"That's it? "Really?" Sarasa asked, feeling underwhelmed by what she had just experienced. She had thought the human rebellion the near-omniscient Raijin had told them about was going to be a lot more threatening than what she had just experienced. The two swords she was holding disappeared from her grasp as she was no longer fighting anyone.
That was why she held back, so much so that the humans were able to make her bleed, but now, just by unleashing a fraction of her power, they were now all lying helplessly before her.
She levitated above the ground, looking upwards. "I hope the other gods wouldn't be as disappointed about this as I am," she said as she was about to take off. But as she was about to leave, just before she disappeared, she heard an unexpected voice coming from behind her.
"Hey, stupid!" Kazuya called from behind, prompting her to look back immediately.
"What? "How are you still alive?" Sarasa asked with a startled frown. She looked at Genta and was sure that she was dead. She also looked around, but nobody alive in the building had the magical gift of healing, all except Shizu, who was barely a minute away from death and had no strength to even react to pain, let alone cast a healing spell.
She looked back at Kazuya, still wondering how he was able to heal himself, with a frown of curiosity slowly turning to one of frustration.
"It must be my second life out of nine, don't you think?" replied Kazuya mockingly, standing strong before her without a hole in his stomach.
"Why can't you just die?" she said to him, stretching forth her hand as a sword appeared within her grasp. She held on to the sword and pointed it at him. But she did not go straight for the kill—this was because, unlike before, something was different about Kazuya. This time, dark magical energy was emanating from his body in near-infinite amounts. an amount that might have rivaled that of entities.
Then, within a split second, that magical aura became visible, and its visible manifestation was the appearance of scarlet flames rising from Kazuya's body. His body was literally on fire, but neither his skin, hair, nor clothes were burnt up.
The pupils of his eyes glowed red—in the same shade as the scarlet flames burning around him. Sarasa's eyes widened as she took note of this. "What on earth are you?" she yelled at him.
"Your doom," Kazuya replied, and Sarasa felt insulted.
"You dare?" she said, now running with great speed so she could attack Kazuya from behind. But to her surprise, as she was heading towards his back, she noticed his eyes moving with her at the same speed, showing that he could tell what she was up to within that fraction of a second. Nonetheless, she still got behind him, about to strike as anticipated, but he quickly turned, blocking the attack with minimal effort.
She frowned angrily, attacking with more effort and slowly investing more of her power into the fight, as Kazuya was now the one with a docile expression written on his face as if mocking her initially indifferent persona at the start of the encounter.
After multiple attempts to land a cut on him, she struck again, but it got blocked unexpectedly, and she then countered with a slap in the face from the back of Kazuya's hand.
Sarasa stumbled backwards, holding onto her cheek with widened eyes. Kazuya had just slapped her in the middle of a battle!
"You hit me?" she asked with a furious stare. "How dare you touch me?"
Kazuya gave no response, pointing his sword at her.
"No more games!" Sarasa screamed at him in frustration. "Nobody touches me!" "I will end this once and for all!"
With that said, she screamed out loud as her body glowed in brilliant light, a light so bright that it could blind a human who stared at it for less than a second. But Kazuya remained as he was, unfazed but with his eyes closed, rightfully anticipating what Sarasa was up to.
Closing his eyes and focusing on sensing the magical aura around him, he noticed Sarasa coming at him with great speed within the blinding light full of so much rage and power. So within that short amount of time, Kazuya charged himself up with all the inherent magic he could muster and blocked her attack with his sword, and the moment he did so, the light around him dimmed out, revealing a frustrated Sarasa pressing her sword against Kazuya's.
This time, Kazuya was blocking the attack with both hands, showing that he was now taking this fight more seriously and fighting with almost everything he had. They both charged themselves with so much magic that it nullified each other to the point of sending both combatants flying in both directions.
Now it was Kazuya's turn to speak. He opened his eyes but was not seeing all that clearly—perhaps due to the blinding light from a moment ago.
