Chapter 307: Fierce Battle against the Shadow Wing Brigade

"Norn, swap with me."

"Sure."

Clydossus cheerfully calls out to the mace-user Norn, high-fiveing with her. Once Clydossus retreats, Norn begins to fight the four-armed cat beastwoman. Meanwhile Clydossus squares off against the humanoid in steel armor.

Clydossus handles a sword that's much longer - albeit not as weird - than that of Lezalaysa. It's a weapon she didn't reveal back when I encountered her. She retrieves the arms in an instant, making it obvious that she must be owning some kind of item box. Maybe it's her bracelet? No, it might be one of her rings, or the necklace? It might also be the gauntlet part and ring which are connected by a silver chain. Actually, I'm pretty sure that this must be it since mana has amassed on the back of her right hand that's connected with the chain.

The unusual longsword in her right hand is a magic sword with a blue blade and a yellow blade, closely resembling a broad sword at its top and bottom end.

The armor guy's main weapon are his mana-charged steel fists. They seem like they'd pack quite a punch if they hit. Moreover, crystalline, rivet-like, small blades protrude at the tip of his fists. Those seem to be linked to his Magic Combat Style.

Trying to pulverize Clydossus, the armor guy unleashes straights and hooks in a nice rhythm at a blurring speed. The fists target her head and abdomen as she dances around.

However, Clydossus twists her body, almost rotating, and thus dodges the punches.

Many times steel fists and double blades clash. The armor guy tries his best to land a clean hit on Clydossus' slender body. But, his movements are too stiff and linear. He's easy to read, on top of his suspicious mana manipulation. Unnatural mana is emitted outside through the joints in the armor.

The footwork of the small, cute Clydossus is better than the one of the shady armor guy. Although the difference in weight would usually give him an advantage, this obviously doesn't apply in Clydossus' case. She keeps toying with him through just her movements, using a relaxed, natural agility reminding me of a fairy.

Standing on her tiptoes as if walking on a tightrope, she magnificently dances while making her feet repeatedly cross to the left and right like a clockwork doll. I guess it's more proper to call her a dancer than a fairy. Her handling of the double blade is skillful, too.

Once again she closes the distance to the armor guy, and after a thrust with the point of her sword, aiming for the vital spot at his neck, she sweeps her blade as if batting her opponent's body, striking his waist.

But, her opponent is a mysterious armor dude. Her sword blade only produces shallow scratches on the surface of his neck and waist. Just as his appearance suggests, the armor guy boasts of a firm and tough defense.

I think the double blade is a magic sword, but it doesn't seem to really work on his armor. It might be necessary to directly damage whatever is within the armor.

Thereupon, the beastwoman, who has been fighting the mace-user who was apparently capable of dealing damage to the armor guy, comes around to back up the armor guy. For a moment it creates a situation of Clydossus being stuck in a 2-on-1.

But, despite her being in such a disadvantageous situation, Clydossus deals with it by deliberately sticking to close combat. Her feet produce a rhythmic tapping sound as she moves around.

The catwoman's flexible four arms assault Clydossus with a terrifying speed, using a skilled four-sword style attacking from various angles, and then catch Clydossus' body ― no, Clydossus dodges the flurry of sword blades at a hair's breadth. Moreover, she avoids a right straight unleashed by the armor guy at a perfect timing by bending her body backwards.

"――That four-armed sword style, and the mysterious Demonic Steel armor. You're Leaf of the Four Swords and Demonic Steel Palda, right?"

"Stop continuously buzzing around!" Palda's voice through the steel mask sounds weird.

"Fufu, there are rumors calling you the love birds of Shadow Wing, and Shadow Wing's perfect combo, but it looks like you can't quite hit the improved me. But, I have a question. Is there a human inside that armor? I mean, if it's living steel, how do you fuck a beasman? It's quite a mystery. Someone with such a pure heart as mine would get totally aroused just imagining something so perverted."

Clydossus is as witty and smart as ever. I remember that she had also teased Angie like that in the past.

The catwoman responds to her words by laughing scornfully. While moving her whiskers, she comments, "I guess we can't kill you as conveniently as the Incarnation of Iron Briant."

"She's an intelligent woman with too much counterfactual thinking, but...I suppose that's only to be expected of a leader of Bloody Long Ears who has survived for several hundred years. She's different from the adventurer rabble that quickly rose to success."

"Yep, Palda. I'll leave this loose-tongued fairy woman to you, and head over to the cheeky spearmaster who's been watching us."

"Sure thing."

