Chapter 420 - Plan "A"

Taking in a focusing breath through his lungs, he maintained his calmness while the tentacles began to cast their ice-bound magic once more, in greater numbers. 

Speed is the essence here: if I'm too slow, it'll maneuver itself away and probably try to distract me with some more magic so I lose its position. With that said...my only option is something I've yet to try in battle. That's fine, though--practice makes perfect, and there's no better practice than the real thing! He thought. 

Shrouding his body in a heavy layer of shadows that mixed between shades of magenta and swaying black, he kept his eyes locked on the tentacles as their spells grewer to completion--just as his did. 

Feeling his heartbeat resonate against his ears as he breathed out heavily, he couldn't help but feel a natural smile come over his lips. 

It felt like he was right back there alongside everyone; fighting against another monster as they all stumbled and tried to work together despite their differences. 

Somehow, he didn't feel alone. 

...I don't know why I'm thinking of this now, but I'm finally starting to understand. 

Being a gloomy hero doesn't fit me...being a hero doesn't even fit me! But...if I have to be your hero, I'll do it with a smile while cracking jokes!  I'm not going to survive here if I'm brooding and lamenting my own weakness...I can only make it if I can smile and move forward. Besides--I don't want to greet you with a frown, but a genuine, unshattered smile! It might be lame and cheesy, but that's who I am--Ren freakin' Nakamura! He thought. 

"Araphel: Dusk Waltz." 

Leaning forward into a stance made for sprinting, he kicked off as he manifested his magecraft with his call, bursting forward with a speed that blurred his own shape; bending the space around him momentarily in the moment of launch. 

For that brief, minuscule moment of acceleration, the scenery around him contorted, stretched, and condensed as it seemed everything came into his view for that one minute of distorting speed. 

It was a multi-step spell that required multiple, synchronized concepts to act as cogs into one machine to produce one effect--utmost speed. 

Around his body, he coated himself in a type of reinforced tailored to not only allow him to embody the lightness of his shadows, but allow his body to function within such speed. 

Propelling himself forth, he used a burst of mana that acted as the fuel for the vehicle that was his body, creating a shock wave that parted the snow around him into a storm of frost. 

Finally, he maintained the layer of shadows on his soles to allow him to slide against the floor of abundant snow. 

The result was 'Dusk Waltz': the pinnacle of agility he had achieved thus far as a mage, now racing across the boundless sea of white with enough speed to make the wind roar against his ears. 

It's working!...It's hard to get used to, but this speed is something else! He thought. 

Flying towards him, the malicious icicles missed their mark completely as he glided past them, carrying his swiftness across the snow sleekly, opting for long strides that slid him across the snow instead of an orthadox sprint. 

Even a single downfall of his soles when inhabiting such speeds brought down a shock wave on the unsuspecting snow as a storm of white frost was left in his wake, flying forth with speed that shattered the sound barrier like a hammer to a walnut. 

More than the howling waves generated from his velocity was the heat he conjured from such speed, rapidly melting the snow surrounding him as steam followed his position. 

Focus, focus...focus, he repeated in his head. 

It was simply a speed he was not used to; even with his reactions enhanced, it was a new environment for himself. 

Spinning around, he shifted his direction before the black tendrils could wall him off with a structure of roughly-shaped frost, carrying himself with his immense momentum as he took strides like an ice-skater. 

As he approached one of the towering, wriggling tentacles, it was like guiding a hot knife through butter as the speed at which he traveled allowed his blade to inhabit an unrestrained sharpness. 

"Hyraah---!" He shouted out. 

Bolstering the sharp steel he swung with a yell, the black tentacle as thick as his own body was bisected cleanly, causing it to fall to the snow and writhe like a disembodied insect's head. 

Being within range of the hard of tentacles' reach, he was forced to continue his speedy stride without wasting a single moment. 

Like spears raining down from the sky above, the tentacles strained before crashing down in an attempt to pierce him, though he maneuvered freely with his amplified agility, leaping and spinning his body to evade their assault. 

"...You're getting nervous now, aren't you?! I must be close to your body then!" He yelled. 

Clouds of snow were kicked up from the force of each stygian, lengthy limb crashing down as he raced around their reach before running up the length of one of the surprisingly sturdy, towering tentacles. 

"And up we go…!" He muttered through his teeth. 

Sprinting directly up at a slope impossible if not for his speed, he leapt into the air above the reach of the aggressive tentacles, focusing his attention on the clearing directly below him. 

There wasn't a single tentacle protruding from the space he latched his eyes onto, and the formation of the limbs seemed to center around that one, particular area. 

At the exact moment he reached the summit of his leap, the amplifying veil of 'Dusk Waltz' vanished from his body as he pointed his bare, cold-stricken hand towards the ground directly below. 

Found you, he thought. 

"Dunkel: Piercer! Times Five!" 

Using his hand pressing downwards as guidance, a set of five, shadowy spears manifested around him before shooting towards the snow-inhabited field below. 

Launching towards the general vicinity below, the shadowy, unstable spears embedded themselves in the snow as the meeting of the heated darkness and the frosty snow formed a hiss in the air. 

"...Now, come on out, you big scaredy-cat! Araphel: Detonation!" He shouted from the top of his lungs. 

With a clench of his fist, he released the unstable, vibrating spears as their form was unleashed into a volatile reaction of stygian explosions, launching a storm of parted snow that directly pelted against his body. 

The mixture of bubbling, volatile heat and the sheer coldness that the sea of frost inhabited gave birth to a rapidly-expanding, shock wave of steam. 

"Gotcha!" He smiled. 

He was kept afloat for a moment longer as the air pressure released from the detonation pushed upwards against his body before he landed back down on the snow. 

This time as he stood on the snow, he didn't question the stability of his own footing; finding himself engrossed in the airs of battle, the special reinforcement came naturally now. 

His eyes were sat on the massive coalescence of steam formed from the crater in the snow his chain-attack left, pointing his sword forward. 

"Show yourself, you NEET!" He called out. 

Accepting his challenge, the entity burrowed within the snow unveiled itself as its plethora of sleek, black tentacles sprung out before latching into the snow, dragging its body out from the steaming, melting frost. 

"Woah, there," he backed up a bit with a wry smile. 

It loomed over him with a stature gargantuan enough to cast a shadow over the clearing he stood in; in its sable flesh, it was a creature that should by all means reside in the depths of the great blue--a giant, monstrous squid. 

More like the damn Kraken itself! He thought. 

Though it was blatantly not the type of squid he was used to--that was a simply observation by the very fact it inhabited snow; across its sleek, all-black body, azure gemstones were embedded in its flesh like natural jewelry, shining and glistening with a mystical glow. 

"You don't look too happy to be out in the open, do you? Too bad, too sad," he taunted through cold breaths. 

There was an obvious explanation for his flurry of taunting remarks to the towering, mythical creature in front of him that looked less than willing to partake in conversation. 

It was his natural response to nervousness. 

...I really, really, really hate squids! He thought, shivering from a mixture of effects. 

Only ghostly, white eyes that were hollow of any pupils stared at him; giant as they festered with a savage anger pointed directly towards him. 

"...Oh yeah, he's mad," he muttered to himself. 

A dozen of its elongated, black tentacles waved around in the snow-filled air before the azure jewels around its body glowed with a loud hum emitting off of them. 

So that's how it is…! Those little jewels telegraph its spells! He thought. 

Realizing this, he began to sprint as a storm of sharpened, lethal icicles flooded the cold skies, shooting towards him at viscous speeds.