Icy Onslaught

Chapter 126 - Icy Onslaught

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Nearing the bottom of our fall, I seized the falling debris nearby and propelled myself downward. As I landed, I swiftly dashed towards Khione's downed body, drawing my sword with a fluid motion.

⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Quickdraw⟩⟩

The giant lump of ice loomed before me, and my blade sliced deeply into it. Unfortunately, it was too massive for me to cut through completely.

Damage Increased II

—?! This buff is... I see. Lara, huh. In that case, I'm not done yet!

⟨⟨Adrenaline⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Multiple⟩⟩

"Haap!" My strength intensely increased; my mana completely diminished. Wasting no time, I unleashed a devastating flurry of slashes towards the towering form of ice before me.

Luna: ⟨⟨Battōjutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Multiple⟩⟩

Astra: ⟨⟨Iaijutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Multiple⟩⟩

Mikael: ⟨⟨Fencing⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Multiple⟩⟩

Swiftly, others joined the fray. Luna, Astra, and Mikael landed gracefully, unsheathing their swords and storming Khione with a synchronized series of slashes.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 76,529/86,400]

Not yet! Its health hasn't reached the 80% Health yet.

"—?!" Suddenly, the sound of glasses shattering echoes nearby. No, it wasn't glass but ice shattering, and a gun...?

"It took me a minute, but I finally reached here," Seia remarked, standing atop a wrecked structure, bombarding Khione with rounds of water bolts.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 71,841/86,400]

Great! A few thousand more and its—

"Ugh—?!" All of us gritted our teeth as we were blasted away by a strong shockwave unleashed by Khione. It was several times stronger than that Glacial Mygalomorph we fought before...

Damn, we didn't make it! The shockwave came from Khione's invisible barrier finally regenerated. It's going to fly-off again...

⟨⟨Glistening Dark⟩⟩

"Thats...!" Just as Khione was about to ascend, a chain of darkness began to envelop its massive body, pulling Khione back to the surface. "Damn Akari, you're the best!"

"H-Hehe~! As much as I'm flattered to your compliments, Aruji-sama, I'd suggest you quickly end it. I can't only hold Khione for just a few second...! Ugh!"

"Everyone!" I hurriedly dashed towards Khione, the others nearby following suit, their hands already gripping their swords.

Astra: ⟨⟨Iaijutsu⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Sword Skill: Glacial Shockwave⟩⟩

Mikael: ⟨⟨Fencing⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Simple Attack: Offensive Bladework⟩⟩

Astra and Mikael, a synchronized pair, plunged forward and released a devastating strike, immediately shattering the barrier. With our arms ready to strike, Luna and I advanced swiftly. Seia joined the assault, firing her gun relentlessly.

"Argh...! Aruji-sama, h-hurry...!"

⟨⟨Reverse Voiding⟩⟩

Instantly, I briefly vanished, reappearing already in front of Khione. "Take this!" I used all of my remaining strength and cleaved Khione's massive body of ice.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 69,200/86,400]

With my final slash, Khione's body came to a halt. Cracks broke into Khione's icy form, crawling across all the cuts we had inflicted.

"Master, it's body..." Luna remarked.

"Yeah, I know." I replied, putting my hands into the Mystic Dial. "Good job, Akari. If it wasn't for you and we would've had a hard time with Khione. I'll treat you something later, alright?"

I can hear Akari's heavy panting from the Mystic Dial, "Y-Yes, Aruji-sama..."

Ultimately, Khione's massive body crumbled, leaving only the giant blue orb that Luna and I had sliced together. In order to protect its vulnerable state, it surrounded itself with several chunks of solid ice. Moreover,

"Is that...a woman inside its body?" Astra asked, her face mixed with concerned and bewilderment.

It's just like Astra had said, a light-blue haired woman wearing intricate apparel was inside the giant Orb. Although unfortunately, we have more pressing problems need to prioritize with.

Finally, Khione entered its second phase. Simultaneously, bursts of a relentless blizzard engulfed the whole area. It became stronger than before, limiting our visibility and initial movements.

"Ugh! You're kidding...!" Mikael groaned. "It's too strong. I'm getting blown away...!"

Upon realization, out of all of us present, Mikael was the only one getting blown away. Me, Luna, Seia, and Astra had no effect for a strange reason.

"Strange," Luna remarked. "We aren't getting blown away..."

"Thank the 『Ice-throttle Boots』 for that. It's thanks to its ability to give us mobility and control on ice that we're immune to it," I explained. "Anyhow, it's coming!"