"I don't want this to take very long either, so I'm going to expend all of my magical energy into one final strike," Kazuya said to her. "So better get prepared, and do not hold back, because I won't, not by a thread."
Sarasa held out her sword against him, nodding in agreement. "Neither will I," she said. "Though I hate you, I must admit that you have earned my respect through this fight." "So when this battle is over, I will hang your embalmed head on my wall both as a trophy and as a reminder to myself and all who see it of the great heights a human could reach when given the chance to flourish."
As she said this, her sword glowed up, as did Kazuya's. The two swords, one white and the other scarlet, were set against each other, with both wielders ready to run towards each other.
Then Kazuya ran first, and Sarasa followed immediately. They both ran with swift speed towards each other, and within a blink, they each went past the other with each of their swords pointed in the opposite direction.
It all happened in a flash, but they had each struck a fatal blow at the other. Now all that remained was for the winner to be decided by who died last.
Kazuya fell to his knees as blood spilt out of his chest, revealing a fresh mortal wound that ran from his left shoulder down across to his right abdomen.
Sarasa, however, stood up, looking back at Kazuya, saying, "I felt insulted because you touched me, but now that I have experienced more than that, I must say... (she coughs out blood) that it doesn't feel bad to get defeated by a man like you."
With those final words, blood spilt out of her belly as the upper half of her body slid down to the ground before her lower half collapsed shortly after.
Kazuya looked back, and there was the great goddess of wisdom, arts, and war, lying behind him in two bloody pieces.
Immediately, Gaichu appeared before Kazuya with a holographic congratulations message above its head.
"Congratulations, Kazuya!" Gaichu said to him. "You have now completed the first phase of the game! "Here are your rewards!"
Then before him, he could see multiple vials of potions. They were labeled as follows:
"3 Healing Potions",
"3 Magical Potions,"
"2 Energy Potions," and
"1 Revival Potion."
Then underneath that line of rewards was a statement: "You have now unlocked a higher rank! Click here to rank up!" plus another statement: "You have now acquired the "Weapon Manifestation Technique" of the goddess! "Click here to master!"
Kazuya, still on his knees, asked Gaichu, "The revival potion—can it do what its description says?"
"Precisely," Gaichu replied, "it can be used to revive deceased NPCs, plants, and animals." But it is primarily used by activation before the tragedy for the immediate resurrection of the main player once dead or instant all-around healing when at the point of death.
"Good," Kazuya remarked, "Use it on Genta."
"Are you sure?" Gaichu asked. "You need it now more than ever!" This is not a reward you get for every achievement! "It is rare."
"Just give it to her," Kazuya replied, not having the strength to yell at the fairy.
"Alright, it's done," Gaichu said, and the image of the "Revival Potion" disappeared from the hologram. Kazuya looked at Genta and sighed in relief when he noticed that she was now breathing.
"What about the healing potions?" asked Gaichu. "Wouldn't you at least use them on yourself before you die from blood loss?"
"Use them on Shizu, Kenpachi, and Orihime instead," Kazuya replied.
"Are you sure about this?" "This is an unwise course of action," Gaichu replied.
"Do it!" Kazuya ordered.
"As you wish," Gaichu said as the holographic image of the healing rewards disappeared.
"Now you have exhausted all of your healing rewards, and you will be dead in a matter of seconds." So, I will be logging you out of the game in twenty seconds," Gaichu said to him. "But don't worry, your progress will be saved, even if the world moves on without you." But it is all part of the gameplay, and you will be replugged in when needed.
With the little time Kazuya had left behind, he looked at all four adventurers that came with him, lying on the ground unconscious and stained with blood but very much alive and healed thanks to his sacrifice.
The final person he stared at was Orihime before he was forcefully pulled out of the world he had become accustomed to and back into the old world, which he had forgotten about.
He was back in the real world.