Chapter 147 Licking Shadow
What is love, I wonder?
If I think about it with distant eyes, it might be a scene worth capturing in an album as a ticklish page of blue spring. But I'm sure I'll be writhing in bed later.
But it was serious. I really needed to know what love was. Why, you ask?
"Haah, haah... It's my first time getting this worked up before a fight. Hey, my mister... no, let me call you darling. Now, enjoy the sharpness of this Zetsu. Please savor it well."
As you can see, it's directly connected to a life-or-death situation.
I've been upgraded to "darling." Jesus.
(Wow. This is some iron-smelling love, huh? Hey Master, what do you think about being hotly pursued by a stunning beauty?)
(Gonna bawl my eyes out.)
(Hahaha!)
There's only enemies around. With no hesitation, Ruthless is stabbing at my tear-streaked face, and I feel like I'm about to drown in a flood of tears. Seriously, how did it come to this?
No matter how chaotic the situation, the world keeps moving along, indifferent. I can't just stand there dazed in front of Zetsu, who's closing in while brandishing a black blade, even in a state of ecstasy.
Holding back a sigh, I readied my ring, preparing for battle.
"...Ruthless!"
(Yes, indeed!)
I grip the heavy iron. My partner, with whom I've overcome many crises, fits in my hand no matter the time or place. The combination of an iron pipe and a villainous look is the last thing I want to encounter on a dark street, but Zetsu seems to be twisting in delight instead.
"What a wonderfully rough and lovely weapon! This Zetsu is liking you more and more, darling."
"Hah, you sayin' that after witnessin' this? You lost your damn mind?"
"It's darling's fault that this Zetsu feels this way, isn't it?"
"Don't point fingers when it ain't true!"
What the heck is wrong with this person? She's so off the rails it's terrifying. Just when I'm feeling overwhelmed by her madness, Zetsu smoothly lunges at me.
"Haah!"
"!"
Despite the light call, the strike is incredibly sharp. A different kind of fear than what I felt from her personality sends chills down my spine.
As I deflect the first strike, there's no time to breathe before the second and third strikes come rushing at me.
"Here I go!"
"Zuh...!"
I'm taking the thrust of the pursuit with Ruthless, but the sharp and heavy blow is too much to deflect, forcing me to retreat significantly.
So strong. Plus, it's hard to read.
The black blade blends into the night, making its trajectory difficult to see. But even more troublesome is the complete lack of killing intent in the attacks.
It's a bad move to go on the defensive. I need to attack.
"'With the red power belt on my arm'──[Earth Meging (Megingjörð)]."
"That tattoo is pretty stylish, huh?"
"Gonna turn that grin upside down, see?"
Half-hearted efforts won't cut it. I still don't fully understand the situation, but I can't afford to hold back against someone swinging a sword at me. I need to wield Ruthless with the mindset of breaking them, even if they're human.
"Get lost!!"
"Hehe."
One strike, two strikes. The clash of iron and blade accelerates. In a simple test of strength, I should be superior, yet my full-force strikes never reach her.
I'm being evaded. They deflect my vertical strikes sideways, and my diagonal attacks are met with upward counters, all while maintaining a cool demeanor.
I can't help but admit she possesses incredible skill. Her swordsmanship is sharper than Shura's. Zetsu might be a master on the level of Captain Shidou.
"You're intense, darling!"
"What do you mean, darling? Don't push it... [Shoes of Hel (Helskor)]!"
She comes at me with a strike, then casually throw out an outrageous request. It's probably a show of confidence, but this time, it won't work. Pure strength isn't enough. So, I'll try to outpace her by increasing my agility and swinging with flair.
"Shii!"
"!"
"Take this!"
"Oh, whoa!"
With the boost from Ruthless, it should feel like I'm moving twice as fast. But while I manage to surprise Zetsu a bit, I still can't break through.
Her violet eyes still gleam with delight. She gracefully dodge, deflect, and don't let me close the distance. The gap in skill is something I can feel even in the briefest exchanges.
"Getting suddenly impatient is kind of cute, isn't it? But this Zetsu wants to enjoy this slowly and thoroughly, darling. No rushing, okay?"
"That bastard..."
I had already played my hand, and I couldn't stand being lectured in such a ridiculous way. Was she just trying to drag this out? Zetsu was holding her black sword, maintaining a defensive stance without making a move.
It was frustrating, but there was a clear gap between us, like the difference between a child and an adult in a simple close-quarters fight.
(...Is she some kind of sword genius?)
Even in the less than 5 minutes of our clash, it was obvious.
