by Sakon Kaidou
Gardranda attacked me with a swing from its right arm — the one with fewer fingers on the hand — but I was able to smoothly evade it and sink the halberd’s axe into the demon’s wrist as I did so.
My attack bit through the skin, sunk into the meat, and cleared its bone. I cleanly cut the demon’s hand off, causing crimson blood to burst from the wound.
“We’re doing well,” I said. It was obvious that her evolution had improved Nemesis’s stats and bonuses, but the difference between this and her previous form was just too great.
Yeah, I think we can handle this... Oh, wait... I thought, and remembered something.
I was still under the effects of Poison.
If I’m not careful, my HP might decrease a whole lot, and... Huh?
“...we’re doing way too well,” I muttered.
Though Poison was supposed to be gradually lowering my HP, it was actually going up instead.
The increase in my physical ability, the clarity in my sensations, and the continuous HP regeneration. It was as though the debuffs had been reversed.
“I see, so this is your...” I said slowly.
“Indeed,” said Nemesis. “This is my new skill: ‘Like a Flag Flying the Reversal.’”
Nemesis opened a window that showed the skill’s name and described what it did.
Basically, it reversed the effects of debuffs received from an opponent.
Instead of dealing continuous damage, Poison healed me.
Instead of lowering my stats, Weakness increased them.
Instead of paralyzing my senses, Intoxication made them clearer.
“Like a Flag Flying the Reversal” was a buff skill that reversed all and any afflictions that affected me.
“It’s quite ideal for this situation,” said Nemesis. “It honestly seems a bit overly-convenient.”
“...You’re not wrong there,” I said. “However...”
According to the message on that red window, out of the possibilities available to her, Nemesis had been equipped with the “optimal solution.” However, that message had merely described what happened.
For some reason or another, I was convinced that I was the one who’d summoned this result. Regardless, this skill made it possible for me to find a way out of this situation... It was much like the first time Nemesis and I had met.
Thus...
“For now... I’m betting it all on this possibility!” I shouted.
“Then we are of the same mind!” she called back.
Nemesis and I released a battle cry as I made my way through Gardranda’s arm attacks and continued chopping away at the demon.
The three debuffs it had given me had originally been simply the worst. However, now they were making me stronger and closing the power gap between me and Gardranda.
I was effectively buffed with HP recovery, perception, and physical strengthening, while the demon had lost its head and practically had its miasma’s ability completely negated. Our power balance was now equal — no, in fact, it had been reversed.
“CUUUOAAAGGGHHH!”
Seemingly upset at this turn-around, Gardranda began randomly releasing miasma in every direction.
However, to me and Nemesis, those fumes were nothing but a smokescreen.
“Rraagh!”
As Gardranda continued to release the miasma, I pierced into its stomach. The Flag Halberd dug through the demon’s meat and touched the weak spot — the core — within it.
“CEEEAAAAGHH...!” Gardranda roared out in anguish. That was proof enough that the stomach was where I had to aim.
However...
“It’s regenerating!” Nemesis shouted.
The wound I had just given it disappeared with a dark purple smoke.
“Hah,” chuckled Nemesis. “It appears that only the weak spot is protected by regeneration.”
“That means it’d take us forever to defeat it if we relied only on weak attacks,” I said.
“It’s not like we can keep fighting for particularly long, anyway,” she said.
I knew exactly what Nemesis meant by that. Due to the effects of Like a Flag Flying the Reversal, my HP was continuously regenerating. However, my SP only continued to decrease. That was the cost of keeping the skill active.
Compared to my HP, my SP wasn’t particularly high. It wouldn’t last for long. Thus, I had to figure out what I had to do to win.
Upon considering the regenerating core, the limited amount of time and our abilities...
...there was only one answer.
“I have to stop evading and simply let him hit me,” I said.
“Nothing else would work,” agreed Nemesis.
I would accumulate the damage the demon did to me and hit it with another Vengeance is Mine. This time, however, it would go straight to the weak spot in the stomach.
“There is something to keep in mind, though,” said Nemesis.
“What is it?” I asked.
“This form doesn’t allow the use of Counter Absorption and Vengeance is Mine,” she answered.
“We’re already out of Absorption uses, anyway,” I said.
“No,” she said, refuting that statement. “My evolution increased its stock to three, so there’s one more use left. However, just as Reversal can only be used by The Flag Halberd, those two can only be used when I’m in my greatsword form.”
Basically, to use Vengeance is Mine, I had to change The Flag Halberd into the greatsword. That meant losing the effects of Like a Flag Flying the Reversal.
To be able to land a clean, lethal hit while under the effects of the debuffs... I have to kill its mobility! I thought.
“Nemesis, let’s go for the legs!” I shouted.
“Understood!”
I swung The Flag Halberd and repeatedly damaged Gardranda’s ankles.
The demon retaliated with swings from its arms, but I simply let them hit me.
Naturally, I got damaged, but the reversed Poison quickly healed me back to full health.
Things were going much like they had when I’d been under the effects of the Elixir. Except — thanks to the continuous regeneration — I could attack, get hit, and heal much more smoothly than before.
