The first thing we saw was a pileup at an intersection, which had caused quite a stir. From the onlookers’ excited conversations, we gathered there had been a high-speed chase between a ten-seater van and a handful of skeletons.
The pursuing skeletons had all been mounted on horses of bone, and the chase had ensnared at least half a dozen vehicles.
The scene was surreal, but even weirder was that people were saying the horses had the lower bodies of horses… and the upper bodies of humans. Basically, they were skeleton centaurs.
“Let’s catch up fast,” I suggested.
We flew above the accident, glancing sideways at it. People occasionally noticed us, looking up and shouting, but by now we’d gotten pretty good at ignoring them.
If videos ended up on YouTube, I was pretty sure Mr. Wan’s organization would take them down.
Before long, we’d located the site of the car chase and confirmed that yes, it was a squad of centaur skeletons. There were five of them, and each one was a humanoid skeleton mounted on the skeletal body of a horse.
Even as they ran, the centaur skeletons notched arrows into their bows and fired. The van ahead swerved in panic, screeching loudly against the asphalt and narrowly dodging the arrows—but it cost it. As it slowed, the skeletons closed in.
Then, one of the centaur skeletons fired a beam of light…
Just when it seemed all hope was lost, a curtain of rainbow-colored light appeared behind the van and deflected the beam.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t escape damage entirely, its rear end exploding with a loud bang. The vehicle spun wildly.
Despite the driver’s near-miraculous skill in avoiding the surrounding cars, a major accident seemed imminent.
“Kayla, Tamaki! Stop them!”
“Okay, got it!”
“Mama Tamaki, let’s go!”
Kayla took Tamaki’s hand and vanished with a Dimensional Step. The next moment, the two warped out in front of the van. Tamaki shouted, “All right!” and positioned herself to block the spinning vehicle, extending her hands forward…
“With all my might!”
There was a tremendous sound. Tamaki firmly grasped the van, stopping its motion completely. Inside, we could see airbags deploying.
“Does Mr. Wan’s organization enforce seat belts in the back seats as well?”
“Don’t worry, it should be fine. Looks like they had a barrier inside.”
“A barrier, for things like the laws of inertia… Ah, well, magic bends the laws of inertia all the time, doesn’t it?”
Magic like Gravity, indeed, seemed to directly challenge Einstein.
“Then, like we talked about…”
“Yeah, Kazu-kun, you guys be careful, too.”
I summoned the Divine Winged Apostle Penusa for the… how many times today? Then I applied support magic and sent her and Arisu on their way. The skeletons seemed quite formidable, but with their effectiveness against the undead, they should have no problem.
Rushia and I followed after the two of them, while Shiki, Mr. Wan, and Coeurl stayed further behind. Being at a high altitude would probably make them easy targets for magic, so the plan was to descend to the ground at an opportune moment.
Now, let’s see… How would the enemy respond? I wondered. After all, we’re dealing with a Ghost King who appears to be quite the strategist.
✦ ✦ ✦
There were ten enemy combatants, at least as far as I could see. Five of them were centaur-type skeletons, each carrying a humanoid skeleton on its back.
Among the humanoids, two were clad in tattered robes—probably mages.
After a moment observing what magic they used, I could tell both were High Wizard Skeletons. That meant the remaining three must be Skeletal Godbreakers. It was a similar composition to before, but the strength of the centaur ones was the real issue.
“The Centaur Skeletons, their archery skills are incredibly strong,” Rushia remarked.
“Wait, but they missed their shots earlier, didn’t they?”
“That was probably because Mr. Wan’s friend inside the moving box used magic,” Rushia speculated. Her ability to perceive this was a testament to her specialized training in magic.
“But they’re nothing compared to Mekish Grau,” she continued. “We’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”
“Well, yeah, comparing them to divine soldiers is a bit unfair.”
Just then, Arisu and Penusa charged into the enemy ranks, attacking with anti-undead magic while the skeletons desperately tried to counterattack…
By the time Kayla and Tamaki warped into the fray, the disparity in strength was already evident.
