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 5 Chapter 58   This is the end

So, what did I just do, you ask? Well, to put it simply, I gave her a knee kick.

Describing it as a knee kick might sound somewhat cute, but in reality, depending on the situation, it can be a vicious move that disrupts even the most advanced practitioners.

Even from this distance, using magic would be detected by Miyano, and the timing would be slightly off, making it likely for her to dodge.

That’s why I didn’t use magic, or rather, I had already employed it.

During the smokescreen just earlier, I had subtly woven magic around Miyano and her companions. This current move is a result of that.

Manipulating the water attached to their shoes, compressing it, and then shifting it all the way to the back of the knee. Timing it just right to release the pressure towards the back of the knee.

This creates a momentary burst of force akin to a fire hose.

And for this move, a momentary burst of force is all I need.

While Miyano unexpectedly lost her balance, I was fully aware that she would. After all, I was the one who executed it.

So, without much panic, and rather finding joy in the situation unfolding just as I predicted, I extended my sword toward Miyano’s throat, aiming to strike.

Miyano forcefully twisted her body to avoid the sword, but she couldn’t completely evade it, leaving a fairly deep cut on her neck.

In that instant, I activated another spell I had prepared for Miyano, making preparations to bring this battle to an end.

That makes one down. If I can pull off similar moves against the other three, it will be over.

However, just then, Asada, who had been closing in from behind, lunged at me with a punch.

Her movement was faster than I had anticipated, silently surprising me, but I had no time to show my surprise. I quickly pulled out another explosive device, detonated it to create distance.

I’m not a fan of using this method as it inflicts damage on myself, but it’s still better than taking Asada’s punch. I’m confident that taking a hit from her would be a one-way ticket to the ground.

“Ouch! Damn it! What if I get injured?!”

“I’ll be right there, nursing you 24/7 in a hospital bed, so just collapse quietly, alright?”

“Or maybe I’ll chain you up so you can’t run away. Then you won’t even think of doing something foolish like this again, right?”

Chaining someone to a bed sounds a bit morbid, doesn’t it? Well, I don’t actually plan on doing that.

“I’ll pass!”

As I said this, I retrieved a bomb from my pouch and swiftly hurled it just behind the two of them, ensuring their attention would now be directed at the explosive.

Right after I considered this, a loud thud and a shockwave erupted nearby. I tried to move toward a presumably startled Asada, but she didn’t halt, nor did she bother to glance back. She continued charging at me, and similarly, Miyano did the same.

“Not gonna happen!”

“Damn it!”

As Asada charged in without hesitation, despite the explosion, I aimed my gun and fired at her with my right hand. However, she effortlessly deflected the bullet by raising her arm in front of her face.

Fine, then. Let’s redirect the gun towards Miyano this time, I thought, but just as I shifted my aim, Miyano closed in and sliced at the gun.

“This is it!”

Slightly delayed, Asada also closed in and lunged at me from behind.

With both of them now within my field of view, Miyano swung her sword down from the left, while Asada extended her fist from the right.

If I take these hits head-on, even if it’s just from one of them, I’ll be immobilized.

But that’s well within my expectations.

My current condition is, to put it mildly, pretty dire. Not only is my physical strength waning, but my magical reserves are depleting, and I’ve lost a fair amount of blood. I’m on the verge of collapsing for real.

However, I can’t afford to die here and leave these two behind. I have no choice but to struggle through somehow. But time is of the essence.

Sure, they showcased their abilities during the battle against the Savior’s Mask earlier, but even so, I’m at a disadvantage. If I continue fighting like this, I’ll reach my limits before they do, and I’ll be the one who falls.

That’s why I’ve decided to initiate my final move, with the intention of ending this here.

“Kyaaa!”

“Haruka-chan!?”

I activated the magic I had set up a little while ago.

The layers of Kiatahra’s barrier are formidable and multi-tiered, making it a bothersome obstacle. However, it does have its weaknesses.

Truth be told, there’s nothing beneath that barrier on the ground.

It forms a hemisphere shape, leaving the area beneath it completely defenseless.

Of course, Kitahara is aware of this, and I pointed it out as well. However, the design allows for switching between a hemisphere and a full sphere depending on the situation.

