Kaori clasped her hands in prayer, feeling anxious. Shia, in support, assumed a fighting stance. Encouraged by them, Shizuku and Suzu also rushed forward.

In front of them, Guanghui raised the holy sword above his head.

"Soar—[Sky Flash Shock]!"

This was Kouki's signature move—"Sky-Soaring Flash," a slash of radiant light, but its power and scale were more than doubled.

It seems the Holy Sword's original power wasn't fully realized before. Its current power is so powerful that it would seem it could even sever space, not to mention the wind. It truly lives up to its name as a hero.

Furthermore, thanks to Hajime's external improvements, it can now even deliver impacts through "Impact Conversion".

Perhaps it was because the first attack was unexpectedly powerful, even bystanders could see that Bigfoot's expression changed significantly, and he changed his previous reckless charge and dispersed in one breath.

However, their actions seemed a little too late. Although they barely dodged the slash of light, they were caught in the storm of shock waves and blown away.

"I've been waiting for this for ages! Take this move of mine—'Breaking Fist'!"

“Squeak!?”

While one of the magpies was still in the air, Ryuutarou leaped up and appeared in front of it. It seemed Ryuutarou had predicted the direction it would take and was waiting for it.

Ryuutarou twisted his body in mid-air, using all his strength to swing his right fist, striking Bigfoot squarely in the center. The air vibrated instantly, and blood spurted from every hole in Bigfoot's body.

There was no need to confirm whether the Bigfoot that was knocked flying and hit the wall was alive or dead.

"Breaking Fist"—it can cause irresistible internal destruction. Ryutaro's new move has such a ferocious power.

Ryutaro's gauntlet was a divine weapon issued by the Kingdom, and it originally had the ability to fire shock waves. However, the attack just now was not that simple.

The gauntlet's newly added ability is spatial vibration. At the moment of impact, it can cause the space in front of the fist to vibrate violently, shattering the inside of the target, so there is no reason for Bigfoot to survive.

"Okay, let's take one down first!"

As he landed, Ryutaro, having achieved a fatal blow, clenched his fist and cheered.

A shadow darted past Ryuutarou, and the next moment, a crisp sound like a bell rang out. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw another Bigfoot, its body frozen in place... and then, with a pop, its head dropped to the ground.

On the other side of the fallen head, Shizuku slowly sheathed her sword. As she dashed past, she executed the sword-drawing technique, a speed that seemed to far exceed Bigfoot's cognitive ability, effectively killing him in an instant.

Seeing their two companions killed in an instant, the Bigfoots seemed frightened. Two of them stood guard at the landing point and did not take any action.

Then the remaining two are...

"Rin-chan!"

Kaori warned anxiously, and then the ground behind Ling and Guanghui exploded, and two Bigfoots broke through the ice and launched a surprise attack. Perhaps after being blown away by the shockwave, they activated their inherent magic as they landed, diving into the ice.

They seemed to think that a surprise attack from behind would succeed, but—

"Devour it—『Holy Zetsu: Explosion』!!"

Ling turned around and swung her iron fan. Following its path, a barrier shone with an orange glow. A sharp sound echoed, and powerful arms and ferocious claws were deflected. In an instant, an explosion echoed, and an orange light exploded, radiating like a tsunami.

“Squeak!?”

The two Bigfoots that launched the surprise attack were instead attacked back and blown away. Countless glittering fragments could be seen in the gaps between the blood-spraying cracks.

If one were to describe the effect of "Holy Absolute Explosion" in an extreme way, it would probably be—a wall-blocking explosion. More accurately, it should be called directional explosive reactive armor.

The magic power injected into the barrier is directly converted into destructive power, and the shattered barrier fragments act like frag grenades, slicing through the enemy's body. It is truly a very vicious move.

More than that──

"Devour it—『Holy Final Expedition: Heavy』!!"

Ling takes advantage of the victory to chase after a wounded Bigfoot.

Bigfoot arced out, but a magical vortex swirled around its intended landing point. Orange light swirled into the falling snow, gradually converging and forming a barrier to block the target the moment Bigfoot landed.

The imprisoned Bigfoot tried to stand up and break the barrier, but—

“Squeak~!?”

It immediately knelt down again. It fell to all fours, desperately trying to channel its strength into its limbs, but it couldn't hold itself up at all. Furthermore, just not falling flat on its face was a tremendous effort.

