Ahhh, seriously-why the hell were they so close?
Only three meters. That's all that separated us from those damned Churels and the Ippon-Datara. If Mei and I had landed even a little farther away, we could've had the space to launch spells from a distance, pick off the weaker ones first, maybe even soften up the big guy before things got messy.
But at this range? It was going to be a brawl. A close-quarters nightmare.
My mind started drifting-just slightly, just enough to calculate escape paths and angles of attack, trying to find some way to flip this situation in our favor.
"Burroughs," I muttered, voice low but firm, "initiate analysis."
The words had barely left my mouth when instinct screamed danger.
I twisted hard to the side just in time to see a hammer-no, the hammer-coming at me like a freight train. It was Ippon-Datara, and he had moved. Fast.
Or maybe not fast-just suddenly.
The hammer smashed into the ground where I'd been standing a heartbeat earlier. The air around it exploded outward in a violent shockwave. Even though I'd dodged the strike itself, the force of it hit me like a truck. I was launched backward, my feet leaving the ground, tumbling mid-air before landing hard a few meters away.
I rolled once, twice-then dug my feet in and skidded to a halt.
This wasn't like the Oni.
He was slower. Noticeably slower than me and a bit weaker than the Oni I'd fought back then. But power?
Yeah. He had plenty of that.
That one swing-just a warning shot-felt like a prelude to something far worse. If that had connected cleanly, I wouldn't be standing well.
Still on one knee, I looked up. Ippon-Datara hadn't moved from his spot. Even without my sight I can imagine him, stood there like an executioner, hammer resting lazily over one shoulder, blue eye fixed on me like a scope.
But something else caught my attention.
I heard the Churels move first. Like pawns in a game he already knew he'd win.
That was a mistake.
I drew a deep breath. If he was going to underestimate us, then maybe-just maybe-we had a chance to do some real damage before the real fight began.
A crackling noise-sharp, electric-cut through the tension like a whip.
I turned my head just enough to catch a flash of blue behind me. Lightning. It struck something with a hiss and a scream. That had to be Mei. She was already making her move, targeting one of the Churels.
Good. Then it was my turn.
"Maragi."
The word flowed from my mouth like embers caught in the wind. Ever since I'd taken down Kurogane, I'd felt it-this new skill simmering in me, like an ember waiting for fuel. A multi-target fire spell. I hadn't had a proper chance to test it. Until now.
My arm extended forward. Instinct guided me.
The Magatsuhi inside me stirred-flowing, twisting, burning. It gathered into my palm and spread outward. Five orbs of flame, each the size of a human head, materialized in front of me, hovering like patient hunters.
They pulsed with life-red and orange, flickering violently around a white-hot core, as if they barely held themselves together. Hungry. Desperate to devour.
And then-whoosh-they shot forward, cutting through the air in elegant, chaotic spirals. After three meters, they vanished from my vision. But I could feel them, still. Scanning. Seeking.
Searching for flesh to turn to ash.
Before I could process the outcome, a heavy impact shook the ground.
It wasn't an explosion.
It was movement. Him.
My senses flared. Ippon-Datara. Charging at me.
A second later, the air cracked.
BOOM!
Five detonations. One after the other. My Maragi had found its targets. I'd held back on the spell's intensity - I didn't know how big this chamber really was. But hearing the echo now... I realized I barely needed to-however I prayed it was enough to hurt something.
But that hope evaporated instantly when I saw him.
He stepped into my line of sight like a nightmare made of iron and rage. No visible damage. Not even soot. My flames had barely singed him-if they'd done anything at all.
Then I saw it: the hammer. The flow of Magatsuhi gathering inside it. Thicker. Wilder.
A skill was coming.
This time, though, I was ready.
He raised the hammer high-slow, almost theatrical. But I'd already measured him. He was slow. Slower than me when I was fighting Kurogane, that much was clear now. If he caught me, it was over-but if he missed, it was my game. And honestly, there was a much better chance of that."
I pushed off the ground and leapt backward, just as the hammer fell.
CRAAACK!
The floor where I'd been shattered. Stone erupted into the air. The shockwave followed-an earthquake wrapped in sound. I flew through the air, caught in the force, but landed with minimal damage. Dust and gravel rained down around me.
I couldn't tell how far I'd been thrown, but my footing held.
Then something shifted.
My vision.
Suddenly-clarity.
Fifteen meters. I could see up to fifteen meters now.
Another Churel was down. Whether it was Mei, the explosion or even the hit that did it, I didn't care. One less enemy. One step closer to freedom.
Then the voice I'd been waiting for rang out, crystal clear in my ear:
"Analysis complete."
I tapped my COMP, eyes flicking to the data flashing across the screen.
---------------------------------------------
Name: Ippon-Datara
Race: Brute
MP: 820/820
Resistances: [Fire]
Weakness: [Light]
Strength: E+
Endurance: D-
Magic: E
Agility: E
Luck: E+
Skills: [Beatdown][Heat Wave]
---------------------------------------------
Shit.
