Arifureta Chapter 148 (1/2)

Child’s Retribution

Pure white radiance becae waterfall that poured down from overhead

That was the scene that Haji the pleasantly sleeping shi+zuku on his back

Haji of what happened Because if this was just aa ‘Yaegashi+ Barrier’, then the attack would surely be stopped desperately

But no matter how he looked at it, there was no sanity in the eyes of the opponent, so he reluctantly perfor ‘Ground Shrink’

Immediately after, the spot where Haji created on the ice ground and wall followed by a thunderous roar

Although the crack was repaired instantly, looking at the destruction mark, it was easy to see that the attack was not a joke – but was created with the intent to kill And above all, the killing intent just before and the aic power put into the attack showed the true seriousness of it

Haji widely in a slightly distanced spot, then he fixed the position of shi+zuku on his back while narrowing his eyes at the culprit of the act of violence

shi+zuku didn’t succumb even to the thunderous roar of the attack and only twitched for aher sleep Was she really that tired? Or perhaps she was so in peace that she wouldn’t react to a danger of this level? There was also the possibility that she was just h…

“… So? What are you doing, Aawa?”

Yes, exactly as Hajime said, the culprit of the attack was Kouki It wasn’t the false ie, but the real one without any doubt

That Kouki tightly gripped his holy sword that was still half-buried into the half-crushed ground while gru his eyes so his expression couldn’t be seen clearly, but he was obviously not in a normal state

“… ga…da … de, u… ra” (TN: I don’t know if Kouki here is totally broken already or it’s me that cannot catch what the author means)

“Haa? I cannot hear that Anyway, your opponent is not us, it’s over…”

“… Us?”

Hajime frowned because he couldn’t really catch Kouki’s e He did that while i Kouki to attack the enemy without mistake next time

However, Kouki showed an excessive reaction to a part of Hajis, then his stabbed holy sas forcefully pulled out

“The way you say that is like you and shi+zuku are one set, isn’t it? Eh? What, the way you are talking is like she belongs to you? Are you screwing around?”

“… Just what are you saying? Don’t say such a stupid thing, finish this quickly”

Kouki directed the attack at Haji the holy sword The unclearof Kouki’s words ed Kouki to clear the trial

However, as expected, Hajih to the current Kouki

“… Ah, I’ll end it now Even without you telling !”

The aze that e forward His figure hazed using ‘Io and then unleashed a slash of light filled with enoric power

“Tch, so you fell You stupid bastard”

“Shut up! Everything will return to before if you die-! DIE RIGHT NOWWWW!”

Hajiuessed the cause of Kouki’s eccentricity Surely this was the result of his false i him so much Then, Haji her body on his back, “So I’ blow…” he

Kouki conored that murmur of Hajime and he only recklessly held his holy sword at full poith a seething killing intent and hatred He was obviously trying to kill Hajiardless of shi+zuku as on Haji back and Hajime concluded that he wasn’t sane

“Nn, nmuu, what? Let me sleep a little mo…”

“You idiot! How can you sleep talk in this situation! If you don’t wake up right now, then I’ll make you into a human cannonball, just so you know!”

Looking at the half-asleep face of shi+zuku as peevish like a spoiled child, Hajirily If she didn’t wake up in one second, then he was seriously planning on punching Kouki

Hajiry yell, the thunderous roar, and a flash of the cannon of light that was released right after that finally made shi+zuku open and widen her eyes in shock Haji cross bits so the attack didn’t reach them, but the scenery in front of her eyes finally made her notice that they were in the ot down from Hajime’s back

“You slept toojust now What a shameless fellow”

“I’umo-kun’s back felt so…”

“Well, it doesn’tthat aside, do so about it”

“Doesn’t matter what you say… or rather this situation, what happened… eh?”

shi+zuku got teary eyed from quite the shock that she received by Hajime’s exasperated expression and words However, after the flash settled down she saw the figure of the opponent that seemed to be the one who unleashed that attack This caused her to leak out a duid

That surely couldn’t be helped, because the opponent who unleashed the attack with an obviously high chance of casualties was a childhood friend she was familiar with

“It see that I am exactly the root of all evil”

“That’s…”

Ahead of her gaze was the false i them an amused look

shi+zuku who guessed the general situation filled her gaze with strength and then raised her voice at Kouki as looking at them with clouded eyes

“Kouki! Don’t do this! You mustn’t lose to your other self! Come back to your senses, overcome yourself!”

The gaze of shi+zuku as looking at Kouki was colored only orry Even though there were various troubles with hiood childhood friend of hers as overfloith good intention He was an acquaintance of hers, including his family, from when they were children to now He was like her important fa intent and hatred that she had never seen before

She really couldn’t look at hi, trying desperately to rouse up Kouki’s heart

However, toward such a shi+zuku, Kouki seous

“… It’s fine I swear that I will save shi+zuku without fail”

“Kouki? What are you saying…?”

