He was at point-blank range to begin with, so the distance with the Gryphon was closed in an instant, and the swung 『Kakura』 left a golden trace.
“KyuA!?”
The Gryphon also tried to avoid with its very best effort, but its left foreleg flew without it being able to evade.
“KYIIIIIII!!?”
“This is, it went well, huh?”
From the joint of the foot which Shin blew away, the blue steam didn’t come out.
As for the left foreleg which was blown off, it had disappeared as it dissolved in mid-air.
The Gryphon fired ice spears aiming at Shin, and tried to keep distance. It was not possible to read its facial expression, but that was indeed the flustered expression of the Gryphon.
If the advantage of overwhelming regenerative ability was lost, it was a natural reaction to have, because the difference between their combat strength was obvious.
“I don’t understand it well, but I’m grateful!”
Shin corrected his posture with 『Kakura』, and took aim at the Gryphon.
“KYUU…KYUA!”
In an instant when the Gryphon was aware of Shin who had the shining 『Kakura』, it donned an armor of ice on its whole body.
As for the lost left foreleg, it was compensated with an artificial limb made of ice. Its talons were enlarged further, each one seemed to be a sharp sword. Its body also became one size bigger by having ice enveloped to its whole body, and a feeling of coercion increased too. A thin blue aura emitted from the armor of ice.
“KYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
“Is that your full power? Bring it on!!”
Shin also screamed back at the roar filled with thirst for blood.
It was the Gryphon that took the first move. Its flying speed, formation speed, and ice spears which was shot by its wings became remarkably fast.
In the barrage of ice which tried to bury the surroundings, Shin answered by waving 『Kakura』.
With enhanced dynamic vision, Shin firmly perceived the ice spears coming toward him. His arm which wielded 『Kakura』, responded to Shin’s consciousness without any delay.
A golden blur intercepted the blue and green barrage. More than 10 of the ice spears were shattered by one swing of 『Kakura』.
A storm of raining ice spears and hail was not allowed to advance before the impregnable defence formed by the golden blur.
“KyUA!”
However, the ice spears were only for stalling. The enemy’s favorite was the breath which came later.
The breath unleashed from the Gryphon’s mouth went directly toward Shin. Its thickness was twice the previous; it became approximately 80 cemels thick. The breath sped straight through the air like a blue laser, and Shin caught it head-on.
『Kakura』which swung downward straight from the upper position, thrust into the center of the breath. The breath then split into 2 directions with the contact portion of『Kakura』 as the base point. And then the breath ran along Shin’s left and right, and the swallowed up nearby ice spears were frozen over. In the twinkling of an eye, anything that wasn’t behind Shin was covered in ice.
“I was preoccupied by the front that I’ve become negligent of other things.”
“GHUA!?”
That Gryphon screamed almost at the same time as Shin’s remark.
Several explosions were heard; the force of the breath weakened, and the number of ice spears decreased too. Emerging from the opening 『Kakura』 made by scattering the breath, the figure of the Gryphon with the back part of its ice armor split open.
Shin, who had activated flying magic skill while facing the breath, had attacked from the Gryphon’s overhead. The explosive sounds were the result of using a skill of the flame technique system. It seemed that the damage reached not only the armor but also the inside, as the breath ceased after a few second as well.
With less ice spears, there would no longer be any obstacle for Shin. Against Shin who closed the distance instantaneously, the Gryphon answered with talons of its foreleg.
The fact that it couldn’t even react some time ago was hard to believe, as its eyes managed to track Shin’s movements. Earlier at the beginning, its left talons were swung out a beat late.
The shining talons which basked under the sun, appeared to flaunt their sharpness.
*Swish!*