While I was seriously debating whether I should split that thief bastard's skull open to prevent a future bus disaster, Dante pressed him.
"···Heathcliff?"
"I-I didn't know!! I didn't know it was his...! Hey, come on! It only had colorful cat stickers all over the safe! Who would look at that and think it belonged to some huge bastard like him!?"
"Taste is... different for everyone. Just like this lake. I'll have to record your disregard for diversity and personal preference in the ledger as well."
Ah, damn it. Should I really kill him? It wouldn't mean anything if I killed him now, but I can't keep my temper in check.
Hoo... calm down. Calm down. If I want even a slightly better chance of surviving, I need to use even someone like that as a meat shield.
"Someone shut Heathcliff up. Before that ledger gets another entry..."
"Heathcliff... did you even know where and how to use that before you took it?"
"How the hell would I know... Damn it..."
"Sob, sob... Have we become evildoers who steal what belongs to others? Why did this happen, Heathcliff...? Why did you lay your hands on the hair saloon you never once cared about in life..."
"T-There's such a thing..."
"The one piece of good news is... the chance that they'll forgive you if you return the coupon is extremely slim. You should assume it's zero. Therefore, that coupon can become yours, Heathcliff. The bad news is..."
"Before we even get to use that coupon, we're all going to be a. b. s. o. l. u. t. e. l. y. done for..."
Wow. Sinclair's speech pattern has rubbed off from Ryoshu.
Haa... the sudden stream of absurd remarks made my already barely-hanging-on nerves sway dangerously.
I didn't expect to overuse one E.G.O and overuse my eye at the same time... and I certainly didn't expect to get mentally attacked on top of that. From an ally, no less.
Anyway, after finishing his long-winded speech, the little boss wiped away his tears. ...And so did Don Quixote, who had also felt betrayed by Heathcliff.
"And the price of that sin... hmm... If I look at Article 8, Clause 20... the sixth item in subsection A... hair coupon..."
"Wait, does that book also say what to do when you lose a hair coupon?"
"All involved parties. That means the one who stole the coupon and anyone who was close to him gets summary execution."
"Hmph. As expected. So petty."
...Thank goodness. That kind of roundabout insult doesn't get written in the ledger.
The little boss took off his sunglasses and looked straight at us.
"I am Ricardo, the little boss of the Middle. Remember it as you die. Memory is very important."
As his red eyes fixed on us, Ryoshu's last cigarette turned to ash and fell to the floor...
"It wasn't all that tasty... If there's a next time, I want something more premium."
At the same time, Ricardo leapt—
"My hair coupooooooon!!!!!!"
-─────────!!!!!!!!!!!
A blast so violent it felt like my eardrums would burst swallowed the entire area.
For a moment, the impact was so grotesque it nearly knocked me senseless. When my vision, obscured by the shockwave, finally returned to light, more than half the Sinners had already been reduced to pulp.
"Huh..."
"Hm? You're fine."
The rest weren't in any normal condition either. The only one who looked completely unharmed was me.
Well, even calling it unharmed is a stretch. I'd been crushed by the shockwave and only recovered in a hurry by drawing vitality from the nutrients.
Damn. I definitely have other abilities besides recovery, but none of them matter at all.
I hadn't exactly failed to anticipate this outcome... but seeing it unfold right in front of me makes it feel far more real.
"···!"
Ah. Dante is alive. For some reason, that Ricardo bastard hadn't included him in the attack radius.
"Hmph... either way, it doesn't matter."
Ricardo stared at me for a long moment, then said that and lightly kicked off the ground.
...! Fast—!
"Damn it...!"
- KWAANG─────!!!!
"Hm? Are you recovering? Interesting. This will make a fine toy."
...My right upper body, which had just exploded apart at a mad speed, absorbed the nutrients I had prepared in advance and regenerated in an instant.
And then the merciless violence continued, as if he were testing my regeneration.
- KWAANG──!!!! THUD───!! DRDRDRK───!!!
"Oh, hmm... ah... quite impressive. Did you have regeneration ampoules plugged in or something?"
