The timing was tight, but as long as I got it right, I’d be able to repel any attack, regardless of how high the stats of my enemies were.
The doom demon growled in confusion, baffled at how its attack had been rebuffed.
Unfortunately, I no longer had the leeway to counter; I needed to put some distance between the monster and me so I could regain my footing. But the moment I jumped back...
Shit!
The demon had done something completely unexpected—it had dropped its spear low to the ground, swinging it to one side in an exaggerated motion.
That’s Wave Thrust! I thought, eyes going wide.
Wave Thrust was another spear Art, but this one wasn’t basic at all; it was a powerful AoE Art that fired a shock wave at its target’s feet, and which couldn’t be parried. Even worse, I was still in mid-air after attempting to leap to safety, and the monster was aiming for the spot where I was going to land.
There’s no time for me to dodge, so I’m gonna have to take a gamble! I thought, too pumped full of adrenaline to be afraid.
I leaned to one side as I fell to the ground, desperately swinging my sword through the air.
Technically speaking, Wave Thrust couldn’t be parried no matter what Art you used, but with a little imaginative thinking, and some manual activation...
“Iai Slash!” I shouted, tracing the Art’s form in the air.
Due to my odd position, the attack shot straight toward the ground under my feet, colliding with the rush of mana Wave Thrust had shot toward me.
You see, in Braves and Blades, it didn’t matter whether you automatically activated an Art or did it manually—it would always launch in the direction the character was facing. In other words, if you were to, say, lean to the side when an Art activated, it would also end up tilted. Add to that the high level of freedom manual activation gave you to adjust the angle of your Arts, and you started to understand the method’s true power! You could strike from above, below, or to the side; you could even do crazy things like strike right while looking left!
Even with my strategy though, the power of my Iai Slash couldn’t match that of the doom demon’s Wave Thrust. The collision of the two Arts knocked my weapon back, and I took a bit of damage. Still...I’d pulled through.
“I’m not done yet!” I howled.
The doom demon followed up its Art with another attack, but I parried it easily—it had been half-assed, most likely since the monster hadn’t expected me to repel its Wave Thrust.
As a result of my successful parry, I was left with a big opening, though I already knew my regular attacks wouldn’t be able to do the monster any damage. Fortunately, I had more than just regular attacks in my arsenal.
“Gale Slash!” I yelled, my sword whipping out in front of me.
The edge of my blade grazed the demon’s flank, but didn’t fully land. That was just fine with me though, since I’d purposefully aimed my Art so it would miss. Just as I’d planned, the force of my swing spun me around, and as I did a full rotation I drew another Art’s shape in the air with my sword.
I’d activated Gale Slash purely for the momentum I’d known it would provide me; I’d be hitting the doom demon’s exposed back, which now hovered right before my eyes, with a different Art.
“Divine Thrust!” I growled, the point of my sword striking home. It slid into the demon’s back right where its wing was joined to its body.
The doom demon let out a howl of pain and rage, swinging its free arm in my direction.
I backstepped the blow, putting enough space between us that I could take a second to catch my breath.
Fucking hell, I thought, my heart pounding in my ears and my hands shaking uncontrollably. But, before I knew it...a mad grin had broken out over my face.
I damaged it, I thought with a rough laugh. Not just a little bit either—Divine Thrust is a powerful Art, and I hit the doom demon’s weak point. If I keep it up, I might actually be able to defeat that thing.
From a few yards behind me, I heard Radd mutter a reverent, “Holy shit...”
I shot a quick glance back at him over my shoulder, my grin growing even wider at the sight of his awestruck expression.
It might be fun, showing off another character’s power, I thought, but it’s infinitely more satisfying to see my own hard work bear fruit.
After all, right now I wasn’t fighting just with Rex’s stats—I was using all the knowledge I’d accumulated from years of playing BB to win.
Besides, who wouldn’t get pumped up fighting a duel to the death with a powerful foe? I thought, bouncing on the heels of my feet as I prepared to dive into battle once more.
For, of course, this was only the beginning. I watched as the doom demon’s eyes narrowed as it glared in my direction. It dragged the head of its spear roughly over the ground, showing me just how enraged my attacks had made it.
Now that it’s learned that I can just parry its regular attacks, it’s going to use its strongest Arts to take me down instead, I thought. But that won’t work on me either. I’ve got that monster’s number now.
The doom demon swept its spear low across the ground, the pointed head kicking up a clod of earth as it flew in my direction.
That’s Low Sweep, a mid-level spear Art! I realized, leaping into motion the second I identified what the monster was doing. I swayed to the right, swinging my sword across my body from the opposite direction as I called out, “Tri-Edge!”
My Art knocked me back, safely out of range of the doom demon’s blow, though that meant I was also too far away for my sword to carve into the monster’s flesh. I would have found that disappointing, but, truth was...I hadn’t needed my Art to strike home in the first place.
Arts Plus! I thought gleefully, the skill bursting to life.
I straightened up, pouring even more mana into my sword as I swung it from my right to my left in a diagonal slice. That one didn’t hit the doom demon either, but just as the automated motion of its Low Sweep concluded and it began to pull its arm back for another blow, I added a third Art to my combo.
“V-Slash!” I yelled, triumph filling me when my sword actually connected this time, tearing into the doom demon’s arm.
“Graaaaaah!” the monster roared, its voice rising in agony.
I grinned. Looks like I really caused it some damage that time.
The monster turned and stared down at me in confusion, as if it was struggling to comprehend how such a pitiful creature had managed to hurt it.