I could understand the feeling. We had been trying to kill each other ruthlessly until now. To suggest a ceasefire at this stage probably sounded like a hallucination.

I placed a hand on the red-haired girl’s shoulder, lightly running my fingers through her hair.

“Conflict only breeds more conflict. Don’t you think it’s futile to try and solve things by killing the other person? I wanted you to come to the negotiating table. I had to be a bit rough, but you wouldn’t have stopped otherwise, right? You would have just used your time-stop to unilaterally finish me off and call it a day.”

“Th-That’s…”

Michael stammered. He couldn’t deny it. If that method had been an option, he would have done it immediately. That’s why I’d taken measures to seal his time-stop.

“Michael, this isn’t a bad deal for you either. You want to save your friend, don’t you? Give me an answer. Will you negotiate, or won’t you? Well, what’s it going to be?”