Chapter 62 - The God-Wedge Sword-King that Enshrines the Gods, The Scales of the Chant that Celebrate the World, Part Six
First, a basic premise: I don't have any real offensive skills.
The only one worth mentioning is the throwing skill Piercing Dart, but all it does is increase the speed and accuracy of a thrown weapon with a 'point,' plus a little penetration. In other words, it's more of an on-demand support skill, a far cry from a flashy, decisive finishing blow.
This is all because my beloved All-Weapon Aptitude tree, as if it had dumped all its resources into the god-tier skill Quick Change, suffers from the massive flaw of rarely ever sprouting any attack skills. But even so, there are ways around it.
"Don't bite your tongue!"
"A little late for that!"
With Sora held firmly in my arms, I kicked off with enough force to shatter the floor. I wasn't heading toward [Angalta], who had started moving at the same time, but in a circular path around it.
The moment I pushed off, I activated Featherfoot. The boosted jump killed my initial sluggishness, and thanks to the effect of Escort's Swift Feet, which nullified the weight of the avatar in my arms, my legs accelerated instantly.
"It's not like I forgot about you—it's your time to shine, [Boar's Heart]!"
If I maintained top speed while keeping a certain distance, [Angalta] wouldn't be able to catch me. It quickly gave up on chasing me relentlessly, instead dropping into a low stance to intercept me. As I circled it again and again, [Boar's Heart] finally activated.
I'd run about five hundred meters without losing my top speed. This skill, which required such a long run-up, was actually quite difficult to use, having become a dead card in my hand with no real application beyond a single strike after closing in on a distant enemy.
However, in a situation where I craved even the slightest bit more power in my strikes, I couldn't afford to leave a single card unplayed. A faint blue wind-cutting effect enveloped us, signaling that charge preparations were complete.
"You ready?!"
"Always!"
No more words were needed. We were both running on a hundred percent desperation, but with smiles, we exchanged one final word each as our starting gun. I activated [Floating Leaf]. Using my feet to kick off at a different angle, I forcibly changed my vector and charged toward the waiting [Angalta].
The hyper-acceleration from the kickoff would have been blinding to the naked eye. The trivial distance of a few dozen meters was devoured in an instant, and the iron giant, still showing no signs of weakness, loomed before me.
The first move was—[Angalta]'s!!
"—I'll go!"
What was there to worry about now? As the giant knight raised its greatsword, I unhesitatingly released Sora from my arms in response.
Using me as a catapult—and launching one of her sand swords at her feet—the girl who flew ahead into the air charged head-on at the massive sword that followed her.
"Eee—yaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"
It was her fiercest battle cry yet. She swung the last sword she held with both hands, pouring her entire soul into the blow.
The impact of her sword slamming into the flat of the greatsword sent Sora's body careening sideways. But it didn't stop there; the immense shock sent her small form flying back violently.
And the result of her efforts was—
"—Go!!"
"—I got it!"
As I passed the greatsword, now slightly off-course thanks to her, I caught her last sand sword—her sheer willpower—in my right hand, while my left hand gripped the [White-Flawed Straight Sword] with all its might.
So what if all this only does chip damage? Like I care!
I kicked off the hilt of the greatsword that had just rushed past me. My body spun violently, my vision blurring into a single line, but thanks to [Floating Leaf], instead of losing speed, I continued to accelerate. Hey, you armored bastard. This was so damn fun. We basically won, right?!
"Drop… dead, you bastard!!"
With the momentum of my acceleration, the centrifugal and torsional forces, and every last bit of accomplishment, fatigue, gratitude, and resentment from this hellish battle, our last attack resoundingly slapped [Angalta]'s face—
◇◆◇◆◇
And so, it was a whim.
Or perhaps, affection. Or perhaps, love.
Or maybe, it was a gift of praise and gratitude to those who had entertained her so thoroughly.
"This is no fun at all."
She simply followed her own feelings.
"The hero and heroine simply must have a spectacular victory."
And she toyed with the very logic of the world.
◇◆◇◆◇
An earth-shattering roar, a violent impact, and then—pulverization.
"Wh-what…!?"
My twin swords, swung in a single breath, had shattered the knight's helmet—a piece of armor I hadn't been able to scratch before—as if it were nothing. My thoughts froze at the incomprehensible sight.
The feedback that traveled up my arms, which had been braced for the recoil, was as trivial as striking thin glass. My body, which should have been caught in a fatal mid-air stagger, was thrown off by the unexpected lack of resistance, overshooting its momentum and hurtling through the shattered fragments of the helmet.
