"Trying to use your size to pressure me? Heh…" With a sneer of disdain, Fron no longer bothered to dodge.
---------------------------------
"Pa!"
The sweeping force abruptly stopped. That sudden shift from motion to stillness was so jarring it made her feel like coughing up blood!
That axe strike was like hitting a steel plate, it wouldn't budge at all.
And when she finally saw what had happened, her eyes widened so much it felt like they might tear apart!
"Impossible!!!!!!? Catching my weapon with your bare hands, what are you, a human or a monster?!"
What she saw was, Fron extended one arm, wearing gloves made from the tough hide of a black Goliath, fingers pressed together as he caught the axe blade effortlessly, bare-handed.
Comparing their sizes and what had just happened, the sense of incongruity exploded. Even this battle-hardened Berbera's worldview nearly collapsed.
Fron tilted his head slightly, looked sidelong at the ugly woman before him, and his mouth curled upward manically.
"Well? I'm not dodging now. What can you do about it, Phryne Jamil?"
"..."
Shock. Fear!
For the first time, Phryne felt what true terror meant.
When she faced this enemy again, the oppressive aura radiating from him surged over her, fear rising from deep within her soul.
The arrogance and madness inflated by sealing and enhancement magic, as if doused with ice, instantly cooled, leaving her body trembling.
She turned her head slightly, glancing toward Orario's direction, then briefly sensed the presence of her comrades nearby.
Fron knew , the game time was almost over. But... that suffocating, crushing pressure hadn't yet been released.
Looking again at the so-called "Toad" who had been beaten down by him, Fron sneered coldly.
...
"Cough, cough."
Not far away, the battle Berbera's who had been knocked unconscious or heavily injured by Fron began to regain a faint sense of awareness.
A mature Amazoness woman in a purple gauze outfit twitched her fingers first, then managed to move her whole hand.
Barely propping herself up, she lifted her head to glance at her fallen sisters around her, bit her red lip, and glared hatefully toward the ruined warehouse district ahead.
"That bastard… well, guess I have good taste, didn't think he'd hit that hard. Cough, cough…"
Every bone in her body felt shattered, the pain stabbing through Aisha's nerves relentlessly.
Even for an Amazoness warrior as strong as her, this pain was unbearable. As for the others with lower levels , there was no need to even mention it.
"Aisha! Aisha, you… you're still alive!?"
A young girl in an orange dancer's outfit with two large golden hoop earrings crept toward Aisha, crouching beside her anxiously and shaking her.
"Damn it, Lena! Stop shaking me! Hiss…"
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I didn't know you were hurt that bad."
"Forget me! Wake the others up , we need to retreat!"
"Wait, big sis! If we retreat after losing, Lady Ishtar won't forgive us!"
"Bullshit! I'm this badly injured, what's she gonna say? A loss is a loss! Now get moving!"
"O-okay!"
Clutching her stomach, Aisha barely stood on one knee, her purple eyes narrowing as she looked toward a certain direction, her expression complicated.
...
Clatter…
The golden glow around that body began to dim.
The already bulky, fat face now looked even more swollen and grotesque.
Not a single feature remained normal, everything was red and swollen, to the point it barely looked human anymore.
Lying in the rubble, Phryne's mouth bled as she glared with bulging, bloodshot eyes at the blond youth standing over her.
"D-don't come any closer! Don't come any closer, ahhhhh, !"
Clang!
Fron's staff dragged along the ground, emitting a harsh metallic screech. The sparks it threw off only made the atmosphere colder and sharper.
"What's wrong? A few minutes ago you weren't saying that. Weren't you going to kill Ais here? Weren't you going to make me die in pain and despair? Why so scared all of a sudden? Doesn't match your looks at all."
Standing over her, Fron looked down coldly, his expression unreadable.
"Ahahaha! T-that was just a joke! I was just kidding! You know how young people like to joke around, right? Especially a beauty like me~ Don't you think my beauty surpasses even the Sword Princess?"
"?" Fron's smile froze.
Then, at lightning speed, he grabbed her armor and hoisted her up.
At that moment, Fron's eyes were ice-cold. Meeting his gaze, Phryne felt as if she had fallen into the far northern lands , winter itself approaching.
"Hey. You just crossed the line."
Smack!
Fron swung his weapon, landing a brutal backhand.
"AAAAHHHH, You actually hit my face!!!"
Why not use his hand? Too dirty.
The staff, made from the branch of the Sacred Tree, possessed tremendous flexibility, and after being reforged by Fron's masterful blacksmithing, plus its "Durandal" attribute ,
That single strike warped Phryne's face beyond recognition.
"Maybe look in a mirror sometime, see what you really look like? You think you're on par with Ais? You? Worthy?"
Smack!
"Gyaaaahhhh, !"
The sight left the now-awake Berbera's and Aisha utterly stunned.
Was this really the same Captain of their Familia who ruled their familia with violence, beating anyone who disobeyed her?
Since joining the familia, they had never seen Phryne in such a miserable state.
For the first time, that man… truly opened their eyes.
And for the first time, they felt the overwhelming difference in power.
A top-ranked adventurer of the city, even after being magically enhanced, was being crushed in a one-on-one battle.
It shattered their understanding of reality.
But the truth was right before them, and that strength…
"Aisha, looks like… that guy went easy on us."
One of the girls, helping her wounded companion stand, smiled bitterly as she looked toward the battlefield and spoke to Aisha.
"Tch. That man's damn arrogant in a fight… but I'll admit, he's got restraint."
Saying that, she glanced again at Phryne, bruised beyond recognition, still being smacked repeatedly by Fron's blows, her screams fading into unconsciousness, then turned toward the warehouse's shadowed corner and shouted:
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T/N: Bonus chapter for crossing 100 power stones; next one at 150 power stones~