Chapter 52

Translator: “Kell” Editor: “Weasalopes”

This is bad…

Editing Agalga’s skills required a huge amount of LP. I was taken aback. His 【Level Break】and 【Dagger Control】cost over 2,000 LP to edit. Either he had mastered them quite well or he was compatible with the skills.【Short Sword B】and【Fire Pillar】also required quite a lot.

His【Night Eyes】and【Subdimensional Storage】though, I could somehow manage.

「Do you get it now? I’ve always opened and walked down my own path. Don’t think you’re some hot shit just because you took down my men!」

It looked like his introduction was over. He brandished his dagger once more, bloodlust oozing from his body.

「I’ve grown bored of talking. Time to kill.」

He let out a grunt and threw a dagger at me. I ducked, dagger flying overhead. I have to keep my guard up. That thing will come back.

「You better keep your eyes open!」Agalga said.

He swung his arms repeatedly, each motion accompanied by a flash. Yes, he was throwing daggers.

Where is he getting the daggers from? They just appear out of nowhere just before he begins his swinging motion.

「A storage skill…」

More and more daggers flying around would be tough so we couldn’t just keep on dodging them. Instead Emma and I knocked some of them to the ground or blocked them. All the while Luna-san was shooting at Agalga, but he dodged her shots so easily with very minimal maneuvers, like he could predict the bullets’ trajectory. It was astonishing.

「Is that all you’ve got, intruders? Make me fired up. Make me feel like my life’s in danger!」

Five or six elusive daggers were flying about freely. With both our abilities weakened, we couldn’t react on time.

「Oh, crap!」

A dagger struck the ground just a few centimeters from the tip of my shoe. It would’ve severely hampered my movements if it hit.

「Hahahahahaha! I love that flustered look on people’s faces!」

Even under Luna-san’s attacks, he was still able to concentrate on the flying daggers. Plus there’s that boisterous laughter. This guy’s terrifying, in more ways than one…

「Ahhh! My hairpin!」

Then there was Emma, who looked just as terrifying. Probably because her hairpin got knocked away.

「No need to be angry, little girl. It doesn’t even look expensive. I’m guessing it’s just some cheap stuff you got from somewhere.」

「It’s not about the price!」

「What’s it about then?」

「That was… that was…」

She stood still despite the danger, her fists trembling. A dagger was flying, bee lining for her neck! She didn’t need my help, however. She slapped the flat of the dagger with ease.

I’ve never seen a blade slap before…

「It’s a precious gift from Noir! It’s priceless! No, if it had a price, it would be ten billion times ten billion liras!」

Seething with rage, Emma rushed headlong into Agalga. She was frenzied, yet remarkably calm. While charging, she was using【Wind Run】to lighten her feet. Still a close combat with Agalga would be tough without any support.

「Hyaa!」

I knocked the last dagger down to the ground and quickly proceeded to edit his【Night Eyes】skill.

The description read “Improves vision even in the dark.” I just had to modify it. 300 LP to remove the word “Improve”.

It cost a lot less LP so I edited it without hesitation. With the description not making logical sense, the skill vanished.

「Wh-What? It got dark all of a sudden…」

It worked. While he was flustered, Emma hit him with a front kick and sent him rolling. He got back up right away, however. Even with his vision impaired, he still managed to deal with Emma’s shortsword while still paying attention to Luna-san. Not only that, he even went for me.

「It was you! You pulled some nasty shit on me!」

「You got me there.」

He hurled a dagger straight at me and I did the same. I took out a knife from my own storage and threw it. With my【Throwing】skill to aid me, it hit the incoming dagger, and both were knocked aside to the ground.

「Interesting. This kind of battle ain’t so bad either.」

No way. I don’t want to fight head on fair and square. I proceeded to tamper with his storage skill. I only had 500 LP left and I need 500 to delete it which would mean certain death. So instead, I tweaked it a bit and added “Might fail sometimes” which cost 200 LP.

It wouldn’t completely negate the skill but I was certain it would come in handy. But it wasn’t as if there weren’t any repercussions for as soon as I edited it, I felt my body grow weak. I would only die if my LP went down to zero, but still if it dropped to around 300, it had adverse effect on my body. My master said my lifespan would shorten if it stayed that way for a long time.

I almost fell to my knees, but I managed to hold my bearings and hurl a knife. Agalga dealt with Emma with his left hand, dodged Luna-san’s bullets with light steps, and with his right hand, threw a dagger back at me.

Focus. Focus! I was somehow able to keep up with him. The opportunity arrived on the third try. He swung his arm in a familiar motion, but his hands were empty.

There’s my chance! Taking advantage of his confusion, I threw a knife, hitting him on his arm.

