Unfazed by my attack, Rafal spat out the black sword that he bit before backing away.
As he crashed into the facility outer wall, I rushed to Aaron's aid.
[Aaron, are you alright?]
[I'm alright. But, I think he spilled my blood a little.]
The wound was not fatal, thanks to Aaron's stats.
But fairly large amount of blood splattered on ground. And Aaron's complexion didn't seem to be that good as well.
Still, he stood up. He focused his glare at Rafal's direction.
The outer wall collapsed. And from under it, Rafal emerged from the pile of rubbles. The wounds that I and Aaron inflicted on him had fully mended. Although the head part was a bit defective, and there was a gaping hole on his chest.
Had he already become an immortal….? Attacking his human's vital points――even after we damaged both of his head and heart, he could still move.
A monster disguised in human form. That's what Aaron said about Rafal.
[To go that far, is that really what Lina Burix would want?]
[Shutup, you're being noisy!]
[To see her son ended up being like this, it's saddening. O Rafal.]
[I said shut up! Kuh]
Suddenly Rafal fell on his knee. His breathing rough, as if trying to keep something at bay.
That seemed similar to me. The urge to eat a living being's soul when Gluttony skill was hungry….they all seemed the same.
When I consumed Haniel back at Gallia, I obtained Luna's power. Thanks to her suppressing the Gluttony skill, I became able to live day by day just from consuming weak monsters.
But it's only up to semi-starving state. If I went beyond that, I'll just end up just like how it did at the end of the fight with Tenryu.
Thanks to Roxy, I managed to survive from that state. Thus, I've been refraining from using it again since then.
And if I ever entered full starvation state again, the gluttony skill will surely....target her.
Luna told me that Roxy is my pillar. If that means she's the only way for me to keep the gluttony skill on hold, then it'll be dangerous for her no matter how I think about it.
And now, from Rafal who stood before me right now, I could already sense the similarly unsuppressable impulses coming out.
[Dammit, at a time like this….chi]
Rafal cursed at particularly nobody. He's clutching his head as if trying to resist something.
Then he took out two vials from a compartment on his thigh. The vial contained red substance, which he immediately gulped down.
[It's not enough, with only this, huh?]
Along with Rafal's distress, all other nightwalkers also fell into discontent. This didn't go unnoticed of course, the holy knights and soldiers started to gather up, and I could hear them fighting in the distance.
Among them, I saw the two white knights who were guarding the king.
Turning to Aaron, he nodded and said.
[It seems that the King's royal guards have started to move.]
[I think they'll manage since the movement of the nightwalkers have become dull]
[Agreed, now then]
Aaron turned to Rafal once more.
[Rafal, that power you have is indeed powerful. But the greater the power, the greater responsibility behind it. And yet you never seeked to master it. The way I see it, you merely rush forward by overly relying on that power.]
[Nonsense! He hated me, so he wanted to obtain power to overcome me. I've hurt him enough to make him think like that. Oi, Fate....you hated me, didn't you?]
Rafal tried to provoke me. But Aaron quickly interjected.
[What happened between the two of you, I do not know. Perhaps it's just as Rafal said. However, even if it did at the beginning, Fate didn't have any hatred in his eyes when I met him back at Hausen.]
Aaron tapped my shoulder and nodded reassuringly.
In response to that, I said my bit.
[Rafal, you're such a poor loser.]
[Stop, you're not one to talk down on me. Remember the time when you murder Hado, remember that hatred!]
[...I won't deny that it's how I felt back then. But that's exactly why, I can't keep living in the past.]
I brandished the black sword at Rafal. Even if he's an immortal, his power was gradually weakening, so it'll be possible to restrain him.
Hado who was split in two also hadn't fully recovered yet. That's a good prove that Rafal's power is declining.
Sure enough, Rafal didn't attack with the space jumping spear stab, but still targeted my chest.
Black sword and black spear clashed once more. This time I clearly can overpower Rafal.
[There is something I want to ask. Where did you gain that power? And that spear too]
[Why even asked? Do you honestly think that I'll answer that?]
[Then let's keep it for later.]
Little by little, I pushed back Rafal's black spear, until my sword started digging into his shoulder.
He clenched his teeth at the agonizing sensation.
He seemed to still be able to feel pain despite being an immortal. Then, I wonder how it felt when Aaron blew a hole on his chest and even split his head?
You….even to that extent.
Rafal returned my pitying stare with a glare.
[Hado, stop dilly dallying! Listen to my order! Come here!]
The splitted body of Hado moved its wing, and tried to jump.
Aaron immediately intercepted. But only managing to cut down one half.
The other half managed to get to where I and Rafal were clashing.
Breaking the deadlock, I jumped back to evade Hado.
Hado then stood between me and Rafal.
[Hahaha, it's still usable even on this state]
Using Hado as a shield, Rafal headed to the hole at the research facility outer wall.
It was to the Burix's research facility that I originally sneaked into.
[Don't let anyone disturb me, Hado]
Wielding the broken holy sword, it obediently prevented me from following.
With only one half of its body, it had a hard time even standing up.
I easily cut at its belly, splitting it in half.
I knew that it won't kill Hado. Even after being reduced to only quarter, he still tried to come after me.
From behind I heard Aaron's voice.
[Leave the nightwalker and Hado to me. You go after Rafal, settle things once and for all]
[Yes, Aaron too, don't push yourself too hard]
Although the wound had closed off, he still lost a lot of blood. He should be resting to recuperate right now. But Aaron wasn't someone who would show any form of weakness while in the midst of a battle. He still looking strong even now.
Following Rafal, I entered the building.
Where has he gone to? Higher floor…..or the underground?
[Kyaaaaaaaaa...]
I heard that. It was coming from the hole that was created when Hado punched me.
This hole continued to the basement.
If the earlier scream belonged to someone who were attacked by Rafal…..was there someone left on the underground level?
It's also where I first encountered the nightwalkers. Perhaps there is something important there for him.
But that scream I heard just now. Yes, it was Rafal's sister Mimir's scream.
I was holding Mimir when Hado punched me away. Perhaps Rafal went down there to retrieve her.
He even lay his hand on his own sister…..? I only had bad feeling at the moment.
I guessed I unconsciously tightened my grasp on the black sword, which caused Greed to call me out.
『Oioi, are you hesitating after coming this far?』
[I was about to jump down. But I wonder, has Rafal become the owner of a mortal sin skill?]
I jumped down the hole while listening to Greed.
『You should know better as someone who own one yourself』
[How should I say it, it's similar but different. It's strange.]
『For someone like Fate, that's really a good way to put it』
[What was that!]
『Soon, you'll understand』
The room where I discovered Hado, where a lot of creatures were kept inside a container filled with red liquid, came into sight.