CHAPTER 7

Completely Sick

“So this is…Chaos Machina’s true form!”

It feels like I’m being engulfed by the deformed creature’s sinister aura.

I—I need to calm down! Looks can be deceiving, after all!

I use Scan…and my eyes nearly fall out of my head as I gawk at the coal-black demon’s stats…

GREATER DEMON
LV: 66
HP: 15,100	MP: 424
ATK: 3,577	DEF: 3,229	SPD: 3,847	MAG: 548
Resistance: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Poison, Paralysis
Special Abilities: Full MAG ATK Conversion (LV: 15), Flight (LV: 10)
Skills: Demonic Delete
Personality: Cruel

…My legs begin quivering.

Th-th-this has to be some kind of mistake! These stats…surpass those of Demon Lords in D-ranked worlds!

I’m overcome with despair. Our already slim chance of winning vanishes completely. Only a minute ago, I was starting to believe that having higher stats doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory…but that’s only when the gap between each fighter’s attributes is reasonable. Seiya’s attack, defense, and speed are all under 1,000. Chaos Machina’s stats, on the other hand, exceed 3,000 in all three of those categories. It doesn’t matter how good someone’s intuition is or how exceptional their fighting intellect is. If their speed is one-third of their opponent’s, then they’ll get hit—without fail. To put it simply, if Seiya gets hit, he’s going to die.

Chaos Machina— No, the Greater Demon creases her golden eyes at me as if she’s noticed how pale I’ve gotten.

“Do you get it now?! The difference in our abilities is obvious! You cannot defeat me!”

Her alluring voice has been replaced by a guttural growl. She raises the knifelike claws of her right hand high into the air.

“Just one attack! All it will take is one attack to separate your head from your shoulders!”

Then she lowers her body to the ground before immediately kicking off with a powerful boom! In the blink of an eye, she’s right in front of Seiya with her arm raised high over her head!

I have to shut my eyes. What kind of goddess would want to watch her Hero get murdered?

I’m sorry, Seiya. You were truly talented. Unfortunately, it appears that even the Demon Lord’s subordinates in this S-ranked world have powers that rival the Demon Lords of D-ranked worlds. I never even dreamed this would be such a frightening place. I never stood a chance of saving it…

Despair, regret, resignation… I open my eyes—and I’m stunned. Seiya is still standing, calm as ever. Not only does he still have his head, but there also isn’t a single cut on his body. He just looks bored…like he always does.

“Y-you dodged that?! H-how?! That’s impossible!”

Chaos Machina is just as surprised as I am. Standing before a mysterious force, she seems to be hesitating to make her next attack. I use this time to speculate.

H-how did he do that?! That wasn’t an attack you could just use your intuition to evade!

…That’s when it suddenly hits me. I think back to when Seiya saved Nina’s father using Wind Blade. That skill—I thought I must have missed something when I looked at his status earlier. But what if I didn’t? What if Seiya used a move not mentioned on his status screen? That could mean only one thing! The stats that Chaos Machina and I saw using Scan are not his actual attributes! To put it simply…

He must have the special ability Fake Out!

I glance at Seiya. Then I focus all my divine powers into my eyes before using Scan. However, instead of his status, I see a sentence:

No peeking.

Wh-what in the world…? Oh…! If the ability Scan is on a lower level than Fake Out, then his status will be blocked from being viewed! B-but at least this proves that he’s actually using Fake Out! I strain my eyes and concentrate even harder. Another sentence pops up.

I said “no peeking.” That means you, Rista. Peeping’s a crime, you depraved voyeur.

Ack! He even specified me by name! H-he knew this was going to happen?! Wait! Who are you calling a “depraved voyeur”?! Now you’ve done it! I’m going to look at your stats even if it kills me! Time to raise Scan’s level!

I pour all my power into my eyes.

Come to me, Goddess Power! …Wait! Waaahhh! My eyes…! They burn! They burn…!! My eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of my head! F-fight it! Fight it, Rista! You can do anything you put your mind to!

The moment I release all my divine powers, I hear a crack like shattered glass in my head. It looks like I finally broke through Seiya’s Fake Out. As I try to catch my breath, I take a glimpse of his real status screen.

SEIYA RYUUGUUIN
LV: 37
HP: 51,886	MP: 8,987
ATK: 11,005	DEF: 10,369	SPD: 9,874	MAG: 4,787	GRW: 563
Resistance: Fire, Ice, Wind, Water, Lightning, Earth, Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Curse, Instant Death, Status Ailments
Special Abilities: Fire Magic (LV: MAX), Explosion Magic (LV: 5), Magic Sword (LV: 7), EXP Boost (LV: 11), Scan (LV: 15), Fake Out (LV: 20), Flight (LV: 8)
Skills: Atomic Split Slash, Hellfire, Maximum Inferno, Wind Blade, Phoenix Drive
Personality: Overly Cautious

…Whaaaaaaaaat?! Wha—? What…? What the hell is thiiiiiiiis?! His attributes are five, no, ten times better than when I last checked! Is that even possible?! He has more special abilities and skills as well… Hold up! There is no way he could have raised his stats this high in such a short amount of time! So what the hell is going on?! Has he been using Fake Out ever since his first training session? Wait. But does that mean he was already stronger than Chaos Machina when we first met, yet he still ran away because he wanted to be extra-careful?! Then he went back to the Summoning Chamber to train even more?!

I gaze at the man before me while violently trembling, even more than when I first saw the Greater Demon’s stats.

He’s sick…! This man is completely sick!

But unlike me, the Greater Demon seems to be psyched up. She spreads her black wings before soaring high into the air. Before long, she stops and roars:

“Well then, allow me to show you something that you won’t be able to evade! I’ll concentrate all my mana into my fist and crush you with my ultimate attack—Demonic Delete. The village will be turned to ash along with you, but—”

But the Greater Demon pauses…because Seiya is no longer standing there. That’s when she notices Seiya floating right next to her, and her eyes fly open.

“Wh-what?! You can use Flight?!”

While the Greater Demon stares at Seiya in utter astonishment from her position in the sky, I can’t help but trash-talk a little bit. (Not out loud, of course.)

General Chaos Machina, you’re strong. Unbelievably strong. You are a true master of war, thoroughly prepared for battle, even hiding two trump cards. If it was any ordinary Hero, you would have crushed him, and it would have been over. But…your opponent is out of your league. I mean… I mean…

Seiya perfectly matches her altitude while brandishing his sword. Its blade burns bright with flame. The high-level ability Magic Sword has been triggered.

As the Greater Demon’s face skews at the sight of the Magic Sword, Seiya chants:

“Let my burning blade reduce all to ash… Phoenix Drive!”

The astounding speed of Seiya’s strikes leaves a blur in the air, and in an instant, glowing red lines illuminate the Greater Demon’s body like a grid. She freezes. Then Seiya sheathes his sword before floating a short distance away. The countless lines on her body glow even brighter, followed by an explosion so powerful, it leaves my ears ringing. Bathed in the scorching winds of the blast, I think to myself:

Okay, seriously… This Hero is overpowered, but he’s overly cautious!