“You are brainwashed by Naguuh you are et off scot free after hurting my important childhood friend I’ll defeat you, and release all your brainwashi+ng of Kaori and the other girls too! And then, I’ll save the world together with them!”

shi+zuku was dueous declaration

The current Kouki, so to speak, could be considered like the Kouki had shi+zuku not spoken with hiroup previously At that night, the weight filled inside shi+zuku’s words stopped Kouki fro wild

He couldn’t iht since there was also a lot of aspects in Hajiainst Hajiain, but even so, because he had the words of shi+zuku, he wouldn’t say anything about Kaori too, as long as there was no complete separation between her and Hajime

However, to put it in other words, it could also be said that Kouki could do that only because shi+zuku was at his side

Kouki’s sense of value and thought were perhaps included with ‘childishness’ He kept carrying the ‘ideal righteousness’ that was planted in his infancy without any wall of reality standing in his way, and he kept it like that until his current age, so perhaps this was only the logical development

For such a childish Kouki, if the last female childhood friend where he directed his desire to monopolize was taken, then it would also seem natural that his ‘temper’ would explode

Although, the te the power of a hero wasn’t a laughing matter at all…

Furtherer to recognize one’s own fault was thoroughly cornered by the reality that was shoved on his face by his false i for a hero like hi into hi blade

He desperately denied it He averted his eyes And when he just barely held his ground, his last fortress that was shi+zuku was entrusting her body with a happy expression that obviously wouldn’t be shown to ato her Even the thickheaded Kouki could guess just what the uess that his fortress crumbled Kouki’s bad habit coupled with his cornered heart manifested in the worst way

That was to say, Nagumo Hajime was the root of all evil who brainwashed his childhood friends and irls, who then beca to save the world That was the impression his heart was set on A really convenient interpretation without holding back

“Kouki! Get a hold of yourself! I don’t knoas told to you, but don’t go astray!”

“shi+zuku…”

“Listen, Kouki Facing your own disgusting part is really painful I understand that well because I also almost died from that But if you don’t accept and overcome it, then you won’t be able toand save a lot of people, then youhere Your ene Kouki there! Open your eyes!”

shi+zuku’s desperate persuasion echoed inside the space It seee intended to observe the current situation silently in amusement

And then Kouki as being told by shi+zuku using words from her heart smiled widely at shi+zuku That was a smile that was done a lot when they were in japan, a sht now it felt distorted somewhere in it

“Thank you, shi+zuku shi+zuku, you always become serious like that for my sake, don’t you?”

“Kouki…”

shi+zuku’s expression was dyed in joy thinking that he had opened his eyes

But…

“I’h you are brainwashed, even so, you still think of me”

“… Kouki?”

“It’s fine I’ll defeat that man and that ule close to a man that you don’t even like anymore I swear I’ll let shi+zuku return back to the place where you should be at”

“…”

shi+zuku’s expression fell hearing out Kouki’s words shi+zuku silently asked back…

“… The place I should be at? Can you tell me where this place is that you mean?”

“I see … So now you cannot even understand that How pitiful What Naguivable”

“Kouki Answer me”

“Aah, that is of course, at my side Just like all this time until now, and from here on out too”

shi+zuku breathed out a long sigh

“… Kouki I wonder if you reht? That day Kaori departed e talked on the bridge”

“Yeah, of course, I reht? It’s fine I thought that Nagu, but because of shi+zuku’s words, I was looking thoroughly at Nagu more than the worst betrayer”

“Kouki, stop…”

“There is no use arguing You don’t understand because you are brainwashed shi+zuku, but this is sohteous’”

Kouki cut down the words of shi+zuku that was going to keep arguing vehe under the convenient interpretation of ‘being brainwashed’, in order to obtain the most desirable future for himself

At the same time, Kouki directed those eyes which were cloudy like slime and dropped his stance The radiance of ‘Li with shi+zuku recovered its brilliant radiance as though regaining a second breath

“Kouki Stop it!”

shi+zuku raised her voice to stop hi her tone but… naturally Kouki didn’t stop

He charged with a fierce ht behind His eyes already didn’t reflect shi+zuku at all, he was only seeing the figure of his hateful enemy Hajime

Having a fierce killing intent directed at hih what happened wasn’t a concern of his now returned his gaze at Kouki His eyes were quickly narrowing The face of shi+zuku’s face went pale because she believed that it wouldn’t end well for the opponent when they directed a serious killing intent at Hajime At this rate, her childhood friend would be killed!

“-, if I don’t stop him-“

In front of the charging momentum of Kouki as in the ‘Limit Break’ state, the likes of shi+zuku was just like a leaf But even so, there was no way she could just leave this alone, and shi+zuku immediately cut in between Kouki and Hajime to try to stop him

However…

“Yaegashi+, to your right”

“Eh? -!?”

