Chapter 69
“Hmpf!”
With her sword in hand, Celes uses the same skill on me as the one she used on Safkrym.
“Luminous Blade!”
A streak of light trails off from her sword towards me.
“Whoa!”
Right away, I dropped my crossbow in exchange for the Flyiron Sword tied to my hip.
I raise it up to block Celes’ blow, but the sword splits into two. Still, at least I was able to avoid being struck.
“Take this!”
Celes holds up her sword again as I flick up the crossbow on the ground with my foot.
I catch it then immediately jumped back and fired three shots at her, taking full advantage of the opportunity.
However, accompanied by the sound of metal colliding on metal is Celes chopping down the bolts in mid-air.
“... impressive.”
“Only because you still hesitate, Celes.”
She may be swinging down at me with tenacity, but her movements are nowhere near as nimble when compared to the fight against Safkrym. But it’s because she’s still hesitating that I still have a chance.
Now... what do I do?
‘Thou standest nary a chance against her, unless thou strikest her with poison.’
That’s assuming I can even hit her.
Well, it’d be easy if I were to spray poisonous mist, but I’ll end up killing Celes and there’s no way I would get out of that situation alive. I just have to find a way to somehow make an escape.
“Hey, Celes.”
“Speak.”
“I really don’t want to die, so honestly, I’d prefer to not duel you anymore. You understand, right?”
“...”
Celes remains silent as she rushes up to my face.
She’s crazy quick. It’s scary how much her stats are better than mine!
I dodge the swing of her sword by the skin of my teeth, but I get kicked right in the chest.
“Guh!”
Yeowch! Her kick sent me flying three whole meters.
I try my best to safely tumble then ready my crossbow.
“Celes, you don’t have to do this—this witch hunt you call a dragon extermination.”
“I must. But I must also dispel the baseless suspicions in the hearts of my brethren, even if you resist!”
Jeez, talk about stubborn. But that’s not bad either.
“You can’t do that. You can’t worry about me while ignoring the most important person. You can’t any doubt. You and I both know that there’s someone waiting to be saved by you!”
“Hmpf... I cannot believe you would say such a thing. Cohgray, they suspect you because you lifted the curse. Let me take you in so you may help yourself!”
You get familiar to just about anyone.
Even Celes and the lightning quick thrusts of her blade are things I can learn. And with my intuition, I can predict her.
Now, it’s like a game of tag, but using a sword and a crossbow.
“Yukihisa...”
“Muuuu...”
Arleaf and Muu watch the two of us with full attention.
Obviously, they can’t let their guards down either, in case the Saint Yggdrans attack any one of us.
We can’t let them interrupt our duel, even with the priest clamoring for Celes to hurry and slay me.
... Veno, I don’t think it’s innocent until proven for us.
But Celes is still hesitating and I don’t think they have much evidence anyway. Can’t you do anything?
‘Nay. I cannot so much lift a single talon, let alone use any of my magic.’
I quickly check the buffs from the poison and Arleaf’s cooking.
Hey Veno, you can’t penetrate that Forced Possession Summoning barrier at all, right?
‘Obviously. Surely, thou shouldst know by now.’
But... your fecal matter does.
‘Aye, but... of what art thou thinking? I cannot read thine mind unless thou producest the thought.’
I didn’t really expect Veno to be able to pick up a passing thought.
Alright, then I’ll focus on it. Can you pass your own poison through the barrier?
‘I see... I, too, have wondered. My poison can be thought of to be similar to my blood. However... the two are separate. It is much smaller than any talon or scale of mine... so I may be able to open such a hole small enough for them not to notice yet large enough to pass a drop through to thee. I shall be releasing the strength that had been sealed away thus far... but aye, it may be possible.’
Then, if I could have just one single drop of the strongest poison you can produce.
‘Thou must absolutely not use it against anyone. Do not drop it either. If it were to vaporize even the slightest, it shall prove to be fatal to bystanders! Gah... even something like this is so obstructed... hmpf!’
Veno wrings out his seldom used magical energy and exerts his might as a Poison Dragon to create a single drop of his poison, dripping it onto the tip of the bolt in my hand.
Alright! Once again, I forcefully stab the bolt into my own arm.
It instantly courses through my entire cardiac system, scorching through as though it were liquid fire in my veins.
Static and noise fill my vision, leeching all color from my view.
Light flickers, nauseating me.
Blood oozes out from every part of my body, but at the same time, all my wounds quickly heal due to my Poison Absorption.
However, the negative effects of Veno’s poison outweigh the positive ones.
Deadly Ancient Dragon Poison α
The text appears in my vision as the effects kick in. I can definitely see Celes’ movements a lot clearer now.
Yo, Veno! The toxins from Arleaf’s cooking is nothing compared to yours!
‘‘twas all I could muster, so knowest that thou art yet at the level of thine opponent!’
Damn, you totally just wanted to diss me!
‘Not to mention that thou hast both the poisons of the lass and mine. ‘tis no surprise that it had exceeded thine limits.’
I wonder.
... at least Arleaf doesn’t look discontent with her poison this time around.
Anyway, now it’s a fair fight.
“C-Cohgray?! Are you okay?!”
“Haha, that was the ace up my sleeve. Looks like I can’t escape without surpassing my own limits.”
My body is screaming at me. I can’t keep this up for too long.
“... how considerate of you to be holding back until now. No, we have no time. Cohgray, come and end this!”
Ah. She must’ve realized that I haven’t been using my poison against her.
Really, I can’t thank Celes any more for being so honorable.
But I really can’t do much but fire my crossbow at her.
I can’t help but feel like I can’t hit Celes with a bolt, no matter how strong I get.
In that case...
“Let’s wrap it up then! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
I scream out loud like Muu using War Cry and I rush over at Celes.
Of course, I activate the Cloaking on my armor as I rapidly zigzag my way over to her.
“What is this speed?! There are even afterimages trailing behind him...”
Celes swings her sword at me while I sneak towards her.
Though she was hesitant at first, now she’s gotten much more precise with her movements.
She’s taking this one-on-one duel seriously now, eh?
But... she’s no match with me and my buffs!
Damn, it hurts though. My head feels like it’s on the verge of splitting. My vision’s still all messed up too.
But... even so... I can do this!
I close the distance between us and I jam my crossbow into her chest while unleashing Power Shot at point-blank range.
The bolt strikes and pierces Celes’ substantial chest plate.
I don’t think anyone would survive this if this were real life Japan.
But video game logic exists in this world.
“Ugh...”
The evidence is clear: the bolt left only a large fissure in her armor without penetrating through.
I nimbly leapt backwards while my crossbow automatically reloads.
“V-Very impressive... but—”
Celes raised her voice as puts her hand to her chest.
She’s tough... but that’s also not good for me.
‘Thou avoided both critically striking her and omitted thine poison.’
Well, I don’t want to kill her either. I just want her to give up.
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