Chapter 78 Only My Head Is Cool, Getting Cooler
My unique battle technique――[Skywalk Rapid Flash]
After finishing a series of attacks on the falling false angel, I kicked the air and sprinted through the sky.
I caught Fiona, who had lost her radiant glow and was falling to the ground with a pained expression, in mid-air and held her in my arms.
Fiona opened her eyes slightly and looked up at me, but she didn't seem to be able to speak.
Even so, I spoke to Fiona, who was trying to open her mouth.
"I understand. You don't have to talk."
I was familiar with Fiona's symptoms.
Her arms, which were clutching her chest, seemed to have almost no strength left. When you're in pain, your body naturally tenses up, but Fiona's body was completely limp.
It was clear that her symptoms weren't just due to magical energy depletion.
The symptoms were almost identical to mine after using that technique. So, the treatment should be the same too.
With that thought, I released aura from the soles of my feet to slow down, killing as much of the impact as possible, and landed on the snow.
The snowflakes that had been blown up settled, and I quickly laid Fiona down on the snow. Then, I took out a potion from my Storage Ring. It was an Expert-level healing potion, one of the best in the ring.
I supported Fiona's head with my right hand and used my left hand to remove the potion's cap and bring it to her mouth.
"Fiona, drink this."
As the potion flowed into her mouth, Fiona swallowed it with a pained expression. She took a few moments to finish drinking it all, then let out a sigh of relief.
But this wasn't the end.
When you take a healing potion orally, your wounds will gradually heal, but the healing speed is uniform regardless of the severity of the wound. And the healing speed is relatively slow.
During Fiona's battle, there were scenes where she was hit by the false angel's magic and the snowstorm, and it seemed like she had avoided taking direct hits from the magic, but I couldn't be sure.
I took a glance at Fiona's body, and at first glance, she didn't seem to be injured. However, I couldn't let my guard down. Even if she looked unharmed, there was still a possibility that her wounds could suddenly open up. If it was the same technique as mine...
I took out a new potion, just in case.
"Endure the cold, okay?"
"Eh...?"
I told her, and poured the newly taken-out potion all over Fiona's body.
"Nh..."
The sticky potion flowed over her smooth skin, from her neck to her chest, abdomen, and the thick blood vessels on her legs.
One bottle wasn't enough, so I used 3.
Ideally, I should've applied it to her back as well, but there was no time for that. This should be enough for now.
I took out a coat from my Storage Ring and wrapped Fiona's body with it, laying her down on the spot.
"Aa, Ron...sorry..."
"Huh?"
For some reason, Fiona started apologizing in a weak tone.
"I, I...magical energy..."
"Ah, I know. You're out of magical energy, right?"
"Yes, I...fell..."
"Don't worry about it. You were cornered that far, so it's like you almost won anyway. ――You did great."
"How...?"
"Well, if Io or Garon were here to help, it would've been different...but even alone, I'm enough. Thanks to you, I learned how to defeat it too."
"......?"
"Rest here. I'll finish this quickly and come back."
"Nh..."
Fiona nodded slightly and closed her eyes.
I grasped the Black Radiance I had placed beside me and stood up, taking a few steps away from Fiona. I was about to jump into the air using [Rapid Flash].
But before that...
"――Haaaaaaa..."
I let out a long, deep breath.
I was relieved that Fiona was, at least for now, safe. However, this sigh wasn't one of relief.
――It was anger.
I also felt guilty for getting myself into a crisis by being teleported by the false angel. But more than that, I simply felt angry towards the false angel.
I rarely get angry at monsters.
That's because I understand that it's pointless to get angry at them, and it's just a waste of emotions. But sometimes, I do get consumed by anger.
For example, when 3 of my precious friends died.
Or when I couldn't vent my anger at a deserving target.
So this is probably just a case of misplaced anger.
I tried to let out my anger with a deep breath, but it wasn't going to go away that easily. My anger was boiling over like a hot pot, making my heart race. But despite that, my head remained calm and clear.
It's not that I was controlling my emotions.
It's the opposite.
――What am I supposed to do?
[Rapid Flash]
I jumped up into the air.
The false angel, trapped in the [Resonance Barrier Sphere] in mid-air, still couldn't escape.
It's not that it couldn't destroy the barrier sphere――it's just that Thunder magic couldn't do it, but Gravity magic probably could. Moreover, it didn't even need to destroy it. It could just use Teleport magic to get out of the sphere easily.
The reason it couldn't do that and the false angel was still trapped in the sphere was surprisingly simple.
――I had kept attacking.
If you think about it, it's obvious. During the battle with the false angel and Fiona, I realized that this guy's entire body is made up of tiny particles like mist――when it takes damage, it can't use magic until it restores its large physical body to a certain extent.
So, as long as I keep attacking and keep it in a broken state, it can't use magic.
Of course, normally, I can't do something like that. False angel is always on high alert, and it'll counterattack. Like when it fought Fiona, it could give itself heavy properties to prevent its body from collapsing. Although covering its entire body with heavy properties is too heavy and impossible, even maintaining it partially would be enough to leave no opening.
But because being cornered by Fiona, the false angel let its guard down against its surroundings.
And I had plenty of time to prepare.
