ch281-ch300 · 298-ch298
Chapter 298: Formation Z
(This one attacks the moment it appears! 'Aiming!')
An attack that has become pure routine.
I aim for the instant the helmet warrior emerges from the darkness.
Drive 【Charge・Spear】 into its chest, then grab its left hand so it can't topple backward, and drag it out to my side.
(【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】)
Bracing for what comes next, I fire up super mode again while sliding the Shield Gauntlet off the left arm I've seized.
What appears from under the Shield Gauntlet is not a too-thin arm, but the bones of a hand......
Bones. Right—the inside of this thing is a skeleton.
I learned that when I peeked at Floor 41 the other day.
The goblin skeletons on Floor 41 had the same black presence color as these things.
Whether skeletons are black, or undead in general are black, I don't know.
But I believe these things are skeletons modeled on us......
(【Charge・Shield・Armor Enhancement・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Magic Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Endurance Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Strength Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Agility Up・High】)
Keeping one eye on above, I fit the Shield Gauntlet back on, then activate the shield side too—hyper mode.
I meet the black armor in full fighting form.
GASHAN, GASHAN.
I wait for the instant the black armor steps—once, twice—fully out of the darkness.
(【Gate】, then 'Aiming'!)
I use the 'Right Eye Gate' and the 'Left Eye Gate' at the same time.
One right in front of it—the other directly behind the black armor!
The target is the magic stone.
After missing any number of times, I've finally got a feel for distance through the 'Gate.'
For an instant there's a hard resistance, and then I pierce it.
If it's using Kasumi-san's equipment, maybe it has Kasumi-san's skills too—that would be an upper-tier armor enhancement skill.
Either way, it's HARD.
The MP banked in 【Charge・Spear】 was a mere five or six.
Even so, the spear tip just barely reaches the magic stone......
"Oh sh...... 【Gate】!"
Just as I'm about to celebrate, a fireball comes hurtling down from overhead.
On reflex I raise my left hand and put up a 【Gate】.
The 'Left Hand Gate' spreads out parallel to the ground, beautifully.
That's a first.
Until now I could only deploy it vertically, perpendicular to the ground.
The instant it lands, the temperature of this space shoots up.
Not warm—HOT!
It's burning......
(【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】)
I don't know whether it helps, but I activate 【Charge・Spear】 a third time to raise my magic defense.
The flames of the fireball caught by the 'Left Hand Gate' spread across the whole room.
The safe zone is only the bit directly beneath the 'Left Hand Gate.'
Diving into the 'Right Eye Gate' and coming out of the 'Left Eye Gate' where the black armor stood would have been dicey too.
(What a crappy game)
It was a misjudgment too.
If that had been magic, 【Magic Shield】 should have erased it.
I would like to ask why I even stole the shield, exactly.
And as ever, whoever dropped that fireball from above never shows their face.
(But—even so, that's the first time I've ever beaten the black armor)
Thinking of stealing the Shield Gauntlet from the helmet warrior was a good idea, but even in hyper mode it was about an even match, so whenever I got absorbed in the fight, the fireball got me and I was back to square one.
That, over and over—but it seems the black armor can't cope with attacks that use the 【Gate】.
(What comes next......)
The flames vanish from my sight, and in their place appears a swordsman without a shield.
The armor isn't the usual kit, but that sword is Aikawa's.
Aikawa wanders in looking completely casual—and then, just as casually, swings.
There's still quite a bit of distance.
Ten meters......
Even so, I reacted.
Instinct or whatever it was, I slid my shield into the path of her blade, between it and my body.
......But that was all.
The Shield Gauntlet is cut neatly in two, and my left hand falls.
And then I fall too.
Looking down, my right hand and spear are already on the ground.
Spear and shield are both away from my body, and yet hyper mode apparently continues, and my left hand and I drift slowly down toward the ground.
Lower body untouched—everything from the chest up, sliced clean in half......
Maybe because there's still HP left, I'm conscious.
And then a fireball comes down.