“...3250... 3784.”
As I listened to Nemesis speak the amount of damage I had gathered, I looked at the edge of my status window and checked on my SP.
53... 52... The amount of time I could keep the Reversal active was already below one minute.
“...4265, Master!” she called.
All right, I’m betting it all on this!
“Hhaaaagh!”
I dashed through the miasma — which was nothing but a smokescreen to me — dove right next to where Gardranda was standing, gathered my resolve, and horizontally swung The Flag Halberd at the demon’s legs.
Both of its tendons had been severely damaged by my attacks up to that point, so with that deadly swing, the ax-head split both of them apart.
“CUEEEEEEEGHHH!!” Gardranda screamed and fell to its knees, making the ground tremble.
“Do it now, Nemesis!” I shouted.
“Form Shift — Black Blade!” she called. Her command made The Flag Halberd lose its integrity and scatter into particles of light, which soon gathered once more to create the familiar black greatsword.
At that very moment, I was put under the effects of the three debuffs. However, it didn’t matter anymore. I only had to land my final attack.
As my legs were shaking due to Intoxication, I dashed towards the demon. Gardranda was still kneeling, and when I raised my sword and readied myself to strike...
...I noticed something.
The dark purple miasma smokescreen was hindering my vision. However, it did nothing to hide the fact that both of the demon’s shoulders were emitting a bright red light.
“CHHHHGHAAAAHH!”
Deadly flames.
They weren’t limited to the head I’d destroyed — Gardranda could release them from its shoulder-mouths, too.<
br />
However, I refused to stop.
“Counter Absorption!” Nemesis spawned the third barrier of light — the one she’d gained from evolving. It stopped the flames and absorbed the damage they were meant to do.
Though it was unnecessary, that made the damage I’d accumulated reach the greatest amount ever.
I couldn’t be more certain that I had it in the bag.
“Now, Master!” she called.
Once I passed the flames, the barrier of light dispersed.
Finally, I began to swing my sword at Gardranda’s stomach...
“CHHHGHAAAAHH!”
...and was suddenly faced with the demon’s left shoulder-mouth, ready to spit more fire.
“What...?!” I gasped.
“Huh...?!” Nemesis exclaimed, as we realized that Gardranda had actually learned something from the battle up till now. The demon had used the lethal flames from both its shoulder-mouths separately...
...just for the sake of getting past Nemesis’s Counter Absorption.
All the miasma it had previously released hadn’t been meaningless, either — it was a preparatory action meant to render us unable to see that the demon had separated the flame bursts.
“Master!” shouted Nemesis.
I was already swinging the sword.
The blade was slicing through the air for the sole purpose of striking Gardranda’s stomach with Vengeance is Mine. Even with the debuffs, I could land the hit in a mere three seconds. However, the demonic flames would reach me faster.
As if on the verge of death, I began seeing the world in slow-motion.
The left shoulder-mouth opened wide and was about to bathe me in flame. “Gyaghghghghghgh!”
But before it could do so, something resembling a bullet broke through the miasmic veil and hit Gardranda’s left shoulder.
The familiar object exploded and the demon’s left shoulder — when caught in the burst — blew up before it could release its fires.
The moment the heat waves caressed my cheeks...
“Vengeance is Mine!”
...Nemesis and I shouted the name of the skill, landed the hit on Gardranda’s stomach, and pulverized its core.
Epilogue
Gardranda’s body got split in half and fell to the ground with a loud thud before getting reduced to shining particles and vanishing like any other monster.
With the demon’s disappearance, the lingering miasma began to fade, as well.
The dense fog vanished into the sunlight as if it was only natural.
[UBM, “Great Miasmic Demon, Gardranda,” was defeated]
[Selecting MVP]
[Ray Starling was selected as MVP]
[Ray Starling is presented with an MVP special reward — “Miasmaflame Bracers, Gardranda”]
The disappearance of the miasma and the system message made it clear that the battle was over.
I read the message while lying on the ground.
“It appears that... we’ve won,” said Nemesis.
“Not yet!” I rejected that notion. Rook was still up high, fighting the Crimson Roc Bird.
I had to go help him...
“But Master! You still have the debuffs...”
I looked at my status summary and, sure enough, the three status effects were there. Poison was draining my health, while my MP and SP were at a perfect 0. However, the battle wasn’t over yet.
I didn’t mean just the Roc Bird, either. There was also the attack that had hit Gardranda before I’d destroyed it.
That was obviously the...
“Ray! Are you okay?!”
I turned to the source of the voice and saw Marie — who I hadn’t seen since she gave me the Elixir — running up to me.
She was probably approaching me because the miasma was no longer there.
“Your status screen looks horrible,” she said. “Give me a second.”
Saying that, Marie reached for her inventory and took out a few medicine bottles. Unlike my inventory — which was bag-shaped — or Cheshire’s — which was pocket-shaped — her inventory had the appearance of a wristband.
Some of the bottles she took out were HP potions, just like the ones I’d used. There were also some that had the labels “MP” and “SP.”
