*WHOOSH!*
Dashing through the streets with astounding speed, Harita circulated Augmentation mana through his muscles and blood vessels, reinforcing his bones in the process to better handle his nascent strength, flexibility, and resilience. Though, that was not his focus, and shifted his mana around, focusing on speed and agility, as well as visual acuity and motion sight.
Green trails of glimmering light glowed behind him like a beautiful aurora. It was an absolutely gorgeous sight.
But not as much as the person in front of him.
'So, she took the same condition as me. What a copycat.'
Bian left trails of shimmering starlight behind her, with black wisps containing the sheer beauty of the Sky Beyond.
With the two of them together, and the trails they left, it was as if the night had come. The hunter's moon illuminated the starlit sky.
It was, without a doubt, a scene beyond compare.
…That is, if a terrible pressure hadn't been trying to push the two down with terrifying efficiency. It was as if a mountain had descended on their shoulders as a heavenly weight, judging them with a benevolent fist, pounding them into submission.
Sweat poured down the two's faces as they ran at full speed, which was dampened as the heavenly weight befell the two.
A frown deepened on Bian's tired face. She shouted in the middle of labored breaths:
"Hey, why aren't we heading straight for your little friend…?! Isn't that why we're running like a pair of lunatics right now? What gives…!!"
Forcing his legs ever forward with a resolute expression, Harita lingered for a while as he traced the enormous mana signature with shaking eyes. His heart had been filled with dread as the crushing pressure grew ever stronger, trying to bear them all down with its dominant force. The longer the force held, the more powerful it became, it seems. At times, it would even spike, and while the two may be able to resist it, he doubted whether an angst teenager and barely-over-a-decade orphan would be able to.
Then again, maybe hhe could. His little master had been on somewhat of a roll lately; learning, adapting, and mastering this and that like it's nothing. However, that was not an accurate way to base his judgement on.
Kids were still kids. As an adult, and as a part of his Oath, it was of utmost importance to save those that he cared for. In that regard, there was only one person in mind that came in this entire godforsaken city — a certain inquisitive boy with a very mysterious ability that seemed to break the fundamental laws of magic itself.
Glancing to the lustrous woman for a brief second, he said in a low and strained voice:
"…That kid can handle himself, at least for a little bit. What's more dangerous right now is Leo, and whatever power he's exuding on this section of the city. If we can get rid of that, it would make the rest run more smoothly."
Almost tripping over herself, Bian caught herself with renowned flexibility and balance, and continued running at full speed immediately. Because of her momentary dip in speed, the two were now running beside each other, with their own respective trails completely melting into each other behind them. Who could have thought that such a scene could be any more beautiful than it already was?
There was visible strain on her face as she pushed ever forward with a slight grimace and beads of sweat pouring down her face. Directly jumping down from the high tower of the Council of Manas was one thing, but immediately going into a marathon sprint afterwards is truly hell. It reminded her of time as an adventurer, when she had to run for her life at a constant basis, both from insidious humans and hideous abominations.
"Ah, those were the days…"
Harita ignored her carefree words and continued sprinting at full speed. As he did, the crushing force grew even stronger. Right now, it felt like they were being crushed by a titan's palm along with its entire body.
But their struggle had not been for naught as they soon found the cause and eye of this storm, the man himself: Leo of Exousia. Craning their heads up, the two of them squinted their eyes and focused on Manavision. When they did, they found themselves slightly stuck.
The man… the legend… seemed to be saying something. More specifically, he was chanting a spell for a ritual. Even more, this one much direr than the rest, was what seemed to be the cause of this gravitational downpour.
It was smaller than Leo, standing at six feet tall with a stocky and robust build, literally looking like a cube of pure fur, with antenna-like prongs sticking out of its round head, which itself was barely sticking out of the cube of fur. Waves of mana, the same mana that had been confining the two to the ground, was pouring out of the antennas in plentiful waves, growing stronger by the second. Up close, with the invaluable aid of Manavision, the waves of gravity were much more visible… and significantly stronger.
All this time, they were facing nothing more than the monster's leftovers. Harita gritted his teeth and pushed onward. When he did, Bian put a heavy hand on his shoulder, glaring daggers, piercing him with her striking gaze.
"What the hell are you doing?! You seriously don't think we can fight that thing, do you?"
Swatting her hand away, he scowled and glared up. She was right, the risk was far too great. The creature looked to be seemingly harmless, but the power it exuded was the real deal. Any wrong move could mean their death…
But not making a move in itself led to the same outcome, as well. Which was a much worse fate than he cared for.
Dying without being able to do anything, or dying after having tried; between the two, Harita preferred the latter much more.
Circulating mana throughout his body, Harita used significantly much more than normal, draining his reserves even faster. He had already consumed quite a lot running all the way here, but his reserves seemed as deep as his resolve, as the green aura surrounding him seemed to become thicker and stronger.
Looking up, he summoned Silent Reverie and prepared to leap. Bian, by his side, ruffled her air like a hag's. There was a frustrated scowl on her face as she said with click of the tongue:
"Tch, fine! If I die, believe me, I'll definitely come to haunt you…!!"