The [Resonance Barrier Sphere] I released to capture the false angel, which was based on the [Continuous Blade Barrier], had a total of 10 shots.
It's a massive number of [Continuous Blades].
I used a hidden technique to vary some of them into [Raging Continuous Blades] and kept detonating them inside the barrier sphere.
To keep it trapped for a long time, I detonated only a few [Continuous Blades] at once. Even so, the explosion blew the false angel's body to smithereens, and the shockwave reached the inner surface of the barrier sphere, reflected, and amplified, becoming a powerful explosion. By consuming the [Continuous Blades], I prevented holes from forming in the barrier sphere's radius.
By repeating this process non-stop, I managed to trap the false angel inside the barrier sphere.
Well, normally, I wouldn't have the luxury of firing 10 [Continuous Blade Barriers], so it's a technique I can't usually use.
And the time I could keep it trapped wasn't that long either. The barrier sphere had already shrunk considerably, and maintaining it was nearing its limit. Consuming [Continuous Blades] for the explosion was one thing, but reflecting the shockwave also drained my aura.
Eventually, the [Continuous Blades] needed to maintain the sphere would run out, or the aura infused in the [Continuous Blades] would be depleted, causing the barrier sphere itself to collapse.
But it seemed it was still okay for now.
I leaped to where the false angel was being held, and with my [Flying Control Sword], I drew out an aura sword and used it as a foothold to land.
Maintaining my body weight against gravity also consumes aura. I had poured in as much aura as possible, but I wouldn't be able to hold out for even a minute.
However, that's enough.
I don't plan on taking a minute to spare.
I poured aura into the Black Radiance in my right hand, and just as the clear ringing sound resonated, I operated all the [Continous Blade] that made up the boundary sphere, which was near its limit.
My unique sword technique, [Resonance Barrier Sphere] variation――hidden technique [Raging Continuous Blade]
I sent all the blades flying towards the false angel, which was in the process of regenerating.
Boom!
The false angel's body scattered once again.
As it began to regenerate and simultaneously tried to use magic, raising its magical energy, I swung my right hand's Black Radiance horizontally.
Faster than I could swing it, the Black Radiance crumbled to dust, unable to withstand the aura.
However, the massive amount of aura I had poured in was released, trapping the regenerating false angel in an aura prison.
BOOM――
Inside the aura sphere, the false angel turned into a bloody mist and swirled at high speed. The sphere was completely dyed a deep crimson color.
"...Did I fail?"
I muttered, pouring aura into the new Black Radiance I had taken out from my Storage Ring immediately after swinging my sword.
Before my eyes, the aura prison couldn't withstand the internal pressure and cracked, then exploded.
The deafening explosion making the crimson mist scattered grandly.
It began to gather at a single point once again. However,
"Huh? ...Are you trying to escape?"
The crimson mist, which was gathering to regenerate, began to condense at a location slightly away from me.
It seems like it's trying to escape, but it can't move far in its current state of blood smoke. Moreover, once the restoration begins, the blood smoke will start to converge on a single point.
So, it seems like the limit is to restore it a few meters away.
If that's the case, there's no need to worry about it escaping.
I controlled the Aura Sword, which I was using as a foothold, and moved to the location where the false angel was restoring itself.
And at the moment when the false angel, which was in the middle of restoring itself, raised its magical energy, I swung my sword again.
The Black Radiance disappeared. The aura sphere trapped the false angel. Whoosh――the false angel, now turned into blood smoke, swirled inside the sphere. This time, unlike before, it didn't crack. However, it's clear that the false angel failed since it turned into blood smoke. I replaced the Black Radiance that had turned to dust with a new one, pouring aura into it while trying to compress the sphere, but it exploded halfway through, unable to withstand the internal pressure.
This explosion was bigger than the last one.
I covered my entire body with a thin layer of aura and endured the blast.
"This is quite challenging."
I've seen Fiona do it twice.
I've more or less grasped what she's doing. Essentially, it's the same as what I've been doing with the Resonance Barrier Sphere until now.
The explosion and reflection inside the closed space, amplification, and rapid compression to increase destructive power. And by doing so, it's possible to crush the object inside the sphere into tiny pieces. Additionally, by scattering tiny aura blades, it's easier to crush the target.
All of this can be recreated by applying my sword techniques.
The distribution of aura for each effect, the timing of the explosion and compression... it's quite severe, and I've failed twice already....
"Well... I think I've got it now."
Next time, I won't fail.
"~~~~!!?"
I chased after the red-black mist that was trying to escape again, moving a few meters away.
As I gazed at the false angel's head, which was starting to restore itself in front of me, I thought to myself.
Will I end it, or won't I?
"......"
The hesitation was just for a moment.
It's more important to focus on Fiona's treatment than to waste time on this thing.
So――.
"Hah......disappear."
I let out a breath, as if to release my anger outside my body.
Then, with a twisted expression fueled by some emotion, I swung my sword 3 times at the false angel.
The Black Radiance vanished, and the aura sphere covered the false angel's body, which was about to recover.
I didn't know the name of this technique. So, I later learned it from Fiona.
Imitation Sword God Technique――――[Absolute Death Prison]
The super-compressed aura chunk released an intense light.
Ding――, a sound like metal scraping against metal echoed.
Together with the aura sphere, the false angel finally disappeared――.
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