Chapter 669: I Know a Wind Faster Than Light
That time had finally come.
I was standing, continuing to attack. The "Golden Age" was also standing, but its light was just about to fade.
"............"
It was only natural. Since deploying the light-claws and light-stinger, the "Golden Age" had undergone many drastic changes, such as the intensity of its attacks and its shift to high-mobility warfare. But just as much as that, there were clear signs of exhaustion as time passed. It was probably like a bucket with a hole in the bottom; if light was being generated from its shattered tail and the inside of the claws it had broken itself, it meant nothing else but that it was continuously expelling it from within its body to the outside.
Within the colosseum formed by the circular formation of the Crystal Scorpions, the only ones watching the battle between me and the Imperial Majesty were Saina and the Crystal Scorpions serving as both the venue and the audience. And since Saina wasn't speaking, a silence that seemed inversely proportional to the danger level spread throughout the area. Even though their Emperor was in a critical situation, the scorpions still just silently maintained their circle without showing any signs of coming at us. If things kept going like this, I would win. Hell, there was even a possibility that the "Golden Age" would just self-destruct on its own if I just stood here.
But, I wonder why.........
"Right now, in this very moment, is when I'm the most tense!!"
It wasn't a sense of caution learned from fables like 'a wounded beast is the most terrifying' or 'carelessness is your greatest enemy'......... It simply meant that I was terrified of the "Golden Age" right in front of me, and I couldn't help it. I wonder why. The radiance that covered its entire body was now clouded without a trace of its former glory, and the way the strength had left its shattered claws and tail—making its previous movements seem like a lie—was probably what you'd call a "dead body."
But to me, it looked like nothing else but it concentrating every last ounce of energy in its body to unleash one massive, final strike. I couldn't carelessly approach, but at the same time, distancing myself didn't give me any sense of security. The only thing I could do right now was to keep Quantum Gaze ready to activate at a moment's notice.
It was like a quick-draw mini-game. Because the rules of those kinds of mini-games are so simple, success or failure is thrust upon you with absolute clarity. The rule governing this place at this very moment was of the exact same nature. This would probably be the final exchange......... Win or lose.
".........Bring it on, Imperial Majesty."
Not knowing when it's going to come—no matter what game it is, that puts pressure on the player. Should I just focus on what's in front of me? Should I take action? Should I aim for a counter? Frustration throws your thoughts into overdrive, which ultimately chips away at your concentration.
But I intentionally accelerated that overdrive even further. Think......... Among the actions the "Golden Age" could take, "What will it do?" and "What should I do?"
Crystal Scorpion...... Exordinary...... Golden Scorpion......... Moon......... Crystal......... Amursidian Quartz...... Ore...... Magic Power...... "Holy Sword".........
Information bubbled up and vanished like foam. It still hadn't moved. Beneath a sky where the black of night was gradually brightening, the Imperial Majesty remained silent.
".................."
I was suffocating. I didn't have the courage to use a healing potion. I had already deactivated Overflow itself, but no matter how you sliced it, using a potion would create a moment of absolute vulnerability......... No, no matter how much I expanded my thoughts, I had to keep my body honed to the absolute brink of full throttle at all times.
But, what if. What if making a single move here was the one and only correct answer leading to a winning strategy?
"..................Now then."
Courage.
Yes, courage.
I just gave Saina a whole speech about it. What good would it do if I was the one who chickened out?
Then, what do I do? My hair-raising intuition made me understand it whether I wanted to or not. This is the end. If I don't decide what to do right here... I will be forced onto the defensive against the Imperial Majesty. In this single instant............... What should I do?
"..................It's a quick-draw showdown!!!"
Quantum Gaze, activate! I let go of Duxram, which I was gripping in my right hand, and instantly moved my fingers at high speed!!
But just as expected, the "Golden Age" made its move here too. The right appendage of the Scorpion Emperor—which had been curled inward like a human crossing their arms—vanished, and light───
No, this is!!
"Uoooooh!!?"
"───Ma,"
I felt like I heard Saina's voice behind me, but right now, I couldn't afford to pay attention to that. Sorry, Saina, I don't have the leeway to deal with anything else......... not for this.
The "Golden Age"'s final trump card. By compressing the remaining magical energy within its body............ an ultra, ultra, ultra-long-range attack that burned and severed the enemy with a "line." It was, without a doubt, a laser sword-draw striking at the speed of light!!! And it still had two more muzzles left!!
"Come at me!!!!"
