Power Unleashed

FEATHERS FLOATED DOWN from Haniel's new wings. I didn't know

what they were for, but I had a bad feeling regardless.

Myne frowned at the white feathers drifting toward us. "They

explode when you touch them. Be careful."

"Dodging all those is going to take some seriously back-breaking

gymnastics."

We leapt straight upward into the middle of the feathers, heading

toward Haniel at the center. With Gluttony's starvation half-unleashed, all

my abilities were boosted. I saw each feather without the least trouble as

they floated in the air.

Not only that, I now had full control of my stats. No, I had access to

even more. I would use them with the time I had in order to feast upon the

mechangel's soul.

The feathers that hit the ground exploded, and the air around them

roared with flame. A strange wind swept up a river of feathers, and they

flew toward us. Perfect timing. I can use those.

"Greed," I said, "can you take those feathers?"

"With ease. They won't leave so much as a scratch. The question is,

can you?"

"We're running out of time. Let's just find out."

It was reckless, and I knew it. I sliced at a feather. As expected, it

exploded, but I used the blast to send me farther skyward. The burns from

the blast damage would heal thanks to Health Regen.

Now clear of the explosive feathers, I transformed my sword into the

black bow.

"We've come this far, so let's make the most of it. Greed, take ten

percent of my stats. You know what comes next."

"With pleasure. But let me get those tasty stats first!"

The black bow changed shape in my hand. It transformed into what

I'd decided to call an Apocalyptic Weapon of Mortal Sin, a huge obsidian

arc pointed straight at Haniel. As I loaded a magic arrow, I imbued it with

Sandstorm. I would turn Haniel and its annoying feathers to stone. Myne

was in there among them, but I knew she'd be fine. With Greed aiming, not

a single arrow would miss its target, even if I fired the barrage with my eyes

closed.

"I'm counting on you, Greed!"

The Sandstorm-charged Bloody Ptarmigan rushed toward the earth

like a bolt of lightning. It split into parts, striking down the feathers

surrounding Haniel and turning them to stone before they exploded.

Haniel took the full force of the main attack. And this was no simple

spell-loaded arrow. It was Greed's First Level secret technique, the Bloody

Ptarmigan. The force of the attack was immense, and stone swallowed the

enormous figure of Haniel.

I watched it from the air, shouting down at Myne. "Myne, now!"

Myne's glance told me she already knew the score, and she made a

direct line for Haniel. Now trapped in stone, the winged monster was a

sitting, gleaming duck.

"This is the best chance we'll get. Sloth, unleash!" Myne gripped her

black axe and raised it high. In response, the axe began to transform. Its

blade grew sharper and larger as if releasing all the energy stored within.

Wrapped in black light, it seemed to somehow grow yet heavier.

Myne brought her new axe down upon Haniel, still encased in white

marble. The impact carved chunks out of the very ground itself. The

strength of it sent the lower half of Haniel's torso—legs and all—flying.

The aftershocks leveled the ruins of the old village far off into the distance.

"What…what the hell was that?!"

"Don't act so shocked," said Myne. "We're not done yet."

Everything from Haniel's waist down was gone, but as long as the

monster could regenerate, it was only a matter of time before it regained its

footing. We had to finish it off while it was weak. As I dropped from the

sky, I used the speed of my descent to move in for another attack.

I was about to transform Greed into the black sword when he shouted

through my Telepathy. "Fate! The black scythe!"

The living half of Haniel had noticed my movement and prepared a

counterattack by summoning blue fireballs around itself. The fireballs

weren't only for me; they were also a defense against Myne, who was

closing in just as quickly.

I cut the fireballs into nonexistence as I closed in on Haniel from

above. The black scythe was the right choice; so long as a spell came

directly from a skill, the scythe negated its effect entirely. But Haniel saw

the spells were useless and instead crafted a blue barrier as it searched for

an escape route.

"That barrier is a skill, Fate. Cut it down!"

"Got it."

Cutting through the barrier felt like cutting through thick metal. This

was the first time I'd felt resistance while cutting through a skill. Was the

barrier powerful enough to withstand the black scythe?

"What's the matter, Fate?" Greed said. "You unleash half your

Gluttony, and this is the best you can do?"

Always the critic, even at a time like this.

"Shut up," I said, as the black scythe's blade fought the barrier.

