Chapter 90: Holy Night Showdown (Combat Start)
We stood facing Aymok across the stage.
“Our specialty is mental interference resistance, y’know?”
I deliberately shifted my tone back to my usual way of speaking as I provoked Aymok. The female speech pattern was becoming natural to me, but in battle, using my original tone that laid bare my instincts felt more fitting.
“Did you think mental interference was the essence of dark magic? Darkness governs destruction. Allow me to show you what true dark magic looks like.”
In the past, I’d received the Blessing of Darkness, but since there hadn’t been a priest, I was never formally taught dark magic. My knowledge of it amounted to recognizing a few of the spells enemies had used before.
『Either way, without blessings in this world, large-scale magic should be impossible.』
Alicia informed Souta and me via telepathy. Naturally, the link with Aymok was already cut.
『The basic plan should be to use magic to keep him in check while focusing on physical combat. Until we know his hand, prioritize not getting taken down.』
『Got it!』
I chanted Enhance Physical (Small) on myself to boost my physical abilities and took a combat stance.
Aymok, standing before us, was again manipulating shadows as he had earlier; the darkness at his feet swelled up like snakes lifting their heads, threatening us.
“Those shadow attacks are a pain… better keep him in check first.”
I began chanting. Five ice spears, each about a meter long, materialized in the air around me.
“Here we go—Ice Lance!”
At my command, the spears shot straight toward Aymok.
“Hmph. Something like that…!”
Aymok extended his arm straight forward. From the darkness at his feet, countless tendrils stretched outward from both sides, sweeping upward in front of him to form a half-circle latticework.
My spears slammed into the lattice of shadows and shattered, repelled.
In that instant when my field of view was filled with shards of ice, I kicked off the ground, closing the distance to Aymok in one burst. Without slowing, I swung my long staff—crafted from the World Tree itself—in a powerful downward arc, aiming at the shadow barrier in front of me.
The darkness before me tore apart as easily as butter, and Aymok’s figure loomed up right in front of me.
“Got you!!”
I stepped in further and struck sideways at Aymok with my staff.
I felt solid contact. But my attack had been stopped by Aymok’s arm.
Had it just been a normal guard, I could’ve easily broken a bone or two. But his arm was cloaked in something like dark flames, nullifying the damage.
“…You tore through my shadows?”
“This staff’s made from the World Tree, y’know. It’s got a light-attribute blessing… though seems like it couldn’t negate whatever’s on your arm.”
“This arm of darkness—Shadow Arm—is the essence of my dark martial arts. A conceptual weapon clad in darkness itself. Do not expect it to be dispelled so easily.”
“Sounds like a weapon straight out of an overblown chuunibyou story… whoa!”
I struck with a diagonal slash, then swung back like a pendulum for another blow—a flurry of attacks too fast for ordinary eyes to follow.
But every strike was blocked by Aymok’s darkly burning arms.
Naturally, Aymok was using physical enhancement magic as well, just like me. Meaning neither of us held the advantage in raw strength. If anything, my smaller frame put me at a slight disadvantage.
Despite my relentless attacks, all of them were perfectly deflected.
『Ikuto-san, you’re overextending! Fall back and reset your stance!』
Responding to Alicia’s warning, I forced myself to halt. My narrowed focus widened again, and in the corner of my vision, I caught movement.
“…Tch!”
I kicked backward, leaping away. The spot where I’d just been was now riddled with spears of shadow stabbing into the ground in rapid succession.
A moment later, the shadows that had lagged slightly behind shifted direction, coming straight for me as I struggled to stabilize myself midair.
“Crap…!”
I tried to sweep them away with my staff, but in midair, I couldn’t swing it properly.
The shadows closed in on me.
“Like hell I’m letting that happen!!”
The next moment, what crashed into my vision was Souta, charging in with his wooden sword in hand.
He slammed into the swarm of shadows targeting me, using his entire body. The blow from the side knocked their trajectory wildly off-course.
Now, standing back-to-back with some distance between us and Aymok, Souta and I caught our breath.
“Thanks, Souta. You saved me.”
“Idiot. You’re rushing in too deep.”
“…Yeah, my bad.”
Even as we exchanged words back-to-back, shadows as thick as arms attacked from every direction.
Individually, they weren’t much of a threat—but the sheer number of them was ridiculously annoying.
We exchanged thoughts via telepathy, keeping it brief.
『Honestly, just keeping up with your fight against Aymok is all I can manage visually. If I step in recklessly, I’ll just drag you down… what’s the plan? He’s insanely strong, y’know?』
『We’ll just have to keep trying different things until we find an opening. Using human magic, the only thing he can strengthen is his physical abilities. His defense shouldn’t be much different from an ordinary person’s. So if we can land even a single solid hit, there’s a good chance we can settle it right there.』
『…Which means if we get hit even once, it could be fatal for us too.』
『That’s why we strike first. I’ve got a few support spells I can use. We’ll have to make do with that. Ikuto-san, keep focusing on Aymok. Souta-san, watch for the shadows.』
『Got it. I’ll cover your backs.』
『I’m counting on you, Souta. Alicia, same to you—keep supporting us!』
We ended the back-to-back stance and once again faced Aymok.
…Now then. Round two.
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