Volume 18 Chapter 4 Part 4

s.h.i.+n noticed Schnee was looking at him and nodded to her.

In order to get rid of any possible concerns, they activated magic spells to destroy the monsters remaining parts.

Schnee targeted the gradually melting arms, s.h.i.+n the still immobile lower body.

The arms were frozen and shattered, leaving nothing behind. The result was different for the lower body however: s.h.i.+ns Blue Erosion ice spears were deflected before they could hit.

(What the?)

The unprecedented phenomenon gave s.h.i.+n a bad premonition. He focused his magic power and tried casting a more powerful spell, but something happened before he could.

The magma was drained through the ground, just like water sucked in by sand.

Did you see anything?

Just for a split second, but the name was all buggy.

No monster response could be found in the ground. The party regrouped for the time being and s.h.i.+n asked Milt if she had discovered anything.

Did you see anything from there?

Nothing, Im afraid. Number 43s presence grew fainter actually. It has not disappeared completely, but

s.h.i.+n also asked Gelganger, which had remained on the castle walls, but its answer was similar to Milts. The fact that the Guardians presence had grown weaker was also concerning.

So, what do

Before s.h.i.+n could finish his sentence, something an inexplicable sensation made him turn around.

Yuzuha had probably felt the same: she hopped on his shoulder, her ears twitching.

Whats this feeling

Milt, can you feel it too?

You too, s.h.i.+n? It feels likesomething is pulling my whole body. Its just weird.

Yeah, I also feel like somethings tugging at me.

s.h.i.+n recalled what he experienced at the Kalkia Sacred Place.

That time too, he felt something was pulling him. The feeling was weaker this time, but they were in a Sacred Place, just like then.

Moreover, since Milt reported the same sensation, s.h.i.+n concluded that it probably only affected players.

By that logic, Tiera might have been affected too, but in her case, she had only inherited a players abilities.

s.h.i.+n told Milt about his similar experience and told her to be careful.

I see, so I suppose we have to rely on that golden light that came out of your body?

I dont know what that was either though. It was colored gold at that time, but when we fought Ishkar it was purple

s.h.i.+n did not remember clearly what happened but he trusted what Schnee and the others reported seeing.

Then, we shouldnt count on that.

Thats right. Oh, looks like break times over.

A monster presence appeared in the ground, directly under where the Guardians lower body was sucked in. Before s.h.i.+n and the others could attempt to attack, the presence smashed through the ground and revealed itself.

As the cloud of dust and sand dissipated, a burning hot human-like figure appeared.

The bright red color was probably caused by the fact that the monsters body was made of magma. The shape was different, but they could clearly see magma flowing on the monsters surface.

The monsters hands and feet were both equipped with thick and sharp hooked claws.

On its back were two sets of L-shaped protrusions, longer than its arms, which sort of looked like wings.

The monsters face resembled a flaming skull. It only had one eye cavity, however, which hosted a glowing object of clearly different nature from magma.

Anguaini Level 930 %X# rank Demon

a.n.a.lyze revealed the enemys data. The first to react to its name was Milt.

Whoa, this is weird. The Anguaini I know wasnt like this at all.

The rank is bugged out, and the levels totally different too.

Both s.h.i.+n and Milt visualized the Demons rank as a jumbled mess. That was not the real reason why they were surprised of course.

The Demon of Flames Anguaini was a relatively well-known monster in THE NEW GATE, because of how frequently it could be encountered.

It was a Demon with low rank and level, which appeared in most if not all Demon-related events: in other words, Demon mob.

Something any player with decent equipment and level could defeat. That was Anguainis position. It also existed in every elemental version: the water Anguaini, wind Anguaini, and so on.

It had short limbs and a roundish body, as it had been designed to be a sort of mascot for the Demons. It was normally far from level 900, nor did it look like the monster s.h.i.+n and the others were currently facing.

Looks like weve finally found our real target.

So the battle just now was a test of strength, or maybe it needed time to get ready?

Schnee and the others faced the searing winds emanating from Anguaini, weapons in hand.

If its weak points didnt change, we should target the eye. But they might have changed, so watch it carefully! We dont know what attacks itll use either, so

Before s.h.i.+n could finish his sentence, his instincts ordered him to jump high in the air. Over a beam of searing hot flames.

