kscans

Chapter 55 - The Sword-King of the Wedge Enshrines a God, The World Hails the Scales of the Hymn - Part One

Here I go.

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The room is about a hundred meters in diameter. Unlike the rocky passages we've been through, the circular walls, though unadorned, are pristine. The floor is also a smooth, flat surface, so I won't lose my footing.

Along the way, I felt the blessing of `Spectate Ale` fly into my back, a reassuring presence. With ten meters left to `Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King`, standing tall in the center―――pssh, the armor made a sound.

"...Waking up, are we?"

After unconsciously gulping, the voice that naturally escaped my lips was terribly dry.

―――I can feel it, its gaze.

A gaze accompanied by a pressure that weighs down on my body. It reminds me of my encounter with the only `Colored` I know, the 'White' one.

If that grotesque creature was a 'Dragon', then the presence this armor emits is that of a mere 'infant'. That's how much of an otherworldly existence `Tsarkalv of the White Throne` was... but what's not funny is that I feel like I could easily be snapped in two by even this 'infant'.

―――No, it's huge...!!

It was standing straight from the start, but seeing it move as it pulls out the greatsword it had thrust into the ground, its abnormal scale hits my vision with extra force.

Its height alone is more than three times mine. If it were to swing that greatsword with all its might, its reach would be more than five times mine. Facing it like this, I understand all too well that 'size' is an absolute advantage.

And what pushes that colossal frame to an even greater threat is its human-like form. And the intelligence with which it wields its weapon.

"The mobs on the way here were like that, so of course the boss wouldn't be brainless...!"

I had assumed it was a two-handed sword given its size, which easily surpassed my own height, but to `Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King`, it seems to be a one-handed sword. With its right arm alone, it sliced through the air with the greatsword, then settled into a half-body stance―――a true giant armored knight.

It doesn't roar, nor does it pounce... what I can read from its quiet demeanor is nothing less than the reason and intellect it possesses.

"...Well, unfortunately, I don't think I can win, but."

As if to thrust it back at the point of the greatsword aimed at me, I too raise my own beloved sword as high as I can.

"My cute partner is watching, so―――I'm gonna look cool!!"

Hesitation and holding back mean death. As if kicking aside my instinctively cowering legs, I kicked off the ground with the full force of my maxed-out AGI, and,

"―――Huh?"

Right after I pushed off, my vision was filled with a platinum greatsword.

Letting out a foolish voice, I unconsciously quick-changed my beloved sword to a great axe and

"―――――――――――――――Guh-Gah-Guhh!!?!??!"

In my entire life, including reality and virtual reality, this was without a doubt the greatest physical impact I had ever experienced.

The moment I felt something touch my hands as I reflexively supported the great axe, it was as if my body had been obliterated and the very concept of 'impact' had been hammered directly into my brain―――

"Haru-san?!"

That scream-like voice, was it something I truly heard with my ears, or was it a hallucination? I'm not sure, but for now, the only certainties are...

"Guh... Fuh?! Ga... Gha, gack...!!?"

My body, which had come to a stop after being slammed into the wall, and the intense numbness that wracked my entire avatar. My brain must have thrown an error from the sheer impact, as I couldn't stop coughing despite not feeling short of breath. And in the corner of my vision, a red, blinking HP bar apologetically indicated the reality that I had narrowly avoided a one-hit kill.

"―――Haru-san...!!"

As I writhed in a daze, a voice I could now clearly recognize told me of my partner's presence nearby. I turned my flickering vision towards her and saw Sora with an expression of utter anguish.

"Sorry, let's pretend that didn't happen..."

"What are you talking about?!"

Surprised, my coughing stopped, and in my confusion, I blurted out some random words, only to be met with an angry voice―――I'm calming down a bit now.

No, seriously, even I'm thinking, "what am I talking about," but that's not the point right now. Sora-san, you shouldn't be clinging to me on the verge of tears either... we're in the middle of a battle, okay?

"This is not okay!!"

"Wha―――Kyaa!?"

The moment I looked up, I saw the overwhelming threat filling my vision and jumped back, pulling Sora with me. I narrowly escaped the greatsword that was swung with ridiculous speed―――no, there's shrapnel?!?

