Black Iron Magician

Chapter 549 Master and Disciple’s Full Power

Touko’s surprise kick inflicted tremendous damage to Delis’s lower back, giving him an intense pain that could make him lose consciousness. He somehow managed to hold on and keep his consciousness. However, enduring the pain was the only thing he can do. Even if he was conscious, his thoughts were all stopped, and he was in no condition to make a breakthrough plan.

However, strangely enough, he felt a sense of déjà vu in this situation. What came to his mind was the memory of the battle between the disciples and Lilyvia at Al Nova. ‘Come to think of it, that battle ended with Touko’s surprise attack,’ Deris thought so. At this rate, he will lose the battle in the same way as Lilyvia. And then, she would be pleased and say, 『Ah, I’m so thrilled that we even match in that point! We lost the match, but in my opinion, it was a great victory! Okay, I’m going to ride this wave! I’m going to confess my feelings with Touko-chan!』, or something like that.

(――I absolutely won’t let that happen!)

Mysterious déjà vu and his pride stimulated his brain, and Deris’s thoughts restarted. If he accepts defeat here, it will develop into something more frightening that losing (mainly related to Nell). Perhaps, Deris’s instincts were telling him so.

(But…!)

Even though he could think again, Deris was being held under the chin by Haruna’s palm, and he was on the verge of being slammed headfirst into the ground. With his jaw held down, he is unable to chant magic, and the Bardock he was relying on was sent flying. And with the sharp pain from the lower back, it’s impossible to take any kind of action right now. So, he decided to brace himself.

(Touko’s attack was super effective, but unlike Alma Divine Bless, Alma Duradios has a regenerative function! Also, the countermeasure against Haru’s Unique Skill is still perfect! No matter what kind of attack she does, I won’t receive any damage, but――)

Deris’s vision is still blurry. But for some reason, he felt as if his gaze met the eyes of Haruna, who was standing directly in front of him. Perhaps because they have a relationship of master and a disciple, Deris was instantly convinced that Haruna’s eyes were in hunter mode.

(――I have a really bad feeling about this…!)

Deris used the last doping drug that he decided to use at a critical moment. He had already placed a small capsule surround by a barrier in his stomach. By removing the barrier, the capsule is dissolved in the gastric juice and rapidly taken into the body.

「Hah!」

Deris’s judgment was correct. Just before his head hit the ground, more pressure was applied to the bottom of Haruna’s palm, increasing the speed at which the head hit the ground. With a loud sound, the ground was pulverized and a large hole was made.

As long as the divine armor is intact, Deris won’t receive any damage no matter how violently he’s hit on the head. However, at this time, apart from the sharp pain in his lower back, Deris could feel a life-threatening pain running through his body. It wasn’t a sharp blow that pierced through the divine armor like it was with Touko. It was a blow that smashed the defense of the divine armor with an even stronger attack power, and even tried to obliterate Deris.

(Ugh…!)

Realizing that the divine armor was destroyed, Deris felt like applauding his decision to use the last doping drug. If his sense of pain were in a normal state, he probably would have passed out from the pain. The effect of the last doping drug is something like anesthesia, which temporarily weakens the sense of pain. Although he had already made adjustments, he still feared that prolonged use might numb his physical senses, so he had decided to use it only in a critical situation. Well, even if the pain is reduced, it’s still painful because the original pain was the highest grade sharp pain that resonated to the core.

While Deris was suffering like this, Haruna had a certain realization.

(I was wondering about it. I know that ordinary blows and poison don’t work, but I wondered why even my Unique Skill was neutralized. But, I finally figured it out. It wasn’t something difficult. Shishō was just using a little ingenuity to deceive my perception of distance.)

Haruna’s Unique Skill 『Little Peerless』 is a powerful ability, but it won’t be activated if she can’t recognize the little distance (about 3 cm) , which is the condition for its activation. Of course, her master Deris knows about this condition.

(Camouflage of the sense of distance, that’s the true nature of the ingenuity. Specifically, the invisible barrier on the surface of his body was the cause. The thickness of the barrier was skillfully manipulated to adjust the distance, and the barrier itself was combined with the Holy Maigc 『Mirage Decoy』, which creates the illusion of light, to visually mislead my sense of distance. If I didn’t realize it, my Unique Skill would never activate. After all, the distance I saw and felt and the actual distance were completely different.)

Haruna added more power to her arm.

(But if I come into direct contact with the barrier and correctly recognize that the distance between me and the barrier, not with Shishō, is zero, I can break even the hardest barrier, and I can break Shishō after that!)

While having a dangerous thought, Haruna continued to push Deris’s chin. Each time she did so, a slight rumbling sound and tremor would occur. Thus, Deris sunk into the ground and Haruna succeeded in taking the mounting position.

The countermeasure of Little Peerless was exposed, the divine armor was destroyed, and on top of that, the advantageous position was taken. Deris has no means to defend against Haruna’s fist, and his HP is being shaved off at a tremendous rate.

――――Stab.

「Ugh…!?」

A sharp, burning pain runs through Haruna. A jet-black blade was thrust into her flank, and the handle was held by Deris. The blade damaged her internal organs, and on top of that, Deris twisted the blade, making Haruna stopped her fist.

(That way… the blade on the tip of the gun…!)

Haruna understood at a glance. It seems that Deris somehow removed the blade and hid it just before she sent Bardock flying. Haruna wondered whether he learned that trick from his long-time friend Alezel. However, now is not the time to think about how he did it. Now that both of them are wounded, it’s important to make the first move.

「Fatally Venom!」

「Belial Shade!」

At that moment, the ground was covered with a large amount of darkness and magic power.