“Buoooooo!”
Karl lifted Eiji into the air before dropping him. Shield first, Eiji used a charging martial technique to dive faster than free fall would have allowed. His falling figure resembled a small meteor.
The shield he was using now was a drop from the Headless Elite Royal Guard after having overused his preferred shield in previous battles. Though its considerable weight made it difficult to use for parrying, it proved ideal for solid defense.
[That shield… did you take it from those two? Stripping the dead of their gear, should I say it is to be expected from a minion of that greedy Lichtenburg.]
“It’s none of your business, is it?”
“Sometimes it pays to listen to others, you know!”
As Eiji fell down to the ground, Claude stepped back to avoid him and swept his halberd sideways. Eiji who was guarding with his shield blocked the blow, and at that moment, Usaji and Moth-san attacked from the side.
Usaji’s flaming curved sword tried to find a gap in the armor, while Moth-san struck repeatedly with his wings. However, Usaji’s slash was blocked by the straight sword, and Moth-san ended up being injured by the spiked armor.
“Gruooooon!”
[Ugh…]
Claude, with both arms held by the three of them, took a blow from Karl’s tail from above. The tail, which resembled a giant sword, couldn’t be fully defended against, and it struck Claude’s left shoulder, causing his armor to creak and groan as if it were in agony.
However, the damage inflicted was minimal; it was hardly a significant blow. The ranged attacks from us in the rear, including magic and arrows, also proved to be ineffective.
It seemed that by continuing this way, we would exhaust ourselves and become unable to move before being able to defeat him. It might be difficult to bring him down unless we smashed what seemed to be his core, the skull. What should we do in this case?
“Holding back now would be pointless. It’s time I used my ‘Secret Art’.”
The answer was my “Secret Art”. It meant using up one of our trump cards, but it seemed foolish to continue a drawn-out battle only to face defeat. My companions still had their “Ultimate Techniques” and “Secret Arts” in reserve, so we could respond even if the enemy had more tricks up his sleeve. It was time to boldly use my “Secret Art”!
And the “Secret Art” to be used was not the one from the battle against the Thornshell Scorpion Highlord, but a new “Secret Art” I acquired at level 60.
“Stand back, Eiji! ‘Corrosive Ice Storm’!”
When I shouted to keep them out of the Secret Art’s range, Eiji and the others immediately took a step back to create some distance between them and the enemy. Claude was determined not to let them escape and tried to move forward, but Karl who was hovering in the air released a restraining spell, allowing them to successfully break away.
As soon as I had confirmed their safety, I activated the “Secret Art”. Immediately afterward, a small purple tornado appeared and enveloped Claude. However, since it was only large enough to envelop a single person, it probably appeared less powerful than a full-blown storm.
[Ugh?! What is this…!]
But this “secret art” was filled with murderous intent. Inside the small tornado, an icy blizzard raged on, not with snow, but with shards of ice that meticulously sliced into the trapped victim. Once caught, there was no escape until the effect wore off, and any attempt to break free prematurely would only result in more damage. It was like a trap.
The effect of these ice shards was particularly noteworthy. They dealt Water element damage, but they also added the effects of a curse that lowered defense and destroyed armor. As an undead, Claude was immune to the status ailments of the curse. However, he would not escape the armor-breaking effect!
“It’s possible to attack from the outside. Press the attack!”
“What a wicked technique.”
“The effect won’t last long, so hurry.”
“Right away, let’s get to it.”
Everyone unleashed their attack at the same time. Even Jigoro, who usually refrained from using martial techniques, used a long-range martial technique this time. The freezing blizzard, now intertwined with a myriad of martial and magical skills, glittered brilliantly. But the thought of what was happening inside, even though it was my doing, was a bit scary.
When the effect ended and the storm subsided, all that remained was Claude’s bone armor in tatters and his ashen flesh pierced by numerous ice crystals. His two weapons and the ever-present Catherine clinging to his back were still intact, but his health had been instantly reduced by more than a tenth.
This damage exceeded what had been accumulated during the battle before the “Corrosive Ice Storm” was unleashed. It seemed targeting the armor was the right move. From this point on, it should be easier to inflict damage.
“Charge!”
“Take this!”
[Guooo?!]
Claude who was now on one knee faced an attack from both Sei and the pair of Hanna and Roja. While Sei and the other pair shared the same style of mounted combat, the difference in height of their mounts—Sei on a wolf and Hanna on a horse—proved to be significant.
Since they lined up and attacked at the same time, they inevitably struck the enemy from both high and low positions. Before Claude could stand, he found himself only able to block Sei’s staff with his sword and Hanna’s halberd with his own halberd. The magic unleashed by Tess and Roja as they passed each other hit him directly.
“Next is my turn!”
“Ah… won’t you stop already? Nenashi, go from the side and give him some support.”
“Understood!”
Before anyone could do anything, Jigoro had already charged in, and once that happened, there was no stopping him. Knowing this, it seemed better to send someone who could provide support without getting in the way. That’s why I sent Nenashi, who could cooperate without getting in the way.
Despite the fact that his stance was disturbed by the attack, Claude, who was particularly skilled in defensive combat, was able to respond to Jigoro’s attacks. Even though he couldn’t completely block the supporting magic fire, the damage was minimal as it only crumbled his ashen body. Are we heading back to another drawn-out battle?
“Excuse my intrusion!”
[What?!]
