Log Horizon Book 6 chapter 5

Chapter 5: Raid Battle



1

A man squirms in the darkness.

He slowly and stretch his bone and body.

The sound of sewage flowing came from somewhere. This is a sewer, but it is different from modern Tokyo or the old world. This zone used exclusively by the man only has streams of water thinner than fingers flowing through, an underground dungeon.

This is a pile of stolen adventurers clothing that serves as a bed. The man sits up from bed and touch his abdomen with his fingers. Dry blood stain his fingers like rust. Under his tattered black jacket, his burning wounds have mended.

He has probably made a full recovery.

The iron helmet that is like a mask glows dimly in the darkness. It's a magical effect providing him with night vision.

The mobile suits are relic passed down from an ancient era. It is more then a magical item or ancient technology, it is a precursor artifact.

It's capability is beyond the people of the land technology, the magic of the adventurers, and even the Kunie clan. It is the crystallization of the a lost age.

The man inspects himself in the green tint vision.

He has made a full recovery.

The physical ability of the man is powerful. The mobile suit raise all physical traits of its user, especially the stamina. In terms of HP, he has 3 times the endurance before equipping the armor. But it doesn't boast the recovery rate of the user meaningfully. The armor is not designed with its user taking damage in mind. The defense of the armor is capable of negating most attacks, since they won't get hurt, there is no need to boast their healing rate. Getting wounded highlights the weakness of the armor, a grave insult to him.

But the mobile suit is not his only equipment.

The tall and skinny man holds 'Byamaru' which rattles in its sheath. It seems short in his hand.

Who ever wields the sword gains the power of the ice cliff hero Lugolas. The more blood Byamaru drinks, the better the man can wield this power. His biceps that has grown three times larger is proof of this. The sword rattling in its sheath is thirsting for more sacrifice.


He growls and leave without looking back.

The man doesn't really sees this place as his base. Just a quiet place for him to rest is good enough. This underground room is situated behind a collapsed building. There is ventilation, so this place is connected to the surface, but as far as the man knows, there are no viable entrance or exit into this place. He can teleport and won't feel any inconvenience, but it will take a lot of work to clear the rubbles for normal people of the land or adventurers to come here.

The scenery of Akiba comes into the man's mind. This is the city he has been guarding all these years. Although the adventurers have been remodelling the buildings, the layout of the city remains the same.

The man moved to a certain teleport point he remembers.

The wind blowing across the land surrounds him suddenly.

The winter night breeze hit the man, threatening to freeze his body. But the weather resistant function of the mobile suit makes him feel nothing. It is just a high class wine for the fine feast he is going to dine on.

The man walks among the crumbling ruins and the deserted shopping streets.

Several dim lights lit up in the darkness. The man can't help smiling as he looks at these frail lights. He trembles from joy, his slightly hunched upper body leans ahead as far as he can go as he lick his lips.

The bustle of the day fades away along with the sun and silence falls in the city, like a young girl lying in the dark. She is an arrogant and strong woman in the day, but is a frightened in the darkness of the night.


The tall and skinny man draws his sword.

The numbing breeze of winter flows around him, it is no longer cold.

The man lets out a twisted laughter from the pleasure and pain of his body and soul crystallizing.

He is the winter. He is the numbing breeze.

The man took off his black jacket, as if he cannot feel the strong snowy wind.

Illuminated by the lights of Akiba far below him, the figure of the man looks unbalanced. His skinny body is tough, but doesn't have proper muscles. Wearing a tight tank top and leather shoes, only the lower limbs of the man is covered by metallic armor, which are gauntlets and leg guards. The bulk of these equipment makes it look out of place on the man. Taking off his dirty jacket and landing like a giant bird onto the streets, the man is a murderous weapon.

The metal casing encloses grey fibers that can store mana and absorb the impact. The magical fiber takes in the power supplied by the magic circle, operating silently. Several protective barriers are created around his limbs, and a force field is erected around him.

Memories of battles with titans in the freezing north awakens within him.

It is not the memories of this man, this people of the land.

It is the memories of the hero Lugolas.

As an ancient, Lugolas fought as one of the Izumo knights. In order to protect the smiles of the people residing in Susukino, he battled with the evil titans for a hundred years. He drove off the titans to the jade garden of Owl mountain, and is just a step away from sealing them off. Such is the legacy of the hero Lugolas.

This intense pride ravages the man's heart like a snow storm.

If the 'Lady of spring' Shootnow didn't betrayed him, if not for her treachery, Lugolas would not have died of her poison. Lugolas would still be revered by the people in the north with the never aging feature of the ancients. It's all that frail girl's fault.

With the chill that threatens to freeze everything, a snowy breeze emits from the opening in the sheath. The magic blade calls forth the man's rage, tempting him to release the carnage of the cursed frost.

The resentment of Lugolas howls, demanding the people to gather and kneel before him, to offer their life to him.


The man shakes his head.

He is not Lugolas.

He is a people of the land, one of the Kunie, a glorious guardian of Akiba. But he was not honored by the masses, and look down upon like a automaton. Even though he is stronger than the adventurers, at best he is describe as a security guard, but most of the people think of him as guard dogs that is just a feature of the city. As if he is a warrior of an enslaved clan treated like sacrifices.

Because of his circumstances, a dark resentment burns in his heart. This hate intertwines with the freezing white wrath. That's right. The man is sure this is the reason Lugolas chose him.

In order to exterminate the human who betrayed him, the 'Lady of spring'.


The man leap off the building without any hesitation, his legs smashes onto the ground. His barrier protects him from the damage of falling from the 6th floor. The grounds around Akiba is not paved anyway, just black soil overgrown with roots and moss. The man stomps on the frozen twisted branches and roots, and sense the life force around the area is weak.

There are no preys.

The murderer feels something was up, maybe everyone as ran away

The murderer has excellent combat capabilities, but he is not perfect and is bad at many things, scouting for enemies being one of them. The guards of the Kunie clan on duty stands by in the guard room after all. When they detect any crimes being committed, they will teleport to the scene directly using their mobile suit to apprehend the criminals.

Scouting for enemies is the function of the guard room, not the ability endowed on each individual guards. The ancient magical equipment mobile suits does not boast the ability of its user this way.

The man's scanning radius is not enough to cover the whole Akiba. But even so, the number of people moving around in Akiba tonight is too few in numbers. Resting at night is the norm for this world, but that is not so for Akiba. Maybe it is because of their endless stamina, the adventurers sleep much later than people of the land at night. They are capable of fending off monsters lurking in the night as well.

That's why there will still be adventurers wandering the streets deep into the night. The sacrifice the man presents to the blade are such people.

It he can't sense any signs of life right now.


The man swings Byamaru around in frustration, releasing whirlwinds that freezes the undergrowth. The man steps on them, shattering them to pieces as he heads north searching for prey.