Al, she suddenly heard the false i shi+zuku It was literally like the phrase of thrusting a spear froht from the side with terrificof interruption in japan)

shi+zuku immediately held up her black katana and braced herself for i Kouki that could bedisgustingly

But just before the fake Kouki touched shi+zuku, a shadow suddenly erupted between the two…

That was, a cross clad in wrong ic power similar to the false Kouki It was a crossbit that contained a really vivid red radiance It activated ‘Vajra’ and became an improvised shi+eld

Ie with the crossbit shi+eld between theh the false ie had kidnapped shi+zuku

The dregs of the reddish blackcloud between the two people glaring

{I’ll be shi+zuku’s opponent You, you can fight your hateful enemy to your heart’s content}

“Guh, you- Let go oflike…”

{No, this is not related to me and shi+zuku, is it? Let’s enjoy a sideshohile those two are dancing Rather than self-destruction, getting possessed with his own desire is uy’s trial}

“Doing as you please-“

It appeared that the false ie made the trial for Kouki similar to Ryuutaro’s, where it incorporated the factor where he needed to win against his own desire Whether Kouki could accept reality and return to his sense while fighting Hajime or not… that was the trial It was a real nuisance for Hajime to be treated like an examiner as the labyrinth pleased

“Is it fine? Your i attacked there”

“… That thing is also me He won’t kill her Soet so easily brainwashed by a man like you”

“… Just now, didn’t you say that thing was a monster?”

“It is a ht? Then, even though it’s a monster then it won’t kill shi+zuku”

“That’s just absurd”

That was too much of a convenient interpretation While he concluded that it was a monster unrelated to hier because it was so that copied himself It was really absurd

Most likely inside his heart, Kouki understood that the false iative emotion already That hy he subconsciously understood that shi+zuku was safe because the negative emotions wouldn’t aim at her

But, if he recognized that then it would e said as the truth That hy, in order to throay everything else other than shi+zuku as bullshi+t, he concluded that it wasn’t his false iic that was too forceful, but it seemed that it had become a truth inside Kouki

Kouki gave a glance at the false ie as it unfolded a fierce swordplay with shi+zuku while his killing intent was bloating up

“Prepare yourself I won’t let you do as you please any more than this shi+zuku and Kaori, then Yue and the others too, I’ll release everyone from you!”

At the saathered and explosively charged forward He let out a wood chopping strike from the front without any hesitation

GOU! Along with a terrific sound of cut wind, the holy sword that looked as though it was ht itself attacked Hajime violently However, in front of such a lethal attack, Hajime didn’t take even a step back and he only raised his arm

That hand was holding Donner, GOKIN-! the sound of th attack was easily blocked Even un point of Donner

“Wha-!?”

Kouki was shocked and leaked out a voice reflexively, Hajiaze at Kouki and opened his mouth

“There is nothinga true idiot as an idiot… But, I’ll just say this much… asshole, who permitted a bastard like you to name my woman so casually? Huh?” (EN: Kouki used their first na a little too familiar in japan)

“-!?”

I The pressure was like the pressing of a great waterfall It was too vast to be called huth’ that was too terrifying Kouki’s body that was struck with the serious e was unintentionally stiffening

DOPAN!

The trigger of Donner was pulled and an electronetically accelerated bullet flicked off the holy sword, plugging the h it was insulted that it was in the way

Unable to endure the fierce impact, the holy sword slipped from his hand and danced in the air in circles

And then, toward Kouki that wasa banzai posture with only one hand, a black shadow froed

“Gahah!?”

The yakuza kick that struck Kouki’s stomach with a dreadful sound of impact made Kouki’s body double into a sideways ‘V’ shape while floating him in the air like that

Without a moment’s delay, Haji kick filled with a lot of centrifugal force

A sound of impact resonated once e truck was running over him Kouki that flew horizontally like a cannon had his back struck by an ice wall like that One could only wonder just how great of an iely pulverized into a radial shape

Kouki fell on the ground after that, he was on all four while coughing Blood splattered out fro mouth

With just a kick without a weapon or ‘Li an ared That factpainfully

But, there was no way Haji

DOPAN-! DOPAN-! DOPAN-!

Consecutive sounds of gun discharge roared, and red flashes assaulted the crouching Kouki Perhaps he noticed Haji intent Kouki leaped aside aler, but it was as though even his dodging direction was read, that the h his shoulder

Furthermore, one of the bullets that Kouki evaded earlier seeic poithout being accelerated electronetically, when it impacted the broken ice wall behind Kouki it ricocheted, and red light attacked

Kouki was shot behind through the knee which passed through his arap

“Gua… co, come, holy sword-“

While rolling all over the ground with blood flowing fro, the collapsed Kouki reached out his hand at the falling holy sword at a slightly distant spot The holy sword responded to Kouki’s calling voice and flew at him

However, it didn’t settle into Kouki’s hand Just before it reached, Hajiled to return to itsfoot didn’t even twitch

“How unsightly If you can skillfully use this new ability then surely you will be able to fight better”

Haji to himself without intention for Kouki to hear it, but it seelared at Haji to kill hiaze