Gula gave no details about the benefit she was offering. Loren had tried to get her talking, but she had said nothing other than it would be something good.
Even though Loren had every intention to pursue the matter, he was worried that Gula would tell him ‘I’ll just fight Luxuria myself then’ if he complained. So, for the time being, he had no choice but to trust her words.
As Loren readied his sword and stepped forward to face Luxuria, the Evil God looked at him with a strangely hot gaze. It gave Loren chills, not only in his spine and guts but all over his body. He still managed to glare at him though, and the Evil God muttered following before letting out a passionate sigh:
“It’ll be wonderful if you continue to glare at me like this.”
From the bottom of his heart, Loren wanted to run away and cry, but he couldn’t. He wondered what sin he had committed to be cornered into a predicament like this, but there was no answer.
“First of all, how long can you make it in your current condition?”
Lapis, who was standing next to a happy-looking Gula, asked him worriedly. She was still looking pale, and was holding her fists close to her chest. Loren raised his sword, thinking the only good thing in this whole situation was that Lapis wasn’t involved and.
“I’m going…”
“You’re welcome at any time, and any place.”
Luxuria fluttered his hand to beckon Loren, and Loren kicked at the ground and thrust his sword forward.
Since Loren tried as hard as possible to not get close, his first attack was a thrust that made use of the greatsword’s length. The movement would be minimum, and he could attack from a two arm’s length distance.
That was what Loren had expected, but his eyes widened in surprise when Luxuria easily knocked his sword down to the ground with just one hand.
Loren still kept his grip on the hilt but with both arms thrust out, his balance was lost. He forcibly lifted up the blade and slash upwards at Luxuria. But his sword was easily pushed off track by a swat from Luxuria, and Loren himself leapt to the side as if he had been hit by the rebounded sword.
Luxuria’s fist appeared where Loren’s head had been just a moment ago. Right after swatting Loren’s sword away, Luxuria had stepped in and struck him with such incredible speed that his eyes hadn’t been able to catch it. Loren had somehow managed to dodge the blow and Luxuria, who was still in his fist-out stance, looked at him with a broad grin on his face.
“Nice reflex. You’ll surely cry out nicely.”
Loren fixed his grip on the sword while wondering if this was what a predator being hunted by another predator felt like. In that sense, it was similar to dealing with Gula, but this guy brought fatal mental damage while Gula brought physical danger.
Loren wondered which was the lesser of two evils while commencing his next attack.
This time, it was a close range slash from the side, where the sword point would only graze Luxuria. There was no need for a proper blow in this battle, as Luxuria would admit defeat as long as he took one hit. Luxuria himself would decide if the blow was half-assed or not, but Loren believed it was important to strike him once anyway.
However, the blade’s trajectory was once again changed with just a tap from the Evil God.
Loren was able to maintain his almost-lost posture but deep down, he was astonished. The greatsword’s weight and his strength had been incorporated into the slash. The force was enough to dent a shield, and if his opponent was to receive it with a sword, it could cut both sword and wielder into halves. And yet, Luxuria had brushed off the blade with just one single movement as if it had been a twig. His expression hadn’t even changed, and he had been bare-handed.
Loren wondered what he should do with such an exceptional being of an opponent while making another attack. But it was also brushed off by Luxuria, properly and easily.
Loren was thinking there was no way he could win this when Gula told him:
“Use self-boost!”
He tried to remember the sensation Lapis had taught him.
Recalling the feeling of something that was probably magic spreading to every nook and corners of his body, Loren raised his greatsword and moved with a speed completely different from before.
Luxuria didn’t seem particularly surprised; he simply repelled Loren’s strike with one palm, and the sword was once again swatted away without leaving so much as a cut on the Evil God’s skin. But unlike before, Luxuria’s own hand was also knocked away with force.
Even so, the Evil God only looked surprised for a very short while. He immediately pulled his hand back and warded off Loren’s second, then third attack with ease.
“Your muscles are very nice, but you don’t put enough love into them.”
“Don’t talk. I’m about to throw up.”
Loren ground his teeth and put all his strength into the next attack, but it once again failed to get past the Luxuria’s hand defense to touch his body.
In the first place, the speed of Luxuria’s hands and Loren’s sword was too different. No matter how fast Loren tried to swing his sword, Luxuria’s bare hands would never be slower. Loren’s attacks, which couldn’t even graze the Evil God’s palms, simply couldn’t reach his body.
