Reset Life – Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Shall We Talk Somewhere Quiet? (1)

“Gasp……! Huff! Ugh……!”

My chest feels tight. Something in my head twitches as if it’s about to explode. My breath catches in my throat, then bursts out in an instant, repeating the cycle.

Like bubbles forming and popping, the blood in my body, my breathing, is boiling.

“Risel! Risel!”

“Ah, Artshever—!”

Levidian and Aila’s voices. They are surprised, and angry.

“Lucy!”

“Got it! Damn it!”

Al’s shout and the footsteps of a large man follow. It must be Lucy, right?

I’m kneeling in front of Artshever, as if surrendering to him, gasping for rough breaths.

As if I can’t move because of the immense fatigue, my body wants to sleep, but my mind is constantly awake, trying to make my body get up……

I can’t move.

Artshever urges me on.

“Now, get up. Don’t refuse. You must have it. You, the beginning of everything! Awaken it! You must!”

“Wha, what are you talking about……! Ugh!”

Thump!

My heart explodes.

I can’t move. I can’t possibly move. A giant beat that will make my whole body tremble comes over me. No one could possibly move……!

“Haaaat!”

I heard Levidian’s shout. Small, fast footsteps came closer and closer.

“Hmph! Don’t interfere!”

Whoosh!

I heard the sound of something being swung and thrown. He threw Aila at Levidian, who was charging towards him!

“Kyaak!”

“Aila!”

With a pitiful scream, Levidian’s footsteps stopped.

I couldn’t do anything.

“Hey! Treat women with care! Big Fire!”

Fwoosh!

I heard the roar of fire blazing fiercely above my head.

Artshever didn’t even flinch.

“Is that all?”

Snap!

He snapped his fingers. With just that, the roar of fire and the heat I felt above my head disappeared.

“Hmm!”

Thud!

Right next to me, boots with sturdy heels kicked the ground. The heavy voice was Al’s.

Al…… You said yourself that you couldn’t win, right?

Wham! Bam! Thwack!

I heard the sounds of Al attacking Artshever. But Artshever didn’t budge. His feet were planted firmly on the ground like a tree.

“Stop being a nuisance.”

Artshever said, genuinely annoyed. And something flew over my head.

“Ugh!”

Thud!

Al’s voice came from behind me this time.

Artshever is strong. He was toying with all of us just by standing there.

The main target of that mockery…… must be me.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

I want to move my body. I want to attack him before others get hurt more. I want to defeat him.

I want to kill him!

“Aah……! Ah!”

Crack! Crunch! Grind!

I hear the sound of my joints dislocating. My body keeps telling me to stay still. But within that firmly stiffened body, only my heart beats wildly as if it’s about to burst.

My body feels like it’s going to explode.

To prevent that from happening, I have to move.

Get up and fight Artshever!

“Haat!”

“Hup!”

I heard Levidian and Al’s voices again. They are trying to attack Artshever somehow.

“Don’t bother me. Ho, this is quite good. Haha! This is a bit lacking!”

I couldn’t raise my head because my neck was stiff, so I couldn’t see how he was fighting. But his relaxed voice told me that he wasn’t losing to them at all.

Aah, no…… Levidian, Al…… You two can’t win!

I, I have to move!

“Risel, are you okay? Damn. You’re completely stiff.”

At some point, Lucy approached me. He lifted my stiff body and started to carry me.

The sounds of fighting are getting further away.

“Ah, aah……! No……!”

Leave me alone. Artshever wants that. I have to get up on my own, with my own strength. Don’t you know how strong he is?!

My voice won’t come out.

I’ve completely lost control of myself.

This is humiliation, disgrace.

Was I such a weak being that I couldn’t even move myself?

“Huh? Where are you going?!”

Artshever’s voice was heard. And I, being carried by Lucy, could see Artshever fighting.

Levidian’s sword, Seven Star, charged towards him. And from the opposite side, Al was throwing a punch with all his might.

He, standing at the center of sufficient killing intent and destructive power, was looking at me.

As if telling me to watch closely.

His left hand, moving like an illusion, blocked all seven thrusts, and even grabbed the sword at the end.

His right hand, moving heavily, blocked Al’s fist and grabbed his wrist.

Levidian and Al were caught at the ends of his arms spread left and right.

Emerald-like green eyes shone, and I ‘knew’ what he was going to do.

“Aah……!”

A sound that I can’t describe, and don’t want to.

The two people caught in Artshever’s hands were pulled by his arms and collided violently in front of him.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaack!”

The screams of the two. The terrible sound that followed. When Artshever let go of his hands, the two collapsed on the ground like crumpled pieces of paper.

Blood flowed down beneath them.

“Uh, aah……! Aaaaaah!”

Levidian! Al!

I want to go to them. But I can’t. My body won’t move.

No! I hate this powerless me!

Move!

Move, damn it!

Arisein! Move―!

Thump!

“Huh? Hey! Why are you so hot?”

My whole body started to burn. The heat that started from my heart continues to spread throughout my body. As if smoke would rise from my whole body, a high fever started to rage.

The heat makes me feel dizzy.

“Where are you taking him?!”

Artshever’s expression turned cruel. He reached out his hand towards me, no, towards Lucy.

An invisible force pierced Lucy’s back.

“Cough! Hack!”

Lucy collapses. The force that pierced his back came out through his chest. Red, red blood shines and floats in the air.

The sky tilts. The world tilts.

I was slammed to the ground again.

“Ugh……! Damn it! As, as expected of a magician……! Cough! The future is uncertain. Ugh, Ugh!”

