Chapter 87
"Let's gooooo!"
Jigoro, transformed into a golden meteor, charges Tarasque at super-high speed. My dynamic vision could barely keep up with him at that speed.
"Shatter!"
Jigoro closes in at a terrifying speed and slams his drawn-back right fist into the shell. He aimed between the right foreleg and right middle leg. I wonder why he didn't target the face, but he must have had his reasons.
The battle gauntlet bore all the destructive energy generated by the near-afterimage speed and the Ogre's gifted physique, shattering Tarasque's shell as easily as a cookie or something. The crisp sound of something hard breaking reached our ears!
"Gugyaaaaaa!?"
So this is Jigoro's full power. It seems his aim was to destroy the shell with a defense-ignoring blow. We rarely get a chance to use powerful Skills simultaneously, but with this many stacked together, it's hard to tell which one of us is the boss!
Flames and lightning burst into the air from the shattered shell and the spot where his fist had sunk in. It was almost a fantastical sight, hardly something one would expect at the climax of a battle. Of course, from Tarasque's perspective, being burned by flames and lightning after having its prized shell shattered must have been unbearable.
"One more!"
"Gigagaaaaa!?"
Jigoro changed his left hand into a knife-hand and drove a piercing strike into Tarasque's abdomen like an uppercut. He easily punched a hole in the abdominal shell as well, and Tarasque thrashed about, screaming in agony as its insides were churned. But it couldn't do a thing, thanks to its multiple status ailments and the hind legs trapped in quicksand. Yes, I did a fine job, if I do say so myself.
"Burn and convulse!"
Given Tarasque's enormous body, Jigoro's fist, while more than a light wound, still fell short of being a serious injury. But it seems Jigoro decided to add a little something extra, like rubbing salt into the wound.
But this was hardly something as mild as salt. The brothers burned the areas they were touching with flames at full force and sent lightning through them. Oof, that looks painful…!
"Gyabababababa!?"
The flames might not be too bad, but having lightning—its weakness—sent directly into its body must make the pain truly horrific.
"Tag out, old man!"
"You got it! Let's go!"
Jigoro, having used up most of his magic power, called out briefly to Genjuro. Genjuro, already prepared in perfect tacit coordination, leaped into the place Jigoro had occupied. First, he brought his pitch-black odachi down on the spot where Jigoro had shattered the shell.
"Seiyaaah!"
"Gigaah!?"
Genjuro's odachi cleaved straight through Tarasque, shell and all! I knew its cutting power had increased, but this much!?
It must be thanks to Genjuro's skill, but that was an incredible slash. The wound Jigoro made just expanded to nearly twice its size!
"Kaaaaah!"
He then turned the blade toward the right foreleg Genjuro had been slashing until now. Surely he wasn't…
SNAP!
"Gyaaaaaaa!?"
Can terrifying predictions really come true this perfectly? Genjuro's odachi had severed the right foreleg, just as it had the tail. I never imagined it would be enhanced this much!
"Hmph, is that the end of it? Then…"
The odachi's blade, which had been pitch-black like condensed darkness, changed—not back to its original steel gleam, but to a duller hue. Genjuro quickly stowed it in his inventory, then readied a katana and a wakizashi that radiated resentment.
"Shaaaa!"
Genjuro next took aim at the right middle leg trapped in the quicksand. This one was still unharmed—was he actually planning to cut it off too!? No, no, no, no, that was impossible!
"Nuuuuuh!"
"Gagaaaa!?"
Every time Genjuro struck with his sword, his health dropped sharply. At the same time, though, his blade was gradually cutting deeper and deeper. Maybe this really could work!
"Haaaaah!"
SNAP!
"Giiiiigaaaaa!?"
He did it! He actually sliced off the right middle leg, which hadn't taken any damage before! This miracle was only possible because of Genjuro's skill at striking the exact same spot with unerring precision.
The two frontliners had shown us their strength in no uncertain terms. In that case, allow me to show you everything I've got!
"Let's start with a roll of the dice! Hell Beast Summoning!"
I use Hell Beast Summoning, the newest spell I've learned through 【Spirit Summoning】. Now then, what sort of creature from hell will come to me?
The instant I cast the spell, a bottomless hole opened in the ground. I suppose some monster from hell is going to emerge from it. It's my first time using this, so I'm nervous!
"Kichikichikichi…"
Whoa! Crawling up from the hole was… a gigantic insect about as tall as Jigoro. It was clearly no ordinary insect, though. Its body looked like a round, plump scarab, but its head was remarkably mantis-like. Its exoskeleton gleamed like metal, and the tips of its legs bore huge, razor-sharp hooked claws.
I may be the one saying this, but as expected of a monster from hell, it had a vicious appearance. Still, why would an arthropod appear when it's called a 'Hell Beast'? I-I guess things like that happen sometimes!
Anyway, putting that aside, the real question was whether this thing would actually fight Tarasque…
"Kishaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Ah! It charged Tarasque without waiting for my instructions! Then it shoved its hooked claws into the gap in the shell Genjuro had cut, thrust its head into the hole Jigoro had made, and… was it eating it?
"Gagyaaaaaaa!!"
Tarasque wasn't about to just let itself be eaten, so it thrashed with all its might. But its legs wouldn't move, so it couldn't shake the thing off and continued to be eaten. On top of that, it seemed to be using two of its six arthropod legs—the front ones—to skillfully gouge at the wound.
