“Ah!”
“There’s so damn many...!”
When released by G’s second form, there were too many projectiles to count—easily hundreds of them. Ray’s and Juliet’s eyes widened as the projectiles flew toward them. Dark magic could only be blocked by dark or its opposite—holy.
Juliet began to throw out every dark spell she had while slicing at the bolts with her Gradsoul empowered by Darkness of Valediction, while Ray fought the barrage with his halberd imbued with Purifying Silverlight.
“I can keep this up all day! How long will you last? What will you do next? I’m dying to see it!”
However, just neutralizing the attack didn’t do anything to stop it. There was simply no end to G’s hail of darkness, even without any chanting and with the ever-increasing MP cost she must have been incurring to bypass the skill declaration.
Normally, such careless magic would quickly use up the caster’s MP, but she was an exception. As Overlord, she had high MP to start with, and not only had it been enhanced further by her transformation, but her MP was constantly regenerating thanks to the reversed Magic Drain.
Her spending and regeneration were perfectly balanced, enabling a perpetual barrage. They might’ve been low in power, but the volume of these projectiles made them into something fearsome indeed.
This is bad...! A cold sweat started to bead on the back of Juliet’s neck. However barely, she was still holding on.
But if this went on for much longer, she would run out of MP long before her opponent, and the rain of projectiles would grow even more intense. Neither Ray nor Juliet would be able to withstand that—they would quickly be overwhelmed.
And this wasn’t even the only thing G could do.
“Is it too much?! You can handle this, right?! I’m sure you can!” Still firing the dark magic barrage with her left hand, she used her right to ready Harodihg Gnik.
Judging by the way she charged forward, the buff from Paradigm Shift had only made her more excited.
Their hands full with the dark magic, Ray and Juliet were unable to dodge, and Nemesis’s Counter Absorption would surely be wasted on the projectiles.
The Overlord cackled as she approached, looming over Ray and Juliet like a towering bear. She swung her trident at them.
As death drew closer, Ray prepared to make his final gamble...
“Maddened Blade, Sip Their Blood—Ipetam.”
...but then, a hundred blades sliced through the air, aimed straight at the Overlord.
“Oh? Oh my.” The blades failed to even pierce G’s skin, but she still stopped and looked at where they’d come from—the mouth of the passageway leading into the throne room.
“Kept ya waitin’, didn’t we?”
“So she’s not just stupid huge, but stupid tough now too! And I thought the octopus was bad!”
The two figures who appeared were people Juliet knew very well.
“Chelsea! Max!” The moment the barrage stopped, Juliet and Ray backed away from G.
The Overlord didn’t mind and looked over the four with a smile.
“You took care of the mermen?!” Ray asked.
“Yeah!” said Chelsea. “They just stopped comin’!”
G had been manually sending out the APMs using R’lyeh’s powers. However, when she started fighting Ray and Juliet, she wasn’t able to keep the process up, and as a result the flow of mermen stopped. This allowed Chelsea and Max to finish any that were left and come to help Ray and Juliet.
“Eh heh heh. This is good. This is great, even! Things are heating up!”
The enemy received reinforcements, but the Overlord wasn’t flustered in the slightest. The shallow wounds opened by the hundred blades had already healed, leaving only small drops of blood that she licked away with a smile.
“Everyone’s here! The party that will fight the Overlord is complete!” Despite the fact that there were more enemies now, a change in circumstances that was entirely a disadvantage to her, G laughed as if she were truly happy. “Now! You have five minutes left! Gather your courage and fight me!”
At the peak of excitement, she shouted out loud.
“This is the climax!”
The preface was over—this was the real start of the battle.
G welcomed her enemies—her costars on the stage—with nothing but pure glee and anticipation.
This was her territory, and the pressure of the power she wielded as Overlord made her a match for any Superior. Her voice alone was enough to shake the air and send chills down the spines of those before her.
“...Yeah.” However, Ray remained unshaken, prepared to face her directly. “The arena, getting back at me, and turning all of that into content... You really just do whatever you want, huh?”
He held up a finger for each of G’s goals...
“But you’re right—this is the climax. The curtain’s ready to fall on your stage.”
...but in the end, he curled his hand into a tight fist.
“We’re winning this game. I hope you’re ready, Invidia.”
“You’re the best, Unbreakable!” G heard his declaration loud and clear. He was meeting and exceeding her expectations.
Thus, the final battle began, and G made the first move.
“Leeet’s gooo! Harodihg Gnik... FULL DRIVE!” Three threads of light extended from the tips of the trident, capturing Ray, Juliet, and Max.
Their eyes widened. This was the weapon’s secret trick—Attraction Anchor could be used on several targets at once. G had kept this hidden while fighting just Ray and Juliet, but she’d decided that now was the time for the big reveal. She knew how strong those two were, and she knew that Max had cut down her Cthulhu in a single slash, so she chose to pull and bind them by force—an effective move.
However, this could only bind three people at most...
“Ohhh? You’re leavin’ me free? Really underestimatin’ me, aren’t ya?”
And she had four foes.
G’s eyes widened. She’d seen Chelsea’s sparring and knew her strategy. Because of that, she didn’t think that the pirate would be much of a threat where there was little water and she couldn’t summon her ship.
It was important to remember, though: Chelsea hadn’t needed those things to become eighth in the duel rankings of Altar—the holy land of duelists. Water or not, there were plenty of things she could do.
“Golden Bull Tsunami—Poseidon.” A crushing waterfall of liquid gold flooded over G’s head.