Chapter 542 - A Hero's Tale for You, A Hero's Tale for Someone Else - Part One
The moment we dashed forward, we vanished from each other's sight.
Partly because we were simply following one of the opening patterns we had anticipated, immediately splitting left and right.
Partly because we were honoring our promise to 'act as if the other will survive, even without support,' and thus didn't look back.
And most of all, because an overwhelming number of magic circles deployed across the entire arena, unleashing a merciless, simultaneous barrage of "orbs."
A hundred? A thousand? Black-purple 'turrets' covered every inch of the scenery—not just the walls, but the floor and ceiling as well. The black-purple magic bullets they spat out were the nine-tailed fox's number one anti-Haru measure.
A barrage of slow-moving, basketball-sized bullets scattered randomly and without limit. The on-contact effect wasn't instant death—but a debuff that limited my maximum speed.
In other words, it wasn't instant death, but it was basically instant death.
I have a mountain of personal complaints, like how it's so unfair that the boss can just float through them unharmed, or how the debuff that gradually kills your speed based on the number of hits is just in terrible taste, but—
—"Behold the earth, the eye is there!"
When a malicious mage casts a malicious spell, you just have to delete it with a holy sword.
"Behold the sky, the eye is there!"
My right hand was occupied with the sheathed [Parabellum], I was chanting, running, and swinging my sword—I was already in a frenzy just five seconds into the fight, but if I didn't push myself, I'd just die. No two ways about it.
I quickly left the floor, which had become a grotesque mess of geometric patterns, and used the countless floating rocks that had been conveniently placed as if to say, "Here, use these," as footholds, slicing through the magic bullets that came straight for me one after another.
Ever since the Four Pillar War, I'd felt the need to learn about magic and had prioritized studying it. Simply put, Arcadia is the type of game where 'you can cut magic with a sword,' so it's still merciful.
But that comes with the footnote that it's limited to magic swords. Anyway—
"Defeat, downfall, loss— of heart, decay… but still quickening—wha?!"
Even if my enchanted sword could intercept the attacks, if that was all it took, I would have been able to last for a little while on my own.
Which means the reason I had to give up so quickly was…
"…The Flame of Submission!"
…the absolutely insane volume of bullets, enough to make me snap just a few seconds into the fight.
Seriously, I CAN'T SEE A DAMN THING IN FRONT OF ME, YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!
"Hmph—!!"
Trial First-Sword… the water one. In a fixed position, I continuously activated [Matoi] while spinning. The otherworldly centrifugal force from the ridiculously high-speed rotation extended the blade of water on my sword, turning it into a flash of light that mowed down the surrounding magic orbs.
"—…Worship and revere, fear and kneel!"
Well now, while I'm over here re-enacting my solo run with a desperate, all-out effort from the start… I wonder what kind of face she's making on the other side of this arena, buried in this tasteless bullet hell?
Is she already humming to herself as she gets the 'job' done?
Is she swinging her sword with her usual blank expression, looking like she's having fun?
Or perhaps, is she dealing with the bullet hell with one hand while worrying about me—wait, I can't even imagine her struggling in the slightest.
Heh, that's reassuring. Very reassuring.
"The gaze of the red circle never fades."
My warm-up is over, too—I'm coming to pay you a visit right now!
"Wake up—[Rabbit Rapid]!"
An oath, a contract, to never stop my legs.
The power it grants is to go… further ahead.
—Alright.
I took one second.
Set trajectory, set movement, ready—
"Let's go."
—Bang.
From one floating rock to the next, I drew lines, severing countless demons with each connection.
Laughing at the 'sensation of not even being sure how I'm moving,' a feeling that had come full circle to feel just right, I carved through the kill zone that was buried in magic orbs as if they were eraser shavings.
One step, faster.
One step, even faster.
One step, faster still, to anywhere and everywhere.
With my limitless, blue-sky rabbit legs and a magic sword in hand, I crisscrossed the battlefield. I trampled the 'speed-killing orbs' that could truly be called my nemesis, all while storing even more demonic brilliance in my treasured sword.
…But that alone was futile. To change this hellscape that made me want to ask, "What game is this, anyway?" another action was essential.
And so, knowing full well that this next move would awaken an even greater hell, I—
"First one."
The instant I set foot on the floor for the first time in a while and swung my [Alv Stella] without hesitation, shattering a black-purple magic circle, a sound of death landed right behind me in the next step.
I know, I know. I know that if I break a magic circle, the main body gets pissed and fires some kind of super-fast, super-thick destruction beam. I know because I got vaporized by it a dozen times, dammit!
"Just keep firing as long as you can—from here on, you're working overtime too, let's go!"
Putting aside my tongue, which was running wild with 10% frustration and 90% hype, I found I had enough leeway to listen carefully a moment after successfully activating [Rapid]. While scattering the endlessly spammed magic orbs and destroying magic circles one after another, I desperately fled from the thick beam—the kind you often see in anime—that was chasing me, while trying to discern the situation on the other side by sound.
Hmm, hmm… ah, ah… I see. It seems she's already going even harder than I am over there, and the boss is absolutely livid… Heh, as expected.
Well then—I guess we'll call the playful opening act done…!
Progress on destroying the magic circles is about 40%. They'll just regenerate over time anyway, so there's no point in cleaning them up from end to end.
As long as the total number of bullets is temporarily reduced, and a path to hit the boss is secured—
"—Ashe!"
—there was absolutely zero reason to hesitate with my attack call.
In that instant, as if in response to my voice, or perhaps because she had anticipated it, the [Sword Queen]-sama, who I knew was perfectly fine both on her status bar in the top left of my vision and in my trust, sent back her reply.
With her voice?
No, of course—with her sword.
A streak of 'blue' shot through the black-purple chaos that filled the battlefield like a swirling vortex or wave. Like a meteor, it crashed into the [Black Stain That Slays All] at godspeed, giving it no chance to react.
It seems it was only thinking of this as a 'prelude.' The master of shadows, who had been sitting smugly in the center of the arena since the start, showed a reaction of anger, or surprise, or something—
"[Fort Rouge (Vivid Red)]!"
As if to say she had no interest in such things, she changed colors, and her sword began to glow with a golden light.
"[Perfect—"
Her left hand on its throat, her right on her sword. Without letting go of either her prey or her weapon, the princess drove her blade deep into the 'Shadow' and—
"—Espada]…!"
—with a level of killing intent that was new even to me, with a skill I was seeing for the first time, she slammed home a blow that could only be called a certain-kill, a finisher.
—And don't you think that's the end of it.
Sent flying by a mysterious skill that cut further even after the blade was buried deep.
The instant our gazes met—though it's a mystery if it even has eyes—and the [Black Stain That Slays All] showed signs of baring its fangs, it was only natural that my take-back was already complete.
That was the plan, after all. I got the 'pass' from Ashe!
"[Enrei—"
—, ————
"—Kagura]!"
Unleashed from its sheath, a great sword of null-speed, zero-heat brilliance seared its trajectory across the air. A horizontal flash, drawn from the unsheathing, struck the flying 'Shadow's' torso squarely… and as if to burn it away.
With an unpleasant, squelching sensation, it bisected the nine-tailed fox, and at the same time—crack.
A shattering sound, one I had heard somewhere before, faintly reached my ears and then vanished.
Warm-up's over.
There are lots of things I want to explain, like the game mechanics of being able to cut magic with a sword or Ashe's mysterious overkill skill, but my temperature is 38.5°C, so I can't.
I'll do it someday.