The teleport capability of the mobile suit is only effective within the city zone.

The magic circle built under the city powers the mobile suit. So if the adventurers are to evacuate the city, he would not be able to follow.

The teleport ability can't work across zone.

Some closed off areas forms its own barrier known as zones. Take hotel rooms for instance. The small area that is full with just 2 beds is its own zone because of the door, separating from the outside with magic. It is situated within Akiba, but is not part of the Akiba city zone.

The magical facility known as guild halls are the same. The many bases situated within the obsidian building are all separate zones. The buildings renovated by the adventurers are also individual zones.

The man cannot invade such zones by teleportation. Even if he wants to walk in, the zone magic can identify its visitors, filtering authorized personnel.

That's why he can't prey on people hiding in these zones.

The man holds his throat with one hand and let out a sinister laugh.

In other words, this is a defensive battle.

The adventurers has admitted defeat and hide before the might of the hero. The man laughs as he continues wandering the streets for prey. Peeking into alleys, destroying signboards, wielding the magic blade makes him happy. He might not agree, but these are the actions of a blood thirsty killer.


The man didn't wait for long.

A petite figure stood in his way.

The man's mouth turns crescent shape.

What a small and tender piece of meat.

The murderer intercepts the small figure emitting the fragrance of spring oil. The frost blade howl in anticipation of living sacrifices. The wrath and hunger of the hero spills out towards Akiba.



2


Akatsuki brace herself as her weapon clashes with the murderer.

The opponent is a monster, there are no room for error. No, even without errors, there is a high chance Akatsuki will lose.

Akatsuki is not a warrior class that is proficient in tanking the attacks of enemies, but a weapon based class that specialize in dealing damage.

For this role that Akatsuki is playing, she ranks number 3. This means there are 2 other people who are better suited to taking on the murderer.

But half the reason Akatsuki is taking on the murderer is because of coincidence. Akiba is 2 km wide, it is not too vast, but is in no way small. To handle this murderer who may appear from anywhere, the surveillance network consisting of a raid party is too small. But there can't invest more manpower because of constraints.

The raid leader Rieze divides her forces into parties of 3-6 members, setting up a thin but wide surveillance network.

Another reason is because of Akatsuki's subclass and battle experience. The tracker subclass gives Akatsuki the ability to detect life signs, recon for enemies and wide area search. Akatsuki reconnaissance ability can match that of 4 parties, so it is not just a coincidence that Akatsuki found the murderer.


Akatsuki attack from the left quietly.

The silver flash of 'quick assualt' split the darkness of the night into upper and lower halves. Akatsuki knows this is not enough to kill the murderer, and leap forward with the attack. 'Quick assault' boast the agility and leg strength of the user, so Akatsuki moves in searching for a safe zone around the murderer.

But the Kodachi she raised above the murderer's back is knocked away by a chill that freezes the bone.

Akatsuki expected this, but she still groan from the pain, standing up after a forward roll.

She thought she had sneaked into a blind spot, but was knocked away by her foe.

"Akatsuki... Ah!"

Marielle who is exposed to the ice storm shield her face. But a healing light shines on Akatsuki's back. This is auto healing magic. Like the healing pulse magic of Druids and the preventive magic of Kannagi, a unique magic of each healing class.

The healing wave is feels like the warm hands of Marielle supporting her. Akatsuki moves forward twisting her body left and right to avoid the attacks.

In front of her is the alien killer she lost to that day.

The central figure of the incident that must be defeated.

The man smile smugly as he waits for Akatsuki to come at him. The imposing armor the man is wearing is a mobile suit... Or rather, a part of the suit. Akatsuki and the others already know its defensive capability rivals that of phantasmal armor. But Akatsuki is not afraid.

The streets of Akiba is turned into frozen land in the snow storm.

Looking at the other side of the road, it is the usual building and walls. Akatsuki thinks as she fights. The range of the snow storm is 5 meters, 10 meters at the most. The chill originates from the blade the murderer is wielding.

Akatsuki dodges the new attacks patterns she didn't experience last round as she thinks about how to handle them. Understanding the enemy is the first thing Rieze taught her. Observing your foe, separating the things you can do and the things you cannot do. No matter how hard the battle goes, don't stop observing. Akatsuki follows this teaching closely.

But she can't stay on the defensive. Marielle is right behind her. Marielle is the leader of crescent moon alliance with a bright smile, a friend of her lord. As a ninja and a player, Akatsuki can't let Marielle get hurt.

Marielle is a healer. The vanguard need to hold off the enemy, allowing the healer to do her part. Even though Akatsuki is not a tank, she is the only one who can play that role, she has to concentrate the hate of the opponent on her.

The intense emotions are strong enough to tear off her limbs.

Akatsuki suppress her heart that once to swing her sword wildly.

Her first move is 'accel fang'. She knows it didn't hit.

Following the momentum, she uses 'accel fang' again. It glaze the gauntlet of the enemy, making a screeching sound and leaving the smell of burnt metal. Using the 2 'accel fang' she cast along the same path as a feint, she lowers her body so much she is almost hugging the ground.

If it was the Akatsuki from before, she would have jump upwards.

Wanting to increase her attack power, Akatsuki will want to gain the higher ground over her foes. But it is different this time. If Akatsuki moves close to the ground, the enemy's view will be blocked by his own limbs. The old Akatsuki would not be able to get over her inferior complex and use it to attack.

All these are things given to Akatsuki by everyone.

'Death stinger' that break through the murderer's defense. The strike that hit the back of his knee unfortunately did not inflict any bad status effect. But the murderer is slightly off balance. He uses brute force to swipe out, while Akatsuki uses her 'Kamahen-tenmoku' to block.


The sound of metal on metal reverberates in the night streets of Akiba.

Akatsuki who is knocked back 5 meters is sweating. Compared to the chill from the murderer, the consecutive battle movements and tension makes her temperature rises. Her hands hurt. When her blade clashes with the murderer, Akatsuki supported the Kodachi with her right hand, even though she usually wields it just with her left hand. She sensed that she can't defend the blow without using both hands.

She took some damage even when defending with both hands.

This can't be helped. According to the setting of Elder Tales, if the attack timing from 2 players matches, it will cancel out each other. But it is not something you can achieve easily, and you can only cancel out damage equivalent to your attack power. The stronger party will negate all damages, while the balance of the damage will be inflicted on the weaker party. The stronger attack of the murderer hurt Akatsuki in their exchange.


Even so, Akatsuki is still smiling.

Her arms that feels swollen recovers under the golden light. 'Auto heal' will activate when allies take damage, recovering their HP. The healing power can recover about 5 to 10 attacks. It is a great spell that automatically heals allies when they are hurt. For beginners to major raids like Akatsuki and Marielle, the psychological assurance of magic cast before battle is a huge advantage.

