The ifrit reared its head back in a sky-splitting bellow that shook the room and pushed down on us with a physical pressure. The bellowing was intimidating enough, but the real threat followed. Part of the ifrit’s fire pulled away from its body and knitted into an orb above its head, hot and bright and blazing like a sun, big enough to eclipse the false moon hanging in the sky. The incandescent glow saturated the boss room in light and heat. It didn’t exactly feel like a pleasant campfire.
The sun ruptured into dozens of pieces that plunged from the sky with the force of a god’s iron hammer.
You’ve gotta be kidding me!
Each sunshard contained an obscene concentration of mana. They mercilessly rained down on us like a meteor shower.
I see.
This beast hadn’t even touched the big guns before. It knew we were too weak to pose a real challenge, but we’d put up more of a fight than it expected, so it decided to wipe us out in one move. It must’ve really hated me because about 80 percent of the fireballs were descending my way. I desperately dodged each one, but while I evaded direct hits, the overpowering heat melted my surroundings into a sea of fire wherever they landed.
Once I had a second to breathe, I turned my attention in the opposite direction. “Is everyone okay?!”
The tanks absorbed the initial impacts, but they’d taken severe damage—everyone was splayed on the ground. One huge, final fireball descended toward them.
“Like hell you will!” I screamed.
I activated Time Zero and moved to them. At the same time, I summoned Greed into my left hand and braced for impact.
“Eat it!” I shouted. The action stole 30,000 MP, but I was just relieved it stole the fireball too. “Is everyone okay?!”
“Y-yeah. You seriously saved us,” Yagami-san grunted in a strained voice. He knelt on the ground, battered and bloodied. Seeing his injuries spurred me to a decision.
“Go inside the barrier,” I told him.
I recalled my actions during my fight with the lightning beast and decided that, in this do-or-die situation, I should take the Fortifying Medicine. Once I swallowed it, I approached the ifrit from the front and quietly said: “Time Zero.”
A moment later, my vision went black—proof that I’d infiltrated the ifrit’s body.
I still had no idea where the magic stone was located, but I didn’t have time to be precise. If I couldn’t destroy the magic stone, I could inflict damage from the inside.
I started choking.
Why? Oh, no!
Smoke and heat filled my throat through the cracks rapidly snaking across Battle Barrier. It was awful—the ifrit’s insides burned like the fires of Hell itself!
The shock of it spurred me to activate Time Zero. I reappeared in midair, but I was nearly too late. A moment longer and I would’ve roasted in there.
I fell to the ground and landed on one knee, drawing the ifrit’s searing stare. Hana and the others still huddled to the monster’s right, but it only seemed interested in menacing me. Its face twisted like it was telling me it wouldn’t allow a parasite like me inside its body.
“Same to you, buddy!” I spat.
I struck myself in the chest, smashing my damaged Battle Barrier to pieces. The sixty-second cooldown had already passed since I first activated it, so I summoned it again. This way, I cloaked myself in a flawless defense.
The plan I thought was my secret weapon failed. I had only one option left. I’d run at full speed, faster than the ifrit could imagine, while Battle Barrier protected me. Then I would strike the ifrit before its fire could torch me!
I took a deep breath, then released it with a yell as I took off. No gimmicks this time—I ran at full tilt. The ifrit snarled angrily and launched a fireball at me. I was already moving too swiftly to turn, but it didn’t matter.
I initiated a single attack that used every fiber of my being—accelerate, teleport, penetrate. I called it Invisible Slash. I outran the fireball and chain-teleported into the air.
“Take this!” I yelled.
I swung Nameless viciously, cutting through the fire and scoring a deep gash in the ifrit’s chest. I felt resistance—I was sure I did.
“Huh?”
Something struck my left side. My mind blanked. Battle Barrier shattered in one blow and the heat flooded over me like lava. The impact threw my small body so hard, my back slammed into something. One of the starry walls? I could feel blood pooling beneath me after I crumpled to the ground.
The HP bar at the corner of my eye dropped below 10 percent.
I lifted my head and saw the ifrit as if through a fog. Its murky shape shook out its right arm.
Oh…it punched me and…sent me flying…
I coughed, adding another splatter of blood to the dungeon floor, but I wasn’t down for the count yet. As my eyes refocused, I saw the ifrit clutched the gash in its chest with its left hand.
Yes. I definitely dealt damage. One more hit—if I could land just one more hit, I could really beat this monster!
“Rin!”
“Oniichan!”
“Rin-senpai!”
Rei, Hana, and Yui shouted from behind me as I rose, ignoring my wounds. I couldn’t stop. If I did, everyone else would have to fight the ifrit.
“Ngh!”
Each step sent shockwaves of pain through my body. I wanted to collapse on the spot. Worst, during the time it took me to rise, the ifrit had begun its next attack. A giant sun swelled above its head again, somehow larger than the last one.
“Not like this!” I hissed.
That much fire would undoubtedly envelop us. Everyone would die.
Everyone but me.
I could use Time Zero and leave the boss room now if I wanted to. I could survive. Heck, I already knew a strategy I could use to beat the ifrit once I was back. If I used Time Zero and Battle Barrier while I evaded and showered it in attacks, I could deal enough damage, no problem. It’d be a tough fight, but this monster was out of surprise attacks. There was a good chance I could win.
That would only happen if I let the others die—a Pyrrhic victory. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t win and protect the others. But what was the point of a win like that? The whole reason I was here was to get Hana and everyone else out alive. They were too important to me.
Man, I’m still so weak.
Why did I want all this strength? If I can’t protect them here, there was no point in obtaining it!
I glared at the ifrit’s golden eyes. “Listen up, beast. Aim everything you’ve got right here.”
Hana and the others were too close to me, so I dashed away from them. Battle Barrier wasn’t active. I had nothing to protect myself with, no hidden strength left to tap into, but still, I raised my blade! Even if those flames burned me to cinders, I would save the others!
“Wait!”
A clear voice rang out, but I had no idea who it belonged to. My everything was focused on was charging the ifrit.
Faster. I have to go faster.
I pushed past my limit. My HP was below 30 percent, so Revitalize kicked in. I sped onward. And then—
There was the sound of breaking glass, then that voice again.
“Cursed!”