After breaking out of the ground, Anguaini had been floating still in midair, but right before the attack its eye had turned towards s.h.i.+n and glared.

s.h.i.+n instinctively felt that he was the target and blocked the beam with his s.h.i.+elds barrier.

The beam struck the barrier diagonally, chipping away at it as it was deflected. The barriers endurance decreased by about 40%.

(Make sure you dodge that beam! It took off almost half of my s.h.i.+eld!)

s.h.i.+ns s.h.i.+eld, while not as st.u.r.dy as s.h.i.+baids Great Sh.e.l.l s.h.i.+eld of Collision, was considerably powerful.

Compared to the barely humanoid creature they were fighting until minutes prior, the speed and offensive power of the current enemys long-range attacks were a whole nother level of strength.

s.h.i.+baid stood in front of Schnee and the others and raised his s.h.i.+eld without hesitation.

Even if the monster did not actually target s.h.i.+n, s.h.i.+baid would have surely blocked the attack. s.h.i.+n trusted him completely, so he followed his instincts and jumped.

It just fired out of the bluesuch speed and power are truly dangerous. Tiera, Sety, attack from behind s.h.i.+baid. Filma and I will a.s.sist s.h.i.+n.

Schnee gave instructions while running. Anguainis eye was still fixated on s.h.i.+n.

If only we had more things to hide behind!

Complaining will not do us any good. I shall take all of its attacks, so cover s.h.i.+n and the others as much as you can.

Even while grumbling, Sety was chanting her next spell. Tiera, on Kagerou, prepared her next arrow as well.

s.h.i.+n, after a glance to see how the others were doing, faced Anguaini.

He was descending after the jump, but the eye never let him out of its sight. s.h.i.+n could clearly feel the hostility it radiated.

That was not all it expressed, however. Unlike other Demons, s.h.i.+n could also feel a sort of euphoria towards fighting.

s.h.i.+n thought of waiting for an opening to attack, but no beams came his way. Instead, the monster roared. A vibration powerful enough to make his whole body shudder as it ripped through the air.

The monster raised its hooked arms, staring at s.h.i.+n, as it wanted to express that the real battle was going to start now.

Here we go.

If s.h.i.+n kept falling like that, s.h.i.+baid and the others would be affected by the monsters attack too. He activated Flying Shadow instead, to jump through the air in Anguainis direction.

He could have waited for Setys support fire, but s.h.i.+n could somehow tell that Anguainis roar forcibly canceled half of the spells in its range, even if it couldnt actually see Setys group.

Anguaini refused to look at anyone but s.h.i.+n, so there was no need to draw its attention.

s.h.i.+n realized this but also thought that it would be troublesome if Anguainis beam targeted anyone other than him or s.h.i.+baid, so he decided to close in on the monster.

Anguaini welcomed his approach with a sweep of its hooked claws. Because of its ma.s.sive size, just one of the claws was larger than s.h.i.+ns body.

The sweep was tremendously fast, as expected from the monsters level. s.h.i.+n could have dodged it, but decided to block instead.

s.h.i.+ns katana tore through the claws, with the sound of grinding metal. If he couldnt use Skills to keep himself in the air, however, he would have surely been blown away by the momentum.

s.h.i.+n had raised his katana over his head before crossing against Anguainis claws.

The blade was indeed cutting through the monsters claws, but it was certainly not as easy as a hot knife going through b.u.t.ter.

s.h.i.+n had used a katana specialized against Flame elemental enemies, the Ryujin Touka.

As the name suggested, it was a katana with a beautifully sinuous blade, just like flowing water, around which danced petal-shaped ice ribbons.

It reduced Flame elemental damage against the user and caused additional damage to Flame elemental enemies: it was a bane for such enemies, through and through.

Because of this specialization, its sharpness was slightly lower than other Ancient grade weapons, but it usually wouldnt be an issue.

The current enemy was a Flame elemental one, so the katanas sharpness was naturally higher than the norm.

Anguainis claws, however, were st.u.r.dy enough to show considerable resistance even to a weapon it should be weak against.

(Time to do our part!)

(Please lead the way, Filma.)

