Chapter 3:
The Fifth Turning Point
WHEN I GOT BACK, Eris and the others were holding up just fine. They’d lost me and the Superd warriors, and Cliff and Elinalise were still not there, but things had stabilized. Ghislaine dashed about the battlefield, practically on all fours. The sweet spot of the Fighting God’s fist was high—he was a tall guy—so she kept low to the ground to avoid the range of the blast of wind it generated, slashing at him from the front, side, and back to assist the others. Ghislaine didn’t have enough offensive power, but from the way the Fighting God was waving his arms around, she was giving him a hard time.
Sylphie’s presence was similarly massive. The situation called for faster recovery, so her unvoiced healing magic was a perfect fit. When the Fighting God sent Zanoba or Cliff flying, she’d be at their side and have them back on their feet in an instant. Sylphie had been off active duty for a long time now, so I thought she’d struggle to keep up with the physical demand, but she was single-handedly doing as much healing as Cliff and I had combined.
I suppose I should give special mention to Isolde. She was out in front of the rest, deflecting all the Fighting God’s attacks against her and striking back with her own. She moved with grace and precision. Her technique made the Fighting God’s violent blows—any one of which could’ve been lethal—look like a child’s tantrum.
Obviously, she wasn’t going to defeat him like that. No matter how many flowing strikes she hit back at the Fighting God with or how many times she sliced into his arms or his legs, she didn’t do any damage. In a one-on-one battle, she might have given him a good fight, but she’d never have won. At some point, she’d get tired, and then it’d be over.
When it came to buying time until I made it back, though, her presence was worth its weight in gold.
“Sorry for taking so long!” I called out to Sylphie.
“Rudy…! All of you, fall back!” At her signal, they all put distance between themselves and the Fighting God.
“Well, well.” Badigadi didn’t try to follow them, didn’t even spare them a glance. His eyes were on me.
We were about the same size. The Fighting God Armor was about two and a half meters tall. The Magic Armor was about three meters tall. Those few dozen centimeters meant I was only a little taller, and because I’d stopped to stand about ten meters away from him, it wasn’t enough to look down on him.
“That must be the Magic Armor that my dear sister bestowed upon the Dragon God in recognition of his worth!”
“Um…” I said hesitantly. “You saw the Version One back at the port town, right?”
“Did I now?”
“Yup, only then you smashed it to pieces in a single blow.”
I thought back on that single blow. I’d taken the full impact because I’d overestimated my defenses, but still, it was amazing that Eris and Ruijerd were still alive after taking hits like that. It had to be the difference having a battle aura made to your defensive strength…though in that case, I had to worry about Cliff. He hadn’t taken a direct punch, but it wasn’t like he could cloak himself in the protection of a battle aura in the event that he did.
“You said ‘Version One’. I take that to mean that this armor is different?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” I said, looking around me. The others were standing around watching me from afar. Though there was a solid distance between us, they could still get caught in the crossfire.
Oh, right. Sylphie was going around the remaining wounded.
I’d trust her with Cliff for now.
“Shall we get this show on the road?”
The battle commenced.