Part 5
---South-eastern Plains, [Underwood].
The fight with the Titan tribes could be described as a one-sided massacre.
The black winds wielded by Percher were especially effective in situations where the enemies were numerous for she toppled the Titans one after another like a sickle to a bunch of wheat. Even if there were a few scattered Titans that managed to break through her line of defense to the back of the lines, Asuka and Deen would also synchronize their attacks to whack them to the ground.
The combination team of Asuka and Deen would have been in a sticky situation if they were to be surrounded. But so long as the enemy continued to trickle from the front, it didn’t matter how many enemies there were for it just didn’t pose a problem to them.
And it was just moments before that Deen had pinned another Titan to the ground while giving a loud roar:
“DEEEEEEEEeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!”
“Thanks for the good job here. With this, the last defense should be almost cleaned up by now right?”
“---Asuka! There’s still one more heading towards you……” Sala who descended from the sky shouted towards Asuka.
Just as Sala had warned, a Titan holding a spear and heavy metal chains was rushing towards them. Deen rapidly raised its right arm but was slow by a beat as the chains snaked around it, locking it down and causing it to be dulled in its movements.
Next, the Titan proceeded to aim his spear at Asuka with his other hand.
“Irk…Irksome!”
Asuka raised up her Hand of Ruby that Sala had given to her.
But before she could act, a flash of light sliced the spear head off its shaft.
“Eh……?”
“DEEEEEEEEeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!”
Asuka was still in her bewilderment while Deen grabbed and smashed the Titan’s head into the ground. After giving it two or three hard knocks, the Titan lost all signs of resistance as it lay quietly on the ground. Although Asuka was still surprised by the strange snapping of the spear tip just now, she decided to give the priority of her focus to Sala who had descended.
“Sala, you’re back so early?”
“Sorry. Our party to invade the citadel was confronted by a Demon Lord and we had no choice but to retreat. Currently, it’s just that lad……Izayoi and Gry against the enemy.”
“Is that so? But if Izayoi-san is there, there’s nothing to worry anymore. Well then, Sala, care to join me in the battle against the Titans?” Asuka didn’t mind Sala’s choice of retreating in that situation but had coolly extended her invitation to Sala to fight alongside as comrades.
Feeling surprised though still feeling a little guilty, Sala asked:
“……You aren’t angry with me? I had promised to save your comrade but in the end, I’ve just dumped the task to your other comrade who’s now battling in the skies.”
“Well, you can put it that way, but the person we are talking about is Izayoi-san right? Then that’s nothing to worry about anymore. In fact, he would have said something haughty like ‘I’ll stay behind, you guys get out of the way by returning to the ground’ or something along those lines right?”
*Hmph!* Asuka said it in a displeased tone. Although it was really infuriating, Asuka herself was one of the people who was being protected by Izayoi in that way too and it didn’t take much to guess Izayoi’s course of action in an emergency.
Seeing Asuka’s reaction, Sala gave a wry smile as she replied teasingly:
“Looks like you trust him a lot.”
“It’s limited to Gift Games only……Compared to that, was it you who saved me just now?”
“No, it wasn’t me. That arrow must have been shot over from Faceless who’s battling over there.”
Asuka turned to look at the direction where Sala was pointing.
Before her eyes, Asuka could see a litter of Titan corpses heaping the ground around Faceless who was fighting quite a distance away. And it would seem that she picked off all the Titans that tried to invade from the sides that was beyond the effective range of Percher’s black winds of death.
She who was at the frontlines to be able to aim at a point in the last line of defense and slice off a spear tip cleanly with her arrow was truly an incredible display of technique.
“You just said ‘That arrow’……she used a bow?”
“Yes. It sure is something for her to shoot her target from such a distance.”
Asuka who had asked in surprise, turned to look at Faceless once more.
To deal with the Titans that had escaped from the black winds of death, Faceless would pick them off with a bow taken out from her Gift card.
And when the enemies manage to survive the rain of arrows, she would then switch to a sword and unleash the bladed whip mechanism hidden in the Serpent belly sword to slice them down.
And when there were some lucky enough to escape the sword dance, two spears would then pierce through their bodies.
---the continuous switch of weapons from the Gift card.
Depending on the distance and the situation, whether it was long-ranged, mid-ranged or close ranged, choosing the Gift best suited to defeat the enemy and to push the battle towards a favorable tide. That was the battle strategy of Faceless.
“Bow and arrows, the Serpent belly sword and the two long spears. Utilizing weapons that suit the needs of the situation with a switch between the weapons is one of the most common techniques, but it’s my first time witnessing a warrior with such a flawless control in the transitions too. And she’s still holding back her true strength in battle which is the scariest thing to note.”
Sala watched on in admiration.
Regarding Faceless and her completely calculated battle dance---Honestly speaking, Asuka was also entranced by it.
Flexibly alternating……according to the situation……
For some unknown reason, that sort of battle tactic seemed to interest Asuka.
“But, we cannot lose to her either. The back has been cleaned of enemies and we should also move to the frontlines.”
“Ah. Mhm. Got it. If things continue the way it is, we should be able to drive them---”
---Just then, the sound of harp-strings started to reverberate in the air. The two of them who had been quite fired up in their fighting spirits had stopped their conversation as they looked towards the enemy’s lines in recognition of the sound. For that had belonged to the [Golden Harp] which caused much confusion in the previous battles.
The two of them exchanged a knowing look.
The main force of the enemy has made its move.
“We are finally entering the climax of the battle. Do you know what the Gift of the enemy can do?”
“Nn. I remember that it’s a harp capable of creating confusion in the minds of others and summon fog……am I right?”
“No. What it controls isn’t only limited to fogs. I did a little research on it after it was snatched from them and found that it used to belong to one of the elder gods of the Celtic group of gods. A Harp that had a rich and long history in addition to the divine powers that reside in it.[41]The powers include the control of emotions, lulling people to sleep and the control of weather. With the skies already covered with dark thunder clouds, it would be troublesome if lightning were to be summoned. So better keep an eye out for any signs of trouble.”
“Is that so? That sounds like a large range for its usage... But if you have discovered it to that extent, why did you allow it to be taken back by the enemy? Shouldn’t that be unexplainable by a mere excuse of forgetfulness?”
*Uu* Sala pouted as she turned away her embarrassed face.
“Yes…It’s indeed my fault for letting the enemy get the harp back. So I intend to return the shame to them tenfold from now on.”
“Is that so? Well, you will just have to make sure that I don’t snatch that glory all for myself.” Asuka replied teasingly, causing Sala to sulk in silence.
And while the two of them exchanged words, the battle at the front lines was starting to develop in a dramatic direction.
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