He just smiled like an idiot back.
"Don't worry. When you die, I'll be sure to be there with you!"
◇◆◇◆◇
Landing on the roof of a particular building, Bian manifested Weeping Maiden. A sudden dip in her reserves was evident on her less-than-satisfactory expression, marked by a deep frown. The silver rapier appeared in her hands in a nexus of bright sparks.
Not bothering to turn to the two of them, Leo continued chanting his aria. He was surrounded by a torrent of magic circles laded with various rune. Even Harita had trouble deciphering a few of them, especially considering his rather expansive knowledge of runic magic theory.
Still, there was enough of them to at least make out what the man was doing. One his rings shone with a light unlike any other, blinding all that gazed at it directly. It wasn't as unbearable if you don't look at it, though.
Harita squinted his eyes and gripped Silent Reverie even tighter, making his hands white in the process.
The atmosphere had grown even heavier. More than twice it had been earlier. And so did the vile entity that had been emitting it this whole time. Up close, it looked like some kind of alien monster, completely inexorable. Its cube shape was extremely off-putting, so was its monstrous face and extending antennas. The very latter had been the one causing the gravitational field's increases in force the entire time. Now that they had gotten significantly closer to it, the robust and weird-looking monster seemed much more menacing and horrifying.
Fixing themselves into a stance, the two pointed their weapons, not at the chanting man — no, that one seemed to be too preoccupied, completely swallowed in his own world — but at the alien creature. If their fears and morbid premonitions were telling them are true, then they absolutely need to level the battlefield first.
And that meant killing the gravity monster, whose horrifying powers seemed to be nothing more than a light distraction to the chanting man.
Taking a few steps to the side and circling the gravity monster carefully and slowly. He muttered hysterically:
"That guy's trying to summon something big. If we don't beat that gravity monster fast, then something terrible is going to happen."
Bian silently nodded and circled the gravity monster the other way, opposite of Harita.
"Go, now!"
Without another word, the two dashed at full speed, their weapons raised and their resolution set in stone.
…And felt the weight of the heavens befall them like divine punishment. The gravity field had spiked again, and the two almost found themselves slamming into the floor like a pair of ragdolls.
"…!!"
It was at this moment that Harita felt a creeping sensation run down his back like an arachnid. It was disturbing an subtle, like a sudden breeze, but it was there, present…
Telling him to get away from there!
Focusing his Reinforcement on one foot, he skipped to the side with a slightly panicked expression, which immediately turned to dread as he saw the roof he had just been standing on collapse entirely, crashing into the attic below. His face paled for a second, then grew more resolute.
The power of his Oath was helping, granting him the courage and determination to shine through. With a shudder, he stood up and brandished his dagger.
If he was going to die, it was going to be by his own terms only. Nobody else's.
Forcing mana to explode by his feet, he dashed with uncanny speed. His sudden maneuver brought him in the immediate vicinity of the gravity monster, where the heavenly weight was significantly more evident. Circulating his Reinforcement even more furiously, he swung his dagger in a wide arc, cutting through the monster's hide and nicking a good chunk of it in the process. It was as tough as mana-infused steel, maybe even more, and was extremely hard to cut.
Not for Harita, though. He had made his creations with a goal in mind and properties to match it. His watersteel dagger, especially, was of an astounding quality, with the force of a whirlpool behind it. Projecting the weapon's aspect put a strain to his mana reserves, but kept him from lagging behind.
And his efforts had not been for naught, it seems, as the overbearing force of nature reduced to a noticeable degree. At the same time, a shrill and ear-piercing scream tore the air like a knife, cutting out all other noises.
The gravity monster screamed from the top of its lungs as its hide flew off its body because of Harita's attack. For a second, he recognized the emotion hidden in its eyes, which was then clouded over and replaced by the crushing pressure of something else.
It was pretty ironic.
Not missing this chance, Harita hacked the monster's hide even more, capitalizing on its sudden lack of power all that he can.
*shingshingshing*
The watersteel blade of Silent Reverie flashed again and again, cutting through the gravity monster's hide like it was nothing. Of course, there was plenty of resistance. Swinging his light dagger within close proximity to the gravity monster was insanely difficult, as each strike felt like he was submerged in water, his limbs more than twice as heavy.
But with each passing second came another attack, which caused great pain to the gravity monster, and in turn lessened the force its influence was exuding. And with it came a late revelation:
The monster's hide was connected to its nervous system, and had pain receptors. The gravity monster was not used to pain… at least, not yet. And it wasn't used to fighting at point-blank range!
Having already realized this, Bian jumped in to attack, as well, brandishing her Weeping Maiden. Her weapon flashed over and over again, almost creating afterimages as she pierced through the monster's hide and went straight into its body entirely. Since the gravitational field around the monster had lessened significantly since the beginning of Harita's merciless onslaught.
And especially ghoulish scream tore from the gravity monster's throat as it let our throes of pain, its voice cutting the air like a knife.
Maybe, just maybe, they might just be able to do this.