Ch 172.1
「Zeph-chi I’m done! Here’s your new arm!」 Lydia said, handing me my new arm.
I immediately attached it to my shoulder and filled it with magic power.
The feeling was almost the same as the first time I had attached it, so it didn’t feel strange at all.
「… It feels a bit heavier than before.」
「I’m surprised you noticed! … It’s because of the new functions that we talked about last time.」
「You mean the mechanism that we took from the protection barrier?」
「Ahaha. That’s right♪」 Lydia said, smiling.
She was, however, clearly fatigued.
She did work on it non-stop these past few days after all. She probably hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep.
「Thank you. You’re always there for me when I need you.」
「W-What are you saying Zeph-chi… That’s embarrassing… Good grief. Hahaha」 Lydia said, her cheeks blushing. It was quite unusual to see her like this.
Lydia turned her look aside, unable to bear my constant stare.
「I-I believe that that arm will be your trump card during the Title Match. T-That’s why I won’t forgive you if you lose!」 she said, closing her eyes.
As she gripped my arm, her face turned bright red.
That’s so not like you Lydia.
Lydia became irritated because I was holding back my laughter, prompting her to apply an arm lock on my head.
「You brat! Don’t mess around with your older sister!!!」
「Hey, that hurts! Stop it! I give up!」
Despite that Lydia’s frustration didn’t die down. It was then that I decided.
I decided that I would definitely win the Title Match.
―― Lydia believed that her arm would prove to be the trump card that would leave me to victory. And she wasn’t wrong to believe that.
「S-So hot…!!!」
Urohime let go of her katana because she couldn’t bear the heat from my arm.
I then immediately discarded her katana, which had entirely lost its former appearance.
Upon touching the ground, the katana let out a snapping sound as it broke in two.
The new function that Lydia had installed, allowed my arm to inherit the effects of the spell that was embedded in it.
The magic circuits of the protection barrier were designed to efficiently circulate and store magic power that would otherwise be lost.
Lydia had used that ability and had adjusted it to my arm.
I had originally planned to store spells in my arm and then utilize them later, similar to how I did with Divine Sword Ainbelle. However, upon trying it I had discovered that I couldn’t re-use the spell at a later time.
Which led me to change my thought process. In the end I ended up taking inspiration from Claude’s White Flash.
Normally it was quite difficult to try and store spells in an inanimate object that didn’t possess animate magic power lines. And even if technology was used it didn’t help all that much.
However, that’s where Claude’s White Flash came into play.
Claude’s White Flash was a technique that involved applying Screen Point on an inanimate item, which gave it an attribute.
By using that as a reference I was able to tweak it to my arm.
In the end, my arm was imbued with an attribute that gave it ultra-high temperature by utilizing Volcanon Crash, which normally produces lava.
「Urgh…?!」
Urohime jumped back, however, I immediately followed after her.
Urohime’s diadem and the little demon were both grabbed by the crimson trajectory that landed on her head.
Wadatsumi started releasing smoke as soon as I locked him in my prosthetic hand.
「P-Prince…」
「Disperse.」
I swung my now-crimson arm and launched Wadatsumi into the air before he could complete his last remarks. He dispersed into hundreds of fragments.
… I guess he’s not that strong against normal attacks.
The fragments then turned into small particles and Wadatsumi completely disappeared, returning to the Other World.
As I unclenched my fist the palm of my prosthetic arm returned to its original color.
I was right it seems. The duration is quite short. Imbuing a spell into an inanimate object is quite the challenge.
「… Either way, I guess I’ll call this Volcanon Impact.」
I’m honestly impressed. The spell is similar to a flower in that it blooms first, spreading its crimson petals, and then its color fades, as if the petals have been scattered in the wind. To think that Claude’s White Flash had such meaning behind it. Her naming sense is quite splendid. I’ll praise her later.
「Wadatsumi!」 Urohime cried out towards her fading familiar.
Once a familiar disappeared the magician would need to wait a couple of days, if not even a dozen before they could re-summon it. Which meant that Wadatsumi wouldn’t be showing himself in this battle.
Urohime remained silent as she gazed downward, clinging to the void in an attempt to recall her familiar. She then abruptly raised her head, as if she’d made up her mind, and scowled at me.
「Wadatsumi… I will avenge you…」
「T-This is a direct declaration ladies and gentlemen! Will Urohime bring down divine punishment upon this heretic?!」
Who are you calling a heretic?! Good grief… She really does love to exaggerate things. Familiars are given temporary bodies made out of their master’s magic power. They cannot die. There’s no point in avenging them. In the end, she’s still an announcer I guess. I understand that it’s for the entertainment of the crowd, however, I’d like it if she didn’t treat me as the bad guy.
With everything they had, the audience began to boo. Oh well, I’m already used to this kind of stuff.
While the wave of boos was drowning the arena, I suddenly overheard a couple of voices cheering my name.
「…ZEPH!!! DO YOUR BEST!!!」
Milly, Claude, and Shirushu were all reddened from yelling in an attempt to break through the booing.
