Vol. 7 Ch. 25

Trif punched him in the face, he dropped to the floor.

“Shut up, this is none of your business.”

“O-O-OKAY!”

He left in a frenzy.

Hazel and Lili didn’t know what to do, they just stood by and watched.

Phize ran to Trif. He released another punch, but Trif dodged it.

Trif went for the gut and he successfully hit him.

“GACK!”

Trif’s strength was suddenly amplified, much stronger than the earlier punch to the cheek, so he got propelled to the door.

Trif went to him and pushed Hazel to the side.

“Don’t intervene.”

Phize coughed up blood.

“H-How in the,” he coughed, “world…”

Trif grabbed his collar and brought him to the wall.

“I’ve always wondered, what would happen if we fought without my lackeys. I always thought you were so much better than this but in the end…”

He choked him.

Hrrrk. Hrrrk. Hrrrk.

“…It’s still the same result.”

Phize held the hand grabbing his neck and was trying to loosen its grip. However, it was much stronger than he thought.

“It’s useless.”

Hazel yelled, “TRIF, STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!”

Lili shouted, “YOU’RE KILLING HIM, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”

Their yells vexed him.

“SHUT UP!”

Phize kicked him in the gut.

“GACK!”

His grip diminished in strength and he let go of Phize as he held his stomach in pain.

Phize fell to the ground and coughed a lot of times.

He breathed the air around him.

Trif said, “D-Damn y-you…”

He dropped to the ground, although not completely, he was just recovering from the blow.

Phize stood up and went to him.

He shouted, “TAKE THIS!”

He kicked him in the face at the tip of his chin.

Trif was propelled opposite him.

Once he landed on the ground, he tried to catch his breath.

Phize approached him. When he was above him, Trif pulled his right leg, making him fall to the ground. Trif hurriedly attempted to stand up and Phize tried to drag him down, but the work of the latter failed.

Both of them stood up and faced each other. They were staring at each other, their eyes were filled with extreme hatred for one another.

Trif screamed out loud, “GYAAAAAAH!”

He ran to him.

Phize screamed too, “HIYAAAAAAAAH!”

He charged at him.

Phize released a strike from his right fist. Trif countered this attack with that of his own. They grit their teeth as they both tried to overpower the other. However, it wasn’t long before the stronger person was getting apparent, it was Trif, and his fist was pushing Phize back.

Phize noticed this and set aside the attack since he knew couldn’t win that kind of battle. Trif’s fist was moving forward in the direction, for he had not anticipated that his attack would be sidetracked.

Phize’s fist aimed toward his face.

Trif was able to react in time and tilt his head so that it wouldn’t hit. He went for a counterattack and used his left fist to punch him in the face.

Phize could only block the attack using his elbow and so he did. The force of the blow was great, that he felt his elbow swell, and that his feet had to follow through the direction the force took, so that he wouldn’t fall down.

“I can tell from a glance that the strength you have is inhumane, you’re doing something, aren’t you?” Phize asked.

“What do you care? Scared of some knowledge you don’t know?”

“No, not really. Are you so scared of me that you have to use a hidden technique unbeknownst to us? That’s quite hypocritical of you.”

“I’m not scared,” Trif responded.

Phize proposed, “If you’re not scared, why don’t you show me that you can fight me fair and square? I will not use any tricks up my sleeve, and the same applies to you. You claim to be a strong person, then if you truly are what you say, then surely you can overwhelm me with physical prowess alone. Or… are you a coward?”

“I’m no coward. Fine, I accept… I will duel you with no tricks. If you lose despite the fair play, then you only have yourself to blame,” Trif pompously replied.

Trif ran to him but he retreated.

“I should’ve proposed to play fair earlier, but now I can’t use my left arm, because of the blow from earlier, I have to let it recover for a little more time at least in case I need to use it again,” he comprehended.

Trif caught up to him.

He released a strike to the face.

Trif went around him and reached his back.

He turned around in a hurry but instead had his face punched.

“GCK.”

Despite the pain, he stood still.

Trif punched him in the face for another time, but remarkably, he still hasn’t dropped down.

Trif punched him in the face for another time, then again, and again, and again, and again, it was another punching bag session yet he still did not falter.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT TALK? AHAHAHHAHAH! YOU’RE ALL BARK!”

Trif punched him another time and finally, he fell to the ground.

His whole face was beaten up and was bleeding.

Hazel had the urge to stop him but Lili had her arm out, preventing her from doing so. She looked at her wondering why she did such an action.

She said to her, “Don’t interfere. This is crucial for them. We need them to come to an understanding, so let them reveal their feelings out in the open. Let them lash out at each other so that they may be no more hidden grudges.”

Hazel stopped her attempt to try and cancel the fight for she understood how pivotal this moment was for the future of their party. She decided to wait it out.

Phize was wheezing for air. Trif sat on him and endlessly punched him in the face.

“UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I WON’T BE HEALING YOUR FACE THIS TIME! AHAHHAHAHA!”

He kept on punching until he felt somewhat satisfied at the sight of a broken visage.

“Why… do you go against me? When you’re so clearly weaker than me? Why do you try and go against those stronger than you? You know you’ll lose in the end, so why bother?

Phize uttered gibberish, “A… K… Yo… Sh… up…”

“What was that?”

He lifted him using his collar.

“Can you speak to me louder?”

Phize tried to utter words from his mouth, but it was intelligible.

“I’m telling you. You are not on the same level as me. You. Have no strength. None at all.”

Phize tried to utter words for another time, but it was quite indistinguishable.

Trif pulled the collar closer to his face.

“Hm? What was that?”

All of a sudden, Phize grabbed Trif’s head with his face and headbutted him.

“GYAH!”

Trif fell to the ground and held his head.

Phize spoke to him, “If… I… cannot have a say… in that life of yours, because I do not know anything about you, then you do not have any right… to invalidate the strength I’ve accumulated, since you do not know anything that I’ve gone through either.”

Trif wrapped his arms around his forehead.

“D-DAMN IT…”

“I… worked hard for this power of mine… it may not be the strongest, it may be weak, but it’s something I worked hard for. YOUR STRENGTH IS ONLY FILLED WITH ARROGANCE!”

“Shut up… shut up… shut up…”

“IF STRENGTH IS THE ONLY THING YOU HOLD VALUE IN, THEN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE BESIDES MAKING FUN OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET ACHIEVED IT? TELL ME, TRIF. IF YOU ARE SUCH A STRONG PERSON, TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO GRASP IT!”

END OF EPISODE 73