No mercy, huh.
Aikawa leaps backward and returns to the darkness.
(HOT!)
Maybe because my magic defense is raised in hyper mode, it feels like I'm burning longer than usual.
What's more, my lower half is supposed to be separated, but I can even feel it burning.
(What a crappy game......)
Still—isn't Aikawa's skeleton a bit TOO strong?
【Charge・Shield・High】's defense is supposed to parry any attack.
Simply by being an upper-tier skill, it should be stronger than 【Charge・Spear】......
And yet I was bisected without even managing to activate it.
Is that a skill of the 【Idol】?
Fireball owner included—my skeleton is the weakest one here......
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"Ide-de-deh!"
Pain wakes me up.
This is the warehouse's second floor.
Right in front of me is Kasumi-san......
Kasumi-san is pinching my cheek.
"Oh my, you're awake."
There's an edge to her words.
"Um, my hand......"
And she won't let go.
My Endurance is 220—there's no way a little pinch like this should hurt......
"You seemed to be having quite the enjoyable dream, so I couldn't help myself...... You are always sleeping lately. As a reference, might I ask what you were dreaming about?"
She says that, and still doesn't let go.
That is not "couldn't help myself," is it.
"I'd rather you not tell anyone about this, but......"
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. A dream you can't tell people about, is it? Don't tell me you were dreaming of flirting with someone? Who was it? Tell me! Don't tell me, the one in glas—..."
"Crisis, crisis, big crisis—!"
Just as Kasumi-san switched to both hands and my cheeks were in a state of emergency, Shiraishi-san comes into the warehouse and races up the stairs.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm—"
Eyeing the doorway, but the strength in both hands doesn't ease one bit.
Might pop off......
"Biiiig crisis! Formation Z! It's a crisis—!"
"What did you say? An enemy attack?"
Shiraishi-san comes rushing in, and the moment she catches the word "Z," Kasumi-san's hands fly open.
"An enemy attack? What do you mean? And what is this 'Z'?"
"It's the response formation for a 'Sword Saint' incursion. Shiraishi-san, how many? All of 'Blue Ocean'?"
That's not an enemy attack, no.
"From 'Blue Ocean,' just 'Sword Saint-chan'—but Formation D activated too! That's why it's a crisis!"
"D!? Miyu—... Miyuki is here too? Just the two of them? No other dignitaries?"
Kasumi-san, who nearly shouted, somehow restrains herself and repeats it in a small voice.
Kuwashima-san is an ultra-VIP protective detail, so it would be bad for it to get out that she's in Chiba.
"That's right, just the two of them! I thought 'Sword Saint-chan' had come, and then the guard turned out to be Miyuki-chan!"
"Mmm? Isn't it the other way around? Surely 'that little brat' came as Miyuki's escort?"
The 【Sword Saint】 job appearing means not merely first-class sword skill, but skill in a sanctuary ordinary people can never reach.
Even on the surface, unless a gun is used, she would be an invincible existence......
"No, no. The GUARD was Miyuki-chan."
What is this woman saying?
Kuwashima-san said on TV she's bad at sports—what use would she be as a guard?
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm? I don't quite follow, but understood. In any case, let us respond. Haruki-san, please remain here and stand by. If anything happens, Shiraishi-san should come to inform us, so until I say it's all right, do not leave this place. Should Miyuki come anywhere near here, please flee into the back."
Using the 【Gate】 to go deeper, in other words.
Then it's full equipment.
Except my only destinations are Floor 40 or Floor 41......
Maybe I'll jump to Floor 41 and work my way back to Floor 39......
"I'm off to Mia-chan's place next. 'Sword Saint-chan' and Miyuki-chan should still be stuck topside with Hayashi-san holding them up, so hurry!"
"I'm off as well. Haruki-san—please stay safe......"
I'm grateful for the concern, but I doubt either of them has business with ME.
If anything, it's Kasumi-san's bad blood with 'Sword Saint-chan' that worries me......