I Was the Supporter of a Popular Dungeon Streamer, but the Power Harassment Was Too Much, so I Quit. I’m Useless Anyway, so It Shouldn’t Be a Problem, Right? Huh? The Views Are Dropping Like Crazy? - 43-44

Chapter 43: Running Amok

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Ruins Area: Protected Zone.

In the sky above, a feed from a 【Scout Bee】 was being displayed.

Ah, this is bad.

Abisu saw Hamura’s arm malfunctioning and her smile froze.

Has he moved from the Egg Stage to the Soul Imprint Stage? There should still be time before Hatching, but this is too fast. According to Yun-san, it should take about six months to reach the Soul Imprint Stage… Just as expected, he’s completely beyond the standard expectations.

Abisu placed her hands on her hips, deep in thought.

Right now, it looked like an egg starting to crack… If compared to a human, it was like a baby kicking from inside the womb.

Fighting the Red-Eyed Minotaur, sparring with me, and now battling that top tier A-rank Seeker, Ul… Maybe I gave him too much experience in too short a time. Normally, this would be something to celebrate, but if his Origin went out of control while the Guild Association members were watching, we’d be in trouble. If push came to shove, I guess I could knock out everyone present, even if I had to completely disrupt the duel. 

Try to hold it together somehow, Hamura-kun.

◆◆◆

I grabbed my prosthetic with my left hand and crouched down.

“D-damn it…!”

An overwhelming power surged through me…! If I didn’t find a way to release this power, it would tear me apart!!

“What are you doing?”

Ul pulled more bullets from his pouch and scattered them into the air.

“Do you really have time to be playing around against me?”

“W-wait!”

“As if I’d wait.”

Nine bullets fired from his OOPArt, but.. My prosthetic arm moved on its own, seizing every single one.

“What?”

“M-my arm is moving on its own…!?”

The prosthetic opened its hand, letting ten flattened bullets clatter to the ground.

BAM!

My prosthetic arm suddenly lurched forward on its own. My body, dragged along, broke into a sprint. The speed surpassed even Ul’s high-speed movement with his OOPArt.

“Fast!!?!”

“GRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

My prosthetic arm drew back its fist and drove it straight into Ul’s gut.

“GUHAAAA!!!!?”

The sickening crack of breaking bones and the squelch of crushed organs echoed through the air. Ul spat blood as he was launched all the way to the third floor of the ruins.

“Calm down!! Stop!!!”

I crouched, desperately trying to restrain my rampaging prosthetic arm as it tried to go after Ul again. At this rate… This thing would kill him…! I was sure of it..!

“You…!!”

Don’t screw with me.

Did it really think I’d be happy getting helped by it? I had my own plan on how to take Ul down and now it had ruined everything!!

【Whirlwind】

I used wind magic to scatter the 【Scout Bee】 from monitoring us. And then—

“LISTEN TO ME, DAMN ITTTTT!!!!”

I slammed my prosthetic arm into the ground. A massive crater formed as if a meteor had struck. With the force finally released, the arm finally calmed down.

“You damn troublemaker…!”

BANG!!

The ruins in front of me trembled.

“What…!?”

The entire structure was collapsing right toward me.

“No way… That bastard!!”

Did he just blast the ruins toward me using his OOPArt!?

“【Soaring Swallow Explosion】!!”

I fired an explosion at the falling ruins, shattering them into pieces. But now, the debris rained down like a deadly storm.

“【Luminous Path Shield】!”

I summoned a shield of light to block the falling rubble. Through the gaps, I caught the faint silhouette of a figure moving.

“【Thunder Mine Sigil】!”

I pointed at the ground and set a trap spell two meters behind me, right where he would land if my guess was right.

Click.

Ul, who had flung himself forward at high speed, landed right on the 【Thunder Mine Sigil】. Just like 【Seal of Gravity】, this trap activated the moment it was touched. The 【Thunder Mine Sigil】detonated on contact, but before it could go off, Ul touched himself with his glove again, accelerating instantly and ramming straight into me.

“Ugh!?”

“Tch!!?”

We rolled across the ground, then scrambled to our feet, quickly putting distance between us.

“You reckless bastard…! You actually jumped again in the short window between 【Thunder Mine Sigil】’s activation and detonation…!”

“It was the only way to avoid the blast. Still, I must say, I’m impressed. To think that even I would be pushed to the brink of unconsciousness… That last strike you did before… You deserve genuine praise for it.”

Blood dripped from Ul’s lips. His posture was hunched. He looked like he was struggling to remain standing. I wasn’t much better. I had taken too many hits from Ul, and after my arm’s rampage earlier, my whole body felt sluggish.

I had planned to take him down with 【Phantom Formation Mastery】, but I was running out of stamina. I was left with no other choice, but…

“Ul. Let’s finish this clean, with our fists.”

“Are you serious? I already made it perfectly clear who has the upper hand in a physical fight.”

“Yeah? We’ll see about that!!!”

I charged straight at Ul. My setup had a fifty-fifty chance of working. But I had no other choice.

This was it… The final showdown…!

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Chapter 44: The Conclusion

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Ul took the bait and, just like me, pulled back his right fist and charged forward. He fell for it! The situation between me and Ul was different. l was alone, but on my side, there were two of us.