"Ghk...! Haaah...! What the hell are you doing...!"
"Ah, hold on. It wouldn't be fun if the toy broke too quickly. I was just testing its durability."
...So I'm being treated like a toy. No wonder his attacks suspiciously never targeted the head.
Does that mean he can kill me whenever he wants? No—this means he intends to play with me as long as possible before killing me.
What I need to target is that arrogance. Strong or not... if I can gouge out even one moment of carelessness, there's nothing saying I can't kill him.
"Now! It's no fun if I'm the only one getting hit. You attack too. If you satisfy me, maybe you'll survive."
"······."
...Now? No, not yet. Even while saying that, his eyes are fixed squarely on me. If I make a move that could kill him, he'll kill me instantly.
All I can do is hold out until the nutrients binding the Double-Hook Pirate Crew in place dry up... Once that ends, my recovery ends too.
If there's any variable left... it's a small amount of regeneration ampoule, and... one trump card.
Attacking is pointless. What I need to do now is watch the enemy's attacks as closely as possible and burn them into my eyes.
Reduce the variables as much as possible for when it matters.
"If you're not coming... then I'll come to you!!"
"Tch...!"
Ricardo's figure closes the distance in an instant.
The attack trajectory is... the head!
- KWAANG────!!!!
"You dodged it!"
- PUNG───!!
"Kheh...!"
As I barely slipped past the blow aimed at my head, his knee immediately drove toward my abdomen.
I twisted my body in a hurry, but evading it was impossible. I was sent flying and slammed into the wall.
"Khuhack..."
...The gap is utterly hopeless. Can I even land a single effective hit?
Unless I'm acting as though I've seen far into the future and can predict his movements, the eye's ability is practically useless.
Of course, the instant I see it, the scene unfolds right in front of me—so what am I supposed to do? No matter how broken the ability is, against this kind of power gap it can't do much.
Let's admit it cleanly. A straight fight is impossible.
But when have we ever fought straight? While I was getting turned into mush by myself, the clock turned once.
That means reinforcements have arrived in their own way. Or maybe they're just meat shields.
"Hmm...? Revived...? No, recovered?"
"You son of a bitch!!"
Heathcliff, who had rushed at Ricardo, had his head blown apart at a speed too fast to see.
...Damn. Whether there are thirteen of us or one of us, it probably doesn't make much difference.
"Hm... interesting. What is it?"
Ricardo looked around. The cause of the recovery... was he looking for Dante?
As if he were letting his guard down, the Sinners all rushed him at once, but none of their weapons even touched his skin.
"Is it that clock? Hmm... well, I can test it. Hah!"
As he casually swung his arm, three Sinners were crushed into a pulp.
...Hoo, if I don't jump in now, this'll get annoying.
I force my body out of the wall it's embedded in.
The rough assessment is done. Nothing here is much different from what I expected. There shouldn't be any serious problem with the plan.
Now... I'll cling to him and interfere with his advance. Until he gets sick of it.
"Haa..."
"Hm? You're back. Yes, I'd hate it if you just went flying away too easily."
- Whoosh—!
"Come on, come on. Put more force into it. Then—!"
My attack misses by a hair, and he prepares his counter.
...Block it. It's possible.
I lift the scythe precisely and place it in front of his fist. A mad act made possible only because the E.G.O won't break.
"Hm?!"
- THUD────!!!!
"Ugh..."
"Hah, hahahahaha!!! Now this is a real item. You can react to that? Good, do more!"
In exchange, my entire upper body throbbed painfully. But it didn't matter. I'd gained more from that exchange than I lost.
"Hryaa!!!"
"···!"
- KWAANG────!!!!!
"You're blocking it, you're actually blocking it! How are you doing that? With that body, it should be hard enough just to see."
"...Trade secret."
...I take back what I said earlier. By adjusting the eye's future a little more precisely, I can somehow see ahead. It demands far more concentration than before, though.
But for now, all I can do is barely block; unless I adjust the eye's perspective a little more, attacking is nothing but a dream.
