While Regeneration was slowly healing my wound, and likewise, my health points, I saw one of Sharon's threads pierce through Ace's arm. Ace didn't attack with his broadsword this time. Instead, he actually grabbed ahold of the chains, yanked them toward him, and suddenly smacked Sharon on the head. SMACK!
"Ahh...", Sharon uttered, feeling a large strike against her forehead. Her ears rang for a bit, and the force was powerful enough to cause some injury. She felt something warm drip down her cheek. Her own blood. Seeing the injury, Ace smirked.
"Heh. After all this time. Entering servitude to another "Master", has it made your Skills rusty, Kreuger? No matter what side you switch to, you're still a traitor.", Ace said, and clicked his tongue.
"Don't you dare.", Sharon immediately shot back, and gave him a death stare. She tried to pull her dagger away, but Ace didn't allow it. As for Alisa, she just stared at the incredulous sight before her.
"...Sharon?", Alisa asked with a frown. "What did this guy mean by calling you a traitor?"
Ace ignored the fact that his own blood was still pouring out, despite most of it having frozen over. Instead, he glanced his eyes beyond us, and looked at Alisa.
"Guess this bitch didn't tell you her origin story. And you've been serving the Reinford Group for how many years now?", Ace retorted. His eyes glanced back at Sharon.
Sharon didn't immediately reply to that comment.
"Sharon?", Alisa asked again, pressing for an answer. With the silent stretching, it only increased her doubt of this matter at hand.
"I do apologize, Milady. It is best if you don't know about this." Sharon said and glanced her eyes my way. I could kind of take a guess at what she wanted here. So I complied. I looked at Ennea, who had finished wiping the blood off of my chest. The injury was still there, but it was starting to form a scar.
"Ennea.", I said. Just like how I understood Sharon, Ennea knew what I wanted to request of her, even without spelling it out.
"On it.", Ennea said.
"Eh? What do you---!?", Alisa tried to say, but couldn't even finish her sentence before Ennea rushed forth. Not toward Ace to assist Sharon. No, she turned around and arrived right at Alisa. Considering Ennea's viewpoint, she knows how to strike a person's weak point. Not to the point of injury. I saw Ennea raise her hand, swiftly chop Alisa's neck, which caused Alisa to black out right then and there. Alisa's body fell over into Ennea's arms, falling unconscious. Painless, and quick.
"Mind carrying Lady Alisa, Ines?", I asked, looking at Ines this time.
"Very well. Ennea will back you up, Rulebreaker.", Ines said, nodding her head. Ennea then moved back toward me after handing Alisa to Ines. While Ines fell back, Ennea grabbed her bow, and spent a moment drawing it. I could still feel pain on my chest, but the majority of it has subsided. I could see a small green plus icon continuously appear above me.
Seriously. Regeneration might be such a simple Skill at its core, but it's strong. Really strong. No matter what sort of injury I get, since I possess a Gamer-like body, it will slowly heal all the way back up. I felt a lot of my stamina return too. I gripped Glistening Moonlight in one of my hands, and stood back up. While Ace looked at us, Sharon managed to break free, and moved swiftly like a ninja, heading back toward our side. Now that Ines was in the back, it was Ennea, Sharon and I with our weapons drawn against the One of Swords.
Ace still had scorn in his eyes seeing this play out before him.
"Tch. You just had to ruin the fun, didn't you? What's the point if they can't talk back?", Ace asked, seeing Alisa no longer respond.
As he said that, one of my eyes twitched a little. Maybe recruiting Ace to my side was stretching it? Or was this personality of his something that was molded by the Garden of Swords? I hope it's the latter. My eyes then turned cold.
"Hmph. I thought you would be up for redemption, Ace, but perhaps I overestimated you. Maybe I should kill you after all.", I coldly said, which even caused Ennea's gaze to turn my way. Didn't think she'd expect me to say that, huh?
Taking a moment, I unleashed more Mana. I had used a continuous string of Spells last time, but this time, I switched my elements. Hummm...
All of a sudden, Ace saw my bluish Mana thicken into a dark-like sludge.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has activated Spell: Umbral Slash.]
[Ding! 8000 EP has been consumed. Current EP: 60,000/103,500.]
