Chapter 320

320 Steel Girl #1

The first thing that comes to mind is an old memory I had forgotten.

It was when I was kidnapped and dragged away like a prisoner by human hunters who ran the Desros Arena.

No matter how I struggled and resisted in my own way, I was unable to fight against their brutish hands and was tossed around like a sack of goods.

Even now, the situation is the same.

I’ve gone through many experiences over the years, growing stronger, but this brutish grip that I can’t shake is making me sober up instantly from fatigue and intoxication.

The difference this time is that back then, I was kidnapped by scary, hairy uncles who looked like Rambo.

“Brother, are you going to do this with me? -Nangnang-!”

“What the hell? What are you talking about? Let me go!”

The difference now is that it’s a girl, who barely comes up to my chest.

This is even more shocking. Being dragged by several men at least looks a bit more justified. Now, it’s embarrassing to my pride, isn’t it?

All I can see from where I’m slung over her shoulder are the faces of people who were just enjoying the banquet peacefully.

Perplexity. Horror. Fear.

Their expressions are full of such negative emotions. The most urgent voice among them is Hippolyte’s.

“Grab Gloria! If we let this continue, it will be a disaster! Gloria, you’ve really made a big mess this time!”

“Hippolyte, what is suddenly going on? What’s a ‘nangnang’?”

“It’s some tradition of the Samaritans… involving physical acts. Anyway, there’s no time to explain! Someone, bring a sword-.”

The voices of the people ring clearly in my ears. Among the chaotic sounds and breaking glass, flying dishes create quite a commotion.

“It’s because of Brother that I’ve become…so mature!”

The Samaritan, Gloria, who’s kidnapping me, runs as fast as a horse, quickly escaping the mansion and arriving at the spacious garden behind.

A rarely visited, empty garden.

It’ll take the others a bit of time to catch up here.

Swish-.

Gloria gently sets me down in a corner of the open area in the garden.

“Do you know how lonely and desolate I’ve been in this continent while looking for you? I even went to some strange school and worked under a Goddess, but we finally meet like this.”

“No….”

“So, let’s do it, nangnang-! We’ve done it a lot before, haven’t we?”

What the heck, what’s ‘nangnang’?

I’m thoroughly confused by the current situation—Gloria, who thinks I’m her brother, has kidnapped me and keeps insisting on doing something called ‘nangnang’.

Something about Samaritan traditions?

Nangnang.

Crackle-.

At that moment, thoughts and ideas race through my mind like an electric current. What comes to mind are the customs of the Samaritans I’ve heard about from various people.

They say that when the Samaritans are ready for marriage, they kidnap someone they fancy and bring them to their tents in a ceremonial way not unlike a crime.

“Your inspiring speeches in front of everyone make me so excited-.”

“Ah, sh-t.”

A hypothesis forms in my mind.

Perhaps, because the wilderness Samaritans live in small nomadic groups, even close siblings end up in such relationships?

Siblings who rarely meet others….

No.

But wasn’t Gloria saying earlier that she doesn’t marry her brother? So, it’s not marriage then… My head is spinning.

“Then, let’s hurry and do it, nangnang. We’ve done it a lot before, just the two of us.”

“Are you saying you did nangnang or something with your brother?”

“Why are you pretending not to know now? We used to do it day and night. Every night… Every day…”

In the dark night, under the light of two moons, her pointed canines glistened.

Below them, the white fur coat she wore couldn’t fully cover her quite large chest and thighs that seemed about to burst out—it was genuinely annoying.

In a way, she looked like a cosplay high school girl, yet it was astonishing how her explosive strength could surpass mine from such an appearance.

“Doesn’t my grown body excite you?”

“…Is it something physical?”

“What else would it be?”

Sht.

What the heck kind of barbarian siblings do this? I feel dizzy and my mind is in disarray, anger boiling up.

It seems the Samaritans are truly uncivilized barbarians. The idea of being treated this way makes my hands and feet shake, and I feel like crying.

But such thoughts vanish the moment an incoming punch flies toward me.

Boom-!

A hard-as-a-rock punch slams into my ribs. Luckily, I managed to block it with my elbow; otherwise, there might have been a hole right through my side.

Bam, pat, pat-!