Even the Godbreakers, with weapon skills equivalent to Level 9, were no real challenge for Arisu and Tamaki, who had effectively reached Level 10 in their skills.
The fact that Penusa was on par with them in combat strength meant that, indeed, no foes could stand against them, except possibly the Four Heavenly Kings themselves.
Rushia and I landed a short distance away. The surrounding people had already fled, leaving the shopping street deserted. Shiki’s group rushed to the halted van to check on Mr. Wan’s people.
Ending this battle could wait, but what his organization’s actions mattered for other reasons, too…
“Is someone coming?”
Maybe because it was the second time, I thought I could sense a vague presence nearby. Rushia and I nodded to each other.
“Now!” Shiki shouted from behind. Rushia and I leaped away as if repelled from our spot.
A ghostly figure burst through the asphalt, appearing right where we had been just a moment before.
“The same trick won’t work twice, Diasnexus.”
“Let’s see about that.”
Before I could even process my surprise, Diasnexus’s form wavered like mist and vanished. Could this be… an illusion? I wondered uneasily. Then, where’s the real Ghost King?
The answer came swiftly as Shiki screamed behind me. Turning around, I saw him, emerging from the wall of a building and rushing at her and Mr. Wan.
“Why are you targeting me?!”
“You are a valuable target they seek to protect; the plan is to start with you,” Diasnexus declared.
“Oh, really?” Shiki asked him with a defiant smirk. “What about this, then?” She brandished a rainbow-colored gem she had been hiding—a mana storage stone, which she’d gotten from the Mia Vendor during our last visit to the White Room.
“Transposition,” Shiki declared, holding the mana stone out in front of her.
The spell activated. Shiki disappeared, and in her place, the Divine Winged Apostle Penusa appeared, ready to launch magic at the approaching Ghost King.
“Barrier Break.”
A pale glow obliterated the vast array of buffs enveloping the Ghost King.
By the third round, caution was expected, which was why a little trickery was in order.
Of course, we’d considered alternatives in case this hadn’t worked, but it seemed the first round of this battle of wits with Diasnexus would go to us.
Stripped of thousands of protective spells at once, the Ghost King was furious.
“Then, I will eliminate this nuisance of a familiar first.”
“I’m afraid not.”
This time, it was Mr. Wan who had spoken. The ninja master stepped forward.
Diasnexus showed a momentary flicker of disturbance. He hadn’t expected an old man, who neither belonged to his world, nor was a familiar, nor a visitor from another world, to stand before him. But the moment passed, and the Ghost King’s anger intensified.
“You dare mock me?”
A black something came shooting from the palm of Diasnexus’s outstretched right hand—the same devastating attack that had obliterated the vicinity of Shibuya.
“I’m not underestimating you,” Mr. Wan calmly stated, facing the potentially lethal attack without panic. He calmly met the ghostly glare of Diasnexus’s skull, raising his right hand… in which lay the same rainbow-colored gem Shiki had used earlier.
“What?!”
“Actually, it’s because you underestimate me that I find meaning in being here.”
This was indeed the second round of the offensive and defensive battle. Fighting normally wouldn’t suffice to defeat this cunningly elusive, most formidable foe.
Thus, the only option was to expose a vulnerability and lure him into a trap.
If Shiki and Mr. Wan remained unprotected behind, Diasnexus would surely target them. At that moment, if Wan could transform into an attacker, even the cautious Diasnexus would forget his defenses and leap forward.
After all, under normal circumstances, such an enticing target wouldn’t exist.
It was like a duck bringing its own green onions—especially if the opponent was just an elderly man.
“What can you possibly do with that one thing?!”
The black aura spread out in a fan shape, striking with such incredible speed that almost no one would have been able to react to it. Certainly none of us could have.
But this was Wan, the master of the Greater Ninja.
He calmly unleashed the power of the gem.
“Deflection.”
The rainbow-colored gem shone brightly. The barrier that appeared in front of Wan reflected the black aura with perfect timing…
“Impossible! How could this be?!” Diasnexus cried, just before he was struck by his own lethal attack, resulting in a massive explosion.