The other way (P.1) – Chapter 13

"...."

After advising Aoi to stand back, I looked at the reviving zombie and prepared myself for what was about to happen.

Once I took several steps forward, indicating to the zombie that I was the one who was going to face it, the zombie glared at me before letting out a loud growl.

"GRAAWWWWWWWLLLL!!"

A shockwave sound spread across the forest, and I could see how its aura was managing to almost lift Aoi's skirt just from its force. 

Without wasting any time, the powered-up zombie vanished from its position and reappeared right in front of me. I reacted instinctively, narrowly avoiding the vicious thrust of its grotesque nails. However, the undead monster showed no sign of relenting and followed up with a series of powerful attacks. A punch, then a high kick.

I was also quick to dodge them, as I didn't want to embarrass myself when I wanted to look a little cool in front of Aoi.

But the zombie on the other hand, continued getting much faster and stronger after seeing that I was still able to keep up with it. The zombie simply didn't want to give up at all, growing much faster than before to the point where its own bones were beginning to crack.

But at this point, I was getting enough of this annoying zombie, which is why I took some steps behind in an instant and then took a deep breath.

The zombie, on the other hand, tightened its own broken arm before charging towards me even faster than before, aiming to throw a lethal punch right in my face. However, its fist never reached the target because, in the end, I easily managed to catch it.

Then, before the zombie could get away from me, I slashed the zombie's arms, legs, and face into many pieces with my sword that I was holding in my other hand. The zombie wasn't able to react in time, only to reveal a red core within its body. I didn't want to leave that core untouched, so I quickly shattered it with my sword the moment my eyes caught a glimpse within the zombie's guts.

After making sure that the zombie was properly dead, I swung the sword clean off the zombie's remains and sheathed it back inside. The same door that would lead us back to the mansion also formed some meters away from here.

"S-Sora, h-how did you do that?!"

Rushing to my side was Aoi, who seemed to have been properly watching me the whole time.

"That was a combination of swordsmanship with a lot of different kinds of martial arts. What do you think?"

"Y-you are so strong! I wasn't even able to catch up to the speed that you were moving."

As she looked up to me with aspiration and admiration, I softly smiled and then gently rubbed her head. 

Oh, whoops. I should've cleaned my hands first before dirtying her hair. However, Aoi didn't seem to mind, as she seemed to be enjoying my touch over her head.

"Don't worry. You'll be able to not only react that fast but also finish monsters before they can even see you coming."

"Do you really think I'll be able to do that one day?"

"Of course you will. Your mind hasn't realized it yet, but right now, you should be much stronger than the average human."

"...oh…"

Aoi looked at her own hand and then clenched it for a moment, unsure whether what I was saying was the truth or not.

Until now, she has been getting the hang of going against monsters without fretting, not realizing that her skills were improving considerably.

I was very surprised to see the talent she had with that sword. It was honestly not only impressive but unbelievable compared to what I had to do to simply defeat the first ever monster.

After that, we entered the door and quickly arrived back at the mansion like usual. We were pretty much dirty and tired from either stress or nonstop zombies, so we went straight to the showers to clean ourselves up.

Both Aoi and I offered to clean each other up, so we ended up cleaning our bodies properly and very quickly at that. Then, after we were done, we went to my room and fell asleep while embracing each other.