Filma and Schnee attacked Anguaini from the rear, respectively from its left and right sides.

Filmas Red Moon flashed intermittently with a semi-transparent blue light. Her swords blade seemed to have grown in size: it was the Sword/Water Combination Skill Lagoon Edge.

It caused continuous Water elemental damage from the wound it created and could also lower the targets temperature: if the enemy was a high-temperature monster, it would slow down its movements.

Schnee followed the blue slash with a crescent-shaped blade of ice, Glacial White Arc, a Skill that could freeze the wound it caused.

Anguaini was still glaring at s.h.i.+n. Filma and Schnees blades were about to strike when something ripped through the air and deflected them.

(Pretty good aim for a single-eyed beast.)

(Those are not just for show, evidently.)

The Skills were intercepted by the protrusions on Anguainis back.

The membrane wing-like objects extended for roughly half of the monsters height: they had moved independently, each stopping one of the slashes.

The protrusions had a shape close to curved blades: the size of such wing blades was impressive enough to suggest that they could cleave the average player or support character in two.

The two pairs of wing blades continued defending the body against Schnee and Filmas attacks.

The wing blade that blocked Filmas Lagoon Edge was torn to half its size and turned black.

The Skills effect had likely lowered the monsters temperature: the wing blade that met Glacial White Arc was two-thirds frozen, its movements dulled.

They were going to fall with the next attack.

Im going to smash them with the next attack.

So the two thought, right before the wing blades underwent a transformation.

The discolored part instantly returned to its original form. The frozen part slipped off and fell, like a scab peeled off a wound. In just a few seconds, the wing blades were as new.

(Milt, did you see anything?)

(Like before, the spot that suffered damage showed a sudden rise in temperature. As you probably already noticed, though, the temperature isnt going back down this time. I think it might go up every time its attacked!)

The wing blades were now a color closer to yellow than red. The heatwave emitted by the monster now reached not only s.h.i.+n, who was engaging the monster in close combat, but also Schnee and Filma, who were farther away.

As for Sety and the others, Milt had asked her Water Spirit to cast a temporary heat protection enchantment on them.

Thanks to s.h.i.+ns handcrafted equipment, the heat could not actually affect them yet, but there was no harm in adding extra insurance.

(Keep attacking from behind. If the wing blades start attacking me instead, its going to be a pain to fight.)

The four-wing blades continued repelling Schnee and Filmas attacks, las.h.i.+ng like whips. They could surely be used to target s.h.i.+n, so he asked them to continue keeping them occupied.

(Are you ready to go?)

(Of course! Im not getting canceled this time! Make sure you dont get hit too!)

s.h.i.+n cut off Anguainis left-hand claws and blew away the right with a spinning kick when Setys voice reached him. She had chanted a new, more powerful spell after the previous one had been canceled by Anguainis roar.

She told s.h.i.+n not to get hit, but her spells would precisely target the enemy monster, so he would be safe as long as he didnt get too close.

s.h.i.+n and the others already knew what spell she was going to use, so they retreated the necessary distance from the monster.

A blue and white spiral formed at Anguainis feet then began rising upwards.

The Anguaini attempted to move away, but the spell had already started: the monsters body was wrapped in chains, preventing it from moving.

Water-type Magic Skill Chlonothyella.

Following the light ascending to the sky, bands of cold air rose in spirals, wrapping around Anguaini and freezing its body as they did.

The monsters body dropped in temperature, its color turning whiter and whiter by the second. A level 900+ monster, however, would not go down so easily. It started producing more and more heat from its insides, in order to resist the freezing effect.

You little! Give up already!!!

Sety pointed herDusk Moonat Anguaini and shouted.

She had infused additional MP into the spell before its effect would run out.

The magic resistance of a Demon that had absorbed a Guardians powers, however, surpa.s.sed her expectations: she realized that all one Chlonothyella could do was slow down its movements.

Let me help, at least a bit!

Tiera started shooting arrows at the monster.

Also thanks to Kagerous support, Tieras arrows struck the spots where the freezing effect ran deeper.

While they couldnt pierce the monsters body, the arrows managed to crack and shatter parts of it.

The monsters movements were slower, but its limbs moved in unpredictable ways: s.h.i.+n and the others also could not tell which parts were frozen more than others.

