kscans

Chapter 59 - The God-Wedge Sword-King that Enshrines the Gods, The Scales of the Chant that Celebrate the World, Part Four

"—..."

I couldn't make any sense of it. My thoughts had been completely left in the dust.

To be shown a girl, whom I had been treating like a ward, fighting on equal footing with a monster that I couldn't even touch... it was impossible not to feel a surge of frustration.

But—

"—Haru-san!"

That utterly trivial, petty emotion—was instantly blown away without a trace by an overwhelming sense of elation, dragged up from the depths of my gut by her resolute voice.

Why is it?

We've known each other for less than a month, yet I feel like I can so easily understand what she's thinking.

We've only walked together through a battlefield that is, after all, just a part of a virtual, artificial world—so why do I place more trust in that girl than I've ever shown anyone in the real world?

—Sync with me.

Our eyes met, and I felt as though the words had been whispered right into my ear.

"Bring it on...!"

What, or how, none of that mattered in this moment. Fueled by this impossibly surging excitement, I felt like I could do anything.

As I dashed forward on pure instinct, I could see Sora, still engaged in her fierce dance with Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King, smile happily. Seriously? You have that much leeway? a part of me shuddered, but I found myself smiling back as I desperately dragged my heavy body toward the battlefield.

I still didn't have the details, but I could make an educated guess. Given the extreme drop in my stats and Sora's sudden, unbelievable transformation... it was probably a skill with that kind of property.

And if Sora herself, who was likely borrowing my stats, was calling a weakened me back to the front lines—

"Switching now!"

It wasn't hard to predict what would happen next.

Needless to say, challenging Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King in my current state would mean instant death. However...

"Now!"

A signal came from Sora as she dodged a massive swing by a hair's breadth, slipping past its giant form to get behind it. Without a shred of doubt, just as I was about to step forward with my powerless legs—

"—Hah!"

Letting out a cheer from the bottom of my heart as a phosphorescent light enveloped my body at the most perfect timing imaginable, I let my explosively increased stats roar and shot forward, my feet shattering the floor.

I was used to these sudden stat boosts. Thanks to my experience relying on Sora's hidden talents, I had a pretty good grasp of which stats were increasing and by how much.

Unlike her previous Spectate Ale, this one didn't seem to be a simple twenty percent boost to all stats.

What I needed to note this time was that none of the increase had been allocated to AGI—okay, I'll take that as a sign of trust!

My leg speed was the same as when I could barely manage to run away—but now, I had a weapon called information, gifted to me by Sora.

"Just as you said... I was watching you closely!"

I leaped out to block the path between it and its target, Sora. The greatsword swung down as if in annoyance, but I dodged it by a paper-thin margin, perfectly recreating the movements of the girl I'd been so captivated by.

I dodged the next blow, too.

And dodged, dodged, dodged, dodged, and dodged—I evaded all of them with ease.

I completely shut down every swing of its greatsword, every strike of its giant arms, every kick of its giant legs, using the movements I had learned from Sora.

"I really am...!"

Just how clumsy had my movements been? Or was it Sora's Observer's Eye—no, her own powers of observation that were the truly remarkable gift?

Even with this outrageous enhancement, her base agility was likely far below my own. Yet with stats I could see were that low, Sora had masterfully avoided Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King's ferocious assault to an extent that made me want to cover my eyes in shame for my own pathetic display.

After she'd provided such a perfect example, there was no way I could whine about it being impossible or too hard.

"An overhead slam is—"

I waited until the last possible second, then,

"—followed by a leg sweep if you dodge to the right!"

A mighty leg came sweeping in to reap my body as it flew sideways, but even a fatal blow is no threat if you can predict it.

I'd managed to identify several of its patterns from Sora's performance. In that case, if I intentionally baited those predictable, set actions—

"Finally, the first attack—take this!"

Anticipating the kick, I leaped into the air and brought my battle axe down in a flash.

My target, without a shred of mercy, was its face. The axe, carrying all my pent-up frustration, slammed directly into its head, which had been left wide open after missing its huge follow-up swing.

"Ggh...! —Graaaahhh!!"

Though it was technically its nose, I was still hitting armor. I nearly flinched from the intense shockwave that bounced back, the distinct sensation of striking iron, but I grit my teeth and forced the axe through.

My STR, infused with the full power of Sora's new support skill, roared with nearly seven times its original output.

A deafening screech of metal on metal echoed through the air as a spectacular hit-effect burst forth—the beacon of a counterattack, signaling the first critical hit of the battle.

Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King was knocked back slightly—truly, only slightly—but the mark carved into its HP bar was barely a dent, not even a tenth of one of its eight stacked bars.

But even if it's just a sliver, it means we can damage it. And if we can damage it, then eventually, we can win.

"Sora!"

"Octuple!"

The moment I landed from the recoil that sent me flying back, Sora's key word and a barrage of magic swords flew through the air, their speed almost overtaking my shout.

Another switch. My stats plummeted so sharply I nearly dropped to my knees. A dazzling golden light zipped past me like the wind.

Struck by a brutal eight-hit follow-up to the face while it was still reeling from the hit-effect, the giant knight showed a clear stagger motion. Without a moment's hesitation, the small swordswoman rushed to its feet and—

"Whoa, wai—"

As she summoned several more magic swords and used them as footholds to leap into the air, I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.

"Heh... guess I can't act like her guardian anymore."

Watching Sora soar through the air with a maneuver that completely stole my thunder, landing another series of attacks on Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King's face, the words slipped out naturally.

A ticklish sensation ran up my spine. Was it awe at her rapid blossoming, or was it impatience? All I knew for sure was that to keep up, to swallow both feelings and chase after her, I couldn't just stand here and watch with my thumb in my mouth.

"Haru-san!"

"Yeah, leave it to me!"

She probably wasn't even aware of it. I roared back in response to the voice of my partner, who was running not just beside me, but with enough momentum to overtake me.

The faint light of victory was still far in the distance. The clash of swords that shook the cavern was still just the prelude.