243 - - fourth skill

"Get down!"

With a shout, Thor's body makes a half-turn, using his drawn heel as a pivot point.

At the same time, he lifts his blade and cleaves the spot where he was just before.

A dull thud is heard, and the response is as if he has struck a steel pillar.

Without a pause, a loud crushing sound echoes through the passage.

Thor looked backward for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

Thora bent down neatly and Yuril leaned against the wall, seeming to have successfully avoided the current attack.

Mu, too, lay sprawled out on his back and rolled his eyes, but there was no sign of injury.

On the far wall of the passageway, two icicles were wedged into the wall like stakes.

One of them was stuck at an angle, probably because Thor had hit it with his sword.

The stone wall was covered with fine cracks, probably caused by the violent impact.

Thor turns his head forward and stares at the conical icicle growing in the palm of the Steel Giant's hand again.

He drops his broken sword to the floor and replaces it with a machete, silently instructing the girl behind him.

"Sora, fix both of them!"

"Yes!"

"Step forward as he falls to the floor. If he grows ice again, turn it off or stop him."

I'll take care of it!"　

Even while we are talking, icicles are forming in no time at all.

Just when it seemed to have grown to the same length as before, the icicles burst out with tremendous force.

Thor runs through the passageway, keeping low as the granulated ice pours down on him.

At the same time, the icicles formed by the magic power lose their shape and melt.

While falling to the ground, the steel doll held up its hand once more.

However, due to the serious recoil, the hand is already gone beyond the wrist.

Thor, seizing the opportunity, closes the distance in a single breath.

He raises his black sword blade and strikes the carapace-shaped head head-on.

The blade enters without a sound, and brilliantly divides the monster's chest in half.

The steel doll, which shudders slightly, immediately quiets down.

Thor looks around to make sure there are no reinforcements, and finally exhales deeply.

He noticed that his back was still sweating, even though it was so cold that his breath was turning white.

"Here, Thor," he said.

"Oh, sorry."

Sola runs up to me and holds out a silver sword she had picked up.

The girl, who had been watching Thor straighten his sword, muttered with a deepened expression on her face.

"That's because you hit it against an icicle, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Thor. My heart was pounding when I got a hair out of your hair.

It was really close.

If the orbit had been just a little lower, it would have taken the top of his head off.

"Whew. I could barely see."

Me too.

It was that fast.

The thunderbolts from the steel dolls on the upper floors are certainly fast, too.

However, the timing itself is easy to grasp, since the tip of the wrist glows slightly before it is released.

However, the attack that sent the icicles flying earlier had no warning.

When I noticed it, it was so fast that I can only say that it had already passed by me.

"Did you see it by any chance?　Thor-chan."

Thor nodded silently at the question, remembering the scene that had flashed through his mind.

An image of icicles gouging his chest.

This was the result of Thor's new magical technique, .

Level: 1 / Usable number of times: twice an hour / Activation: instantaneous / Effect: 1 second / Scope: self.

This is a terribly useful skill that allows you to know your own future one second in advance.

This is the reason why the use of is stable.

"I used it with caution, and I was right."

However, this seemingly unbeatable skill is not without its drawbacks.

One is the small number of times it can be used.

Since it can only be used twice in an hour, it can only be used in a very critical situation.

Therefore, the use of is limited accordingly.

The second is the short duration of the effect.

Since it is only one second away, if the timing of its use is off, nothing will happen in the future.

The fact that we were able to avoid the current icicle was due in large part to luck.

And lastly.

This is very troublesome, because there is more than one image that can be seen.

It is not a vision of a definite future one second ahead, but rather a vision of a future with the possibility of such a future.

In other words, in the previous case, there is Thor who died because of an icicle stuck in his chest, but there is also Thor who got down on the floor and avoided it.

They are falling down like countless raindrops, filling the entire field of vision.

Without the senses trained through and , it would have been impossible to choose a future in which the icicles would be able to fly away.

"Well, I guess I can handle this next time. "Well, I guess I can handle this one next time..." "You got it, Sora!

I'd like to tell you to wait, but can we go back for a minute?

What's wrong?

"Uh, well, I was wondering if I could change my clothes a little bit."

"Oh, did you tear it?"

Thor, who touched Sola unprovoked in an attempt to her, twists his head because there is nothing in her history to indicate that she is a Sola.

"Hm?　I don't see anything."

"Well, I'm not trying to fix it or anything, it's just that you'll catch a cold if it's still wet. Oh, God!

When Thor finally understood what she meant, the girl turned her head to the side with red cheeks puffed out.

"You're so right, Thor-chan!　That's what I'm talking about!"

"Yes, Thor, you need to learn to be a little more considerate in that area."

"That's the point, To-chan."

For some reason, even Moe, with his arms folded, imitates the two of them.

Thor scratched the bottom of his chin and seriously wondered if he should use before conversations from now on.

"Okay. Let's call it a day then."

So, the first thing to do was to collect the luggage we had left on the way and return to the sixth floor.

Thor and the others retrace their steps to the ninth floor, only to find that something untoward has happened.

The bars had come down.