The rock wall I had my back to a moment ago was spectacularly shattered, and fragments of rock flew at me like a shrapnel grenade.

In a normal game, this wouldn't even be an effect, let alone have a damage calculation. But this game is the god-tier Arcadia―――I know, every single one of these fragments has a hit-box, damn it!!

Leaving my jumbled thoughts behind, I slammed all my available cards on the table—`Floating Leaf`, `Fleetfoot`, `Guardian's Escort`, `Feather Foot`―――and changed my escape route from horizontal to vertical with a force that defied the laws of physics.

I reached the ceiling with the speed of a firework, evading the shrapnel, and then landed―――or rather, ceiling-landed. While giving myself unreserved praise for pulling off such an inhuman maneuver while carrying a person, I kicked off the ceiling and fell in a trajectory away from the monster below. Crap, I didn't think about the landing damage...!!

"―――`Qualia Veil`...!!"

A ninety-nine percent improvised and thoughtless action had led me to a flickering end, but my partner's quick thinking, as she desperately clung to me in my arms, denied it.

`Cradle of Sword-Craft`, which serves as both the core for generating magic swords and a catalyst for casting spells, responded to Sora's declaration and unleashed a green magical light.

An unfamiliar magic (skill) I had never heard of―――before I could even tilt my head in question, a familiar veil of green light appeared in our falling path, revealing its true nature.

It was probably an evolution of her healing magic that had saved me so many times before.

"Instant heal, and, a heal-over-time effect, it is!!"

"Seriously, you're the best!!"

As we fell through the veil, Sora's quick thinking in concisely explaining the effects without waiting for a question, and the healing magic itself, which showed even further improvement from its already excellent performance, earned my applause. I twisted my body, swapping my head and feet, and landed forcefully on the arena floor.

"Sorry, you saved me!!"

"N-No, I―――Haru-san!!"

Sora cut off her words and shouted a warning, but by that point, I had already kicked off the floor and was moving backwards.

What came at me was the blade of a swung-down greatsword. I couldn't tell if the durability was different or if the floor was an indestructible terrain, but unlike the wall, it wasn't pulverized, and no shrapnel flew―――but,

"Guh...!?"

"Ah, guh... ugh!!"

Instead, a deafening sound and a shockwave that easily sent our floating bodies flying swept over us.

I reflexively tried to protect Sora, thinking "I can't let her fall," and couldn't cover my ears. A sharp impact, as if piercing my head from the side, tore through my thoughts.

In the end, I failed to land properly and threw Sora aside, tumbling across the floor with a heavy impact.

"Ugh...! Sora!?"

In my wildly spinning vision, I instinctively searched for her after letting go―――

"―――Run!!"

Sora's voice.

A desperate tone, a voice that had dropped its polite form, which I was probably hearing for the first time.

And in my twice-beaten body, the light of her precious support was lit once more.

"You bastard―――!!"

With my stats amplified again, I ignited my AGI and threw myself forward in a low posture. A terrifying sword wind rushed over my head, and as I raised my face, my vision was filled with two giant legs, like pillars growing from the ground―――

"I knew it!!"

In that moment, I saw the giant knight, using the inertia from its greatsword swing, unbelievably transition into a roundhouse kick. Yelling a curse, I had already summoned the `Distorted Iron Lump Hammer`.

It lacked the ridiculous speed and sharpness of the sword flash―――but it was still a sufficiently agile motion. Thanks to not underestimating my opponent's absurdity, I was able to predict it.

"Even for an armored bastard, the shins are―――"

An unintentionally perfect counter timing. This is the time to attack, not defend!!

"Gonna hurt, you bastard!!"

A perfectly timed horizontal slash. My high-speed swing, which ignored the hammer's massive weight, made a clean hit on the shin of its right leg as it came at me in a scooping trajectory.

A sound of impact, undoubtedly the loudest I had ever heard in Arcadia, exploded―――

"―――――――――"

In my hands, the `Distorted Iron Lump Hammer`, which had achieved great results for me in our short time together, shattered with a scream-like roar.