110 – Ethiopia – 4
“You tried to achieve your goal, but failed. But you’re not like that, are you? I heard that you weren’t even interested in it.”
Cron’s words shake my spirit.
“Then what is the reason you are doing this?”
At first I thought they noticed I was the possessor.
However, after listening to the story, it was easy to see that this was not the case.
Why can’t I concentrate?
“The future where Avatar disappeared. It must have been a happy ending for you, but to promise to change the future for someone you weren’t interested in originally. Isn’t that tantamount to deception?”
It was because there was me who sympathized with his words to some extent.
Of course, I’m not regretting my promise to save Reina.
Because I’m not the real Ike, and the thought that I’m not qualified is a worry I’ve already brushed off before.
But there is one thing that never changes.
The truth that never changes no matter how hard I try.
That’s the fact that I’m not really Ike Axus.
How will Reina react when she learns the truth?
‘Even if I’m lying about a very important fact?’
‘Yes. Never. If it’s Ike, I’m sure there must be a reason.’
I remembered a conversation I had with Reina in the past.
Of course, Reina said that at the time, but that’s basically because she thinks of me as ‘Ike Access’.
How will she react if she finds out that I am not Ike?
I’m afraid to find out, so I’m keeping quiet, so maybe I’m deceiving Reina, just like Cron said.
“Answer me, Ike Axus?”
No, never mind.
You already know.
If I stayed still, Reina would die.
How can you stay still when you know that someone dear to you is about to die?
In the first place, the four guys who belonged to Avatar, dare to say such a story with what qualifications.
“What does it matter to you!”
A crone’s spear that attacks her shoulder like a poisonous snake.
I erased the thought of stopping it from my mind.
There was an obvious skill gap between him and me, and it was only natural that we would have to suffer losses to overcome it.
“Big… !”
“Ike?!”
My left shoulder was pierced straight through, and an unpleasant sound like a push rang in my ears.
If I hadn’t prepared myself, I would have collapsed and screamed in pain.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t stay still.
“Huh?”
I didn’t stop and took his step towards the crone.
Obviously, that meant that Kron’s spear would pierce my shoulder even deeper.
“Huh… !”
Even though it was a fleeting moment, it was to the extent that I thought I felt pain for an eternity.
Still, this will open the way.
Cron’s spear completely penetrated my shoulder, and thanks to that, the distance between me and Cron became even closer.
And without hesitation, I swung his right hand up.
“I thought you would come out so recklessly.”
What I aimed for with Neia was Cron’s left hand holding the spear.
The spear had gone through my shoulder, so Cron couldn’t escape with the spear. Eventually, he let go of the spear and backed away.
“Helen, the sheep….”
“Yes!”
At the same time as I called, Helen jumped at Cron.
No matter how good Cron is, he won’t be able to overwhelm Helen in a hand-to-hand combat.
That will give me time to recover while Helen holds out against Cron.
“Ike!”
“Ike Young master!”
At Reina and Atal’s call, I looked back and pulled out the spear that was piercing my shoulder.
Then, along with intense pain, a huge amount of blood flowed from his shoulder.
“Ike, the scars are too much….”
“Raina, I’m fine, cover Miss Helen.”
She couldn’t overwhelm Helen in hand-to-hand combat, and it was clear that Cron would excel in her skills.
I couldn’t leave Helen alone in that situation.
“… Okay. Dear Atal, thank you.”
“Yes. Miss Reina. I will kill them as quickly as possible and join them.”
Raina regrouped and started covering Helen.
Then I slowly approached Atal and showed him the wound.
“… It’s definitely our side that’s in a hurry, but this was too reckless, Prince Ike.”
“Sorry.”
A pure white light streamed from Atal’s hand and wrapped around my left shoulder, the pain slowly fading away.
As I glanced away, the large hole in my left shoulder began to slowly heal.
“Once the first aid is over.”
And after the hole was completely filled, I got up again holding Neia.
“… Are you sure you want to fight again right away?”
“It should be. I can’t be resting.”
“The healing magic I just used is only first aid. It’s literally the same, only the shape has been restored to its original form, as it has been shattered into a mess, down to the bones. But if you swing your sword there….”
“It’s okay.”
Obviously, I only turned my shoulders slightly, but I heard a creaking sound from inside.
But now we had to fight with all our might.
I can’t just rest and wait like this.
“… All right. But please be as careful as possible.”
“Yes.”
Neia felt a lot heavier than usual, but she stepped in front of her again.
Fortunately, while I was being treated by Atal, there were no major problems.
Helen was only counterattacking once every halfway while blocking Cron’s attack, and Raina was also keeping Cron in check with her protection magic and debuff-type magic at the same time.
“Huh!”
From nob le mt l dot com
Put in spirit and dig into the gaps in the crones.
If you don’t have your abilities as a demon or your main weapon, a spear, it can be quite helpful.
“Is the treatment over, Mr. Ike? Then could you answer my question earlier?”
I lightly ignored Cron’s words.
No matter how laid-back it may seem, Cron is now slowly being driven into a corner.
Still, it must be to steal my composure somehow.
Don’t fall for needless provocations.
“Hmm. Do you have any intention of answering?”
Swing the sword without hesitation.
Cron was avoiding me and Helen’s combined attack with flexible movements, but he did not counterattack.
Unless you have an insane amount of mana like Helen, no matter how much mana you put on your body, you can’t block the sword, so it’s only natural.