But this magic has its weak point. It activates after damage is dealt, meaning it can't stop fatal attacks, or powerful attacks that cuts off an arm. Marielle's skill level in auto heal is lower than a cleric D.D.D, so it is still far from total HP recovery even when it is used.

But Akatsuki runs forward anyway.

After somersaulting with an attack, she use 'trick step', twisting half a circle forcibly with her right leg, moving past her opponent with dazzling movement and cast 'paralyzing blow'.

Akatsuki keeps attacking because she is not dead.

"Akatsuki!"

The murderer landed another glancing blow. Akatsuki feels her iron armor ripping. That strike was a deadly storm passing through the top of Akatsuki's heart.

But Akatsuki is still alive.

Akatsuki's fighting spirit is burning. A week ago, she has to hide behind Soujiro to fight. The battle is not going well now, auto heal and normal healing spells are not enough to stop Akatsuki's HP from falling. But this is expected. The foe is the murderer, a raid class enemy, not someone a member of a weak guild can take on after some preparation. Even the leader of West wind brigade Soujiro fell under his attack. Even with the time limit, Akatsuki has to handle this murderer for some reasons. This reason gives Akatsuki the strength to fight on.


Her hand that is extended forward is wearing a 'star gauntlet'. This production grade gauntler is made by the 'pink dice' sisters. The gauntlet emits a force field, it's defense is higher than it looks, but it cannot protect her against the snow. This time, the 'black feather garb' shines magically, creating space for Akatsuki to turn.

Akatsuki slides into the gap using her inherent agility is thankful for the new defense equipment. The light and flexible gears gives her elemental defense and abilities several times stronger than the past, but weigh about the same. These are all gifts from the tea party girls.

- Can you use this?

- Is the size not right? Let me help you tailor it.

- You can eat the strawberry here, there is enough for everyone.

- I have a good ingredient here, fufufu.


The smiling girls treat Akatsuki like a sster. Maybe half of their intention is to tease her, but they help Akatsuki without reservation.

Most of the equipment protecting Akatsuki right now are gifted by them.

The durability of her old gears fell drastically after the battle with the murderer, and cannot keep up with Akatsuki's new battle.

Akatsuki knows all the girls, but has not spoken to half of them. Akatsuki is not sure whether the girls knows about the murderer and the crisis Akiba is facing, but they all encourages Akatsuki and feed her snacks.

This spurs the familiar feelings of impatience and frustration in Akatsuki. This is her reflex, disliking people who treats her like a kid. But on the other hand, Akatsuki feels a soothing sensation.

Akatsuki is asking everyone for help, so in a sense, it is normal to be treated like a kid. Akatsuki decides to give up resisting, because she is not good enough. Looking for help is equivalent to admitting defeat.

But, whether she is not good enough or loses, there are still merit in this.

Akatsuki feels that there are somethings you can only understand after admitting your own weakness.

The calmness in her heart is one of them.

Reflecting calmly like this and she will notice that the people talking to Akatsuki means no harm. They are treating Akatsuki with pure kindness.

The people Akatsuki rejected with her bare fangs did not look down at her one bit.

It is an embarrassing experience, but not unbearable.

Akatsuki's swordplay became sharp.

She is not concern with her dwindling HP.

She continues to attack, trying to inflict bad status effect on the murderer and slow him down. Instead of prolonging her life, Akatsuki is displaying the confidence she has with their strategy.

"10 more... 5!"

Marielle's shour makes Akatsuki smile.

Speaking of which, this is a first for Marielle too.

The two of them are challenging the first major raid of their life.


3


Rieze relayed the contents to the other section team leaders after receiving the telepathy message.

"Target sighted, he is moving along the main road towards old Ogawa district on foot. Akatsuki's team made first contact. 2 woman team, 1 healer. D team move in to intercept, the rest stand by!"

Rieze shouts her command through telepathy while on the move.

The raid battle is finally starting.

Rieze sends out telepathy command consecutively. There are 24 adventurers in Akiba right now, which would make 4 parties with 6 members each under normal circumstances. But Rieze didn't assign the members this way. Right now, the 23 members working under Rieze is split into groups of 2 or 3, forming about 10 groups.

Rieze is paired up with a partner. Behind her is Kyoko, a level 90 guardian, one of the victims of the incident. Rieze herself is a Sorcerer.

This type of roster is weak. Even if team D links up with Akatsuki, there will be only 4 members, it will be hard to take on an enemy on the level of a major raid boss.

Rieze and Kyoko who are situated in the canal heads for the main road running behind the railings. Unfortunately, they are far from the battle field, so, they have to cut diagonally across Akiba, the distance is about 1 kilometer. But with the strong body of the adventurer, they will reach in 2 minutes.

The 2 of them went around the remnants of a old signboard, dashing through a trail covered with grass.

"Akatsuki..."

"Yes. Kyoko, are you okay?"

"Of course. To be frank, I am afraid of that guy. But I would rather fight him so Soujiro won't need to face him again. My athlete appearance is not just for show!"

"That's the spirit!"

"We have to win!"

Rieze didn't answer and just nod firmly and run. The people of Akiba has cleaned up the metro central square in the spirit of volunteerism. The 2 of them dash across the place with strides as large as long jumpers and charge into the guild building, climbing up the stairs as if they have grown wings.

Rieze revise the battle plan while biting her lips.

The mysteries has been solved, there is no use with all his gimmick.

The enemy is the undead warrior Lugolas.

No, he is someone who is similar to Lugolas.

In the 10th expansion pack 'Heart of Fantasy", he is the boss of the quest 'glory of days past'. 'Glory of days past' is a Full raid quest, requiring 24 players to challenge, the difficulty is medium. It was hard in the beginning when information is lacking, but the difficulty goes down after the trick to it becomes common knowledge. In the end, 'glory of days past' is just a quest that leads to a bigger quest 'prison of 9 heroes', so it can't be too difficult.

The undead warrior Lugolas who should have died in Ezzo Empire should be wandering around Hokkaido if he becomes a raid boss, so why is he attacking Akiba? Rieze don't know, and there is no need to worry about the details. She is not interested in the cause. Rieze thinks that studying the causes is only meaningful for the planning stage, and the only way to turn things around for unexpected events is by military maneuvers.

Rieze interviewed all the victims of the murderer, and concludes that the murderer is Lugolas, or someone with similar capability and character as Lugolas. It took so long because the murderer wasn't able to use his skills fully, or wanted to hide his abilities.

Another reason is that apart from being the raid boss Lugolas, he also possess the power of the mobile suit. The monster uses 2 different powers, which covers each others track.


The key to solving the mystery is the murderer's weapon Sentou-Byamaru.

The last person to fight the murderer, Akatsuki was certain.

