Blinded with rage, the White Dynamis charged at us, so we scrambled to get out of its way. Seemingly without any thought of stopping, the angel crashed headfirst into a temple pillar before breaking it.
…Perhaps, simply allowing it to go on a rampage could be enough to achieve our original goal of destroying the temple? However, that would reduce the sense of accomplishment, though I still intended to bring it down.
“It seems we can’t take it easy. Even though the more it moves, the closer it gets to self-destruction, we might be taken down before that happens. Seventh Armor, use your summoned beasts to wear it out.”
“Wel then, I’ll be acting as usual, boss.”
“Moth-san, please stand by.”
“Approaching now would be suicidal, of course.”
“Sorry. I’ll make sure to create an opportunity for you. …Here it comes!”
There was no time for a detailed strategy meeting. It wasn’t that the enemy had a plan to stop us; it probably just couldn’t do anything but attack. Actually, I’m least adept at dealing with such thoughtless tactics.
“Seventh Armor!”
“This is it! You all, go out with a bang!”
Seventh Armor poured all his remaining magic power into summoning as many beasts as possible using his [Summoning Magic]. Instead of sending them all at once, he divided them into groups, and each group was made to charge at different times. What would happen then?
“Zazazazaza…”
We knew that the White Dynamis would prioritize attacking anything that came near its body. So, every time one of Seventh Armor’s waves of summoned minions approached, the angel would swing its sword. With each swing, it inflicted damage on itself. That was Seventh Armor’s aim.
Considering the level difference between us and the enemy, the damage caused by Seventh Armor’s summoned beasts was probably minuscule. Thus, the enemy’s self-inflicted damage would undoubtedly be greater. Quite the crafty tactic, isn’t it? Please don’t praise me in that way.
“Now! Dispel, Magic Boost, Magic Boost, Magic Boost, Magic Boost, Magic Boost!”
I quickly dispelled the [Enchantments] on myself using the dispel of my [Curse] skill, and then lavishly applied magic boosts to increase the power of my magic as much as I could. I was ready to exhaust all my magic power in the process!
“Magic Stone Absorption, Star Magic Circle Activation, Spell Adjustment, Dark Arm!”
I absorbed a prepared dark element magic stone into my staff and then used the Dark Arm spell, which has its output increased to its maximum thanks to spell adjustment. This conjured five dark arms, reminiscent of a giant’s, which grasped the limbs and the most severely injured wing of the White Dynamis in their grasp.
I must say, the power of such a spell was tremendous. I strengthened the spell as much as I could and used the skill of [Black Magic] which I was most proficient at. The fact that the enemy had [Dark Weakness] also made the effect even more pronounced.
“Zaza… Gagagagaga…”
The White Dynamis desperately tried to free itself, but my dark arms didn’t budge at all. Instead, the strong grip of the arms only helped widen the cracks in the angel’s body, which increased the amount of white particles erupting from it.
“Now! Moth-san!”
“Got it! Blade Wing Slash!”
At that moment, Moth-san spread his wing arms wide and, using them like blades, slashed at the base of the angel’s wings. The martial technique he used literally transformed his wings into blades to inflict slashing damage. His right-wing arm was buried deep into the middle of the White Dynamis’ wing.
“Ugugugu… One more shot! Blade Wing Slash!”
Damaging the wings caused more particles to burst from the angel. This rapidly whittled down the angel’s health, but undeterred, Moth-san launched another Blade Wing Slash with his left-wing arm at the same base of the enemy’s wing.
“Gagah…”
“I did it!”
Moth-san’s Blade Wing Slash had finally severed one of the White Dynamis wings, right at its base. He had successfully destroyed one of its four wings. Though it was just one, this meant the angel’s power to flap its wings had been reduced to three-quarters.
As a result, the rampaging strength of the White Dynamis had considerably weakened. Thanks to this, my dark arms were able to dig in even deeper. Good, this was our chance!
