kscans

Chapter 62 - The God-Wedge Sword-King that Enshrines the Gods, The Scales of the Chant that Celebrate the World, Part Six

First of all, I don't really have any attack skills to speak of.

The only one worth mentioning is the throwing skill, Piercing Dart, but that just improves the speed and accuracy when throwing a weapon with an "edge," and adds a little bit of piercing power. In other words, it's more of a manually activated support skill, something far too plain to be called a flashy ultimate attack.

This is all because my beloved All-Weapon Aptitude skill tree seems to have a major bug where it rarely sprouts any attack skills, as if it dumped all its resources into the god-tier skill that is Quick Change—but even so, there are ways around it.

"Don't bite your tongue!"

"Too late for that!"

With Sora held firmly in my arms, I kicked off the floor with enough force to shatter it. I wasn't heading straight for Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King, which had started moving at the same time, but in an orbit around it.

I activated Feather Foot the moment I pushed off. The boosted jump killed my initial slow start, and thanks to the effect of Guardian's Fleetfoot, my legs accelerated rapidly, ignoring the weight of the avatar in my arms.

"I didn't forget about you—it's your turn, Boar's Heart!"

If I kept a certain distance while maintaining top speed, Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King wouldn't be able to catch up. It quickly gave up on chasing me relentlessly and instead hunkered down to meet my charge. As I circled it again and again—Boar's Heart activated.

Roughly five hundred meters at top speed without slowing down. This skill, requiring such a long run-up, was actually quite difficult to use and had become a dead card, useful only for a single strike after running towards a distant enemy.

However, in our current situation where every bit of extra damage mattered, I couldn't afford to leave a single card unplayed. A subtle blue wind-shear effect enveloped us, signaling that the charge was ready.

"Ready?!"

"Always!"

No more needless exchanges were necessary. Both of us were running on a hundred percent desperation, but with smiles on our faces, we exchanged one last word each as our signal—and activated Floating Leaf. Kicking off the ground at a different angle, I forcibly changed my vector and charged at the waiting Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King.

It was a launch from an acceleration so intense a real person wouldn't even be able to open their eyes. 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, God-Wedge Sword-King's!!

"—I'll go!"

What was there to worry about now? Without hesitation, I released Sora from my arms as she reacted to the giant knight raising its greatsword.

Using me as a catapult—she even kicked one of her sand swords beneath her feet, and the girl who soared through the air ahead of me challenged the giant sword head-on.

"Ya—aahhhhhh!!"

A fierce war cry, the loudest she'd ever let out. She swung the last sword she held in both hands with all her might.

With the recoil of slamming it against the flat of the greatsword's blade, Sora's body was knocked sideways—but it didn't stop there. The immense impact sent her small frame flying.

And the result—

"—Go!!"

"—I got it!"

As I passed the greatsword that had been slightly deflected away from me, I caught her final sand sword—her will—in my right hand, while my left gripped the `White-Flawed Straight Sword` with all its strength.

So what if all this only results in chip damage? I don't give a damn!

I kicked off the hilt of the giant sword as it passed right beside me. My body, spinning violently enough to turn my vision into a single line, didn't lose speed but actually accelerated thanks to Floating Leaf—Hey, you armored bastard, this was one hell of a good time! We basically won, so we can call it a day, right?!

"Go to... hell!"

The momentum of my acceleration, the centrifugal force, the rotational power, and on top of all that, the sense of accomplishment, exhaustion, gratitude, and resentment brought on by this hellish battle—our final attack slammed resoundingly into Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King's face.

◇◆◇◆◇

And so, it was a whim.

Or perhaps affection, or endearment.

Or maybe, it was a gift of praise and gratitude to those who had entertained her so thoroughly.

"—This is no fun."

She simply followed her own feelings, and,

"The hero and heroine must have a brilliant victory, after all."

She tampered with the logic of the world.

◇◆◇◆◇

An earth-shattering roar, an impact, and then—obliteration.

"What the...?"

My dual swords, which I had swung with a single breath, shattered the knight's helm as if it were nothing, a piece of armor I hadn't been able to even scratch before—my mind froze at the incomprehensible sight.

