"Co on, co on, harder, harder!" Isabelle urges.
"I-I’m trying... I can’t hit any harder than this...!" Chris pants.
He keeps unleashing katana strikes one after another without pause, but Isabelle blocks them effortlessly with her bare hand.
"But when that succubus is begging you to hit her harder, you don’t seem to complain this much!"
Oh shit... did she hear that too? Yeah, when we get back ho, I’m officially screwed!
Isabelle shatters Chris’s blade with a sharp strike of her knuckles, then drives a punch straight into his stomach, sending him flying backward.
A sharp stab of pain rips through his body, as if that blow might make him vomit up his organs. Even so, he gets back on his feet, and the blood stops gushing from his mouth.
"So you can still regenerate. Perfect."
"Y-You hit that hard without even being sure?!"
"Oh, co on, it was just a little punch. You said you unlocked your Innatus when your Sanguis dropped so low you couldn’t even heal small scratches. Good — that ans I’ll push you to that point!"
"N-No, wait, Isabelle—"
Slam!
Isabelle dashes at him and drives a knee into him so fast Chris is slamd to the ground before he even realizes what hit him.
He drops to his knees, bracing himself with his arms, but before he can get back up, Isabelle slams a brutal kick into his side.
He feels his ribs snap, then he’s launched into the air in a wide arc before crashing hard into the sand.
"Y-You said... you’d only counterattack! Y-You’re cheating, bitch..."
The blood filling his throat barely lets him speak.
"Oh well, new rule. More importantly, have your bones healed yet?"
"If I said no, would you stop attacking ...?"
"No. I’d hit you even harder to force you to awaken your Innatus. Get ready — I’m coming!"
In the blink of an eye, Isabelle is already in front of him.
He tries to kick her, but she catches his ankle. With one leg trapped, he throws a second kick with the other — but she grabs that one too.
With both of his ankles in her grip, Isabelle spins and hurls him away like a hamr thrower.
Isabelle looks at him with disappointnt.
"Ugh... why won’t you bring out that damn Innatus? Fine, then I’ll use harsher thods."
"H-Harsher thods...? Then what was everything you’ve done so far...?"
But before he can even finish speaking, Isabelle is already in front of him.
She grabs his wrist and hurls him upward, sending him over fifty ters into the air without effort.
Before gravity can pull him back down, Isabelle bends her knees and leaps up, reaching him midair.
She throws a punch straight at his face — powerful, but slow enough for Chris to cross his arms and take the hit. He feels his bones crack as the impact sends him even higher. He’s now over seventy ters above the ground.
The two of them fall toward the ground.
Isabelle lands gracefully, as light as a feline — but Chris isn’t so lucky.
No matter how hard he tries, you can’t recover your balance mid-fall — he crashes violently onto the beach.
The bones in his arms and legs are broken in multiple places, and so are his ribs.
The sand beneath him is soaked red.
His body is reduced to a bloody pulp, and yet he’s surprised to realize that, despite everything, he still has enough energy to regenerate every wound and broken bone.
But he’s reached his limit. He can feel there isn’t a single drop of Sanguis left in his body.
"I-Isabelle... I’m... exhausted..."
Chris collapses to his knees — he doesn’t even have the strength to stand anymore.
Isabelle approaches him with slow, calm steps that don’t seem threatening. Then she grabs his arm and digs her nails into his flesh.
A piercing scream escapes his lips.
Blood gushes from the scratches, and wounds that would normally close in an instant remain open.
"You’re right. You’ve really reached your limit."
Isabelle smiles at him, and Chris smiles back.
He expects her to say, "Then we can head back. We’ll continue tomorrow."
But that’s not what happens.
She hurls him away again, and an even more violent crimson storm erupts around her. It’s so intense the ground beneath them trembles. Once again, she summons her massive blood sword.
"I-Isabelle... what are you doing...?"
A malicious, irritated grin spreads across her face.
"It’s clear that running out of Sanguis isn’t the key to unlocking your Innatus. So maybe it’s the fear of death. If that’s the case, there’s only one way to find out. Until now, I’ve avoided hitting your vital points — that’s probably why you still haven’t awakened it."
Isabelle points the sword at him.
"Get ready, Chris — from now on, I’ll attack you like an enemy!"
"Y-You can’t do that... you’d risk killing !"
"Your job is to protect Princess Mia when I’m not there. But leaving her in the hands of a weakling like you would be as dangerous as sending her out alone. I’ve invested ti and patience to make you stronger, but if you can’t fulfill your role, I’ll find soone else who can — soone worthy of my teachings!"
Chris’s eyes fill with tears — fear, but also the pain of hearing those words from the woman he trusts most in the world.
S-So... to her I’m just a toy she can throw away if I don’t work the way she wants...? It’s not fair... I don’t deserve this...
Isabelle prepares to attack. She dashes toward him, her sword ready to fall on his skull.
W-Why, Isabelle...? I... really thought I was part of the family... and instead she’s ready to replace just like that with the next poor bastard she adopts after ... damn it!
Isabelle’s blade falls toward Chris — but stops a breath away from his face.
Isabelle herself stopped the blow.
In front of her, Chris lies unconscious on the warm sand, drained by exhaustion.
"Ugh... looks like not even the fear of death works."
The violent vortex of energy and the blood sword dissolve.
As she looks closely at him, she notices tears mixed with blood and sand sared across his face.
"Oh dear, I hope I wasn’t too harsh saying those things. He’s such an idiot if he actually believed them... oh well, I’ll make it up to him in his favorite way when we get back ho."
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