“You fool! You’re late! I was almost killed because of your tardiness!”

“My apologies, Your Stellarity. I will eliminate the intruder and retrieve the offering vessel at once.”

The man who identified himself as Jusis Karlant was at least four heads taller than me and dressed in full plate. He had a chiseled jaw and his clean-shaven face was complemented by his short black hair.

I had immediately retreated after my attack was blocked. It was the first time anyone had managed to do so since I upgraded my stats, and that alone told me this was someone that I had to be careful around.

Jusis brandished his sword at me, a heavy two-hander. “I give you a single chance, intruder. Give us the offering vessel and I shall allow you to die painlessly. I wish I could grant you more, but this is the only mercy I can offer for one who has committed as many sins as you have.”

“Fuck off.”

I thumbed my nose at him and entered a fighting stance.

A look of understanding passed through our eyes.

The time for words was over.

Jusis’ acceleration dislodged stone tiles from the floor as he closed the gap between us in an instant. Even in full armor, he wasn’t bogged down the slightest.

His sword carved a wicked arc through the air as it whistled toward my head, but I stepped to the side and issued a sharp kick to his side. 

It connected cleanly, cracking the polished steel of his armor.

If my attack had hurt him, Jusis didn’t even show it for a second. He whirled his sword toward me in a horizontal slash that would’ve bisected me if I didn’t block it with my forearm.

THWACK!

Thanks to my incredibly stupid constitution stat, the blade was stopped after only cutting slightly into my flesh. Still, it hurt like a bitch and the force of his attack had actually shifted me to the right.

Jusis’ eyes widened, and his moment of shock was enough for me to land a solid punch right in the center of his breastplate.

My strike sent him flying back, barreling into a table full of documents. The table was reduced to splinters, and the front of his breastplate was completely shattered.

Despite this, Jusis simply picked himself back up. He spat a globule of blood out of his mouth and smiled at me.

“So that’s how it is... Your Stellarity, I can confidently say that this is the person who wiped out the Twelfth Star,” he dusted off the shards of wood and steel from his chest. “Permission to utilize my full power?”

Hold on. This isn’t gonna be one of those moments where the main villain suddenly reveals his final form, right?

“Permission granted. I temporarily revoke your Geass, Shade Jusis Karlant.”

A purple-black magic circle flashed in the air around Jusis and shattered, producing a sound similar to multiple tiny bells ringing simultaneously.

Then, Jusis flexed his muscles and caused his armor to shatter. He wore a tight black garment underneath that looked like a bodysuit, but the metallic sheen told me that it was probably much more durable than that.

What the hell did I just witness? Did he just flex his armor off? What is this? Some kinda cheesy B-list movie?

“Allow me to show you what it truly means to be powerful. There are some mountains that even you cannot climb.”

I barely even registered his movements.

No.

It would be more accurate to say that I could not react to his sudden increase in strength.

He had suddenly appeared in front of me and skewered my abdomen with his blade.

My vision dimmed for a moment, but I fought to stay conscious. Blood rose up in my throat, but I ignored it.

Instead, I used the last of my fading strength to issue a powerful front kick that sent Jusis stumbling back. My mouth opened in a soundless scream as I felt the passage of his sword slide out of my guts.

My vision blacked out for a second again.

Fuck... I’m dying... Is this... Is this really it?

“Ryuuko!” Lucrezia cried.

“Don’t interfere!” I shouted, coughing up more blood. I thrust a hand toward her as if to stop her from moving toward me.

She paused midstep, but if she had adamantly wanted to reach me, there was nothing I could do to stop her.

“I will allow you your last words.”

That look in Jusis’ eyes. I hate it.

I’d seen it all too often back on Earth. It was an expression of superiority. Control.

As if the entire world rested on their palm, and righteously so. It was as if they were screaming “I can do whatever I want! What’re you gonna do about it!?”

In the past, I would be forced to submit and say “Nothing”, but it was different now.

It wasn’t because I was in another world.

No.

I had finally realized it.

The reason behind my attachment to Lucrezia.

It was because I now had something I wanted to protect. I wasn’t doing it out of goodwill or simply because I promised.

It was because—for the first time in my life—I wanted to.

It was because this was a decision I had made for myself.

Even though I saw it as a weakness, I undoubtedly cherished her. Even though we only knew each other for a few days, I undoubtedly cherished her.

Dammit... Dammit! I want to know so much more about you! I want to speak with you, I want to laugh with you! I want you to rely on me, and I want to rely on you!

Lucrezia!

I absolutely couldn’t fall here. Not now.

But in the face of this overwhelming power, was there really something that I could do?

In fact, there was.

I hadn’t been using it as much as I should’ve, but that was because I was simply being overconfident. I wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

[Complete Analysis] told me that the “Geass” they spoke of was the true nature of the “Mark of Agunta” status ailment that I had seen earlier on the bandits. It sealed one aspect of the person that it was applied to, probably so the higher ranked cultists could control them.

In Jusis’ case, it was his magic. With his magical prowess unsealed, he was able to augment his physical capabilities using mana and do all sorts of trippy shit. However, based on the list of skills that I saw, he primarily focused on enhancing himself.

It was now or never.

One mistake would spell instant death. But that didn’t really matter, since I was going to die anyway if I didn’t do anything.

“Come at me. Bitch.”

This time, I gave Jusis my full attention as he exploded from his position toward me. There would be no second chances.

The tip of his greatsword hovered a hair’s breadth from my navel. In another instant, I would be impaled.

But there wouldn’t be another instant for Jusis.

[Devouring Healing]!

The mana in the room was completely drained as I poured my all into restoring my wounds.

Jusis stumbled, the abrupt loss of his enhancement magic too sudden for him to adapt.

And then—

—[Demonic Enhancement]!

With a roar, I straightened my fingers and thrust into his chest, my hand piercing straight through his heart and impaling him on my arm.

“Even the tallest mountain cannot reach the sky.”

Jusis’ laughter at my remark was accompanied by a mouthful of blood. “...What is your name?”

“Ryuuko. Mikado Ryuuko.”

“I am glad to have touched the sky before my death, Mikado Ryuuko.”

Although I still disliked him, this was undoubtedly one of those moments that I lived for whenever I binged manga or anime, so I let him pass away peacefully before turning to the head cultist who was frozen in a mixture of shock and fear.

Needless to say, I killed him instantly.