Tiera, however, managed to strike such parts with incredible precision. It couldnt possibly be chalked up to just her having sharp instincts.

Anguainis single eye, which was fixated on s.h.i.+n until then, turned in Setys direction. Its whole body was far from frozen: on the torso, only the surface was affected.

It was using the molten lava in its body to repair any damage it suffered, but slowly but surely that lava was decreasing.

Anguaini seemed to realize that it couldnt keep focusing only on s.h.i.+n.

The eye produced a spark.

The next instant, the same beam that targeted s.h.i.+n was shot towards Tiera and Sety.

Not so fast!

With a vigorous shout, s.h.i.+baid and hisGreat Sh.e.l.l s.h.i.+eld of Collisionstood in the way of the beam.

s.h.i.+baid had duly acknowledged how much damage the beam had caused to the protective barrier of s.h.i.+ns s.h.i.+eld. He reduced the radius of his own barrier and amplified its power, causing the beam to deviate and scatter in all directions.

I am thankful for your support.

Even if Im the observer, I can do this much.

Kuu!

s.h.i.+baid deflected the beam itself, but Milts Water Spirit helped alleviate the heat it produced. Yuzuha had also boosted s.h.i.+baids defenses, so the beam didnt even make him flinch.

Tiera and Sety knew that s.h.i.+baid would completely block the attack, so they did not pause in their offensive.

(Just 10 more seconds!)

(Thats more than enough. Lets go!)

After hearing Setys Mind Chat, s.h.i.+n, Schnee, and Filma prepared to attack again.

Thanks to Chlonothyella and Tieras powered arrows, Anguainis movements had dulled.

Soon enough they would start carving away at the monsters flesh, but not even Sety could fire such a high-level skill continuously. She was bound to slow down eventually.

She planned to inflict the maximum amount of damage as long as she could, then cancel the spell and switch with s.h.i.+n and the others close quarters offensive.

The target was Anguainis eye, the source of the deadly laser beam. Milts observation confirmed that it was the spot with the highest temperature.

When Sety started the countdown, s.h.i.+n rushed the monster, keeping his stance low and gripping Ryujin Touka at waist level.

His next skill needed time to be charged. s.h.i.+n could tell that Schnee and Filma too were gathering their energies for the next attack.

(Im done!)

Sety gave the signal.

s.h.i.+n swung Ryujin Touka as if releasing an arrow from a fully strung bow.

At the same time, Schnee swung her Blue Moon from the left, Filma her Scarlet Moon from above.

They didnt hold anything back: all three used s.h.i.+den skills.

The first one to strike was s.h.i.+n.

Katana-type Martial Skill s.h.i.+den - Hollow Arc Moon

The tip of Ryujin Touka drew a line from Anguainis flank through its chest, through the throat, towards the eye.

s.h.i.+n was not close enough for the slash to reach the target, in normal circ.u.mstances. He just drew a line over the monster in his sight. One moment later, however, a line following the exact same route appeared on Anguainis body.

The Skill used by s.h.i.+n released an invisible slash that could cut anything in the users view.

It could reach anything the user could see: on the other hand, covering the target with a simple piece of paper was enough to neutralize it. It could cut through armor, but not the flesh under it.

Anguaini would be hard-pressed to hide its ma.s.sive body in any way, however. Its flesh was completely exposed.

s.h.i.+den - Hollow Arc Moon was said to be impossible to dodge unless recognized from the preparatory movements: nothing could stop it from slas.h.i.+ng Anguaini.

Schnee followed.

Katana/Water Combination Skill s.h.i.+den - Hakura Kamui

Behind Anguini, bewildered by the unseen slash, came Schnees follow-up attack.

A white and blue slash was drawn in the air, flying towards the monster.

The wing blades, still moving freely, bent and lashed, blocking the path of the slash from the side.

All the wing blades could cut through, however, was thin air. The blue and white slash continued on its path, pa.s.sing through even Anguainis head.

s.h.i.+den - Hakura Kamui was a mirage-like attack: a slash that bypa.s.sed all physical defenses, subsequently freezing the target from within.