To be honest, Kodachi is a small and difficult to distinguish type of weapon. Rieze is not confident in identifying the weapon by name just by seeing it. But since the girl using Kodachi says so, Rieze judge that this is a reliable information.

The rest is elementary. The name Sentou-Byamaru reminds Rieze of the legacy of the hero who fought using this blade for Ezzo... Lugolas, as well as his fall to the dark side and the raid quest.


A cursed weapon.

It sounds exaggerated, but Sentou-Byamaru is a cursed weapon.

From the reports of Mikakage, Rieze learns that the flavor text are affecting the whole world. The grudges of the hero along with his wrath and hate are the flavor text of his trusted sword. The cursed text becomes reality, possessing the one who bears his sword.

(Ridiculous!)

Rieze bit her lips after feeling frustrated for the hundred time. Flavor text becomes reality, affecting the user.

This is like a living nightmare, attempting to rip the dreamer apart, something that arouse the fear from within.

But Rieze has a brain capable of running the training corp of D.D.D, thinking of a strategy outside the domain of fear. If the murderer has the ability of Lugolas, his capability can be divided into 3 types.

The first is a huge increase in HP. The HP of Lugolas varies widely with the number of people within the zone. In the 'glory of days past' quest, when fighting him in the underground tomb, there are 50 people of the land prisoners captured by him in the same zone. Just with this, Lugolas' HP is 3 times his minimum HP.

If Akiba is as lively as ever, his HP will probably be several hundred times larger, even West wind brigade or D.D.D can't take this monster down.

That's why Rieze came up with a plan. She and Henrietta who is not here right now a strict warning. Just like the quest featuring Lugolas, they need to escort the people of the land out of the zone to seek refuge, so Akiba will become a zone with just them around. This is the minimum requirement to fight Lugolas.

Another thing is the increase of stats with the number of people around him. Lugolas will increase his attack, evasion, defense and accuracy with the number of adventurers within 50m of him. This is one of the secret to why Lugolas can defeat Soujiro, and the reason why Rieze is spreading her forces out so thin.

It is the same with the quest 'glory of days past'. Leaving the strongest party of 6, the other 18 members will fend off the evil spirits summoned by the grudge of Lugolas and escort the people of the land to safety. By weakening Lugolas this way, they will be able to defeat him.

The last ability is the frost area attack. Lugolas will conjure snow storm in front of him, obscuring visibility and causing freeze damage. It is a simple ability, and can only be defended by equipping elemental defense gears.

'The more living people there are around him, the stronger he gets', 'freezing all those alive'. These are the flavor text describing Lugolas grudge from dying.

He is not simple enemies from the field or dungeon zones, but a quest boss with flavor text, that's why he possess such abilities.

These 3 abilities are the secret behind Lugolas, and the reason why the difficult of this battle is at the level of despair. A medium level 90 raid becomes a terrible force in Akiba that is full of living souls.

Especially when combined with the instant teleport ability of the mobile suit.

Lugolas can make his escape anytime. He can also strike at a time and place with a lot of Akiba citizens. The murderer stalks the streets of Akiba at night, but there is no telling how long he will continue. Maybe the reason is because the quest was set at night, or it may be the preference of the murderer, it could also be a coincidence.


Rieze considered the worst case scenario.

SHe worries that the murderer who possesses the ability of Lugolas might no longer be an NPC. The witness testimony states that the murderer is called Enbart Nelles, a Samurai. This means that apart from being cursed, he also has a human brain with the ability to learn.

Raid quests are the content of the game. The difficulty is high enough to wipe out the players, but the developers only set the bar high in order for the players to have a sense of accomplishment when they succeed in the challenge. Rieze understands this because she joined the largest battle guild in Yamato. The players who enjoys challenging raids has a relationship of enigmatic trust with the game developers.

But this is no longer a game call Elder Tales, Rieze and the others are not game characters. This raid might not be beatable anymore. There is a big possibility that this is the case.

Will this possibility might increase in the future? The murderer will learn of Rieze battle plan just by fighting them once, and he might adapt with a more cunning and deadly attacks. The teleport capability and the ability of Lugolas is a perfect combination, with the combination of these 2, Rieze can only imagine the hell that will follow.


Rieze came up with a countermeasure with good chance of success.

But even so, there are no telling it will work.

The world after the Apocalypse is no longer a game, there is no guarantee any plans will work. Rieze feels a chill when she realize this. Just turning this though into words makes Rieze shivers as if a ice demon has grab her spine.

The title of a tactician and the glory of leading the training corp doesn't mean a thing out here.

They only increase Rieze's insecurities. Because any mistake made by Rieze who is holding such a position will cause others their life.

Rieze push her tired legs forward.

How terrifying. Rieze has finally reach the terrifying stage where she can't take responsibility if she trouble others. Rieze recalls that silver hair princess. She had known such fear since birth, but even so, she still barge into the lord's conference and came to Akiba on a griffon with Rieze's lord. Rieze holds her in reverence.

That princess is incredible.

Krusty too. Shiroe as well. The 11 guild masters also. Including Akatsuki.

Trying to change things with no guarantee of success, what a terrifying thing. Rieze feels embarrassed to have derided them as middle school girls exchanging diaries. She is only talking on her high horses from a safe position.

Rieze feels shame from her ugliness. But all the more reason for her to not back down.

There are 9 contingencies for this battle. Rieze instructed others to make adjustment when the situation calls for it. But her inability to narrow down the plan to just 1 is prove of her incompetence as a tactician.

But this is better than failure.


"We are here!"

Kyoko barge through the metal door which leads to the night sky with a bright moon. The debris of the column lies around her feet, the evergreen trees block half her vision. Far below them is the central square before the metro station.

This place where the wind howls is the black obsidian fortress that is the pride of Akiba... The 15 story of the guild building. The high rise building has a roof that looks like it was smash by a punch from a titan.

"Careful Miss Rieze!"

The chilling wind lift Rieze's cape. Rieze tighten her cloths while Kyoko holds on to her belt, the two of them hid behind the pillars.

Rieze opens her telepathy menu and prepares for the next step of the battle together with Kyoko.



4

In an unknown basement of the same guild building, a different kind of battle is coming to a conclusion.

The faded wallpaper together with the indirect illumination creates an atmosphere akin to the deep sea during the night. Raynesia gulps when she recalls the maze that leads to this drawing room. It is impolite for a princess, but there is no stopping the relentless fearful emotions that keeps rising up.

She has seen all kinds of aristocrats.

Although she thinks they are troublesome, she has never felt so uneasy before. For the first time, she understands what it is like to be overwhelmed not by the content of the conversation, but the atmosphere of the place. An eerie atmosphere seems to have overwhelmed her, different from the fear her grandfather or Krusty gives her.

She realize her hands resting on her thighs are grabbing a handkerchief tightly and relax.

She even wanted to rely on this thin piece of cloth.