That was only natural, as "Holy Absolute: Heavy" was a barrier that used gravity magic to create a super-gravity space.

In order to resist the strong pressure, Bigfoot exerted all his strength, which made his bleeding worse.

"Koki-kun! The other one is yours!"

"I know! — 『Light Blade』!"

Guanghui rushed forward, the blade of light attached to the holy sword, and was about to cut the other Bigfoot in half. However, at this moment, he encountered a second surprise attack. A large number of icicles appeared in the corner of Guanghui's vision like a torrential rain.

Those were the two remaining Bigfoots, who had been cowering in the background. When Shizuku and Ryuutarou approached them, they ran away, shooting icicles protruding from the ground at Guanghui like bullets.

That being said, it wasn't an unstoppable attack. While its range was too wide to evade, meeting it wasn't a problem. Guanghui made up his mind and prepared to stop and meet the attack.

"No need to stop!"

A majestic voice shouted. At the same moment, a figure burst into the beams of light and icicles. It was Shizuku, her ponytail swaying.

Her back seemed to say, "Don't try to hinder Guanghui." Shizuku activated the black sword's ability.

"Gather—"Inten"!!"

Like iron sand drawn to a magnet, the rain of icicles traced a curve, all landing at a single point. This was a new function achieved by the gravity magic attached to the black blade—the ability to attract.

The widespread hail of bullets turned into a concentrated burst of machine gun fire. Despite the onslaught, which seemed impossible to stop, Shizuku remained calm and composed.

(I want to test it in real combat, just for a brief moment!)

Shizuku used her newfound power, her trump card. That was indeed a type of Age of Gods magic—sublimation magic—that could elevate any ability by at least one level.

"Let's arrive—"Forbidden Zone Liberation"

It feels like an electric current running through my brain.

The flow of time slows, the world fades, perception expands, and senses sharpen.

My whole body is full of strength!

"disease!"

A gentle breeze blew by, and after a second or two of breeze, all that remained was shining debris - countless shards of ice that had been shattered into pieces.

From the perspective of others, Shizuku seemed to be frozen in place with the rain of icicle bullets in front of her.

However, the disappearing icicle rain and the large amount of ice flakes in the wind represent the result.

Shizuku cut through all the icicles in a short moment.

It was like a slashing barrier that would shatter you to pieces once you stepped into it.

"Severing in two with one stroke isn't enough to describe it; how finely was the cut? If she used 'Claw Flash' to increase the blade's length, she could have swung dozens of times in a single second. Shizuku's swordsmanship had always been so swift, its trajectory invisible, but now it had finally reached a level of speed where only a breeze and the result remained.

Shizuku exhaled the breath she had been holding and took a deep breath. In an instant, time, which had been stopped, seemed to resume, and the ice flakes floating in the air fell to the ground, obeying gravity.

As the ice shards shattered and fell to the ground, Shizuku turned back toward Kouki. She thought that now that the obstacle had been removed, Kouki would surely be able to defeat the monster.

However──

"hateful!"

Kouki's "light blade" was narrowly avoided. It wasn't because Bigfoot had suddenly become stronger; the slightest difference was Kouki's own doing. The moment Shizuku protected him, a surge of emotion caused Kouki to slow down slightly.

"Sorry! They got away! What's going on with these guys?!"

From another direction, Ryutaro's voice trembled with regret. He should have been chasing the two Bigfoots that were firing a hail of icicles. A closer look revealed that the Bigfoots were likely using their inherent magic to manipulate ice, and they were taking unexpected actions.

"...Okay, it looks pretty good."

They were skating. Their white fur fluttered across the gradually smoothing surface, making swish-swish sounds as they skated in sync with the direction they were moving, and they were skating beautifully.

They leaned forward, swung their arms wildly, and after the three of them joined together, they formed an orderly column, their movements perfectly synchronized. They were like well-trained speed skaters...

It was only natural that Kouki and the others would be stunned. Hajime and the others, watching from a distance, also let out "Ooooh!?" in a mixture of astonishment and admiration. Hajime even started taking pictures with his sacred tool.

The Bigfoots, who had become expert gorilla skaters, were charging straight at them. Shizuku and Ryuutarou returned to Kouki's side to be on guard. Kouki came to his senses and shouted:

"If you attack me head-on, it'll be to my advantage! Fly—"Sky Flash Shock"!!"

Kouki unleashed a massive radiant slash and a tornado-like shockwave, attempting to destroy these troublemakers.

