And in the next moment—
— With Sebas at the center, it seemed as if blades of ice had shot out in every direction.
Climb could no longer speak.
A vortex of bloodlust was whirling around with Sebas at the center.
Energy that was so dense that its color became visible crashed into him like a raging wave, making his heart feel as if it would explode in an instant. He thought that he heard a sound like a soul screaming as it was being crushed. It sounded as if it was coming from right by his side, a place far away, or perhaps from his own mouth.
As he was engulfed by the black stream of bloodlust, Climb felt his consciousness become dyed in white. The fear was so enormous that his mind was letting go of its consciousness in order to ignore the situation.
“…Is this all that a ‘man’ amounts to? This is only a warm-up.”
In Climb’s fading consciousness, Sebas’ disappointed voice sounded needlessly loud.
The meaning of those words lodged themselves deeply into Climb’s mind, deeper than any blade. It was enough to very briefly let him forget the fear that was crashing into him from the front.
Thump. His heartbeat grew louder.
“Haaa!!”
Climb released a large breath of air.
His eyes were wet with tears and despite being so frightened that he wanted to run, he endured. The hands grasping the sword trembled and the tip of blade shook as if it had gone insane. The trembling that ran through his whole body caused his chain shirt to clink loudly.
However, Climb gritted his rattling teeth and tried to endure Sebas’ bloodlust.
Seeing his unsightly appearance, Sebas wore a sneer and slowly formed a fist with his right hand that was right in front of Climb’s eyes. After a few blinks, the ball-like fist was completed.
Like setting an arrow to a string, the fist was slowly pulled backwards.
Even as he stood there trembling, Climb realized what was about to occur and shook his head side to side. Needless to say, his signal did not affect Sebas.
“Then… die.”
Like an arrow exploding from a taut string, Sebas’ fist flew at him with the sound of it cutting the air.
— This will be an instant death.
Climb realized this as time slowed down. It looked as if an enormous steel ball even taller than himself was hurtling towards him at a fierce speed. His mind was filled with the image of this complete, absolute death. Even if he were to raise his sword and use it as a shield, it will be easily shattered by the fist.
His body did not even budge. The enormous anxiety rendered it completely stiff.
— There was no way to escape the death in front of his eyes.
Climb gave in to his fate and at the same time, became angry with himself.
If he could not give his life for Renner, why didn’t he just die back then? It would have been better for him to die alone, shivering in the cold rain.
In his eyes, he saw Renner’s beautiful face.
It is said that when people are close to death, they see their life flash before their very eyes. It is the effect from the brain searching the past memories for a way to escape the situation. Still, he found it slightly amusing that the last thing he saw was the smile of his master whom he loved and respected.
That’s right. What Climb saw was Renner’s ‘smile’.
Soon after she saved his life, the young Renner did not show her smile. When did she start smiling?
He could not remember. However, he did recall seeing her smile shyly.
If she knew of Climb’s death, would that smile be destroyed? Like the dark clouds that block off the sun?
— Don’t make me laugh!
Anger surged from the bottom of Climb’s heart.
She was the one who saved the life that was tossed out on the side of the road. If so, his life was not his own. This body was for Renner, to grant her even the smallest form of happiness—
There has to be a way to get out of this—!
The chains of fear were shattered by the manifestation of an intense emotion.
His hands moved.
His legs moved as well.
The eyes that were about to close shut were opened wide. He tried desperately with the naked eye to detect the ultrahigh speed fist heading his way.
All of the senses in his body were pushed to their limit, to the point where he could even feel the air’s vibrations.
Like how people display superhuman strength at the scene of a fire, during an emergency, the brain releases the safety placed on the muscles and allows them to display a strength that would otherwise be impossible.
The brain secretes chemicals en masse and focuses the mind solely on survival. It quickly processes massive amounts of information and selects the most optimal action.
In this single moment, Climb had stepped foot into the world of first-rate warriors. However, even that was surpassed by the speed of Sebas’ attack. It was possible that it was already too late, that there may no longer be any time left to dodge Sebas’ fist. Even so, he had to move. How could he give up?
In that rapid compression of time, his own movements appeared to be as slow as a turtle. Despite this, Climb desperately moved his body.
And—
Boom. With a roar, Sebas’ fist passed by Climb’s face. The wind pressure from his strike ripped off a few strands of hair from his head.
He heard a quiet voice ring out.
“Congratulations. How does it feel to overcome the fear of death?”
—.
— Unable to understand what he was saying, Climb wore a stupid expression on his face.
“How did it feel to face death? And how did it feel to overcome it?”
Climb panted heavily and stared at Sebas with an absent-minded expression. His face looked as if he had a few screws loose. The bloodlust had disappeared without a trace. It was only after Sebas’ words finally entered his head that he could feel a sense of relief.
As if that intense bloodlust was all that had been holding him up, Climb collapsed like a puppet that had its strings cut.
While on his hands and knees, he indulgently sucked in the fresh air into his lungs.
“…It is fortunate that you did not die from shock. There are times when the body so strongly believes that it is dead that it forfeits its ability to sustain life.”
There was still something bitter left in Climb’s throat. This must be what death tastes like, he thought.
“Repeating this several times will allow you to overcome most fears. But you must be cautious. Fear is what triggers the survival instinct. If it becomes completely paralyzed, then you will be unable to recognize even the most obvious of dangers. You must be able to distinguish between them.”
“…T-though I am being rude, Sebas-sama, what are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“T-that bloodlust wasn’t something that a normal person could give off. Just who…”
“At the moment, I am simply an old man who is confident in his skills.”
Climb could not take his eyes off of Sebas’ smiling face. Although he seemed to be smiling gently, it also looked like the fearsome smile of an overwhelming power greatly surpassing Gazef.
He was an existence that may even be stronger than Gazef, the strongest warrior in the surrounding countries.
— Climb decided that his curiosity was satisfied with just that. He felt that no good would come from digging any deeper.
However, the one thing that burned in his mind was the question of just who this old man named Sebas actually was. He even considered the possibility that he was one of the thirteen heroes from the past.
“Then let us try it once mo—.”