“Here’s some first aid for you,” said Marie. “It would be great if I could also remove your debuffs, but I don’t have anything that could treat Intoxication or Weakness... And I’ve already used up all the Antidotes I had...”
With those words, Marie looked at the people at the carriages, who had also been affected by the miasma.
Everyone — including the escorts — was down on the ground due to Intoxication and Weakness, but none of them had died of Poison.
From her words, it was safe to assume that Marie was the one who’d helped them.
“I had quite a lot of Antidotes, too,” she said. “But there’s a total of twelve people there, and treating them all required all I could give. Walking around and making people drink medicine made me feel like I’d switched my job to Pharmacist,” she laughed.
Apparently, Marie had been doing her best to protect the people — the tians at the carriages — from dying.
“Heh...” I smirked a little bit.
“What? Why the smile?” she asked.
Whoa, did I really make it that apparent? I thought.
“Well, it’s just that... you’re pretty kind, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I don’t think that kindness has anything to do with that,” Marie responded. “I just... wouldn’t like it.”
“Wouldn’t like what?” I asked.
“When killed, we players only get the death penalty, so that’s all okay, but tians don’t come back to life, right?” she explained. “I simply don’t like the idea of them being lost forever.”
“...I know what you mean,” I said. It was probably akin to the bad taste in my mouth I’d feel whenever tian deaths were involved.
Though she basically just said that player killing is okay, and as someone who was killed recently, I... wait...
“Marie, it just came back to me,” I spoke up. “When looking around this place... did you happen to see the Superior Killer?”
“Oh! Yes yes! I almost forgot!” Realizing something, Marie put her hands together. “I saw him! The same man I saw in Noz Forest — the Superior Killer — fired at Gardranda’s left shoulder! ...He left right after that, though.”
So that thing was actually the Superior Killer’s Embryo...
But why had he only shot the left shoulder? If his goal had been to kill Gardranda — a UBM — he’d surely have fired the same way he did when he killed me. With the way he’d gone about it, I could even assume that he’d helped me.
“One more thing about him...” Marie continued. “From the direction he disappeared into, I think it’s fair to say that he’s heading to Gideon.”
“I see...” I said. If that was the case, I could expect to meet him again.
“Oh, are you healed?” asked Marie.
“Yeah,” I replied. My stats had replenished while we were talking. Though my HP was still going down due to the Poison, my MP and SP were at max.
Nemesis changed into The Flag Halberd. However, unlike before, the skill Like a Flag Flying the Reversal didn’t activate. It was probably because I’d defeated Gardranda — the source of the debuffs.
“Well, whatever,” I said. “I can do just fine without the Reversal.”
“Indeed,” Nemesis agreed. “...By the way, Master.”
“What?” I raised an eyebrow.
Nemesis raised the halberd’s spearhead upwards...
“How, exactly, are you planning on joining an aerial battle?”
...and asked something that I’d completely failed to consider.
“...”
“...”
“...”
We all turned silent as I realized that there was nothing I could do.
Clearly, I didn’t think this throug
h, I thought. There was literally no way for me to assist them.
“Umm... how about hurling some rocks?” asked Marie.
“There’s no way I can throw that high...” I said.
They were so high up that even the Roc Bird — with all its great wingspan — looked like a small point in the sky.
And Rook and Babi aren’t visible at all... Oh! I thought and noticed something.
“They’re coming down,” said Marie.
The Roc Bird began to look bigger as it began losing altitude. However, something seemed wrong.
Instead of diving down at high speed — as it had when it’d attacked me — it was descending in a strangely gentle manner.
When the Roc Bird in my sight was large enough for me to make out its details, I finally realized what was up.
Rook — who was supposed to be fighting it — was riding it, instead.
The Roc Bird gently landed on the ground and let Rook dismount.
“Ray! Marie! Are you all right?!” he ran up to us.
“Yeah, we’re fine, but... how about you? And where’s Babi?” I asked.
“The battle exhausted her, so I had her return to me,” Rook answered while showing the crest on his left hand.
“I see.” I nodded and shifted my gaze to the bird. “And this is...?”
“Audrey!” he replied with enthusiasm.
“CAAAW!”
Audrey? I thought. Oh, I think I know what that refers to.
“So, does the fact that you’ve given it a name mean that...”
“Yes!” Rook said before I could finish the question. “I Charmed and successfully tamed her!”
Well, it was true that Rook’s Male Temptation skill had a low chance of taming female monsters.
...So this thing’s a girl, too, huh? I thought.
“Hey, wait...” I said. “I’m quite sure this bird is Gardranda’s mount.”
“The Charm skill didn’t have an effect on her at first, but it suddenly started to work when the miasma cleared,” he explained.
That was basically the moment when I’d defeated Gardranda.
So, with the demon’s death, Audrey had no longer been a mount, making the difficulty in Charming and taming her drop significantly.
I looked and saw Audrey rubbing her wings on Rook’s back...
Is that some sort of courtship behavior? I thought. Whatever the case, she seemed to be quite attached to him.