Chapter 126: vs The Attackers
“Huh? What’re ya sayin’, suddenly appearin’ like that? My clothes? What else would they be but the real deal? Or is this some kinda joke? Like, ‘These clothes and gear are fake, I was actually naked all along!’? Who’s that kinda pervert?!”
Ugh, critical hit…
Excel’s reply pierced my heart.
Honestly, I’d believed that it was because of the Bewitchment Skill that I started feeling like, ‘Maybe I don’t need to wear clothes…’ I thought that without this Skill, I wouldn’t possibly want to go outside naked. Conversely, I’d told myself that if anyone else had this Skill, they’d surely feel the same way.
But now, that’s been denied.
And I collapsed to my knees.
Ignoring me, the battle between Ochcho-san and Excel began.
Right now, I’m doing my best just to sort out my own feelings, but my Parallel Thought and Thought Acceleration Skills are automatically picking up information from my surroundings.
Ochcho-san attacked Excel repeatedly with his favorite club, but Excel nimbly dodged each blow. The difference in their agility is clear here.
Besides, although Ochcho-san’s injuries from the final match have healed, it seems his stamina hasn’t fully recovered. His movements feel slower than before. Of course, Excel must have aimed for this, deliberately choosing this timing to attack.
Oh, looks like Excel started using magic. Fire Magic, Dark Magic, Wind Magic, and Earth Magic, huh. Ah, she’s even using Space-Time Magic. But is it okay to cast so many spells in succession? It looked like she used Teleportation Magic to get here, so her mana should have been quite low.
Ochcho-san, as expected, seems prepared for magic, skillfully deflecting spells or altering their trajectory with his club. However, he can’t cope with the Space-Time Magic spells Quick and Slow, and as his movements dull, he’s targeted, gradually accumulating more wounds.
Ah, this is bad. The group in black robes is targeting Aurora. Snow seems to have her hands full with the Dragon Zombie. Looks like it’s my turn.
Having gained the mission to save Aurora, I finally regained my motivation and moved quickly.
KLAAANG!
My Crystal Sword intercepted the deadly blade aimed at Aurora.
“Kya!?”
Aurora’s scream is cute.
“Are you alright?”
For now, I don’t intend to reveal my identity, so I just muttered that.
“Ah, yes, thank you very much. You’re Fog-san, right?”
I gently kicked the black-robed person who attacked Aurora away, careful not to kill them, and turned back to face her. Perhaps because I’d only ever looked up at her from below before, looking down on Aurora felt fresh.
“It’s best if you step back a little.”
Leaving only those words behind, I charged into the group of black robes.
I took a quick look with Appraisal; they’re followers of the Evil God, but they’re human. It might seem soft towards people who’ve done this much, but I held back, incapacitating them without killing.
I wiped out the group of several dozen black-robed individuals in seconds and set my sights on the Dragon Zombie next. Ooh, Aurora’s admiring gaze feels nice.
I stood beside Snow, who was glaring at the Dragon Zombie, and sent her a Telepathy message.
Fufufu, Snow is as polite as ever.
Whoops, I guess there isn’t much time for a leisurely chat. The Dragon Zombie’s raw power has increased, but its intelligence has decreased. It doesn’t understand my strength and is charging right at me.
After sending Snow back to Aurora, I once again faced the Dragon Zombie.
“‘Light, that which illuminates all.'”
Facing the approaching Dragon Zombie, I envisioned and created a radiant angel holding a khakkhara staff, with three pairs of wings—six in total. A mass of light appeared before my eyes, quickly taking the form I imagined.
At the sudden appearance of the divine angel, even those fighting couldn’t help but stop.
That angel of light charged the Dragon Zombie at blinding speed, annihilating it without a trace. Furthermore, the angel eliminated the Shadow Mantis and the Poison Spider before vanishing.
“Kieeeeeeh!”
Perhaps driven mad by having all his Summoned Beasts defeated, Samuel shrieked strangely and attacked Theodore, only to have his chest pierced by Darius, dying anticlimactically in the end. A person’s death is sad, but after all he’s done, perhaps it couldn’t be helped…
Next, my eyes fell upon the dragonewt duo, Yorumungan and Ajidaha. Hayato, Lusar, and Ignito-san had already been fighting advantageously against them, so by using Space-Time Magic to slow the dragonewts’ movements, the battle concluded easily.