A warm hand rest on Raynesia's shoulders. It is Henrietta, one of the talented ladies that is the pride of Akiba. The touch that eases Raynesia makes her wants to turn around to give her thanks, but her will is stopping her.

Her priority is to converse with the man sitting on the couch opposite her... Kinyjou.

The leader of the Kunie is wearing a barely visible smile with a relaxed attitude. It makes Raynesia feels the Kinyjou who apologized in a straightforward manner in the Water Maple Consulate is all a fantasy.

He is not fearless, nor is he taunting.

Raynesia believe this is Kinyjou's true expression. Maybe his attitude the previous time they met was all an act. Elissa also criticize Raynesia this way all the time. Raynesia don't want to point this out at this place, but her feelings remain tense.


"Are you sure you want to stop the magic circuit between the magic circle and the mobile suit?"

"I am certain."

Raynesia answers.

She has been repeating this request since she set foot in the underground residence of the Kunie clan. Kinyjou has already agreed. The Kunie clan serf wearing black tops is definitely starting the process.

The query this time is probably the final confirmation.

"Stopping the supply of magic means the magic barrier protecting the city will be lost, restarting the system will take 10 years."

Raynesia nods her head in response to Kinyjou's questioning eyes.

"Yes, I understand."

"The guard system protecting Akiba will be down."

"Yes."

"This city will be defenseless."

"That's right."

Raynesia answers smoothly.

If anyone ask if she has reservation... there certainly is.

This is expected. Even at this moment in time where she is pretending to be calm, her heart is already regretting and at the verge of tears.

Why me? She thought.

Why is this happening? She wonders.

If she can escape, she will run no matter how much she has to apologize.

This is only natural.

But she steel her heart and made this request.

Thinking back, she realize why Kinyjou visited her that day.

The reason behind the young man's visit was to transfer the burden of making this decision to Raynesia. He left with a smile he is wearing right now after dumping the responsibility on Raynesia. This is the best course of action for him.

Raynesia thinks that is despicable, and hope he didn't resort to that. This was the mistake of the Kunie clan this time, shouldn't they make the decision and bear the responsibility? Raynesia thinks the Kunie clan should resolve the matter immediately and compensate the city.

Even though the matter is not so simple, Kinyjou should make the decision to stop the magic supply as the person in charge. If the people are not satisfied with this incident, he should let the citizen stone him... Raynesia thought about that before.

But thinking carefully, this was the same course of action Raynesia wanted to take.

When Raynesia found out about this, she wanted to contact her grandfather Duke Sergead, or complain about this to Krusty. But isn't that dumping the responsibility on them? Raynesia is sure she never did that before. Wrong, Raynesia has always been doing that.

Kinyjou is very similar to Raynesia.


But after that, the girl in black charged into the city.

Here was what Raynesia thought back then.

Ah, that work out in my favor.

If the masses know about this incident, there will be a standoff between the adventurers and people of the land. Raynesia, as the daughter of the Corwen family, has to prevent this from happening. But on the other hand, when she was at a lost, the adventurer girl came to her aid and shine a path leading to the resolution of the crisis. And this girl overheard this news, pushing the development of the events before she can make any decision.

For a moment, Raynesia definitely thought this way.

That's why Raynesia noticed. The responsibility who Kinyjou pushed to Raynesia is just like Raynesia who have been pushing her responsibility away since birth. The frustration Raynesia is feeling against this young man is actually directed at herself.

Raynesia has discussed this incident with Rieze and Henrietta, who in turn reported it to the round table council. But the one making the decisionis Raynesia. She can't push the responsibility from Kinyjou to the round table council. Not just because she is unhappy to be put in such a position.

Kinyjou is a people of the land, Raynesia is also a people of the land. That's why she can't dump this responsibility to the adventurers.

Adventurers are a different kind of existence from people of the land.

To be honest, the people of the land is a weak existence compared to the adventurers. But that is why there is a line they will not back away from. If they push away their duties because of weakness, that means they are worse than just being frail. That way, there will be no way they can work together... and become friends.

Elissa's words ring in Raynesia's ears.

Raynesia let go of all pretense and stares at Kinyjou.


"This incident is not just the fault of the Kunie clan, but the mistake of the people of the land as a whole. We overlook this due to our lack of vigilance. We have to face this fact. I conclude that the best course of action we can take right now is to stop the magic supply."

"..."

"In order to apologize to all the adventurers, we have to do our part. What we can do right now is to stop the magic circle."

"It might cause even more trouble."

Raynesia has no reply to this criticism.

This is expected. The impact this incident cause cannot be shouldered by Raynesia alone. Wrong, this decision will gamble the irreplaceable lives of many people, who can take shoulder this burden? Raynesia wanted to say 'God can do it'. But that is just useless words.

But being a noble means taking up this heavy responsibility.

The aristocrats have to show their courage even when facing the risk of death.

The grandfather has always shown Raynesia through his example.

Just like the belief in God, this teaching is intangible, but is a truth that Raynesia can touch in her heart. Raynesia nod her head stiffly. Her movement lacks grace and looks ugly.

"Please do not worry."

But the Henrietta standing behind Raynesia says encouragingly. Wearing the official uniform of a round table representative with a flowing cape, Henrietta says in a clear voice:

"The round table council already knows about this incident, please take note that we also agree to stopping the magic circle."

"So you have the backing of the round table..."

"Not a backing. Just fellow residents of Akiba working together to resolve the issue. I also consider the Kunie clan to be residents of Akiba... Am I wrong?"

"Is that what Mr Shiroe told you to say?"

"No."

Raynesia can tell that Henrietta has tensed up.

Raynesia don't understand the meaning behind this exchange, but she glares at Kinyjou with unrelenting resolve.


"... I understand. No matter how this incident came about, the Kunie clan is still negligent in our security. This will leave a stain in our proud history of using the magic barrier to protect the city for several hundred years. We were distracted from the calamity coming from the other continents, and underestimate the threat from the west, it is all my fault."

"... Mr Kinyjou?"

Raynesia can't understand the words of the young man who is bowing before her. These enigmatic words give her some premonition, but it slips away from her grasp.

(Because this man... the Kunie clan are different in some ways from the people of the land...)

"Like you said, we have to do the things we can do. Not to reject, but to take a step forward. I am sorry lady Raynesia, I did something akin to testing you this time. Allow me to owe you a favor for this incident."

Kinyjou raise his head with a sincere expression. This is an expression Raynesia saw for the first time. But he revert to his enigmatic smile and announce: "But, I want to let someone else return the favor."

Seems like Kinyjou was testing her.

Raynesia finally understand. Their last meeting was a test for Raynesia. Raynesia understand this without knowing the objective and the result. This troubles her. Even if Raynesia is not suitable, Kinyjou in front of her, the mind reading monster, the white glasses demon, all of them attempts to force Raynesia to shoulder this heavy burden.


