Part 2[แก้ไข]
“……Eh?”
Kuro Usagi who had rushed over to save Asuka was so shocked by the sight that she stopped short in her tracks. Similarly, Sala who rushed over, Percher, and even the enemy Aura herself, had their attention stolen by the flames released by Asuka’s right hand.
“What…What is this?”
Even Asuka herself was at a loss for words at the sight before her.
---That’s right. This is not a figure of speech.
The flames released from Asuka’s right gauntlet had BURNT AWAY THE BLACK RAY---
“How….How is that possible?! A Human…Human who’s able to negate the skill of a God class Gift?”
The reason for Aura being so disheartened could only be due to the absurdity of the situation before her eyes.
Asuka had only said a command of “BURN!” at the instant before the Death Ray’s impact and just with that, she had blocked the ray that should have sealed her fate. It wasn’t that Aura didn’t know about the workings of the world but it was the contrary that caused her to understand the extent of how this sight before her broke the normal laws of the world. Even Kuro Usagi who was more familiar with Asuka’s Gift took a while to comprehend the situation before her.
The [Authority] of Asuka-san…… Could it also include [The ray of Medusa] and [Ray of Balor] in its entire control of Gifts?!
Kuro Usagi reflected on the encounters that Asuka had to display her power.[1]
One, using Spirit power to subdue those who were inferior to herself.
Two, immensely adding to another’s spiritual level.
Three, using her power to heighten the spiritual power of a Gift to the next level.
A Gift that couldn’t be placed into a specific classification due to its wide range of abilities. Hence, Kuro Usagi could only speculate that the Gift’s true power was one that was more fundamental with a diverse range of powers behind it.
The Ray of Medusa is a Gift that is able to petrify the spirit of the target.
While the Ray of Balor is a Gift that is able to kill off the spirit of the target.
Could it be that the Ray that Asuka just released is also one of those kinds that can affect the target’s spirit?
The Gift that was crafted by Sala-sama isn’t that strong by itself. With a firepower in the gauntlet that shouldn’t have been able to melt even a lump of metal. But when such simple Gifts were to be placed into the hands of Asuka-san to wield, even those that were supposed to produce a small spurt of fire would transform into a miracle that could compete evenly with the level of Gods with just a command of “BURN!”!
That’s right---the optimization of Gifts to its greatest level. If this guess were to be true, Asuka would be able to obtain the power to fight evenly with the Gods with just simple Gifts.
Percher who similarly witnessed the sight felt a sudden interest in Asuka’s abnormal powers taking root in herself.
That’s indeed interesting! A community that has gathered so many abnormally talented individuals still mucking around in the lower levels……
The current Asuka was still not in perfect control of her talents.
But judging by the standards of a raw and unpolished gem, this could be said to be a very impressive talent that would rank high on the charts. And that was Percher’s judgement on Asuka’s Gift.
Following the sudden surge of fighting spirit in her heart, Percher ran along the path opened by Deen and reached out her hand towards [The Death Eye of Balor].
With a vicious mocking smile at Aura, she declared:
“It ends here, Aura. It’s now your turn to taste a shot of [The Death Eye of Balor]’s Ray!”
“You…You bitches![2] DAMN YOU!”
Aura gave a desperate howl in rage as she continued to hold onto the [The Death Eye of Balor] tightly.
But it was just a futile act on her part. A mere sorcerer against an amalgamation of millions of spirits resurrected after being killed by Black Death, even if experience and talent was on her side, it didn’t take much to understand who the victor would be.
Aura who was desperately resisting seemed to have realized the inevitable as she closed her eyes for a moment.
……Please forgive me, Your Highness. It looks like there’s no other way but that.
Aura drew an object from her robes that looked similar to the tip of a spear.
However, that spear that measured to only the length of a dagger was emitting a dazzling bright light. And it was only when Aura lifted the spear tip that Percher, who was exerting her full strength in wresting it, caught on to her actions.
“Aura! Isn’t that spear tip……”
“Yes. That’s right. This is the spear tip that has pierced through [The Death Eye of Balor] in the Ancient times. [Holy Spear Brionac]. Although it is incomplete, but with such a small distance……”
Steeling her resolve, Aura plunged the spear tip into the Death eye, causing it to petrify and crack into two halves.
A half that fell into Percher’s hands while the other falling into her own.
The dark glow that surrounded them gave off a sharp whistling sound as it began to increase in turbidity and lash out at allies and enemies alike without discrimination. At the moment when a dark glow was about to strike at Aura who was blown back by the blast, she was saved by Rin’s timely arrival on the scene.
“Aura-san! Are you alright?!”
“……Nn. Rin, thank you.”
Propping up Aura with herself as support, Rin immediately spirited themselves away from the Ritual grounds in a blink of an eye. In the fields where the Death rays raged wildly out of control, no one noticed their departure.
Holding half of [The Death Eye of Balor], Percher looked around at the battlefield where screams and moans of agony started to fill the air.
“This sure looks like a hassle…”
The Death rays that were similar to the Black winds of death were swirling and destroying everything that were unfortunate enough to stand in its path. It was most probably due to Percher who had the highest compatibility to its element having come into contact with it before it was destroyed, leading to a portion of the Death Eye’s power being unleashed.
And since [The Death Eye of Balor] was destroyed, they could only wait for it to settle down with the passing of time.
“---Percher! Behind you! Dodge it quickly!”
“Eh?” Percher turned to look behind her to see a condensed cloud of Death ray closing in on her rapidly.
And to protect Percher, Kuro Usagi stood between the Death ray and Percher.
“SUN ARMOR GUH….”
Though Kuro Usagi had raised her [Mahabharata Papers] to equip her indestructible armor, the impact of the ray still managed to send her flying back to fall hard on the ground meters away from Percher.
Percher who was surprised by the turn of events felt her mind freeze up for a moment before recovering enough of her wits to rush to Kuro Usagi’s side.
“Kuro…Kuro Usagi! You…!”
“……Uu……” Kuro Usagi who had lost consciousness lay limply on the ground.
Percher who had paled from worry, immediately started to check on Kuro Usagi. Upon realizing that Kuro Usagi had merely lost consciousness without any other serious injuries, Percher gave a sigh of relief.[3]
Asuka who had rushed over with a face filled with worry asked with her emotions leaking into her voice:
“Is Kuro Usagi okay?”
“Nn. Just that she passed out from the impact.”
Hearing that, Asuka also felt relieved.
And perhaps it’s a passing effect of the Sun Armor on the miasma of [The Death Eye of Balor] that swirled around the battlefield for it started to dissipate and calm down after that collision with Kuro Usagi.
Meeting each other’s gaze, they both sank onto the ground in a sitting position as the adrenaline drained out of them and weariness slowly crept in.
“What a relief…… I wouldn’t have known what to tell Izayoi-san and Kasukabe-san if something were to happen to Kuro Usagi.”
Asuka gave a sigh of relief in her heart. For Kuro Usagi was just that important an existence to the three of them.
Percher shuddered at the thought of the scene if Kuro Usagi were to die due to her fault and couldn’t help but grimace.
“But……With this, everything ends right?”
“The Game itself hasn’t ended yet and there’s still the task of chasing out the remaining groups of the Titans.
“Nn, that sort of thing is a small thing that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned. As long as they do not have [The Death Eye of Balor]……”
Percher wanted to say ‘there’s nothing to fear’ but her words were interrupted and her facial expressions cramped up.
“……Asuka, was the date for the game continuation set for today?”