As for the remaining group of black robes, leaving them to the now-free Theodore, Hayato, and the others should be fine.
All that’s left is Excel, who’s fighting Ochcho-san. I guess I’ll take care of her.
“Ochcho-dono, let’s switch.”
“F-Fog-san? Sorry ’bout this, I’ll leave her to ya.”
Having the only battered person here, Ochcho-san, fall back, I stood na—er, confronting Excel. Ah, no, mistake. I stood confronting her.
“Tch, just when things were gettin’ good. You again? I won’t let ya off this time. Burst, Explosion!”
Cursing because I interrupted at a crucial moment, Excel unleashed the spell she likely prepared as a finishing blow for Ochcho-san—the Rank 2 Fire Magic, Explosion—at me.
I pinpointed the explosion point with Magic Detection and succeeded in preventing the blast by completely covering it with Water Magic.
“Wh-What the hell!? That’s impossible! My Magic Attack Power is over three thousand, ya know!? Just who the hell are ya?!”
Hmph, she’s surprised. After all, my current Magic Attack Power and Magic Defense Power both exceed 3600. Feats like this are possible for me.
Oh? Ochcho-san looks surprised too. Ah, well, of course. I fought him with a sword, so he wouldn’t know that I’m actually better with magic.
“I am no one. I am… me.”
Since there were many eyes on me, I tried to sound a little cool.
“Hah, so that’s it. You’re the ‘Arriver’ Jabberwock was talkin’ about. Didn’t expect ya to be human.”
What? Jabberwock? Why does she know Jabberwock’s name? I have a bad feeling about this.
“Why do you know Jabberwock’s name?”
“Like hell I’d tell ya!”
Tch, her way of speaking, her appearance… she’s really starting to tick me off.
If that’s how you want to play it, fine. I’ll just have to make you talk by force.
I let my sword hang loosely and entered a combat stance.
“Well now, you’re pretty good. Guess ya didn’t reach Jabberwock for nothin’.”
Seeing my stance, Excel’s eyes narrowed sharply. As expected, she won’t let her guard down that much.
But there’s no need for more talk with her. I need to defeat her quickly and head to the Devil’s Gate.
I stepped in sharply, swinging my Crystal Sword in a reverse diagonal upward slash aimed at Excel’s torso.
However, the strike I delivered with absolute confidence unexpectedly cut through empty air.
“Whoa, that was close!? What’s with that speed!? That ain’t normal!”
Excel’s voice came from behind me.
I see, she teleported to dodge. I’ve done it myself, but this is the first time someone’s used it against me. So this is what it feels like.
It’s troublesome, but as expected, there’s a time lag. It doesn’t seem possible to teleport in the middle of a combo. Besides, her mana is quite low, so she probably can’t do it many times.
In that case, what I need to do doesn’t change.
As I turned, I unleashed the Swordsmanship Skill: Slash.
Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t put much distance between us. As Excel leaped back, a spray of blood flew from her right leg.
“Tch, too fast!”
The slash was a bit shallow, not enough to sever the leg, but her mobility should have dropped significantly.
Excel didn’t just take it silently; she fired back with the Dark Magic spell Dark Whip, the Fire Magic spell Fireball, and the Wind Magic spell Air Cutter. However, perhaps concerned about mana consumption, they were all low-rank spells, not even worth dodging.
Excel stared at me, her face etched with despair, as I stood unscathed after taking all her magic head-on. As if to show her what real magic looked like, I deliberately summoned hundreds of Water Edges and launched them from all directions at the stunned Excel.
“T-To think I’d be pushed this far… huff, huff. Looks like all the pawns I prepared got taken out too… Who in the world are you?”
As expected of someone with Water Resistance Lv30 and a Magic Defense Power exceeding 3000, she didn’t die. Covered in blood, Excel asked me the same question again, but I was the one with questions.
“Alright, time for you to answer. How do you know about Jabberwock?”
“Right… I suppose I can tell you now. I have another partner, you see. And they’re stronger than me. They’re probably finishing off Jabberwock right about now. And after that…”
Having said that much, Excel reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
The moment I tensed up warily, the crystal-like object in Excel’s hand flashed, and she vanished.
(This is bad!? To think there was another enemy of that caliber!?)
Regretting that I hadn’t just finished her off without questions and gone straight to Jabberwock, I hurriedly teleported to the Devil’s Gate.