Chapter 15
FAR AWAY ON THE FRONT LINES, the heavily damaged Machina Guardian rampaged wildly, as if some limiter had been removed, while the leg the ashen knights had severed spawned Mechanized Protectors. As Eizenfald held off the raid boss itself, Mira quickly ordered the sisters to deal with the smaller spawns.
Even while Alfina worked to support Eizenfald, her eyes were glued to Christina, who ran in from behind. She had Master’s help, so things turned out fine, but… She knew Christina had only escaped danger thanks to Mira’s emergency Shepherd to Refuge. That just made Alfina’s eyes sterner. How shameful for her to let her guard down to the point that our Master needed to step in. I’ll have to give her more special training to avoid such a thing ever happening again.
The sword breaking had been an unexpected accident, which was all the more reason one needed to react calmly and swiftly if that happened. Yet, right in front of the enemy, Christina had simply stared at the broken sword. Then she’d turned and goggled at the enemy, leaving herself defenseless. That was Alfina’s assessment.
They’d come here through Mira’s summoning magic, so a direct hit from Ancient Ray would only destroy their barriers and forcefully dismiss them. It wouldn’t actually hurt them, just return them to their location pre-summoning. Still, Alfina couldn’t forgive Christina for reacting in a way that put her so close to “death.”
Perhaps I should teach her to use her shield as a weapon. Alfina, capable of simultaneously supporting Eizenfald and worrying about her sister, decided that—once they returned to Valhalla—she’d teach Christina to fight after losing her means of offense.
***
While the other Valkyries ran around finishing off Protectors, Christina gleefully returned to the front line. “I’m back!” She ever-so-confidently reunited with her ashen-knight platoon, looking up at the Machina Guardian again. It was rare for her to be so enthusiastic about battle.
Right away, Alfina chastised her. “Christina, have you no shame? How could you leave yourself so open to attack that Master had to rescue you?”
“S-sorry. I’ll be more careful!” Christina replied, showing her willingness to reflect on her actions. It was so natural, one would think she had genuinely been careful.
That was merely because Christina was used to paying simple lip service as a “genuine apology” to shut Alfina up and keep her from complaining.
“Goodness, Christina… Fine.” Alfina had a feeling that she wasn’t being genuine, but they were in the middle of a battle. “We can’t have you fighting without a sword, so use this.”
Admonishments could wait; instead, Alfina offered Christina her second sword. When she did, she finally noticed that Christina already wielded another sword.
“Wait! That blade…” Shock suddenly colored Alfina’s eyes. She knew exactly what the holy sword Sanctia was. “Christina, why do you have Master’s holy sword?!”
A special holy sword only Mira could summon—that was Alfina’s perception of Sanctia. She’d only seen the dark knights and ashen knights use it, but she’d been able to tell how the sword itself propelled and bolstered their attacks.
The holy sword Sanctia was undergoing growth. Alfina’s only dream was that she’d get to wield it when it reached its zenith. Yet Christina was armed with the growing sword here and now. Shock was apparent on Alfina’s face—shock she’d never shown since the day Danblf disappeared from the world, thirty years ago.
“Um, she lent it to me to replace the broken one…” Christina explained quickly, chilled by Alfina’s unusual reaction. To avoid incurring Alfina’s wrath, she did her best to emphasize that Mira had just let her borrow it for the time being.
For Valkyries, receiving a sword from their master was an extreme honor. But this particular instance wasn’t as grand as Alfina assumed; Sanctia was more serving as an offhand substitute. Still, to someone who’d only used her sisters’ hand-me-downs, it was special. Yet Sanctia was something Alfina could never so much as ask to get her hands on, prompting Christina to emphasize that there wasn’t any special meaning behind her use of the sword. The younger Valkyrie was certain that experiencing Alfina’s long-held dream first would mean Alfina tasked her with harsher training than ever.
Knowing Alfina, she’ll tell me to get stronger and stronger until I’m worthy of the sword. I’m just sure of it! Christina was in a better mood than ever at having received the sword, but her mind had raced to wring out an answer, and to clumsily emphasize that it wasn’t anything special.
“I see. Well, be careful next time. I won’t let you act shamefully while wielding our Master’s holy sword.”
“No, ma’am! I’m very aware!”
Quickly finishing their conversation, the sisters jumped back into the fray on the battlefield, which they’d left to the other Valkyries and Eizenfald.
I think I got her off my back… Christina mused.
It wasn’t rare for Christina to slack off during battle, but it was a different story when it came to Alfina, who was devoted utterly to her master. It would perhaps be understandable if Alfina were distracted for a moment, but it was normally unthinkable for her to leave a mission from Mira unattended. She’d never make her attachment to the holy sword obvious by neglecting the battlefield while others fought. Still, that attachment was perhaps proof of just how special the sword was.
