Hunter of Immortals

Chapter 224: A Game for the Brave

"It was fine just a moment ago, why is it suddenly like this now?"

Armadillo was quite perplexed at the sight of the condition that Yamata no Orochi was in, and he didn't know how to proceed.

Right as he was looking on with a befuddled expression, Mole arrived beside him amid a flash of lightning.

"It looks very weak right now. Should we try and kill it? Take a look at our brother over there. He's a pretty smart guy, and he's rushing right in!"

Sure enough, while Mole was speaking, Adam had already sprung into action.

"He is pretty smart, but he's not as smart as we are. It looks like he's been lured in by the trap that they've set, but a trap like this isn't enough to fool me," Armadillo replied in a confident manner.

"What do you mean?"

"That big snake was thriving just a moment, so it must be pretending to be weak all of a sudden."

"Why would it do that?"

At this point, Rabbit had also joined the duo.

"Why do you think? It's trying to lure in all of the other combatants, then take them out all at once."

"That kind of makes sense, but the abilities that it unleashed earlier were able to encompass the entire basin, so there's no need for it to do that."

"In that case... In that case..." Mole scrambled momentarily for an answer before coming up with a rather unconvincing one. "It doesn't matter, I'm sure there's a trap!"

"... Alright."

……

While the three psychic mutants were discussing strategy, Adam had already arrived beside Yamata no Orochi. No one else knew why Yamata no Orochi had suddenly fallen into such a feeble state, but he did.

With Oni no Miko's powers, there was no way that she should've been able to control such a formidable invoked entity. It was only through something similar to a blood sacrifice, where she was constantly expending her own life force, was just barely able to control Yamata no Orochi.

However, it was clear that she couldn't keep this up for very long, particularly in this case, where Yamata no Orochi was using consecutive forbidden techniques, and the earthquake that it had unleashed had finally sucked Oni no Miko completely dry.

Adam knew that he had to capitalize on this brief window of opportunity before it slipped away.

Sure enough, by the time he arrived, Oni no Miko was already on the verge of death. The black mist that Yamata no Orochi was absorbing appeared to be her life force, and she had expended far too much of it in exchange for control over the creature.

However, Oni no Miko wasn't a reckless idiot, and she naturally had some tricks up her sleeve. By the time Adam arrived to put an end to her life, she had already pulled out a bunch of cards to facilitate her own recovery.

These cards primarily had the effects of regeneration and restoration of psychic power. She had a great number of these cards, and it was unclear whether she had simply been unfortunate to have stumbled upon so many cards of this nature, or if she had intentionally traded for these cards from others.

"Time for you to die!"

Clown pulled out its gun and began to fire at Oni no Miko to put an end to her life, but right at this moment, a figure stepped in to shield her from the bullets.

It was Diamond.

Ever since he was forced into retreat by Diana, he had been hiding under Yamata no Orochi this entire time, both to avoid having to face the likes of Diana and Eyeless in battle, as well as to protect Oni no Miko if required.

"I didn't think you'd still be alive!"

Clown continued to open fire at Oni no Miko while trying to get around Diamond, but Diamond immediately formed an all-encompassing protective barrier around Oni no Miko with his own body, refusing to take any chances.

As had been proven in the past, Clown didn't possess sufficient firepower to blast through Diamond's defenses, so it seemed that this was a hopeless cause.

"Are you content to act as her lapdog now? Weren't you going to kill me? I'm standing in front of you right now!"

Clown could see that Oni no Miko was slowly recovering under Diamond's protection, and it was beginning to grow quite anxious.

As a result, it had no choice but to turn to provocation.

"Your tricks aren't gonna work on me! Do you really think I'm stupid enough to be goaded into attacking you?"

"Who knows? That useless brother of yours isn't all that bright, who's to say you're any smarter than him? I heard that he's still bedridden and pissing himself every night! I'm the one who did that to him, yet as his brother, you don't even dare to avenge him when I'm standing right in front of you!"

Clown was approaching Diamond in a completely defenseless manner as it spoke. "Just like your brother, you have no confidence. You're scared that you won't be able to kill me. You're just a pitiful dog who's clinging onto his master for dear life. You're scared that if she dies, your death will soon follow! I can really see the family resemblance now, you're just as spineless as your brother!"

Everyone had their own weakness, and the more one cared about something, the more that thing was going to present itself as a weakness to them.

Diamond cherished his family above all else, and that was why he wanted to avenge his brother, and to secure blank slates to extend the lives of his family members.

Perhaps he didn't care what Adam said about him, but knew that his brother was also watching the battle royale, and he didn't want him to suffer a second bout of trauma from Adam's scathing words.

He wanted to present himself in a braver light in order to inspire his brother, but at the same time, he didn't want to be played for a fool.

"If you're going to call me spineless, then how about we play a game for the brave?" Diamond suggested as he took a step toward Adam.

"What are you suggesting? That we play Russian roulette?"

Clown pulled out an old-school revolver before stuffing a bullet inside, then spun the chamber for a moment before firing the weapon at himself, upon which the bullet flew out and struck him on the temple.

"Well, looks like my luck isn't all that great."

"If you want to waste time, then I'm happy to join you. She's going to keep recovering, so wasting time will only benefit me."

Indeed, under the effects of all of the restorative cards, Oni no Miko's depleted body was beginning to slowly recover. The black mist that had previously been sucked dry from her body was also gradually returning, and there wasn't much time left for Adam.

"Alright, let's hear what you have to say."

Adam forcibly suppressed all of the deranged thoughts that Clown was planting into his mind so that he could think clearly and rationally again.

"Here's the game that I propose. You and I will both simultaneously take steps toward one another, and during this time, you can use any of your abilities, whether it be concealment or your clones, but if you do that, I'll immediately return to protect Oni no Miko."

"I see. So the closer we get to each other, the further away you'll be from Oni no Miko, but at the same time, I'll also be placing myself in more and more danger."

Without the use of its abilities, Clown was no match for Diamond, and if it were to get too close, there was a very good chance that it would be killed by a single punch from Diamond.

In terms of pure physical prowess, the two of them were on completely different levels.

"Of course, you can try and cheat the game, but let me remind you that I'm one of the most powerful combatants in the S tier. My abilities may be quite limited, but telegnosis definitely matches my power. If you try to cheat, the game will end right away, and I'll immediately return to protect Oni no Miko and dash your hopes. What do you say? Do you dare to take me up on this game?"

"Why not? It's a very fair game."

Adam began to make his way toward Diamond as he spoke, and Diamond also began to approach Adam at the same pace.

The two of them drew closer and closer to one another as the atmosphere grew tenser and tenser.

Adam naturally wanted to get as close to Diamond as possible. Not only would that lure Diamond further away from Oni no Miko, being in close proximity to Diamond would also make it easier for him to somehow trap Diamond and get around him.

However, at the same time, the less distance there was between them, the more danger Adam would be in.

Diamond's fists were already tightly clenched, and at this point, there were no more than three meters separating them. Just a single stride would've been enough for Diamond to close this distance before demolishing Clown with a single punch.

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