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"BOOM!"
The Moon's Oil's true body was crushed.
Throughout the entire barrier, the flow of magic power rebelled, rootless and chaotic, drifting like a severed raft at sea. For a fleeting moment, it swirled into a violent magical maelstrom, a massive storm tearing across nearly half the amusement park.
Then, just as abruptly, everything disappeared.
The sickly green sky cleared; twinkling stars once more returned to their rightful place in the night. The fairy-tale monsters scattered within the barrier froze mid-motion, their forms collapsing and reverting to stillness.
In mere seconds, the world fell silent.
The amusement park restored itself to its original, lifeless state, fairy-tale creatures gone, leaving behind nothing but the rusted Ferris wheel, the creaking roller coasters, and the decayed remains of old rides. As if decades had passed in only minutes.
"Whew!"
The only sound left was the whistling wind.
Then came the terrifying sight, the ground rushing up toward him.
No, he was falling. Rapidly.
"Hey!"
From hundreds of meters above, he could faintly see Aozaki Aoko in the distance, her face filled with shock and fear, her heart clearly lodged in her throat.
A fall from five hundred meters, no matter how you looked at it, was fatal.
Even a Level 5 human might not survive at such an altitude. Ryoji was only Level 4. There was no chance.
The earth loomed closer with every passing second. The wind's roar grew deafening, sharp enough to sting his eyes.
"BOOM!!"
An impact like a missile strike shook the air. Ryoji slammed into the ground, the force shattering the cement beneath into countless fragments. Aozaki Aoko froze in disbelief, and even Kuonji Alice, quietly watching from afar, was struck silent.
"…Suicide mission?"
He had delivered a godlike attack, only to die from the fall afterward? Alice's mind went blank, unable to comprehend what she'd just witnessed.
"Ryoji!"
Aozaki Aoko's expression darkened as a wave of dread overtook her. Without hesitation, she sprinted forward, long legs carrying her toward the spot where Ryoji had crashed.
In her rush, she didn't even notice the murderous figure trailing behind her, ...
At the center of the amusement park, amidst shattered concrete and rising dust, Aozaki Aoko found Ryoji.
"Eh?"
What met her eyes wasn't a bloody, mangled corpse. On the contrary, his body was nearly unscathed. No missing limbs, no gaping wounds, just a few shallow scratches.
"…Are you even human?"
Aozaki Aoko almost gaped in disbelief.
He had unleashed a strike that defied reason, fallen from the sky like a meteor, and yet he was mostly fine? How absurd could one person be?
"Gah-ha!"
Ryoji grimaced, his body twisting with pain.
Agonizing waves coursed through him, threatening to shut his mind down.
He slammed a fist into his chest, forcing his heart and lungs to resume their rhythm. Blood surged through his veins, oxygen filled his lungs, and only then did he narrowly stave off unconsciousness.
His muscles spasmed violently before gradually calming down.
"Ha… ha…"
He panted heavily, too drained to throw a quip Aoko's way. Instead, he let himself bask in the stillness that followed, finding a strange sense of relief amid the pain.
In that last strike, he had operated on two simultaneous "settings."
That's right.
One, the speed setting to absolutely outpace the opponent's activation ability.
Two, the speed setting to absolutely exceed the deformation limit of his inherent Spiritual Item (Device).
His targets?
One was the Moon's Oil.
The other, the Vrring sword in his hand.
That was why he could blast through the ice unharmed and survive a supersonic impact with barely a scratch. Even a fall from hundreds of meters hadn't crushed him.
In theory, anything around him could become an "opponent", sound, light, even his own weapon, and he could surpass them.
Until now, he had only been able to maintain one of those settings at a time.
But now… he could use both at once.
The reason, Ryoji suspected, came from his avatar.
This projection was formed by splitting off a fragment of his soul and embedding it into this world. Over the past decade, that fragment had grown stronger, steadily maturing until it matched the strength of his original body.
In other words, his soul's power had doubled.
Add to that the ability to multi-thread multiple abilities simultaneously, and it was no wonder he could now maintain two settings at once.
He had only just discovered this. For the past few days, he'd been experimenting, still clumsy, still testing the limits. But this battle had forced him to master the technique in one decisive moment.
By altering the deformation speed of his body, he could briefly enter a golden-body state. Unless an attack was strong enough to shatter the inherent layer of his Spiritual Item (Device), nothing could truly injure him.
The pain, however, was still very real. That last strike had nearly sent him into shock. Fortunately, years of enduring agony and his battle-continuation skill allowed him to hang on, barely avoiding collapse.
"I'm poked~"
Ryoji muttered weakly as his eyes fluttered open.
Standing among the debris, Aozaki Aoko poked him again and again, her expression caught between disbelief and fascination.
"You're actually completely unharmed? What kind of monster are you… Aren't you going to get up?"
From the look in her eyes, she probably wanted to cut him open just to see what made him tick.
An undying body like that, who wouldn't envy it?
"…I'm a real human being," Ryoji groaned, rolling his eyes.
The pain still lingered, buzzing deep in his nerves. He wasn't basking in it, he was barely recovering, his body stiff and heavy, too strained to move yet.
The amusement park had returned to its normal, eerie stillness. The Moon's Oil was gone, no doubt destroyed. But a thought lingered in his mind: would Aoko's roommate, humiliated by defeat, summon another familiar?
If another Moon's Oil appeared now, he was finished. His magical reserves were nearly empty, there'd be no second wind this time.
"Hey, Aoko, watch behind you!"
Ryoji's eyes drifted up, momentarily distracted by Aoko's long legs; her skirt had ridden up slightly, leaving him disappointed rather than impressed.
Then, a shadow flickered behind her. His exhaustion vanished in a rush of instinct.
"Ah?"
Aoko blinked, confused.
A gust of wind whooshed from behind, fast, sharp.
After the Moon's Oil's defeat, her guard had slipped. By the time her senses caught up, it was already too late.
Slap!
A sharp pain struck her back, making her gasp. Eyes wide, she staggered, face twisted in shock, and toppled straight onto Ryoji like a fallen domino.
"Another familiar… no, wait, that's not it."
Ryoji shifted his arms, his gaze snapping toward the attacker like lightning.
The silhouette was humanoid but distinctly wrong. Its skin had an eerie, metallic sheen, part plastic, part steel. It looked female, long hair flowing behind it, and as it moved, faint mechanical clicks echoed, like the tune of a warped music box.
A doll.
(End of Chapter)