The sensation that traveled up my hands, which had been braced for the recoil, was as trivial as if I'd struck thin glass. My body, which should have been caught in a fatal moment of stun in mid-air, was thrown off by the unexpected lack of resistance, passing through the shattered fragments of the helmet and being flung out.

"—!"

I didn't know what, but something had happened.

Which meant I couldn't just fall and die in a daze.

In the stretched-out perception of time, my mind pulled along by my body's speed, I searched for something... I reflexively looked for my partner who had fallen a moment before me—and found her.

Quick Change—I forced my still-spinning body to obey and summoned the great axe, its blade completely destroyed and now just a "pole," as a foothold. I rushed towards the girl who was falling helplessly to the floor.

"Sora!"

"Y-Yes!"

I brandished the sand weapon I still held in one hand and called out to her. Communication was instantaneous. Letting go of the sand sword, I caught Sora's avatar, and her magic sword, now back under its master's control, flew to my feet and became a platform.

"Ugh...!"

A pained sound came from within my arms. Judging by the feeling of the platform dipping beneath me, it seemed even a magic sword couldn't support the weight of two avatars. Using it as a cushion, I hastily leaped to the floor. The last magic sword, having served its purpose in our final attack, vanished into the void.

"What in the world is going on..."

With Sora in my arms, we both looked up at the headless Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King—and up there, the situation continued to change on its own.

"Cracks...?"

Sora muttered the word that came to her mind, a stunned question. The giant knight stood motionless, having taken a step back after its helmet was shattered—no, it was moving. As if its movements were being bound by something, its massive body was vibrating and creaking.

And its entire body was covered in countless cracks. From the headless neck down to the tips of its sabatons, strange, faintly glowing white fissures were spreading.

"...No."

The word escaped my lips almost unconsciously. But several "marks" that had stuck in my mind during the fierce battle brought a revelation, an epiphany.

"Those are scars."

I set Sora down on the floor and summoned the one remaining straight sword into my empty hand.

"...Was that sword glowing like that before?"

The only part of the `White-Flawed Straight Sword`'s dull gray blade that was dyed white, its tip, was pulsing with a faint light. And that white light was synchronizing with the cracks etched all over Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King's body—the light emitted by the traces of the Anima's slashes.

"Come to think of it, what kind of ability does your Anima have, Haru-san?"

"Basically, it accelerates when you throw it."

"Oh..."

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 twisted her face in confusion, probably had the same expression as me.

The `White-Flawed Straight Sword`—this Anima, my beloved sword, while not as completely unique as Sora's `Cradle of Sword-Craft`, possessed a fairly rare property.

That property was, simply put, the possession of an assault skill. Unlike the many pieces of equipment with support skills, this sword was a rare weapon that held an ultimate technique within it.

While such equipment is rare, it does exist. However, they are generally high-rarity and high-performance items, and even rarer when they are an Anima.

This thing, which came with an attack skill right from its initial forging, could be considered a semi-unique item—but it was obvious that this had nothing to do with the current situation.

"What is this... What's the right move...!"

Although the situation had come to a sudden halt, neither the creaking Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King, trying to escape its mysterious white restraints, nor Sora and I, who were watching it, were just standing around idly chatting.

An unexpected encore, tearing through the curtain of the defeat we thought was certain. With the feeling of "this isn't how it was supposed to go," I was desperately trying to get my legs to hold firm and my mind to work.

Even in those few seconds, the situation didn't stop changing. The glowing scars all over the giant knight continued to flicker, and the `White-Flawed Straight Sword` in my hand began to pulse with a faint heat, as if it had a life of its own, the light at its tip throbbing.

And then—, wh-huh? Ah...

"..."

"Um, I think..."

"Ah, yeah, I think I get it too."

It was a sight that made me imagine the system's voice saying, "Oh, come on, you're taking too long. You'll get it if I do this, right?"

At the center of the countless scars that had connected like cracks, right in the middle of Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King's chest, a large, prominent sword wound was glowing with particular intensity.

—It was as if it were saying, here, please 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 reading each other's thoughts from our exhausted faces, we simply exchanged wry smiles and nodded.

In other words—let's just end this, whatever it is, and go home.

"...Well then, I suppose it's time for the big reveal."