"The preparations are done."

Kinyjou announce after his clansman whispers in his ear.

In response, Raynesia turns around and look at Henrietta for the first time. The talented lady with blonde hair and glasses has a far away look and muttered a few words.

"10 more... 5... understood, in one minute."

Henrietta ends the telepathy and nods. After the confirmation, Raynesia says in a clear voice:


"Alright, I will request formally. Please stop the magic circuit supply to the defenses of Akiba city."

One minute later, ripples similar to a sigh of a titan spread across Akiba.

The renown invincible guard system cease operation.


5


"10 meters... 5 meters.... contact!"

A cute voice ring out on the street.

A giant stone body appears which is avoided easily by Akatsuki who seems to preempt its arrival. The grey granite golem raise its arms as thick as a car and smash downwards.

The murderer is uncertain whether he can take the blow and dodge. The attack of the golem is wide and ignores defenses, but the speed is horrible, so it can be avoided easily.

But this is within Akatsuki's calculations.

After the Murderer avoided the golem's attack, Akatsuki aims for his flank and use 'fatal ambush'. This skill that has the word ambush in it has a long casting time, and will take some effort to hit a fast opponent. With the golem's attack as a cover, she cast this skill from the Murderer's blind spot.

She is rewarded with damage to the Murderer for pulling off this high difficulty attack.

Akatsuki twist her body to avoid the raging attacks and snow storm. She avoid by a mere 10 cm. This distance is not enough to avoid the area attack of the snow storm, but this is where the golem comes in again. Akatsuki hides behind the giant and wait for the storm to disperse.

But the price is the golem freezing with cracking sounds.

The golem that boast high HP similar to its appearance, but that is relative to the other familiars that can be call forth by the summoner. This type of minion level summons only has a third the power of adventurers of similar levels, so its HP is also one third. Even though the golem is tough and sturdy, it has less HP than Akatsuki.

But it still endured the Murderer's attack for 5 seconds, and 5 seconds is enough for Akatsuki and the others to make their next move.

"Heartbeat healing... Hoi~"

Mikakage raise her staff that resembles a broom, casting the unique healing spell of the druids from the hood of an abandoned car. Bright green light protects Akatsuki's heart with a pulsing sound, Akatsuki's strength return gradually with each beat of the rhythm.

The tiny girl Ellie with the same appearance and movement as Mikakage is also casting her magic by Mikakage's feet. Plant fairy Aruraune can assist in battles just like other minions, and has the special ability of boasting the recovery effects of the summoner's spell. The introverted Ellie shut her eyes as she waves her spoon. She is not scared, she is just giving her all to aid her master.

Healing over time spells with wide area recovery spell and instant recovery spell... Mikakage cast all her magic on Akatsuki. Using multiple healing spells are the unique style of the druids, Mikakage heals Akatsuki's wounds without reservation. Without regards to her MP, Mikakage heals Akatsuki's HP to 80%.

Akatsuki didn't thank her. She don't have the effort to spare.

Akatsuki's duty right now is to attract the Murderer's attention and run down the main street. Completing her task perfectly is the only way to show her gratitude. Akatsuki in her most focused mental state ever, understands this point.

Akatsuki's range of awareness spreads out, becoming as clear as the water surface, grasping the situation in her surroundings.

Marielle who is running right behind her continues to cast auto heal to keep its effect from lapsing. A guerrilla monk and her cleric partner who are participants from West wind brigade joins them.


Akatsuki leaps away from the monk's direction when she felt a burning sensation on her skin.

The summoner Byako who call forth the golem early, conjures a 'lance damsel' from a big magic circle. A fairy wearing pure white female armor throws a spear of light that splits into 7. Akatsuki recalls it is a variation of the 'combat summon : sword princess'. This is the strongest attack magic of the summoner, but it didn't inflict fatal wounds on the Murderer. This is expected. Even though the attack is powerful, a raid boss would not go down to a single attack. But the consecutive attacks are strong enough to pierce through a boulder.

Akatsuki's team dash through the duo who keep on using attack and healing spells... the zone where Mikakage and Byako is stationed. She can't stop. Because Akatsuki team's duty is to lure the Murderer to the designated point, and the duo will run out of MP in 2 minutes at this rate of spell casting.

"Good luck!"

A cheerful encouragement that doesn't suit the intense battlefield rings out. Behind the Murderer who is pressing in who a looming smile, Mikakage is waving her hands so hard that it might fall off. Akatsuki feels a warmth in her heart. This is definitely not because of heartbeat healing.

"Update! 10 more meters!"

The voice of Marielle came from behind, Akatsuki leap through the sky as if she is flying to the moon. After passing through 'Mikakage and Byako station', there are 10 more meters to the next one. This is like visiting several site attraction of a winter parade. Lugolas' abilities will increase with the umber of adventurers within 50 meters, that's why they can only station limited people within this range.

If the battle drags on, the limited manpower will become exhaust their MP eventually. The damage output of the limited manpower is weak, so the battle will definitely drag on, so they can't increase the MP usage rate. It is a viscous cycle.

In order to break this stalemate, Rieze came up with this raid battle plan. Stationing several 50 meter spherical zone that doesn't overlap in Akiba. A team centered around Akatsuki will lure the Murderer through the zones, while the members station in each area will provide support with covering fire and healing spells.

Akatsuki thinks about the zones that are left and continues running.

She swear to keep running until day breaks.

Akatsuki notice that the support from Marielle has been dwindling. Akatsuki who is a weapon specialist class is adjust the way she fights depending on her remaining MP. At worst, this will lead to lower damage output and the battle dragging longer. But it is not the same for the healer class Marielle. If Marielle holds back on her healing support, it will directly result in Akatsuki's demise.

Because of this huge responsibility, Akatsuki wants to protect everyone, she don't want to lose. Akatsuki's equipment, the magic protecting her, healing her, all these don't belong to Akatsuki.

In order to pay back for these borrowed treasures, she keeps on dashing ahead.

Seeking quicker steps and faster strikes.


A gear inside Akatsuki falls into place.

Lowering her centre of gravity and holding her breath. The image she draws from her heart when assuming this pose becomes a trigger for a skill. This is the unique skill of trackers, 'sneak'. It usually requires the use of the game menu to activate it, but Akatsuki can call forth the technique with her body movements alone through practice.

Her presence dissipates from her body clad in black, as if her life force itself is gone. The 'presence' of Akatsuki right now is very vague.

Akatsuki don't know her location, but she can see the attack from the demon blade clearly from her fixed field of vision. Akatsuki is exposed in the dangerous front of the attack, but there is another Akatsuki watching from another position. Her 'sneak' is at the level of 'shadow lurk', her separated life force advance in a straight line on the battlefield.

Akatsuki dodge past the ice storm like attack of the mass murderer.