Through a selection of skills driven entirely by intuition and reflexes that left conscious thought behind, I evaded the first shot—which crawled across the ground trying to sever my legs—with a jump. But because I was accelerated by Quantum Gaze, I could tell: the second strike would reach me before I landed!!
Then what do I do, how do I move!? There it is again, a swing of its appendage so fast that even within the slow-motion world of Quantum Gaze, I could only barely perceive the moment it attacked. A sense of déjà vu. But, ah, that's right, it's slower than that...... but it's longer than that!!!
"You, bastarrrrrrrd!!"
The answer my brain calculated consisted of two skills. Hermes Boots, which enabled mid-air maneuvering, and Orbit Movement, which allowed me to draw a circular path anywhere I could run—allowing me to trace a circle with a radius of approximately 1.8 meters in mid-air!!
In other words, a single, full rotation pivoting around my own head like a compass. But by moving like that, my torso's position would shift, even if just for a split second. And that was exactly what allowed me to seize the result known as evasion against the literal "beam of light" swung in a trajectory meant to cleave my chest cleanly in half along with my remaining right arm.
"~~~~~!!!"
My vision shook.
It was natural, and I was used to it. But no matter how used to it I was, it didn't change the fact that I was dizzy. By the time that split second had passed, the shadow of death clinging to me had swelled to the largest scale I had ever faced.
The "Golden Age" had three broken parts. It had three parts where it supplemented the missing limbs with lasers. The attacks it just fired were two strikes from both claws. If so, then the final shot was.
"Ku, o...............h!!!"
The sky was being torn apart.
No, the lethal laser fired from its tail, stretched straight up as if pointing at the heavens, shone brighter than the stars of the night, splitting the night sky reflected in my eyes perfectly in two. And that light wasn't just a simple line dividing the sky into left and right. I was standing on the boundary line right now. I was about to be cut down by the boundary line.
Thrust a single answer at it.
Thrust the final move at it. Why? Because I was the one who made the first move!!
"Checkmate!!!"
What I thrust forward was not a sword. It wasn't a spear, nor was it an axe. Operating with a mass right at the absolute limit of what my right hand could support, all to protect me, its wielder... the hidden mirror of the underworld reflected the "night sky," the "boundary line," and the "Golden Age"!!!!
Now then, here is a simple question. What happens when you shine a light directly into a mirror head-on? Imperial Majesty, your answer, please.
".................."
The Mirror Shield of the Nether-King was letting off an unpleasant smoke. Naturally. The mirror portion that reflected magic... magical energy... was only the central part of the round shield. The surrounding area functioned as a standard shield and a Re-Legacy, so it was only obvious that its durability would be chipped away if it took a direct hit from that.
"..................Ah,"
But the mirror portion... the mirror processed from the lens of Atlanticus Repnorca... had indeed reflected the light of the boundary line splitting the night sky. Furthermore, that beam of light had undeniably been swung downward from above, but............
"That was waaaaaaaaay too clooooooooose.................."
The Shield of the Nether-King had indeed blocked the light and completely protected me. The round shield, second only to a tower shield in size among shields wieldable with one hand, had prevented the lethal blade aimed at my torso and crotch. And the light that escaped the shield's defensive range had pierced the coordinates exactly five centimeters below my crotch............ Looking down, I saw a bizarre, single straight line carved into the earth by the light that had slipped between my legs, following the downward trajectory of its swing.
And then,
".........Ha,"
The breath that unintentionally escaped my lips contained all the tension that had been supporting me throughout this entire battle.
The strength left my body, and I fell to my knees. And right in front of me......... was the figure of the "Golden Age," cleaved perfectly in two by its very own attack, reflected by none other than the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King.
"I don't even have the energy to raise a victory cry............"
As if to say, 'Then I will do it for you,' something appeared before my eyes. It was───
『Monster Unprecedented...... Resolved!』
『Subjugation Target: Golden Scorpion "Golden Age"』
『Exordinary Monster has been defeated.』
『Acquired the Title 【Golden Revolution】.』
『Acquired the Title 【The Nightless Sky Shining in Gold】.』
『Acquired the Unprecedented Secret Art "Imperial Gold Era".』
It was the system announcement declaring the player's victory.
Author's Afterword
A 1000% self-indulgent detour comes to a conclusion............!!!!
I had set a self-imposed rule that the Exordinary Skill must have the exact same name as the monster, but I really wanted to use the reverse pattern for this guy's skill name, writing "Age" as both "Generation" and "Era," so I broke the chains I put on myself. I am strong.........
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