Chapter 382 - The White Journey Unburdened, Part Six
In a corner of the battlefield, separated by the spatial isolation of the White Throne's third phase, two shadows resisted the monster with bursting flames and a single blade.
Within the field carved out by cliffs of pure white, only three things were moving.
"—…!"
"Tch…! Focus, Hinase! If we go down too, this won't even be a joke!"
Those three were the white clone and the two wielders of the crowns [Peerless] and [Scorching Gaze]. In a place where nine others had been swiftly scattered, they were the last ones standing.
With her back to the white wall, maintaining maximum distance from the white clone, Hinase—the current eighth-ranked member of the Eastern Faction, Istia—looked pale as her eyes tracked and shot down every red projectile in the barrage.
Her concentration wavered, and she let a few slip through… earning a sharp reprimand from Irori, who held the front line alone.
It was impossible to tell her not to blame herself.
Of the eleven people trapped with this clone, ten of them, excluding her, were frontline players. For that reason, they prioritized protecting Hinase, the squad's only artillery—and after a valiant struggle, they had been picked off one by one.
What was truly terrifying was the power of the White… now mixed with Red, transformed into a grotesque Vermilion form.
Irori, who could mitigate some of the damage with the power of his Anima, was somehow holding on, but those red tentacles had pierced straight through the shield of a defending warrior.
They were fragile masses of power, easily cut by a sweeping blade. But if one were to take a direct hit, they became a multitude of spears specialized in destruction, capable of easily piercing through any defense.
It was, in a way, a mirror image of Hinase's own style of unilaterally incinerating her foes… which was precisely why the fact that she had been overpowered and unable to protect her allies was so unbearably frustrating.
Thanks to the incredible resilience of her junior, who was fighting without being able to use his trump card, they were managing to land some counterattacks, albeit gradually.
However, the combination was simply too poor. It wasn't just that that vermilion thing was a bad matchup for them… there was a much more fundamental problem.
Simply put—the compatibility between Hinase and Irori was abysmal.
Fire and ice. Their opposing attributes canceled each other out, making it impossible for them to fight side-by-side.
Hinase had no other choice but to wield her flames… which inevitably meant Irori's trump card was sealed during its cooldown period, and he was forced to fight with even further restrictions.
And to make matters worse, the heat that unavoidably filled the battlefield was already beginning to make it difficult for him to even maintain his defensive [Bushin] barrier.
If they had a connecting support player, or if both of them had been at full strength, things might have been different… but as it stood, proper coordination in a one-on-one situation was impossible.
Each of them shot down the barrage aimed at them, and each of them struck the main body whenever an opening appeared. It was, by all accounts, an incredibly inefficient state of affairs.
Without the support of a healer, a prolonged battle seemed hopeless.
"…This is the limit, I suppose."
Beads of sweat trickled down her cheek as Hinase continued to shoot down the approaching red projectiles with her eyes, muttering to herself.
'If we go down too, this won't even be a joke.'—He was right.
But no matter how she struggled, it was a dead end. A long-range artillery unit that outpaced her own rate of fire was, more so than even a close-quarters warrior, Hinase's greatest weakness.
Like, for example, the Eastern Wings who had surpassed her—she didn't have any cards that could forcefully break through such an opponent head-on.
"…"
Unfortunately, she only had one.
"Irori-kun!"
"Tch, what—"
In a fleeting gap, the young man turned for just an instant, and his gaze met Hinase's. No matter how incompatible their fighting styles were… they had been comrades on the battlefield for a year and a half.
Connecting their thoughts was a simple matter.
"Da, mnit…!"
With an uncharacteristic curse, Irori immediately turned on his heel.
Activating [Extended Step], he poured power into his unbalanced strength status and dodged through the rain of tentacles pouring down on him—
He slipped past the vermilion giant's body and, in an instant, was outside its sensory range.
Without a hint of confusion, hesitation, or even a verbal reply, he took it all in with a single curse and acted. Witnessing his ever-swift judgment…
"[Eyes of Catastrophe, These Eyes Desire Ashes]."
A crown of the Fire King manifested above the head of the lady cloaked in her dress and explosions, as if forged from compressed flames—it emitted a dazzling light.
The twin pistols she held in her hands had vanished at some point, and in their place, a small flame now dwelled on her left index finger. She aimed it, like a hand-gun, at the enemy that must be annihilated.
"Your 'Red' versus my 'Flame'… shall we decide which is hotter?"
Instantly, with [Peerless] having vanished from her sight, all of the vermilion monster's hostility turned toward the crimson flame shining directly in front of it.
—
"[Ars Nova]…!"
And then, after a single beat.
Of the two facing each other, only one fired a 'bullet'.
The countless red projectiles fired in search of the small body before them were all sliced to ribbons, melting away into the void.
Hinase—wearing her crown, the fire still lit on her fingertip—stared with wide, dumbfounded eyes.
"—Ngh… huff… haah…! Um, that, well, you see…!"
Her gaze was fixed in astonishment on the back of her junior, who was leaning on his knees with two crimson swords in his hands, his loose hair swaying as his shoulders heaved dramatically.
"Phew… Last time I messed things up and didn't look very cool, so let's go for a take two. How about some reinforcements, Hinase-san?"
His weary profile spoke volumes of the considerable hardship he had endured to get here.
"…Yes, you're most welcome, Haru-kun."
Blowing out the desperate fire on her fingertip, [Scorching Gaze] took up the twin pistols that formed from the dissipating phosphorescence, her usual smile returning as she hummed happily.
Seeing his smile as he turned around, she was utterly convinced.
"This time, shall we dance together?"
Ah, yes— she thought, it's no wonder the Princess won't leave him alone.
If Irori-kun had been at full power, the original members could have wrecked it. Unfortunate. A moment of silence for the nine brave warriors who fell (including a certain light warrior who became a beehive).