Ch-94: Leslie (5)

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Some crazy guy was spitting out the same word again and again, something totally out of his comprehension. Osner's head couldn't grasp the situation, but his body wasn't having it. The moment he was hit, he recognized Cloud as an adversary and fired a kick with the strength of his body fuelling the attack.

Instead of retreating, Cloud lunged. Osner's thigh hit on his side. Even though he was only hit by the thigh, a lightning strike of menacing pain shot up. However, instead of frowning, Cloud smiled brightly.

"Carnock—!"

Grabbing Osner by the neck, Cloud slammed his right fist into his face. Osner slapped Cloud in the side with his fist, even as he was repeatedly punched in the face. Cloud could feel his organs thrumming. A normal person would have flinched and stopped, addressing their body first.

"Kukh."

But Cloud let the pain go, along with a peal of laughter. His lips were wet with black, oxidized blood, and his laughter made him look like a madman. Jerking up, Cloud slammed his head into Osner's.

"Uck!"

Osner's body strained as he groaned. Cloud grabbed him by the neck and tossed him toward the ice barrier. Thud! The giant of a man rebounded off the barrier. Cloud rushed in and punched him in the face.

Thuck.

His head was embedded into the ice barrier. Grabbing him by neck, Cloud dragged his form all the way along the barrier. Tuck! Tuck! Tuck! Thuk! Osner's head repeatedly broke and bobbed through the ice barrier.

Osner plunged his soles and slowly his feet into the plow-able soil. The drag slowed down, and when it stopped completely, he latched onto Cloud's arm, batting him straight on the floor. It didn't end there. This continued until his temper cooled down.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The floor cracked and dust rose.

The moment the dull sound stilled, Cloud flew through the dust and crashed into the ice barrier.

Osner, who caught up in an instant, fired a follow-up, but it was in vain. His fists pierced the ice barrier as he was hit with another head-butt at the cost of a miss.

"Carnock."

Cloud laughed as Osner reeled and immediately went for a kick. Osner, struck by the side kick, was sent hurling at the icy dome.

Rumble!

The ice barrier began to collapse due to losing the walls that were supporting its weight. Leslie, who had been watching the fight blankly, came to her senses. She hurriedly dissolved the ice barrier.

Solid ice crystals melted into water and puddled on the floor.

"The barrier is gone!"

Alfred exclaimed. Alfred and his warriors had been hesitant to enter the ice barrier. Iledric, the knight, and the martial artist who went inside prior, hadn't returned, while the ice barrier shook wildly like a boiling egg.

They hadn't known exactly, but it was certain that a fierce fight was going on inside.

And now that the ice had melted away, they witnessed the fierce battle.

"Ha Ha Ha! You're strong, boy. To the point where I want to make you my son-in-law! Very good!"

"Uh-huh."

"Right. It's a waste of time to talk, isn't it? My thoughts exactly!"

The breastplate in the shape of a wolf's head was already in tatters. Osner tore off his breastplate and pulled off his tunic like Cloud had. Thick and savage steaming muscles revealed themselves.

Immediately after, the two ran, hurling themselves towards each other. The floor cracked with every step they took. When the distance was close, they swung their fists and launched punches on each other mercilessly.

The monotonous actions seemed unending and not so impactful, but they were anything but that.

Fast. Destructive. Ferocious.

Along with blasts, the sounds of bloody blows resounded in succession throughout the arena.

Blood splattered and sometimes patches of skin came ripping off.

'What the hell… where did those three go?'

Alfred, who looked around, soon found the trio lying on the floor.

'Dead…?'

These three were adventurers who had made a name on the Continent. All three of them died horribly. And who killed them?

The answer was obvious.

It was right in front of him.

'Damn it. What is this thing?!'

Alfred did not consider Osner, who was fighting Cloud, to be his father. To him, it was something beyond human. Because of that, the more he saw Cloud punching it, the more he admired him.

Because he was fighting toe-to-toe with a monster like that.

'I had heard that the young hero has matured, but…'

This was something beyond.

Or was this only average among the heroes? Then was an army even worthwhile in this generation?

Alfred's head was filled with all sorts of random thoughts. To put it bluntly, he should have sent a warrior to support Cloud, but he hadn't. Nor did the other's blame him for it.

Everyone in the arena was so overwhelmed by the fight between the two, that they couldn't even dare to intervene.

"Crazy… crazy!"

…except for one person.

Katarina, who had been waiting impatiently outside the barrier, turned pale when she witnessed the vicious fight between the two.

Watching them fight, bloody and tattered, she didn't admire or awed it like the rest.

How could she!

The one fighting over there, the one that was getting beaten up with bloody thumps, was the man she loved!

'I-Isn't he going to die like this?'

It seemed like he would.

Every time he got hit, she heard something crunching.

Loud enough to be heard even from such a distance!

"Stop! Stop!"

Eventually Katarina couldn't stand it and stepped forward with the intent to tear them apart from each other. However, Shedia blocked her way.

"Shedia? What are you doing?"

"Cloud's instruction. If sis tries to barge in, stop her."

"What?"

"Shedia? What are you doing?"

"Cloud's instruction. If sis tries to barge in, stop her."

"What?"