It seemed I was the one being called upon... with Sora having already taken a seat as my audience, I swallowed my indescribable tension and got to work on the final task.

No matter what happened, I couldn't do anything more. I suppose I could muster the energy for one last encore.

"It's your time to shine, partner—Awakening White Eye."

The activation keyword. The `White-Flawed Straight Sword`, held straight up, shone with a new intensity, and the 'white' of its tip ran towards the hilt as if it were consuming the blade.

"Reflecting World, Shifting World."

I spun the hilt in my hand into a reverse grip, pulling my right hand back as far as it would go.

"Bind the vast sky as one—Eclair!!"

It was a final blow crowned with the meaning of lightning, a final 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 furthermore, as if a rocket booster had been ignited, it broke through the air and accelerated during its flight.

The distance to Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King was just under twenty meters. The true potential of this skill, which grows in power with distance, wouldn't be realized in the slightest—but perhaps, power was never needed in the first place.

Like a key and a keyhole. The white lightning was drawn into the sword wound on its chest without the slightest deviation... and in that instant, the giant knight's entire 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, God-Wedge Sword-King avoided a grand explosion and knelt with a ground-shaking thud. Having lost its head, consumed by its wounds, the giant knight's body began to crumble from its edges.

"U-um..."

"Oh, uh, sorry..."

My spur-of-the-moment act of chivalry ended up being for nothing, and now, my position hovering over the girl was undeniably that of a pervert. A crime, not a situation. Guilty.

Still, how magnanimous of Sora to forgive me with just a bashful glance away... Even if we'd gotten used to each other after everything, I had to remind myself that one wrong move and this could have been a reportable offense.

"It really... seems to be over, doesn't it."

Sora murmured as I hastily backed away and helped her up. The `White-Flawed Straight Sword`, which had delivered the finishing blow, fell from the now-incorporeal giant's body and clattered onto the floor with a light sound. The next moment, it vanished without any special effects.

In the corner of my vision, a notification appeared that my beloved sword had been stored in my inventory—the automatic return effect of Eclair. The pseudo-ranged storage using Quick Change wasn't applicable to this skill, which was fundamentally based on a long-distance throw.

Actually, that convenient feature only has a range of about ten meters, so if you throw it further than that or mess up the storage operation, you have to run and pick it up—but I digress.

"It's over... but still."

How should I put it, this sense of being forced through it?

I didn't have to think hard to know. This development was, without a doubt, not the intended, legitimate path.

There are plenty of game battles that wrap up neatly with an event cutscene for the final blow... but even so, there's no way this god-tier game would stage such a sudden, anticlimactic, and shoddy conclusion.

Besides, Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King still had more than half of its strength left. It was far, far too early for an easy quick-time event finisher.

And above all—

"...The battle end notification isn't showing up."

Right. The system message confirming the kill, which always appeared after a boss fight, was absent. Naturally, there were no notifications for skill acquisitions, growth, or title gains either.

No drop items, of course, and no sign of any experience points coming in.

And yet, the massive door that had been sealed since the start of the battle showed no sign of opening. No transfer gate appeared, and there was no hint of an automatic teleport.

"Wait, are we stuck...?"

Currently, we had no way to return on our own other than using a designated transfer gate. As I tilted my head, wondering if this was a case for a GM call, I noticed Sora summoning her system window and operating it.

The display wasn't visible, but I could guess what she was doing from her hand movements. As usual, she was probably checking the logout procedure to see if we were in a safe zone.

"Sora, how's it look?"

"Hm... no good. The warning message is—"

It was at that exact moment.

"Whoa!"

"Heauh?!"

A fanfare blared without any warning, making both of us jump with a shout. It was the victory fanfare we'd heard several times before after defeating a boss... but the melody was slightly different.

And after the fanfare comes the classic pattern—

---

`White-Flawed Straight Sword`—A scrap iron sword that devoured the dregs of the White Throne, one of the world's wedges. The qualification to stand alongside that king is still at the far end of eternity.

White Lightning (Eclair)—Upon activation and throwing, accelerates according to the distance to the target. Final velocity and power increase with flight distance. Upon effect termination, the `White-Flawed Straight Sword` automatically returns to the owner's inventory.