I mentioned that each layer is powerful, but when it comes to deploying and sustaining such an expansive and long-lasting barrier, it’s practically impossible.

A Master-level barrier user specialized in such barriers might manage it, but Kiatahara is only an Advanced-level mage, and her main focus is healing, with barrier work being more of an auxiliary skill.

With only an Advanced-level magical capacity and no innate aptitude, it’s impossible to operate and maintain such a barrier effectively if there’s too much waste.

Moreover, setting an underground barrier against an opponent who only attacks from above is not only pointless but a waste of magical energy. So, I designed the barrier to switch between a hemisphere and a full sphere depending on the enemy. That’s how this barrier is meant to be used.

Perhaps she thought that she didn’t need the underground part this time since she was facing me. But that was a mistake.

Abe’s weakness is that she can perceive magical energy visually, but only if she’s looking for it.

While she might sense the presence of massive magical energy, she likely couldn’t detect the faint spell I, as an opponent like me, employed.

Hence, I infiltrated the ground beneath her, sending magic upward, catching Abe off guard from behind and launching a surprise attack.

Caught off guard, she couldn’t avoid the pebbles that suddenly flew toward the back of her head. Abe let out a brief cry and fell forward, prompting an alarmed shout from Kitahara.

「「Gah!」」

The two who were launching an attack on me briefly halted their movements at the unexpected voice from behind. However, they swiftly resumed their actions and continued their assault on me.

Yet, even a momentary pause was a victory. If only I could buy a little more time.

Although the two seem to have regained their composure, there must be some inner turmoil, however slight.

So, I took advantage.

“Ah!”

As Asada extended her leg to continue her attack, she stepped on something I had tampered with. A while ago, during the smoke screen, I manipulated the sand, solidified it, and formed it into a small, thorn-like shape inside her shoe.

Even if someone like Asada stepped on something like that, the pain wouldn’t be significant. In fact, it was my magic that would break before causing any substantial discomfort. And that’s exactly what happened.

However, there was still some level of pain. When she felt the sensation of stepping on something along with a twinge of pain, it was only natural to be startled. Moreover, her focus had just been disrupted by Abe. Therefore, this outcome was inevitable and couldn’t be helped.

“Kana!?”

With the sharp pebble from her shoe fully crushed, Asada instinctively twisted her foot and, propelled by the motion, lost her balance. She ended up exposing her neck to Miyano’s sword in a rather vulnerable position.

“Damn!”

Miyano quickly altered the trajectory of her sword by shifting her whole body, attempting to halt it, and managed to avoid hitting her.

“Huh?”

As Miyano forcefully shifted her body, disrupting her posture, I took the opportunity to catch the falling Asada in a manner as if cradling her body.

The interruption in concentration from the pain and stumbling must have played a role. As Asada gazed at the bewildering turn of events during a combat situation, her voice expressed astonishment. Meanwhile, I used the knife I held in my right hand, positioned behind me while still holding onto her, to slice through Asada’s throat.

“Ah!”

With Asada’s scream, a wound opened on her neck, and blood began to flow.

As the wound was set up for further manipulation, I was abruptly pushed away by Asada’s shove.

“Ugh! Guh! …Damn it. Inhuman strength.”

After being sent rolling across the ground multiple times and finally coming to a halt, I rose to my feet and surveyed Miyano and the others’ situation.

Miyano’s injuries, Abe’s head wound, and even Asada’s recent injury – all had been healed by Kitahara.

Now, the situation had shifted to me losing only my left hand. It was clear that I had little chance of winning if I continued to fight conventionally.

But this was sufficient. The preparations were complete. Only one final move was lacking, and I could address that later.

Therefore, I proceeded with the action to conclude this battle.

“Ah, damn it. If only I were a bit younger. I would’ve held out with my stamina until the end…”

As I uttered those words, I let go of all the tension in my body and collapsed to the ground.

Perhaps to Miyano and the others, it appeared perfectly natural. After all, I had been pushing myself to the absolute limit just a moment ago. I was barely standing through sheer willpower.

However, even though I had fallen, I couldn’t afford to lose consciousness just yet.

There were still things left to do. Not yet. It’s too early to rest.