Fire-resistant. That explained why Maragi did nothing.
But worse... no elemental weakness except Light.
And me and Mei didn't have that.
This was going to be rough.
But there was no point in whining about how hard this was.
Self-pity wouldn't save me. Neither would fear.
A wise man once said, "It is by courting death that one becomes stronger."
And I wasn't just courting. I was taking it to dinner.
Fire was out. That much was clear. He shrugged it off like warm rain. Time to switch elements. I focused, and the darkness responded like an eager beast.
A single spear of shadow coalesced in my hand. Sleek. Sharp. Cold.
I could have made something bigger. Something devastating-enough to wipe out a small town. But Mei was nearby, and reckless destruction wasn't the goal.
I wanted penetration. Something focused. Precise. Deadly.
Before releasing it, I whispered a quick incantation-"Sukukaja."
The buff pulsed through me. My greatest advantage against this lumbering hulk. And now, that advantage had widened.
Just in time.
I sensed something incoming-
I adjusted my path, heading straight toward it instead of away. A risk, sure. But calculated.
There. A flickering black-and-violet orb, trailing a deadly aura. Mudo.
One of the Churels was casting at me.
Too bad for her.
Mudo spells are fickle. Brutal, but only if the target's not resistant. And I was. A curse like that wouldn't even scratch me.
I let the spell slide past, barely moving. Then I saw her.
Pale. Veiled. Feet bent backward like a broken puppet.
Churel.
My hand shot forward before she could cast again. I gripped her face.
And ignited.
Raw flames consuming her head. Her scream was muffled by the heat. Her body writhed-and then cracked. Turned to ash.
Her death poured into me like molten fuel. Magatsuhi surged in my veins.
And then-
Clarity.
The spell affecting my vision lifted a little more. I could see up to thirty meters now.
A blessing.
But no time to savor it.
Wind howled-sharp, vicious. A pressure wave blasted across the battlefield. I ducked, twisted, rolled to the side. It roared past me, leaving a enormous jagged scar where I'd just stood.
Ippon-Datara.
Even without touching me, his attacks felt like getting slapped by a collapsing building. If I hadn't buffed my speed, I might have been flattened.
But I couldn't worry about him yet.
I needed full vision.
And that meant the Churels had to die first.
Two left.
That was all.
Mei was probably handling one already-which left the last Churel to me. Easy to say. Harder to pull off. After seeing her allies erased, she wouldn't make it easy. Fear sharpens instincts. Makes prey harder to kill.
But then, something clicked in my senses.
I could see farther again.
Fifty meters.
"Good job, Mei," I muttered with a grin.
Just as my vision cleared, Ippon-Datara re-entered my view like a hulking stormcloud. Sukukaja was still active, and with it, his movements were a sluggish blur compared to mine. I scanned his massive frame-and there, near the stomach, a minor wound.
Barely a scratch.
Not from me, probably. Maybe one of Mei's early spells? Either way, it was a start.
He swung his hammer again, wide arcs of compressed air lashing the battlefield like tidal waves. I slipped through them, weaving, dancing.
Then I countered.
Bufu.
The cold gathered fast-crystallizing around my arm as I shaped it into a lance of jagged ice. I hurled it with all the force I could manage.
It struck true-right on that same wound.
He grunted. Not much. But enough.
So that's it. I'd have to dig into the same spot over and over until that scratch turned into something mortal.
But he wasn't stupid.
Magatsuhi swirled around his hammer like a storm. He wasn't aiming for me directly-he knew he couldn't catch me head-on. He aimed low.
At the ground.
Boom.
A roar split the air, then the floor shattered beneath my feet. Cracks webbed across the chamber. Debris flew in every direction, turning my vision into a storm of dust and stone.
Then came heat.
A wave of pressure and fire slammed into me. This one was different. Not just air-it burned. I was launched like a ragdoll, spinning through broken stone and choking smoke.
When I stopped moving, I couldn't breathe.
Blood spilled from my mouth, hot and metallic. My whole body screamed. And the only thing I could see... was rubble.
So much rubble.
But... why?
Why didn't it hurt more?
That attack should have flattened me. Then it hit me.
Tarunda.
Mei. She must've debuffed him.
Of course she did. If she hadn't, she'd already be dead.
Even with the debuff, though, I was wrecked. Most of my ribs were cracked. Internal bleeding. If I didn't get help, fast, my organs might just give up.
I needed to find Mei. Now.
But something else caught my attention.
Half-buried in the wreckage-movement.
A Churel.
Jackpot.
I lunged through the debris. My fingers wrapped around her skull, and I ripped it clean off. No time for magic. No need.
She was weaker than the others-probably already softened up by Mei. I didn't care. What mattered was the surge of Magatsuhi.
One hundred meters. This was my current vision.
A "perfect" field of clarity through the haze of ruin.
Still more debris flying, though. Damn it. The floor's a mess. My speed advantage would be harder to use here.
But I wasn't backing down.
I had one target left.
Time to serve the main course.