The catwoman's name is Leaf, huh? And that mysterious armor guy is called Palda. Leaf seems to be interested in me. She sidles up towards me while readying the magic swords in her four arms.

A catwoman...I like cats, but this fits perfectly since I had to deal with an irritating fucker just a little while ago.

As I pour mana into Baldok, Yui declares, "I'll handle her," taking two steps forward in her own style's walking technique, clearly demonstrating her will to fight.

While activating , she clads Fierce God - Spirit Wind in a wind blade. In the past...Yui had talked about swords like the katana held by the catwoman. Yui advances while making silver mana gush out of her eyes.

At once, she unleashes a thrust at Leaf. Leaf parries the thrust with two of her sharp swords, where I can't tell whether they are katana or western swords. At the same time, she performs a low kick, trying to trip up Yui.

Yui retreats by half a step, and immediately after evading the kick, she kicks off the floor with both her mana-laden legs, charging. While closing the distance to Leaf, she stabs her katana's point at Leaf's chest once more. The thrust is much sharper than the one before. It's so quick that it looks like the pointed end of her katana has split.

Is it going to drill open a hole in Leaf's torso? At least that's what I thought, but Leaf stares at Yui's katana, moving with composure. She blocks Yui's thrust with the edge of one of her blades. While Leaf laughs out with a "Hah!", she repeatedly sways her body as if standing on a small boat, splendidly dodging the series of Yui's thrusts approaching her.

I guess she parried Yui's first thrust because she saw it for the first time. Because of that, she has apparently grasped Yui's sword range. Her movements are first-class. If the dark-skinned man had acted in the same way as her...but, I guess that's an unnecessary "what-if" speculation.

Leaf is fairly strong. As a fellow vanguard, I think she's quite compatible with Yui...it might become a close fight for Yui, even as my bloodkin. At the very least I predict it to turn into a fierce battle.

"...Okay, then I'll take care of the lightning woman."

"Viine, she's a dangerous opponent who manipulates lightning spirits. I will assist you."

Viine nods at Helme's comment, and activates Rasheena's Bracelet. Is it going to be the strategical pattern where she'll shoot the enemy after rooting her movements?

Small black spirits crawl out of the bracelet. They're conceited middle-aged midgets. While moving as if performing a dance, they approach the lightning woman who's called Lalay.

But, Lalay releases a series of small lightning strikes, not allowing the black spirits to get close to her. The small middle-aged dudes get burned, err, the black, tiny spirits get roasted.

While floating in midair, Helme creates ice cocoons with both her hands. Launching ice pebbles and ice spears from them in alternation, she joins the fight with ranged attacks.

"Don't come close!"

But, Lalay intercepts by firing an army of lightning in a radial form.

Wow. Even their magician is extremely decent.

While being filled with respect for her, I say, "...Then I'll fight Galroh, I guess. Rollo, can you take care of the jet-black beast?"

My partner answers, "Nnn," with a throaty growl.

The quality of her voice...somehow allows me to understand that she's teeming with a feeling of 『I've been waiting for this nya』. Rollodeen runs off as a black panther. On the way, she extends several tentacles from her neck towards the other beast. All of those tentacles have ivory bone swords glistening at their ends.

"Sevicekel, kill the panther." Galroh orders with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Pyuaaan." Sevicekel roars while widely spreading its black wings on both sides.

It transforms its wings into possessing thorny spear blades. The wings at its torso are kinda like lances? What a mysterious form.

Sevicekel deploys the crowd of black spear blades in a fan form. A huge fan? Like a frilled lizard? But, its wings form the foundation, I guess.

Those spear blades target the approaching tentacle bone swords of Rollodeen. Spear blades and bone swords clash repeatedly. As they're mostly offsetting each other, Sevicekel is obviously powerful as well.

It appears like Rollodeen and Sevicekel are even when it comes to restraining each other with ranged combat, but I'm confident in the power of my partner, Divine Beast Rollodeen.

The instant I think so, the ranged battle between Rollodeen and Sevicekel stops, and they fight by bumping their huge bodies like two starved lions hunting down their prey. Both roll across the ground while destroying the walls, entangling their sharp foreclaws and fangs. It shifts into a flashy battle of big kaiju, like the showdown between two mighty rivals.

The spear blades stab into Rollodeen's body, causing blood to gush out...

A seething rage towards Sevicekel for injuring my partner wells up within me. I'm worried about Rollo...but, I'll believe in my partner here.

My opponent is that guy. I turn my eyes towards Galroh. In the midst of the divine beast and jet-black beast thrashing around, I approach him step by step.

