386. Country of Sakura, Cherin and the Seven Holy Swords [157]

「Gu, gah!」

My straight right sent Deal flying horizontally across the ground, knocking down a number of trees.

He escaped instant death by erecting Hydra’s defense once again at the very last second. What a stubborn guy.

「……Ria.」

Ria was lying at my feet.

「…It must have hurt.」

I slowly pulled out the sword that was thrust into her chest and then crushed it with my bare hand.

As I gently touched Ria’s cheek with my left hand, I felt a slight warmth still remaining in her body.

But her eyes were staring into the void. And her heart had stopped beating.

「…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…」

Despite being in the middle of a battle, my tears did not stop.

「T-This is all my fault… Because I’m… weak… Because I… I couldn’t defeat Deal…」

I clenched my fists so hard that it started to bleed.

Sorrow, despair, hatred, and various negative emotions welled up within. And in response, the volume of darkness pouring out increased steadily.

Ria’s pool of ​​blood spread under my feet, and I saw my reflection in it – I looked just like Zeon.

Hair dyed pure white.

Black pattern under my left eye.

Horrifying and evil darkness that couldn’t possibly come from a human.

The only difference was the eyes.

My dark red pupils were dead with no life in them.

「Wait just a little longer. I am going to kill Deal. Once that’s done, I’ll join you on the other side.」

The deadly poison that was eroding my body disappeared before I knew it.

Instead, my whole body was screaming in pain due to Zeon’s overwhelming power.

Cell death and cell regeneration was occuring at a tremendous rate.

It seems that my immature body cannot withstand this high output power.

If I continue fighting in such a state, I will surely reach the limit soon. And I will die.

But I don’t care.

(WIth this much power… I can kill him.)

My only purpose is to avenge Ria.

As long as I can achieve that, it doesn’t matter what happens next.

When I was thinking about that, poison waves of “purple” burst out, pushing aside my “black”.

「Ku, Kukuku… Ahahahahahahaha… Man, that was a wonderful attack! My heart is shaking so violently! I wonder when was the last time I got punched in the face that hard, hahahaha… Bro, I have come to truly love you from the bottom of my heart!」

Deal, having recovered using Hydra’s ability, slowly walked towards me, uttering his usual bullshit.

「However, I am truly surprised. To think you can get rid of Hydra’s poison… What a shame. Had you awakened that power just a moment earlier, you could have saved Miss Ria-」

「–Shut up!」

His theatrical movements, jarring voice, and overly familiar way of speaking– each and every one of his actions made me sick.

「Oh my, it looks like I made you hate me…」

He shrugged his shoulders and raised his right arm. Four heads of Hydra stretched up from his shoulders.

The next moment,

「–Venom Gift.」

The four heads bit into Deal’s limbs all at once.

「Ah….. I can never get enough of this feeling of sharpening my five senses…」

He hugged his body tightly with both hands, drooling at the corners of his mouth.

「Ability enhancement, huh.」

A sinister purple pattern emerged on Deal’s whole body.

With Hydra’s ability, he probably produced a poison that heightens cell activity and used it on himself.

「I am now several times stronger than before… Yo!」

Deal kicked the ground powerfully and closed the distance in one step.

Gripped In his hand was a purple sword that was the condensed form of Hydra’s deadly poison.

「HA! Venom Bite!」

The thrust that Deal unleashed with all his might,

「…」

「I-Impossible…」

Couldn’t even penetrate the darkness that was casually dripping out of my body.

「Is this all you’ve got? …E”e?」

「…!?」

As I gently swung my right foot, Deal immediately crossed his arms to defend it.

However,

「Pu, ha…」

My darkness clad kick boasted too tremendous a power and sent Deal flying far away.

Judging from the feedback in my leg, that guy’s arms should be completely shattered.

「I-It’s not over, yet…–Venom Blood.」

The moment when crimson liquid wrapped Deal’s whole body, his arms, which were smashed and pointing in a strange angle, healed in one breath.

The true soul dress Hydra’s recovery speed was completely beyond incomparable to the soul dress Deadly Venom.

「Unfortunately, it seems that I can’t win in terms of physical strength – Venom Waltz!」

Deal glared at me with bloodshot eyes and sent a flood of poison dragons at me.

「Ku, Kukuku…」

A laughter escaped from the pit of my stomach. While biting down the laughter, I tore apart,
crushed, and pulverized the flood of poison dragons and ran straight towards Deal.

「What’s this, what’s this? A bunch of pretty little lizards? E”e?」

In less than a moment, I crushed all the poisonous dragons – smiling at the desperate looking Deal.

「He, hehe… I hope you will go easy on me, bro.」

Just as he finished running his mouth, I released a straight left with some care.

「Ga, fuh…」

My fist sank into Deal’s solar plexus. He flew horizontally across the ground, spitting blood.

「Ku, Kukuku… Oi, Oi, Where do you think you’re going… Y”o!」

I wrapped darkness around Deal’s right foot and pulled him back to me.

And then.

「ORA”A!」

I landed another punch square on Deal’s face.

「Ah, gah…」

He was sent flying once again, his body crashing and bouncing off the ground many times.

I felt an indescribable satisfying feeling in my right hand.

「Ha, hahaha… Ah”hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…! Oi, Oi, is your true soul dress that pathetic!? This doesn’t even serve as a warm up… E”e!」

I realised that my head was filled with only “fight”.

My body, blood, and mind were all seeking the thrill of “battle”.