Just as I thought that, Nenashi wrapped vines around the spot where Claude’s shin armor had been shattered. In an instant, Claude’s shinbone was severed at that spot and he stumbled forward, almost falling.
“Shaa!”
[Gaah…!]
Jigoro was not one to miss such an opportunity. He delivered a sharp spinning back kick right into Claude’s face. A dull crushing sound reached my ears. Did his jaw shatter along with the armor?
Parts of Claude’s face made of ash crumbled away, revealing his jawbone. He quickly added more ash to reconstruct the features on his face, but the blow had done more damage.
“I see. So, the body itself is fragile and crumbles upon impact. And since bones exist only in the head, the limbs and torso can easily be split in half. What supported them was…”
“That armor, right?”
“It’s like my exoskeleton.”
Claude’s bone armor served not only as protection and a weapon but also as his skeleton. Destroying it made it easier to inflict damage on the exposed areas.
[Do not get ahead of yourself over this! Return!]
As Claud trembled with rage, the shattered pieces of his armor gathered around him and began to regenerate. Even when he was locked in battle with Jigoro, his armor seemed to repair itself automatically.
So, that armor repairs itself? After all the effort of breaking through that impregnable defense with my “Secret Art”…
“My, my, you’re pretty worn out?”
“Considering how spectacularly it broke, maybe it can’t be easily fixed even with its special skills.”
It seems that there was indeed a benefit to using my “secret art”. The armor, though seemingly repaired, was riddled with cracks, and even a mere graze from my magic could cause pieces to flake off. While it seemed to reduce the damage, it looked like it could fall apart again at any moment.
Even so, the armor’s ability to cut through Nenashi’s vines remained, as there were no more falls after that. An enemy quick to adapt is exceedingly troublesome.
“Are you that concerned about your footing?! Don’t look down on me!”
[Guho?!]
However, being overly cautious with Nenashi’s restraints on his legs proved to be a misstep for Claude, especially with Jigoro in front of him. Finding a small gap in the solid defense, Jigoro’s fist pierced Claude’s abdomen. His iron fist easily shattered the weakened armor and burst through Claude’s stomach, emerging from the back where Catherine stood.
“What?”
The moment Jigoro’s fist pierced through Claude, his health began to dwindle at an unbelievable rate, and in the blink of an eye, he was on the verge of death. What on earth had happened?
“Tch, old man! It’s your turn!”
“Right, right, leave it to me.”
Jigoro aimed to destroy the breastplate with a front kick while quickly pulling back his arm. Although the kick was blocked by Claude’s halberd, he continued to push forward with the kick to create distance and retreated backward. Genjuro and the others moved forward to take his place.
“Umu, well done!”
“Cut the enemy before admiring him, Grandpa.”
“Now’s the time when even bones can be sliced!”
The three, who specialized in cutting, used their exquisite teamwork to drain Claude’s health. Genjuro’s aggressive attack left Claude no room to defend against Ruby and Shishu. Daggers and sharp spider feet damaged the armor and finally, they completely destroyed the enemy’s torso.
Once again, the exposed torso was pierced by magic and arrows. Although the skull, the critical point, remained unharmed, the damage was certainly accumulating. Repeating this should suffice for now.
More worrying than anything else was the sudden damage Jigoro received. Just like at the beginning, Genjuro and the other two were gradually incurring damage. Although Jigoro was similarly affected, the moment he pierced Claude’s body with his fist, the speed at which his health dropped was incomparable to before.
What could be the reason? If there were any leads, they would likely be two: either touching Claude’s ashes or making contact with Catherine when piercing through the abdomen.
“Jigoro, did you feel anything unusual when you pierced through Claude?”
“No, nothing.”
“What about when you touched Catherine?”
“Huh? Did I touch her?”
“Hmm, so you didn’t feel the contact. It’s as if she is a ghost.”
It seemed that even though Jigoro was the one directly affected, he was unaware that he had even touched Catherine. There was no sensation of warmth or cold. It must have been really sudden when he suffered the damage.
If even the one who experienced it was clueless, it would be premature to jump to conclusions about the cause. For now, it would be better to keep an eye out in case Genjuro and the others found themselves in a similar situation.
“Here! Hmph!”
“Now’s the time!”
“Yaaah!”
Genjuro skillfully parried the sword and halberd and broke through Claude’s defenses and in that moment, Ruby and Shishu’s blades cut deeply. The attacks from the rear guard continued to prevent any chance of regeneration, and the damage on the enemy continued to pile up.
“Another round!”
“Let’s smash through!”
As if to deliver the final blow, Sei and the pair of Hanna and Roja charged in once more. This time, they swung their weapons from the left and right at the same time, as if they were passing through.
[Argh…!]
With both sword and halberd deflected by Genjuro, Claude had no means of defense and took the full force of the high-speed blows, sending him reeling backward. However, he did not fall to the ground and managed to stay standing despite his staggering body.
His health was now below sixty percent. I could feel that we were slowly pushing him into a corner. If there was a time for the enemy to enter another phase, it might be now, though I hoped it wouldn’t come to that…
[Curse you… At this point, I have no choice but to resort to my ‘Ultimate Technique’! ‘Loyalty that Burns My Flesh to Ashes’, activate!]
Sadly, my prediction came true. A pale blue flame slowly began to seep out of Claude’s body. It seemed that he had also resorted to using his “Ultimate Technique”. This must be the climax!
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