“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The world’s worst dad had manifested in the coffin-filled space.
It looked about a hundred times more pissed than it had the last time it appeared. But, then again, the same could be said for us.
Sorry, Keraunos. I’ve gathered a party of people who’ve been burned by you before. In other words, everyone here wants nothing more than to kick your ass back to the doghouse. So why don’t you use that paternal instinct of yours and tell me who you think is the real prey—us or you?
“Time to put our plan into motion,” I shouted. “Mr. Szilard, you provide suppressive fire from the rear and support the front line. Just be careful of any attacks coming from its mouth.”
“Roger!”
“Haruka, you use Futsu-no-Mitama to sever the spiritual bypasses. Then you and I will attack in waves. We’ll focus our fire on the legs!”
“Gotcha!”
Both of them seemed raring to go.
All right, guys, let’s get this show on the road.
“Time to beat the crap out of this deadbeat dad! LET’S DO THIIIIIIIS!”
I used two stacks of Stride to increase my speed, Spiritas to boost my thinking speed, and Strength to buff my attack for an Agility-heavy stack. Then I rushed ahead at a speed faster than the human eye could follow. There was no need for me to use Hasten Time—I was already much faster than the black beast.
“Nyeh-heh-heeehhh!”
I let out a fierce laugh and swung Eckesachs, now in its greatsword form. The blow made a dull chopping sound as it connected with the enemy’s right foreleg. Soon, black spiritual power was gushing out from the point of contact.
First blood had been drawn. Just as I was getting ready to capitalize on the moment with a second strike, I noticed something off about the flow of spiritual power surrounding us.
I focused my spiritual senses and noticed three discharge points form around me. It was trying for a quick strike.
“No dice, kibble-for-brains!”
In a flash, the bypasses connecting the discharge points were severed by sword clones of Azure Skies, dancing like swallows through the air.
The radiant star swung her blade around with her left hand as she grinned and shot me a peace sign with her right.
“Thanks, Haruka! Good going!”
“No prob!”
I was grateful to have such a reliable partner. I felt invincible as long as she was with me, like I could do anything. And that only made me hungrier for battle.
Keraunos kept using his discharge points to shoot at us, keeping us on our toes. But unlike Astral Skills that could be fired off in the user’s immediate vicinity, the only way to attack through a discharge point was to first form long bypasses to carry one’s power.
Imagine a long hose carrying water. To use this remote skill to shoot enemies at close range, the beast had to get this really, really long hose all the way over to its target to release the water—in other words, its skill. The hose here was a long, thin tube of spiritual power that directed its flow.
These hoses, or bypasses, were key to the beast’s attack. That meant they were weak points we could exploit. And if an enemy had weak points, the most obvious thing to do was to aim for them!
These bypasses were created by a Sublime Demis spirit, of course. They couldn’t be severed with just any old weapon. But, fortunately for us, my party’s radiant star happened to own a special sword that could make quick work of spiritual bypasses. Haruka’s blade could slice through energy, spiritual matter, you name it! And that meant…
“Your pathetic sniping won’t work on us, dumbass!”
After hurling insults at the beast, I followed up with a greedy combo—a down slash into an upward cut.
It quickly began healing the gash on its right leg with spiritual power, but that didn’t matter to me. Taking down a certain perverted skeleton had given me plenty of practice fighting bosses who could heal.
“Taaaaaake thiiiiis!”
I attacked, and attacked, and attacked.
My entire body was screaming for my enemy’s blood. If it wanted to regenerate, it could go right ahead. But that meant it would be diverting spiritual power to its wounds, and that just meant more openings I could exploit.
Best of all, any slash from Haruka’s weapon could nullify energy-based healing.
Better speed up, or you’re gonna run out of legs real quick, puppo!
“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Keraunos must have realized the futility of the situation, because it contorted its body into a seemingly impossible position and retreated.
I’m sure it would have preferred to run far, far away. But unfortunately for the lightning hound, that wasn’t going to fly this time.
“Nyeh-heh-heh-heh-heh! Whaddya think, bolt brain?! Pretty cramped in here compared to the fifteenth floor, isn’t it?”
The entrance was separated from the exit by less than seven hundred feet.
It was a big room but nowhere near large enough for a beast the size of a large truck to run around in.
What’s the matter? Your usual long-range tactics not working too good today? Aw, what a shame.
“AAAA…WOOOOOO!”
But Keraunos soon began to charge spiritual power in its gaping maw, as if to say none of that mattered. It probably intended to destroy the insects that had chased it into a corner, even if that meant leveling the entire area.
“If you think that’s a good idea, you’ve got another thing coming, ya mangy mutt!”
Haruka and I rushed to the right wall.
Idiot. Haven’t you noticed that guy in the back? He’s been free to do as he pleases ever since the fight started.
“I’d expect no less from such promising youths. Watching you fulfill your frontline duties so gallantly has lit a fire in my heart!”
An overwhelming torrent of spiritual power flowed out from behind us.
Our wildcard—who had until that point been sharpening his fangs behind us—had finally unleashed his power.
“Hear me, beast of black lightning. I will make you atone for your crimes!”
“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Suddenly, the whole tenth floor began to shake.
Flashing lights lit up the room, followed by a thunderous noise as two massive energy sources collided.
The beast held nothing back as it unleashed a concentrated blast of dark, miasmic lightning. The attack shot ahead and spread out, destroying everything in its path.
Meanwhile, a massive beam of thermal energy shot out from the direction of the exit. The beam, composed of ultrahigh heat, painted a beautiful spiral as it soared through the air, threatening to eradicate our singular foe.
I felt like I was watching two monsters duke it out. We were being treated to one hell of a spectacle.
“Hey, Kyou,” asked Haruka.
“What is it?”
Amid the chaotic, noisy battle, the two of us had to read each other’s lips just to communicate.
“Those skills Mr. Szilard is using look super strong. But…that’s just basic thermolurgy, right?”
“Yep.”
I had no proof, but I assumed if Haruka made as many sword copies of Azure Skies as possible, she could easily repel the Astral Skill that Szilard had just fired off.
“I’m not saying I don’t trust him or anything, but…are you sure that’s going to be enough?”
The radiant star seemed to be worried that the spell Szilard was using was too weak to stand up to the black lightning.
“It’ll be fine.” If anything, Szilard was using just the right amount of power. “There’s no use in Mr. Szilard blasting the thing with something as strong as Rosso and Blu. At least not as Keraunos is now.”
“Hm…? Oh, right! This is about what you said at the strategy meeting!”
I nodded.
An instant later, the stalemate between Szilard and Keraunos came to an end. It was subtle, but Szilard had begun to overwhelm the beast.
“Hah-hah-hah! What’s the matter, monster? Is that really all you’ve got?”
“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Szilard took a step forward. Then another.
Their attacks continued to clash—the black-lightning blast from the out-of-control Sublime spirit and Szilard’s plasma beam. But with each passing second, the balance shifted.
Anyone would expect the vicious beast to have the upper hand, but they would be wrong.