Her footwork. Her sword techniques. Her breathing. For someone who looked to be around my age, she was exceptional in every way. No doubt about it, she was a genius. Being tossed around like this made it hard not to feel the reality of it.
(...I just remembered something unpleasant.)
I wanted a moment to catch my breath, while Zets was completely at ease. It was the perfect picture of a mediocre talent facing off against a genius. The bitter taste of that insurmountable gap lingered in my mouth. It was an out-of-place nostalgia. The difference between Zetsu and me reminded me of the words from my instructor back when I was training in a dojo, aiming to become a hero.
'Atami. You have no talent for martial arts.'
It was a memory I didn't want to recall.
I had been labeled a failure. When I was told that, my fighting spirit flared up, insisting that it wasn't true. But in the end, I couldn't argue against my instructor's calm gaze, like the surface of winter water.
(This is really frustrating. Why did I have to catch the eye of someone like her?)
I felt like cursing. I was suddenly hugged without understanding why, and before I knew it, I was being infatuated with, and now we were supposed to fight to the death?
This was way too much of a plot twist. Even if love isn't about logic, it was a huge nuisance from my perspective. To regain control of the situation, I chose to use words instead of weapons.
"Hey."
"What is it, darling?"
" Don't call me "darling". Who the hell are you? You just jumped on me without any warning... Can't stand bein' called somethin' creepy by someone I ain't even met."
"Huh? That's such a trivial thing. This Zetsu felt fate when he met darling. That's why I want to cut you. It's just that, you know?"
"What do you mean fate? There's no reason for me to buy into your crazy ideas!"
"Your angry face is lovely... Hmph. Well then. It would be better for us to know each other, so we can enjoy our fight even more."
How far gone is this girl? It's all fastballs from the diagonal, and we can't even have a normal catch. Even when I finally got her to point his blade down, the way she got there was pretty sketchy.
"Hey, have you ever heard of [Licking Shadow]?"
"...Huh? Licking Shadow?"
I frowned at the persistent "darling" while tilting my head at the words Zetsu threw out. Licking Shadow. What a weirdly suggestive and unsettling combo.
It's not something you'd expect to hear in everyday life. But for some reason, it felt familiar.
(...This sounds familiar...)
(Oh. Wasn't it something the old guys from the Inquisitorial Council said about a bounty on a serial killer or something?)
(Inquisitorial Council? ...Wait, what?!)
Zetsu's words brought back memories of my visit to the Inquisitorial Council's meeting place.
Oh right, that's what it was. The bounty they mentioned, like, Mr. Haboch and the others said it was some super dangerous guy on the knight order's blacklist.
"Serial killer bounty? You ain't kidding, right?"
"Yup, that's me. I don't really like being called that, but I guess I got famous without even trying. It's kinda embarrassing that you know about it too, darling."
"...Wait a minute. Why the hell are you here then? Hold on... So that last thing that went down in Asgardam was...!"
"Yep. He was persistent in hitting on me, but he didn't make my heart race at all. So I thought I'd come comfort you instead."
"Some creepy people with a name like that... just go away!"
"Aww, that's mean."
Ignoring Zetsu's playful smile for now, it's clear she's a serious threat.
The way she casually talks about killing someone without a hint of guilt shows she's not someone with a normal sense of ethics.
And yet, why the hell is she so keen on me? What's got her so interested? The protagonist's bad luck seems to be piling up, and it's giving me a bit of a headache.
I tried to refuse, but it was like spitting into the wind, and Zetsu just grinned wider, caressing her black sword with her cheek.
"Creepy... It's hurtful... Sad... That's why, why do you call me that way, can I show it to you, my darling?"
As she spoke, an eerie aura swelled around her, making my skin crawl. A chill ran up my spine as if licked by a snake's tongue. Her behavior was still playful, yet the atmosphere turned cold and silent.
"Wake up, [Kuroto Kage (Shadow Blade)]..."
The moment Zetsu patted the black sword gently, the anomaly became a reality.
(What's this darkness... It's like a liquid... What's happening...?)
As if black sword itself was drooling, thick ink dripped onto the ground, drop by drop. The ink, blacker than the night, oozed and spread, as if it had a will of its own, crawling towards me like a reptile.
"Taste it well, my darling."
Zetsu murmured dreamily.
At that very moment, the surface of the ink sharpened into a massive needle and stretched out to pierce me.
"Ggaahh!?!"
It was such an unusual attack that I hastily raised Ruthless to defend myself, but it was incomplete. The black needle sliced through my shoulder as if it were paper, not stopping my attack.
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