Chapter 505: Deadly Struggle

Editor: Tseirp

Ryo’s body was battered and torn.

Cuts and bruises were visible all over, including on his face.

While hidden beneath his robe, many areas of his body were severely bruised internally.

Though he hadn’t suffered any fatal wounds, his ability to continue fighting was steadily being worn down.

All of his injuries were the result of Pastra’s magic attacks.

Ryo’s robe was the Fairy King’s Robe.

It deflected magic attacks.

After observing that her fire-attribute magic was deflected by the robe, Pastra swiftly switched to solely using earth-attribute attacks.

A barrage of stone bullets in a saturation attack.

Ryo, with his blade Murasame, could cut down dozens or even hundreds of magic attacks, but it was impossible to deflect or dodge every single stone hurled at him in an unrelenting downpour.

He had trained to use the city walls of the royal capital to reflect his , cutting down incoming threats with Murasame… but even with such rigorous preparation, he couldn’t defend perfectly.

No, perhaps it was because of that extreme training that he managed to avoid sustaining a fatal blow and could still stand.

At least he managed to avoid damage to his eyes…

The Fairy King’s Robe could deflect magic.

But that didn’t mean it eliminated physical damage.

In other words, while the robe wouldn’t be pierced, getting hit still hurt.

Even if someone were wearing clothing, getting hit by a thrown rock would still hurt, wouldn’t it?

That’s what it was like.

After multiple volleys of stone bullets… totaling tens of thousands…

The result was Ryo’s body, riddled with internal injuries.

“Fufufu, Ryo, why don’t you give up and cooperate with my experiments already?”

“I will never do that.”

“You’d benefit more from the pain of experimentation than from the pain of fighting here.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

Ryo firmly rejected Pastra’s words.

Though he held Murasame ready, his body was in tatters.

The unblemished state of his blade and robe made the damage to his body even more striking.

Of course, Ryo hadn’t given up.

From an objective standpoint, his situation was dire.

He couldn’t use magic, and Pastra always kept her distance, preventing close combat.

Technically, it wasn’t that he couldn’t use magic.

But whenever he used it, Pastora would immediately seize control.

For example, in theory, he could use to block her attacks at the exact moment she launched her magic.

However, the attacks weren’t brief.

Even if he deflected the first few hundred or thousand stone bullets, the moment she took control of his magic and he needed to recast the , a barrage of stones would strike him in the meantime…

His would be seized the moment it was formed… he couldn’t even launch it.

And once again…

“.”

“.”

Ryo’s shattered after only one second of enduring the stones.

“.”

He put them up again, but damage accumulated during the delay.

However, this time was different.

““

A continuously thickening wall of ice.

Advanced toward Pastra.

“You’re naive! ”

At Pastora’s shout, the stacked ice walls vanished instantly.

“Impossible…”

Ryo was stunned.

If she could only steal one layer at a time, he thought he could counter her by layering them faster than she could seize control…

“Fufufu, a clever idea, but futile. Stealing one at a time is a hassle, so I took them all at once. Since they’re all ice walls, I can manage it.”

Pastora laughed.

She had prepared even for a technique like Ryo’s ‘stacking’ method.

“Now, are you ready to assist with my experiments…”

“Not yet! ”

Shouting, Ryo shot forward toward Pastra.

“”

Pastra conjured a stone wall to block Ryo’s charge.

But it was immediately sliced apart by Murasame.

“”

Again, she conjured a stone wall to block him.

And again it was cut down.

“”

A third time she tried to block him…

“”

Ryo interjected a steam mine into the space where the stone wall was forming.

The result was the wall’s failure to materialize.

“Wha…?”

Pastra was shocked.

Using , Ryo had closed the distance completely, bringing her within range of Murasame.

Clang!

Ryo’s decisive strike was deflected by a sword that suddenly appeared in Pastra’s hand.

“Ugh…”

“To think I’d have to resort to wielding a sword… how humiliating.”

Ryo grimaced while Pastra scowled.

Both visibly frustrated.

“Even your sword is strong…”

“A sword is such a crude tool… forcing me to use one… I won’t forgive you, Ryo. During the experiment, I’ll deliberately maximize your pain!”

“That hardly changes anything…”

Ryo sighed.

Ryo’s desperate attack hadn’t landed.

Yet he refused to despair.

For the first time, he had outmaneuvered his opponent’s expectations.

By doing so, he had disrupted her composure.

Without achieving that, his plan couldn’t be put in motion.

Against a superior opponent, one must force them into a trap.

But to do that, the enemy couldn’t remain calm.

In this battle, Ryo had finally succeeded in unsettling Pastra.

And once the enemy’s composure was shattered, new strategies became viable.

“”

()

Sixteen ice spears attacked from the front, deliberately.

“”

As expected, she seized control, erasing them.

Meanwhile, 256 silent spears fell from above.

“”

These too were erased.

But now her focus was divided between the front and above.

Naturally, she braced herself for an attack from all sides.

But no.

()

From the ground, icy stalagmites pierced both of Pastra’s feet!

“Ugh!”

Pastra let out a cry of pain, unexpected and sharp.

Of course, the damage was minimal.

It hurt, sure… but that was all.

It didn’t matter.

That wasn’t the goal.