The energy didn't disperse. It dragged. The air around me grew heavy, as if a weight was being pressed down on the battlefield. My Mana lost its glow, being swallowed up by the light. It converged, and rushed toward my blade, stretching outward in slow, viscous strands. Seeing Glistening Moonlight become clad in darkness itself, Ace hesitated.
But that moment was all I needed. No wasted movement. Zero hesitation.
"Umbral Slash!", I exclaimed.
Darkness clouded my sword. It stretched forth into a jagged line, ripping across the distance in silence. It was absent of noise. It passed through the air without any resistance.
"Tch. You keep using one weird move after another---?", Ace tried to say. He suddenly felt his instincts kick in. He couldn't move his body in time before the darkness was already there. In an instant, he felt his heart torn in two. CRAAACK!
A huge damage number appeared above Ace's head. He didn't die, but he received major damage.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto is feeling lucky!]
[-3,900,000!]
[Ding! Ace Rayne's HP: 20,450,000/35,000,000.]
"Kuh...", Ace groaned, feeling something pass through his chest. Kuusha!
Ace only saw his body get covered in darkness before he saw something silver pierce through it. His own body. I managed to inflict another deep wound. Sharon didn't remain idle during this either. With swift movements of her hands, she unleashed her steel wires in full force. She spread them all around Ace, making sure he couldn't move. Her chains latched on, hard. I saw a few more damage numbers appear over his head. At the same time, Sharon did a large jump, quickly gliding over Ace toward the other side. Splatter!
[Ding! Ace Rayne's HP: 18,750,000/35,000,000.]
More red painted the roof, revealing cuts across Ace's arms. And yet, he didn't let go of his greatsword. It's not like he didn't have any reaction from this. I could see heavier pants. He was losing stamina. Good. He's lost around half of his health now.
We're pacing ourselves nicely here.
"You know what? Let's finish this farce. Just like you, we've our own mission to do. Ennea.", I suddenly said. You might be able to guess what I'm about to do. I had just recently unlocked it, after all. All thanks to that little display I did back on the airship that took us here.
"So you want to use 'That'. Hehe, I can already feel strength surging within me!", Ennea laughed. Her voice was bright and sharp as she slid into her next battle stance. Her footing shifted first, and a deep aura started to sweep around her body.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has activated a Combination Craft, Blazing Tempest, with Ennea!]
[Ding! 30,000 has been consumed.]
[Ding! Current EP: 38,000/103,500.]
A fierce wind suddenly whipped around us here on the roof. Ennea knocked one arrow after another into her bow, and began to converge with a green aura. The current warped. WOOOOOSH!
"Shit.", Ace cursed, seeing a fierce-looking aura sweep across him.
Ennea didn't hesitate. She fired off arrow after arrow, which locked onto her target. Sharon knew to react quickly, and while keeping Ace chained, she parted ways. Ace tried to struggle and break free, but Sharon's grip on him stretched further, and latched onto his greatsword. He couldn't move. The air around Ace began to distort. Relentless. The arrows became a storm of projectiles, hitting Ace one after another. As the damage numbers began to wrack up, I moved.
With my wound no longer bleeding, I dashed into the ongoing storm, weaving through the shooting arrows with ease. I dodged each one, thanks to my Speed. I know I can trust it. With a single moment, Glistening Moonlight churned, and its blade ignited. I slashed, which left behind a blazing arc.
Controlled, precise. And above all, elegant.
With Ennea's last arrow striking Ace's body head on, I slashed his back, and appeared behind him.
"Kuh...!", Ace groaned, feeling an intense pain strike his body. Flames erupted, and the storm followed, sweeping him upward.
"...You think you can get the last laugh---!?", Ace tried to say, only to see a dead look in Ennea's eyes. Seeing such a stare, Ace felt his back run cold. "You're just a mut of the Cult that got swept in the shadows!"
"Do it, Ennea.", I said, ignoring Ace.
"With pleasure, Master.", Ennea said, her cold voice echoing through the darkness.
One last arrow was all it took to give the last push. CRAAASH!
We saw Ace's body twist directions, only to get sent flying off the rooftop, and begin its descent downward...
[-12,500,000!]