“That isn’t an answer.”
“Press against me more if you want.”
“How about I curse you instead?” I had already started running as we spoke. The princess’s arms were wrapped around my neck, and her legs around my waist. She had blushed at the unladylike shamelessness of it during practice, but she wasn’t the type to complain during the real thing. As Orlaya kept her distance from the giant, Myra charged in solo while Serrulata and Euryops were running side by side.
“If this is a success, we might popularize this strategy.”
“P-Please focus on the battle at hand,” the princess said, sighing into my ear.
“I am.”
The thorns created by the blue-haired holy knight ensnared the giant’s legs, but they only served to buy time. Tearing them off, the giant used its left foot to try to stomp on the princess and me.
“Princess, maximum strengthening.”
“Of course!” I was engulfed by a pale light and received the divine protection of Physical Enhancement. She was brave to bet everything on her holy knight who didn’t devote any effort to defense when one mistake would mean becoming a stain on the ground. A massive shadow loomed overhead as the giant’s foot bore down on us with a gust of wind—almost like the moon was falling from the sky to crush us.
“It’s like a kid stepping on ants.” I readied the sword at my hip. Not yet. It won’t reach just yet. My attack wouldn’t connect unless I did it the moment before it crushed us. Our only way out lay in the moment just before our deaths. I had to wait until the last second. Now!
My entire body sprung into action. My feet pushed off the ground, transferring that force from my knees to my waist. This force was added to the twisting of my waist, flowing seamlessly to my upper body. All that energy was channeled from my arms to my blade, resulting in an explosive impact upon contact with the enemy. Then my partner’s divine protection was added, completing the slash.
Ordinarily, the princess and I would have been crushed in less than a second. But we didn’t succumb to that pressure. My bone sword collided with the giant’s foot, and although all my muscles and bones screamed in protest—tearing and fracturing—I didn’t yield. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
“You should’ve tried learning a thing or two these past three centuries, big guy!” My sword dug into its metatarsals and cuneiform bones—in other words, the middle of its foot, halfway between its heel and toes—then sliced clean through. “Not all ants go down so easily!”
The giant let out a silent cry. That single attack had turned its left foot into a club. Its balance thrown off, it lurched forward. With the princess still on my back, I jumped to the giant’s left and retreated.
“Albert! Were you injured?”
“Just my muscles a little. Can you fix them?” While my bones would be healed by my curion powers, my living flesh wasn’t so convenient. I looked over at the giant as the princess healed me with the goddess’s magic. Cracks were easily healed, but fully severed portions of bone required time to regrow. As long as we didn’t drag things out too long, it would probably be without its foot for the rest of the fight.
Although the giant managed to avoid falling to its knees, it couldn’t attack us again—it didn’t have a left arm. If it tried to turn and use its right arm, we would be long gone. Not that it had the leeway to do that in the first place. Six orange ribbons and a cluster of thorns flew out from a nearby building and wrapped around its right arm—it was Lycoris and the blue-haired asshole.
“Excellent work, White! I won’t let this opportunity you’ve given us go to waste!” Glenn, the handsome blond holy knight, leaped onto the giant’s arm and ran up it. “Heavenly Sword—Radiance!” The sword in his hand was red-hot. It was unlike a holy woman’s divine protection—bright enough to burn the eyes, it was akin to the sun itself. “Rest well, defender of your country.”
Glenn sprinted up the giant’s radius and humerus, jumped onto its shoulder, and arrived at its collarbone. Continuing to run, he aimed to sever the cervical vertebrae. His instant reaction to the events, quick coordination, and following movements were all first-rate. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d finished things then and there.
However, with the sound of creaking bones, the giant turned its skull toward Glenn and opened its lower jaw. Then it bit down on Glenn’s elbow, a little bit past his Heavenly Sword. I couldn’t blame him for being unable to react. Seeing a curion put stress on its neck—its weak point—by moving it beyond its natural range of motion was new to me too.
“Whoooaaa!” Because he was unable to maintain his grip on his sword, Radiance’s blade returned to normal. It couldn’t maintain its ability when its connection to its wielder was lost. But the bigger issue was Glenn. If the damage had been beyond what his Physical Protection could defend against, he would have just been blessed.
“It’s fine! He wasn’t bitten!” Campsis shouted, alleviating everyone’s fear. Although her voice was practically a shriek, with none of her usual cheer, she probably wasn’t lying. Her divine protection was still active, so he hadn’t been infected.
Still, we couldn’t be relieved just yet. The giant returned its skull to its normal position, then spat Glenn out like it was discarding the seeds of a fruit. It was so fast I couldn’t even see Scorching Sun’s holy knight as he flew through the sky. I heard the sound of him crashing into a building a moment later, but now wasn’t the time for me to check on him.
“Lycoris! Let go!” I shouted. Had she reacted just a moment sooner, she might have made it in time. The giant forcibly removed the restraints on its right arm, tearing through the thorns and sending Lycoris tumbling through the air.