Standing before the Machina Guardian and Protectors, Christina gazed at her sword and smirked to herself.
“I’m gonna finish these things off!”
Backing off to a safe distance, Christina raised the holy sword. Sneaking away to take a break midbattle was one of her special skills, but it seemed she’d use a different skill this time. She clutched the brand-new sword, wholly unused by her sisters. Then she gathered her mana—a feat she was better at than anyone, thanks to her endless slacking—into the holy sword.
A moment after, the mana emitted a blinding flash rivaling the sun’s brightness, turning Sanctia into a three-meter-long sword of light.
Everyone watched the sword with bated breath as it radiated overwhelming divinity. However, one person—Christina herself—was unusually shaken by the change. “Huh?” What?! What’s going on? Something changed! Had the sword Mira gave her transformed because she’d done something wrong?
Worried, Christina looked up at the sword of light. It’s so cool… She felt like a real-life hero right out of a storybook.
As she fantasized about her glory, Christina heard the thing she feared most: a sharp warning from Alfina. “Christina, dodge!”
Either out of instinct or genuinely taking Alfina’s advice, Christina reflexively jumped. A hairsbreadth away, a beam of light struck the place where she’d just stood. The Ancient Ray shot burned the floor black.
When Christina looked up, she saw the Machina Guardian aiming at her again. At the same time, its thick leg reached out to strike. Having dodged, the Valkyrie was still in midair, leaving her no way to evade the massive blow. I’ll use my shield as a foothold… No, it’s not fast enough!
Just before the Machina Guardian’s swing struck her, there were several explosive sounds. A slight delay caused the boss’s leg to sail right by her.
“Whoa, that was close…” When Christina landed, she jumped further back and took a sidelong glance at the leg that had just crashed into the ground. On its inner side were countless new bullet marks. It seemed the cannons on the castle walls and towers had diverted the strike’s arc by force. Soul Howl boasted terrifying precision.
Christina’s relief was short-lived. The Machina Guardian continued to target her. Its vertical strikes, horizontal swings, and laser volleys all ignored the other sisters, Mira’s army, and even Eizenfald in favor of Christina.
“Why does it want me so baaad?!” Christina dodged frantically in every conceivable direction. Due to her single-minded focus on evasion, the holy sword’s light faded, and it returned to its normal state.
***
The Machina Guardian continued to follow Christina obstinately.
Its concentrated attacks utterly ignored the biggest threat, Eizenfald, who boasted far more offensive and defensive power than the Valkyrie. Had Christina’s stealth attack been that effective? Overall, Eizenfald should have been the most obvious threat to the Machina Guardian. After all, Mira had the dragon attack to maximize his aggro levels.
But here, at the very end, things had gone awry. This was something they’d never seen in the Machina Guardian.
Observing it, Mira asked her companion, “Say, Soul Howl, what do you make of that?”
“Must be because of that sword of light from before. Condense mana that densely, and anything would be wary,” he answered matter-of-factly. Even from a distance, he could tell that the sword of light’s power was awe-inspiring.
“So you think so too.”
Mira had also guessed that the raid boss noticed Christina’s massive concentration of mana, so her opinion aligned with Soul Howl’s. She decided to share a strategy she’d just hit upon with Soul Howl and the Valkyrie Sisters.
***
“Understood.” Alfina and the other sisters immediately took action. Eizenfald got to work, too, though more slowly.
“No more! Please! Come oooon!” Christina ran for her life.
Unfortunately, either she’d reached her limit or the Machina Guardian was learning how she dodged. It got closer and closer to her. When one attack finally grazed her, the raid boss unleashed a stabbing blow sure to strike her no matter what. Christina fended it off with her shield, then jumped as far back as she could.
“Nice! It worked.” She’d mitigated the attack’s impact while putting distance between them.
At the same time, Eizenfald descended from above to cut the Machina Guardian off from Christina. He swung his powerful tail, hitting his mark perfectly. The Machina Guardian’s sights were set on him again, and they resumed their kaiju-like battle. Meanwhile, the sisters fighting the Protectors had moved their battles far from the main battlefield.
“Now, Miss Christina, you may focus to your heart’s content,” said the spirit of stealth, Wasranvel.
He was at the back of the battlefield, next to Christina, whom he’d hidden after her retreat—decreasing her aggro levels and changing the Machina Guardian’s priority target. That wasn’t as strong as total concealment, but with so many people on the battlefield, it was effective enough to distract the boss.
Having Wasranvel calibrate aggro was another strategy Mira had thought of during her travels.
“Yes, sir!”
Christina readied her sword and gathered mana within it. At the same time, Wasranvel perfectly concealed the mana’s flow. Their plan to defeat the Machina Guardian proceeded smoothly in the corner of the battlefield.
***
On the front lines, the boss was about to cross the 10 percent health threshold. With that transition, its attacks became even more ferocious. It fired its laser machine gun mercilessly and used Ancient Ray much more often.