"Use your eyes. See through the barrier! Its strength will not be

spread evenly throughout."

I focused my red eye on the barrier, and a new world revealed itself

to me. I saw the flow of the barrier Haniel had created. It was like blood

coursing through a body, some parts hectic, other parts relaxed.

"Am I seeing the circulation of magical energy?"

"You are. Now, aim for a weak point!"

I pulled the scythe from the barrier, aligned myself with a point

where the magical flow was weak, and swung again. This time, the blade

sliced into it with delightful ease. As it cut deeper, the black scythe's skill-

negation effect caused the barrier to make a sound like shattered glass. With

a hiss, it dissolved.

"We're through!"

"Keep it up and cut the monster down, Fate!"

With the black scythe still equipped, I plunged at what remained of

Haniel's upper body and swung. Haniel crossed its arms to defend against

the attack, but it made no difference. The scythe's blade sank in from above.

The rest was quick work. The blade cut through both Haniel's arms and into

its chest, cleaving straight to the core. The girl of white cringed at the

attack, and part of me was pained to have hurt her.

As I was about to launch my follow-up attack, Haniel spread its

wings. It was trying to escape to the skies, flinging explosive feathers

around itself as it did. I lacked the ability to fly, which meant that if Haniel

got too high, there'd be no way for me to fight it. Not even the black bow's

arrows would reach the mechangel if I lost sight of it.

I fell to the earth, dodging the exploding feathers. I wanted to jump

back into the fray, but Haniel was too high. I couldn't get to it. At this rate,

all our work would be for nothing. Haniel would heal itself of all the

damage we'd worked so hard to deliver.

Spots of red stained the dry earth by my feet. My right eye had

started bleeding. I was closing in on my limit. If I didn't want to lose

myself, I had to take Haniel down, and quickly.

Myne caught up to me as I stood there, frustrated and furious at

Haniel's attempt to buy time. "I can get you up there," she said.

"What? How?!"

Myne lowered her axe blade. Her eyes said the rest. Get on.

Are you serious?! I thought. You want me to ride your axe?!

But she was dead serious, and she was right. In the end, I had to

finish Haniel off, because I was the one with Gluttony.

"Hurry up," she said. "Before Haniel has a chance to heal."

"All right. Let's do this."

But I had no way to defeat Haniel. The most powerful attack at my

disposal was Greed's First Level secret technique. It had a wide area of

effect, but it wasn't powerful enough to overcome Haniel's regenerative

abilities. I needed a more focused attack with a high damage output.

I weighed my choices. Should I just fire off the black bow's secret

technique from close range? It was a reckless attack, but I had no other

option. Or so I thought.

"Maybe it's about time you got a taste of the Second Level's secret

technique, Deadly Inferno," said Greed.

"This whole time, you've been telling me I'm not ready for that."

"That's because you weren't. Now, I can see that you are. It's there in

your eyes."

I wanted to ask him exactly what he meant by that, but Myne wasn't

about to give me time. She pushed me toward her axe in a hurry. "Quickly,

or Haniel will regenerate. You can talk with your sword as much as you

want while you're in the air. Now, off you go!"

"Hey, Myne, wai—aaaaaaahhh!"

Before I could say another word, Myne launched me upward at

Haniel.

"Okay, Greed, tell me how this technique works! And hurry!"

"My Second Level secret technique needs twenty percent of your

stats. You'll have to aim where your enemy's magical energy is centered, or

it won't work. If you miss, even a little, the technique will not activate."

"What the hell?! How am I even supposed to see that?!"

But then, I realized I could see it. With Gluttony half-starved, I saw it

like I'd seen the pulse of the barrier earlier. We were closing in on Haniel.

The monster was focused on regenerating and still hadn't noticed me. It was

now or never.

"Greed, take the twenty percent!"

"With pleasure," the black sword replied.

I was at my very limit now. I had already lost ten percent of my stats

to Bloody Ptarmigan. With a further twenty percent gone, the stat gap

between me and Haniel had become a stat gulf. I'd no longer be of any use

to Myne like this. In other words, I had no more room for error, let alone

failure. Deadly Inferno had to be the killing blow.

I felt my power, strength, and accuracy draining from my body as

Greed absorbed my stats. Then, with everything it had taken from me, the

black scythe began its transformation.