Can't

38

Blood and gore warning

Chapter 38 Avangard Tougi Taikai Part 6
Therefore, we arrive at the second match. A woman was standing before me. She had no weapons, but her body seems really sturdy. Her exposed, dark skin tightened as it was bathed in the sunlight. It seemed like her body was shining.
I had seen her body swell in the waiting room before, perhaps she’ll get like that again when she fights.

“2nd Match, Ryua vs. Amane! Shitakka-san, what are your thoughts on this fight?”

“Let me see…if I were to make a comparison it would be between an ant and…no, more like a fight between a dragon and a <Cave Rabbit>. The handle of that young girl’s sword is practically spotless, and that lack of use leads me to believe she has little combat experience.”

“I recall you saying something similar before, but thank you for your analysis!”

So, a dragon and a rabbit…do I really look that frail? Roel, who’s in the spectator seats, knows differently right? But if I don’t win this fight, then I won’t be able to fight Hekaton.

“Are you going to draw the blade burdening your shoulder? If you are worried about me, you are being unnecessarily kind. I hate being looked down upon, just so you’re aware. A person that doesn’t honor their opponent in battle is an unsightly bastard.”

Her brow wrinkled, and her muscles had already expanded. She seemed quite mad.
She shifted her body into a half-rising stance; she seemed perfectly prepared for this.
Looking down…I never realized it.
I never meant to look down on any of my opponents…I don’t intend to do that to her.
I drew my sword in an attempt to satisfy her.
It seemed to have worked because she didn’t have that angry expression on her face anymore.

“It seems the contestants are almost ready! First Main Fight Card! She has driven many male opponents into a corner, and leaving them unable to recover she has finally reached the finals! <Heroine of the 100 Empires>, Amane! In this corner is her opponent, having easily defeated the 98th A-rank Benkei, 57th A-rank Baste, as well as the 97th A-rank Griiman for her representative match, our dark horse of this tournament! C-rank <Surprising Girl> Ryua! The match between these two will be starting now!”

“Whether man or woman, I will be merciless to my opponent in combat!”

“Well then, Battle Start!”

Would it be fine for me to fight her seriously? My brute strength alone punched through Griiman’s armor…
Ever since leaving the <Caves of Hell>, I haven’t been in any danger. After giving it some thought, I realized I came out of it way stronger than I could have ever dreamed of being.
If there was someone stronger than the <King of Destruction> Vanda Lucia…what would I do? However there’s no point thinking about that right now since nobody here was as strong as him.
Oh…maybe Tifelia-san?
I haven’t tried fighting her yet, but out of all the people I have met since leaving the caves, she was the only one to give me this strange feeling…
I want to try…fighting that person.

Amane charged at me with her swollen body, and her fist flew right into my sword.
I didn’t find her strength to be difficult to handle whatsoever, but there was still more force than I expected.
Her merciless fists came flying at me in rapid succession.
I blocked them all with my sword, but there was no time to try to find an opening in her rain of blows.

“So it’s a defensive battle you want, huh? Or have you not shown your hand yet? Well then, <Hundred Water Break Palm Bullets>!”
(TL: if someone had a better name for it then tell us 百掌防波弾)

Her attacks became twice as heavy when she said that. It wasn’t like any of her hundred punches from before; I could hear the insides of my Mithril sword breaking.
Amane-san has quite a bit of power behind her; this kind of attack is something you couldn’t just forget about.
I wonder how much she trained to achieve this level of strength?
If she entered the <Caves of Hell>, she may have reached the bottom faster than me.
Well, I didn’t enter the caves knowingly; I just wandered inside.
Any strong person could have cleared it.
Unpleasant thoughts like that began to pop up in my mind as the sound of my breaking sword became clearer.