Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 2  Chapter 37   Rescue

If you let your guard down, you’ll lose. If you hold back, you’ll die.

Therefore, despite being a mere human, Mizuki swung her sword with full force.

However, she fought with the intention to kill, but not because she wanted to. Mizuki’s aim was not the torso, but the shoulder. If she only disabled one or two arms, she could fix them later.

“That was light.”

However, Mizuki’s attack was blocked. Not by evading or deflecting it, but by gripping the sword with a finger, a method that widened her eyes in surprise.

Even though they were both at the highest level, a magic-based fighter had intercepted a physical attack. It was something that would be considered impossible under normal circumstances.

But this is precisely what makes her the strongest in the world.

It is because she can do such things that strategies involving the use of poisons and viruses are being devised to overcome Nina’s invincibility.

After all, even if a tank fired shells at her, she could catch them with one hand. Even if she were caught off guard and landed a surprise attack, it would be considered a great success just to scratch her. She defied common sense.

With Mizuki’s sword still held by Nina, the two of them faced each other.

“Do you think you can stand by my side with this level of power?”

“…By saying that, does it mean you have expectations of me?”

As Nina posed her question, Mizuki playfully bantered while exerting force to push her sword forward.

“…Please stop with the jokes. If your grandiose words weren’t true, it would mean I’ve been underestimated. I simply dislike that.”

In response to Mizuki’s words, Nina frowned with displeasure, but even from the beginning, the fact that she asked, “Can you stand by my side?” in the midst of battle could be seen as a reflection of Nina’s feelings.

“Well then, let me show you that I don’t underestimate you.”

“In that case, take this!”

In a close-range confrontation, Mizuki unleashed her magic towards Nina’s eyeball.

Its speed was truly reminiscent of lightning.

No matter how strong one might be, it seemed impossible to dodge lightning unleashed at close range during a conversation. Nina, who was struck directly in the eyeball with a loud crack, was sent flying backward.

On the other hand, there was no injury caused by being sent flying, but it was within Mizuki’s expectations. Just being able to send her flying was more than enough.

“—I won.”

As Nina’s head was sent flying backward, her hand detached from Mizuki’s sword. Mizuki tightened her grip on the sword once again and launched a slashing attack.

“Kuu!”

However, despite exposing a significant opening, Nina forcefully adjusted her posture with her physical abilities and deflected the sword approaching her.

She then attempted to generate flames to burn Mizuki, but before that, an electric current surged through Nina’s hand once again.

There was still no visible damage.

However, due to her human reflexes, every time Nina was struck by Mizuki’s lightning through magic, her body instinctively reacted, causing her magic, which was still in the process of being constructed, to be nullified.

Despite Mizuki’s continued sword swings, Nina managed to dodge and parry them. However, every time she tried to use magic, lightning would strike her, obstructing the activation of her spells.

In addition to that, Mizuki repeatedly targeted Nina’s eyeball in between her sword attacks.

Even if it hit, there was no damage. That was clear from the initial attack.

However, as Nina had never truly engaged in combat before, her instinctual response to something approaching her eyes led to a sluggishness in her movements as a result.

“All this crackling… Cut it out already, enough!”

Unable to use magic as she desired and with no visible damage, her body involuntarily reacted to the lightning aimed at her eyes.

Nina felt the frustration of facing Mizuki in this battle.

And then—

“—Just disappear!”

Nina, without much preparation, forcefully unleashed her magic, disregarding proper construction. By doing so, she couldn’t set the range or aim accurately and risked being caught in the blast herself. However, she deemed it better than the current situation.

“Kyaaa!”

In response to the sudden attack, Mizuki instinctively released her magic to defend herself. However, defending with magic that wasn’t properly formed had its limitations. Despite sustaining some burns here and there and being blown away, Mizuki managed to avoid more severe consequences, perhaps because Nina had exercised some restraint to prevent Mizuki from catching fire.

“—I shall acknowledge it. You are different from the random masses thus far. You possess the strength to stand before me.”

With her clothes scorched by her own flames and suffering burns, Nina continued to gaze solely at Mizuki, paying no heed to her own injuries.

And Mizuki, who had been blown away but quickly regained her stance, also kept her focus on Nina.

“However… not yet.”

Locked in their mutual gaze, it was Nina who made the first move.

“—!”

It was different from the initial encounter. Flames, shaped into spheres, hovered around Nina, numbering over a thousand.

These were not casually released flames, but meticulously formed white flames that launched precise attacks. They moved faster than bullets, approaching the speed of lightning.

Mizuki, realizing that it would be dangerous to come into contact with the approaching flames, evaded, evaded, and evaded. At times, she used magic to intercept them and gradually closed in on Nina, launching attacks despite their weakness.

However—

“Ukuh, guuuuh!”

It couldn’t last forever.

Before Mizuki could reach Nina, she was unable to completely dodge an attack and was struck in the leg.

“It seems it’s over for you.”

Observing Mizuki come to a halt, Nina extinguished the flames around her and began constructing a new spell.

Sensing the scale of Nina’s new magic, Mizuki understood that Nina intended to finish it with this.

If she did nothing and simply took the hit, Mizuki would undoubtedly die.

She refused to lose. She refused to die!

With that determination, Mizuki rallied her spirit and tried to stand up, exerting strength in her legs.

—But she couldn’t stand.

Mizuki directed her gaze towards her motionless legs, which still retained their form but had charred portions.

Upon seeing the state of her own legs, Mizuki’s expression contorted, as if on the verge of tears. However, she reminded herself that there was no time for such thoughts.

And then, still able to fight, she turned her gaze forward—

“I hope you don’t die.”

The white flames illuminated the world.

…Not yet. It’s not over yet. That is not yet complete. It’s still fine. I can still fight. My spirit is not broken yet.

However, her mind had already given up. She understood that no matter how much she struggled from now on, she couldn’t win.

“—Instead of wishing, just stop it, you fool.”

But that spell was never unleashed.

The ‘white’ that had captivated the gaze of all those witnessing the battle suddenly vanished, as if melting into thin air.

“Igami-san…?”

Before them stood Koosuke Igami, a Class 3 adventurer who can fight the strongest in the world and the mentor of Mizuki and the others. However, he appeared in front of them with his upper body bare and wearing a tight-fitting pair of shorts…