“【Binding Nail Bullet】.”

“-!? “

Fifteen meters behind Ul, perched atop the rubble, Isshiki-san fired the stakes. Ul was momentarily startled but immediately ignored Isshiki-san and kept charging toward me. He could propel himself to break free from the stakes in an instant. Not to mention, 【Binding Nail Bullet】 wouldn’t even hurt if it hit him. Also, he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time  before our fists collided!!

Our right fists clashed.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOORAHHH!!!”

I planted my feet firmly, putting all my strength into withstanding the impact.

“It’s useless! Bracing yourself won’t change anything—!”

That was true. I was just buying time. Before long, I’d be sent flying….

…Unless I did something.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Black stakes pierced into flesh.

Not into Ul. Into me.

“…So that’s your plan!!”

【Binding Nail Bullet】 fixed my body’s coordinates in place. Even though the stakes shattered from the impact, I managed to withstand the blow.

“But even if you endure it—”

At that moment…  My prosthetic fist glowed with a magic circle.

“That’s…!?”

“【Thunder Mine Sigil】. I planted it in my prosthetic fist.”

“Ridiculous! The chant—”

Ul’s eyes widened in realization.

“It was back then!!”

Right. I had already chanted 【Thunder Mine Sigil】 earlier.

『”You reckless bastard…! You actually jumped again in the short window between 【Thunder Mine Sigil】’s activation and detonation…!”』

The moment I said that, I activated 【Thunder Mine Sigil】 and embedded it into my prosthetic. If I had just thrown a punch normally, I would’ve been blown away before it detonated. That was why I had Isshiki-san fire 【Binding Nail Bullet】 at me.

Isshiki-san had sent me a message through 【Signal Link】, so I cast incantation-free 【Blue Flame】 to write instructions to Isshiki-san with fire out of Ul’s sight. Everything had gone exactly as planned.

“Get blown away!!”

“Kh-!?”

【Thunder Mine Sigil】 exploded, and the shockwave sent both Ul and me flying. We both collapsed to the ground. And then—

“【Binding Nail Bullet】.”

Twelve stakes were fired again, pinning Ul to the ground. The stakes locked him completely in place. Just as Isshiki-san dashed forward to finish him off—

“…I surrender. I’ve lost.”

Ul admitted defeat.

◆◆◆

We gathered in the protected area after the Guild Duel ended. Among the participants, the only ones still conscious were me, Isshiki-san, and Ul. Mia had lost consciousness due to Isshiki-san’s attack, while Riku and Iizuka had apparently fallen asleep during their treatment.

“The winner of this Guild Duel will be Odd Cat. As per the contract, 1,500 of Fenrir’s guild points will be transferred to Odd Cat. Additionally, Koyuki Kisaragi’s membership will be moved from Fenrir to Odd Cat, and the partnership contract and debt between Koyuki Kisaragi and Atsushi Iizuka will be nullified.”

Alright. A lot happened, but with this, Kisaragi was finally free.

I walked over to Abisu. As I approached her, Abisu smiled at me.

“Good work.”

“Abisu… There’s something I need to ask you.”

Abisu leaned in close to my ear and whispered,

“…I know. It’s about Origin’s rampage, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

“…We can’t discuss that in front of the Guild Association members. Let’s talk after we return to the guild headquarters—”

“What are you two whispering about?”

Isshiki-san cut in with a stern expression on her face.

“Nothing, just some small talk. No need to be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous…”

Isshiki-san addressed Abisu with a respectful “-sama.” She must have been quite devoted to her. I guess seeing me talking to Abisu up close like that probably made her jealous. It was probably best to avoid getting too friendly with Abisu in front of Isshiki-san.

“If there are no objections, this concludes the Guild Duel.”

The only Fenrir member still present, Ul, remained smiling as he spoke.

“No objections. This is our complete defeat. We’ll accept all the terms.”

“Are you sure you have the authority to decide on that?”

Abisu questioned Ul.

“Yes. If both Iizuka and Naruse are unconscious, I’m authorized to act as the temporary guild master for this Guild Duel matter. If necessary, I can even show you a document signed by Iizuka himself.”

“No need. I believe you.”

Abisu and Ul exchanged smiles. Both of them were radiating a dark aura despite the smiles. They might be more alike than I thought.

“With that, the Guild Duel is officially concluded. Dismissed.”

Ul gave us a grin before touching himself with his glove and leaping off to somewhere.

“…I want to talk about him at headquarters too.”

“Yeah. There’s a lot about him that doesn’t sit right. But first, Hamura-kun, once you’ve had your injuries treated, I need you to go pick her up.”

“Her?”

“Kisaragi-chan.”

“I don’t mind picking up Kisaragi, but where is she right now? If she’s at home, I don’t even know her address, so I wouldn’t be able to go get her.”

“She’s at First Hospital.”

“She’s still not healed?”

“Her body has fully recovered, but we had her stay hospitalized just to be safe. If she was out and about, Iizuka might have caused some kind of mess with her.”

That was a smart decision.

“She probably hasn’t even heard the results yet. If possible, I’d like you to bring her to Odd Cat today. There’s something important we need to discuss.”

“Got it. I’ll tell her everything and bring her to Odd Cat.”

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

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