Watching a giant turtle being eaten alive by a giant insect is pretty gruesome. Women would probably find it hard to watch. Well, there are only men here right now, and as long as it fights, I have no problem with it. In fact, I'm more than happy.
"All right, next! Summon, Thunder Ghost, Physical Boost, Physical Boost, Physical Boost, Physical Boost, Physical Boost, Undead Boost!"
Next, through 【Summoning】, I call forth Thunder Ghost, an advanced species of ghost-type monster with the lightning attribute. Since it's daytime, its health is rapidly dropping, but that doesn't matter. There's only one thing I need these creatures to do.
"Charge while firing magic. Then self-destruct inside it."
"Ooooooo…"
Obeying my orders faithfully, the Thunder Ghosts headed straight for Tarasque before their health ran out, then entered its body. Passing through solid matter is a Ghost's specialty.
That would have been pointless on its own, but the Thunder Ghosts that entered Tarasque's body at my command self-destructed.
Thunder Ghost, an advanced species that has evolved twice from Wisp, can deal attribute damage through self-destruction in the same way. Unlike Wisp, however, the damage is based on maximum health rather than health at the moment of self-destruction.
In terms of the power of this kamikaze tactic, Wisp would win thanks to its greater numbers. But it's daytime now. Wisp would vanish from 【Light Attribute Vulnerability】 before it could even touch Tarasque. That's why I used the evolved Thunder Ghosts. Anyway, how effective was that self-destruct attack?
"Gyaaaaaaa!?"
"Kishiiiiii!?"
Ah, the damage is pretty decent, but I'd completely forgotten that the little Hell Beast bug was clinging to it. It probably got electrocuted along with Tarasque, didn't it? I'm sorry! But bear with me just one more time!
"Magic Stone Absorption, Star Magic Array Remote Activation…"
I fed my prized magic stone to my staff—a lightning-aspected masterpiece whose quality had been raised all the way to 'Good' through repeated 【Alchemy】 synthesis. Talk about going all out! Naturally, its attribute was lightning.
"Spell Adjustment, Thundercloud!"
Thundercloud, a spell from 【Lightning Magic】 with one of the highest attack powers among the countless spells I can use. When I cast it at maximum power, black clouds formed above Tarasque's head.
They were about the same size as the one I used earlier in my battle with Forest Beast Turtle. But the clouds they contained were incomparably blacker, and the rumbling that could be heard even before the lightning fell was on a completely different level.
"This ends it!"
"Gagagagagaga!?"
"Kishiiiiiiiiii!?"
Tarasque and the Hell Beast were helplessly caught in the torrential rain of lightning pouring from the black clouds. This should have finished it, right?
No, couldn't you please be dead? In fact, Tarasque's health had already fallen below ten percent after Jigoro's first blow, activating 【Dragon Factor】. If it was still alive after this furious onslaught, it would simply be trampled through the rest of the fight.
As luck would have it, the effect of the Wind Pillar I'd been using expired at exactly that moment. Purple gas billowed around Tarasque, completely blocking my view. Thundercloud was still active, and the screams continued, but I couldn't relax until I saw it fall with my own eyes.
"Giiii!? Gijaaaaaaa!!!"
Just before Thundercloud's effect expired, I heard a particularly loud scream that seemed to come from the Hell Beast. Had my magic killed it? After it had contributed so much to the battle, what a terrible way to treat it… I'm being a real villain here…
"Gaoooooooo!!!"
"What!?"
No way… it didn't finish it off? After all that? You're kidding me!?
"Damn! Star Magic Array Remote Activation, Wind Pillar!"
I hurriedly cast Wind Pillar once more to clear away the gas. Then I understood: Tarasque was still alive because of my own blunder.
"Could it be 【Predation Recovery】!?"
Beyond the gas, the Hell Beast was being eaten by Tarasque. Most likely, one of Tarasque's Skills, 【Predation Recovery】, had restored its health at the very last moment.
I'd basically brought the enemy a boxed lunch myself. What an idiot I was!
"Gaaaaaaa…"
Tarasque pulled its legs free from the ground. The effect of Quicksand had expired along with Wind Pillar. But there was no time to cast it again. Tarasque had opened its mouth wide while pulling its legs free.
There was no one here foolish enough not to understand what that portended. The purple flames visible deep in its mouth made it obvious too. Dragon Breath.
Avoiding the Dragon Breath bursting from its mouth would be extraordinarily difficult. It would be hard even for Jigoro and Genjuro. There was no way I could dodge it.
Nor did I have the confidence to block it completely. I had enough magic power left to use Holy Shield exactly once, but its promise to unfailingly block any attack one time felt meaningless in the face of Dragon Breath.
Someone was going to die here. The other two must have thought so too. Yes, both of them did.
"Kyugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
"K-Kal!?"
It happened just as I had resigned myself to death—that is, just before Tarasque unleashed its Dragon Breath. Kal had somehow moved to its right flank and dismounted from Black Wolf. With a roar, he unleashed his own Dragon Breath, getting the first strike in!
Kal's Dragon Breath hit just before Tarasque could fire its own. It struck the wound Jigoro had cracked open, Genjuro had slashed apart, and my summoned Hell Beast had gouged wider.
"Gaaaaaaaah…"
With a death rattle, Tarasque collapsed to the ground while firing Dragon Breath into the sky. We stared in stunned silence at Kal, the MVP who had stolen the best part at the very last second.