kscans

Chapter 836 - Because I Think of You, I Am. Because I Wish It, the World Continues────

Beside him, a lone wolf howled.

He had taken great pains not to get caught up in the dual performance of ice and fire, which was not yet under perfect control, but with this, his efforts could be said to have paid off.

Thanks to the message from the spirit wolf sent by Jinn to act as a messenger────

"Hmph────They're a perfect match, those two...!"

Right in the middle of a pandemonium of demons... in other words, right in the middle of the designated operational area. Irori had not missed the immense magical power that had manifested in the world and was able to seamlessly transition into a defensive action.

"[Refined Ice, Raging Fire]!!"

Power condensed, output at maximum. What he conjured was a towering barrier of ice and fire.

Unlike [String Ice Six Flowers], which was simply a wall of super-hard ice, this whirling wall did not possess any definite physical defensive capabilities.

What it blocked were non-material phenomena like fire, which shared its existence. In other words, it was a 360-degree defensive wall developed against non-physical threats, primarily magic.

In short...

"Well now... it would be a huge embarrassment if this got breached."

...it was, quite literally, a 360-degree...

...igloo, designed for survival within the vortex of a radiant 'great blizzard' that had manifested over a vast area and on an immense scale.

◇◆◇◆◇

"'Glacies'────Sora's third magic sword from [Cradle of Sword-Craft], is, in terms of simple attack power, the absolute worst of the three, lagging far behind 'sand' and 'flame.'"

Estimated range: a three-kilometer diameter.

As I watched the girl create a natural disaster, with countless 'circles' being drawn in numbers too great to count and all restrictions on summoning locations lifted...

"By the way, it's actually pretty easy to block. It has literally zero piercing power, so you can completely defend against it with a single sheet of plywood. Some invincible samurai over there is getting all fired up and using a big move, but it's a secret that just throwing up a simple ice wall would do the trick."

"Be nice to him."

I threw in a joke to lighten the mood of the utterly dumbfounded crowd. In return, I received a loving rebuke from Natsume-senpai.

"However, given the sheer number of them, you need a gapless, all-around defense to block it. And once you're turtled up, you can't move properly, and you're pretty much stuck────as you can see, that sword specializes in 'number,' 'lightness,' and 'speed.'"

"That's not 'specializing.' That's way too many strengths."

Next up was Junior #1.

Nice, having someone to banter with helps ease the embarrassment of narrating.

"And now for its main 'trait.'"

"There's more? What in the world is wrong with your partner?"

"That's a tribute to the ice magic of our two little senpais."

"""Ignored..."""

"He didn't even glance their way..."

I feel like I heard a comment from the originator of retorts, but I'll just put that aside and continue.

"After the 'Physical/Magical Coexistence' of 'sand' and the 'Matter Penetration' of 'flame'... 'ice' is, in a nutshell, 'Usurpation and Sealing.' Well, seeing is believing, so as you can see────"

I gestured with my eyes towards the pandemonium of demons caught in the blizzard.

"Any target that comes into contact with 'Glacies' has its stats drained by 1% per blade."

As they all, without exception, began to slow down visibly, the horde of monsters, valiantly rampaging to scatter and destroy the countless dancing snowflakes, let out a chorus of screams.

And on our side...

"""""────────..................""""""

...a stunned silence. Well, that's to be expected.

I exchanged glances with Tetra and Kanata, the only two who had been briefed on this, and the two juniors (one of whom isn't a junior) gave me a wry smile that said, 'Well, of course.'

Exactly. Of course. We were speechless too when we first found out.

"..................Is there an upper... or lower limit...?"

"Of course there is. The maximum you can drain from any opponent is thirty percent."

Anyway, I answered Natsume-senpai's question and continued my explanation.

"And next, the 'sub-trait'────"

"Give it a rest already, will ya?"

Shut up, Tiger Lucky. You got a problem with my partner?

"This one's just based on the ice attribute; it has a movement-inhibiting ability due to the cold. But again, each one is weak on its own, but when they stack up, it gets pretty crazy..."

"And the debuffs have synergy with each other, too..."

"Exactly. If you lose thirty percent of your stats and get caught in that, you really can't move."

"Well, if you've lost thirty percent in the first place, that means you've been hit thirty times. For a player, you'd probably be finished long before you were immobilized."

"That's true. The debuff really shines in boss battles────like this."

As the three of us with experience spoke nostalgically, the gazes of the raid members, ranked and otherwise, remained fixed on the 'great blizzard' and the girl controlling it. Once again, it was only natural.

This was bound to cause a huge stir in the world again, no doubt about it. As I drew a definitive picture of the future in my mind... I felt a sense of relief that my partner had been able to unleash her power without a hitch.

"..................Alright, get ready, senpai."

Within the ice sword barrier that had successfully contained the horde of monsters—which had grown to over one, then two hundred as we'd started to gather them for the plan—right in the middle of what I call Abendsturm Glanzsicht (Embrace of the Budding Frost that Freezes and Sleeps in the Nights)...

"Don't you dare waste Sora-san's hard work."

...the towering pillar of ice and fire erupted from within.

And the second phase of the first part of the plan began.

---

Its weakness is that, unlike [Wolf Pack]'s wolves, it's difficult to use in cooperative combat. For melee fighters, it goes without saying that they'd just get in each other's way. For ranged fighters, each ice sword is extremely fragile, so a carelessly fired skill could melt a whole chunk of them. Sora could solve this by limiting the number or concentrating on precise control, but if you're going to limit its greatest strength—the sheer overwhelming numbers—you might as well just use sand or fire.

Saying "Then just let Sora-san handle it alone" is a forbidden phrase for anyone who isn't the Acrobat.