"We… we finally reached…!"
Finally reaching the end of the stairway, Persia gave a happy shout.
I don't really feel touched or anything of any sort. After all, this is only the beginning.
Persia then controlled her ball of light into the basement, where it lit up the entire basement.
Naturally, she wants to enter the basement…
"… Don't go any further, Persia."
…and was stopped by Kuroyuki, where Kuroyuki grabbed the back of her collar.
"Eh— what's wrong…?" Persia murmured. "Didn't you destroy most of the traps…?"
"It's better to be safer," Kronos said. "We never know when would those traps kill you before you knew it— now step aside, please."
When I realised, Kronos stepped into the basement and stood there, blocking our way.
&nbs
"Warning. Body Temperature: 37.8°C. BP: 160/100. Heart rate: 120bpm. Activating cool down system…"After Persia pushed me down for about five seconds— not knowing what was happening, Rumelia started muttering words with her robot-like tone."…unable to activate cool down system. Activation failure…" Rumelia muttered."W-What's wrong with Rumelia…?"Persia, who was on top of me— couldn't seem to believe her eyes.I was told that Rumelia is a cyborg, so I don't find this to be creepy."Warning. Body Temperature: 38.1°C. BP: 165/105. Heart rate: 128bpm." Rumelia muttered."Crap, did I bust her…?" I murmured."Eh…?"Which, I grabbed Persia on her armpits and lifted her aside so I could get up to approach Rumelia."Oi&he
The moment I saw what happened to Blaze, I immediately ran to him.Blaze was kneeling on the ground with an immense pain.It could be clearly seen that both of his left and right hands had fractures on the radius and ulna.Blood was spilling from his skin. It was completely mangled.This idiot…! He attempted to pull that sword…!His bones weren’t strong enough to sustain the sudden weight by the gravity magic— that's why it snaps.I was worried.Incredibly worried.But at least… unlike six years ago, there’s help—"Man… Didn't I tell you not to touch that sword…?" August murmured coldly to Blaze.And instead of approaching Blaze— August takes his distance, seeming to avoid him.Actually, not only August— none of them attempted to help Blaze, including Kuroyuki.What's going on…!?"A-Arghhhhh…!!!"When Blaze attempted to stand with his own two feet, he gurgled in pain."Don't move! Take a deep breath, Blaze!"I squatted down when I reached him."Don't be in such a panic, Luc," August s
…It ain't budging the slightest.By the way, for some reason— this sheathed Black Sword was half stabbed into the platform. I thought I could take remove the sword alone without its sheath, yet it was utterly stuck along with the scabbard.I then realized that the sheath was designed to be taken just like a one-handed sword— which, I placed my left hand on the sheath, and my right hand remained on the hilt.…Looks like I really need to muster the necessary strength to overcome 200 times the gravity.Let's just hope this doesn't put a cramp on my muscles…"(Mmmmph…!)"C-CRIK…"It's moving, Luc— come on, you can do it!"I heard August's cheering.But— I can't go anymore further than this…! What the heck is it made off…!? It's s
The first two pillars nearest to the entrance visibly cracked right in front of my eyes. "That's enough!" Kronos yelled to August. "The basement will collapse if this goes on!" I immediately ran to Kronos, who was repairing the stone pillar. "Kronos! Can't you open up a hole out of this…!?" I asked. "I already did." He told me while nudging his glasses. "The ground, the ceiling, the walls— they were all blocked by that black wall. I can't alter any earth materials that I've never seen or studied before, and I still can't activate my magic." "…So we were trapped?" Like a box. “…What… is that…?” Kuroyuki murmured. Tracing her voice— I find a silhouette of a person climbing out from the hole. What on earth is that… Even dad’s encyclopaedias had no records of such an eerie thing.
I told Blaze and August to gather at Kronos's group— where he's repairing the second stone pillar (from the entrance) at our left. "You alright— August?" I asked. "Are you in any condition to fight…?" "Huff… Huff… Uh… Yeah… I'm okay…" August's face was drained white, and he looks exhausted. Looks like that moment of fear dried out his will completely. "Kronos, just concentrate on your stuff," I said to Kronos. "Kuroyuki is holding them back, so this will be a quick strategic meeting." "You seemed like you had some sort of idea in your mind," Persia said to me with a serious look. "Indeed. In a group of three… I want you guys to take turns supporting me to destroy those things." "…Our copies, you meant…?" August murmured. "Kuroyuki is maintaining the wall right now. If we let one of those things enter our territory… we could gang up on it." "But how are you going to defeat those things?" Persia asked. "Aside from their weapons… our attacks would go through them." "I could dest
When I turned behind and looked— I was genuinely surprised by the sight of it.A visible crack— spreading left and right across Kuroyuki's ice wall could be seen.Behind it, was flooded with countless silhouettes. They were sticking onto her ice wall. It seems they were trying to break the wall by pushing it with their mass instead of breaking it.For some reason, Kuroyuki seems to be in pain when she tried to restore the crack with her power. It seems she's almost at her limit to maintain that wall.But if she opens up a small hole now to let them pass through, that will be the breaking point of the entire wall, and it would still collapse.Kronos is at the 4th pillar on the left, right next to us."I got this," Rumelia said to us.Which, thin threads of silver strings sprout up from the floor— sticking to t
"This is— Nngh…!"It seems Kronos realized what those are. He immediately summons another wall at my side, protecting us from the incoming bullets barrage.The silver threads protecting us from the puppet silhouettes are no more because of the black spears and bullets.The fortunate thing is, the puppet silhouettes are gone for good as well."Kuroyuki…!"After confirming that Kronos's thick wall is enough to shield us, Persia quickly turned, squatted down while looking at Kuroyuki with a worried expression."…I… I'm okay now…" Kuroyuki told me, with her face looking pale. "…Go help them.""Don't talk nonsense!" Persia scolded Kuroyuki. "The worst two elemental recoils are ice and fire! There's no way you are okay…!""H-Huff…"
'Counter cladding'!BAM— THUNK!"Gahack…!?"'Counter Cladding' is the moment of attack in response to the opponent's attack by receiving a blow. This is just a purely physical attack, unlike 'Offensive Cladding', which could affect even their phasing body.Receiving the blow, I thrust her head simultaneously with the sheathed Black Sword. It broke the black ice helm on her, causing her to stagger from the surprise attack.…It's not enough.But that's okay— I've reached my goal.THUNK!At that moment, an ice spear went through her head.I immediately relaxed as soon as I witnessed how she crumbled and turned to ashes.The pain and damage she caused to me made me kneel.… It's the first time I'd accept Kuroyuki's