His Soul Attire absorbs attacks and ejects them. The source of that power is the golden cube. I don’t know its range, but I should assume it can cover anything within sight.
Aurum Cube was endlessly versatile and had a wide range… But what if there was a limit on what it could absorb?
Yeah, that might be it! I thought. Aurum Cube can probably only absorb so much damage before it gets overloaded!
The look on his face suggests he’s already figured out my weakness, thought Gauron. He knows about the absorption limit!
I now had a working hypothesis about Aurum Cube’s weakness, but unfortunately, I still lacked a vital piece of information: How high was the absorption limit? If I invested all my spirit power into a full-strength attack and it wasn’t enough to overload Aurum Cube, that attack would get redirected onto the streets of Aurest. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
Dammit, what should I do? Should I just go for it?! No, the risk’s too great…
Indecision paralyzed me. Gauron watched me and let out a snort.
“If you’re not going to attack, that’s fine by me. I’ll just resume faithfully carrying out His Majesty’s orders,” he said, thrusting his right arm out to the side. “Dimittus.”
A golden cube appeared above the clock tower and released a bright red wave of heat upon it.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Huh?! Where’s that coming from… Gaaaaaah!”
The unpredictable attack exacerbated the panic in the city.
“What?!” I gasped.
I hadn’t used that power, and I didn’t remember Gauron absorbing it either. That meant it must have been a Soul Attire attack he’d absorbed at an earlier point. It seemed like Aurum Cube had the ability to store attacks and eject them at a time of Gauron’s choosing.
Crap! I can’t let this keep up…
To defeat Gauron, I needed to use an attack that surpassed the absorption limit of Aurum Cube. Unfortunately, any attempt to do so would be a major gamble. If the attack wasn’t strong enough, it would get diverted onto the streets of Aurest and cause major damage. That said, leaving Gauron to his own devices would allow him to screw with me by devastating the city on his own.
The best move right now would be to defeat Gauron in one hit with my strongest attack.
But can I do that right now…? I had expended a lot of spirit power fighting Shin. There was no way I could perform a full-strength Dark Boom, Clear Black Sky, or World Render. I could only manage 50%–70% at best.
The situation was only growing worse as I hesitated.
“Oh no, the fire’s spread here, too…”
“Help! I need help! Are there any holy knights or witchblades nearby?!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
Screams sounded from all over Aurest as the city suffered the horrors of war.
“Attention, citizens! Please evacuate to Drestia!”
“No pushing! Someone will get hurt!”
Holy knights called out desperately as they did their best to guide people to safety, but they were having trouble getting anyone to listen amidst the panic.
“Group A, to the community center! Group B, to the gymnasium! Group C, to the urgent care clinic! Hurry!” I heard Shii yell.
“Leave the fighting to the others! We need to focus all our spirit power on putting out the fires!”
“Faster, faster! The flames are spreading faster than we’re dealing with them!”
Shii and the rest of the Soul Attire Wielders with water abilities were frantically fighting the fires, but they couldn’t keep up.
Aurest was being completely overwhelmed.
Is there nothing we can do…?! I racked my brain for a solution, then noticed something out of place in the corner of my vision.
…Why is there a small child here?!
A little girl was running through the battlefield holding a letter.
“Haah, haah… I need to let them know…as soon as possible…,” she said, panting.
The girl had scratches all over her arms and legs and was running as fast as she could toward the mountain of bricks the city had become. I looked closely and saw a strong determination in her eyes.
A massive explosion rocked a corner of the city, sending the young girl flying and dumping her at Gauron’s feet.
“Eeek!” she screamed as her blood splattered onto Gauron’s black robe.
“Damn you…! How dare you defile this robe, girl?! This was a gift from His Majesty!” Gauron yelled furiously. His face turned red, and cataclysmic spirit power erupted from his body.
“A-ah…!” the girl whimpered as the immense spirit power knocked her to the ground.
“Hey, what are you doing?! She’s just a kid!” I shouted.
“Age matters not on the battlefield! You’ll pay for this with your life, whelp!” Gauron shouted.
He raised his fist…
“Father… Save me…”
…but just then, a sphere of water appeared and wrapped itself gently around the girl, completely shielding her from Gauron’s gauntlet-enhanced punch.
“…Huh?” I gasped, shocked that the water had stopped a full-strength attack by an Imperial Knight and astounded by the incredibly dense spirit power it was imbued with.
“What the hell is this?!” Gauron shouted just as dark clouds covered the clear sky and began to drizzle. The sprinkle became a violent downpour in no time, which put out the fires in the city.
“Erode—Eternity Drop.”
Next, giant pillars of water erupted from the ground.
What is going on…?!
The rumbling sound of footsteps shook the earth from below as if emanating from the depths of hell. They grew steadily louder until a man over two meters tall emerged above ground. He walked toward the girl with an anger that made my hair stand on end.
“Are you okay, Serena?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” the girl responded.
“Really? I’m so proud of you.”
The large man smiled and patted the girl on the head.
“I-it’s you…,” I said.
I knew this man. His name was Raine Grad. He was a criminal who had brought never-ending rain to Daglio, the Land of Sunshine, and who was supposed to be in a cell in the Aurest Dungeon.