For their sake.

I needed to assess the situation around me, but due to Abe’s presence, I couldn’t use magic to gain situational awareness.

Nevertheless, there was a way.

If I just waited, the opportunity for the final move would present itself soon.

“What an overestimation… if anything, it’s more like an underestimation.”

While Miyano and the others remained cautious for a while even as I fell, they seemed quite worn out as well. Upon noticing that I wasn’t moving, they let their guard down.

“But we can take him back now, right?”

“After we get back, we should tie him up to prevent him from escaping.”

“We also need to tend to his injuries. Yuzu, please.”

That’s right. I’m currently covered in wounds, with blood flowing from the severed arm. If left unattended, I’ll eventually die. Knowing that they fought to keep me alive, it was clear they would use Kitahara to heal my injuries when I collapsed.

And so…

“We managed to win… impressively. You must be at your limit…”

As Kitahara approached to heal my injuries, she released the barrier she had cast around themselves and began applying healing magic to my injured left hand.

Perhaps due to using magic herself, Kitahara’s healing was slower than usual, but after a while, the sensation returned to the fingers that should have been numb.

That should be enough. With this level of recovery, I should be able to move without any issues.

At that moment of assessment—

“Huh—?”

I swung the knife towards Kitahara’s neck and inflicted a wound, just as I had done with the other three.

And then, as I had prepared, I allowed water to infiltrate the wound—

Preparation complete.

Though the wound seemed deeper than intended, probably due to the lack of blood despite the healing, Kiatahara would be able to mend it quickly. Well, my apologies.

“My bad. Deceptive strikes are a specialty of mine.”

I tested the functionality of my regenerated left hand by opening and closing it a few times. Everything seemed to be in order.

“You’re still going?!”

“For goodness sake, give it up already! We would never let you die, no matter what!”

As Asada and Miyano declared this, they readied their fists and weapons. Abe and Kitahara stepped back, with Kitahara beginning to tend the injury on her neck.

“It’s not too bad to have someone cherish you like that, especially for someone who’s about to die.”

I hadn’t initially thought that I would grow so attached to these individuals to the point of holding them back like this. After all, I was supposed to part ways with them in three months.

Yet somehow, without realizing it, our connection had deepened and extended for this long… It’s actually quite nice.

Before meeting them, I probably wouldn’t have cared much if I died, thinking, “Well, that’s how it goes.” But now, I find joy in the idea of sacrificing myself for their sake. If I can protect them and die in the process, it would have been a good life.

“So, I won’t let you die—ugh!”

Watching for the moment when Kiatahra finished treating her injury, I manipulated the water infiltrating her wound to stop the blood flow to the brain.

When blood circulation to the brain is completely cut off, a person loses consciousness in a very short time, about ten seconds. While it could potentially lead to death or disabilities if done poorly, I didn’t intend to stop it for too long. It was the only way to make her lose consciousness without raising suspicion.

The entire battle was designed to create wounds near their heads and execute this strategy without them noticing.

From start to finish, my aim was solely to inflict wounds and introduce water into them.

To counter this, they would need to disrupt my magic, but they wouldn’t figure that out all of a sudden.

Miyano and the others couldn’t resist and collapsed, swaying before falling flat. The fact that it took them some time to fall was likely due to their status as higher-level Awakened.

But it’s over now. All that’s left is to carry them out of the gate…

“Argh!”

As I approached the fallen four, contemplating this, Asada struck me in the abdomen, exploiting my momentary lapse in vigilance.

“Gah… Can you still move?”

Having taken Asada’s punch head-on and being sent flying, I fell to the ground but managed to lift my head. However, it seemed that Asada’s last blow had left her unconscious, and she collapsed once again.

“To be honest, you were the trickiest one to deal with. Miyano is strong, but tends to overthink. On the other hand, you just charge in recklessly. Those who rely on brute force and break through everything are the toughest to handle.”

Summoning all the strength I could muster, I managed to stand up, though my steps were unsteady. Despite my wobbly gait, I made my way as swiftly as possible toward Asada and the others.

“But, this ends now.”

Finally, this should be the end. All that’s left is for me to destroy the core, and it will all be over.