Ch 173.1
I managed to flee before the ground beneath my feet sank, and I charged towards Urohime right away.
「ROARRRRR!!!」 Susano screamed and drew his katana from beneath the earth, attempting to strike me down.
… That won’t work I’m afraid.
The katana’s progress was halted by the Isolated Space’s walls, preventing it from reaching me.
The reason I had run to the edge of the Isolated Space was just so that this could happen.
So naive. It’s a good thing I was able to calculate the angles precisely.
I ran towards Urohime, hiding within Susano’s armor, as Susano tried everything he could to stop me.
「I won’t allow you!」 Urohime shouted, firing off a spell.
I dodged Urohime’s magic power ball and immediately cast Time Square.
While time was stopped I cast Red Crash and Blue Crash, which I imbued into Divine Sword. After which I cast both spells once more.
Quadra Fusion: Burst Crash Double.
I cast the spell into my prosthetic arm, and as soon as I did so Divine Greatsword Ainbelle disappeared. It was because I had run out of magic power to maintain it.
From how things stood, this was going to be my final spell. I had to finish it with this. I clenched my prosthetic arm’s fist and light burst forth.
My prosthetic arm shone with dull light as it creaked each time it moved. It was on the point of breaking.
…Please, hold on just a bit more!
I somehow raised my arm as it creaked out in pain and pointed it towards Urohime.
「Hmph…!」
In an attempt to dodge my arm, Urohime hid her whole body inside Susano’s armor.
I, on the other hand, pushed my hand against Susano’s armor without batting an eye.
Urohime’s confident voice could be heard from within Susano’s armor.
「Where do you think you’re aiming at! I’m not ther…」
「You’d better not speak. You’ll bite your tongue.」
「Wh…」
Before Urohime could continue her sentence, the armor, which boasted extraordinary toughness, shook.
Immediately after that numerous striking sounds were heard coming from within the armor.
The impact blew me away, and I somehow managed to land on the ground after first colliding with the Isolated Space’s walls.
Susano’s movement stopped completely after that.
He fell on one knee and both of his arms lost all strength as well.
「Can you believe this everyone?! The giant has stopped!!! And there is no sign of him getting up ever again!!!」
Phew. It seems like it worked.
With Ain’s help I had been able to launch Burst Crash Double. A spell which gave birth to powerful shock waves.
I had been able to shake even the inside where Urohime was hiding by launching the spell with my prosthetic arm right against Susano’s armor.
There was no way Urohime hadn’t suffered a tremendous amount of damage from that attack.
「I guess I’ll call it Burst Impact from now on…」
Still the Quadra Fusion sure does take a toll on my arm.
My prosthetic arm’s exterior metal coating was mostly torn off, which was probably partly due to the Volcanon Impact I had cast not long before.
From now on I’ll have to restrain myself to Double or Triple Fusion at most. If I go over that I’ll cause way too much work for Lydia.
「Urgh…」
A voice echoed around me and I turned to see Urohime slowly slithering out of Susano’s armor.
What the?! She’s still conscious?
Urohime was in tatters due to the damage that she had sustained, however, the fire of determination in her eyes was still burning strong.
She’s quite resilient… And I’m at my limit.
Urohime looked at me with a smile on her face.
「…It’s time to get serious don’t you think?」
「Are you crazy? You’re still planning on fighting? Did you hit your head or something just now? It’s best that you don’t push yourself anymore.」
「Fufu. This fight with you has been a real joy… I cannot just give up when the one who managed to push me past my limit is still in front of me. Fufu. Fufufu.」
「Kuku. Despite your appearance, you’re quite the combat junkie, aren’t you?」
Urohime slowly stood up and took on a fighting stance once more.
It seems like she doesn’t plan on giving up.
My state was no better than hers. My arm was completely busted and I didn’t have enough magic power to summon Ain anymore.
However, just like her, I felt joy for some unknown reason.
Oh well, guess I can’t help it. I’ll play with her a bit more.
As our eyes met, we both smiled.
Urohime and I both kicked the ground in unison the very next second.
Neither of us can use any big spells. Which means it will be decided by who falls down first. I’ll continue hitting her until she passes out!
Just as I had made up my mind and was about to clash with Urohime a powerful impact shook the ground beneath us.
「KYA?!」
Urohime stumbled due to the shaking and headed for the ground.
However, before she could fall I managed to grab her.
「… Are you okay?」
「T-Thank you…」
The ground shook so much that it was impossible for us to stay upright.
I guess it’s impossible to continue the match with this thing going on.
