Episode 144 – Flame Sword and the Sacred Beast
If I only relied on the black sword Greed’s performance, I wouldn’t be able to even put a scratch on this beast .
First let’s try fire magic . Canceling the cast, I infused the fire into my sword .
As soon as I did, red and black fire blazed out from the black sword .
『Getting serious now, aren’t you?』
[Guess so . Not only martial arts, I’ve also trained on how to use elemental magic and pure magic . ]
『Indeed, the density of your flame has risen dramatically . 』
Why of course . While waiting for the news on Myne’s whereabouts, I wasn’t just sitting around the capital doing nothing .
My magic skills were obtained from Gluttony skill, so it’s not something I originally owned . Therefore, with my little to no background in using magic, I had trouble handling it . Before, I compensated that by using Greed’s second form, the black bow, in order to ‘use’ magic .
However, back in Gallia I was still with Myne and Eris, I was given a goal by both of them to train myself on how to handle the black bow .
In a land full of foul smell, I had to manage to hit my target with the magic arrow shot from the black bow without Greed’s aid .
And from there, I gained confidence in my control of magic power, and decided that I should learn how to cast magic freely on my own .
Imagination was the most important when it came to casting magic . So it’s possible to train it while I was inside Luna’s spiritual world .
Then Greed also joined the fray . So every night when I went to sleep, when I wasn’t training my martial arts with Greed or Luna, I would train my magic casting in the spiritual world .
That’s also when I came up with the idea to turn the black sword into some sort of magic sword by infusing it with elemental magic .
This time around, by using Fireball magic, I tried to emulate Miria’s flamberge . Though just imitation, the power actually surpasses the original .
『Well then, shall we?』
[Yeah . ]
I jumped away from under the sacred beast, looking for another chance to attack .
Behind me, the darkness wriggled in trying to attack me, but I simply ignored it . Me being on Ares E already, regular monsters attack won’t bother me anymore .
And also, because there was Roxy to clean the small fry up .
[Fai!]
[Thanks!]
I heard someone calling my name followed by the swishing sound of a blade . Instead of looking at the direction of the sound, I simply said my thanks while keeping my eyes on the sacred beast .
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Cause I know Roxy would be there to cover, so that I could focus on my target .
And also, one other person .
With shrill sounds of gunshots, she shot several bullets into the sacred beast’ side .
[Fate, thank goodness I made it in time . ]
[I knew you would . Keep it up, Eris!]
[Leave it to me . ]
Blocked by the holy blessing, the bullets didn’t managed to deal any damage, but it still attracted the sacred beast’ attention away from me .
Not missing that opening, I run in with the blazing black sword poised .
Eris’ support didn’t end there .
As soon as she realized her attacks won’t deal any damage whatsoever, she started aiming at below the leg area and began shooting . Creating holes right under the sacred beast’ feet .
As a result, the sacred beast lost its balance and leaned its heavy body to the side .
It was now full of openings . Desperate to regain its posture, the sacred beast won’t have any mind to counterattack .
[Nice!]
[Cut it down for real this time!]
I took the opening Eris created to strike . While being careful not to let the sand obstruct me, I dashed forward with maximum power .
Whilst still losing balance, the sacred beast actually had its eyes on me . Feeling a crisis all of a sudden, I realized that its tail was already poised to strike right above me .
At the end of that gigantic tail was a sharp looking stinger, seeking to pierce my body . But I ignored it and kept dashing forward .
I’ve chosen to believe in the effect of Eris’ phalanx bullet .
Slashing vertically up, my blazing black sword collided directly with the tail .
Sound of shattering glass followed by a shockwave could be heard . I was still intact . Meanwhile, the tail was knocked away .
This is the moment where the defense buff from Eris’ Phalanx Bullet truly shined . It could defend against the attack of a superior enemy . A very good buff .
Now, I had two defense points left .
This really helped… now I can focus to just go in a straight line and attack .
[UOoooooooooo!]
『Do it, Fate!』
Everytime the stinger on the sacred beast’ tail struck, I lost one phalanx bullet defense point . By the end, there was nothing left on me, but I managed to reach my target first .
I stabbed the sacred beast’ side with my blazing sword .
[Kuh . ]
Again, the holy blessing blocked my attack .
『What’s wrong, Fate? Is that all? More! More!』
I knew that even without you telling me . If that still couldn’t pierce the holy blessing, then I just have to raise the firepower .
I activated 《Spirit Unity》 . It’s a skill I obtained from killing the Undead Archdemon, the monster that Rafal Burix had become after he was taken over by the fragment of Shin .
