Volume 7 Chapter 43 An Arm For An Arm
Alkei Fragrance, a seasoned alchemist who has overcome countless battles alongside her partner 'Oath'.
For 100 years, the elf has spent her life by the side of platinum, one of the world's strongest adventurers. There is no one else for Alkei but him.
Her strong luck has allowed her to survive numerous battles. The 'God of the Incense Box', who has triumphed in countless duels. With her strengths and weaknesses clearly defined, she rarely had any doubts about her approach.
But this time, even Alkei couldn't help but worry.
Alkei's 'God of the Incense Box', a technique that even the world's strongest humans have fallen to, can be counted on one's fingers. However, to her dismay, Alkei couldn't see any sign of it working against the boy known as 'Slow'.
In other words, she couldn't see even a glimmer of a chance to win.
"..."
She gulps nervously.
Standing before her, Wade, the 'Slow' boy, glares at Alkei with a mix of anger and alertness.
His eyes are clear. What's wrong? Alkei wonders. Living creatures should be breathing. If they're breathing, they should be inhaling the incense. If they're inhaling the incense, they should be becoming disoriented.
He's not breathing. Or, he's somehow neutralizing the incense he inhales instantly. She doesn't understand. But half of the 'God of the Incense Box' power lies in its hallucinogenic effect. This means that its effectiveness is halved.
"Hey."
Alkei's shoulders flinch at the voice.
"Wh, what?"
"You said you'd show me, so why aren't you attacking?"
"No, that's my line. How long are you going to just observe? Where's the ferocity I've heard so much about?"
Alkei tries to act nonchalant. Wade responds,
"I'm the same as always, I think while I fight."
"...Huh?"
"I enjoy fighting, so I think about 'how to win' while I fight. But there's one exception."
"What's that, exception?"
"When I'm going to crush my enemy completely."
Alkei's spine tingles with a chilling sensation at his words.
"In situations like these, I first observe. I think about how to beat you up without you even getting a chance to fight back. How to make you realize your own weakness. How to make you despair."
"...Huh, huh, w-what are you talking about? I don't understand. D-despair? Me, the 'God of the Incense Box'? I'm not just a regular alchemist anymore, I'm not weak anymore."
Wade falls silent again. And fear rises within Alkei.
Alkei couldn't take it anymore.
"T-then! I'll attack you as you wish! With your child's dragon breath!"
Alkei swings her arm. The seal of the ancient dragon, restored from the scent, appears. Dozens of seals of the ancient dragon, filled with the light of destruction, surround Wade.
But the dragon breath is not released.
It crumbles and disappears on its own.
"...Huh...?"
Wade stares at Alkei with a bored expression. As if asking, is this all you've got?
"W-what? What did you just do?"
"You should know best, Alkei Fragrance."
"I-I don't know, that's why I'm asking! Just like when you saved Moruru-chan and the others! Why can you cut through the recreated seals of the ancient dragon!"
As far as she can analyze, the seals of the ancient dragon are magic circles that cannot interfere with anything other than ancient dragons. But hers are just pseudo-replications using the omnipotence of a god. There is no reason why Wade, a human, should be able to break them.
But Wade just laughed at the question.
"Ha. I know the seals of the ancient dragon are amazing. But you're different, Alkei."
"...? What do you mean?"
"The questioning is over. I understand you now."
Wade swings his greatsword. A haze follows its trajectory.
As if Wade had seen through Alkei's alchemy.
"Are you ready to face hell?"
"―――! Dream World!"
Alkei mixes the mist with the scent of herbs. The complex blend of aromas triggers divine will.
A world is created. An endless treasure box. A space where Alkei holds immense power.
The mist surges into Alkei's vision, obscuring Wade's form. Alkei quickly lifts his leg, escaping the mist that had pooled around his feet.
The mist at his feet clears, revealing Wade shrunk to the size of an ant.
"You've shrunk, 'Slow'! In that tiny state, what can you possibly do to me――?"
"Oh, I can do a lot, more than you can imagine."
A flash of light streaks across the air.
A small, silver-gleaming rod extends from the miniature Wade. No, it's a sword. The sword, impossibly long from Wade's perspective, cuts deep into Alkei's leg.
Alkei's blood runs cold. She imagines a battle between himself, at normal size, and Wade, at the size of an ant. Who would win?
"Gah! But what about this!?"
Bleeding, Alkei summons a swarm of snakes. From Alkei's perspective, they are normal-sized poisonous snakes, but to Wade, they appear as giant serpents.
"Come on, snakes! Devour that tiny foe――!"
Wade's sword flashes, swiftly decimating the snakes.
"...Wh-what?"
"Big snakes or not, you're both boring. I remember, you mixed the scent with your hand, right?"
A mist envelops the tiny Wade. Moments later, the mist before Alkei's eyes clears, revealing Wade back to his normal human size.
"Why?"
Alkei can't hide his agitation.
"Why!? Slow! Alchemy is a secret technique from only a small part of The Sage of the Forest's knowledge! How can you use it, 'Slow' Wade!?"
"Well, you used it in front of me a lot. I can replicate the effect if I just observe it."
Hearing that, Alkei takes a step back.
She faces an enemy true to his nickname. 'At a glance, the whole world appears in Slow motion.' Hence, 'Slow'. A formidable opponent who has mastered their secret technique right before her eyes, making her curse her own Slowness.