Silverie wasn’t yelling; instead, she was gazing at me, fire burning in her eyes.
Yera on the other hand was… smiling? She never changes…
「Hmph. Well it’s not like I plan on losing.」
I turned towards Urohime and sprinted forward, everyone’s cheers giving me a push on the back.
Urohime probably had another familiar that she could summon, however, Summon Servant had a long chant so it would be impossible to use it in a close-quarters fight.
I was planning on bringing her down before she could summon another familiar.
However, contrary to my expectations, Urohime had no intention of fleeing and instead opted to call Kagutsuchi to her side.
「Kagutsuchi! Can I have you hold him off for a bit?」
「Of course!!!」 Kagutsuchi replied, moving away from Ain and standing in between Urohime and I.
… That’s the wrong move.
「Ain!」
「You don’t need to tell me!!!」
Without needing any further instructions, Ain immediately dashed after Kagutsuchi.
Using Ain as a shield I continued charging at Urohime. While running I cast Time Square.
While time was stopped I cast both White Sphere and Red Sphere twice.
Quadra Fusion: Nova Sphere Double.
As time began to flow again, the white flames enveloped both Kagutsuchi and Urohime.
「…?!」
「PRINCESS!」
Kagutsuchi tried to coved Urohime from the flames, however, as he did that Ain thrust her lance Urohime.
Kagutsuchi had no choice but to sacrifice his body in order to stop both attacks.
Kagutsuchi was hit by both my flames and Ain’s lance.
With the simultaneous assault of both attacks, Kagutsuchi’s body was quickly being whittled down.
「Ur…gh…!」
「Forgive me Kagutsuchi. Please hold on for just a bit more…!」 Urohime said, trying to comfort Kagutsuchi as he held on with everything he had.
Even though Urohime wasn’t moving at all, the fire in her eyes was still burning strong.
…Those eyes, she’s plotting something.
「Are you watching everyone!!! Have you ever seen a fiend such as this? He purposely targeted Urohime, hoping for her familiar to intervene and protect her! We are witnessing the pinnacle of heresy!!!」 the announcer yelled out
「She’s right!」
「That’s cheap!!!」
And with that the booing got even worse.
Faced with this kind of booing, not even Milly and the others could do anything.
You dimwits. It is disrespectful to hold back against an opponent in a real battle.
「Whoa, gramps you really are a demon… Well it’s not like I didn’t already know that.」
「Who are you calling a demon? This is called strategy. Strategy!!!」
The plan was to attack the master and have the familiar cover for him.
At that time if I were to mix in a Soul Fusion spell, at least one of the attacks would land, causing damage.
This was the most efficient way…
「… Oh, slumbering spirit… I beg thy, heed my call and reveal thyself.」
While that was going on, Urohime was beginning to chant something.
It was an absurdly long chant that contained various hand signs that I had never seen before.
Is she trying to summon something? That’s not your ordinary Summon Servant.
「P-Princess, that chant is…?! Please restrain yourself! You mustn’t call him!!!」 Urohime’s supporter, Shiranui, screamed, attempting to stop her.
However, she didn’t listen.
Even that geezer’s gone pale. That must mean that this is one hell of a spell… I’m starting to get a bad feeling. I should finish this!
「HYAAAA!!!」
「I WON’T LET YOU!!!」 Kagutsuchi yelled out, desperately blocking Ain’s lance attacks.
However, due to already sustaining quite a lot of damage, it took everything he had just to block them.
「Have one more taste of this then!」
Just to be sure, I once again cast Nova Sphere.
「ARGH…!」
Kagutsuchi once again jumped in to protect Urohime from the raging white flames, however, this time he wasn’t able to stop them completely and a part of the flames made their way to Urohime.
「PRINCESS!!!」
「…! Let thy otherworldly black armor aid me in wreaking havoc…」
I managed to stop her for a second, however, even despite that Urohime continued her chant
What strong determination… However, I don’t have the leisure to admire her. Judging from the chant, there’s at most 2 or 3 more lines. That goes to show how powerful the spell will be. I don’t know what will come out, however, I must stop her before it does.
「Ain!」
「I know!」 Ain replied, her lance at the ready as she kicked the ground.
Ain turned into an arrow of light as her spear pierced straight through Kagutsuchi and continued to make its way towards Urohime.
「W-What in the world?」
In the end, however, Ain’s lance didn’t reach its target.
When Ain looked down to see her lance torn in half, she was speechless.
「Secret Art: Violet Stream Slash」
The flames had already spread across Kagutsuchi’s body.
Just now he had mustered all of his remaining power in order to split Ain’s lance.
Even though he was my enemy, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling respect towards him.
「Princess… I leave the rest… up to you…」 Kagutsuchi said, a smile on his face as he allowed the flames to envelop him completely.
In an effort to answer her familiar’s request, Urohime did everything she could to finish her chant.
「… I beg thee, heed my voice… Demon Spirit Summoning!!!」
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