Clink... Clink...
The sounds of chains echoed in Specimen 2946's ears, his heart pounding to the cadence of its tingling.
"Haaa..."
He exhaled to quell his emotions and a blank expression, fitting that of a Homunculus, dawned on him as he staggered to his feet.
[Is this some sort of sick joke?]
Due to his pseudo-passive skill, Mana Sensitivity, he could tell at just a glance.
[There's Mana flowing in her Mana Veins?!]
He clenched his jaw and wondered how exactly a newborn Homunculus figured out how to use Mana. It was akin to an infant learning AP calculus on their own.
[Maybe I'm exaggerating...?]
That thought crossed his mind, these Homunculi were able to understand language after all, so it shouldn't be strange that one of them could use Mana...
...Right?
As he grappled with his confusion, he quickly stole a glance at Charymos to see how he had reacted to this —
[Ha!! He's absolutely shocked!]
Specimen 2946 found that Charymos was absolutely bewildered at the two of them, his tentacles rigid and erect, like vines attempting to scale a fence.
[Haha... This isn't funny, I'm so cooked.]
He grinned bitterly and racked his brains for a solution, avoiding her was clearly out of the question given how she was glaring at him.
Clink!
She wrapped her chain around her arm, drawing it taut, her actions causing Specimen 2946 to flinch.
But then, she strangely removed her crimson gaze from him and discarded the three heads in her grip.
[Is she...]
He held that thought, praying he wouldn't jinx it and that she had actually lost interest in him.
But...
[Damnit.]
She picked up a spear that no longer had an owner, rather, its owner was cleaved in half and lay in a puddle of blood.
[Dual wield? Look at this prodigy flaunting her prowess around!]
[... Whatever, I'll just take her on.]
He clenched his jaw and fists, ready to fight to the end.
[There's about twenty left... I just need to hang in there and enter the top 10.]
He set his heart ablaze and was determined not to die, nor feel despair.
[!!]
In a rapid motion far greater than his own, the girl suddenly spun her body and unleashed her taut chain
Clink!
Fwosh!!
The sickle tore through the air, and Specimen 2946's eyes could not even trace its movements, it was as if it had disappeared.
Slice! Splat!
Specimen 2946 just stood there frozen, and the torso of a Homunculus fell on his side, its blood saturating the fabric on his shoulder.
[What the... Hell...]
His lips quivered, and his life flashed before his very eyes. He had been so engrossed with the girl's presence that he let his guard down, a folly that almost cost him his life.
[Did she just... Save my life...?]
Yes. But it was blatantly clear that she had not done it out of the goodness of her heart.
[It was one of those things wasn't it?]
Don't steal my prey.
Those were the words her cold gaze expressed, and she slowly reeled in her long chain, the sickle at its end clawing against the soft earth.
Fwosh! Clink!
She hurtled the spear toward Specimen 2946, and it stabbed the ground, its shaft within arm's reach.
"..."
He pressed his lips together and quietly retrieved the spear, the limp in his step no more as his wound had somewhat closed due to his passive, Low-level Regeneration.
"... You're gonna regret this. Looking down on me like that."
He spoke not as Specimen 2946, but as Liam Saito, the creator of the ground they stood on and the very breath they drew.
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
The girl spun her chain above her head, the air screaming as her sharp sickle cleaved through it.
[My advantage in reach is no more...]
He mused, awaiting the slightest twitch in her motion.
Swosh!!
The girl lowered her arms and the chain fell down along with it, but then she pressed down against it with her elbow, increasing the speed of the sickle's descent by threefold.
Thud!
Specimen 2946 calmly performed a sidestep to evade being pierced and immediately began lunging at the girl.
Clink! Clink!
The girl wrapped the chain around her left leg and performed a rapid back-flip!
Fwosh!
The sickle came chasing after Specimen 2946, threatening to flay him alive.
[What is up with her proficiency?!]
He sucked his teeth but he did not move out of the way and instead circulated most of his Mana into his legs.
Ta! Ta! Ta!
His speed increased by sixfold and he charged straight ahead, his actions shocking the girl.
And soon, he was but a meter away from her, and that's when he finally decided to move out of the way, revealing the sharp sickle trailing behind him.
[!!]
Clink!
The girl quickly rotated her leg, effectively unfurling the chain tied to it, she then parried the sickle with a kick, sending it high into the air.
But he had already anticipated that she would, his spear already aiming for her abdomen.
[Got you!!]
He grinned, but...
CLINK!
Instead of focusing on defense just as he had predicted she would, the girl stomped on the unfurled chain instead, drawing it taut and recalling the sickle.
[Damnit!]
He now had a choice: Abandon his attack to evade, or they both die as the sickle was set to split-open his head.
"Argh!"
He chose life and rolled on the dirt, and the sickle crashed into the Amphitheater with a resounding thud, upheaving a miniature cloud of dust and scattering debris.
"... Is she a bug?"
He couldn't help but wonder as he got to his feet and beheld her already charging towards him, spinning the sickle by her side
[Shit... Well there goes that plan.]
He chewed his lips, knowing very well that he could never beat her in a direct confrontation, not only because of her ridiculous proficiency, but also because of their disparity in stats.
"Fuuu..."
[Status Window!]
MP: 0.5
[...]
[Welp... Whatever, hopefully I won't die?]
He smiled bitterly, and yet, he was incredibly excited, in all his years of living, Liam Saito had never felt so alive.
[Even if I die... At least I've lived out my lifelong dream!]
[I played the fucking game!!]
"Hahaha!!"
He laughed manically and prepared his bloody lips to cast a spell:
■ Mana Enhancement! ■
Crackle!
His body was suddenly ignited by a cherry-pink plasma, the very manifestation of Mana itself.
Well... I suppose? The standard color of Mana is azure blue, therefore this must have been a bug of some sort...
...He didn't care to ponder it much either, especially with his current mental state.
The girl flinched slightly but she did not cease her charge, in fact, her lips perked up a little bit, but her eyes remained soulless.
[Suicide by explosion huh...]
[What am I? A terrorists? Haha...]
Specimen 2946 condensed his Mana at the tip of his spear and thrust it with all his might.
Fwosh!
■■ Mana Burst! — □□
Tap! Flip!
Clang!
A vibrant explosion of...
...That was what should have happened, but the insectoid creature stepped in, parrying their attacks, and Specimen 2496's Mana fizzled like an effervescent in water.
"Wha —"
Thud...
The boy collapsed to his knees.
"That's enough..."
The bipedal cockroach commanded, gesturing at the number of Homonculi remaining — Ten.
"Ah..."
The boy breathed a sigh of relief, but his body immediately stiffened and he fell on his face.
"Huff... Huff..."
MP: 0
That was the last thing he saw before his eyes forcibly shut.
Ding!
Ding!
[Oh, shut up...]
The incessant sound of his Status Window notifications blowing up echoed endlessly in his mind.
Ding!
Ding!
And with that... His consciousness waned.