Katarina gave her an expression of incredulity. Wasn't she seeing how bloody the fight had taken for a turn? That it could claim Cloud's life? Grinding her teeth, she tried to walk around Shedia.

However, compared to Shedia, a trained assassin, there was no way Katarina, who was so weak compared to her, could root her out.

In the end, Katarina had no choice but to appeal to Shedia.

"Get out of the way, please! Cloud wil die if we don't stop this madness!"

"Might as well…"

"What?"

"Uh, it sounds bad. But, he instructed me. I have to keep sis here."

"Because of the moonstone fragments?"

Shedia nodded her head. Katarina let out a deep sigh and placed a hand on Shedia's shoulder.

"Shedia. This sis of yours is requesting of you. Can you please get out of the way?"

"…"

"You can still acclaim the moonstone pieces later, no? You will listen to this simple request of mine, right? Surely the moonstone pieces are no more important than your sis's request?"

Shedia's eyelids quivered as Katarina's tone turned colder. She swayed for a moment, then spoke avoiding Katarina's eyes.

"…sis won't be of any help there either way."

"…"

Katarina wordlessly raised her head to look at Osner and Cloud as they fought. To her eyes, the limbs of the two people were a motion of blurring illusions. She couldn't even predict where they were going to be the next moment.

There was nothing she could do, much less interjecting, just as Shedia had said.

Rather, she would turn into his burden.

Katarina felt helplessness. She bit on her lower lip.

'I can't just let it go on…'

Was there any method through which she could stop this fight? As she pondered desperately, she suddenly realized. What if she couldn't work out something herself, no one was stopping her from enlisting help, was there?

'Shedia won't listen even if I ask.'

She didn't know why, but Shedia was obsessed with the moonstone pieces.

Katarina turned her gaze to Leslie. The white-haired woman sitting on the floor blankly watching the fight. Noting that she was the one who created that huge dome of ice in an instant, she would be able to stop two of them as well.

"Hey, Miss Leslie!"

Leslie didn't turn for Katarina.

Why? Wasn't she listening?

Katarina decided to shout more loudly.

"The person fighting over there is your father, am I not right, Miss Leslie? Then why don't you stop him? Any more and he could seriously get hurt, you know!"

Leslie didn't answer.

When Katarina, frustrated, tried to shout over again, Leslie's muttering reached her as if by the nature of force.

"Can't."

"Huh? No, hell no, you can do it! If you put up a thick wall of ice between the two of them, and g…"

"I don't mean that."

Leslie shook her head and continued.

"My father… he is smiling. He is so happy… I've never seen him… so happy before."

Osner's smile… Leslie never remembered him having one after his gaining age had pushed him away from his duties, responsibilities, and work. Leslie felt bitter whenever she thought about that lost smile. But he was laughing now. He was smiling freely even though his body was riddled with scars.

How could she stop him after seeing him like this?

"I can't."

Leslie didn't want to deprive her beloved father of happiness.

Even if that road would eventually lead to catastrophe.

Of course, this was only Leslie's circumstances and had nothing to do with Katarina. Hearing Leslie's denial to provide help, Katarina was momentarily bewildered.

Had the girl lost her mind…

No.

"Isn't this pure madness?! Hey! What does it have to do with me that your father's having fun as my lover's getting hurt?! Don't let me get my hands on you. If Cloud gets hurt or dies, I'll be the death of each one of you! Do you understand?!"

"Patience, sis. Even if you fight with her, you will lose."

"Whose freaking side are you on—"

Bang!

The sound of someone being slammed into the wall drowned out Katarina's voice. The walls of the arena thundered as clouds of dust rose. Cloud, who was stuck there, slowly pulled himself up.

His body ached as he took deep whoops of air in.

Broken ribs and punctured lungs, he instantly figured the former was causing the later.

'I should be on par with Frillite, right?'

He had even activated the Ogre's Glyph, stacking it on [All Bless], but was still pushed back in a simple contest of pure strength. That was considering his current physical prowess was scaling up to Frillite.

Of course, his technique was overwhelmingly superior to Frillite's.

'I won't be fighting Frillite.'

And if he fought with such buffs, he'd be damned.

'Though there's no need for a fight to happen in the first place.'

Cloud smiled and looked up. As he wrenched himself out of the thick dust, he saw Osner standing from where he had just blown him away.

"Cloud!? Hey, Cloud, are you okay?!"

Katarina's worried voice came from the side, but he didn't search for her. It was stupid to distract yourself in front of an enemy.

"Your breaths are heavy. It looks like a broken rib stabbed your lung… still wanna continue?"

There was a strange worried intone to Osner's voice.

Cloud smiled and took a deep breath and said, "I will put an end to this fight before it stops."

As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked off the ground. He seemed to hear Katarina's voice collapsing in real time with the sound of 'Yaaaaaaaaaa!!!', but he ignored it.

"You are full of confidence!"

Osner careened towards him with a somewhat relieved, yet joyful expression. A tendon sprouted from Osner's forearm. He swung his fist at Cloud's head, but Cloud ducked and dodged.

He was sorry for Osner, but Cloud was thinking of putting an end to this scuffle.

He stretched out his straightened right palm, inverting it.

[Breaker]-!

His fingertips dug into the left side of Osner's chest.

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02