Especially vicious were the Ancient Ray attacks it launched immediately after knocking targets off-balance with a leg sweep. It was no overstatement to say half the battle’s difficulty would lie in this final stretch.
Eizenfald and the Valkyrie Sisters fought defensively. Now was the time to hold steady. The boss became even harder to deal with when its health went below 10 percent, so preserving their health was vital.
Mira planned to watch for an opportunity to deal nearly 10 percent damage at once. Christina was doing part of the prep for that, and Eizenfald was warming up a dragon breath to help out.
The Valkyrie squads dispersed, focusing on evasion as they maneuvered. Eizenfald continued to fight off the Machina Guardian, taking some attacks head-on and parrying others. One by one, the sisters defeated their assigned Protectors, then took on the task of scattering the Machina Guardian’s attacks.
The battle pressed on with minimal damage, but that didn’t mean they could let the raid boss attack as it pleased. One strike of its massive leg had enough force to destroy an ashen knight. Its individual laser machine-gun shots were less strong, but rained down ceaselessly, slowly but surely racking up damage.
Given that the mages’ side was waiting for preparations to finish, they were doing a fantastic job buying time. However, there was a curveball during that preparation period.
While Mira awaited the perfect time to activate the summoning spell that would provide the necessary last push…
While Soul Howl prepared special ammo for the final volley…
While Eizenfald used draconic magic to neutralize the laser machine gun…
While Alfina destroyed the Machina Guardian’s joints…
While her sisters finished a defensive formation…
While Christina’s charge was approaching completion…
While First Pupil and Pegasus placed a new round of stones…
It happened.
There was a sound like an alarm. It was harsh—no doubt meant as an emergency alert—and there was something eerie about it. That wasn’t all; red lights in the corners of the large chamber began flashing.
“What is this…? What’s happening?!” Mira demanded.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like the sound of it,” Soul Howl replied.
They’d defeated the Machina Guardian countless times in-game, and they had the entire player base’s collective knowledge. But they had no recollection of that alarm. This late in the game, the mages were facing something new.
What in the world was going on? They braced themselves to be ready for anything, but the siren’s meaning quickly became clear: it warned those present to conduct an emergency evacuation.
Instantly after it sounded, sparks flew from the Machina Guardian’s giant form. As its plating flew off, its actions and appearance changed drastically. Intense metal creaks came from the raid boss. They sounded like mechanical shrieks, as if the beast itself were screaming. The noises caused its actions to become very noticeably different.
“This…is just like Rampage.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is.”
Mira and Soul Howl voiced what was apparently the most apt comparison to the Machina Guardian’s current state: Rampage Mode.
“I can’t believe it still had such secrets hidden up its sleeve,” Mira grumbled.
Up to this point, the boss had used many attacks outside its usual windows. It had fired Ancient Ray before crossing the necessary damage threshold, used Rampage despite lacking the required conditions, and so on. This Rampage Mode, however, was wholly new. Being as cautious as possible, the mages swiftly got to work responding to the maneuver.
Meanwhile, the Machina Guardian abandoned self-defense entirely and crushed everything in reach. It didn’t perform any of the defensive maneuvers it had used against Eizenfald and Alfina. It replaced those with more ferocious moves than ever, meeting all the mages’ attacks with desperate counterattacks. To the Machina Guardian, offense was now the best defense.
Most annoying of all was its laser machine gun. The shots’ individual power hadn’t changed much, but it fired many more than before, as if firing a shotgun at the rate of a Gatling gun. Unlike shotgun ammo, each shot had the full force of a laser. The machine gun had become a vicious cannon that could blow away summons’ defensive barriers in an instant. Worse, it never stopped firing. Its aim was a mess, making its fire impossible to concentrate, but the range and overwhelming quantity of its shots meant it rained lasers all over the battlefield.
Thus, casualties popped up everywhere. Over half the golems positioned throughout the battlefield were destroyed, and the laser machine gun was culling the army of ashen knights in real time.
Worst of all, because the lasers rained all over the battlefield, they exposed the hidden Christina and Wasranvel in no time.
“Eek!”
“Well, this is tricky!” Wasranvel managed to dodge, putting up a shield to block the lasers, but he struggled against their endless number and range.
Christina deflected the lasers deftly with her shield, but unfortunately, her focus on defense caused more than half the mana she’d condensed into the holy sword to disperse. “Aah! All the mana I gathered…”
Left with nowhere to run, the pair scurried behind a defensive wall they spotted towering over the battlefield. Soul Howl’s necromancy had created the structure; it was quite sturdy, so it wouldn’t break down too quickly under laser fire.
They’d secured their safety for the time being, but Christina just stared sadly at the holy sword, aware that she wouldn’t regather all that mana any time soon.
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