Frozen-Flame War Fortress (5)

How are we supposed to deal with these powerful clones modeled after Jigoro? The restarted Great Bone War Fortress had lost health, but it was still going strong, continuing to fire bones and bring its enormous limbs crashing down just as before.

The situation was far more dire than it had been at the start of the battle. Even if they could not match Jigoro, we could not leave clones capable of entertaining him unattended. Jigoro himself was currently fighting four of them, but with that many opponents, he apparently had to concentrate on dodging and could not reduce their numbers right away.

"Nuoohhhhh!? What a heavy barrage!"

"Eiji-han!? I'll back you up!"

Five clones, excluding the four Jigoro was handling, attacked our party. The one leading the charge unleashed a barrage reminiscent of Jigoro's attacks, which Eiji blocked with his shield. However, the force was tremendous, and even Eiji, who boasted ironclad defense, could barely withstand it.

Seeing Eiji pushed back despite defending with his shield, Nanako grew alarmed and hurriedly sent a summoned beast created with 【Summoning Arts】 to support him. She made it self-destruct around the clone that was pummeling Eiji.

"Haaah! Thanks!"

"Save the thanks for later! More are coming!"

The summoned beast's self-destruction scattered Light Attribute damage, reducing the clone in front of Eiji to charcoal. However, four clones still remained, so there was no room to relax at all.

From the air, I checked on the other three parties. Genjuro was dealing with the seven clones that had gone after Ruby's group, while Ruby and the others seemed to be fighting the three that had gone after Mac's group. Apparently, they intended to follow our original plan and deal with the clones.

"Hmm, hmm. They're fast and reasonably strong, but their attacks are predictable. Compared to the real one, they're easy."

"No, they're plenty strong enough!?"

"Not breaking—at all."

"Since they only trace Jigoro's movements, fighting them one-on-one is tough for us."

"Only the real one and Genjuro-san could call these things weaklings."

Genjuro skillfully wielded four naginata, keeping the seven clones off balance. The fact that he was using naginata, weapons with long reach, seemed to give him a favorable matchup. Their bones were hard and there were many of them, so he could not clear them away in an instant, but he had succeeded in keeping all seven occupied by himself.

Still, that was only because Genjuro was absurdly strong. Ruby and the others were fighting the remaining three on equal terms. They dodged the slashes of Ruby and Shifune, kept moving even when Wool's shock waves merely burst across their surfaces, and caught the arrows Shio fired at them. Anyone who did not know about the brothers would never believe that these were still inferior to the real one.

"Ptooey! They're too simple—I can see through them already! This isn't enough of them, ya hear me!?"

The real Jigoro had apparently already defeated four of them. Until just moments ago, he had concentrated solely on evading their attacks, but he must have adapted and destroyed them with incredible speed. He crunched the arm of a clone he had been holding in his mouth, spat out the fragments, and then charged toward the clones fighting Mossan's group.

Seeing that, Mossan apparently decided to leave the clones to Jigoro. Mossan's group fortified its defenses until Jigoro arrived, then turned away when he punched a clone. They had resumed fighting the main body of the Great Bone War Fortress.

While Jigoro and Ruby's party dealt with the clones, I would join the remaining members of Mossan's and Mac's parties and reduce the health of the Great Bone War Fortress's main body as much as possible. It was safest to assume that it still had a trump card hidden away, and attacking an enemy whenever we had the chance was the most basic principle of all.

"Mac and the others... seem to be doing fine. Mossan, I'll join you."

"Then please support us defensively. Eiji-kun is carrying far too much of the burden."

"Understood. Magic Array, Remote Activation, Holy Shield."

Following the instructions of Mossan, our leader, I began providing defensive support. I cast Holy Shield between the descending leg of the Great Bone War Fortress and Eiji, blocking the blow.

Unlike the bone rain, which was weak despite its numbers, the overwhelming mass of the Great Bone War Fortress would be impossible to withstand no matter how much we strengthened our defensive magic. That was why I used Holy Shield, which could always block a single attack.

As expected, Holy Shield was destroyed by the blow. However, it succeeded in stopping the momentum of the descending leg. Eiji slammed his axe into the halted limb and severed it, splintering it halfway through.

"Gnnngh... I'm no good with fire!"

"I'll heal you, so keep at it."