“If the goal you want is different in the same situation, wouldn’t it be a different person no matter how much the mind and body are the same? Especially if the reason for the change is a feeling of regret. Then, no matter how you think about it, moving for someone you couldn’t save or had no interest in in the first place seems like deception.”
… Why does Cron keep asking the same question without giving up even in the same situation?
Because I want to hear the answer.
“… Hmm. It’s getting hard.”
“Ha!”
And that was a very fleeting moment.
When Cron’s gaze was fixed on me, Helen closed her distance and poked her elbow, and Cron frowned at her for a moment as if caught off guard, then blocked Helen’s attack with both of her hands.
A slight gap was revealed at that time.
Before anyone could shout it out, I was swinging Neia at the gap.
And.
“Caught.”
As soon as Neia pierced Crohn’s shoulder, I lost consciousness.
★
“How is it? I saw Ike-kun’s movements earlier and copied them.”
What just happened, Reina and Atal didn’t understand at all.
A gap revealed through Helen’s precise attack.
And Ike, who accurately punched that gap.
However, Cron did not collapse.
On the contrary, Helen rolled and landed on the floor at some point, and Ike flew into the cave.
“No matter how hard it is, it’s too much to deal with 4 people at the same time. First of all, I thought it would be better to end Ike-kun, who is a role that endures in front.”
“How the hell….”
Atal’s eyes shook violently.
Because.
“How can I use the ability of a witch?”
Because before I knew it, Cron’s shoulder that Ike stabbed had turned into that of a beast.
Obviously, the barrier stone was still activated.
Nevertheless, Cron was using his abilities as a demon.
“Oh, this? Certainly, even now I can’t absorb the mana of the air, but I can use what I’ve absorbed beforehand. So until now, it only momentarily changed into the beast’s body when it was attacked that seemed a little dangerous.”
Cron said that and shrugged his shoulders.
“But after seeing what Ike did earlier, I changed my mind. I’d rather show a gap on purpose and counter when attacking there. I was worried about trying it for the first time, but luckily it worked perfectly. Well, I used up most of my remaining magic power to parry that attack.”
Cron’s shoulder turned into a human again.
And there was not even the slightest scar left.
“Okay. Now that I’ve answered all the questions, shall we fight again?”
“Ike is….”
“Are you Ike? Hmmm, I blew it in there, so I guess I’m rolling down the stairs by now. It’s probably half-determined, and if you’re not lucky, you’ll meet Uncle Rex and you’ll surely die, right?”
At Cron’s assertion, the vitality in Reina’s eyes began to disappear.
“Miss Reina!”
And it was Helen who awakened Reina.
She let out her rough breath before she knew it, and Helen, who had risen, resumed her posture as if it were natural.
“Quickly go into that cave and find Prince Ike.”
“… ? You just said it. It’s half-decision, and if you met Uncle Rex, she’d be dead?”
“Prince Ike couldn’t have died.”
There was confidence in Helen’s eyes when she said that.
“I promised when I got here that no one would die. There’s no way Prince Ike would break that promise, right?”
“That is such a stupid logic.”
There was no logic in Helen’s words just now.
However, it was enough for her to awaken Reina’s spirit.
“… That’s right. Ike couldn’t have died.”
“If you know, go quickly to that cave and find Prince Ike. We will hold out.”
“Ha, but Ms. Helen. Now, if I leave here, you two will….”
“You told me when you first came here, right? No matter what happens, act as a majority. Even if Reina-chan leaves now, there will be two of us. The majority is the same. Conversely, if Miss Reina remains here, Prince Ike will be alone.”
“… All right. I will be back soon, so please hold on as long as you can.”
“Yes. Do not worry.”
Reina finally nodded her head at Helen’s persuasion.
“Is that weird? Why do you think I’ll send you….”
And she moved to stop Rayna from heading to the cave, but Cron.
“Don’t move.”
“?!”
She had no choice but to give up on Helen’s onslaught, closing her distance before she knew it.
It was definitely a completely different, much faster movement than Helen before.
“As expected, there seems to be something. If Prince Ike really is in danger of dying right now, nothing will change if she sends Ray or her sheep.”
Helen opened her distance again and looked at Crohn with a sneer.
Cron, caught in a psychological war before he knew it, frowned for the first time since the fight started.
“… I don’t understand. To create a situation like this when even four people couldn’t get me to win.”
Helen only shrugged her shoulders at Crohn’s provocation, saying that it was foolish.
Helen didn’t feel her despair at all.
“Atal-nim. Are you okay?”
“Well, even though it seems like we’re cornered, we’ve come prepared for this.”
It was the same with Atal.
The opponent is obviously superior to them.
There is nothing strange about a situation where one mistake can lead to death.
Even so, the two of them were smiling lightly as if they had nothing to do with each other, and there was no emotion of desperation in that smile.
Looking at the two of them.
“… It makes me happy. It makes me happy just to imagine that I can take your lives.”
Cron also smiled ferociously.
Starting with Atal immediately using her secondary magic on Helen, Helen and Cron stepped out at the same time without saying who would say first.
Whenever Helen was wounded, Atal’s healing magic enveloped her.
In an instant, before Helen’s fists touched, Cron’s body changed to her demonic beast.
If anyone else had seen the scene, they would have said this.
It’s definitely a bloody slugfest without strategy.