“Peepee… Gagaga… Zazazazazazazaza!!!”
Just when I was certain of our victory, the White Dynamis started emitting an unusually loud noise. Oh no, not this pattern again!
“Whoa!?”
“Gaaah!?”
“Waaah… Wait, that doesn’t seem too damaging, does it?”
A tremendous shock wave was released from the white light angel White Dynamis, striking us with considerable force. Yet, despite its ferocity, the actual damage inflicted was surprisingly minimal. Even Moth-san, who had taken the brunt of the shockwave at close range, still had a fair amount of health remaining.
“But… It seems like there’s a bigger problem than the damage.”
“M-my summoned beasts have all vanished…”
“Isam-san’s buffs are gone too…”
However, the true effect of the shockwave wasn’t damage. It appeared to have an effect similar to a forced dispelling of magic… something akin to “dispel”. In fact, given its wide-ranging effect while also inflicting damage, it might even be a superior version of the said spell. But there was more to its effect than just that.
“Moreover, I can’t use magic. What about the two of you?”
“Same here. Moth-san?”
“Martial techniques… as well; both martial techniques and magic spells… they’re sealed. Isn’t this just ridiculous?”
Additionally, the effect included a magic jammer that disrupted magic and, as a bonus, sealed martial techniques. Just as Moth-san said, it was a truly ridiculous effect. Such a thing was basically a cheat! This was cheating!
“Hey, sister goddess! What’s this all about?”
[Eh!? This is a magic spell called Arts Seal of the [Void Magic] skill that seals spells and techniques… Wait! Why am I answering your question?]
“Seems that way, boss.”
So, it was a pure spell of a magic skill. Then, it couldn’t be called cheating. Someday, I might be able to use it myself.
And so, when activated, it spreads small damage along with the effects of a dispel and magic jammer. But could such a powerful spell be used without any constraints?
“Thinking about it, it probably consumes almost all of the user’s magic power. Would that be a fair trade-off?”
[Eh!? How do you know that!?]
“I didn’t, actually.”
This goddess really had a loose tongue. Unlike the cunning goddess Yifa, whose thoughts were unreadable, this one was quite different. The different personalities of the goddesses were indeed intriguing.
“So, the enemy can’t use magic spells or martial techniques either, but it doesn’t matter since they’ve exhausted their magic power. And those of us left are forced into a fair fight without magic or martial techniques. I see, it’s like a last-ditch spell.”
“Is this really the time to be talking!?”
“To put it mildly, we’re in a dire situation, aren’t we?”
Indeed, we were in a desperate situation. What lay ahead was a pure brawl….a clash of raw stats. It would be a difficult task for us, especially for rear-guard roles like mine and Seventh Armor’s, and even for Moth-san, overcoming the sheer force of that level difference would be a daunting task. Only real-life cheaters like Jigoro and Genjuro, who were monsters in their own right, could easily accomplish this. And that was impossible for us.
“However, there are two ways out. One is that my equipment can still be used. The Arts Seal spell doesn’t seem to interfere with the effects of magical tools. And the other is…”
I returned my beloved staff, the “Staff of Hourai” to my inventory. Seventh Armor and Moth-san seemed surprised by this, but they didn’t pay it any mind for now. Then, I pulled out a spare staff from my inventory. It looked like a staff made from a twisted branch of an ordinary tree, but it was dyed a pure white, which didn’t quite suit me.
“This staff here.”
“That is…?”
“Maybe it’s capable of some awesome magic?”
“No, it’s not. In fact, if we’re talking about enhancing the power of magic, the staff I was using until now is far superior.”
If the staff had the kind of effect Seventh Armor was suggesting, it would not have been a mere spare but a trump card. Rather, it’s that the “Staff of Hourai” is too exceptional. I brought this staff for situations just like this one. It would have been better if I didn’t need to use it, but it’s like the saying goes, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
“Huh? That’s useless then!”
