Chapter 100: Hilda VS Soldier Predicament [1]

"THIS DAY WILL FINALLY BE THE DAY I DYE MY STRIPES RED! HAHAHA...!" Hilda laughed maniacally, basking under the silver light of the moon, which hung directly above her.

Even though she had just under half of her Vitality left, she was determined to win.

After her declaration, Hilda dropped her arms to her sides, her manic laughter quickly dying away.

When it looked as though she had calmed down, she suddenly lashed out at the air — her arm blurring as she hurled something swiftly at the Predicament.

The Soldier, previously frozen in place by Hilda’s strange behaviour, unexpectedly found itself in the trajectory of a bloody clock hand.

With a casual swing of its plated arm, it backhanded the clock hand into the air.

CLANG!

It then lowered that arm.

Right as the Soldier was about to retaliate, it hurriedly raised that arm again in defence.

Hilda, who had leapt to catch the clock hand, delivered a powerful downward strike on the Predicament.

CLANG!

Her body was enveloped in a dense black-red aura, far denser than it had ever been in this exam. Apart from her large, deranged grin and devilish red eyes, everything about her was veiled underneath this ominous aura — giving off the impression of someone who had been possessed by a demonic spirit.

With a jerk of its arm, the Soldier pushed her back several metres, revealing a deep fissure in its plating: a result of Hilda’s strike.

Its eyes then flashed with a wary light.

Hilda dropped to the ground and immediately charged back in, covering the several-metre gap between them in a second.

She lunged and stabbed forward.

’{Force}!’

The Predicament raised the back of its hand in defence.

CLING!

With a simple thought, Vitality surged from her Heart and towards the tip of the clock hand, creating an explosion of Vitality at the point of impact. But not of the usual kind.

Vitality surged from the tip of the clock hand — about to explode — before focusing on one point. What happened next was nothing short of astonishing.

PSHT...!

Hilda shattered through the plating and managed to puncture a hole in the back of the hand!

Blood quickly gushed from the wound as shattered bits of plating flew through the air. Everyone who witnessed this brief moment was left stunned, their mouths quickly gaping.

’She broke through so easily!’ They all thought.

The Soldier, also stunned, quickly recovered from its stupor.

In a fluid motion, it hooked the clock hand out of Hilda’s hand, using the hole she had created, before swinging at her with its other hand.

It was an unavoidable attack!

Right when everyone expected Hilda to put up a guard, they watched as she did the opposite!

With a rapid spin and a clenched fist, she clashed with Soldier Predicament — her knuckles meeting it head-on as {Force} made up the difference in strength!

BAM!

The moment Vitality exploded between their fists, it blew them apart.

The two were sent skidding back, their heels kicking up dust and small debris. Obviously being much heavier, the Soldier fell back a shorter distance compared to Hilda.

Though...

"Hahaha!"

It didn’t make much of a difference.

Ignoring the numbness and slight pain in her arm, Hilda laughed gleefully. "Such rush! Such adrenaline! It’s been ages since I’ve felt such a way! Come on, let’s keep this dance going!"

Almost as if it reciprocated her feeling, the Soldier let out a thunderous roar. "ROAHHHHHHHR!"

She watched as it ran on all fours before leaping into the air — its hands clasped together over its head as it prepared for a downward slam.

Hilda kicked up a stray sword that was lying near her feet before rolling out of the way.

BOOM!

As the two fought, everyone along the quayside was left in awe at Hilda’s extraordinary might and skills. Their eyes were fixed on the intense battle taking place away from them.

"S-so strong...!"

"She’s able to take on the Predicament all on her own!"

"Why had the military sent someone so strong to be part of this exam!?"

Callum, who was situated nearby, pumped his fist internally. ’Isn’t it obvious? It’s because she was sent here to be our protector!’

How could someone with such a role possibly be weak?

Hilda watched as the Soldier leapt into the air again and quickly rolled out of the way.

BOOM!

Once the Soldier landed, Hilda hurriedly scrambled to her feet, then rushed in and pounced into the air.

Just as she neared the Predicament, she swung the sword.

SWISH.

In response, the Soldier swiftly flicked its hand.

SHATTER!

Upon collision, the sword, even when imbued, was instantly shattered.

After backhanding and shattering the blade, the Soldier’s hand kept going — quickly nearing Hilda’s face.

Right as the woman was about to be hit, she hurriedly bent all the way back.

SWOOSH.

The harsh wind brushed against her face, the tip of her nose scraping against the side of the monster’s hand.

After narrowly avoiding that attack, she bent her knees and pressed the heels against her rear. By doing this, she was able to begin sliding when she hit the ground — headed straight for the gap between the Soldier’s legs.

Skrrr...!

After sliding through it, Hilda quickly scrambled to her feet.

She then stomped against the ground, causing a small explosion of Vitality to erupt beneath her foot, which launched her 7 metres into the air; exactly one metre taller than the Predicament.

Once the Soldier realised she was behind, it immediately spun around and swung the back of its arm to swat her out of the air.

