A sharp blow struck me in the back. A moment later I realized Naiarotop had kicked me from behind.
As I was flying through the air from the kick, I saw Naiarotop had already circled around in front of me. I struggled, trying to regain control of my body, and pulled my sword into position to fend him off.
His roundhouse kick passed neatly around my sword straight to my chin. I slammed to the ground, my consciousness blinking out.
“You seem to be under some misconception that you can win,” said Naiarotop. “The only reason I haven’t personally done anything about you before now is because Locklore’s rules stopped me.”
He walked slowly toward me.
“Ha ha ha… Did I hit you a little too hard?” he continued. “It looks like I’ve already broken your spirit. My mistake. I need you to hang in there a little longer.”
If I made the wrong move and got up, Naiarotop would just slam me back down again. I stayed down and took a moment to see what was going on outside the barrier. I could see Nobunaga out there, attacking the barrier with swings of his sword.
“Tsk, not even my magic sword has any effect!” he bellowed. “That pipsqueak went and placed the entire world on his shoulders, and now he’s making a fool of himself!”
“Just do anything you can!” said Pomera, who was in a fluster as she ordered Nobunaga. “We need to nullify this fight! If we don’t, then Kanata…”
“Hey, where the heck did Veranta an’ the lich girl go? And at a time like this?” said Ramiel with annoyance. I looked around, but I couldn’t see the two of them either.
That meant Lunaère got my hint and was doing what I needed her to. The plan was in motion. Lunaère would hurry for me. And that was why I couldn’t give up now, I couldn’t let myself get run down.
“If that’s the case, let’s put an end to the wrestling match and move on to a more entertaining show: death by torture!” said Naiarotop. “Ha ha ha, why don’t you try crying and begging for your life? You never know…I might just change my mind!” He watched as I got back to my feet, then scowled and said, “How can you still look so determined?”
“I used to think you were some ultimate being, but…meeting you again…just makes me realize you’re more like a kid who’s been given too much power. Are all the higher beings like you?” I asked.
I could see the veins throbbing in Naiarotop’s forehead. “I am so, so happy, Kanata Kanbara. You’re such an idiot, and I’ll get all the more pleasure out of torturing you.”
-5-
NAIAROTOP COULD SHOOT out several of those hard, plantlike tentacles at once. That meant he could defend against my sword attacks, and I wouldn’t be able to land an effective strike unless I caught him by surprise.
It looked like there really was no way to defeat him other than using space-time magic. And my only choice was to use the most powerful space-time spell in my arsenal: Gravity Bomb.
I prepared two parallel castings of Gravity Bomb. Maintaining magic circles drained your mana, and casting high-level spells with the Twin Minds Method took quite a lot of your mental resources. That meant I was less capable of keeping up with his actions.
A normal opponent wouldn’t approach someone making such a blatantly large attack like this, but Naiarotop didn’t see me as a threat. He came straight for me, easily dodging my sword strikes. That was fine. I would find a way to open his defenses while we were in close combat, then strike with my double Gravity Bombs.
“I’m so glad you let me in on your plan, Kanata Kanbara. And you’ve really made this final episode of Locklore so exciting for me,” said Naiarotop as he darted around me.
Just like before, Naiarotop wasn’t showing anything that even remotely resembled a chink in his defenses. I let go of one of my magic circles, casting Gravity Bomb. He easily moved out of the way of the imploding black light, then swiftly moved around to my blind spot.
“Maybe it’s about time I make a move!” he said, jabbing toward me with a tentacle-covered arm. I stopped the attack with my blade, but the tentacles dented my sword.
Now. I could hit now. I released the other magic circle, immediately launching a Gravity Bomb.
“Oooh!”
Naiarotop tried to flee backward, but the implosion of black light caught him, drawing him in. The light exploded, tearing his right arm, along with its tentacles, to bits.
“Argh!”
His clothing tore. Gravity Bomb hit his abdomen too, carving into it, sending blood and flesh flying. He was flung backward, then landed on a knee.
“H-how dare a human strike me?” He pressed down on his stomach with his remaining left hand. “Just kidding!” His look of shock flashed into a carefree smile. Tentacles grew from his remaining right sleeve, twisted together, and formed quickly into another arm, along with repaired clothing. He stood easily, then looked at me with contempt.
“Did I get your hopes up?” he said. “I thought I’d give you one last chance to show off. Does that make you happy? You’re just so pathetic.”
I caught my breath, then gave a snort of laughter. “It was a pretty bad performance, actually. Turns out you really aren’t suited to either directing or acting, are you?”
“What did you say?” He scowled.
I could tell he’d made it look like his tentacles hit my sword so that he could let my Gravity Bomb hit. He was purposefully making it appear like I had the upper hand for a moment just so he could turn it around and make a joke out of me. He probably wanted to show me how tough he was by taking my spell’s attack.
He looked at me with a condescending sneer. “You really are hard to like. Fine. I think that’s been enough.”
His body began to arch, and, as it did, the surface changed, morphing into something resembling a tree trunk, growing larger and larger.
His eyes, nose, even his mouth changed to spirals, and his hair fused with his head. In mere moments he’d transformed into a ten-foot-tall tree monster.
“This show is over. I’m going to rip your limbs off, then gouge out your heart, and crush your organs,” he said. “I have wanted to do this from the very beginning…but we have a system. Let me show you the true power of a higher being. Tremble in fear! Squeal in terror!”
He’d finally shown his true form. His human figure wasn’t his real self, I learned that the first time we met, but I hadn’t realized he could become such a hideous monster.
I felt overwhelmed just by having him standing in front of me. It almost made me lose control, but I braced myself and raised my sword. “Gravity Bomb!”
I threw the spell right at him from the front. Black light contracted then exploded.
He made no attempt to dodge. The spell tore at his arms and body, but it was immediately obvious it caused essentially no damage.
This was completely different from before. He’d been just toying with me—it hadn’t been a real fight at all. Could I really beat something this tough…?
The moment I started to pull together my next magic circle, Naiarotop’s huge body was right in front of me, his huge tree-limb-like appendages raised to strike down at me.
I had no time to react. His massive swing slammed down, and I could feel the impact running through my entire body. I thought I would be broken to bits from just one attack.
I couldn’t lessen the blow. I tumbled across the ground. When I came to a stop, I put my hands on the ground and tried to push myself up, but I didn’t have the strength, and another strike slammed into my head.
“Don’t feel like getting up again, do you?” asked Naiarotop. “You will suffer agony and death like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. Isn’t that terrifying, Kanata Kanbara?”
Naiarotop’s huge body approached to loom over me.
“Huh… What in the…?” he said, stopping and looking up. The barrier covering us—the Absolute Sanctuary—its color was steadily fading as it grew weaker. “What…in the world is happening?”
I could feel my expression relax, although I still lay facedown on the ground. She made it. Lunaère made it in time.