I Only Summon Villainesses

I didn’t know what the story was about, but one thing was for sure. The creature that had spread its stench across the entire cavern had gotten to Light.

’What luck!’

I observed him from afar.

He looked alright in a visual sense. Someone who didn’t know him probably wouldn’t see any difference. But this bastard had a habit of getting on my trail, willingly or unwillingly, and because of that, I had observed a few things about him.

Such as his impeccably clean aesthetic.

If he rolled across the ground because of a battle, the first thing he always bothered to do after getting back on his feet was try to clean himself off somehow.

It wasn’t obsessive enough to interrupt his fighting. Or maybe it was obsessive, but he simply knew how to keep it from becoming a problem when he was fighting.

Still, right now, Light looked like he had rolled around in dirt and was completely unbothered by it.

With the little I knew of him, that was deeply unsettling.

And his wyvern was nowhere to be found.

There were several reasons that could explain that. I also had to consider the fact that he could be dead.

But the most important thing was knowing that I had to fight this bastard, and I had to win.

’Can I kill him? I want to kill him!’

At the same time...

’He had a few opportunities to kill me... and he didn’t.’

There were times when, despite how different Light and I were, he had tried to have a conversation with me. Even though it was always the wrong place and time, and he persisted in being a thorn in my back.

’Hell, I’m killing him if that is the only way to save him. I don’t care!’

I held Wren and positioned myself, settling my heart.

I stilled every raging thought. I had nothing to depend on at a time like this except the one thing that Kassie had beaten into me for the past year, so to say.

And I was fortunate that I had the Death Sense.

’If I can incorporate it into my combat style...’

I had an idea, something that would afford me the luxury of predictability. And my mind was telling me that it was possible.

Of course, I had Tactical Omniscience to thank for the fact that I could recognize it as something possible, or at least recognize the idea of it.

’Lock in, Cade.’

I whispered to myself and held my sword carefully, dagger in one hand. I tried not to trust my eyes, or my senses in general.

The one sense I allowed my body and gut to trust was...

Death Sense.

And it came.

Even sharper this time, like a vicious signal ringing inside my head.

The moment it came was when Death Sense spiked a signal in my hand. And when all my other senses were waiting for that one moment, the rest of my body paid attention to it in a way that surprised even me.

He came with a burst of motion, something I had only seen Kassie deal with before, and I had wondered if I could ever deal with it the way she did.

But it wasn’t that his speed was any slower.

In fact, the bastard seemed to have grown faster.

But when my sword moved, it went directly where he was coming to meet me, so I never had to struggle.

I parried his attack, feeling a large force travel up my arms. The impact tried to push me back, but I held my ground.

In that brief opening, I yanked the dagger out.

He was out of position and didn’t see it coming.

When he did, though, his reflexes were insane.

He tore himself away from me, and because of that, the dagger only scraped across his cheek when it should have gone deep into his neck.

I grinned with satisfaction, watching him.

Even as a zombie, he had a look of shock on his face that was very satisfying for me to see.

I don’t think I had ever seen my enemy make such a face.

He was sweating all over his face, and fear and shock were written across his features.

And he hesitated.

I didn’t go to meet him, though.

The element of prediction was lost the moment I started flying in and attacking like a homeless brute that had learned the art of brawling by getting beaten for the past five years.

’Why does that sound like an alternate description for me?’

It was certainly not me.

I was not homeless, and I was not getting beaten!

Finally, he came again.

I didn’t rush it.

I paid attention to the Death Sense, and it came.

This time, he was even smarter.

He darted across the distance, deleting it in mere seconds, and brought his sword in a diagonal arc, only to stop it halfway and throw his legs toward me.

But when he threw the sword arc, Death Sense didn’t activate.

And because I was not committing my eyes to anything, the only thing I worried about was that screeching signal and how my body responded to it.

So when it came, I didn’t move my sword hand.

Instead, when his legs moved, my dagger was already closer to his leg. My hand hurried out and stabbed right into his knee, striking it down.

His leg buckled, and he staggered back, limping on one leg.

He looked at me, the fear on his face now becoming even more apparent.

I raised my chin and shook my head, clicking my tongue at the same time.

”Hey, come on, come on. That look does not fit the Light that I know. Don’t tell me all it took to make you pee your pants was just two strikes where it hurts.”

He was looking at me like I was some vicious monster that ate the weenies of men.

’There’s no way I’ll ever stoop so low!’

I took one step forward.

He took one backward.

I paused, studied him, and then shot forward.

In the same breath, something detonated from the wall of the cave, crashed through it, and slammed into me.