Chapter 92: Battle Between Father and Son

Bonus chapter...

"Ggh...!"

"Mngh...!"

My sword clashes with Garondolf's sword.

The two swords spark and send both of our bodies flying backwards.

"It's heavy...!"

I mutter.

Garondolf Baskerville is a character in [DunBrave 2], but there is no battle scene in the scenario.

His strength is unknown. Perhaps, he may be the first enemy that I fight when I first come to this world.

I expected him to be weaker than the boss characters of the latter half of the game, such as the Four Heavenly Kings... but his attacks are several times stronger than I expected.

I was able to endure it thanks to the fact that my skill level had been improved by defeating Shinya Kushinagi, but if not for that, I might have fallen by this blow.

"It seems that you have really improved your skill! Wasn't it just a foolish conceit that made you challenge me!"

Garondolf, on the other hand, also let out an exclamation of admiration at my slash.

This is the first time I have been praised by my father, who has always spoken to me in a venomous way.

I didn't think it made him happy, though.

"I guess I could be a little more serious! Don't die so easy!"

"...!"

Garondolf kicked the ground again, and came flying toward me.

It seems that he was not serious about his earlier slash. But his speed has increased dramatically, as if he switched gears.

"Don't mock me!"

I shouted, and I dealt the incoming slashes.

I parry the slashes that come down from above with the middle of my sword, and avoid the slashes that follow by keeping my posture low.

"Nngh!"

"Whoa...!?"

But, before I had time to regain my position, Garondolf threw a whip-like kick at me as I crouched down.

I quickly jumped backward to reduce the momentum of the kick, but I felt a zing of pain in my abdomen where I had been hit.

"You're so merciless to kick your own son... you're really a horrible father!"

I roll on the ground to brace myself, then quickly get up and ready my sword.

Garondolf doens't follow me and hadn't moved a step from where he had kicked me.

He is obviously playing me. He just held his sword at ease, as if he didn't need to charge at me.

"What's wrong? You seemed to be slower than before. Did I not go easy enough on you, by any chance?"

"...You really have a wonderful personality. You, Zenon's father."

Garondolf even provoked me, and I clenched my teeth in frustration.

It is very annoying but Garondolf is a much better opponent than I am now.

Although he was inferior to Shinya Kushinagi in terms of speed alone, Garondolf had more power.

Garondolf's swordsmanship, which he used continously, showed that he is an experienced fighter. Still...

"Eat this!"

I invoked dark magic.

Without chanting, I unleashed 'Shadow Javelin'. It is an attack spell that creates a spear from the shadows and shoots it at the enemy.

And this jet-black spear flew straight for Garondolf's heart.

"What a waste! That magic will not work on me."

"Mngh...!"

The jet-black spear hits Garondolf in the chest as intended, but shatters instantly.

The spear is not destroyed, but it breaks on its own... maybe the result of some kind of item?

"This ring that has been passed down in the Baskerville family from generation to generation... Its name is the 'Ring of the Duke of Hell'... It has the power to nullify the dark attribute. So, dark magic does not work on me."

"There is an item like that...? I'm surprised there's an item I'm not aware of."

On Garondolf's finger is a ring with a hideous skull design.

Such an item has never appeared in the game, but it seems that the ring has a 'dark attribute nullification' effect.

This is a serious problem. His sword is one better than mine. Dark magic doesn't work either.

Swords and dark magic. All of my offensive options have been blocked.

If I still had the doping bottle, if I had 'Amanohazamaru' on my sword, I could have fought better.

However, I had already used all the paid items, and I already equipped with a mid-level weapon.

At this rate, the odds of defeat are high. Clearly, it is too early to challenge Garondolf.

"It can't be helped... I wanted to win the fight head-on if possible. Still, if things become like this... maybe a little cowardly is fine..."

It seems that it would be very difficult to win by a straight fight.

So, I think of some 'tricks' I've thought up in my mind. I smile with my sharp canine teeth bared.

"From here on, I will fight for my life. It's going to be a real bloodbath!"

Dark magic, 'Illusion Ghost'.