Anguaini did not seem to comprehend what happened: the wound on its eye, opened by s.h.i.+ns slash, bloomed with a flower of ice.

Filma then delivered the last blow.

Sword/Water Combination Skill s.h.i.+den - Rea Spaar

Seconds after s.h.i.+n and Schnees attacks, Filmas red katana was covered by a white light extending towards the sky, which then flew towards Anguaini.

It could not pa.s.s through the wing blades, but its path did not change nevertheless. Their resistance did not seem to mean anything for the white slash.

The monster tried defending itself with the wing blades, also using the ones that failed to intercept Schnees attack, to no avail.

The gigantic slash created by this Skill could not change its path after activation: if you knew it was coming, it could be dodged without fail.

In exchange for this disadvantage, however, it could not be canceled in any way before its effect ended.

There were some exceptions, but in most cases, it could not be stopped, not even by a giant taller than a mountain or a sea monster capable of devouring entire seas. The slash proceeded undisturbed by the wing blades resistance.

Well done!

s.h.i.+n and Schnees ambush, followed by Filmas blow. The bright white slash cleaved Anguainis head in two, extending up to the upper half of its torso. Milt rejoiced.

The burst of ice created by Hakura Kamui on the wound opened by s.h.i.+ns Hollow Arc Moon first extended to the surrounding flesh, but the head eventually managed to maintain its heat.

After being sliced in two by Rea Spaar, however, the head lost all of its energy, as the monsters whole body gradually turned into charred black rock.

The parts cut off from the body did not disappear, unlike what happened when the monster Guardian was in its name.

Is it over?

Whoops, Tiera, you just raised the flag.

Eh? What flag?

Milt rebuked Tieras comment. Only players and certain support characters would know what Milt meant, so Tiera was naturally perplexed.

Its HP has reached zero, though.

That means we did it, right?

A surprise resurrection of an enemy thought defeated was a common occurrence in stories. It was not a rarity in THE NEW GATE either.

The effect of Filmas Rea Spaar ended and the white blade vanished. As if it was waiting for that exact moment, Anguainis body crumbled down.

All that remained was a mound of frozen rock.

(It doesnt look like its coming back to life.)

(I cant see any such movements from here either.)

(Kuu, I dont think it will come back to life.)

The monster had already shown the ability to transform, so the party was wary it could have yet another form, but even after waiting a while, there was no sign. s.h.i.+n asked Schnee and Milt, then Tiera the most sensitive member to miasma for confirmation.

Anguaini was definitely dead. s.h.i.+n was fairly confident but still exercised caution as he approached the monsters remains. After confirming that nothing happened, he called Gelganger which was watching over the fight from the castle walls to check for the Sacred Place core.

Can you feel anything?

Nothing at all, unfortunately. The faint traces of Number 43s presence seem to have disappeared completely.

Since the monster had turned Anguaini, Gelganger apparently expected such a result.

Hm? Whats this feeling?

s.h.i.+n looked upwards, over the mound of rock that Anguainis remains had turned into. His detection field had picked up on something there.

It would be a disaster if the Demon had left a parting gift: s.h.i.+n urged Gelganger to stay still and climbed the remains. On top, he found a pitch-black, th.o.r.n.y object that clearly did not belong to the monsters corpse.

This isChimeradite? No wayits all-natural!?

What s.h.i.+n found on the monsters remains was a large heap of Chimeradite, famous for being the greatest mineral in existence. But it was different from the kind blacksmiths like s.h.i.+n could produce.

A rarity surpa.s.sing even Ancient grade weapons orDrop of Erathem.

Excluding limited-time event rewards, it was the item with the highest rarity in THE NEW GATE, so difficult to find that many players expressed rage to the developers about it.

In the game era, Id be jumping with joybut here

Arahabaki was a monster that yielded rare drops, so it was certainly not an impossible event.

Natural Chimeradite was surely a very rare mineral in the current world too.

s.h.i.+n couldnt help but think, however, that he would have preferred to find more information about the world instead of getting a rare material.

Well, it wont hurt to take it with us anyway. Well ask Eleven or Origins half for information.

They were the most likely sources of information at the moment.

While collecting the minerals, s.h.i.+n sincerely hoped that what happened in that Sacred Place would not repeat again