Operation: Khione

Chapter 125 - Operation: Khione

-

"How's your status, everyone?"

A turbulent blizzard howled around us as the floating disaster of ice, Khione, engulfed the city in its bone-chilling cold. Despite the visible terror, we stood firm against it, taking our positions to confront the icy menace. On a damaged rooftop, I joined Luna, Astra, and Mikael, each of us armed and ready.

"We're already in our position, Sai." Informed Lily, her voiced came directly inside my mind. "Khione won't be able to reach us from this distance."

"What about the middle position?" I inquired.

"We're good as well," Seia answered, similar to Lily, her voiced resonated inside my head. "Still, this item really is so convenient, what was this item again?"

"It's the Mystic Dial," I replied, a magic item, presently attached to our ears, was the source of our telepathic communication. Truly a handy creation.

Where did we got it; you wonder? Well,

* * *

An hour before, during the meeting...

"Y-You're kidding," Redrick exclaimed, sweat dripping down his face in disbelief. "That's pretty much suicide! D-do you know what you're saying...?!"

"Of course," I responded, unperturbed. "Just trust us. This isn't our first time fighting one of the Four Elementals."

"—?! Is that real...?" Stunned, Redrick's gaze shifted towards Seymore and Lara before returning to me. "That's unbelievable."

"I told you," I reiterated.

"Hm..." Seymore remained silent, his face tensed. He was likely contemplating the situation.

"Uhm..." Amidst the contemplation, Lara raised her hand to make a remark. "I can vouch for them this time. I already saw how they fight. If I were to compare their strength, with the exception of him, they would be on par with the Royal Guards."

"—?! Are you sure, Lara?" Redrick inquired. Oh, so they really were an acquaintance. "And what do you mean by the exception of him?"

"That boy right there definitely surpassed the Royal Guards," Seymore interjected, arms crossed. "I could estimate that with a few more improvements, he'll likely be on par with Ajax."

"Hm..." Redrick stiffened, bound by disbelief. "Ajax, huh..."

Ajax... I don't remember hearing that name in the vanilla game or the MODs... I feel like I'm missing something.

"Uhm," Interjecting, Luna raised her hand. Oh, the ever so curious Luna. Nice! Ask them. "Who is this Ajax you guys were talking about?"

"He's a foreign traveler who once saved our city from an impending catastrophe, similar to what's happening now, during a Stampede," Lara explained. "It's just very recent, a few years before? I remember how he fought all of them alone. He really is heroic. It's because of that time that he became the hero of this place."

Ah, now that Lara's mentioned it...

"I forgot to add, there would also be an upcoming Stampede after this," I informed. When I said so, Redrick and the others' faces stiffened.

"Kuh! Is this the end for our city..." Redrick became more despondent. Can't really blame him. Most people would have their hope shattered when facing a powerful being.

"Don't lose your hope immediately," I replied. "That's the reason we're here. Well, shall we start the operation then, everyone?"

"W-Wait...! Are you really sure about this?" Just as were about to start, Redrick interjected.

"Yeah," I replied. "We'll be operating within a significant radius. I've made sure everyone understands the plan since we won't be fighting together."

"I see. Then, I think I have something that might possibly help you."

"Hm?"

* * *

Present...

"Now we'll be able to properly operate thanks to this item," I remarked. "Fighting that giant form of ice would be a little easier... at least."

"Sai... What's with the uncertainty?" Mikael anxiously asked, his face turning pale every second.

After my words came a buzzing sound. "Hello? This is me, Redrick. Just like you've asked, we had all the adventurer's leave Khione's area of radius. We'll now be fine here so you can do whatever you want."

"Alright, you heard that guys, no?" I asked. "Especially you, Mikael. Are you sure you're really coming with us?"

"Yes, I've already resolve myself to this." answered Mikael.

I nodded. Good, there seems to be any more problem.

Having no issues in hand, each of us drank our assortment of Potions, with the intent of making the fight with slight ease.

⟨⟨Swiftness⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Regeneration⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Ironskin⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Endurance⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Strength⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Cold Resistance⟩⟩

"Let's go," I leaped out building by building, even using my Grappling Hook if uncertain of distance between buildings, advancing our way towards Khione, with Luna, Astra, and Mikael following suit.

Once inside its radius, Khione immediately sensed us. Briefly after came the materialization of giant icicles, aiming towards us. The turbulent shivering wind were as well getting stronger.