"――Lezalaysa, I'll take care of this guy."

"Feel free." After revealing a relieved expression in response to my words, Lezalaysa nods coolly.

Right after obtaining her acknowledgment, I use Magic Combat Step. Kicking powerfully enough off the ground to cause smoke to rise, I close the distance to Galroh in a forward-bent posture, and immediately unleash a with Baldok by twisting my waist and transferring the power into my right hand.

Galroh responds by holding his claymore low in order to protect his flank. After warding off the red spear's by letting it slide off the upper part of his diagonally held claymore, he abruptly alters the angle of his sword, causing the red spear to bounce back to me.

Galrosh changes the hand holding the hilt, and raises the black claymore blade. I pull back my chin while withdrawing Baldok. Even though his claymore's blade grazes the tip of my nose as it passes my face, I manage to dodge it by a hair's breadth.

While switching to a rotational evasion, using one foot as an axis, I lightly twist my body, and move my right arm behind me. I swap Baldok into my left hand, which I've placed on my back in advance, and while repelling the returning claymore blade, which is trying to scythe my neck while burning with darkness, with Baldok's handle, I swing the Magic Halberd from the left to the right with the image of striking Galroh's neck as he's confronting me with the left arm.

The red ax blade at the tip of Baldok draws a fan-shaped trail, heading for Galroh's head. Galroh evades the ax blade by crouching down, and swiftly withdraws while rotating his body to the left.

Just as Rulizeze has said before: Retreat is foolish. I perform a lower sweep trying to reap Galroh's legs as he's escaping. However, he's read the trajectory of Baldok. It gets repelled by the claymore he holds out diagonally. Since each and every single of his strikes is cool, it's a swordplay that wakes the urge in me to use it as a reference. Especially his low stance――

While thinking about all that, I aim the ax blade of Baldok with my right hand at Galroh's shoulder. It's a downward-slash full of spirit and force, following the idea of cleaving him apart diagonally at the chest.

"What a fast chain of attacks――" Galroh moves both arms while frankly praising me.

He blocks the ax blade by hoisting up the claymore sideways. While sparks scatter, I rotate on my toes in like no time, and after grabbing Baldok with my left hand, I push it out to the front while pulling my right hand back. This causes the Magic Dragon Gem at Baldok's butt end to head for Galroh's abdomen, tracing a trajectory as if being scooped up from below.

But, the crystal mass, which leaves a blue trail in its wake, is magnificently parried by Galroh moving his magic sword up and down. I get feedback of a solid hit alongside a dull sound, but Galroh's expression remains unchanged. His black eyes are fully focused on me.

Without minding that, I vertically rotate Baldok on the spot, and while continuing to swap the hands holding the violet metal staff as if making both hands cross, I brandish Baldok at different paces, targeting his vital spots.

For the sake of disturbing his defensive sword style, I keep showering him with sweeps of the Magic Dragon Gem and attacks of the red ax spear from above and below, trying to rip apart Galroh's torso. However, Galroh deals with all of it.

Baldok keeps getting repelled by his claymore. It looks like he has a full grasp on the techniques of the Wind Spear Style.

"For my hands to be numb even though I'm wielding Magic Sword Dueminas which slaughtered demi-gods deep in the underground――"

Having completely defended against my chain of attacks, Galroh takes a wide distance with a movement that seems to be based on Magic Combat Step. Also, it looks like his claymore is called Dueminas.

"Your skill in the Wind Spear Style is admirable, but the same can also be said for that weapon of yours. A magic spear ax, no, halberd?" He praises my weapon, probably trying to buy some time.

Without going along with his wish, I chase after him, not granting him even the slightest moment to catch his breath. While dashing at him, I extend Baldok straight ahead, stabbing the red spear into the inn's floor. Supporting my body with the two hands that are holding onto Baldok's handle, I put my legs together and stretch them straight into the sky, as if using the same alignment with my body as the halberd. It results in me pulling off a handstand supported by Baldok, exposing my back to Galroh and trying to use the moon as a screen.

A few milliseconds later, I vigorously fall back down, following inertia, as I aim for Galroh. In the middle of my fall, I rotate my body sideways, focusing on the muscles along my spinal column. I circle my right hand, as it holds onto Baldok, so much to the back that my waist creaks. And then I swing down Baldok at his head, using to bisect him all the way from the head.

But, Galroh receives the red ax blade, which is accompanied by a trail of fire as it rushes down, with the upper part of his claymore that's clad in flames of darkness. The air vibrates alongside such a terrifying explosion that it deafens one's ears.