I create several shadows that look exactly like myself, and makes them plunge into Garondolf at once.

"You are very clever with your illusion magic. But..."

A black sphere appears around Garondolf.

One by one, the marble-sized black dots grow in number, until finally there are about 20 of them.

"Dark Bullet!"

The black spots become dark bullets and are released at once.

Twenty bullets pierce my illusion, obliterating it in an instant.

"What the...!"

All that is left is my real body.

With my shadow gone, I am exposed.

"You're so naive!"

"Ha! Isn't that you!?"

Garondolf, who has eliminated my shadows, turns his blade toward my body, but I parry the thrusting edge with the cuirass attached to my left hand.

I try to counterattack with a slash, but Garondolf jump to the side and ducks.

However... Garondolf's body tilts slightly due to his forced evasive maneuver.

"Power Slash!"

I immediately fire a follow-up attack.

I swing my sword upward with my swordsmanship skill.

"You think you've won with that! You're too naive!"

"...!"

Garondolf's arms swell with power while he is thrown off his feet.

With this hand... like a swallow leaping from the ground to the sky, Garondolf takes a low posture and lands an uppercut to my face.

"Damn it...!"

It was so unreasonable. How can he recover from such an impossible posture that he almost fell to the ground?

I wonder how much experience he's had in actual combat.

It seems that he wasn't just a fool or a drunkard when he claimed to be the strongest in the kingdom.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Huh...!?"

But... this situation is also an opportunity for me.

I let go of the sword with which I was about to deliver a power slash, and instead raise my foot greatly to catch Garondolf's fist with the sole of my foot.

Then I take advantage of the momentum from my father's uppercut and leap into the air.

With the cloudy night sky behind me, I look down on Garondolf from high in the air.

Garondolf looks up at me with wide eyes.

No, not only him, but Urza and the others also look up at me. Even the people Garondolf had gathered are also staring at me in the air.

"Well... from now on is a gamble...!"

I pull out a new sword from the storage item and plunge from the sky, letting gravity do the work for me.

"Ooooooooooooooooooohhh!"

I raise my sword as I free fall and slash at Garondolf from above like a hawk at its prey.

But... Garondolf smiles at the sight of his son coming at him from above, his lips pursing into a sneer.

"You think you have the upper hand! Gravity is not as fast as you think!"

As I fall straight down, Garondolf prepares to meet me with the tip of his sword.

If I continue to let gravity take me, Garondolf will counter.

"Of course, I don't think I've won this one... Flashbomb!"

"Huh!?"

I throw an item that I have kept under my sleeve at Garondolf, who is staring straight at me.

The item I threw was a 'flash bomb'. A so-called flashbang.

Now, I fell from the sky and Garondolf looked up at me on the ground. The small bomb exploded at the midpoint between us, emitting a strong flash of light.

I had closed my eyes beforehand, so I am unaffected, but Garondolf looks up at me, and it is unbearable for him.

I know it's a sneaky move on my part, but I'm on the same side as Shinya Kushinagi. I don't believe in winning fair and square.

I will do whatever it takes to win. I will use what I can, and I will use who I can.

"Tenpo!"

I also activated my [Taijutsu] skill and accelerated in the air.

By combining the gravitational fall with the acceleration of this skill, I swing my sword down at Garondolf, who is blinded by flashbomb.

"Ghh... Uoooooooooo!"

Garondolf, however, does not let his blindness stop him from cutting easily.

Even though he is blind, he must have sensed the impending death with his intuition. So, with a twisted expression on his face, Garondolf thrusts his sword up from below.

The flash of light disappears, and two shadows meet in the darkness of the training ground.

My slash from above.

My father's thrust from below.

The moment that can be called an extreme moment. I caught the enemy's figure in my sword...

"Kahah!"

"Huh... Zenon, you...!?"

My sword had struck Garondolf's shoulder.

It bit into his right shoulder and stopped just short of severing his collarbone.

"Ah... Ggh... Even with this, I can't reach it..."

"Ah, damn it!" From there, I couldn't hear the rest of Garondolf's sound.

After all, Garondolf's sword had pierced through my chest, skewering my heart.