Jack of All Trades, Party of None

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Chasing after the Rakshasa Stieg Stroem, I teleported from the large hole to the surface, a little distance away.

"…Rain?"

The sky, which had been clear just moments before, was now covered with clouds, and several small droplets were falling.

"A barrier that interferes with teleportation outside the island, huh? Quite the trick."

A voice mixed with irritation reached my ears.

Turning my face toward it, I saw Stieg standing there with his usual expressionless smile, devoid of any malice.

"You always try to run away from me. This time, I won’t let you escape."

"Good grief. Can't be helped. I'm not very inclined, but since you insist, I’ll play along for a bit."

Stieg carelessly swung his hand in a chop motion.

Following the trajectory of his arm, super-compressed water attacked me like a slashing blade, aiming to cut me down.

Though a troublesome attack that could easily slice through buildings and was hard to see, it was no threat once I understood it.

The water blade vanished before reaching me.

Stieg’s expression twisted slightly as he watched.

"You should have realized as soon as I put up that teleportation-blocking barrier. Such a simple attack can't work on me now."

"...I was half in doubt, but I have to admit it now. However, just recently, your control over your power was lacking—what happened to you in such a short time?"

Stieg voiced his suspicion.

From his perspective, less than a month had passed since our last encounter.

That last contact was when Stieg killed the "Doctor" Oswell under the pretext of disposing of him in Darane.

At that time, I was completely disregarded by Stieg.

As shown by my last defeat in Tsutolairu, there was a huge gap between us then, so it’s natural for him to be suspicious of my sudden change.

"I just went through an experience that made me want to die."

"…Hmm. There are still many doubts, but it seems I have to get serious this time!"

Stieg took a battle stance.

At the same time, a hole opened in the sky, and several water dragons appeared.

Right now, Stieg can’t interfere outside the island.

In that case, these water dragons must be the ones from the earlier dungeon.

"Bad timing for you to get motivated, but it’s already too late. The outcome has long been decided."

With the Empire's hero Felix’s supernatural ability, Repulsion Manipulation, I intensified the gravity around me.

The water dragons flying in the sky couldn’t adapt to the sudden change in gravity and were pulled down to the ground.

Because the rain kept falling here, the clouds blocked the sun's light.

That meant this entire area was in shadow.

Using Log’s supernatural ability, Shadow Manipulation, I summoned countless spears made of shadow from the ground.

They impaled the bodies of the water dragons fallen to the ground.

"Using multiple supernatural abilities at once, huh? Then I'll make use of that!"

Unlike the water dragons, Stieg resisted the amplified gravity without kneeling on the ground.

He then used the raindrops falling from the sky as bullets, shooting them down like gunfire.

While catching these rain bullets with telekinesis, I drew Schwarzhase.

I wrapped qi around the blade and swung it with full power, as if cutting through the air.

My slash cut through the clouds, revealing the blue sky beyond.

"?!"

Stieg’s face showed surprise when he saw this.

"Finally, I get to see an expression of yours besides that creepy grin."

"You miserable inferior species…!"

Shaking his body, Stieg glared at me with disgust.

"You can feel whatever emotions you want toward me, but there is only one path for your survival: comply with my demands."

"Demands?"

Stieg’s face shifted into one of suspicion.

"Yes. I don’t want to destroy you all. If possible, I want us to coexist. Even with you demons."

Stieg is not human.

That much was proven by the fact he was moving normally despite having been pierced through the chest earlier.

"Don’t say things you don’t mean, human. You who call us ‘demons’ have no right to speak of coexistence! We are fairies who contributed to human development!"