Seeing Raldus draw his sword, Reiko also drew Touka.
“…You will regret it, you know?”
“That’s an interesting sword you have there.”
However, even at this stage, she couldn’t feel Raldus being serious.
“Let’s go!”
Raldus instantly came towards her with an overhead swing. Reiko blocked it properly.
“Oho? So you can also see in this darkness. Even then, that’s a good sword you got there, to be in one piece even after stopping my blade.”
Saying that, Raldus leaped back in an instant and created some distance.
“…?”
Reiko felt strange, blocking that swing. And even in Raldus’ movements.
“Well then, next.”
Raldus came charging at Reiko from his position, swinging sideways aiming for the torso.
And although his movements were quite fast, Reiko should be more than able to react in time and stop it but…
“!”
However, Raldus’ swinging sword accelerated weirdly in the middle.
“You did… well blocking that.”
Barely-she was just barely able to block it. And while she did block it, she had that weird feeling in her hand again.
And once again, Raldus jumped back to create some distance between them.
Reiko was wondering what was it that she felt. It was the speed and the weight.
There’s a weight-a mass to the sword.
The fact that the amount of energy needed to accelerate a heavy sword would be greater than to accelerate a small one. On the contrary, if the energy stays the same, the smaller sword would accelerate faster than the heavier one.
The weird feeling Reiko just got was just that. The acceleration of the sword was unnatural and the impact she felt from blocking it didn’t match the speed.
“But I wonder if you will be able to block off the next one?”
Even while Reiko was in thought, Raldus was preparing for his next attack. This time he was in the ‘thrusting’ stance.
A sword which can go head to head with the reinforced Touka-even though it is Reiko, there’s a high chance she might get wounded. Reiko continued thinking.
“It’s a relief that I can read the varieties of his attack but… no, maybe that is also a trap?”
In that moment, Raldus came charging in again. And then he unleashed the thrust.
But Reiko surpassed his movements. She had more than enough leeway to dodge.
Or so it was supposed to be.
“!?”
Reiko’s body suddenly got heavier. As if her body weight was doubled or tripled.
And because of that, her evasive actions couldn’t make it in time. Raldus’ sword was about to stab into Reiko’s left shoulder.
“Barrier.”
Reiko instantly deployed barrier. Raldus’ sword stopped right before Reiko’s clothes.
It had broke through the indestructible barrier halfway and was stopped by the clothing which was made by the strings of a grand spider.
“Hmmm, so you can block that one…… I shall acknowledge. You and your master are of our level!”
Raldus shouted, leaping back once again.
But Reiko didn’t reply. That was least of her worries.
“The phenomenon just now… it can’t be… but, it can’t be explained otherwise…”
[Ms. Reiko, I think what you’re thinking is correct.]
Laojun, who was also viewing Raldus’ movements through Reiko’s eyes, agreeed.
“…Can you, control weight?”
Reiko asked. Hearing that, Raldus’ eyes opened wide this time.
“I am really surprised. You can think to that extent by yourself? Now I feel like meeting the person who created you.”
“Then surrender.”
Reiko advised but Raldus just laughed scornfully.
“Don’t be stupid. I will capture you, tear apart your body, take all the info from that control core and them I will be the one attacking.”
A very demon-like sentence. However, that is a poor move. There’s no way Reiko would forgive anyone or anything which can put Jin in the way the danger.
“……I will definitely, not let you.”
Reiko’s voice got much lower.
She might be able to beat him if she uses mana explosion. However, that way they can’t get the info they need.
For Reiko, ways to attack were limited.
And now, Reiko kicked the ground really hard. It was her attacking now.
“Eh!”
However, her movements became heavier the moment she got close to Raldus. Raldus had made Reiko ‘heavier’ with his magic.
Reiko’s movement was slowed down to the level of a fast human speed. Raldus easily blocked Reiko’s diagonal swing. However,
“What?!”
His sword was cut down with Touka’s new function, ‘vibrating sword’.
“Kugh!”
However, as the sword’s speed was slow, even though Raldus’ sword was cut in half, he was able to dodge without getting injured. But now, fright had bore in his face.
“…You easily come crossing my expectations, huh? Judging from the defensive barrier you had a while ago, half-hearted attacks will be blocked so I guess I have no other choice but to use this although I didn’t really want to.”
Raldus brought out the Elrad Light from his pocket.
“‘Gravita’.”
And a magic was launched. 5 meters surrounding Reiko just caved in.
“Guu, uu.”
Reiko barely endured it without falling to her knees.
“…I can’t believe it. Everything around you, including you, should weight hundreds of times more now but you still stand?”
Saying that, Raldus used magic once again.
“‘Gravita’!”
“…!!”
This time, 1 meter surrounding Reiko caved in even more. And even Reiko fell to her knees this time, with her hands on the ground.
“Fu-fufhahahaha! Surely you can’t stand when it weighs thousands of times more!”
At this moment, 1 meter surrounding Reiko including herself was feeling thousand times the gravitational pull and because of that, even the bedrock composing the ground started breaking into pieces.
The reason Reiko was able to resist it was because of the power hidden in her body.
“But, how long will that last? I don’t know what is your source for mana but it won’t last forever.”
[Ms. Reiko, that’s a bluff. He himself can’t hold up this magic for long.]
Laojun encouraged Reiko saying that.
From the beginning, Reiko’s mana source has been the ether converter. As long as enough ether exists in the surroundings, she can quite literally keep moving semipermanently.
Moreover, she also has the emergency use mana tank. With this, although for a short duration, Reiko can bring out 10 times the power of her usual self.
“…Guuuhh!”
And with the highest output, Reiko stood up. Under her feet was bedrock which was compressed due to the intense gravitational pull. But it was starting to get crushed due to her weight. Reiko wasn’t 30 kgs now, she was over 30 tons.
Using the strongest ‘reinforce’, ‘hardening’ and ‘mana reinforce’ on her body, Reiko finally stood up and started walking.
Seeing that, Raldus’ face became pale.
“I-it can’t be!”
And as he tried to use further magic, the Elrad Light he was holding in his hand turned to dust.
“Sheet!”
Being reverted to her usual weight, Reiko was about spring up for a moment there but stopped with her astounding reflexes. And then, with her strength now tens of times more than usual, she leaped towards Raldus.
“This is payback!”
A tackle with Reiko’s full strength. As the distance between them was small, she hit Raldus before reaching the speed of sound, which was fortunate for him.
But even still, that impact he received defied description and Raldus was blown away without even having the time to shriek.
Going through 3 houses made with stone behind him, he finally stopped after slamming into another wall. And then fell into the ground just like that.
“…You were a tough opponent.”
After a self check, Reiko confirmed that there was no anomaly. She slowly walked towards the collapsed Raldus.
Seeing that his mana was still alive, she judged that he was still alive and had planned to use ‘transfer info’ while he was unconscious. She had judged it to be too dangerous to take him as a prisoner.
The level at which Reiko can use it was barely transferring subconscious memories but on an opponent who has fainted, she can transfer specialized info easily.
The objective would have been achieved if she transferred Raldus’ knowledge into the magi crystal she had brought for it.
Reiko got even closer to Raldus.
However, in the very next moment, sensing an enormous mana behind her, she turned around.
“……That Raldus, eh?”
“Hmm, he probably got too cocky, which is a bad habit of his.”
In the shadows behind, two demon-like figures were standing.