I transformed my prosthetic arm into its shield form and raised it to protect Urohime from the falling rubble from the roof.
Panic was sowing its seeds among the spectators as well.
「Everyone can you believe this?! A strong earthquake erupted seemingly out of nowhere! Everyone in the crowd, please hide yourself under your chairs! KYAA!!!」
The arena was filled with the announcer and the crowd’s screams.
It was truly an epitome of chaos. While holding onto Urohime I swiftly stepped away from the cracks forming beneath us.
「…I presume this means that we’re putting the match on hold?」 Urohime asked.
「I’m afraid that I would have one if it had continued.」
「Oh my, are you certain? I still had some cards up my sleeve.」 Urohime said with a smile.
Good grief. She’s not the one to give up easily.
Numerous cracks appeared on the tower’s walls and rubble fell constantly.
The force of the earthquake was enough to crumble the whole tower.
This is bad. How are Milly and the others…?
I looked around and saw Milly hiding at the gate, her frightened expression on her face as she gazed at Urohime and me.
It looked like she wanted to jump out and help us, however, the tremors refused to ease up. I tried to signal her with my eyes not to move from where she was.
Turning around the spectator seats I noticed Claude holding her shield, with Shirushu hiding beneath it as well.
Silverie and Yera, on the other hand, had spread out with the other mages and were using spells in order to prevent the larger pieces of rubble from falling down.
It was thanks to them that no big pieces had fallen down.
The crowd was also starting to slowly regain its composure, as I could see a lot of people beginning to protect themselves.
Most of the people willing to pay a high sum to come and watch the Title Match were all like that. There were also some bigshots who had hired guards to protect them, as well as combat junkies. And those who had a free hand, helped out the normal citizens.
Well it seems like that area is going to be safe at least. After a while the shaking died down and I was able to stand on my feet.
「W-What in the world was that?」 Urohime asked.
「Beats me. It’s best that we evacuate everyone as fast as possible…」
「ZEPH!」
Just as I finished my sentence, I heard Milly calling me.
She jumped at me and I had no choice but to catch her.
As I caught her I noticed that she had a bump on her head.
Did she hit her head somewhere? Her tears are about to burst out as well…
「Are you okay Zeph?! You’re not hurt, right?」
「Look who’s talking. You’re the one with a bump on your head.」
「I-I’m completely fine!」 Milly said in a boastful tone.
It looks quite bad though… Well if she says she’s fine then I won’t press it. That aside. What in the world caused the shaking?
「… It couldn’t have been…」 Urohime said in a meek tone, looking down at the cracks in the ground.
Furthermore, she placed her hand on the ground and focused.
Is she looking for something?
「Is there something wrong?」 Milly asked.
「Shh. I need you to be quiet for a second.」
Hearing Urohime say that, Milly closed her mouth.
What in the world is going on… Similar to Urohime I also placed my hand on the ground and focused.
Found it! There’s definitely something down there.
There was a pulse coming from underground.
What in the world is this presence…?
「Urohime, what in the world is that?!」
「…」
Urohime just looked down, pursing her lips.
The look in her eyes meant that she knew exactly what was going on.
「Answer me!」
She turned towards me and after a while, and with a lot of struggle she finally opened her mouth.
「… Susano that I used just now… The Summon Servant spell used to summon him wasn’t a normal one you see.」
「And?」
Well I already know that. Susano was quite the strong familiar after all.
However, it seemed like there was something more to the matter. Urohime looked down once more and continued speaking.
「It’s somewhat hard for me to admit this but… The Magician Association doesn’t allow me to use that spell…」 Urohime said, her facing turning bright red.
Hearing her say that, shivers ran down my spine…
Come to think of it, the Association doesn’t allow me to use my Penta Fusion as well. I was lost in the moment just now so I completely forgot about it. Ops… Well I’ll just take the scolding after that.
「It involves my Unique Spell Outer World. When I use it, a door to the Other World opens, much larger than when Summon Servant is used. And when the door opens, some uninvited guests pass through, which is why I’m not allowed to use it… I assume that the earthquake just now has something to do with it…」
In other words, a door that was not intended to exist opened as a result of the clash of two forbidden spells. We sure did it this time…
The cold sweat running down my back was a testament to that.
「Zeph? What’s wrong?」 Milly asked, with a confused expression.
「…N-Nothing… Urohime, please continue.」 I said, trying to avoid Milly’s question.
「The door is getting bigger by the minute. The monster on the other side of the door is probably the cause of that.」
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