Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 16

Chapter 16Side Job Commencement

Sarah clenched her fist and thumped her chest once as she spoke.

"Call me Doctor Sarah. I hold a PhD in Economics from Petric University of the Aylan Republic."

"My goodness, did you threaten your thesis advisor that you’d crush their skull like a walnut if they didn’t give you the doctorate?"ook it head-on.”

“I’m usually a pretty astonishing person. Lots of secrets, very charming.”

The enormous hammer suddenly lifted off Kairus. Their gazes locked.

Sarah’s face was twisted like that of a demon crawling up from the depths of hell.

Kairus clenched his molars, glaring back with eyes that looked ready to spark into flame.

“I’ll mash you up just like the boss’s special stew!”

The massive hammer came crashing down. Cecilia’s brow twitched for a moment, but neither Kairus nor Sarah had any attention to spare for her.

Sword and hammer collided again. Even after batting the sword aside, the hammer retained enough momentum to keep crashing down toward Kairus’s head.

Before the hammer fell on him, Kairus swung his rebounding sword again.

“Faster.”

Again, and again. If the hammer retained its force even after knocking his blade away, leaving it still pressing in, there was only one thing Kairus could do.

Swing again. As many times as it took for the hammer to stop.

“Just a little more. You can keep going.”

If the massive swinging hammer was like an ancient, towering tree, then the sword Kairus wielded was the axe relentlessly chopping at it to bring it down.

…

Once more, sword and hammer collided and froze midair. Before the hammer halted, Kairus had needed to swing five strikes.

Sarah kept swinging her hammer. Kairus kept striking at it over and over.

To stop a single mighty blow, he delivered five swift attacks, which spread through the air like an umbrella of steel.

“You lunatic. If you’re going to do that, why not just dodge!”

Sarah spat out the words with an incredulous expression. If he could swing that many times for each of her blows, it meant he could have evaded instead.

“Killing you isn’t the goal.”

Kairus’s objective was to prove himself.