She was right there. As beautiful as she was on that day. Tch, the day I lost to that damned old man...! How could I have ever lost to a joke like him? He's immortal, I get that, but... Did I seriously lose in such a short time? I could have done more, surely. Even if it would be considered shameless, I should have tried my best to keep him distracted instead of just fainting like an idiot... Nevertheless, the past is the past, and thankfully it seems I've been given a second chance. Nelly, she's still alive, and by the looks of it, she's well too. Meil's there too, I wonder when he came to save her?

"Geez, took him long enough..." I pouted.

There was someone else there with them too, the same girl that tried to board our raft when Slanted-Eyes and I escaped the island. So she was friendly after all, I feel a bit bad now. And to think I had her confused with Nelly...

"I must have been desperate." I felt my face getting more and more Red, "They look nothing alike, especially when comparing their... physique."

No, nevermind that now! They ran in this direction, the same direction the old man went to! Why is that, are they seriously heading over to attack him? Have they gone nuts? Then again, I expected nothing less, hence the reason I jumped off the Auros Express in the first place. And speaking of the Gods, didn't they say they wanted to kill Olyahim? If that's the case, why are they prioritizing that Brown haired guy? I guess he is the one they'd have beef with, then again...

"I don't have time to think about other people's problems!" I called out to them, "Nelly! Ugh, do I have to call out for you as well, asshole...? Fine, Meil!"

Despite that, neither of them answered back. Instead, what awaited me in the odd open field in this jungle was none other than the old man himself. He stood there alone, as if waiting for me to come by. The hell? How'd Meil and his gang not run into him, then? Did they pass each other?

"Phew, looks like these old bones aren't good at running anymore." He said, squatting a few times to prove he's making it up.

"Quit it with the lies, you already used that once on me before." I shot back.

"Hm, oh right." He recalled, "Now that you mention it, I don't remember having the pleasure of fighting the same person twice in like what: 200, 300 years? Usually, those who bark up my tree end up dead by the end of it, so I'll at least commend you for that much."

"Thanks, but I don't need your respect." I rushed headfirst into him.

Of course, he dodged that simple of an attack with ease. It was only to be expected. Turning around, I instinctively blocked my face before immediately blocking my stomach area. A perfect guard on both fronts.

"Shiet, how'd you know?" He asked after backing up a bit.

"You seemed like the lazy type." I chuckled, "The type to not change up his fighting style if it worked the first time."

"...Cheh, can you blame me?" He was now the one to rush me, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

This time, I was treading on new territory. The old man's attacks were short, but deadly. One wrong move on my end and I'd be left in the same state as I was back at Meil's house. Thankfully, I managed to evade the onslaught this time, but unlike me, he doesn't seem winded from this at all. If I wanna win this, I gotta start giving it my all as well!

"Stick to the ground!" I Commanded.

"Fueh!? You can do that?!" He jolted, though he didn't move a cinch from the spot he was on.

Once again running at him, I knew that this much wouldn't be enough to get a hit in. I had to do some out of the box thinking. I took a deep breath, opened my Eyes wider than ever before, and...!

"Block this next hit!" I Commanded a second time, my vision now having gone completely Yellow.

Giving someone two different Commands at once was possible, in fact I've done it before. But it's far from practical, since it effectively blinds me with my own Iro. That's why my first Command had him stand in the same place, so that I know where he is even without my Eyes. The second Command is a bit more convoluted, though.

"No-!" He blocked the weak flick to the forehead as if it was the strongest punch I could muster, "Wait-!"

All his defense was pointed to his forehead, in other words—His stomach was left completely unguarded. And thanks to that, it only took a single roundhouse kick to send him hurdling towards the tree to his left. But the party's not over yet!

"Aargh!" He screamed as an incredible pain flowed through his veins, "How!? Just from one measly kick...?!"

Command is an Iro Ability that doesn't actually force the opponent into following my words. In fact, they can choose to disobey it whenever they want, but the more they do so, the sharper the pain they'll end up feeling. Essentially, it forces them into a penalty game of sorts, and in this case—The further away he was from the "spot he was supposed to be stuck on", the worse the pain he'd feel, regardless of his immortality.

"Cheh, wow." He finally calmed down enough as my vision returned to me, "See? You really can do it if you try hard enough, bud!"