"Slow" Wade. Alkei realizes. He is the arch-nemesis of the alchemist who controls the secret arts.
"Even so."
Alkei swings her arm.
"Even so! I am the right hand of 'Oath'! I can't lose here!"
The smells mix. The mark of the ancient dragon appears. She throws and shatters an alchemist's flask into it. The fragrance is imbued with even more mystery.
"Time, stop!"
She waves her finger. Wade stops dead in her tracks. The key is to treat the opponent as if they are from the same 'Fragrance of the God' faction. Then, the first step is to stop time and disable them for a few seconds.
Next, Alkei moves on to prepare the finishing blow. The mark of the ancient dragon grows larger. She stabilizes the phenomenon of the ancient dragon's mark in this place so that even he cannot interfere.
"Unleash! The breath of the ancient dragon! The ultimate magic recreated! Burn my enemy through and through!"
[Dragon's Breath]
A dragon's breath dozens of times thicker than the one Moruru unleashed pierces Wade. It is the very concept of destruction that cannot be touched without evaporating. The light that burned Wade, emitting a strong afterglow, crumbles the ruins.
And it also blinded Alkei herself. She blinks in the blindingly white light, "How about that!?" and clears the haze.
There is nothing there. No one is there.
"...Did I do it?"
She doesn't know. But Wade is gone. There is only a charred wasteland and a straight line of light rays where he used to be. Intense heat fills the air, and Alkei coughs.
"Cough, cough, well, even 'Slow' Wade would die from a blow like that... right? Cough. He's dead, right? Not even a trace of dust left?"
Then, can't this be considered a victory?
Alkei approaches the trail of the massive light beam with disbelief. It was the first time in her life that she had unleashed such a flashy attack, so she was stunned that her enemy had evaporated without a trace.
But surely, surely she had won.
Alkei had defeated 'Slow' Wade.
"I, I did it."
Alkei trembles.
"I defeat that powerful enemy, the 'Slow' Wade――"
"No way you can do that."
Alkei's right arm flew off.
"――――Oh, wh-what...?"
It was a clean slash from behind. The moment she thought the sword flash had passed through her shoulder, her right arm flew off, danced in the air, and landed on the scorched ground, emitting a sizzling heat.
"Ah, uh... uh...?"
Blood spurted out. It flowed from her right shoulder like a fountain. Behind her stood 'Slow' Wade. He held his greatsword stained with blood and glared at her with his sharp eyes.
"Wh-why, why are you unharmed?"
"The moment you stopped time, I controlled the surrounding scents with the Sahasrara Chakra. Your alchemy, or rather, your magic, is based on scents. It doesn't exist in a place without scents."
That's why, Wade said.
"The moment you stopped time, I controlled the very magic that controls time and escaped instantly. That's all. It was a bit interesting, I must say. But that's it, Alkei. I've seen the depths of your power."
Wade let out a ferocious smile.
"From here on out, it's your own personal hell."
The sword flashed.
"――Ugh! Restoration!"
Alkei swung her left arm and restored her right arm. Immediately afterward, both Alkei's arms were sliced off by Wade's greatsword.
A torrent of blood spilled. Alkei fell into panic. Without arms, she couldn't manipulate scents. So, she tried to run away in a frenzy.
"Wait there. Where are you going?"
Then, her legs were cut off. Or maybe, her lower body was cut off from her legs. With that, Alkei collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Her limbless body sank into the pool of blood. Blood splattered all over the place. Alkei's mind was filled with nothing but fear.
"No way. This can't be happening. No, no, I don't want to die! Help me! Someone help me!"
"That's a lot to say for someone who tried to kill a man's daughter and his sister. Isn't it?"
"I didn't! That was just an illusion! I just wanted to startle them and make them faint! I! I would never try to kill a child――!"
Wade's greatsword swung down. Beneath it stood the enraged monster.
"Shut up your yapping and die quietly. If you're a gold rank, show me your resolve!"
The sword fell. With that sight as the last thing she saw, Alkei lost consciousness.
* * *
"...Well, I knew it all along. You were only attacking Moruru and the others with illusions."
I brushed away the mist of the incense I had controlled and picked up the unconscious Alkei, who was completely unharmed.
The severed limbs and the blood that gushed out were also illusions. They would disappear once the mist cleared. But if she were deceived by the illusions, she would believe they were real.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm. And an illusion for an illusion."
I turned around and called out, "Moruru, are you there?" Then, Moruru, looking terrified, appeared from the edge of the ruins.
"...papa, that was so scary."
"Well, if you try to make a gold rank faint with just fear, that's what happens."
It was actually quite fun in the end. Alkei is an alchemist, so I had put up a protection to prevent myself from seeing her alchemical illusions. I broke through that, stole her alchemy, and turned the tables on her.
I was only able to fight this enemy because I don't need to breathe thanks to my Anahata chakra. Otherwise, she would have been a tough opponent, and I would have probably ended up killing her.
The humans on the 'Oath' side don't want to kill too many people. 'Oath' is just about a pure test of strength. They don't want to dull the swords of 'Oath' with grudges or other such things.
"Is Ridge okay?"
"Her breathing is stable, but she's running a really high fever... W-what should we do, papa...!"
"Don't cry. Don't worry. I'll take her back and take care of her right away."
"Okay...!"
I hugged Moruru with Ridge and secured Alkei to my back with a chain. Then, using "Create Chain," I quickly climbed onto the roof and headed for our base.
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