"Then let's see if you can block this too!"
Ricardo took a stance as if he were about to spring forward.
On...!
-────────!!!!!
I throw my body into the exact timing, through the exact opening. One—dodged.
But the attack doesn't end. Ricardo forcibly cuts his own speed and throws a punch at me.
Defend.
- KWAANG───!!!!
"Kkh..."
I blocked it, but the shock alone sent my body skidding back.
For a moment, I'm left exposed. Ricardo doesn't miss the opening.
He twists his body grotesquely from that posture and shoots straight at me.
"Hrya!!!"
- THUD─────!!!
"Gghh..."
I barely raise the scythe to block, but the body being crushed between the wall and Ricardo screams in protest.
"Interesting. Your body is clearly like this... so how are you keeping up? I'd like to pull out your eye. Maybe I'll take it as a trophy."
"G-get... lost..."
Ricardo wasn't just spouting nonsense. He was actually studying my eye closely.
Help...! Help...!
"Die!!!"
"Hm... revived again?"
"Kheh... haa..."
Thanks to Heathcliff rushing Ricardo the moment he revived, my body finally regained freedom before I was dissected alive.
At the cost of Heathcliff dying again, of course... let's at least pray for him.
"Let's see... it does seem like that clock is the cause."
Ricardo looked directly at Dante. Had his interest shifted there? He casually tossed me aside, slamming me into the wall, then started walking toward Dante.
...No.
If Dante gets caught, the plan and everything else is over.
The remaining nutrients are... about one-third. Tch, if I'd known this would happen, I should've laid the merfolk out in advance too.
I clutch my head, which feels like it's about to split open, and try to think of a scheme... Ha, there's no time to think of a scheme or anything. Damn it...!
"You're... not going there!"
- Whoosh—!
"Hm? You're recovering quite fast."
It doesn't reach. With such slow, plodding cultivation, I couldn't even touch a hair on him.
Faster.
- Swaaish—!
"Oh, that one might've grazed a bit of fuzz."
Wider...!
- Whoosh──!!
"Your weapon can get bigger too. I don't know what principle is behind it."
Harder...!!
- TUNG──!!
"The force is decent enough. Still slow, though."
Ricardo caught my plow. The tips of my fingers tingled as if I'd struck iron.
...Ha, there really is no answer. This is my maximum potential.
Then he looks at the Sinners whose eyes still have light in them, and at Dante.
"If I kill them all, I'll be able to find out how you revive, too."
After throwing out that chilling line, he seized me with a crushing grip I couldn't possibly escape.
"This game has gone on long enough."
And then, throwing me toward the Sinners, he leapt into the air.
"Execution for all of you!!"
He's coming down. Straight at me.
I could tell this was the last moment to force a variable into the situation.
The air is one of the few places where free movement is restricted.
I grab the ampoule tucked into my sleeve.
The only one I have. My strongest weapon.
From here on, Ricardo's descending form seems to slow like a motion picture in reverse.
Exactly, in time with the beat.
Stab it in... ah.
-─────────!!!!!!!!!!!
"What is this?"
"...Ah."
Ricardo forcibly twisted his body in midair and, just before it could touch his skin, snatched the ampoule away. He looked straight at me.
I couldn't give a proper answer. My lower body was still regenerating after being blown clean open.
Ricardo had also taken damage from the shock of forcibly twisting his trajectory... or so I'd like to comfort myself by saying. In the end, he could still dispose of us with ease.
"I thought something felt off... and it turns out you were plotting something cute."
"Haa... damn it. How did you see it? It was hidden by my clothes, so it shouldn't have been easy to notice."
"Pure chance. The light reflected off this syringe needle."
"Tch, nothing's going my way... haha..."
"I'll praise you. You managed to injure me. Whatever's in this tiny syringe, if it had hit me, I doubt I'd be fine."
I twisted my body desperately, but it was pointless.
"Now, die."
His fist flew in an instant and smashed into my face... and my consciousness vanished beyond the other side.
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