The body that looks like Akatsuki and Akatsuki's consciousness are in different places.

The evidence is the shining body of Akatsuki and swaying in the ice storm, negating all attacks like illusions.

Akatsuki reaches the back of the mass murderer enduring the overwhelming sense of acceleration.

She can't keep this up much longer.

She can only activate this special skill by holding her breath and calming her heart. The skill used for infiltration mission or escaping from monsters are forcibly applied on the battlefield. This is the Overskill Akatsuki learned.

...Boring.

Akatsuki wields her blade like a sparrow.

The sudden attack behind cuts into the throat of the mass murderer slightly. Even attacking with the illusion just now, he still manage to evade a fatal hit, the demon blade is formidable indeed.

...Boring.

Akatsuki did not feel the joy of achieving her wish. She stopped her breath and activate 'shadow lurk' again. The shadow copies that appears immediately confuse the mass murderer and help Akatsuki evade the triple strike and leap backwards.

Large icicles forms with the strike, Akatsuki ignores the flying ice attack and continue to accelerate, dancing on the blade of the mass murderer.

This Overskill is similar to the demon blade.

It's usage is against the common sense of Elder Tales.

The strength Akatsuki desires is similar to that crazy demon that creates snow storm. She feel ashame for her naivety of wanting such powers.

With a pulsing green light in her breast and a golden shine around her body.

The gauntlets on her hands is full of power while the black garb on her body shields her from harm.

Most importantly, the hands waving at Akatsuki so hard it is going to fall off... the cheers, the gentle nod of encouragement warms Akatsuki's heart and body.

Overskill is understanding the Elder Tales game system, after the changes of the Apocalypse, a state you reach after working hard on it. It is part ingenuity and hard work. In the end, Akatsuki didn't learn any of the 8 Overskill D.D.D discovered and was taught to her by Rieze. Just like Nyanta's cooking is the combination of his chef subclass and his real life cooking skills, all the Overskills are the observation and research of the subject in question.

It's not something you can use after hearing it's explanation.

It's not something you gain instantly after leveling up in a game.

Overskill is not something you can get just by wishing for it, it's something you achieve after going through hard work and thinking.

Nazuna said 'daring to say that Overskill is boring is the real overskill'. Akatsuki carves these words in her heart. Overskill are not used by high level adventurers to flaunt their strength, it is something more precious, a piece of something she touched that day.

Akatsuki runs in order to express this, cutting off her naive thinking of wanting power. No matter what she has to go through, she has to destroy that demon blade.

The secret behind Akatsuki's Overskill 'shadow lurk' is the skill of the tracker subclass 'sneak'. This skill that couldn't be used in combat was forcibly utilized by Akatsuki after the Apocalypse. Combining it with 'road mirage' and 'trick step', she can create clones of herself. This is something Akatsuki created, wings that only belongs to Akatsuki.

With all these buff magic and support, Akatsuki still can't match up to the Murderer. The murderer breath out an air of insanity triggered by the smell of blood, suppressing Akatsuki in this duel of brute strength.

... Have to pull away by using a skill.

After determining her strategy, Akatsuki use 'stealth blade' that increases attack penetration in her attempt to get away from the tall and lanky man. The murderer who has seen this attack several times will dodge to the left, giving Akatsuki the chance to back away. But...

"Is that it? Is that it?"

The murderer allows the blade to cut into his flank and smile with glee. The murderer who draws closer at the expense of losing HP lets out a hellish chill. The snow storm solidifies in an instant, freezing his wounds along with Akatsuki's beloved blade.

Akatsuki loses her only weapon and fell to the ground from a blow from her opponent's arm.



6


"I'm okay."

Akatsuki stands up.

Her momentary lapse left her on the brink of death, with less than 5% of her HP left. But she is still alive.

Marielle rush over and uses healing spells with mediocre effect. Her MP is running out.

"I'm sorry. I'm... really sorry."

The sad voice of Marielle pains Akatsuki's heart. Marielle did nothing wrong. This is her first raid battle but she has to bear the burden of primary healer because she is partnered with Akatsuki. Akatsuki wants to console Marielle, but she can't find the words to say. So Akatsuki puts all her heart into the same reply.

"I'm okay."

These are words of bravado, but not bravado at the same time, it's from the bottom of her heart wishing the person she cares about not to worry. Akatsuki is not sure whether her message is conveyed and prepares to dash ahead. At this moment, a short stick like object spins in the air towards her.

"Just in time, take this."

The 25th girl who sticks her head out of the workshop says as she lift her goggles.

The sheath of the sword she received is still warm. In the hands of Akatsuki who is freezing in the snow storm, it radiates a warmth of a fresh birth.

"...Meito-Haganemushi"

"Wrong... it's 'Haganemushi-Tatara', reforged version."

With a closer look, Akatsuki finds that the length and the hilt are different, it was make to accommodate Akatsuki. Most importantly, the status screen that reflects the items background... the flavor text are different.

"Something this great, I can't afford it..." "Win this."

Akatsuki is on the verge of tears, but Amenona's sword smith Tatara interrupts her. It is not her usual lazy voice, but a determined tone.

"Defeat him with my sword."

In the battle field she is pointing at, the guerilla from West wind brigade Kawara is battling.

She is covered in wounds and blood all over, but she is still fighting will a fierce roar. The murderer's primary target is Akatsuki, and he is still looking at her. But the young girl is using the skills of a monk to defend Akatsuki who was knocked down by the Murderer.

"Akatsuki, the preparations are complete."

Akatsuki nods at Marielle who is using healing spells. It is time.

There are no need for words.

Akatsuki dash like an arrow in a straight line. She send her 'shadow lurk' clones out to attack with 'accel fang', using her brand new Kodachi. The murderer's Sentou-Byamaru clashes with Haganemushi-Tatara. In the storm of grinding metal, Akatsuki's clone deforms and fades.

Akatsuki appears behind the Murderer and strike at his head with 'venom strike'. The man deflect the poisonous blow with a flick of his head, twist his body forcibly to strike at Akatsuki who is in mid air.

This blow would definitely be fatal if it lands, but Akatsuki did a double jump in the air to avoid it. Reinforcement is here.

"Getting careless towards the end, just like Shiroe!"

Nazuna dash in like a bullet.

Wearing thick sole wooden sandals, she elegantly somersault into the air, running besides Akatsuki away from the demon blade. Nazuna probably felt eyes looking at her and soften her experience, but her eyes are still focused.

"Alright then, since you are Shiroe's junior, that means you are my junior too. To avoid Soujiro from worrying, allow me to assist!"

Akatsuki nods.

The Murderer charge at them like a tank. Rounding the corner of main street, they run towards a narrow gap between 2 buildings. Akatsuki and the fox ear beauty dashes in, the snow storm blowing into the alley are stopped by Nazuna's barrier magic.

