“Ruriririririri”
“(What the!?)”
Right after taking off from the ice towards the Clione in the sky, a phenomenon that made me literally doubt my eyes occurred.
The Clione’s figure blurred, and it multiplied into four.
The four Cliones separated to the east, west, south, and north, and began preparing to attack while looking down at me.
The strength of their 〖Zone Control〗 was also evenly distributed, and the amount of 〖Mana〗 I could sense was the same for all of them.
“(Illusions, right…?)”
Considering the Clione’s abilities, they should be illusions, but if it’s a 〖King Beast〗, it wouldn’t be strange if it could create clones with the same 〖Status〗 as itself.
Let’s keep that possibility in mind as I move.
“Lalalala!”
“(Their voices are overlapping too! Shield, activate!)”
While being tossed around by the hail of ice crystal light bullets, I formulate a plan.
It’s impossible to pinpoint the real one from the attacks. Three-quarters of the ice crystal light bullets were illusions, but the remaining quarter also came from various directions.
Probably, as long as there are ice crystals, the light bullets can be fired even if they are away from the main body.
I have to be wary over a wide area, which is quite troublesome.
“(For now, I’ll disengage.)”
After thinking for a bit, I decided that was the only option. I steered sideways instead of upwards.
Light bullets were fired at my back as I 〖Flee〗, but it wasn’t that difficult to evade them.
Once I had gained some distance, I returned my course to the sky and reached the same altitude as the Cliones.
As for the Cliones, they were in a formation of up, down, left, and right, trying to prevent me from focusing my attention on one point.
“Rerara”
“(It’s annoying that 〖Trajectory Prediction〗 is being fooled.)”
I sighed, recognizing the predicted trajectories that seemed to cover the entire front.
I can’t dodge this many light bullets.
Well, most of them are illusions, and if I shift my position and put up a shield, I can block them quite easily.
Also, the Heat Ray can’t change its firing point, or maybe there’s another reason why it can’t be used with illusions, but it hasn’t been fired since the illusions were created.
This might actually be a minus, since I can’t raise my body temperature, but the Heat Ray is gone.
“(Wait, but if that’s the case…)”
While watching the light bullets rush in like a wall, I begin an experiment.
I move to the position where the barrage seems thinnest, and then I deactivate the shield that I had been using.
A few light bullets hit me, and a chilling coldness flows into me.
“(C-cold, but, if it’s this…!)”
But the coldness was only for a moment.
My body temperature was immediately raised by the Sunstone inside my body, and I no longer felt it.
The ice that had formed on my body had already melted.
“(Could it be that I’ve overcome the light bullets too?)”
〖Mana〗 is being consumed at a rate that cancels out the natural absorption, but that just means the output of the Sunstone is increasing.
The light is shimmering like a heat haze around me, and I’m emitting enough heat that I’m fine even if I get hit by light bullets.
On the other hand, since the melting point is approaching, I’ll be weaker against Heat Rays, so it’s fortunate that the Heat Ray is no longer being used.
It’s not like it hit me much in the first place, so it’s not that different.
With that peace of mind, I decided to try a little counterattack.
“(Quadruple activation, Heat Ray Eyeball! 〖S(Sparkle) U(Aproot)〗!… Well, it’s no use, huh.)”
I tried to target all four at once with Heat Rays—using the pre-Artifact version with a short charge—and magic bullets, but they were blocked by ice swords and ice crystal shields.
Then, the Cliones unlocked a new means of attack.
“Larira”
The point where I felt the 〖Mana〗 converging was above.
Seven orbs of light shone in the pale sky.
From the light orbs, which looked quite large even though they were far away, the prediction lines of 〖Trajectory Prediction〗 extended.
“Riroro”
“(Thick!)”
I managed to escape the attack range by weaving through the gaps in the light bullets. Immediately after, pillars of light fell.
The light orbs were emitting laser beams directly below.
They seemed to have physical destructive power, piercing the ice where they hit and creating deep holes.
If I got hit, I might be slammed into the ground.
Well, the duration seems to be short, and they’re already disappearing—,
“Rorari”
“(You can fire them in succession!?)”
—I saw seven more light orbs appear in the sky and immediately adjusted my course.
“(This is a losing battle, I guess I have no choice but to go for close combat.)”
If possible, I wanted to at least guess which illusion was the real one before challenging it.
However, I have no means of seeing through them in my current state.
“(Don’t be too timid, now.)”
I told myself again what I had thought at the start of the battle.
I can’t win against a 〖King Beast〗 with just safe tactics. I can take some of the light bullets, so this is a risk I should take.
“(〖Super Leap〗!)”
I kept running away from the Cliones that were chasing me, and when my figure was hidden by the pillars of light, I reversed course.
With the help of 〖Blast Dash〗 and other buffs, I closed the distance with the Cliones in one go.
Of the Cliones above, below, left, and right, the one I had my eye on was the one above.
I thought that if it was the real one, it would want to be in the upper position where it could oversee the battlefield the most.
I blocked the light bullet interference with minimal evasion and a shield, keeping the number of hits to less than ten, and closed in.
I unleashed a Lightning Strike at close range, but the lightning passed right through the Clione. It was an illusion.
“(〖Thousand Blades Burst〗!)”
I immediately detonated the mass of Mana Mineral.
I targeted the remaining three at the same time, and in the next moment, I was firmly encased in a block of ice.
The blades I had released had disappeared, and I must have been sandwiched by the ice block while I was ‘Frozen’.
“(Too bad, but ice blocks don’t work on me anymore!)”
I tried to break through with brute force, using my high-temperature body, but time skipped again.
The amount of ice blocks increased.
The illusionary Cliones had disappeared at some point, and the real one was poised to release many ice crystal light bullets.
“Riri”
I was ‘Frozen’ again.
I felt as if a large amount of 〖Mana〗 had burst, and I was assaulted by a sensation as if I had been thrown into a winter pond.
I could tell that it was because I had been hit by light bullets during the ‘Freeze’, judging from the light bullets that were still flying at me.
The ‘Freeze’ combo that I had initially feared. The Clione had decided to use it.
It’s difficult to withstand this with just the effect of the Sunstone… but that’s why I’ve thought of other measures.
“(〖Weapon Storage〗!)”
What I took out was a giant shield made from the shell of a Forest Turtle.
If I put my body into Paula’s Space Expansion bag, I could completely hide my whole body with this.
That’s what I thought as I took out the weapon, but it froze and shattered the moment the ‘Freeze’ was released.
There’s no way a 〖Feral Beast〗 weapon could stand up to a 〖King Beast〗, and it was enough that I was able to withstand even one ‘Freeze’.
After that, I switched shields several times to withstand the ‘Freeze’, and once I had grasped the general tempo at which the ‘Freeze’ came, I played my trump card.
“(I’m counting on you, 〖Replicant Form〗!)”
It was a shield with pure white beast hide on its surface. It was made from the fur of a White Weasel.
It boasted outstanding cold resistance and could be expected to have a great effect against light bullets.
“Ruru…”
The Clione, while showing signs of irritation at the shield that kept appearing no matter how many times it was broken, unleashed its 〖Mana〗.
It was a sign of the ‘Freeze’. Normally, it would be too late to move after sensing the sign, but after being hit so many times, I could now predict it.
“(〖Block〗—)”
Right before the ‘Freeze’ was activated, I activated a 〖Weapon Skill〗 for defense.