Part 2
Kazuki cracked his neck under Selka's calm gaze.
"This feels amazing..." he said, cracking his knuckles. "I feel lighter and stronger."
"I see... that vial contained some kind of enhancer," Selka commented calmly.
"Although, to be honest... it won't do you any good. Power always demands a price," she added while looking through the pages of her grimoire.
Kazuki raised his sword; his face looked like that of someone who had already won the fight.
"Justice will always rise... no matter the cost."
Selka rolled her eyes, tired of the young man's idealistic speech.
"Tch... damn witch."
"Solar Burst!"
A blaze of flames engulfed the paladin.
He charged forward at full speed with his sword pointed ahead. Like a comet, he tried to ram into her.
With a snap of her fingers, Selka raised a pillar of earth, and Kazuki smashed right through it.
"His speed and strength may have increased..."
She raised another pillar while dodging, and the young man shattered it as well.
"But he's still a minor threat."
This time, the young man got close enough to attack her directly.
"Solar Slash!"
Before he could bring down his sword, Selka raised a pillar from the ground, sharp as a stake.
The pillar pierced Kazuki's right shoulder, sending blood flying through the air.
"It didn't affect him at all?"
"No... that's not it."
Kazuki continued his attack, and the massive slash of fire almost struck her. At that moment, with a snap of her fingers, Selka dodged the attack with a quick teleport.
Behind him, she could see that the pillar had left a large bloody wound in his shoulder.
"That enhancer is making him ignore pain..."
"Yamato will be interested in this."
The young paladin shook his shoulder as if brushing off dust.
"I see all you know how to do is run and hide, old witch..." he said confidently.
"But you can't run forever."
She smiled as she looked at him mischievously.
"Oh, really? You've become awfully confident since drinking that little 'vial.' I didn't know Valheim had sunk so low as to start making physical enhancement potions..."
"That crazy scientist was right. This feels amazing," Kazuki said.
"Scientist?" she asked, showing some interest.
It was obvious from Kazuki's face that he only wanted to show off his new strength.
"Yeah, some brainiac from... what was it called...? Zvukograd? Complicated names..."
"That's where Eliza went..." she immediately thought.
Kazuki pulled out another red vial and showed it to her.
"I don't trust that lunatic, but... sometimes justice needs outside help," he said before drinking the entire vial in one gulp.
His strength increased once again before Selka's incredulous eyes.
"I'll defeat you! Right here and now! No matter the cost..."
Selka pulled a folding fan from her pocket as her grimoire vanished.
"Poor fool, that borrowed power will be your downfall... I highly doubt such an abomination comes without a price."
Kazuki's wound healed in a golden flame, his muscles grew even larger, and his armor cracked under the strain.
"My future self can worry about that. But don't worry, you won't live long enough to see it," he added as he took a fighting stance.
Kazuki charged forward at full speed. The force of his momentum sank the ground behind him. In an instant, he was face to face with Selka, who seemed surprised.
"He's fast."
The young man unleashed a swift downward slash, but she managed to deflect it with her fan infused with magic.
Then came another.
And another.
One after another, she simply deflected them without much effort.
"Damn it!"
"Why is this woman so strong?"
"With these two potions, I'm supposed to be above level 150..."
Kazuki could only watch in frustration as Selka maintained her mocking smile.
"It's impossible..."
"This woman... is a monster..."
The young man jumped backward to create some distance.
"Tch..."
"What's wrong, kid? Do you need a moment to rest? Want me to bring some tea while I wait for you?"
Hatred grew on Kazuki's face as he gripped the handle of his sword tighter and tighter.
"I guess the weak don't last... very long," she commented playfully, trying to provoke him.
"You damn old hag..."
"Well, if you're not going to do anything, then it's time to shatter that 'justice' you love so much..." she continued. "And just so you know... magic is my specialty. I don't have any physical strength."
She shrugged.
Those words made Kazuki turn pale.
She had only been playing with him. She had deflected all of his physical attacks using nothing but a fan.
He felt an abyss of difference between them.
"But don't worry... I won't use my grimoire against you."
"You're not worth it."
She snapped her fingers and vanished from the young paladin's sight, causing him to instinctively take a defensive stance.
She reappeared right in front of him and, before he could raise his sword, shattered his left arm with a precise strike from her fan.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Kazuki's scream was horrifying. He collapsed to his knees from the pain.
"I told you this isn't a game."
"AHHHHHHH! YOU BROKE MY ARM, YOU DAMN SON OF A—!"
Selka grabbed his face tightly, covering his mouth.
"I told you to be quiet. I'm tired of listening to your nonsense and your speeches about 'justice.'"
"I've been at the mercy of disgusting men who committed atrocities 'in the name of justice.'"
She slammed him into the ground with force.
Kazuki's blood began spreading across the dirt.
She crouched down to look directly at him.
"Learn one thing… power is everything."
"Without power, your words are nothing but empty words."
For a moment, Selka looked toward the distant city of Mermur and could picture Yamato's face.
"I understand his way of thinking more and more..."
"Cough..." Kazuki spat blood. "Is that why you attacked Arkenfel and killed my friends?"
She didn't even look at him.
"Arkenfel was a corrupt city, full of noble rats who enslaved their own people..."
"Oh, really? And now that you've brainwashed them, they're freer? You're nothing but a dictator."
"Oh, kid, I don't care in the slightest what you think. My work here is almost done. Mermur will return to the people."
"Anyway, it's time to end this. Don't take it personally, I need your weapon and your hero fragment..."
"Any last words before you die?"
Selka turned around to look at him, and even though chains still bound his feet, he was standing.
"Yeah... go to hell..." he spat as he threw a small bottle onto the ground, where it crashed against several others already lying there.
Kazuki had drunk ten bottles of Supernova while she was distracted.
"You idiot!"
She snapped her fingers, and two more chains wrapped around Kazuki's arms.
"I am a hero chosen by Yoru!..."
His voice began to sound more and more distorted.
His body started growing and turning red from blood.
His armor began to crack apart, crumbling away as his muscles grew larger and larger.
The chains binding his hands and feet exploded under his strength.
"What have you done, kid...?" Selka muttered as her grimoire appeared.
Kazuki no longer looked human.
He was a giant blood-covered beast. His veins bulged visibly, his eyes looked lost, and his size...
It seemed to have increased to nearly ten feet tall.
"Jus... tice... will... al... ways... prevail..."
His voice sounded like that of a distorted beast.
Without a doubt, he was no longer human.
And for the first time, Selka became serious.