“What the?!”
A huge fireball flew toward me. I couldn’t believe the amount of fire I was seeing in the manor, so I launched a healing bullet in a panic, which collided head on with the fireball and neutralized it.
“What was that?” I asked.
Until now the fire magic had been contained to close range, but now Aruku was happy to throw it around more haphazardly.
“Is it just a distraction? A smoke screen?”
I was surrounded by smoke from the fireball, I was trying to stay ready for Aruku’s next attack. Then something was thrust toward my neck. I tried to parry it with my left hand, but I was taken by surprise. It wasn’t Aruku’s sword coming for me, it was his hand, and it grabbed my own.
“Aruku?!” I shouted.
Suddenly, I was being pulled and swung with tremendous force. My legs left the ground, and I was completely at Aruku’s mercy.
“Whoa!”
And just like that, I was thrown straight out of the third floor. I looked down and saw Blurin astride a motionless zombie, slapping it.
“What is that grizzly doing?!”
I could see the impact coming as I fell, so I spun myself and landed on my feet. I saw that Blurin noticed me and was moving in, but then it struck me that Amako was still up there.
“Amako . . .” I uttered.
I turned around to look up and say something, but at that moment, Aruku gripped the railing of the balcony and leaped straight over it.
“I can’t see her from here,” I said.
I knew that Amako was tougher than she looked, and that she’d be okay, but I was worried all the same.
Should I ignore Aruku and head back up to help her? No, Blurin can’t fight Aruku on his own, and he might even be killed.
“Blurin, you’ve done enough down there. Head to Amako, now!”
The bear’s growl sounded like he was confused.
“You have to look after her!”
The bear roared as if it understood exactly what I’d said, then launched itself inside the manor. Now I knew for sure that Amako would be safe. The problem now was Aruku.
Nea was sitting on the edge of the manor roof, looking down at us.
“I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re trying to do!” I shouted.
She giggled. Her palm was pointed toward the ground. It was illuminated by a purple light.
“I never believed that a three-story fall would be enough to finish you,” she said. “I just wanted to give Aruku a little more space to work with—somewhere he can really flex his powers.”
In the next instant, Aruku’s sword practically erupted with the most flame I’d seen until now. It had been a silent red when we were in the manor, but now it was brilliantly aflame. I could feel the heat even from a distance.
“Aruku doesn’t like using his magic like this. The idea of turning his foes to ashes isn’t really in his nature. That’s what he said, anyway. But do be careful—that sword is extremely hot, and you’re looking at more than simple burns.”
Nea chuckled. But where Aruku stood with his flaming sword, I saw Mina. He had sheer power, range, and scope, but it was strange for us to be in here like this—me the healer and Aruku the fire wielder.
“It’s like a repeat of Nack versus Mina all over again,” I muttered.
Nack had swallowed his fear and he’d stepped up—he’d faced Mina head on. When I thought back to the fight, I couldn’t help but smile.
“And I guess as Nack’s teacher I, too, have to overcome my own trial by fire.”
I also now had a read on how to counter the resistance hex that Nea had cast. Even though kicks and punches didn’t work, I still had options. On top of that, moving our fight outside was a horrible tactical decision on Nea’s part.
“When you were thinking up your plan,” I said, “Aruku had to have warned you about letting me fight in an open space. He had to have told you to keep me in a confined area.”
“Yeah, so what? All you can do is kick and punch stuff. Out here in the open Aruku’s got the advantage thanks to his explosive fire magic.”
“So, you heard him, but you didn’t understand him, huh?”
I was trained by Rose herself. Don’t you dare doubt me or the rescue team. I wasn’t built for kicking and punching. I was built for running.
Out here I didn’t have to worry about accidentally putting my foot through the floor, and I didn’t have to worry at all about Amako getting pulled into things.
“I’m here to save you Aruku!” I said.
“Slice him to pieces!” ordered Nea.
At Nea’s command, Aruku brought his flaming sword around in a slicing attack. It was a wave of flame spewing out toward me. I got a short run up and launched off the ground with everything I had, leaping over it.
“No ceilings here and no walls,” I shouted.
The moment I landed, I cut to the side, closing in on Aruku from an angle. However, Nea could still see me from above and could also issue orders. Aruku quickly cast a fire wall and kept me from approaching.
“Then I just have to go faster!” I said.
I spun in the opposite direction and kicked off the ground as I picked up the pace. Aruku’s fireballs weren’t even close to touching me. He was following Nea’s orders precisely, but he was still at a clear disadvantage against me.
“You’re slow . . . way too slow!”
Aruku was like a robot spamming the same attack over and over again. That wasn’t going to be enough. Just like with Mina, the best way to get me would be to use explosive magic to lure me into the perfect position to catch me in one fell swoop. But Aruku couldn’t do that while he was under Nea’s control. Nea could throw around Aruku’s power all she wanted, but she could not access his true potential!
“Here I come!” I said, changing direction in an instant and facing Aruku.
Nea immediately lost sight of me. Aruku faced where he thought I would be. I moved in quickly. This was my chance to take him down before he realized where I was. But just as I was about to get my hands on him, Aruku turned, his lifeless eyes locked on to me.
Did he notice me? No, he’s reacting instinctively?!
As Aruku spun, his sword came down from above in a diagonal arc. I watched the sword and for an instant, I hesitated.
Should I fall back or push through?
My decision was already made, I lifted my left arm to intercept Aruku’s sword as I readied my right.
“It’s all or nothing!” I shouted.
Rose was the kind of monster who could break a steel sword with her bare hands.
“And if she can do it, then I can too!”
Aruku’s sword came down to slice my head in two. I swung my body around and used my left gauntlet to block it. Sparks exploded between us from the impact. I roared as the flaming sword turned the gauntlet red. I fought to endure the flames that threatened to engulf me and refused to back down.
“Break, damn it!” I shouted.
I heard the base of Aruku’s sword fracture. I felt it and I swung straight through it. The blade of the flaming sword then broke completely from the hilt with a crack and plunged into the ground still aflame.
But I wasn’t done yet.
“This is going to hurt, Aruku!”
I took a step closer to Aruku and took a hold of his wrist and collar. This was my way of working around Nea’s resistance hex. If striking was completely nullified, then I’d just have to throw him.