Lucy coughed up blood and gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Now, there’s no one to help…… Oh my.”

He, who had a leisurely expression, let out a wry smile.

Because the remaining members of Mangya and Black New Moon were all rushing in.

A silent attack with no shouts or footsteps. At least forty people seemed to be moving, but there was no sound.

No……! Don’t! No matter how many there are……! They can’t defeat Artshever!

“Let me tell you one thing, I like fireworks. The best time to set them off is at night, but…… for now……”

He said, looking at me as if to show off. My immobile body and eyes couldn’t help but watch what he was doing.

Whoosh……

Like white ash scattering, white powder spread from around Artshever. Like spores released by mushrooms, the white powder turned into smoke and spread in all directions.

Precisely towards the assassins surrounding him.

He gently raised his left hand and pressed his thumb and middle finger together tightly. He raised his hand, which looked like it would make a sound at any moment, and stretched it forward. He looked at me and shouted with a cheerful expression.

“Artshever’s firework show will now begin!”

Snap!

His fingers snapped, making a very cheerful sound. And in an instant, before the cheerfulness could fade away, the assassins of Mangya and Black New Moon who were rushing towards him exploded.

Boom! Bang! Crash!

Human flesh and blood scattered into the air and flew in all directions.

The deafening roar that echoed in my ears. Dozens of humans burst and disappeared like that.

It was literally a firework show.

The most brutal festival in the world, where blood and death disappear into thin air.

Amidst the blood and flesh scattering like fireworks, Artshever bowed politely.

“Did you enjoy yourselves? Haha!”

And he started walking towards me quietly, as if taking a stroll. I could only watch him, my body trembling.

Despair.

He is a powerful being with the power of despair.

Everyone can only tremble before him!

“Now that the show is over, I should get back to my main business. Now, try to get up. Get up and face me. I’m looking forward to it. I believe you can overcome this.”

My voice won’t come out.

My body is stiff and won’t move.

Despair is coming towards me…… but I can’t move!

“If you fall short of my expectations, it would be a shame, but……”

Step. Step.

His footsteps stopped in front of me.

He said with his merciless, dry eyes.

“Then we’ll have to see the end.”

The white enemy smiled whitely.

The world unfolding before my eyes exploded white.

A deafening roar echoed in my ears. A sound that would be heard if the world collapsed echoed in my ears.

A roar that I don’t know when it started or when it will end.

The indescribable sound, which seemed to ring forever, gradually faded away, leaving afterimages.

Soon, the sound became something I could understand.

It was my name.

“Risel! Risel—!”

“Uh, uh?”

Light and shadow appear in my flickering vision, and colors fill in. Something was shaking in front of me.

A man with a rugged but mischievous face…… Lucy?

Lucy sighed and said with a relieved expression.

“Phew, are you finally coming to your senses?”

“Uh, uh……? You, you’re alive?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Lucy raised the corner of his lip and made a bewildered expression. It was the expression I usually saw on his face. No, more than that! He was pierced through the chest by Artshever!

Before I could question the absurdity, a palm like a pot lid hit the back of my head.

Smack!

Ugh! Sparks fly!

“Are you alright now?”

“You’ll make me lose my mind! Damn it…… That hurts.”

“Hmm. Now you’re back to normal.”

“Normal……?”

I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant, and Lucy sighed and scratched his head. Then he clenched his fist, pulled it back, and gauged the distance.

Looking at the fist that could shatter rocks, I quickly said.

“I might pass out if that hits me.”

“Hmm. You’re definitely back to your senses. But don’t you understand the situation?”

“Situation?”

“Yeah, you idiot. To be precise……”

Lucy explained the situation to me with a pathetic look.

Levidian and Aila clashed with all their might, but Artshever ambushed them and they both got injured. I shouted his name and ran towards him, heard the conversation between Aila and Artshever, and passed Levidian to head towards him.

There, I asked Artshever to stop, and Artshever, enraged, pointed at my heart and snapped his fingers.

That’s where Lucy’s explanation differed from my memory.

“When that white-haired bastard snapped his fingers, you suddenly got a blank expression, your eyes unfocused, and you collapsed. The white-haired bastard, who had been agitated until then, grinned as if he had never done such a thing. In the meantime, that lady over there decided to charge at him, despite her injuries. And this great future Archmage, he guessed that the white-haired bastard had cast some kind of magic on you and came running, that’s what I’m saying.”

“Magic……?”

“Yeah, it’s not my specialty, so I can’t say for sure, but judging by the feeling I got when I dispelled it, it was mental magic. Did you see any hallucinations?”

“Hallucinations? Ah, aah, then that was……”

Only then did I realize the situation. And realization always brings something.

A fire started to burn fiercely deep inside me.

I was played by Artshever’s tricks again!

“Whoa? Really? What kind of hallucinations did you see?”

I tried to get up immediately, but I calmed myself down first. Since magic was involved, let’s ask a magician for advice.

“It was something like this……”

I briefly explained how Artshever blew away Levidian and Al, exploded the remaining forces of Black New Moon and Mangya with two fingers, and knocked down Lucy.

Lucy crossed his arms and listened to the story, nodding his head. His expression was one of understanding.

Oh, did he figure something out?

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Intrusive Thoughts: Pikachu vs Levi
• Wakana Gojou: The Ultimate Husbando? Is This Anime Romance Even Real?
• Hidden Villages, Hidden Countries? Where’s the Rest of the World in Naruto?
• Who’s Your Waifu? Why Choosing Your Anime Spirit Animal Is Deeper Than You Think (And Who I’d Pick)
• The Great Balls-Scratching Debate: A Smell-tastic Journey