"My laaaaady!" Mitsurugi shouted in panic. As for me, more than worried I was surprised. After all, it wasn't the first time I had seen one of those amphibians eat Aqua.
They really do seem to have some kind of attraction toward her.
I mean, it's almost as if those damned things had access to a portal from another dimension and only used it to surprise Aqua from behind and swallow her.
"UAAAAAAH! WHYYYYY? WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO MEEEE?!"
And speak of the devil — there was Aqua, sticking her head out of the giant toad's mouth. Her tears of resignation mixed with the viscous fluids of the monster.
"Kaizer Prester, are you just going to stand there? Lady Aqua needs us!"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Of course, of course."
Mitsurugi and I took off running toward the giant toad, which had managed to swallow Aqua once again as she continued crying nonstop.
"Shit!" the hero of the cursed sword cursed between gasps. "I'm not going to make it in time! Those slimes made me use up too much energy!"
A thick drop of sweat slid down the right temple of the young adventurer, who was running beside me.
As for me, I have to say I was also close to reaching my limit. Not to mention that both of us were running with our full armor on.
To be honest, I highly doubt Aqua's life could actually be in danger.
And yet…
"Fasuto Supido!"
Shouting those words and raising Kronos high, the hilt began to shine as a bluish aura completely covered me. And while that didn't make the exhaustion go away, I could feel my body becoming lighter.
Every step, every movement of my arms was affected by an impulse. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the landscape blur into a smear, and the next moment Kyouya Mitsurugi himself was left behind, mouth open and an expression of genuine astonishment on his face.
With my body imbued with speed, I raised my sword with both hands and delivered a perfect vertical cut across the enormous belly of the giant toad. It split open as if it were a sack of sand. Only instead of sand, what began pouring out from the inside were its entrails. Along with an Aqua who was launched out through the gash, bathed in the disgusting juices of the creature, until she finally fell onto the grass as if she had come down from a slide.
"BUAAAAAAAAAH! I'M COMPLETELY COVERED IN BLOOD, ENTRAILS AND WEIRD FLUIDS! It's not fair! I'm a goddess! Why do I have to go through this kind of situation so often?! BUAAAAAAAAAH!"
The goddess continued her crying attack in that puddle of slime and giant toad brains. So I decided it would be best to wait for her to calm down a little before speaking.
When she did, I approached her. She had a strip of intestine right in the middle of her refined nose.
"Are you okay?"
"No! I'm not!" the goddess barked at me. "Every time I go on adventures with you I get eaten by a giant toad! So no, Kaizer! I'm not okay at all! And it's all your fault!"
"Come on, don't be like that. Didn't I come running to your rescue? Besides, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gotten angry."
The goddess answered me with a look of disapproval, pouting.
"Hmph!"
"Come on, it's over. Don't be angry," I said as I offered her a hand.
Aqua continued staring at me with contempt until she finally swallowed her pride and extended her hand to take mine. Or so I thought. Because suddenly her lips curved into a mischievous, malicious little smile. And before I could react, she grabbed my arm and pulled, making my battered and exhausted body fall next to her among the remains of the giant toad.
"You're very childish, you know that?"
She stuck her tongue out at me.
"You deserve it for calling me a 'piece-of-shit goddess.'"
"Well, in that case," I began to say while peeling a strip of meat that had stuck to my armor, "could we say we're even?"
"No. Not completely. Give me your cape."
"My cape?"
"I'm not going back to the mansion like this. Lend me your cape so I can clean myself. It's the least you can do."
"Can't you just purify the stains with your divine powers or whatever?"
"Kaizer, are you an idiot? How am I supposed to purify entrails?!"
"G-Good point. Okay, here."
I unfastened my white cape and offered it to Aqua. Who immediately looked at it with a face of disgust.
"It's completely dirty," she observed.
"And whose fault do you think that is?"
The goddess bit her lower lip, not knowing what to answer.
"My lady! My lady Aqua! Are you all right?"
Kyouya Mitsurugi arrived running toward us, speaking with ragged breath. But beyond that he looked fairly well. His agility and endurance attributes must have been quite high.
"Huh? I'm fine, it was nothing," Aqua answered in a casual tone.
"Huh? Really? But my lady, a toad ate you."
"It happens to me more often than you'd think. Seriously, it's nothing."
"I-If you say so, my goddess…" The young man cleared his throat and addressed me. "Kaizer Prester, that skill you used just now was truly impressive."
"You think so?" I asked, unable to hide a proud smile.
"Is that also a skill from the item my lady Aqua granted you?"
"That's right," I answered. "Not only can it manipulate time in specific spaces, but I can also use it on living organisms. Even on myself, as you just saw."
"I see. It seems like a very powerful weapon."
"It is. Although your Gram doesn't look bad either."
"Hehehe, aren't I the best for having given you such powerful weapons? Both of you should be grateful for my benevolence."
"Yes. You are absolutely right, my lady," Mitsurugi confirmed. "Kaizer, now that I think about it, with the last toad you killed we've ended up tied in the duel."
"Really? I hadn't even noticed. Although it's not like there are any more monsters left for us to break the tie."
"That's true. However, I just came up with a much better idea to decide our little competition."
Oh God, I have a pretty good idea of where this is going.
Mitsurugi raised his sword, pointing the blade at me. His clear eyes shone with determination.
"Let's have a combat," he proposed.
***
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