"—!"
I didn't know what, but something had happened.
Which meant I couldn't just fall to my death in a daze.
Within the stretched-out time of my perception, pulled along by my body's speed, I searched for something… I instinctively looked for my partner, who had fallen just before me—and found her.
[Quick Change]—I forced my body, still carrying the momentum of its spin, to obey and summoned the battle-axe, its blade completely destroyed and now just a 'stick,' as a foothold. I rushed toward the girl who was falling helplessly to the floor.
"Sora!"
"Y-yes!"
I brandished the sand weapon she had left in my hand and called out to her, and she understood instantly. Sora released the sand sword, and I caught her avatar. The magic sword, now back under its master's control, flew to my feet and became a platform.
"Guh…!"
At that moment, a pained voice came from my arms. Judging by the feeling of the footing sinking, it seemed even a magic sword couldn't support the weight of two avatars. I used it as a cushion and hastily jumped to the floor. The last magic sword, which had served us for our final attack, vanished into thin air as if its duty was done.
"What in the world is…"
With Sora, we both looked up at the now-headless [Angalta]—and up there, the situation continued to change on its own.
"Cracks…?"
Sora muttered the word that came to mind, a dazed question mark attached.
The giant knight stood motionless in the posture it had taken after its helmet was shattered and it had stepped back. No, it was moving. As if its movements were being restrained by something, its massive body was shuddering and creaking.
And all over its body, countless cracks were spreading. From its headless neck down to the tips of its sabatons, strange white cracks were glowing faintly.
"…No."
The word that escaped my mouth was almost unconscious. But several 'scars' that had stuck in my mind during the fierce battle brought me a revelation, like a sudden epiphany.
"Those are scars."
I set Sora down on the floor and summoned the only weapon I had left, my straight sword, into my empty hand.
"…Was that sword glowing like that before?"
Within the dull gray blade of the [White-Flawed Straight Sword], only the white-dyed point was pulsing with a faint light. And that white light was synchronizing with the cracks etched all over [Angalta]'s body—the light emitted by the traces of sword slashes carved by an [Anima].
"Come to think of it, Haru-san, what kind of ability does your [Anima] have…?"
"Simply put, it accelerates when I throw it."
"Huh…"
It wasn't that I was hiding it or trying to be dramatic, but I'd missed the timing to share the characteristics of my [Anima] until now. Sora, who let out a noncommittal sound and contorted her face in confusion, probably had a similar expression to mine.
The [White-Flawed Straight Sword]—my beloved Anima—while not possessing the complete uniqueness of Sora's [Cradle of Sword-Craft], does have a rather rare property.
That property is, to be blunt, the possession of an attack skill. Unlike the many pieces of equipment with support skills, this sword is a rare weapon that holds a special move within it.
While such equipment is rare, it does exist. However, they are generally high-rarity and high-performance items, and when it comes to an [Anima], they are even rarer.
This thing, equipped with an attack skill from its very initial stage, could actually be considered a semi-unique item—but it was obvious that had nothing to do with what was happening now.
"What is this… What's the right move…!"
Everything on the battlefield had come to a sudden halt, but neither the creaking [Angalta], trying to escape its mysterious white restraints, nor Sora and I, who were watching it, were just standing around idly chatting.
Feeling an unexpected extension to the battle that I thought would end in our defeat, I desperately propped up my collapsing legs and forced my brain to work, thinking, "This isn't how it's supposed to go."
Even in those few seconds, the situation didn't stop changing. The glowing scars on the giant knight's body continued to flicker, and the [White-Flawed Straight Sword] in my hand began to emit a faint heat, its glowing point pulsing as if it had a life of its own.
And then—th-then? Ah…
"…"
"Um, I think…"
"Ah, no, yeah. I think I get it too."
It was a scene that made me imagine the system's voice saying, "Oh, come on, you're so slow. Will you get it if I do this?"
The countless scars connected like cracks, and at the very center of [Angalta]'s chest, a large, conspicuous sword wound began to shine with a particularly strong light.
It was as if it were saying, "Here you go, feel free to deliver the finishing blow."
"…"
At the sudden and incomprehensible turn of events at the end of our deathmatch, we couldn't help but look at each other. But after somehow reading each other's thoughts from our exhausted faces, we simply exchanged bitter smiles and nodded.
In other words—whatever, let's just end this and go home.
"…Alright then, I suppose it's time for the grand finale."
It seemed I was the one being nominated. With Sora having already sat down to be my audience, I swallowed my indescribable mood and got to work on the final task.
