Volume 6 Chapter 66-2 The Fact of Being Human
The fierce Elliot closed in on Randy.
A super-fast jab came flying... and Randy countered with a left hook.
Randy's fist slammed into Elliot's face.
Still, the force sent Elliot flying.
Elliot rolled on the ground, blood gushing from his nose, but he hurriedly got back on his feet.
"What's wrong? I haven't even given it half my effort!"
Randy smiled as Elliot roughly wiped the blood from his nose.
"Shut up!"
This time, Elliot tackled Randy.
He wrapped his arms around Randy's waist and laughed, "Got you!" but Randy stood firm, not moving an inch.
Elliot put more strength into it, but Randy didn't budge, making Elliot's face twist in frustration.
"W-why──"
"Are you stupid? This is basic stuff."
The way to lower your center of gravity for a throw.
Randy wasn't kind enough to explain it from scratch to someone who didn't even know that.
Instead, he grabbed Elliot's floating body and tossed him straight up.
Elliot was thrown but managed to roll in the air and rushed toward Randy as he landed.
Elliot closed the distance with a rapid-fire attack.
Right, left, even kicks──none of them touched Randy.
"Damn it, damn it!"
The sudden change in situation left Elliot confused.
No matter how fast he was, if he could react, he would get used to it.
Just like a batter gets used to fastballs.
"Damn it all!"
Fueled by anger, Elliot tensed up.
Randy didn't miss the slightly wider swing of Elliot's punch.
──In a split second, Randy unleashed a lightning-fast right jab.
──Bang!
The sound was more of a warning than a damaging hit.
So Elliot laughed, slightly tilting his head back, "It doesn't hurt!"
"Keep talking,"
Randy growled, his fists ready.
In an instant, Randy's rush lifted Elliot off the ground.
"──Swoosh!"
Taking a deep breath, Randy dropped his weight and slammed his left fist down.
The shockwave vibrated through the air, sending Elliot's massive body flying and rolling on the ground.
Elliot bounced off the ground several times, coughing, "Cough, cough," as he stood up.
"Damn it. My body..."
As if to brush off Elliot's words, Randy waved his hand and let out a big sigh, saying, "Honestly, I'm so disappointed."
"We came all the way to a tough place like Braubelg, and the one we face is the weakest of the Four."
Hearing this, Elliot's face twisted as he asked, "The weakest, you say?"
"Of course it's the weakest! You showed up first and got beaten up right away. You were probably too weak to even face Waldner, so they kicked you out!"
"That's not true! The plan focused on Braubelg──"
Elliot, realizing what he almost revealed, quickly shut his mouth.
"See? Not only useless, but you blabbered important stuff too."
Randy showed a look of disbelief, and Elliot's face twisted in anger at the word, "You!"
"I'll tell you something good. When you got beaten last time, do you know what the other 3 said?"
Randy wore a mocking grin, while Elliot's face twisted even more in silence.
"'Elliot got beat. But he is the weakest of the Four Four Heavenly Kings,' right?"
As Randy laughed mischievously, Elliot turned completely red and shouted, "Youuuu!"
Elliot charged forward, throwing caution to the wind.
His strike, fueled by all his might, was the fastest yet today.
He executed a shoulder tackle, using both his bulk and speed.
To meet him was Randy's right arm.
The loud crash of flesh hitting flesh shook the air again.
From the swirling dust, Randy appeared, having absorbed the tackle.
"...No way."
Elliot looked shocked, but Randy seemed somewhat pleased.
After all, Randy's feet had slid back a few steps.
That meant Elliot had pushed him to his full strength.
"It's bad enough to fall for the bait so easily, but... well, you showed some guts."
Smirking, Randy lightly pushed Elliot, who was still dazed.
"I'll respond with my full power too."
Everything around seemed to move slowly as Elliot took a slight step back.
The distance between them was just a finger's length.
But that was enough for Randy.
Changing from slow to fast──just as Randy's legs sunk slightly,
his right fist flew forward, hitting Elliot's shoulder hard.
The loud roar that came late shook the floor, sending Elliot flying.
The floor shook even more because Elliot was stuck in the wall.
As rubble fell around him, Randy slowly approached Elliot.
Elliot managed to stand up, pushing the debris aside, but his right shoulder was blown off, and his face was filled with fear.
"No way... What are you?"
Elliot took a half step back, tripped over the rubble, and fell on his backside.
"What do you mean, 'what'? I am Randolph Victor, the captain of the [Randy Exploration Team]."
Elliot stared blankly at Randy, who was smiling, and asked, "Exploration team?"
"D-Don't make fun of me! This is... my greatest masterpiece of a body!"
Shaking while sitting on the ground, Elliot muttered that his strength and speed should be beyond human limits.
"Well, sure, your strength and speed weren't bad... but it was just brute force."
Randy sighed, and Elliot replied with a confused, "Huh?"
"Even if you exceed human limits, if you fight like a beast, you're below a beast."
The moment Elliot tilted his head at Randy's words, his head was blown off.
As if searching for his lost head, Elliot's body slowly fell to the ground.
"Without claws or fangs, there are techniques, right?"
Randy's words did not reach Elliot.
But they were also words meant to remind himself.
He was born without claws or fangs.
That's why humans learned techniques and sharpened them to surpass beasts.
If he became too comfortable with his gifted body, he might end up making the same mistakes as Elliot.
Especially lately, he had relied too much on brute strength.
Therefore, Randy believed this short battle was a valuable lesson for self-reflection.
It was not the upgraded, strong body that was the greatest weapon, but the techniques ingrained in the body.
While thinking about this, satisfied, a small orb rolled out from Elliot's body right in front of Randy.
"What's this?"
Randy picked up the orb, furrowing his brow as he stared at it closely.
Randy felt a strange connection to the orb before him, even if it just looked like an ordinary ball.
"Oh, right, Elliot talked about body stuff and his greatest creation, didn't he?"
He recalled Elliot's words.
From the orb in front of him and Elliot's words, Randy guessed it might be a vessel for Elliot's soul.
Technically, it was a soul container, but it was similar enough.
"What should I do with this?"
If this really was a soul, he should probably smash it, but maybe [Dark Tide] would use it to gather information.
Thinking this way made him hesitate before breaking it. Just then, he felt a familiar presence rushing towards him at great speed.
"For now, I'll ask what I don't understand."
When he turned to face the approaching presence, Miranda appeared, her face tight with concern, accompanied by several subordinates.
"Ms. Miranda, just the person I needed──"
"Sir Randolph, there's been a small earthquake in the town. Are you aware of it?"
"...Not really?"
Randy averted his gaze, but Miranda's sharp look said she knew he was lying.
"I mean, I just got carried away..."
"It's not good for you to cause an earthquake on a whim."
He realized he had gotten a bit too excited.
By now, it was too late.
Under Miranda's piercing gaze, Randy whispered, "Keep this a secret from Liz," his words echoing and fading in the dim space.
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