Sinful Pride - Volume 1 Chapter 21 Unmovable Rock

Keita said no more words. He had a feeling he shouldn’t. He couldn’t explain this uneasiness he felt so he avoided it. He dashed towards Wrath with he maximum speed that he could see what he was doing.

Wrath didn’t move. She just held her double-axe with both hands defensively.

‘This shit again? But with such an open space it won’t work.’ Keita thought as he clashed with Wrath. It felt like hitting a wall with his blade. He was expecting a counter attack but Wrath just pushed him back.

He did not understand what she was planning. He even left himself open to bait an attack but he was just shoved back out of her range.

Keita was planning to start slowly before showing Wrath the speed he used in his last fight in order to catch her off guard. But this…

‘It’s like she is inviting me to use it.’ he thought. ‘Could she have a trick up her sleeve? No, the Wrath from my memories solves everything with brute force.’

Once again, he started circling around Wrath in a speed beyond the limit of humans. At that moment Wrath slammed her axe to the ground.

‘Magic power?’ no skills were activated but magic power was send from the axe to the ground.

Before he realized what was happening a spike made of stone lunged from the earth. Keita tried bending his body but he couldn’t fully avoid the blow. The spike grazed his left eyebrow and cheek. It missed his eye by a hair.

With his body bend backwards, he couldn’t retain his balance at such a speed and he slipped. He rolled to the dirt – which was dyed black by the years of bloody conflicts – many times before he came to a stop.

“Hmm… I thought I would kill you with that. Your reflexes seem better than I thought.” Wrath called.

She wasn’t mocking him. Her face told Keita that she was serious. Not only she didn’t seem upset that her attack didn’t work but she even took the time to rest her axe on her shoulder and compliment her opponent.

Keita wiped the dirt from his eyes and mouth and prepared to charge with everything he got.

‘No, she is too arrogant. I can kill her right now!’ Keita thought with determination. He charged with all his strength in a straight line. He was going to push his sword through the gap of her helmet before she brought the axe down a second time.

The moment he was just five steps away from Wrath, another stone spike came from the ground, this time aiming right at his abdomen. He had no room to dodge. He slashed at the spike hopping Shroud was enough to cleave it in two but alas, the spike wasn’t even scratched. He managed to avoid getting pierced but he was pushed from the force of the spear and was send flying once again.

Keita hit the dirt with the groan. His luck was good, considering. He didn’t break any bones in either falls.

‘Mines?’ he thought as he tried to get up. It only has been a few seconds since the fight started but his body was hurting all over. His legs were trembling from the damage he received. Just as he was trying to figure out the secret behind these spike mines, he realized he couldn’t feel the evening sun hitting the top of his head anymore. He let his guard down and could only she the shadow in front of him. A shadow of a giant in an armor and a double axe coming down his way.

“Heaven’t Path: Statue!” Keita screamed as he put his sword above his head. Magic power surrounded every bone in his body and every joint was locked as if made from iron. He couldn’t move an inch. This Skill was the last of his last resorts. A Skill that made you immobile but able to block a force that he otherwise couldn’t. If he missed his block, he was going to die.

A crashing sound followed by black dust. No one could see what was going inside.

“Is he dead?” Nao asked Reika.

Reika shook her head.

“I can’t feel his magic power from here.” she replied. The party were far away and still periodically backing away out of fear.

Nao’s expression was not that of grief but more like disappointment. He really believed that something unexpected was going to happen but he could no longer do so. Even if Keita somehow survived, that attack could cleave even Nao in two and he was wearing plate mail armor.

Just as he was thinking it was time for them to escape, Keita jumped out of the dust cloud.

“He’s alive!” Koba cried in disbelief.

“His arm…” Lia said with her palm over her mouth. Keita originally treated the katana as a bastard sword, holding it with one or both hands as the situation demanded, but it was obvious even from this distance. His left arm was hanging and not moving. It was definitely broken.

“That’s not the worst…” Reika said. “He lost half his mana already…”

The others all fell silent. What kind of warrior Skills burn so much mana in such a short time? Keita managed to survive but all he’s done so far was be that Demon’s rag doll. Was he really just a arrogant idiot this whole time?

‘This body is too fragile’ Keita thought as he glanced at his arm. He felt no pain at the moment. ‘I’ve underestimated her and her weapon far too much…’ was this arrogance? Or did he just make a mistake? He could not understand his own thoughts so he stopped thinking about it immediately.

‘Is this once again the only way?’ he thought as he racked his brain to get out of this whole he dug himself. ‘Once again… close combat.’ he steeled his resolve as he slowly made his way towards Wrath who just appeared out of the cloud.

The moment she saw him, she took her defensive stance. Keita kept slowly running towards her, keeping his eyes on the ground in case another spike sprouts from the earth.

‘It’s fine, it won’t be like that narrow street, I can do this.’ he told himself.

Just when he was two steps away from Wrath, he jumped and attacked with his blade overhead. He hit Wrath’s axe and was pushed away once again. She seemed to have no desire to attack.

Attack after attack was blocked by the ginormous axe and Wrath still only pushed Keita away. Keita finally found something he could use.

“You don’t want me close? Is that axe and armor just for show?” he tried to taunt Wrath but her expression remained unchanged. Keita always thought Wrath’s greatest weakness was her temper. Just as in the past his, was his pride. The Wrath of the present though reminded his of Envy.

“You disappoint me Wrath.” Keita said with anger in his voice. He was starting to loose his patience.