CH 101

(Ichiko POV for the whole chapter)

“≪Heal≫.”

“Tsk…”

Through Lady Ryo’s ≪Heal≫, my broken bones are attached together accompanied by moderate pain and heat.

“I’m sorry. Thank you.”

“More importantly, I’m counting on you to be the vanguard. I can only perform a surprise attack.”

Hesitation or doubt is absent from Lady Ryo’s eyes as she says this, but rather, her eyes are brimming with anguish as if she is prepared for whatever may arise.

I am certain that Lady Ryo has already recognized that Houki-san cannot be saved anymore.

As I wordlessly recreate the weapon in my right hand, I position myself in front of Lady Ryo and brace myself so that she can react at her convenience behind me.

And while we are getting into position, Houki-san also rises and holds her bamboo broom as if it were a naginata.

“Just in case, I have to ask you. Do you know how to return Houki to her original state, Ichiko-san?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t. Besides, I don’t think that thing would leave room for such a thing in this circumstance.”

Her disappointment is momentarily apparent at my words, but she quickly regains her composure. It seems that Lady Ryo has grown much sturdier over the past ten years.

However, it is very saddening to realize that she has become stronger in such an occasion.

“That ‘thing’ you’re referring to… is about Shigan, right? What exactly is her true identity?”

“Kurokiri and I call her the God of Calamity. The details will have to wait for later.”

After saying that, I assume full combat readiness. Lady Ryo then follows suit and begins to take action.

“I understand. Then, Ichiko-san.”

“Yes.”

“‘Go’!”

Under Lady Ryo’s ≪Command≫, my body rushes towards Houki-san with great vigor.

“…”

Houki-san silently swings down her bamboo broom as the wind howls.

By using ≪Sword of the Formless King・Weak≫, I evade Houki-san with my two-handed sword, and from there, I slash at her back.

However, Houki-san avoids my maneuver by using the bamboo broom that makes contact with the ground as a pivot point and tries to swing it down again as if to repay my action.

Now, until a while ago, I would have had to teleport to the rear or some other direction to escape in order to terminate the loop. But now, while I am parrying the blow…

“≪Mist Slap≫!”

Lady Ryo can attack Houki-san, whose offense has been stopped and who is now unable to move!

“…!”

Houki-san is clad in more fog than usual and is blasted away by Lady Ryo’s attack, the same as before. But this time, she lands on the ground, taking a passive stance.

“This seems to be working somehow.”

“But Lady Ryo, you are a healer by nature. Please don’t make a move unless there is a chance that you can exploit with certainty.”

“I understand. It seems that ≪Mantle of Fog≫ is effective against Houki as well, so I won’t do anything rash.”

≪Mantle of Fog≫. It is one of the skills she acquired after parting with me. The effect, according to Kurokiri, is an enhancement skill limited to Kirijin. In other words, the fact that Houki-san is a Kirijin remains intact even after she takes on that form?

If so, that means there is a possibility that she may use a race-specific skill, which she has not brought out at the moment. That would be something to be wary of.

“…”

“Tsk! Not again!”

“I’ll stop it!”

And when we observe the power building up at the tip of Houki-san’s bamboo broom, Lady Ryo and I rush off.

Right before the ray of light is about to be discharged, I manage to get under Houki-san and wield the long sword in my right hand to knock the bamboo broom upward.

Yet, the instant the sword brushes against the bamboo broom, instead of being met by a solid metallic sound, there is a wind noise followed by an absent sensation, signaling that I have struck in the air.

If I was to look at Houki-san, I will find that Houki-san is standing next to me before I know it, clad in ≪Fog Cloak≫.

“Oh no…!”

Apparently, she has applied the effect of ≪Covert Proficiency Ⅰ≫ to ≪Fog Cloak≫ to mislead us about her location.

The cluster of power has already peaked at a critical point, and the tip of the bamboo broom is aimed at me.

I begin to witness the release of the power in slow motion. Even if I teleport, I will not make it in time at this stage.

And then, just as the light hits me, I’m thrust sideways, and the flow of time restores to its original course.

“What just…”

“Somehow, I managed to make it in time.”

After being shoved aside, I am sent flying by the blast originating from the recoil of the projectile. When I glance around, Lady Ryo is hurling a strangely ornamented sword at the spot where I had just been, and I can see what looks like a hand growing out from around the location where she flung it.

Judging from the circumstances before and after, that hand must have been the thing that pushed me out of the way.

While I am mulling this over, the sword is shattered into powder, and Lady Ryo is beginning to charge towards Houki-san.

Nevertheless, the disparity in strength between Houki-san and Lady Ryo is too steep, and the battle will wind up being a defensive one. If things continue as they are, a few more exchanges would be our limit.

I hastily get up and rush towards Houki-san.

Houki-san’s assaults are evidently more efficient than they were at the outset of the combat. Simultaneously, the emotion that I can perceive in her eyes is also transitioning to one riddled with pain. It is likely that the God of Calamity’s control is gradually intensifying.

Once this happens, there is no time to dwell on the consequences, nor is there any sense of caring for Houki-san so as to finish her off with as minimal pain as possible.

The only thing she needs now is to be liberated from the God of Calamity as swiftly as possible, and that is what I have grasped now.

Therefore, I will utilize it.

“‘I am the one who leaps through the void, the sword with boundless forms. I seek the head of my adversary, the flower of life, the fountain of blood. Leap, O blade. Until I reach what I seek, cast this blade down upon my foe’. Lady Ryo!”

I approach Houki-san and recite a chant at once.

Whether they detect something unsettling in the chanting or not, Lady Ryo jumps back, and Houki-san attempts to escape too, but I draw even closer to her by teleporting.

I close the distance to zero.

“‘Cut! Slice! Sever! Outer Skill Senkiri-kaishaku’.”

Then, with the proclamation of the skill’s activation, I conjure a long sword compounded of a copious amount of the outstanding metal I’ve amassed over the last decade and drive it towards Houki-san’s neck.

“…!”

Houki-san’s stance gets thrown off by the initial hit. From the second blow, a faint cut appears on her neck. With the third blow, it leaves a definite wound.

“I’m sorry, Houki-san, but this is the only way I could save you…”

I can’t help but offer an apology even though an apology would not have sufficed.

Then comes the fourth blow, and I see the edge of the blade sinking into her neck.