Chapter 57: Clash of Blade and Hammer. ( 3 )

I had run on all fours. Three, considering that I had lost an arm. With all the strength I could muster, I had robbed Aleksander of his ankle. Aleksander went running once more. But this time, more pathetically than before. Not that I was in a better position.

But I wasn’t going to let my guard down. He wasn’t a cornered rat—I was. Instead, not only was he a wounded tiger, but he was also an immortal. Alec probably hadn’t known that yet, which was why he was running.

But I had read the novel. I knew that he wasn’t going to die. So I had to make sure I’d finished the job for good. Cut off his limbs, sealed him for as long as I possibly could… If possible, I’d seal him for a century or two or somehow convince Orsted to traumatize him for life.

Clashed, dragged, pulled, dropped, tossed,… Blows were exchanged so many times I had already forgotten how many times I got struck. Makes sense considering that I was barely breathing. And we continued all the way until we reached a cliff.

Was he backed into a corner? Or was this an act? Aleksander came to a stop at the edge of the cliff, breathing heavily. He looked like he was at his limit, but so was I.

He’d lost an ankle. But when he had the King-Dragon Sword with its gravity manipulation powers, as well as my own pathetic state, it wasn’t a disadvantage for either of us for a decisive victory.

Aleksander’s face looked frozen by fear. I gritted my teeth. Mine probably wasn’t any better. But I could finish him. Enough for me to seal him off for good. So why was it that I had been feeling this sense of déjà vu?

“No! I haven’t lost, not yet! Now, now’s when a hero turns the battle around! I’ll take you down.”

Alec muttered like a child throwing a tantrum. The instant I saw some aura emitting from his sword, I used telekinesis. Gravity distorted, but only briefly. For a moment, I felt weightless, like when an elevator started to move, but then I felt my feet on the ground.

“Raaaaaa!”

The next second, Alec swung his sword. I leaped back… Except Alec wasn’t aiming at me. His target was the ground. He struck the earth with the great blade and broke it. An eruption of dust filled my vision for a second.

Was he going to attack from behind the smokescreen? Wind blew around me as I readied myself for an attack. But instead of a fight, I saw Aleksander falling backward, down below the cliff. There was a smile on Alec’s face. A nasty smile. A victorious smile.

Alec had fallen off the cliff, but he’d be back. The King Dragon Blade’s power was gravity manipulation. Even if he fell all the way to the bottom, he’d have no trouble surviving and getting back up. But I do.

My reserves were at their lowest. By that I meant that I had never nearly emptied my mana pool this far. The blood I held back had already started leaking. Fatigue had washed over me, and the scent of death was so thick that before I knew it, vultures had flown above us.

And then it hit me why it all seemed so familiar. This was it. This was a crossroads. All of this had gone exactly the same way with Aleksander’s fight with Rudeus. And this was when reality had gnawed at me once more. I wasn’t Rudeus. I wasn’t prepared to die yet.

As the fear of death had taken hold of me, reason and emotions were clashing violently. What was I fighting for? Do I need to go that far? Isn’t it enough that you won against an opponent far beyond what you could’ve handled?

You’ve already fended off Kalman III. Haven't you done enough? What if he returns? Haven’t you already scared him off? But he was smiling at the end. Maybe he was simply glad he had survived? But what if he plans on returning on another day?

What are you going to do about it then? Of course, I had to jump and finish him off. Are you nuts? Then what, are we just going to leave him as is? Don’t even joke around; even Rudeus could—

But he wasn’t alone! He didn’t fend off Kalman by himself. He was at his best, wearing top gear while North God Kalman III was severely wounded, all while underestimating his opponent. What about you?

Fractured ribs, broken bones, a lost arm and a lost eye, blood lost and low on mana. You aren’t even breathing properly. Let alone winning against Kalman III, can you even survive the fall in your current state? But what happens if he came back and harmed the other—

wOuLd ThEy EvEn ReMemBeR yOu AfTeR yOu DiE?

“…”

You’ll die, Laurel. You will die. YOU. WILL. DIE.

“Pft-hahaha!”

Once fear overwhelmed me, pain and exhaustion didn’t miss their chances. It hurts. I’m scared. Someone help me. Tears slowly fell down my cheeks. I started crying. I wasn’t a hero. I wasn’t some protagonist with insane luck or overwhelming talent.

I had relied on overwhelming information superiority to put myself on a pedestal, jeered at other’s flaws to make myself better and lied to everyone about my own potential and given myself some outlandish goals just to feel special. But I wasn’t special. I’m just a man. No. I’m just a kid. No. I was a grown-ass man pretending to be a prodigy. Now the jokes are up.

… What would someone else have done in my shoes? I thought long and hard about the answer to this question. It was a question that I had been asking myself every time I was in a pickle, even in my past life.

If Rudeus had jumped, Paul would probably jump in as well. Reida was too old to be bothered with dying, and Orsted would only ever care whether it was worth the mana expenditure. They had done it so casually it was hard to believe they did. Then what about…

“Guild Master… What would you have done in my shoes?”

I thought about her face. I didn’t know why I thought about her. Maybe it was because my scary boss had rubbed off on me. Or maybe it was because the way she had conducted herself was similar to my ideal of what a person should be. And her answer?

“… Pft-hahaha. Right. Why did I bother asking in the first place?”

I shook my head in relief. That cold-hearted woman would just stare at me and say, “Do I even need to answer? Just get on with it." After all, that woman would rather work overtime than let work pile up.

It reminded me of a phrase back on earth. Memento mori. Remember that you will one day die. I’d already died once. I’m scared of dying twice. But I hated, dreaded, and loathed failing. Failure, despair, and regret had haunted me in my previous life. I refused to be haunted by my own ghost. I’d rather die.

“Let’s end this.”

I let my own body fall off the cliff. Riding the winds, I chased Kalman at full speed. If I wanted a better ending than that of the original novel, then I must go above and beyond what had transpired. I have to put everything on the line.

“Timmy, get ready to set everything ablaze.”

There’s no trick or scheme, not even a way out. I must reach the realm of a Powerhouse. I must transcend the ordinary and crush him with absolute, overwhelming power. That is the only path in order to achieve perfect victory.

And if I can’t? I’ll just blow up everything.