“Can I perform some counterattacks? Don’t worry, I’ll nurse you properly if you become unable to move.”
“I’m seriously horrified. If I can’t move, just leave me alone!”
Loren swung his greatsword while screaming out those words. Luxuria caught the blade with one hand. Loren was unable to move, and the Evil God drove his log-like leg into Loren’s flank.
Surprisingly, the force was absorbed by the jacket Loren was wearing; most of it didn’t reach his body at all. But there was still the impact of being kicked: Loren was literally blown off to the side, and he rolled around on the ground a couple of times.
“Eh? What a nice jacket you’re wearing. I thought it’d be a decisive blow.”
“You’re truly a monster in many ways…”
Luxuria hadn’t seemed to put that much strength into the kick; he hadn’t even pulled his leg back and just kicked out. But he was able to send flying aside not only Loren, a well-trained, large build man, but also the heavy greatsword he was carrying. The power Luxuria kept hidden must have been unthinkable. Just like Luxuria had said, without the jacket, that kick would have ended him. Loren understood that very well.
“I should aim for some place that jacket doesn’t cover next.”
Luxuria said. Whenever he put strength into his legs, the muscles there could be seen twitching under his tight pants. Loren thought of how he would hate to be kicked by those legs and lost composure for a moment, but then straightened his stance again.
Just then, Gula, whose approach he hadn’t realized at all, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll help you a bit. Do the same thing you do when using self-boost.”
From her hand, something poured into Loren’s body with such force that made Loren wonder if it was even alright to receive such a thing. He believed it to be the magic Gula possessed, and immediately sensed its flow throughout his body.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You should explain things more clearly.”
Not understanding Gula’s instructions, Loren muttered. No matter how much boost Loren got from an Evil God, the only thing he could do was attacking head on. Loren stepped forward with that thought in mind. But the speed of his step was different from before, and he was bewildered for a moment when he noticed.
But Luxuria was closing in, and Loren couldn’t stay bewildered forever. He put off that sentiment and swung the greatsword down towards the Evil God.
Luxuria moved to catch the blade in his hand like before. Yet his expression somehow stiffened momentarily, and he turned to dodge the strike instead.
Having lost its target, the blade hit the ground. Wondering why Luxuria hadn’t caught the blade, Loren pulled the sword upwards in a diagonal slash. The Evil God once again chose to dodge instead.
“Amazing. You’re already this powerful with just a bit of help from Gula-chan. You’re so wonderful.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”
Loren stepped forward and swung the sword down again. This strike also couldn’t touch Luxuria’s body, but at the same time, it also wasn’t repelled.
Not giving up, Loren took one more step forward and made an upward slash from Luxuria’s crouch to the top of his head. The Evil God dodged again. It seemed like since Loren had borrowed Gula’s power, Luxuria could no longer stop his attacks barehanded or swat them away.
Noticing this, Loren tried to change into the offensive. But then Luxuria gave Loren a casual kick to the stomach, sending him flying backwards. The ground shook with the force of the impact.
“You need to come up with something better if you plan to hit me.”
“This guy is such a monster.”
That kick was meant to be a counterattack and targeted Loren’s abdomen. It made him feel slightly nauseous and lose his breath. The kick contained so much power that without his jacket, all of his internal organs probably would have ruptured.
“Bastard! I can’t touch him at all!”
“Shouldn’t you just give up? I’ll invite you into my love nest then.”
“I’d rather die!”
Loren truly believed from the bottom of his heart that death would be better than joining that love nest. He raised his sword again for that very reason.
Just then, Lapis, who was standing beside Gula, looked at Luxuria in surprise and asked.
“If Loren loses, that thing and him will…?!”
“It’s kind of late to react at this point!”
“N-no, I don’t like that, Loren! I don’t like that!”
“Neither do I!”
Loren answered and decided to try one thing he hadn’t yet. It was probably the last option for him. He didn’t know whether it would be successful or not until he tried it, but if he didn’t, the situation would just become worse and worse, and there would be no way to break the deadlock.
“Your eyes look like you’ve made some kind of resolve. Very well, come!”
Having noticed the look in Loren’s eyes, Luxuria invited him and gave him a fascinated flirty gaze.
Feeling his resolution crumbling, Loren braced himself and began to focus on the remnants of Gula’s power inside him once more.