To think, I would use this skill I obtained from Rafal… it’s as if I’m working together with him now, which made me somewhat emotional .
But I couldn’t say that right now .
Spirit Unity was a skill that increase the power of a technique or magic by 5 times for a duration .
For me who struggled to control the stats of Area E, using Spirit Unity would be too overwhelming . That’s why I never used it while I was around the capital, I’m afraid the power output would end up damaging the capital .
But here I was in the middle of the desert, and I had Eris and Roxy to back me up . There should be no problem if I go all out .
『It’s all desert up until beyond the horizon . You can finally use it . 』
[Yes . I can already feel my magic power is being amplified . ]
『You don’t need to control anything now . You can’t actually . Just let it all out . 』
As Greed said, it’s a power that very unlikely to be controlled . A great power I’ve never felt before .
The blazing flame on my sword had turned gold . I have never seen a flame with such color before . It’s not something that exist in this world .
Taking that aside, I tried slashing at the holy blessing .
And… it went through!
It took a while, but the black sword was gradually cutting through the blessing .
While I was distracted with trying to cut through the protection, I heard Roxy’s voice coming from behind me .
[Fai! Behind you!]
I felt a crisis coming from behind me . When I turned my head to find out, it was too late . The sacred beast tail had already inches away from me . Without Phalanx Bullet protection, at this rate that sharp stinger would inevitably pierce me on my back .
Just when that thought flashed in my mind, I heard gunshots .
[Quick, overwhelm the holy blessing! I’ll make sure the tail doesn’t harm you!]
[Eris!]
[Go now . ]
Eris had shot more phalanx bullet on me, letting me focus on destroying the blessing . Perhaps Roxy was busy covering Eris from the darknesses attack . I could hear the sound of sword slashes mixing with gunshots coming from behind me .
At this rate, I have no other choice but to answer to their expectation .
[Greed, are you with me?]
『Naturally . 』
[Then… . Holy blessing or whatnot… all we know is . ]
[ 『Cut it down!』]
Push through with this strike . That’s all there was to it .
The black sword now digging faster into the blessing . The golden flames danced, burning through the wall of light .
When I completed my swing, the sacred beast’ holy blessing was finally broken .
[Not yet! Right, Greed!]
『Yeah . 』
Right, the effect of Spirit Unity still remained . And it’s not only empowering the effect of magic skills .
Technique… that means physical skills are empowered as well .
I switched my black sword into one-handed grip . I’ve decided what technique I should use .
Lowering my stance, I delivered the 《Sharp Edge》 .
It’s a high speed two-stage slash attack . The first slash of the black sword brought the large body of the sacred beast to float in the air .
And the final slash, sprinkled with the golden flame, hit the sacred beast squarely .
When the body hit the ground again, it caused a small earthquake .
『Did that do it?』
[Don’t say that…when you already know the result . ]
Good grief… just how hard its carapace is? Up until now there is no other substance that the edge of the black sword couldn’t cut through .
[I only managed to scratch that hard as hell shell . ]
『And this me hasn’t even been chipped at all . You know what that means . 』
[I know that already . Are you saying that there is more?]
『That’s how it is . It’s like a warm up . Do you remember… . . this place?』
Yeah… . I remember . This is the place where I started training myself to withstand the urge of the gluttony skill .
Having to kill the sandmen repeatedly to curb the starvation… it’s like having a painfully ragged throat be moistened by a single drop of water .
But once I got used to it, it’s really not a big deal .
I’m different from back then… . . but the hunger was there alright .
I took a deep breath and released half of the Gluttony skill’s power .
[Kuh!?]
An unprecedented headache struck my head, but it was nothing more than a discomfort as I automatically controlled my status .
Under the semi starving state, I can now control my Area E status to the fullest without any problem .
I felt a little uneasy about the sudden headache, but decided to ignore it as it subsided .
Taking a look at the sacred beast, it has crawled out of the sand and regained its footing . It acted as if nothing had happened, but now it menacingly brandished its two large pincers that can also act as blunt weapons and its stinger towards me .
Its attitude was different from earlier . It’s seething with aggressiveness this time . Probably because it’s been stripped off of its’ holy blessing protection, or there is something more .
The reason why the sacred beast became more aggressive, is probably because I released half of Gluttony skill’s power .
I still remembered how Eris was visibly upset upon hearing about the sacred beast for the first time . She is a holder of Mortal Sin Skill, so there must be a connection . And seeing how the sacred beast in front of me reacted――it’s gotta be because of Gluttony skill .
Let’s think about it slowly after we defeat this sacred beast .
And so, I reignited the flame on my black sword .