「Gaaahhhh!」

I finally managed to deal substantial damage. Emma followed suit and struck his other arm, rendering both useless.

「This is what happens when you do bad things!」

「Sh-Shut it, little girl. I can still take you down with only my two legs.」

「What would you do then if you couldn’t use those as well?」

Luna-san shot a volley of Energy Shots at his legs. Agalga was now covered in wounds. Even someone as strong as him finally collapsed.

「Just give up.」

「Yeah. You’ll only suffer if you keep this up.」

「…」

Agalga ignored us both, glancing at the moon up above. He responded to Luna-san’s words, however.

「We don’t intend to take your life. You should live and atone for your sins.」

「Atone? I’ve seen a lot of bad guys and most of them didn’t do that.」

「Just because others don’t do it doesn’t give you an excuse to follow their footsteps as well. I’m certain they will be judged and divine retribution will come to those men you speak of.」

Agalga would then be reformed by her wonderful words… or not. He spit at the ground and shot Luna-san a menacing glare.

「Only I can judge myself! Take this!」

「Luna-san! Under you!」

The ground beneath her grew red, heating up. Sensing danger, Luna-san quickly jumped to the side. A second later, a raging pillar of fire burst from the ground up as if piercing the heavens.

G-Getting hit by that would be really bad…

Agalga was breathing wildly. It seemed like the reason he didn’t use the skill before was because it required a lot of magic and concentration. Not caring for his own well-being, he tried to fire another one.

「You could’ve used your powers to help people!」

Luna-san fired a powerful energy shot, barely grazing Agalga’s side. She fainted however before she could see for herself.

「Hahaha! Y’all hopeless. I doesn’t even hurt one bit!」

「Doesn’t hurt? You’re covered in wounds.」

With her skills, that girl could’ve aimed at my heart, but she barely grazed my side. Any more than that and she knew I’d be dead. What a sweet little girl! Even sweeter than that honey I had a long time ago.

「We’re not here to kill you, after all. Emma.」

I was certain he couldn’t move anymore, but just to be safe, Emma and I pinned him down from behind. He should be in extreme pain, yet he still kept on talking.

「Use your powers to help others? Magic and skills are there for your own self. Don’t you think so too, kid?」

「I… would gladly use my powers if it’s for the people close to me.」

「Man, you’re as sweet as honey yourself!」

「Get away from him, Noir!」

「Kuu!」

The ground started turning red, forming a circle. Who would’ve thought he’d cast the spell at this spot, where his body lay right in the middle?

After backing off, magnificent flames blazed, swallowing his body whole.

「Hahaha! Bwwahahaha! It’s just the right temperature! I love it!」

Crimson flames seemed to stretch upward, reaching for the moon.

It was an unbelievable scene. Even with his body burning, he didn’t stop laughing. And he kept doing so until his last breath.

I couldn’t write him off as a simple villain. Under better circumstances, he could’ve grown up to be a hero. While I didn’t hold him in high regard, his spirit, full of vigor, was certainly worth pursuing. It was something I greatly lack, after all.

With things over, I felt all tension melt away and if it weren’t for Emma propping me up, I would’ve collapsed to the ground.

「Used too much LP?」

「Yeah… I did.」

「Just hang in there. I’ll do lots of stuff for you.」

And so she did. She put my head on her lap, gently stroke my hair, and kissed my cheeks, forehead, and neck.

「Still not enough? Then how about this?」

She nibbled on my ears playfully.

「Why’d you do that?」

「You did that to me before, remember? I always wanted to do it you too. Makes you grow really weak, doesn’t it?」

「Uuhh… That defeats the purpose of restoring my LP.」

I could feel myself growing weak fast, but then suddenly… I sensed my energy welling up from within. I checked and I had gained LP.

「Great job, Emma.」

「Yay! I did it! As thanks, I want you to popularize this saying…」

「What saying?」

「What you should have is a childhood friend.」

Are you picking a fight with the people of the world who don’t have childhood friends?

I’ve pretty much recovered but Luna-san was still down on the ground. We quickly nursed her back to health. Whenever the cool and beautiful Luna-san fainted, her eyes would roll back.

「That guy is scary…」

Sometimes letting what she really felt slip out. She must’ve been really terrified of that fire pillar. Thankfully she didn’t have any external injuries. We helped her up and told him about Agalga’s final moments. An expression full of sorrow showed on her face.

「I see. So I couldn’t make him have a change of heart.」

「Even faced with torture, I don’t think the man would’ve changed his ways. Let’s focus on the bandits instead and see if we could reform them.」

「You’re right. The girls are waiting for us too. Let’s go back.」

「Yeah, let’s.」

After defeating the leader of the bandits in a gruelling battle, we headed back to the mansion for a rest.