"Are you alright?"

The gentle voice showing no signs of being chased by a monster made Akatsuki raise her head. "Why are you crying?" Nazuna tease with a gentle smile. Akatsuki wipe her tears, but she can't say the words 'I'm fine.' She is so happy.

She is at the brink of death and being chased by a fearsome foe, but Akatsuki doesn't feel the fear of losing something. Surrounded by her friends, Akatsuki is challenging a raid. For the first time, she felt the warmth and camaraderie of battling together.

Right now, the streets of Akiba at night is a battle field.

The stage for Akatsuki, Raynesia and the girls of the water maple consulate.

The feelings eclipse the longing Akatsuki has for Shiroe. Akatsuki really likes the excellent and intelligent young man she revers as lord, but she is now confident of liking him more. Preparing for others is a honorable path. Making a place for others to smile is very difficult. Her lord who understands the difficulty and value of this, is worthy of Akatsuki's love.

"Contact!"

This shout made Nazuna and Akatsuki jump up. Countless lightning arrows fly towards the murderer through the narrow passage. Compared to Akatsuki who fights with multiple skill usage and attacks from blind spots, Assassin who specialize in sniping with 'assassinate' causes more damage.

Nazuna and Akatsuki runs in the air, leaving behind the enemy howling insanely while chasing them. There are several translucent watery footholds 5cm in diameter under their feet. This is Nazuna's Overskill, 'skywalker'.

This is using the basic kannagi spell 'purification barrier' and setting it up freely somewhere. The magic barrier used to intercept damage are cast at a space of Nazuna's choosing. This small force field that can't intercept any significant damage is the creative use of protective magic for movement, creating a foothold in mid air.

The place they arrive at after the frantic run is the central square of Akiba. The Akiba metro, the elevated tracks, railings and buildings surrounds this place, which is known as the heart of Akiba. Akatsuki who reach this place turns around in the pitch black building and prepares for battle, waiting for the Murderer to come.

The deep breaths of the chilly winter air hurts Akatsuki's chest. Her lungs hurts from the cold, but cools Akatsuki's head.

The Murderer notice that Akatsuki has stopped and moves slowly into the square with loud steps. Akatsuki is left with 20% HP, it's about the same for the Murderer. Although their actual value differs by a hundred fold, but Akatsuki still lift her sword and awaits the Murderer.

This is the Straight eyes stance Akatsuki has used for tens of thousands of time since the Apocalypse.

"Not running?"

Akatsuki nods to acknowledge the question the Murderer ask with a cramping smile.

"Then, it's about time..." The murder charges in as he shouts "to die!". He lift Byamaru above his head, the sword growing larger with its ice coating, ready to strike. The 2 swords that are about the same size when displayed in Anemona differs widely now, it's like comparing a branch to a tree trunk.

But from the skies far above, water Akins to a waterfall falls, splashing the lifted Byamaru.

Akatsuki can see in her mind the comrades surrounding the central square. Her wide area enemy detection ability provides her with this intel. If the others wanders within 50 meters of the Murderer, all their effort will be in vain. 50 meter is longer than the range of all healing and attack spells. This means her comrades cannot take part in the battle.

But there is a blind spot.

A place higher than 15 stories, a place slightly above 50 meters.

With Kyoko acting as a safety harness, Rieze is barely within Akatsuki's detection range. The sorcerer's wide area attack, 'freezing rain', uses a flood of water with ice particles in it to wash away the enemies. If she uses it in a dungeon, the range is only 20 meters. But the water is falling freely under gravity towards the enemy right now.

This attack absorbs the freezing chill of the Murderer, feeding off the cold and solidifying the moment it touches him.

"What...!"

The murderer tries to turn and escape, but her lower limbs and his gauntlet holding his sword is encased in a pillar of ice. His plan to split Akatsuki backfires, leaving Byamaru he is holding in his hand protruding out at the top of the ice pillar.

The damage from the spell is insignificant, less than 1% of his total health. But he is trapped in a stupendous amount of ice, restricting his movement, making it is hard for him to evade attacks. The Murderer is unwilling to compromise and struggles in vain. He is really stunned by this turn of events now.

He don't know why, but even Raynesia who exited from the guild building is staring at him.

It has nothing to do with his remaining HP.

Luring the Murderer here is to sap him of his combat prowess. Let him see through all the tactics so he will let down his guard. The tactician with curly hair uses the powers of the Murderer against him, trapping him in place. Akatsuki approaches him deftly.

Her first attack is a simple 'deadly dance'. Akatsuki lowers her centre of gravity and slashes upward. This is a melee attack skill, not powerful, but has a short cool down of 1 second. And it's damage increases with each consecutive successful strike.

Akatsuki hit the exposed Byamaru as if she is forging a blade.

Meitou has the ability of lowering the durability of your opponents weapon, a tradable weapon acquired from a major raid. It is best used for player versus player battle, an outstanding Kodachi with the capability of destroying an opponent's weapon. Meitou-haganemushi has now been reforge into Haganemushi-Tatara, it might not be phantasmal level, but it is the strongest weapon Akatsuki has ever used. But the thing fuelling Akatsuki's fighting spirit is not the attack power of the weapon.

Something more intangible, simple and important is protecting Akatsuki.

The sword smith of Anemona Tatara reforge this blade just for this quiet friend of hers. May this serious and righteous girl never fall to the wrong path; May both the sword and the girl support each other; to fight against evil curses and the suffering of the world.

The meaningless flavour text meant to provide the background of the item warms Akatsuki.

These words contains meaning, emotions, history, relations and legacy.

They are not meaningless.

In the heart of the reader, it is irreplaceably important since the very beginning. Because it is irreplaceable, the tragedy was triggered by the Murderer, and the Akatsuki found redemption.

In the blue light of the coming dawn, the strong sound of sword strike reverberates in the surroundings.

The sparrow who found her home focus in swinging her sword over 20 times.

Even in the morning before the sun is visible, Akatsuki and her comrades believe they will emerge victorious.

Mikakage, Azukikomo, Henrietta, Marielle and Rieze who seems to have bump her nose somewhere and Kyoko who is hugging Raynesia in her arms are all watching the moment the cursed blade shatters. They gasp as the Murderer collapse to the ground sluggishly.

There are no cheers of victory, just the sighs and sounds of relief. The girls gathered at the central square looks at each other and smiles sheepishly. Everyone showed their weak side and rely on others. A lot of the girls made blunders too.

But this is the first real battle of the girls of water maple consulate.

The small and modest raid group completed their mission successfully.

Their victory is the bell announcing the second coming of the Apocalypse, a blessing as they move on into the future.

The girls who should have been exhausted move into the office and drawing room of Raynesia's residence, holding a slumber party until afternoon. An epilogue only Elissa knows.



End of book 6