Chapter 43 - No Stopping Yet

"Haaah...hah...kuuh..." Rin panted heavily as she struggled to stand on two legs even with the help of her sword.

Having to fight continuously for several hours without any support coming from her allies, she already felt her stamina being almost used up after using her sword techniques one after another against the enemy demon.

"Even if I wanted to rest so bad now, I can't just let this guy slip away and massacre all the people in the city, right?" She bit her lip as she spoke bitterly to herself..

Compared to her already battered state, the mantis demon apparently looked like its energy has still not run out and doesn't show any signs of fatigue. Seeing the demon still being energetic made her feel infuriated, as if she's just being played on by the enemy.

Adding to her plight was the situation happening at the other side of the city. Even at their distance, she could hear the screams of the people, as well as the terrifying roar of the monster, which she immediately identified as a behemoth just from the sound.

"Tch. I still have to defeat you, no matter how long it would take!"

Aftr taking a lowered stance and exerting force from her legs, Rin quickly dashed towards the demon while drawing her sword.

Clang! Each time they cross blades with each other, the sound of metal hitting against tough exoskeleton resounded around the desolate place. The demon, noticing her attacks has started to lose pushing force, let out an evil smile as he accepted each and every attack she makes.

"T-This one...--"

Before she could even react to the strange action of the demon, she got blown away by a shockwave emitted by the demon's body after taking several hits from her sword.

"I see, so that's how it works...I get it now." Rin smiled bitterly as her body fly in an arc towards the wall.

By using some secret art, the demon is capable of reflecting all the damage he has taken for a short duration around a small area. The more damage he could absorb while that skill is active, the more powerful the shockwave would be, and the more larger the area of effect.

For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction--simple as that.

With that in mind, Rin decided to use that 'pause' to catch up on her breath and conserve remaining stamina.

Making a flip in the air, she used her feet to kick the wall and propel herself once more towards the demon, like a bullet ricocheting off the wall surface.

"I won't stop...I won't stop just yet!"

Tapping on her emotions that surged in her heart like a flooding river, she strengthened the grip on her sword while continuously attacking the demon from all angles, giving him no time to make an offensive against her.

"That technique again--!"

Rin shouted as she immediately sensed that the demon was about to use his special technique once more.

Fortunately, she stopped attacking by the time the demon's skill was about to activate, thus causing him to absorb and release nothing.

"Hah!" Rin grinned at the demon. "This time, I won't let you use the same tricks on me for the third time!"

The demon, finding out that the secret of his secret defensive skill was already exposed by her, bellowed out a hateful roar. "Bastard...I will gouge your heart out!!!"

"Dream on, mantis guy! I will gouge out yours first!"

At the same time, the two kicked the ground behind them, and clashed blades faster than what a normal person could perceive.

Four sickle-like blades against one. Having such huge disparity between the two of them, Rin felt like her brain's about to explode as she needed to process everything four times faster to compensate for her limits as a human being.

'This guy...he keeps on getting faster and faster...'

A few minutes later, the tempo of battle increased once more, that Rin grew even more anxious by the enemy's increasing agility.

Clang, clang, clang, clang--clanggggg!!!!

"No good...I can't keep up with his attacks anymore!" Rin gritted her teeth in panic.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The demon's movements were so fast already, that her eyes couldn't even see where he was about to strike. In a span of a few seconds, the tide of battle turned again, as Rin became the one who's being cornered by the enemy.

"Puuuhhh--!!!"

Rin vomited blood after she received a sharp kick on her abdomen, causing her to tumble down the floor.

She slammed her fists against the floor while kneeling. "Damn it! I can't see where his attacks are coming from!"

Being able to move so fast that he could change the direction of his blade before it hits her, Rin has started to lament on the difference between their abilities. She may be fast compared to her classmates, but she's still nowhere compared to the demon in front of her, which is already beyond unbelievable in her eyes.

"What's more depressing is that, that mantis guy just stares at me as if he's looking at burnable trash! Unacceptable!!!" She complained to herself.

Different from physical pain that could be healed, the damage dealt to one's pride might not be recovered anymore.

While she may not be a girl who is full of pride, she would not let herself just sit still and be silent if someone's looking down on her.

Grasping on to her blade that started to show signs of damage, she glared at the demon.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!!!"

Whooosh--!!

In an instant, Rin appeared suddenly in front of the demon and stabbed him on his chest, piercing his heart.

"--?!" The demon looked at her in shock, obviously got caught off-guard by her.

'Modified True Needle Strike, [Heart Seeker].'

By launching herself like an arrow towards the enemy, the technique enables her to penetrate through enemy defenses that ordinary [Needle Strikes] could not reach.

"KAAAAAHHHH!!! KAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The demon howled in intense pain while holding the sword stuck deep on his chest.

"Hah! How do you like that?" Rin spoke bitterly towards the demon as she pushes the sword even deeper.

Tsakkk--!!

"GHOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

The demon raised an even louder scream as black blood squirted like a fountain from his wound. His grunts of pain made Rin's heart race, as adrenaline from the exciting feeling rush into her brain.

