Episode 316: The Godspeed Sword King
The ice armor peeled away, revealing the massive whale.
Its skin was scorched, and all its tentacles were gone. Countless cuts marred its body, and red blood flowed ceaselessly.
There was no doubt it had suffered a fatal wound.
Yuma retracted the sword in his left hand and gathered Fire Magical Power within the dragon head’s mouth. He intended to finish it off with a “Fireball,” but the Fire Magical Power wouldn’t gather in its mouth.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
As he wondered, the dragon head on his left arm lost its shape, turning black and changing. Furthermore, the green axe in his right hand also retracted.
His arms were returning to normal.
The wings on his back disappeared, and the red and green tails were absorbed back into his body.
He had reverted to his normal Black Giant form. He wondered if it was the Conglomerate’s time limit, but that wasn’t it.
“My Magical Power is exhausted… in such a short time?”
The “Fire” and “Wind” Magical Power were gone, and he could no longer use magic. He had absorbed quite a few Magic Gems…
He realized once again just how powerful the magic he had been using was.
Perhaps noticing Yuma’s change, the Blue King moved. Whipping his battered body, he tried to enter the icy sea.
Realizing this, Yuma shouted, “Like I’ll let you!” and kicked off the ground.
◇◇◇
Charlotte surveyed the surroundings from the rooftop.
“This is bad… they’re gathering.”
Leila asked with a puzzled look, “What’s wrong?” The people on the rooftop also wore anxious expressions.
“Prime Minister, Monsters are starting to gather. Please move to the center of the rooftop.”
Following Charlotte’s instructions, Leila and the politicians and civilians gathered in the center of the spacious rooftop.
Soldiers surrounded them, aiming their guns at the sea.
Charlotte also drew her two Willow Leaf Sabers. She channeled Magical Power into them, adopting a battle stance and glaring warily at the frozen sea.
–Quite a number. Can I and the soldiers alone hold them back?
Charlotte, on the verge of losing heart, shook her head vigorously, dispelling the distracting thoughts.
If they didn’t kill, they would be killed. She ignited the sword in her left hand with flames and imbued the sword in her right with Lightning.
As Charlotte steeled herself, Monsters emerged from the icy sea.
Large Fish-men, giant sharks, and purple octopuses wriggling their legs. There were also Sea Serpents and crocodile monsters.
Countless Monsters. Tension ran through Charlotte as she gripped her swords.
After a moment of silence, the Monsters moved all at once, as if they had agreed upon it.
There were too many to defeat. She knew it, but she had to do it. Charlotte leaped from the edge of the rooftop, danced in the air, and plunged into the icy sea.
She slashed down a Fish-man that attacked her and thrust her flaming sword into a crocodile below.
The crocodile writhed in agony but turned to sand in a few seconds. The sound of gunfire echoed from the rooftop. The soldiers were intercepting with their guns.
Bullets imbued with Lightning Magical Power. They should be quite effective against Water Monsters.
However, they didn’t have much ammunition. When that barrage stopped, everyone here would be killed without exception.
She had to defeat as many enemies as possible, even if it was just one more–
Charlotte swung her swords desperately. Blood splattered around her, Monsters screamed, and she could no longer think about anything.
Facing dozens of Monsters, Charlotte slightly lost her balance due to exhaustion.
In that instant, her foot was caught. When Charlotte looked, she saw the leg of a Suction Cup Octopus entangled around it.
“Gah!”
She tried to slash it away with her sword, but she was pulled down faster.
“Aaaaaah!”
One leg was lifted, and she was dangling more than ten meters in the air. Below her was a giant Octopus Monster.
A rare species with few sightings.
Charlotte desperately slashed at the Octopus’s leg, but it was resilient and couldn’t be cut.
“Then–!”
She slashed with her Lightning-clad sword. Even if it didn’t cut, it should release her leg.
But she was wrong. The Octopus showed no sign of letting go. On the contrary, it didn’t seem to be taking any damage.
Unbelievable. Lightning Strike not working on a Water Monster, could it be!?
Charlotte gasped and looked at the Octopus Monster.
“It has… resistance to Lightning Strike? A Monster with no weaknesses!?”
It defied common sense. Only Monsters from the Black Dungeon had been confirmed to have resistance to magic.
A Water Monster… having resistance to a magic that should be its weakness was unbelievable to Charlotte.
–If there were multiple Monsters like this, humanity would sooner or later be destroyed.
Charlotte didn’t give up and slashed with her exploding sword this time. But she still couldn’t cut it off.
Being a Water Monster, it naturally had resistance to “Fire.”
Many Octopus legs wrapped around her body. They slowly tightened, gradually increasing their strength.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Charlotte couldn’t help but let out a groan. Just when she thought this was it–something flashed in the corner of her vision.
What? She turned her eyes, but there was nothing there.
Was she seeing hallucinations from being cornered? As that thought crossed her mind, an explosion occurred, and she was thrown away with the impact.
“Kyaaaa!”
She didn’t understand what was happening. What she glimpsed was the Octopus’s tentacles that had been wrapped around her leg being torn off, emitting smoke.
Because of that, she was thrown into the air and was falling. She tried to land, but she couldn’t keep her balance. At this rate, she would crash into the icy ground–Charlotte closed her eyes tightly, curled up her body, and braced for the impact.
She fell onto the hard ice. Charlotte braced herself for considerable damage, but she was supported by something with a thud, and her body stabilized.
A gentle voice echoed in Charlotte’s ears, “Are you alright?”
“Eh?”
When she cautiously opened her eyes, she saw Amasawa Rui smiling there.
Charlotte was surprised, but she realized that she was being held in a princess carry, and her face turned bright red.
“T-Thank you, b-but please put me down for now.”
Amasawa said, “Yes, of course,” and put Charlotte down.
“Thank you for saving me. But there are some very strong Monsters here! You have to be careful.”
“Strong Monsters, are you talking about that Octopus?”
At the end of Amasawa’s pointing finger, there was an Octopus that had lost half of its body. Its head and legs were crumbling and turning into sand.
“Eh!? You’ve already defeated it?”
When Charlotte looked around, the Fish-men and crustacean Monsters were also burned by flames and no longer moving. The Sea Serpent had also lost its head and was gradually turning into sand.
“To defeat that many Monsters in an instant… such a thing…”
As Charlotte was stunned, Amasawa drew the sword he had at his waist. A sword slightly shorter than a Longsword. However, a terrifying Magical Power emanated from it.
Amasawa, holding two swords, turned to her.
“I’ll take care of the remaining Monsters. Thanks to the military continuing their barrage, the civilians seem to be safe.”
Amasawa turned around and glared at the Monsters in his line of sight.
“W-Wait, Amasawa! Even if you’re strong, this number of enemies is–“
Before she could finish speaking, Amasawa’s figure disappeared.
The heads of the Monsters several dozen meters away burst one after another. Not knowing what was happening, she was flustered when she heard a voice from behind.
“It’s over.”
“Eh?”
When Charlotte turned around, Amasawa was standing there, sheathing his two swords.
“Y-You don’t mean… you defeated all the surrounding Monsters?”
“Yes, I’ve defeated the Monsters that caught my eye for now. More may appear, so we have to stay vigilant.”
Charlotte was at a loss for words. There were hundreds of Monsters around. And he defeated them in a matter of seconds!? Moreover, while dodging the military’s barrage…
Charlotte shuddered and felt a chill run down her spine at the man in front of her, who had a cool expression.