Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
"Be careful!"
Seiji tried warning Lloyd, but it appeared that Lloyd couldn't hear him.
Black mist started erupting out of the headless body's neck. The mist seemed to be forming into something… Seiji wanted to try and deal with it by using a [Cleansing] spell, but found himself unable to do anything but watch helplessly.
At this moment, his vision suddenly darkened as his consciousness went hazy again before clearing. He had now returned to Kazuko's domain.
Seiji was standing still.
Both Shika and Hisashi noticed this and looked towards him.
"What's the matter?"
"There's something… I'll tell you later."
Seiji wanted to conquer this area first before telling them about what happened to him.
He also had a faint premonition that perhaps he would soon be seeing the headless spearman again in this area…
Soon, large amounts of thick black mist appeared which speedily formed into black wolves, black monkeys, black tigers, and many other black spiritual creatures.
Shika unsheathed her sword first while Seiji followed after. Hisashi began gathering balls of lightning.
*Boom!!*
The black ball of light that Hisashi tossed exploded in the middle of the monsters. It caused a large amount of AOE damage and also paralyzed many spiritual creatures!
This "Thunderboom" (temporary name) ability had a wider area of effect than Hisashi's previous direct thunderbolt attacks. It also had greater attack power and paralysis effects. It was effective against both packs of ordinary spiritual creatures as well as boss monsters.
With Hisashi supporting him with such a spell, Seiji felt that grinding experience against these monsters was now easier than ever. Just this ability alone made the First Knight quite useful.
Mika had amazing powers in her "Mashiro's Clothes" form, and now Hisashi had "Thunderboom"… The Awakened's powers were definitely something.
Seiji couldn't help but imagine what powerful abilities Yukari, Hoshi, and Kaede would possibly gain in the future. There was also Mayuzumi, who might be different from other Awakened… Perhaps his Knight Order would truly become something exceptional once all the members leveled up!
'Cough… let's not think so much about this right now.'
He was still in a battle and shouldn't have been distracted like this. Seiji got rid of his idle thoughts and focused on slaying monsters.
"A powerful one is coming. Careful!"
Just as they were about to finish killing all the monsters in this area, Kazuko suddenly sent them a warning.
Dark-green mist appeared which speedily formed into a spear-wielding human form… a headless humanoid spiritual creature!
This humanoid monster wielded a red spear and had dark-green runes arranged in a chaotic fashion on its black body. There was also a dark-red aura around it. Although its size was only equivalent to an adult man's, it gave off a far scarier impression than any of the giant monsters from earlier!
"What is that…?" Hisashi had an expression of astonishment.
Up until now, all the monsters he faced were animal-type monsters. Suddenly seeing a headless spearman gave him too much of a surprise at the sudden change in style.
The next instant, the headless spearman suddenly rushed towards him at high speed! The sharp red spearhead instantly arrived in front of his eyes!
The headless spearman was far too fast for Hisashi. He couldn't even react in time.
At this moment, since he couldn't even raise his shield, Hisashi saw death before him!
*Bang!!!*
There was a loud sound next to him as someone rushed over and prevented death from stealing Hisashi away.
Obviously, this person was Seiji.
'That headless spearman… my premonition was on the mark!'
Seiji immediately raised his vigilance level the moment that he saw this humanoid monster. When he saw it charging, Seiji reacted immediately and rushed in with his shield!!
His instant reaction saved Hisashi's life.
The headless spearman didn't lose its balance despite being crashed into. It swiftly stepped back, putting some distance between itself and Seiji, then charged forward again!
Shield block, [Ksitigarbha technique]!
Seiji successfully blocked the spear and counterattacked with his White Lotus spiritual sword.
The headless spearman sidestepped swiftly and continued stabbing!
Seiji unhurriedly and calmly parried each attack.
This headless spearman was obviously far stronger than the one that he saw Lloyd fighting against. Was it because it had demonized?
No… he couldn't simply equate this world with Lloyd's world.
Although both worlds influenced each other, things probably weren't exactly the same… he still didn't know how all of this worked.
After blocking the headless spearman's barrage, Seiji took advantage of an opening to counterattack!
At the exact same time, with excellent unspoken cooperation, Shika also attacked with a spell that greatly enlarged her ice blade!
*Shatter!!*
The headless spearman blocked Seiji's attack. However, Shika's ice blade landed a direct hit.
The blade shattered into tiny pieces of ice, but the headless spearman appeared uninjured.
Seiji swung his sword yet again as the headless spearman dodged once more. Its red spear started glowing brightly.
"Shikchan!" Seiji shouted out her name as he sensed danger.
Combat technique, "Spiral Slash"!
The spear suddenly began twisting at high speed as it glowed bright red and released blood-red flames. Immediately following after, a blood-like trail shot forward at lightning speed!
Defense spell, "Ice Wall"!
Shika cast a spell which created a thick blue wall of ice in midair which protected herself and Seiji.
*Shatter!!*
The red spear instantly pierced deeply right through the ice wall!
This defense spell only managed to slow the spear down for a single second.
But, this one second was more than enough. With their abilities, Seiji and Shika would have to be idiots if they still couldn't dodge the spear.
The headless spearman continued fighting against Seiji and Shika's teamwork.
Both sides fought fiercely… Hisashi wanted to help out as well. However, his hands were trembling too much.
He had almost died just then! He had even seen bright lights flash before his eyes.
Although he knew that training in the Domain would be dangerous, there hadn't been any problems so far. Hisashi couldn't help but relax his guard because of this.
Only now did he finally recognize the true situation he was in.
This was a battlefield!
Even with Seiji and Shika protecting him, danger would still be ever present. He definitely couldn't get overconfident.
After he calmed down, Hisashi analyzed that him joining in would only make things worse rather than helping out. He wisely stayed out of the fray and observed from a great distance.
A fierce battle, amazing spells, and instantaneous attacking and defending… this was a battle between powerful mystical ability users!
'Can I do this as well if I become stronger?'
The scene before him seemed like it came right out of a fantasy battle anime. Hisashi couldn't help but get heated up as he imagined himself being able to do the same things.
This was what it felt like to be hot-blooded… in the literal sense of the word!
Hisashi felt like he would never be hot-blooded to the same extent as his idiot older brother Zankita. Still, he felt like he understood his older brother's way of thinking slightly better now.
The headless spearman didn't have any personal protective barriers. However, it had incredibly high durability! Basically, it was the type of boss monster with no defensive techniques but with a huge HP bar.
Seiji tried using [Cleansing] on this headless spearman. It caused some damage… but that was all it did.
He would have to carefully take it down slowly.
He and Shika had excellent cooperation as they focused on personal safety over DPS. They used defensive techniques whenever the boss used ultimate abilities, and used their own ultimate abilities whenever they saw an opening.
Gradually, the dark-red aura around the headless spearman started to dim.
Once the headless spearman was greatly weakened, it suddenly went berserk and continuously used powerful attacks! It was fast to the point where Shika couldn't even defend with "Ice Wall" in time!!
Seiji cast his defensive barrier that he had prepared already for such danger...
Defensive spell—[Turtle Armor]!
Countless hexagonal spell formations spread out from his shield. It looked just like a scene out of a science fiction movie of creating an energy shield.
The blood-red spear crashed into the barrier like a raging tempest. Numerous impact shock waves spread out from the barrier, which seemed like it would collapse at any moment.