Seeing this, Hilda quickly reacted. She twisted her body mid-air and rolled over the swing.

After that, she hastily adjusted herself in the air, then landed a powerful kick against the side of the monster’s head.

POW!

’{Force}!’

The blow shook the Soldier’s brain.

Nadia had an astonished look as she saw the hulking fiend stumble. Her lips were slightly parted in awe, and she couldn’t help but be amazed by Hilda’s strength.

She gulped heavily. ’Amazing...’

How was the woman so strong? And what was up with the ominous aura wrapped around her? Did it have something to do with her being able to go toe-to-toe with the Soldier?

These unanswered questions swirled through her mind, and through the minds of others around her.

Everyone... except Seraphine, who had adopted a thoughtful expression.

’Hilda’s Relic...’

Relic was a term used to describe an item possessed by a Spirit. And because of that, they had names, just like people.

Ross’ Relic, the bone mask, was named Suvai Muerte, or more accurately, Suvai da Muerte, made in the mystical language of Spirits, Aruvés. When translated to modern English, it meant "Submit to Death."

Nadia’s Relic, the silver longsword, was no different. Its name was Lucha con Voluntad, or more simply, Lucha Voluntad. And in modern English, it meant "Fight with Resolve."

Hilda’s Relic, though... Hilda’s Relic took on the form of a pair of black latex gloves. Its name was Batalla da Occidere, or more elegantly, Batalla Occidere, which, when translated into modern English, meant...

CLANG!

"Battle to Kill."

Hilda clashed with the Soldier with a rusty metal pole, their collision resounding with an echoing ring. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to withstand the clash and bent.

When faced with this, Hilda quickly discarded it before moving on. The aura that enveloped her was still as dense, and the grin she wore was as terrifyingly broad.

Hilda’s Relic didn’t have the ability to control the dead, like Ross’ did; neither did it have the ability to generate burning hot energy that could be used as projectiles, like Nadia’s.

Instead, it had the ability to envelop the wearer in their own Killing Intent as a dark-red aura.

The aura provided several advantages, with the most important aspect being that it was able to boost all of its wearer’s physical stats in proportion to their Killing Intent.

Simply put, the more strongly Hilda wanted to kill, the denser her aura became, which, in turn, made her even stronger.

It was a powerful Relic, but its only downside was that its cost, Purpose, required genuine killing intent from the wearer to a certain extent, or else it wouldn’t take effect. And it was a price...

BOOM.

... That couldn’t be faked.

The Soldier crashed back into the ground again and created a large cloud of dust.

Hilda, who now wielded both a sword and a spear, lunged at the Predicament.

CLANG! CLING! CLANG!

She clashed with the Predicament several times, carving at its armour and even cutting into its flesh. Whenever her weapons broke, she would quickly switch to another found on the ground.

By now, she had taken its eyes a dozen times, its hands a few. Unfortunately, the Soldier always regrew them a few dozen seconds later.

However.

That didn’t mean she hadn’t taken any damage herself.

Hilda was blown back by a blow, sent flying through the air before landing. She then coughed out blood.

When she eventually recovered, she raised her head and found the Soldier was already upon her.

She dashed back, narrowly dodging the blow, which struck the ground — creating a giant cloud of dust and debris.

BOOM.

Hilda then shifted into a cartwheel, chased by the tidal wave of dust and debris that rolled violently in her direction. It was continuously growing in speed and size.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

She was soon chased out of the ruins of the collapsed warehouse and into an area of damaged brick buildings.

With a strong push against the ground, she flew into the air and landed on top of a roof. And without wasting time, she quickly began to run.

The Soldier, hidden inside the tidal wave of dust, bursted out before rushing toward the building like a bulldozer.

The doors were quickly smashed open, and the walls began to collapse. In seconds, the building was torn down. A few minutes later, the entire area was flattened.

"Come on, you can do it!"

"Yeah, kick its ass!"

Watching the destruction happening from afar, people began to cheer for Hilda; all of their resentment and dislike toward the woman was now clear from their minds.

But there were a few who couldn’t find the urge to cheer.

"She can’t keep this up for long," Ross muttered grimly.

Hearing Ross’ analysis, Nadia nodded with dread, gripping the hem of her shirt.

Everyone knew Predicaments thrived in long-term battles because of their heightened adaptability and insane regeneration.

Even if Hilda was strong, her injuries would eventually accumulate, and she would inevitably exhaust her Vitality! And it was obvious that she wasn’t exactly at the peak of her condition when she first came here.

Nadia gritted her teeth as she forced herself to her feet, much to the concern of those around her. ’I can’t sit around and do nothing!’ She thought, putting one foot after the other and walking.

She needed to help her somehow, but how could she? Especially in the state she was in?

The moment she reached the edge of the collapsed warehouse, her foot managed to catch on something.

Something...

’That’s—!’

Something that caused her to freeze in place and her eyes to light up with realisation. ’I got it!’

She finally found her answer!