"Maximum alert, Luna, Astra! It's coming." I warned. 

As we sprinted and leaped, closing in on Khione, a storm of different projectiles was fired at it— frozen arrows, a rain of fire and bullets, and a thick black beam that disintegrated its target. The scene, illuminated by the sunset, was both beautiful and terrifying, making me realize that we were truly in a life-and-death situation.

How exciting!

Explosions reverberated around us as the storm of projectiles hit the barely visible barrier covering Khione. However, compared to before, it didn't take long for the barrier to shatter due to the damage it took from the projectiles.

Compared to regular weapons used by adventurers, ours wasn't just your regular one.

"—?! Now!" The massive icicles started blasting toward us with deadly speed. The closer they got, the more accurate they became in hitting us.

⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Iaijutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Fencing⟩⟩

Different styles; practically identical attacks. Each of us cleanly sliced the massive icicle in half, then dodging the rest of the icicles after. Look like all of us found the situation a bit uncertain.

Also, there's one thing that surprised me.

"Mikael, you can slice the icicles?" I asked, my face raised in wonder. While it posed no problem for us, as we were already in our 400-mana state, Mikael was only a normal human. Just how did he... "Did you instinctively think you can do that?"

"Ugh...! You're right. My instinct just told me that I can do it," Mikael replied, gritting in pain. "Still, it hurts like crazy. No way I'm going to do that again..."

"Hah, what a show-off," I jest. "Don't do that again, alright. Let's go!"

We're 400m distance closer towards Khione. I quickly took my strongest gun—the Leviathan, aimed at Khione and showered it with a storm of intensely pressurised water blasts.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 84,692/86,400]

Holding the trigger still, at 200m and I had to stop. The size of this form of ice is humongous, even considering we're now inside the eye of the storm, the surge of glacier winds now prevents our movement of relief, making our movement harsher than ever...

We're now just below Khione. The structures that Khione passed through were mostly demolished, with a few currently still standing through. It's still in ruins, though.

"Man, all I see is white," Astra remarked, her voice echoes directly into our heads.

"It's time," I informed. "Astra and Mikael, prepare yourselves. Luna, follow me!"

Luna and I grappled through Khione's colossal body, quickly climbing our way atop of it, jumping, swinging, even propelling each other by throwing each of us upwards, all for the reason of reaching the particular target.

Boom! Almost reaching atop, sounds of different projectiles reverberates below us. It seems to be another round of attacks coming from the rear and middle groups.

"We're here," I informed. Our hook was cleaved into ice wall as Luna, and I halted at the supposedly upper back of Khione. "Let's do this, Luna."

A large ball of blue emanated inside Khione's body. It was vague, but you could see it if you were close. In this case, the back.

"Sai, another round of icicle blast coming!" Lily reported, but it's okay.

Our breath concentrated, even synchronized to each other. Hands at the grip of our sword, muscles tightened, both of us unleashed a solid slash, aimed towards the blue core.

⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Quickdraw⟩⟩

⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Quickdraw⟩⟩

Our synchronized slash cut the core in quartet, forcing an impact at the same time due to the solid force, creating a sound of glass shattering, signifying the breaking of its core.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 79,289/86,400]

"...Khione—" Astra.

"It's falling!" Continued by Mikael. "Let's get out of this place!"

With its core destroyed, the humongous form of ice, Khione slowly falls from the ground. Of course, Me and Luna, being into its body, started to fall as well.

"M-Master...!" Luna shouted.

More than that, the volleys of giant icicles didn't stop from blasting towards us, propelling on our position in an incredible rate.

"Woah...!" The sunset radiates its upcoming dusk as Me and Luna sophistically dodge the icicles blasted towards us, using our Grappling to change our course of position, doing jumps, and slicing it into two in case it was uncertain.

"Fuhahahaha!" To my surprise, Luna was joyfully laughing. Despite the life and death situation, she was beaming with happiness. "This is so fun, Master!"

"How carefree..." I replied, couldn't help but smile to Luna happing the day of her life. "Still, tread carefully, alright?"

"Yes!" Luna concurred.

"Right. Everyone," I called, using the [Mystic Dial] for everyone to hear. "We only have a few seconds before Khione goes back into its feet. Make sure you down its health at least 80%."

After all, out of all the bosses in the game,

Khione has the most phases even in the MODDED game.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 79,289/86,400]