Nenashi extended vines toward the leg Eiji had damaged, wrapped them around it, and pulled with all its might to widen the wound. The Great Bone War Fortress was still in its flaming form, so merely touching the blazing bone leg seemed to be painful for Nenashi.

However, Mikelo healed the health Nenashi lost. Using his magic eye and magic together with extraordinary thoroughness, he restored Nenashi's health every time it fell.

Thanks to their efforts, the wound Eiji had created did not close. Instead, it continued to widen. The constant creaking and dry snapping of bone gave the scene a visceral quality.

"Now!"

"You got it! Self-destruct!"

Mossan and Nanako added their attacks as well. The wind blades created by Mossan's wings and the summoned beast's self-destruct attack struck the wound directly, and at last, one of the Great Bone War Fortress's legs was severed.

Immediately after it was severed, an explosion accompanied by cold air erupted from the cross-section. I see. Unlike what happened with Genjuro, destroying a leg while the Great Bone War Fortress was cloaked in flames scattered Water Attribute damage. No one had taken the blast at close range this time, so there was no problem.

Even so, it was unbelievable that Genjuro had severed in a single stroke a leg that had required all of us so much effort to destroy. It was common knowledge that a player's skill could increase attack power to some extent, since they could freely control their avatar as their own body. Still, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Jigoro and Genjuro's skill lay beyond the bounds of common sense.

"Whoops—Holy Shield."

"Pffft! Even if we destroy one, there's another one on the opposite side, isn't there!?"

Nevertheless, the Great Bone War Fortress still had legs as thick as bundled tree trunks. I blocked another one with Holy Shield, and Eiji slammed his axe into it.

We tried to break the leg using the same procedure as before, but our opponent was not going to let itself be cut apart so obediently. Instead of the bone rain we had grown accustomed to, it fired bones like bullets to fight back.

We could not ignore attacks that would leave us in serious trouble if they hit directly. If we wanted to try severing another leg, we would have to wait for—or create—a major opening. I wondered how Mossan would judge the situation.

"Izamu-san, leave defense to Eiji-kun and join the attack. Rather than fixating on destroying body parts, we'll steadily chip away at its health."

"Nuuun! Please do that!"

"Understood. Astral Magic Array, Activation, Holy Ray."

Mossan was still the party leader, while I had joined them to assist. Therefore, it was only right to follow his judgment. I followed his instructions and unleashed an offensive spell.

Five beams of light struck the Great Bone War Fortress and pierced its enormous torso. They looked effective, but in reality, they barely reduced its health. Even attacks against its weaknesses were mitigated by 【Magic Resistance】.

Nanako's magic had the same problem. It was frustrating that even attacking weaknesses could not deal a substantial amount of damage. At the same time, I keenly realized just how powerful resistances to attacks themselves, such as 【Physical Resistance】 and 【Magic Resistance】, could be.

"Gigigigigigi!!!"

"It's changing form. Next will be ice... What?"

"The flames... haven't gone out?"

I had lost count of how many times this had happened, but the Great Bone War Fortress once again showed signs of changing form. Since it was currently burning, everyone assumed it would begin releasing cold air next. But that expectation was overturned.

This time, ice began forming over the surface of its bones while the flames remained wrapped around them. Even the small bones it continued firing throughout the transformation were affected: half of each was burning, while the other half was frozen. It was in a state eerily similar to this boss area.

"So its true fighting style is to control both, rather than just one? To think it would get stronger at this point... I feel like laughing."

"How can we laugh!? Maybe because it has two Attributes, but its damage has gone up a little!"

"Now, now, Eiji-san. Let's look on the bright side, shall we?"

"Indeed! We no longer need to worry about timing when the next form change will occur!"

"...We can't exactly be happy about just that."

Mossan was already halfway to resignation, and Eiji retorted with unusual excitement. Mikelo tried to calm Eiji, while Nenashi joined in, only for Nanako to sigh in exasperation. In the end, we were behaving just as we always did.

Even when a formidable enemy grew stronger still, the fact that so few of us became excessively tense or cowered meaninglessly was, I thought, one of our greatest virtues. Besides, the fact that it had begun fighting in earnest could be taken as proof that it was running out of room to spare. This might be the real battle at last, but it should also mean the conclusion was close. Let's bring it down in style!