The goal was to literally immobilize her. To stop her from moving.

“Come forth, Neil Andersen!”

At Ryo’s command, the sheath of his knife began to glow faintly.

It was the light of alchemy.

Appearing from the glow was the submarine Neil Andersen, the second ship of the Rondo-class fleet.

“What… is that…?”

Pastra’s voice was barely audible in her astonishment.

Her disbelief was so genuine it left her nearly speechless.

“This will bring an end to our battle! Mark 256 torpedoes, 32 rounds. Open forward launchers. Fire!”

At Ryo’s command, the forward launchers of the Neil Andersen opened, unleashing a barrage of torpedoes.

Though this wasn’t underwater, their target, Pastra, was right in front of them.

The torpedoes, propelled by , functioned just as well above water.

“Tch, ”

Pastra, unable to move due to the ice shards pinning her down, conjured a stone wall to block the torpedoes.

At the same time, a sharp, high-pitched sound, keeeen, keeeen, rang out.

This sound came from her attempting to seize magic control of the alchemically created objects.

Pastra was trying to wrest control of the imposing in front of her…

And failing.

Of course, the correct choice would have been to reclaim control of the icicles pinning her feet and regain her freedom of movement.

But she hadn’t chosen that path.

This was part of Ryo’s strategy to unnerve her.

Even Akumas, like humans, instinctively focus on eliminating what is directly in front of them and poses an immediate threat.

“Manipulator capture arms, activate!”

The capture arms broke through the stone wall, already weakened by the torpedoes.

These arms, strong enough to seize even a kraken, extended from the Neil Andersen.

Six of these powerful arms bound Pastra’s limbs, pinning her down.

Simultaneously, Ryo brought the tip of Murasame to Pastra’s throat.

Then, with firm resolve, Ryo declared.

“I win.”

Pastra’s eyes widened in shock… but they soon burned with anger, her teeth clenched in frustration.

Ryo, however, knew the truth.

Pastra before him was likely an Akuma.

And if she was indeed an Akuma, even severing her head wouldn’t kill her.

Binding her limbs and pressing Murasame against her throat didn’t necessarily constitute a victory.

Yet, he also understood the high pride Akumas carried…

And their peculiar sense of honor.

Admittedly, they were the kind to challenge their opponents repeatedly after a loss, but still…

“Fine… I lost.”

Closing her eyes, Pastra exhaled deeply and admitted defeat.

The capture arms holding her instantly released their grip.

Seeing this, Pastra gave a wry smile.

“You’re awfully trusting. What if I lied and tried to kill you?”

“The Akumas I know wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Ryo downed a potion and responded confidently.

Hearing this, Pastra’s eyes widened again in surprise.

“Akumas… you know what we are? Have you met one of us before? Why didn’t they kill you?”

“Um, well… I’d rather not die, to be honest.”

“Ah, my apologies. I merely meant… humans tend to be on the execution list if they know the word ‘Akuma’.”

“Now that you mention it, I do recall being told something like that.”

Ryo thought back to his first encounter with Leonor in Rune.

“Who was it? Who did you meet?”

“…Leonor.”

At his answer, Pastra nearly jumped in shock.

“Leonor… that monster—no, Leonor should still be dormant, right? Wait, what?”

“Oh, yeah. They did mention having just woken up. Someone else said the same thing, too.”

“She’s awake… I haven’t seen her in over 200 years… wait, someone else? You’ve met another? Who?”

“…Jean Jacques.”

“Jean Jacques… that fool—well, I suppose that tracks.”

Leonor, the so-called monster, and Jean Jacques, the fool.

Ryo couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pity for the two and shook his head slightly.

Pastra closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

It seemed she was organizing her thoughts.

“I’ve lost. What do you want? World domination? Wealth? Fame? Or perhaps… my heart and body…”

“Ah, no, I don’t need any of those.”

Pastra blushed as she spoke.

But Ryo rejected everything.

It vaguely reminded him of something Leonor had said to him before.

“You win, but you ask for nothing? World domination would take some time, but the rest I could give you immediately.”

“No, first, please undo this sealed corridor…”

“Oh, this isn’t quite a sealed corridor. It’s similar but is actually a spell I devised for my own use.”

Pastra puffed out her chest with pride.

“Speaking of which, you did steal control of my magic, didn’t you? Krakens and sea creatures have done that to me before… wait, even a ghost ship once… why do I keep getting my magic hijacked…?”

Ryo slumped, unreasonably disheartened.

“Krakens can do it instinctively. My ability is the result of research. Hmm, by the way, didn’t you also interfere with my stone wall using magic? That was quite amusing.”

“Oh, that. It’s something I learned after having a similar spell used on me once. They disrupted my magic generation.”

Ryo spoke nostalgically.

It was a technique once used against him by ‘Hassan’, the leader of the assassin’s guild.

“Well, I suppose I’ll return this space to normal.”

With Pastra’s words, the world suddenly shifted back to its original state.

“Whoa!”

Ryo heard a familiar voice.

A certain swordsman king, startled by the sudden change.

“I was so close to defeating the Demon Prince.”

Abel’s muttered complaint reached Ryo’s ears.

Ryo shook his head and said.

“Do you know what we call that, Abel? Being a musclehead.”

“Urgh…”

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