The issue is that my body, after taking that powerful punch, flies around like a skipping stone on water, tumbling here and there in every direction.

“Dammit, sh-t!”

Had I not regained my senses mid-air to perform a landing technique, I might have been propelled all the way to the distant horizon given the immense strength behind that punch.

Uh, uh-.

Even though I blocked the attack, it feels like my entire guard is going to crumble just from the force.

“Argh, sh-t, it hurts!”

“If it was some random weakling, they would’ve shattered completely with that hit just now. As expected, Brother is tough. Tough enough to truly be my brother.”

“No, what-.”

Before I can even protest, I see something blurry rushing toward me in the shadows of the night.

Upon closer inspection, it isn’t an afterimage—it’s Gloria jumping at me with incredible speed.

Squeak-.

An intense pain pulses in my forehead, so instinctively I duck. Something massive and oppressive whooshes right above me.

A straight right from Gloria.

It narrowly misses my head, its wind pressure shaking the trees and grass in the garden.

Whoosh-.

I feel like some missile just flew over my head. If I had actually been hit by that punch, I’d have been utterly pulverized, just like being hit by a missile.

“Dammit, fck -.”

How dare she try to destroy my head like that! In a blind burst of anger, I clench my fist without thinking and land a full-powered punch directly into Gloria’s abdomen with all my might.

Clang-!

A terrifying destruction sound, like two vehicles colliding head-on, rings out from where my fist landed.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance after reaching Silver Tier and a combat power of 15. I avoided harming opponents severely as Hippolyte had advised, but this time, I’ve unleashed a pure, full-strength punch without consideration for injury.

Bam, pat, pat-.

Even so, I’m worried that I’ve hit Gloria too hard, seeing her fly off to a distant place.

Swish-.

But then I see her regaining her stance, bl**d trickling from the corner of her lips, dispelling any such thoughts.

“Ooof, it hurts-!”

Coughing out bl**d, Gloria screams like thunder. For a moment, I feel the bl**d drain from my face.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve felt pain like this. This is what I wanted. People in this continent, those monsters are all so weak they’ve made me numb.”

“What the fck-.”

“Indeed, the only one who can excite me is Brother. Don’t run away from me again.”

I now understand what ‘nangnang’ is and why this girl Gloria’s supposed brother disappeared somewhere.

“From now on, we’ll be together forever. We’ll nangnang every day.”

I deduce that this is some kind of rigorous training and bl**d battle.

It might be a peculiar game of the Samaritans. As uncivilized barbarians, they seem to take pleasure in injuring each other and making each other bleed.

But if the opponent is Gloria, the other party would probably just break into pieces.

Many people must have become her ‘kind-hearted brother’ before me. It’s not difficult to imagine what happened to them.

I’m starting to feel nervous that I might become too gentle soon too.

Swish-.

Right at that moment, after distancing herself quite a bit, Gloria lowers her head. She then presses her two hands on the ground, taking a quadrupedal stance, akin to a beast.

What is she doing?

The moment I felt something was wrong, I realized Gloria’s face, which was supposedly dozens of meters away, was suddenly right in front of me.

Whoosh-.

A fist flying toward my face was like a mountain. A mountain was charging toward me! I hastily raise my two arms to guard against the punch.

Clang-.

The punch that smashes against my arms causes my firmly planted legs to slide backward. But the problem is the consecutive rapid punches that follow.

Each one is a lethal killing strike.

I immediately understand why Hippolyte lost to her. Is this really Gloria, known as the glory of the continent’s strongest human warriors, the holy knight Juno?

“Why, why isn’t my fist hitting?”

Fortunately, I’ve been narrowly evading her punches.

She has incomparable strength and speed, yet unexpectedly her attack patterns are surprisingly monotonous and predictable.

After dodging punches and slashes from Hippolyte for days or even weeks, Gloria’s attacks feel like beginner-level skills.

I now understand why Hippolyte said learning martial techniques or battle skills was hindered by her immense power.

“Don’t dodge! Face me in combat!”

“Screw you, dude!”

Superior physical stats don’t need anything else. Therefore, training in skills was probably unnecessary for her.

Skills are tricks developed to compensate for lacking strength.

“Don’t dodge!”