"Funny, Nel keeps telling me the same thing about my grades." I cracked my knuckles, "This is gonna be fun!"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

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***

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"Hold it! That's right, Nelly!" He recalled something, "You can't kill me without hurting her, please listen to me!"

"...What the hell are you on about?" I humored him at the very least to make sure Nel remained safe.

"The secret behind my immortality, I've coined the term Soul Transfer for it." He explained, "It's an Iro Ability, you know? Similar to the one you Wield. By dividing my soul up into partitions and placing them within other vessels, I effectively get to live so long as they do!"

This was a lie, a complete and utter farce. He's bullshitting, because the Gods already told me how he became immortal. Thank God I met them too, otherwise I might've fallen for this ruse.

"Ignoring the fact that makes no sense, what does this have anything to do with Nelly?" I rolled my Eyes at him.

"Don't you see? I placed a part of my soul into her!" He spoke in short breaths, stammering up as he did, "But the drawback for Soul Transfer is that I had to essentially absorb that much of her soul when I put in my own partition! If you kill me, and all traces of my soul leave the vessels, then she will...!"

"Oh can it!" I shouted, "If you're gonna fight me, at least do it honourabl-!"

And that's when it hit me. He never intended to tell me this so as to make me believe it. In fact, he made this lie so absurd that anyone would call him out for it. He didn't want me to believe him, he wanted me to lower my guard!

"Gah!" I yet again blocked just in time, though the arm I blocked with fell completely limp.

"Shiet, you saw through that as well?" He looked peeved, "Bud, you're really starting to get on my nerves here..."

"Same here." I smirked, "What's with that? Making up stupid lies just to distract me? Do you wanna fight or not?"

He stood there thinking about it. Eventually, he came up empty handed with nothing but a shrug.

"Actually, if you're giving me the option to, then..." He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled a unique tune, "I choose not to!"

"Hey, what was that?!" I tried running to get him, but moving my arm felt way too agonizing to go on, "Ungh!"

"I suggest you rest up while you can, don't got much time anyways." He turned around with a carefree wave, "It pains me to say it, but though I would kill you eventually, by then you'll have bought enough time for those pesky Gods to come by. If that happens, regardless of your death, I feel as if you'll have won."

"So you're just gonna keep running like a little bitch!?" I shouted.

"Nah, call it a tactical retreat." He disappeared into the woods, "Until then, have fun with my own buds."

Just as soon as he had disappeared, over a hundred tanned men and women had surrounded me across the board, clad in nothing but those stupid leaf swimsuits of theirs. Some of them had spears or hatchets with them, others came unarmed, but all of them had this disgustingly sour look on their faces.

"Boy, were you the one who tried to hurt our elder?" One of the tribesmen asked.

"Of course he is, can't you see from his state that he tried to fight him?" A lady next to him replied for me, "Apart from that, the elder called for us using the SOS whistle, meaning he was in dire straits!"

So that's what that fancy sounding tune was. It was a cry for help from the cowardly bastard. Did he seriously sic his dogs on me instead of fighting like a real man? Damn, that's a new low, even for him!

"Yeah, I'm the guy that made your old man run with his tail tucked between his legs." I stumbled my way back up to my feet, "What of it?"

"So you admit your crime." The tribesman spoke, "In that case, please tell us your last words so that we may inscribe it under your body."

"Gonna bury me in that Tree of yours?" I asked, pointing in its general direction, "Sorry to say, but I already burned it down."

Gasps erupted within the crowd. The Tree's smoke had surely already reached them, so they obviously knew it had been burnt down, but for the person standing before them to be the culprit must have come as a complete shock. Then again, I didn't actually do the burning down. I am however the reason Nelly's folks flew their air tricycle or whatever into it. These guys don't need to know that, though.

"You bastard!" The tribesman shouted as everyone began running at me at full speed, "Your last words better be dignified! We accept no disgrace!"

"Eh? Not even gonna wait for my answer on that? You're rather disgraceful yourself." I pouted, "Sigh, but fine. Last words, last words... Sorry, I genuinely don't see myself dying from anything but old age, so I got nothing!"

Surrounded by, what did I say: 100, 150 men? And women, I guess. Doesn't matter though, if they got a weapon on them, then they're a threat regardless of what's tucked in their pants. Either way, a threat sounds way too serious to label these guys as. They're more like a nuisance. I'll get this over with quickly and move on to the real final boss. Old man, this stunt you've pulled has only made me wanna kill you more! Thanks though, you've given me ample time to catch a breather!