However, the Bigfoots showed no signs of dodging. Just when everyone thought the outcome was decided, they made an incredible move.

"What! A triple axel!?"

Their movements shifted dramatically from speed skating to figure skating, their white bristles flowing in the wind as they executed dazzling triple axel jumps.

『Sky-Soaring Flash·Zhock』 passed through them empty below.

As the broken ice shards on the ground flew into the air, the Bigfoots reorganized their formation into horizontal rows while leaping. The way they danced side by side was very artistic and graceful.

Kouki's mouth dropped open in surprise. Hajime and the others also shouted, "Is this true?!", cheering with admiration (?). Photographer Hajime was even more excited.

The three Bigfoots that had been attacking flew over and landed beautifully in front of Guanghui and the others, and using the centrifugal force of their rotation, they performed a roundhouse kick.

"ah!?"

"Wow!?"

Shizuku and Ryutaro hurriedly jumped back, barely avoiding the unusually graceful kicks from the gorilla skaters.

“Stop being so arrogant—Light Blade!!”

Kouki seemed impatient, dodging and countering with his blade of light. Unexpectedly, Bigfoot shifted from a roundhouse kick to a gorgeous backwards evasion. Its upper body gracefully tilted back, arms elegantly extended parallel to its legs, and it continued its smooth gliding motion in a motion reminiscent of a backwards inaball. (Editor's note: a figure skating move.)

"Look, you look down on me!"

"Hey, calm down, Kouki!"

Guanghui was originally in high spirits, thinking that he must conquer the big maze this time, but now he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet in anger.

To others, Bigfoot's actions may seem like a joke, but for them, this must be a fierce battle where their lives are at stake.

The Bigfoots were furious at seeing Guanghui, and as if to mock him, they skated with difficult and flamboyant footwork. They spun their bodies and dispersed in three directions, attacking simultaneously from different directions.

They leaped up again, as if to show everything they had on the big stage!

They performed a move no one had ever done before—the eight-turn Lutz! (Editor's note: a figure skating move.)

They spread their arms wide, and against the backdrop of the trails drawn by their ferocious claws, it looked like a giant excavator approaching from three directions. What a graceful and dangerous technique!

So Shizuku drew her sword.

"Hello—Sparkle."

Shizuku, with her superior dynamic vision, saw the gorilla's smug look. She wore a look of disgust and drew a line of sword in the air. At the same time, she urged Kouki and Ryuutarou to jump straight upwards.

Then, the three Bigfoots landed where Shizuku and the others were just now. There was a clanging sound, and the surrounding ground was dug up, but they still landed successfully and gracefully.

However, one of them had its body neatly cut in half.

“Squeak!?”

The remaining two made sounds of surprise and confusion.

—The black sword "Flashing Light".

It has the ability to create breaks in space and cut through everything. Although the effect only lasts for a few seconds, unless one also has the ability to act on space, this is an absolute blow that cannot be defended against.

"See? Kouki, Ryuutarou. As long as you don't pay attention to their weird movements, they're not invincible opponents. Let's finish them quickly. Suzu's over, okay?"

"Alright, alright. Damn it, why did this enemy suddenly appear..."

Guanghui cursed unhappily and rushed out, and Ryutaro followed with a wry smile.

The Bigfoots seemed to have exhausted their talents, and nothing new came of them. Soon after, Guanghui had eliminated the remaining Bigfoots. Ling also crushed the Bigfoots trapped in the gravity barrier with gravity.

Everyone was basically unharmed, it was a complete victory.

However, only Kouki's expression was somewhat glum. Facing an enemy that was somewhat unexpected in every way, Ryuutarou and the others also wore indescribable expressions.

Hajime seemed to find it very funny. He said to Guanghui and the others with a smile:

"You all did a great job."

"Don't laugh! Why would there be a funny monster like that in the Great Labyrinth?!"

Guanghui protested to Hajime, but Hajime just waved his hand and ignored him. Then Hajime asked Yue and Shia:

"That monster seems to have some of Meredith's scent. What do you think?"

The two of them screamed "Ahhh!" and at the same time showed an expression as if they had been awakened from a dream.

From the seriousness of the prank, Hajime could almost hear Meredith saying, "How is it? What do you think? Did you smile at the sight of an artistic skating performance by a chimpanzee? This is a little gift from Meredith for you who nearly froze to death! Oh, no need to thank me! Haha!"

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like