Of course, even with a monotonous attack, getting hit by even one punch would be fatal.

But how the hell am I dodging all this?

“Haha, complacent-!”

In the moment I hesitated, a sharp kn*fe-like slash came straight toward my neck.

I was dodging her attacks like a rhythm game, but my mistake of thinking about something I shouldn’t caused me to falter.

“Lord Nox! Please help!”

[The grace “Armor of the Night” is activated.]

[Consumption: 10 Grace Points.]

[Current Grace Points: +50.]

Though my body flies backward, the impact is minimal.

My grace, “Armor of the Night,” is an incredibly potent grace that nullifies strong attacks based on grace points, so naturally, this is the result.

“Sh-t.”

If the activation had been any slower, my head would have separated from my body. Thinking of that fills me with dread.

“What? I was sure I felt it just now. How are you still standing?”

Gloria shakes off something resembling black shadows on her hands and gazes at me.

“Brother is truly interesting. You’re the only person I can’t defeat. The only person who can look down on me. As I’ve grown stronger, you’ve grown stronger too.”

“You fckin’ idiot, I’m not your brother.”

“Why do you keep saying that? After taking me on for several rounds and still standing fine, aren’t you the only normal man left? – Right? It’s because of those women, isn’t it?”

Is being able to withstand Gloria’s attacks a prerequisite for being her brother? Clearly, the concept of humanity for this woman is quite broken.

Thinking about it, the people of this world are mostly broken, sick, naive, and foolish. With the Samaritans’ history of reversals, it’s understandable to have lots of mental quirks after getting their heads cracked in fights.

“Those women are filling your ears with nonsense, aren’t they? I told you to be careful of witches. To fall for a witch’s sorcery-.”

Swish-.

Once again, Gloria crouches on all fours.

Gurgle-.

Her arms and legs tense up as her muscles rigidly contract in preparation.

“Relax, Brother. I’ll deal with those witches for you.”

“…”

Without even giving me the time to take a proper stance, she springs toward me.

A quadrupedal crouch start.

Her explosive speed is like a cannonball being fired.

I calm my breathing and focus all my senses.

Being aware of my divine essence, I become so sensitive it amounts to a syndrome, sensing the attack patterns before they even arrive.

Gloria approaches like a streak of lightning or a bolt of thunder, burning everything around her, and swings her fist at my face.

I’d already anticipated the attack pattern.

So, I bend my head down while simultaneously grabbing her arm and manage to slam her down onto the ground.

“Wh-ha-!?”

This could be considered a counter-technique that works even against those stronger than me. The stronger the opponent, the greater the impact from their own brute strength. This is something Hippolyte taught me, and it somehow worked successfully.

ClangBang-!

The ground is cratered as if struck by a meteor. Looking at the garden’s decorations being tossed around everywhere, it’s enough to make my head spin.

No, it could be that I avoided the punch, but the wind pressure ripped open my face.

Drip-.

bl**d flowing from my nose.

Even though I successfully executed the slam, I’ve ironically taken more damage. My legs are trembling, my vision is blurry, and I have no idea what’s going on.

Still, I feel there’s something I need to say.

“I’ve never had a sister like you. And don’t talk ill of my women.”

“…”

There you are! Look! Behind the mansion’s garden! It seems there’s been quite a scene!

By heavens, even Gloria has fallen!

Look at the state of the garden! It’s too frightening to imagine what might have happened!

At that moment, armed guards surround us. Hippolyte, with sword in hand, approaches first to check my condition and asks,

“Did you win?”

“No… I lost.”

Honestly, it’s hard to even stand.

But if I collapse and lose consciousness here, who knows what could happen, so I grit my teeth and stand firm.

Ironically, Gloria, who was struck by the powerful slam, is still smiling.

“I really thought I was going to d*e. How long has it been since I’ve lain on the ground looking up at the sky? As expected, there’s no one but Brother…”

And she slides her hands over her exposed stomach.

“Even though I said I wouldn’t marry Brother, carrying Brother’s child would be fine. Our child would definitely be even stronger, wouldn’t they?”

Boom-.

“This feeling is something I’ve never experienced since I was born. Only now do I truly feel alive.”

Gloria, still lying on the ground, springs up without giving us time to react and flees into the darkness.

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