kscans

Chapter 964 - Passing Like a Flash of Light

The ‘attributes’ that are the source of ‘magic’ in Arcadia—qualities belonging to nature, such as fire and water—manifested in a tangible form.

That is a Great Spirit. Residing in hidden domains scattered across the endlessly vast Garden of Divine Creation, they are incarnations of power that await players with corresponding abilities, bestowing upon them trials and blessings.

These great beings are unique among the myriad of boss enemies.

It’s not like with some idiot who, despite having no connection whatsoever—or rather, lacking any related aptitude—manages to conquer them through sheer, wholehearted brute force. That's outside the realm of what's expected.

Fire for fire, water for water; clearing the gimmicks using the corresponding elemental magic is generally an indispensable requirement. It's the underlying theme demanded for both traversing the path and subjugating the Great Spirit itself.

I feel a bit bad about what I did to [Epel, Great Ice Spirit Guardian] in the past… but the [Great Water Spirit Rapharn] I conquered after that, I can say I followed the proper procedure to some extent.

By using my own magic to fill the path with ‘water,’ I activated the way forward.

By filling the ‘great water’ with my own magic, I opened the path to victory.

Something like that. In any case, in the special boss event that is a ‘Great Spirit,’ it's always necessary to use the appropriate power in the appropriate way.

Now then, for example.

Its domain is named [Kiterugen-no-Kyukei, Sphere of Brilliant Illusion]… like light that is irregularly reflected and refracted. An ordered chaos, one might say. The master that resides in the depths of a mysterious space where front, back, left, right, up, and down do not exist.

[Apollo, Great Spirit of Light]—because it governs ‘light,’ it controls, absorbs, and conceals all light in the surrounding area, creating a complete darkness contrary to its name, thereby hiding itself along with the scenery from any players who come for an audience… Against such an opponent,

—how would our angel, who also wields ‘light,’ face it?

"—A flicker,’ ‘Manifest quickly, O flicker’————… I'm ready!"

"Alright, here comes the count! 3, 2, 1————!"

Complete and utter darkness. Not a metaphor; it was a true darkness where not a single thing could be seen, not even oneself.

Listening to my partner’s voice, which I couldn't see, I kicked away the approaching, invisible threats that flickered into existence for a brief moment, shouting instructions to time our actions.

The only way to know each other's presence was through our voices and the auras we projected. After nearly twenty minutes of fighting under these abnormal conditions, we were finally used to it—

"Here I go!"

For the umpteenth time, my partner’s ‘answer to the darkness that filled the space’ flashed.

…No, it wasn't on the level of just a flash of light.

"Release!!"

In sync with my countdown and Sora's keyword, the three of us standing on this abnormal, zero-visibility battlefield squeezed our eyes shut. In that instant, a laser-like blast of light so intense it felt like it could pierce our eyelids and the arms we held over them erupted, striking our skin with a tangible pressure.

What was unleashed was [Fast Light]—a beginner-level light-attribute spell with the extremely simple effect of ‘emitting a harsh light that dazzles those nearby.’

However, the one who cast the spell wasn't Sora herself, but her magic swords.

—The hundred-odd magic swords that had been floating in the darkness.

This was a very rare showcase of a skill from Sora’s weapon proficiency tree, [Maiden of Magic Swords], a skill that, while part of her arsenal, is rarely used: [Load Bullet].

Its effect is exceedingly simple: it allows her to imbue her magic swords with a spell in a ready-to-cast state.

In other words… the ultra-short incantations she had been tirelessly repeating had been loaded, loaded, and loaded again into her swords, and this was the result of a hundred laser-like flashes being unleashed all at once.

The pitch-black darkness, devoid of even a speck of light, was blown away as if cut down by a single flash.

————————————……

Capacity overload.

Having devoured an absurd amount of light in an instant that it couldn't possibly process, its power glitched, and it let out a roar as it spewed forth the scenery it had stored, revealing its massive form.

A sphere of light sat where its head should be. Its entire body was covered in feathers, and it had magnificent wings.

Besides sharing features common with other Great Spirits, if one were to describe its form, ‘snake’ would be fitting. Its total length was unknowable, perhaps tens of meters long—a colossal and majestic figure.

Divine, yet somehow raw, and terrifying.

When such a thing emerges from the darkness—

"Asche!!"

"Got it!"

—our response is singular: bare our fangs, raise our weapons, and charge.

""Tch————!!""

One step to cross paths.

The flashes of jade and silver traced over the wounds we had meticulously inflicted through the same process time and time again.

Thus, towards the cracks that ran through its form, we deliver the final blow.

"————[Sturm Riesig]!"

A bombardment of light, followed by a thrown tower of swords.

The giant tower of magic swords roared as it flew, finally shattering the core of the majestic body—

◇You have defeated [Apollo, Great Spirit of Light]◇

"Phew………… Well, I guess that's about it."

And so, amid the showering remnants of the Great Spirit that had scattered into light.

"————…Um, eh…? This is, like, pitiful, isn't it…?"

Crack. With a sharp sound, a non-combatant peeked her head out from a rift in space beside me.

In other words, with a comment from Nia-chan, who had been safely and securely transported throughout the entire battle while tucked away in the one-person-capacity, comfort-guaranteed alternate dimension known as [Dias Lunaria],

—this act was, for now, brought to a simple and smooth conclusion.