บท 60: Three S-Ranks
After Yater sent his subordinate Martha away, he looked with narrowed and stern eyes in the opposite direction of hers.
"That person moves faster than I expected..." he muttered staring northeast.
He turned his attention back to Ophelia, Wendy and Zack.
"Stay here until I return. And do not even think about going against my words or else you know what will happen." Yater said to Mika without even looking at him.
"..."
Mika obeyed him without any complaints.
He was neither frustrated nor angry.
Observant, he gazed at Yater, who jumped down to Ophelia and the others.
"Color me surprised. I wouldn't have thought that you're still able to stand." Yater stated sarcastically when he faced Zack, who was supported by Wendy.
Zack seemed not only out of breath but also fatally injured due to Yater inflicting a hole in his stomach.
"Do you really think you can take me on with this lineup?"
Yater threw a glance at Ophelia, who was already in her stance.
"We may not be able to beat you, but it will be enough to buy time." Wendy replied, feeling both confident and nervous.
At that moment, Ophelia charged at Yater like a wild beast.
But before she could touch him, he spread his wings and leaped into the air.
With a smirk, he floated above her.
His body started to get consumed by darkness, shaping his body.
"?!"
Wendy and Zack looked baffled at Yater.
Instead of Yater, Barnt was flying in the sky.
He was stretching his hand down with his palm directed at Ophelia and at the same time, dark spikes emerging from the ground stabbed her.
She was stabbed in multiple spots, but especially her right leg was heavily injured.
Even her previous excited smile turned grim.
Yater, who took on Barnt's appearance, landed on the ground again and approached the kneeling Ophelia.
"..."
Despite her current condition, she was glaring at him fiercely.
"Usually, people would be on the brink of death with your kind of injuries. It's kind of scary when you look at me like that." he said with a sigh.
Using her last remaining energy, she pushed herself up and went for a punch.
However, Yater returned to his original form and effortlessly slapped her punch away.
"Too bad. If you could only control this power of yours then it would have been an interesting fight." he stated with a regretful look.
He retracted his arm a little and launched a punch.
Two consecutive explosion-like sounds echoed there, when the punch connected and when she was slammed through the wall.
"W-what-"
"Now it's only you two."
"!"
Yater appeared behind Wendy and Zack.
The two split up from each other with Wendy initiating the offense.
She launched with one hand multiple wind slashes at him, but he dodged every single one of them while closing the distance between him and her.
And when got close enough, he reached his hand to her.
At that moment, Wendy had a smirk on her face.
With him so close, she opened her other hand, which was previously clenched into a fist.
In that hand was a small compressed wind ball.
"?"
She gently pushed the ball towards Yater, who could not dodge in time.
The ball, which was filled with high air pressure exploded and sent Yater flying.
Thus, he crashed against the wall.
But even that was not enough to deal significant damage.
"Attacking me with two different magic attacks at the same time?
Truly impressive. I've never seen someone do that before."
Yater, who was covered in dirt and small bruises, complimented her after he crawled out of the hole he created due to the crash.
"But unfortunately, it's not enough." he shook his head.
"..."
Wendy gritted her teeth while breaking into a cold sweat.
Yater, then, changed his form to Martha.
"Can he copy people's appearances...?" Zack wondered.
Wendy was jumping backward, but Yater, in the form of Marta, caught up fast and choked her.
"Hng...!"
As she groaned in pain, she reflexively looked into Yater's eyes.
And just like Martha, the right circle in his right eye was glowing.
"Go and stall the reinforcement."
He let her go and she obediently flew away.
"Hey, Wendy! Where are you going?!" Zack shouted confused.
"It's true that I can copy people's appearances, however, I can also copy their abilities." Yater explained as he changed back to his form.
"In Barnt's body, I can use his demonic gift, which allows me to increase my control over darkness and its potency. Thus, its offensive potential can reach greater heights. Meanwhile, as Martha,
I can command everyone, who isn't capable of beating me, as long as they looked into my right eye once." he elaborated.
Zack was struggling to stand on his own two feet.
Meanwhile, Yater approached him with his guard down.
"The moment I see a person and get a grasp on their ability, I can copy them."
He was about to change again.
"!"
Zack's eyes widened.
The darkness around Yater dispersed.
"You're crazy..."
It was as if he was looking into a mirror.
"Are you shocked?" he mocked him with a smirk.
Standing in front of Zack was Zack.
Yater copied Zack's body.
"Tch...!"
Zack raised his arms up and took up his fighting stance.
Sweat was rolling down his cheeks.
On the other hand, Yater walked over to him relaxed.
"My appearance may have changed, however, there's one thing that still stays the same."
As if it was intended, Yater slowly retracted his arm.
Naturally, Zack put up his guard.
Both of them turned their arms into iron.
Zack thought that he could defend the incoming punch as long as he boosted his defense with his iron arms.
"The one thing that stays the same is my physical strength."
Then, he launched his punch, whose force surprised Zack.
He pushed back with his feet sliding on the sandy ground.
Zack almost reached the wall, but he endured the attack.
"Oh, you took the punch better than I expected." Yater remarked genuinely impressed.
"..."
Zack's arms were trembling and almost went completely numb.
"But how will you manage a second one?"
Not giving him a small moment of rest, Yater immediately closed the distance and with a punch coming from below, his chin was hit.
Without letting out a sound, Zack instantly lost consciousness.
He flew backward in the air and landed on the ground.
"..."
Yater stared at the motionless body indifferently.
"Those three were S ranks?"
He moved to Zack's body.
"How boring."
Then, he grabbed Zack by his neck.
"Maybe I should not have expected so much considering how beat up they already were."
As if he was a rock, Yater threw Zack outside the fortress.
"Hm? Isn't that where- Oh, whatever. If she's still kicking, then he will die either way."
Having lost all interest, he faced the roof he came from.
"Now, it's time for the main event..." Yater murmured excitedly.
In the meantime, a shadow lurked over Ophelia's body.
"Is that... Is that you, Mika?" she asked weakly.
She could not move an inch of her body and even her voice was about to give up on her.
Her eyes were too narrow and yet she was still able to recognize the familiar silhouette.
"Yes, it's me, Ms. Ross." Mika replied softly.
Blood colored the ground around her red.
Her injuries were so deep that even healing potions would be rendered almost useless.
"I see... I'm glad that you're fine..."
With a genuine smile on her face, she slowly closed her eyes.
"At least you have to get away from here..."
Muttering her last words, she lost consciousness.
"I'm sorry."
Mika took out his two healing potions, which he received before departing to the Desolated Fortress, from his small pocket.
He searched her pocket for further potions, but those were destroyed from the earlier fight.
Gently, he lifted her head up in order to make her swallow the potions.
It would not do much against her injuries, but it should suffice until help came.
"I can't run away."
He turned his back on her.
"Not as long as all of you are here."
Beside Ophelia, Zack, who came flying a moment ago, and Gerard, whom Mika carried to this spot, rested there.
"Hey, system. I know that you're away right now, but... But can you hear me?"
"..."
"I guess not, huh..." Mika chuckled lightly.
His gaze was cast to the ground.
"I wonder... If you were here with me now, what would I have done? No matter how dire the situation was, I could always rely on you. It's your quests and advice which guided me in those situations."
Mika clenched his chest.
"Who knew that after all those years, I had to make a decision as important as now?"
"Should I run away or should I stay and fight? I don't know what you would have said to me, however, I've already decided."
Determined and yet anxious, he looked up to the roof, where he sensed Yater's pressure.
"I will fight."
Unbeknownst to him at that point in time, this decision would be remembered as his life's turning point.
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