“No, we can’t use magic in the first place. You wouldn’t forget something like that, would you, Isam-san?”
“That’s right. Just watch.”
I flew through the sky using the effect of the “Moon’s Feather Robe”, moving above the head of the White Dynamis. Then, I held the staff in my hand, aimed, and pulled the trigger on its grip.
“Take this!”
“Wait, is that magic!?”
At that moment, the tip of my staff opened with a click, and from it spewed a black mist. It closely resembled the Dark Wave spell. What exactly was this staff, you say? Let’s find out.
――――――――――
M09 Fourth-Class Tactical Staff
A staff equipped by mage-type γ golems
It has an internal mechanism for storing magic stones, allowing the release of the magic power of the equipped magic stones.
Equipment Effects: [Magic Effect Enhancement] Lv3, [Magic Power Release]
――――――――――
This staff once belonged to a golem that I had encountered in the ancient ruined city. Despite the presence of the Magic Jammer, which was designed to disrupt magic attacks, the golem could still perform flamethrower attacks that were akin to magic within the Jamming Field, where our use of magic was disabled. The mechanism enabling this was the staff’s effects, [Magic Power Release]. Intriguingly, the staff was equipped with a mechanism that allowed the use of pseudo-magic even under the influence of the Magic Jammer.
Inside the staff, I had embedded a dark element magic stone. Because of this, attacks of dark element were emitted from its outlet.
“Gagaga…”
“And now, Short Teleport!”
Just before the White Dynamis thrust its sword toward me, I activated the short teleport spell of [Space-Time Magic]. This might seem impossible to do, but it was not.
Even within the Magic Jammer field, there was one way to use magic spells: [Talismanary]. This requires no explanation, as it had proven its worth in the battles inside the ancient ruined city. Like the spare staff, this was one of the five items I had brought along for this event. And the place to which I teleported using the Short Teleport was right behind White Dynamis.
“This is it! The end!”
Having moved behind it, I slashed the neck of White Dynamis with my scythe and, simultaneously, thrust the hidden tip of my tail into its heart’s location. I didn’t think it had a vital spot, but my battle instinct, which was ingrained in me by Jigoro and Genjuro, made me aim right there.
“Ga…”
The White Dyamis, who was already on the verge of collapse, finally succumbed. It collapsed to the ground, its strength completely drained, and lay utterly motionless. At the same time, the outflow of particles leaking from its wounds ceased. We had finally done it!
“Did we… do it?”
“Looks like we have won…”
Seventh Armor and Moth-san seemed to lack a sense of triumph despite our victory. I understood their feelings; even I was on guard, wary that the angel may just stand up again.
“For now, it seems like this one is dead for goo..”
[You won’t get away with this!]
Ah, right. The goddess Earle was still around. Her appearance meant trouble was likely brewing.
[You did well to defeat that one! But for middle-ranking angels, I can summon many more! The limit of this temple allows only one at a time, though!]
As she spoke, the same light shone down, and a new angel appeared. Not a White Dynamis, but a White Exusiai. This was to be expected, as she had said that was her limit.
But another round at this time? Fufufu! At this point, I could only laugh.
“I-I really can’t anymore…”
“Another battle after all we’ve been through is…”
The two’s spirits visibly faded, which was understandable. They had just emerged from a fierce battle thinking they had won, only to be told to do it all over again. Moreover, Earle’s words hinted that even if we defeated this one, there would be another. It felt like fighting was pointless.
[Fufun! Just give up and let yourselves be defeated!]
“No, we can’t do that.”
I’m not the kind of player who easily gives up and backs down when told to. If I were, I wouldn’t have made it this far. And I still had things I could do; I wasn’t ready to admit defeat!
“I haven’t lost yet. Let me show you my final struggle!”
[Wh-what are you doing?!]
Saying that, I grabbed the base of my scythe’s blade and thrust its tip into my own eye socket.
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