I hear a voice full of admiration from the vicinity.

Immediately following, the two arms of Galroh bulge abnormally as they get wrapped up in dark mana. Moreover, Dueminas accelerates tremendously. At the same time as Galroh repels my ax blade by brushing it off to the right side, he rotates his body, and unleashes an upper back roundhouse kick at me who's airborne.

In a hurry, I shift Baldok, blocking Galroh's kick with the upper part of its handle.

――Heavy. The violet metal staff vibrates. And my body floats upwards from the kick's force.

But, using that force, I perform a forward somersault in the air, and capitalizing on the momentum of that roll, I swing down the red ax blade at Galroh's head. But, it gets repelled once more.

Next I use the power behind the recoil, targeting Galroh's abdomen with the Magic Dragon Gem after swapping my hold of Baldok and scooping it diagonally up.

However, just like earlier, Galroh blocks the Magic Dragon Gem blow with Dueminas' broad blade while holding it in both hands.

In the split second of my landing, Galroh's eyes become covered by black fog as he has apparently activated Demonic Eyes. Dark mana gushes out in a fan form from his eyes.

Since I've got a bad feeling about this, I powerfully kick off the ground, retreating while keeping Galroh in sight. A moment later, a small range of the floor and area around him is torn apart, turning space into an art informel...

It's a type of ? It had a rather small extent, though...

Unlike the night sky of my skill, it appears to be a gloomy underground space illuminated by a faint lighting with mossy rocks rolling around on the ground, and a thin fog, which combines violet and jet-black colors, wafting around...and within I spot a monster with two arms and legs, a black carapace skin, and a tear from the back of its head all the way down to the abdomen as if cleaved apart to the sides, a humanoid monster with just one arm, a monster with ogre-like horns on the head, and an oddly expanded belly, a beast monster that seems to be very ferocious while possessing the limbs of a carnivore, a monster with countless small mouths protruding out of its huge lips, and other monsters I've never seen before. All of them are swarming the cave space that's being reflected.

Among all those abnormal apparitions, one stands out the most in the middle of the underground cave. The figure of what seems to be a woman who's releasing dazzling magic and darkness bees in alternation is reflected in the space. Her upper body is human, but she has no lower body. Short, black hair adorns her head with its long forehead and deep head shape. Huge, branch-like coral horns are growing to the sides and upwards from the temporal regions on both sides of her face. Moreover, her face lacks eyebrows, and suspiciously shining, small magic crests are visible in her deeply sunken-in eye sockets. She has a high nose bridge, bluish-white lips, and a thin chin line as typical for any normal woman.

She's wearing a cloth breast armor adorned with black flowers extending down from her long and narrow neck. Both her shoulders have pieces of scale armor equipped. She's grasping a bronze-made, big wand in one hand. The symbol at the tip of her wand depicts the design of a big, black bee. The bee's compound eyes look like they're multicolored glass crystals. The big wand is conspicuous, but what draws my attention the most is her big chest.

However, it's not equipped with my beloved boobies. Her chest is bulging out as expected of a woman, but she doesn't have normal breasts. A part of her chest is torn apart to the sides, down until below her belly. A heart, which shines like a gem, is squirming around inside the torn chest.

A blackened belt is draped around her waist, and only a leather tasset and scraps of black cloth continue downwards from her chest, but she has no legs. She's floating by producing many white jet-like mist streams from her white skeleton beneath her abdomen. For a moment, she reminds me of a ghost monster.

"...Spearmaster, that's the black flame of the underground boundary's sacred treasure Rolga. It seems to be a part of the power based on the sacred treasure, which is also called Rolga's Underground Bees. Be careful." Lezalaysa warns me.

She's passionately staring at me, shifting her eyes from the red spear of Baldok that leans against my shoulder and the black Gatrance Form to my face. Her eyes look feverish to me. Lezalaysa is showing me a very womanly face. It's kinda cute.

"I see. Thanks."

I honestly thank her, but I can't predict what kind of attack is going to come at me from the torn space created by Galroh.

"In accordance with the Oath of the Blood Name, I'd like to lend your power, Rolga-sama."

Galroh mentions some oath while staring at me. It looks like he's talking to the female monster displayed in the underground space.

"Brat, your way of speaking with me has become quite cheeky, hasn't it? But, in accordance with the Blood Name, I'll lend you my power."

At the same time as an indescribably sweet scent wafts over from the underground space reflected in the torn space, he voice reverberates, echoing. She looks like a monster, but going by her enchanting fragrance, she's a goddess?

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