kscans

Chapter 58 - The Sword-King of the Wedge Enshrines a God, The World Hails the Scales of the Hymn - Part Three

"―――Tch!?"

For someone walking a tightrope in the middle of a deadly battlefield, a moment of hesitation from a sudden accident means death.

I too, when the unexpected change fell upon me, tensed up for a moment, certain that "Ah, crap, I'm dead"―――

"An awakening now?! WHY!?"

In the end, I was amazed at myself for dodging the greatsword with a speed I had never before achieved.

A clear anomaly. It was like the feeling of my stats jumping up when I received Sora's buff from my base state, but...

"―――Haru-san!!"

As if my life-or-death struggle until now had been a lie, my partner's somewhat resolute voice reached me as I easily shook off my pursuer and created distance.

`Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King`, was resetting its stance and raising its greatsword again, as if to start over. I turned my gaze towards Sora, who stood on the other side of it, for the first time in a while―――

"Whoa, eh?"

An arch of magic swords, neatly arranged behind the dignifiedly standing blonde-haired beauty. The reason a strange voice escaped my lips wasn't because I was captivated by a scene that looked like it could be sold as a screenshot, but because my brain, which shared knowledge of her skill's specifications, threw an error.

The enhancement effect of `Spectate Ale` enveloping my avatar is still active. That's precisely why I don't understand how she can be simultaneously activating her combat skill, `Telekinetic Sword`.

The condition for using this broken support magic is the single point that "the caster does not participate in the battle," but we had already verified that activating a combat skill violates that condition―――

"Switch, please!"

"Ye-Yes...!?"

A request was thrown at me without waiting for my understanding or speculation, and my thoughts finally started to grind to a halt―――

"―――Please believe in me!!"

Those words, which I caught just before my mind shut down, kicked my body into motion without question.

"What's the timing!"

"Anytime!"

A quick response. If the trust we had built up to this point was being questioned, it would be a lie not to respond without a moment's hesitation.

Driving my mysteriously powered-up body to its fullest, I dodged the intercepting giant knight's attack and slipped past its side. I sensed a follow-up attack―――but I won't look back!

"Haru-san! Twelve!!"

From a short distance away, words that only I, who had taught her that callout, could understand, reached me. My brain, which understood the meaning in an instant, earned my unreserved praise as I ran past Sora's side.

Whispering in her ear as we passed. Sora, who received my instruction, responded with a smile that was somewhat different from her usual demeanor―――

"Whoa, whoa?!"

Before I could even berate myself for being uncharacteristically captivated, my legs, which had suddenly lost their strength, tangled, and I tumbled to the floor.

Another clear anomaly. The light of `Spectate Ale`, which had been boosting my stats to twice their normal level, vanished―――that's fine, but this time, the degree of ability reduction from it is strange.

In fact, it's not just a reduction, it's been completely gouged out―――

"Haru-san."

As my thoughts were on the verge of shutting down due to the series of sudden developments, Sora, who was contrastingly calm, showed me her back.

"I won't be beaten, no matter what, so please watch my movements carefully―――okay?"

A line I'd heard somewhere before, and a mischievous smile from the side. Leaving me, who was captivated by the girl who had suddenly acquired a mysterious coolness―――

"――――――Zwölf!!"

Sora, who had shouted the key word I had given her, charged forth―――along with her roaring magic swords.

This new power, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, was an evolution of the skill that had been a flaw, a symbol of Sora's own powerlessness.

A skill growth that occurred in the middle of battle, something unheard of before. Of course, she was surprised and confused by the sudden announcement, but the skills of Arcadia tell their hosts their own details.

From one to both, and from a voice to a song.

As if to say, "Are you happy now?" in response to the negative feelings Sora had been harboring―――`Spectate Ale` had completely transformed its nature.

`Scareless, the Scales' Hymn`―――its effect is `Level Mutual Transfer` with a specific target.

The upper limit is thirty. By transferring levels from Sora to Haru, or from Haru to Sora, the caster can allocate points equal to the transferred levels to their desired stats.

A simple level boost of thirty is nearly a doubling of power for the Lv. 42 Sora―――for Haru, it's an abnormal increase that would bring him to the level cap of Lv. 100.

Of course, the cost is great. While it's no longer an effect that forces one side to withdraw from the front lines, in practice, it's much the same.

Due to the nature of this skill, where you lose power equal to what you transfer to your partner, the transferer will ultimately be unable to perform any proper combat actions―――but,

`―――――――――`

"―――Acht!!"

Taking advantage of the strength of her magic swords, which allowed her to wield her weapons while remaining light on her feet, she continued to fire a volley of sand swords from `Telekinetic Sword` while dodging the approaching greatsword by a hair's breadth.

They struck the surface of the armor and shattered, failing to be an effective blow, let alone leave a scratch―――but no matter how meaningless the attack may seem visually, this world follows the rules of a game.

A thin sliver of empty space that you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely... but the fact that it was carved into `Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King`'s status bar was proof, more than anything, that Sora had landed a blow on the monster before her.

No matter how faint, if you land an attack, it will do damage.

She had also obtained a way to slightly compensate for her lack of power.

And above all, she had a strategy (an idea) to push back even further on this extremely disadvantageous front―――

"―――Haru-san!!"

The girl's eyes burned with nothing but fighting spirit.