No matter what happened, I couldn't do anything more. I suppose I could muster up the energy for one last encore strike.
"The stage is all yours, partner—'Awaken, White Eye.'"
The activation key word. I raised the [White-Flawed Straight Sword] straight up. It shone with a particularly strong light, and the 'white' of the point rushed toward the hilt as if it were consuming the blade.
"'Reflecting world, shifting world.'"
I spun the hilt in my hand into a reverse grip and pulled my right hand back as far as it would go.
"'Bind the boundless sky'—[Éclair]!!"
It was a finishing blow crowned with the meaning of lightning, the last throw into which I poured all my remaining strength. The released white sword was clad in the brilliant light effect that marked it as an attack skill, and as if a rocket booster had ignited, it tore through the air and accelerated during its flight.
The distance to [Angalta] was just under twenty meters. The true potential of this skill, which grows in power with flight distance, wouldn't be demonstrated in the slightest—but perhaps power was never needed in the first place.
Like a key and a keyhole. The white lightning was sucked into the sword wound on its chest without a millimeter of deviation… and at that moment, the giant knight's body, covered in cracks, began to glow intensely.
"Whoa, Sora…!"
"Eek…!?"
Sensing an explosive ending, I instinctively shielded Sora—but in the end, it was unnecessary.
Contrary to my expectations, [Angalta], which had avoided a grand explosive finale, fell to its knees with a ground-shaking thud. The giant knight, having lost its head, been consumed by its wounds, and stripped of its dignity, began to crumble from its edges inward.
"Uh, um…"
"Yeah, uh, sorry…"
My quick act of devotion having been for nothing, my current position, covering a young girl, was undeniably that of a pervert. A crime, in fact. Guilty.
Still, Sora's forgiveness, merely averting her gaze in embarrassment, was a testament to her generosity. Even though we had grown accustomed to each other through various events, I had to remind myself that one wrong step could have gotten me reported.
"It really looks like… it's over, doesn't it?"
Sora murmured as I hastily jumped back and helped her up. The [White-Flawed Straight Sword], which had delivered the finishing blow, fell from the giant's now-dematerialized body, clattering lightly as it hit the floor. The next moment, it vanished without any effect.
In the corner of my vision, a notification for the storage of my beloved sword in my inventory appeared—the automatic return effect of [Éclair]. The convenience of pseudo-ranged storage using Quick Change generally doesn't apply to this skill, which is premised on a long throw.
That useful function actually has a range of less than ten meters, so if you throw it further than that or accidentally mess up the storage operation, you have to run and pick it up—but I digress.
"It's over… That said, though."
How should I put it? This feeling of being railroaded.
I didn't have to think hard to know. This outcome was definitely not the intended, legitimate path.
There are countless game battles that wrap up neatly with an event sequence for the final blow… but even so, there was no way this god-tier game would stage such an abrupt, anticlimactic, and shoddy conclusion.
Besides, [Angalta] still had more than half its strength left. It was far too early for an easy quick-time event finisher.
And most importantly—
"…The battle completion notification isn't showing up."
Right. The system message confirming the subjugation, which always appeared after a boss fight, was absent. Naturally, there were no notifications for skill acquisition, growth, or title achievements either.
There were no drop items, of course, and no signs of any experience points coming in.
And yet, the large doors that had been sealed since the start of the battle showed no signs of opening. No transfer gate appeared, nor was there any indication of an automatic teleport.
"Wait, are we stuck…?"
Currently, we had no means of returning on our own other than using an established transfer gate. As I tilted my head, wondering if this was a GM-call situation, I noticed Sora summoning her system window and operating it.
The display wasn't visible, but I could roughly tell what she was doing from her hand movements. As usual, she was checking the logout procedure to see if this was a safe zone.
"Sora, how's it look?"
"Mm… No good. The warning message is—"
It was at that very moment.
"Whoa…!?"
"Hyeah!?"
A fanfare rang out without warning, making us both jump in surprise. It was the victory anthem for defeating a boss, one we had heard several times before… but the melody was slightly different.
And after the fanfare comes the familiar pattern of—
[White-Flawed Straight Sword] — A sword of scrap iron that has devoured the dregs of the White Throne, one of the world's edges.
Its qualification to stand beside that King is still at the far end of eternity.
[Éclair (White Lightning)] — Upon activation and throwing, accelerates based on the distance to the target.
Final speed and power increase with flight distance.
Upon effect completion, the [White-Flawed Straight Sword] automatically returns to the owner's inventory.