A blue light materialized in front of Khione. The moment I knew its target, I quickly grappled Mikael and pulled him back to me. At the same time, the materialized blue light fired at Mikael's position in a devastating concentrated beam.

"A laser beam..." Mikael timidly said, cold sweat form into his face.

"That's a close call," I remarked. "You would've evaporated if I didn't manage to get you."

"It's just like from Akari..." Seia replied. "But its larger and deadlier..."

"Don't just stand there, everyone!" I warned as I advanced towards Khione, my hands ready to my grip. "Focus on Khione's attacks and prioritize dodging!"

Jagged shards of ice materialized from Khione, protruding as it forms. I quickly advance, with vision dangerously limited. I changed my weapon into 『Leviathan』 and grappled to one of the buildings still standing. Hook successfully embedded; I swing into a circular motion as I stormed Khione with pressurized water bullets.

"I'll keep Khione's aggro on me; you girls, distance yourselves and attack Khione with your sword's projectiles!" I instructed, slowly expanding my mana to my surroundings. "Eyes on me, Khione!"

⟨⟨Greater Bloodlust⟩⟩

A light blue aura engulfed my body, causing everyone within my radius to tense up. Khione, sensing the looming threat, quickly turned its attention, unleashing a devastating onslaught of massive icicles.

It kind of surprised me that I still manage to produce ⟨⟨Greater Bloodlust⟩⟩ despite recently using my ⟨⟨Adrenaline⟩⟩. But I shove those thoughts for now and focused on dodging the incoming icy bombardment.

Somersaulting through the falling ice, I stormed Khione with a flurry of bullets. Using a fallen chunk of ice, I propelled myself to gain momentum and swung back into action, encircling Khione as it tried its best to assault me with flurries of attacks.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 64,582/86,400]

Seia also joined the fray, attacking from a safe distance. Astra switched her weapon to 『Envenomed Edge』, firing a venomed sword-shaped projectile. Luna followed suit, using her current strongest sword, the 『Twilight Scimitar』, to fire a bolt of electric shock at Khione.

"Look at him go," Astra remarked. "He's fast and efficient, there were no wasted movements. It's no wonder his confident, he really means everything he said."

"Amazing..." Luna added, completely astonished.

Suddenly, something buzzed within their Mystic Dial, "Hello! We're coming there."

"Lily? Did something happen there?" Astra inquired.

"We saw the massive body of Khione shattered earlier. We thought the fight was done but it wasn't seemed to be the case." Lily explained. "What's the situation there? The blizzard became fiercer than before. Are you all good there?"

"Yeah, we're keeping our distance." Astra replied. "Sai was currently the one taking the frontline. Jeez, this guy was something else, isn't he?"

"Seems like you're convinced now," Lily replied. "Anyhow, we're coming there."

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 57,119/86,400]

Great, we managed to dish-out quite the Health of Khione. Only a few more and we can down it to 60% of its Health. Although...

『Sai Crimsonheart HP: 548/800』

『MP: 64/400』

My side wasn't really any better, though. As complete as I knew Khione's behavior, I'm not a perfect human to be able to dodge them all in a single attempt. 

I slid sideways, letting the momentum of my hook pull me as a barrage of icicles rained down on me. Once the onslaught ceased, my muscles softened, relieved. However, the moment I felt relief, massive icicles erupted from the ground, aimed towards my body with the intention of impaling me.

"Ugh...!" Instinctively, I dashed out from the frozen impalements erupting towards me. However, it was too many that I didn't get to dodge them all completely. "Close call..."

As I slowly regained my momentum, I saw Seia briskly running in a roundabout motion. Similarly, massive icicles erupted towards her. Quick on her wits, Seia flipped back, shooting down the icicles coming at her while sophisticatedly dodging others that came dangerously close.

"—?!" However, it didn't take long for her to make a slight mistake. Her evasion wasn't enough to completely dodge the incoming icicles. "Oh no—?!"

I swiftly changed into 『Serpent's Edge』.

⟨⟨Reverse Voiding⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Haidong Gumdo⟩⟩ + ⟨⟨Six-Cuts Begi⟩⟩

I immediately appeared in front of Seia; my stance ready. With a quick draw, I sliced the erupting icicles in a rapid six-move sequence, eventually grabbing Seia's body quickly as we escaped.

"I'm so sorry, Sai—" Seia apologized, but I interrupted her.

"No problem. Even I can't dodge them all completely." I reassured. "Nevertheless, looks like we still got something in need of practice with."

"Haha, you're right," Seia replied. "Let's go for a round two,"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Putting down Seia, the two of us started to increase our momentum. The other seemed to be on the way here. I'll be better if they hurry, though...