Chapter 551 - A Hero's Tale for You, A Hero's Tale for Another, Part VII
The moment the deep violet sphere of lightning pulsed, the magic orbs fired from the reactivated wall-mounted magic circles all stopped—no, they changed their destination.
Instead of the chaotic barrage I detested from experience, they all shot straight toward a single point. Toward the new spell Ashe had just brought into being.
It was as if they were being drawn in by a star's immense gravity.
"Whoa, what is this—"
"Haru, you don't need to worry about the ones up top. Handle the ones below again."
"O-aheh… I don't get it, but I got it…!"
Her words were concise and perfectly suited to the situation. Honestly, my curiosity was screaming for a detailed explanation right away, but I could more or less figure it out just by looking.
From the incantation I'd overheard a moment ago—'Usurp, for I am the Queen'—it was probably some kind of crazy spell with that exact property.
I see. If I just take care of the magic circles on the floor that are being absorbed, I can ignore the speed-reducing magic orbs for a while. So it wasn't a finishing move, but a defensive one.
Once I knew that, there was only one thing to do.
"Alright, how are we splitting this?!"
"Adapt as we go."
"Couldn't ask for more—ready, set, go!!"
Our minds were perfectly in sync. I released Ashe from my arms and performed a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, heading in the exact opposite direction as I unleashed a flash of my jade blade.
I swung my blade in a surprise attack on Rep-ra Nobody, which had been chasing us with ferocious intensity as we exchanged words and fled—but…
"Tch… Ashe!!"
A swing and a miss; it vanished. The moment the solid black form disappeared from before my eyes, I reflexively shouted a warning, but I had my own problems to deal with. Frantically dodging the lines of fire from the parting shots it had left behind, I glanced over—
Just in time to see the lethal claws swinging at her back as she ran, destroying the magic circles on the floor. For a split second, I started to move in for a desperate follow-up, but as if to stop me…
Her running with her back turned and her sword pointed at the ground had been nothing but a preparatory motion. She must have predicted she'd be targeted, because at the perfect moment, Ashe spun on her heel, her wide-open eyes shining as if to declare, 'I am the one on the attack.'
She spun, and with a flash of her sword's tip, she unleashed—
"[Tempest]."
It was an overwhelming and fatal blast of wind, reminiscent of the [Destruct] I myself had used earlier, perhaps even surpassing it with ease.
The wind, saturated with magic, took on a jade hue. The explosive gale that erupted at the moment of activation seemed powerful enough to push back Rep-ra Nobody… but Ashe, now clad in it, became a queen who commanded not just thunder, but tornadoes as well—
"—Run!"
"Okay, you got it!!"
Her confident gaze met mine, a smile on her face, as if to say she would hold it off this time.
I made my decision in a heartbeat. Without a shred of doubt, a grin spread across my face as I took off at a full sprint, my jade blade, now crackling with magic, in hand.
In the corner of my vision, I saw her, who had previously been a step behind its [Shukuchi], now getting the drop on it and slicing off its shadowy arm as I ran, cutting down every magic circle in my path.
It was only one side of a wide but narrow arena. No matter how many there were, it took me—less than ten seconds—to run through them, scraping them away with the tip of my blade.
I decided that the ones in the central combat zone had probably been destroyed by the shockwaves of the fierce sword fight I'd been hearing and ran around it. I had planned to stop for less than a moment to assess the situation, but when I turned around, I saw it.
"Hey, Princess, what is that…!"
Perhaps due to the wind she was cloaked in, Ashe was now engaged in a true battle of wits with the monstrously-specced Rep-ra Nobody. And above her head, the black-hole-like sphere of purple lightning continued to absorb magic orbs from the intact magic circles on the walls and ceiling, growing at an accelerating rate—
"Tch—Haru!!"
"Shaa, leave it to me!!"
Its appearance seemed to eloquently declare that this was connected to whatever came next.
If that's the case, then what I have to do is obvious.
I activated [Rocket] at one hundred percent output. With a truly full-speed dash, I forced my way into the sword fight between the two monsters and unleashed a flash of my jade blade.
I'd guessed as much from its behavior so far, but it really doesn't seem to like being targeted in the 'head' or 'torso'. It forwent the option of ignoring me and blocked my blade with its 'claws'—
Activating [Exchange Implode]—Pact set: within five seconds!
I dismissed the [Samidorizuki], simultaneously using [Shot] and deploying my twin shields. Just before the surprise [Alv Stella] could smash its face in, it dodged. I returned the sword to my ring and slipped the [Twaibolt Mirari] onto my arms, using them as knuckles for a two-fisted strike. It blocked with its left and right 'claws'—at which point I dismissed them again, narrowly dodging the twin claws it swung in retaliation, then spun into a spear thrust—dismissed the [Demon Horn Spear: Crimson Valor]—summoned and dismissed the [Gravidon]—summoned and dismissed the [Spinning Shield]—summoned and dismissed the [Giant's Hand Axe]—and then, with a drawing slash of the [Parabellum Bullet, Rabbit Short Sword]…!
"[Reject Sentence]!!"
At long last, I activated my far-too-special skill. The trigger was the [Ruby Rabbit Bullet] musket, a weapon I had tuned up and made forcibly usable by messing with the system.
Zero-range shot. Without misfiring, a reactive warhead was expelled with the shattering of the gun barrel and struck Rep-ra Nobody, which had been methodically parrying my rush.
More accurately, it sensed the magic of the 'target' in close proximity and detonated instantly.
And just like that one time, I slipped through the lethal wave of magic, nullifying the recoil of the shot, and what danced back into my hand as I stood my ground was—
"Kesshiki Itto, Second Strike—"
With an unorthodox two-handed grip—one hand forward on the hilt, the other reverse on the pommel—I brandished the katana, now imbued with a silver light.
The contract was fulfilled: a timed, full-equip of all usable armaments, triggering their attack judgments.
"—[Striking Iron]!!"
The flashing sword strike held more than double the power, with the added bonus of a massive forced knockback effect. The shadow, which had received the blade of the [Samidorizuki] with its prized 'claws' just as before—
'—, ————!!!'
—let out a distorted scream and was sent flying into the distance by a dazzling silver vortex, a horizontal home run.
The ridiculously powerful buff, whose duration depended on the pact's difficulty, wouldn't last ten seconds—I prayed that she would be ready in time.
"Time to play catch…!"
Behind me, as I launched into a charge for what felt like the hundredth time, Ashe, who had swapped places and fallen back, was now opening her eyes, having finished her third incantation. The wind that had been her shield dissipated.
And then,
"'Gather, children of flashing light, for my name is the Thunder Emperor.'"
Following the final 'song,' the laws of magic inscribed a third miracle—a third magic—upon the world.