Achilles was a tenacious Hero. His Skills were proof of his achievements and perseverance.
This forced Kazamachi farther and farther back. Even though she still hadn't been hit thanks to her agility, her breathing grew uneven, and the space around her kept shrinking...
Unfortunately for Kazamachi, the modified rules of Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē—adjusted by Leonardo da Vinci—were her perfect counter.
To begin with, the barrier's area was less than seven square meters, and it kept shrinking, steadily forcing Kazamachi into close combat with Achilles. And that wasn't all.
Kazamachi's stamina was lower than Achilles's even without him using his Skills. It was only a matter of time before she made a mistake...
This had turned into a race against the clock. Either Kazamachi knocked Achilles out and he succumbed to his injuries, or her stamina and space would run out...
"Guhh!"
"Gueh?!"
And that outcome was inevitable. The moment Kazamachi struck Achilles again, he struck back. With no room to evade, she took his fist straight to the stomach...
Without her Astral armor—and without the wind to shield her—the blow was devastating. Kazamachi hadn't yet joined the Crown.
"An opening!"
Even with a swollen eye and limited vision, Achilles didn't let the chance slip. He pressed the attack. Kazamachi dodged, but slammed into the barrier again, and Achilles landed another hit...
"Guhh!!.."
Bam, Bam, Bam
With her balance gone, Kazamachi couldn't defend herself. Several more blows crashed into her body until a hook smashed into her face, sending her to the ground...
"Ha... ha... ha..."
Achilles was breathing hard as well. Truthfully, he was in critical condition too. Every hit from Kazamachi had been brutal—without his Skill, he might have already fallen...
"But I won...."
It was a dirty trick—deceiving his opponent, and a woman at that—but Achilles had no choice. He steadied his breath and prepared to finish it...
"Hic... it hurts... hic... hic... it hurts..."
But Achilles stopped.
Kazamachi's sobbing was faint, like a mosquito's hum. She lifted her face from the ground, large tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her cheek was red and swollen, and she no longer looked like the warrior she'd been moments ago...
Now she looked like a child beaten by a bully...
"Damn it... this is why I hate hitting women."
Achilles felt awful. Watching a beautiful woman cry was poison to a Hero of ancient Greece—and he wasn't the only one affected. Kazamachi felt even worse...
"It hurts... waaah... hubby!.. Yuki!.. hic...."
Unable to hold back any longer, Kazamachi broke down in tears...
And that marked the beginning of the Nightmare.
Yuki, seated on the Throne, opened his eyes. Kazamachi's tears and voice echoed so clearly in the spiritual World that the chains binding his body creaked with rage...
Creakkkk
"Unforgivable..."
Forcing himself up, the chains around him snapped one by one. He was only allowed to leave the Throne for one hour every twenty-four hours—and that time hadn't come yet...
Yuki didn't care.
He was furious. He needed to beat the bastard who cheated—and worse, dared to strike his woman using despicable methods.
"I'll kill him!"
Creakkkk...
"Eh?"
Achilles was the first to sense something wrong. Kazamachi's tears fell onto the ground, onto her Shadow—and it began spreading for no reason.
At the same time, a kind of portal opened within the darkness of the Shadow.
"What the—?!"
Staggering back in shock, Achilles couldn't understand it. Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē blocked all external aid and all internal interference. There was no way magic could exist inside this barrier. It was supposed to be a bare-knuckle duel...
Which meant this was something else...
Then something emerged from the Shadow—a translucent white hand.
It gripped the edge of the Shadow and braced against the ground. Another hand followed, anchoring itself as if some strange creature were crawling out of a Shadow-made portal...
"I'm not the only cheater...."
Achilles understood.
It wasn't that the rules of Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē had been forcibly broken. The Spear showed no anomalies, meaning its rules were still intact. That meant Kazamachi—just like Achilles—was also cheating. She'd never been alone from start to finish, and when he trapped Kazamachi, he'd trapped that "thing" as well...
Creakkkk...
The sound of chains snapping echoed, like a beast tearing free from its cage. And then "it" emerged from the Shadow...
It had a humanoid shape, but like its arms, the rest of its body was translucent white and red...
"Hubby?"
Unlike Achilles, Kazamachi could see Yuki's true form. She wiped her tears and asked hesitantly...
"It's fine, sweetheart. You can return to the Throne. I'll handle everything..."
"Um..."
Yuki leaned down, kissed her forehead, and gently wiped away her tears. Then he pushed her body back into the Shadow, sending her back to the Throne. Kazamachi blushed and complied...
"...."
As the only spectator, Achilles didn't know what to say. Watching "that" show affection with a beautiful woman like Kazamachi was deeply unsettling to him.
All he saw was a white specter kissing Kazamachi, sending chills across his skin. But he understood something too...
His arms and legs wouldn't stop trembling. The moment that thing emerged from the Shadow, everything changed. Even the barrier changed, as if its rules were being rewritten. The space expanded, and a horrifying aura closed in around him...
It felt just like his father's wrath...
"The Monster... haha, my luck is awful..."
Cold sweat soaked him. Achilles tried to laugh, but the sound died in his throat when that thing looked at him—and smiled.
He'd known there was a chance The Monster would appear if he defeated Kazamachi, but he'd trusted his Spear and didn't care...
A grave mistake...
"A bare-knuckle fight? I like that... hehe. Come on... let's go for the next round..."
"....."
"Will it work, Da Vinci-chan?"
"Don't worry, Fujimaru. We have to trust Rider."
Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē was an instantaneous battlefield, meaning time inside it was distorted. What felt like hours within the barrier amounted to only an instant in the real World...
However, because of the rules Leonardo da Vinci had to modify to trap Kazamachi, she'd been forced to discard the time rule. Only then would Rider have enough magical energy to win...
Even so, the time difference wasn't extreme. Da Vinci had calculated it—a distortion ratio of one to five. Only about five minutes had passed on this side, which meant roughly twenty-five minutes inside the barrier. It was about time for Achilles to return.
"I trust Rider too, Senpai. He's a very strong Hero..."
"Fouuu~"
Mash agreed. Having fought shoulder to shoulder with him, she knew just how strong Achilles was. Once all of Kazamachi's advantages were stripped away, she wouldn't be a match for him...
Creakk
"Huh?"
At that moment, Achilles's Spear began to crack. Several fractures appeared across it...
"The Spear..."
"What is this...?"
"..."
Unable to understand what was happening, the trio stepped back. The cracks spread like spiderwebs, and the Spear finally couldn't take it anymore—
BOOM
"Look out, Senpai!"
"...!"
Fortunately, as a Shielder, Mash reacted instantly, raising her massive shield to protect them from the explosion. But not everyone was so lucky...
Because when the Spear exploded, something was launched outward—
It was Achilles.
He slammed into the barrier of his Spear, the force so overwhelming that it shattered the barrier and hurled him back into the real World, where he crashed into the ground with tremendous force...
The Chaldea trio still had no idea what was happening. The sound of shattering glass rang out, and a translucent white hand emerged from the Shadows...
Bip, bip...
[!!Fujimaru, Mash, you have to get out of there!!]
At that moment, the readings in Chaldea went haywire, and Romani Archaman panicked...
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