"Go die already, evil creature!!!"

Rin gave a final push to her sword, causing it to reach until the hilt of its blade. Such force also caused blood to splatter on her clothes and face even more, which left behind a fishy smell.

"Ughh, it stinks!" Rin said in disgust. "Two hours of bath and laundry won't be enough just to remove this smell..."

When she tried to pull the sword from the demon's chest, she noticed that instead of dislodging itself from the wound, it digs deeper even more.

"Hm? W-What is going on--"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the sword suddenly flew towards her with a loud *pop*, the sword's handle hitting her right on forehead.

"Uguuuu...--What was that, huh?!" Rin yelled painfully as she hold her forehead that became red.

Then, when she looked at the demon, her expression instantly changed from bewilderment into terror.

At first it was two, then it became four. Now, her jaws dropped when the demon in front of her changed once more.

"Y-You're joking right...how can a mantis have so many arms like that...?!"

It was too sudden, she thought. Without her noticing, the 'mantis' demon grew another set of four arms and two legs, causing his height to almost reach until the ceiling of the abandoned cafe.

"This one is no ordinary demon...this is a monster."

Now that the demon finally grew to his full size, he thought that the place was too small for him to freely move around. With a quick swing of one of his enlarged blades, the walls and ceiling instantly turned into rubble and collapsed around them.

"Just a small swing, and the whole place got torn down easily..." Rin could not contain her shock.

If his second form improved his speed and agility, this third and supposedly final form gave him unimaginable strength in his attacks as well as increased regeneration capabilities. Those inhumanly upgrades caused her heart to sink deeper in despair, whispering 'unfair, unfair' repeatedly to herself.

"..."

"Hiiiihhh--?!"

When the demon's gaze met with hers, she suddenly felt a deathly chill from behind her. Looking behind, she saw the demon about to strike her with a downward slash.

"---?!"

Crash!!! Although Rin managed to dodge the attack by a hair's breadth, she still took damage from the shockwave created by the demon's blades hitting the floor.

"T-Two...demons...?"

'No, that's not it,' Rin immediately understood what happened just now.

By moving from one place to another at a super high frequency, the demon could create an illusion of having another image of himself to the eyes of his opponent.

"Tch. He's not done yet--!!!"

Appearing in front of her while she's still flying in midair, Rin instinctively blocked the demon's downward strike, causing her to crash down to the ground and creating a large crater around her.

"Guhaaaaaaaaaa--!!!"

Several of her ribs got broken in an instant by that attack, with shattered bones splintering into various organs in her body. Her right leg also got twisted in the opposite direction, and her dominant hand got broken as well.

"Kuuuhh...uuuhh..."

Each time she breathe, blood constantly fill her mouth, almost choking her into asphyxia. Struggling to raise her head a little, she saw the demon slowly approaching her.

"I won't...die here yet...I will kill you..." She spoke at him with eyes full of hatred.

The demon, amazed and amused with her fighting spirit, lifted her already-beaten up body by the neck, and spoke in a cold tone. "I'll let you live..."

Rin couldn't believe what she just heard. "Y-You...you'll let me live...?"

"I'll let you live...only if you tell me...where [The Fool] is."

"E-Eh...?"

[The Fool]? She never heard something like that before ever since she came into this world. If the main reason why the demons attack humans is because they're looking for that thing, it means that it could be something very, very important to them.

"Where...where is [The Fool]?!"

Seeing him becoming impatient, Rin's parched lips formed into a mocking smile.

"[The Fool] is located...in the bum of your mom."

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! The demon raised a furious roar at her, then with great force, threw her high up in the air. Using his powerful legs, he also jumped after her, propping up all of his eight blades ready to slice her up.

'Man, I never expected him to get very angry over that answer,' Rin smiled wryly to herself.

Sparing her life in exchange of humanity's demise. Even if she knew what or where [The Fool] is, she would still choose not to give it to the enemy, in order to protect the ones she swore to protect. That is her pledge as a [Promised One].

'Ah, Death's approaching so fast...'

With her sword not in her hand, Rin has no way to defend herself from the demon's approaching attack.

Slash!!! In an instant, her left arm got severed up to the elbow, with the cut up part just dangling by a strip of skin.

KHAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! KHAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Already consumed in rage, the demon made another deep cut on her right thigh, but not deep enough to completely sever it from her body.

"After you, I'll do the same to everyone!!!"

The mantis demon roared and stabbed her abdomen with one of his longer bladed arms, punching all the way through and puncturing her intestines.

When the demon pulled his blade from her abdomen, fresh blood spurted from all her wounds, coloring both of them in deep crimson. The demon, seemingly disgusted with the young woman's blood, sneered as he carelessly tossed Rin's wounded body away from him.

Thanks to the wings behind his back, he could stay floating in midair while watching Rin fall to her death.

"'Might as well die if I can't fly', perhaps what they say is true after all," Rin whispered faintly as she starts to fall down.