"Guuooooooo!"
"Then… how about this! [Heavenly Saint Slash]!"
While unleashing the [Magic Attire] and Evil's power, I swung down the [Omni-Sword] that I took out of the item box.
Then, a massive slash of light approached the lava giant and cut off the giant's arm.
"Astonishing."
"Woof!"
Yuti and Night also widened their eyes in surprise at the sight, but their surprise turned into something else.
"H-hey, hey… are you kidding me?"
The lava giant showed no signs of damage from my attack and regenerated its lost arm immediately. In addition, the arm that was slashed away remained in shape, but with the addition of the surrounding lava, it eventually became an arm that would move automatically to attack us.
"Wait… how can you expect that detaching a part of its body will increase the number of moves it can make?"
In addition to the automatic recovery ability, it also increased its means of attack, so there was no way for us to counterattack seriously. Whenever we attack, we strengthen the opponent, so there is nothing we can do about it.
While desperately trying to avoid the lava giant's attacks, I activated my [Identification] skill to see if there was any clue how to attack it.
[Guardian of The Planet]
Level: ──
Magic Power: ──
Attack: ──
Defense: ──
Agility: ──
Intelligence: ──
Luck: ──
"That thing… is it the same type as Ciel?"
Rather than having no numbers, it's impossible to measure; it's insanely strong!
I thought I would get its weakness with [identification], but instead, I feel like I've been confronted with despair!
I couldn't attack it and just kept running away when Merl-san, who was watching our battle, started to operate the device attached to her arm.
(Yuuya-san! I'll search for that giant's weak point on my part!)
"Eh? Y-you can do that?"
(It's probably possible! The fact that it's moving like this means that there must be a part of it that serves as its core somewhere! But it'll take some time to find it!)
"U-understood! So, until you find it… Yuti! Night!"
"What?"
"Woof!"
"Merl-san is currently investigating this giant's weak points! Until then, we'll buy as much time as possible while trying not to provoke it any further!"
"Confused. Yuuya, you say it like it's easy. But… understood."
"Woof!"
Smiling at the sound of their encouraging voices, I continued the battle against the lava giant.
"Prediction. Yuuya! Two o'clock, the attack!"
"Two o'clock is… this direction!"
Thanks to Yuti's prediction, I was able to avoid the giant's attack with enough margin.
"Guoooooo!"
"It's so hard not to attack…!"
Up until now, when dealing with monsters, I have been exchanging blows with them without holding back my own power. Even now, in terms of defeating them, it's no different.
However, this was the first time that I couldn't attack my opponent until I found its weak point, and it was quite tough.
As we managed to survive the giant's attack, relying on Yuti's instructions, the giant made a new move.
"Guooooooo!"
"What?"
"!? Evade! Yuuya, Night, jump!"
Both Night and I did as we were told and jumped as fast as we could, and the giant raised both arms and slammed them into the ground at once!
The force of the blow was so great that huge cracks appeared in the ground, and magma spewed out from between them. If I had been standing on the ground, I wouldn't have been able to move properly. That was the extent of the impact on the ground.
When I looked at Merl-san to see if she was okay under such circumstances, I saw that Akatsuki was deploying his [Sanctuary] skill, and Ciel's blue flames were enveloping Merl-san and the others. It looks like they're okay.
But we're not in a safe enough situation to be worrying about others.
The magma that erupted from the cracks in the ground and covered in flames swelled up like a giant snake with its own will and attacked us together with the giant!
"It's increased its fighting force now?"
"Attack! Yuuya, it's okay to attack the flame serpents!"
"Really?"
"Grrrr… wooof!"
Immediately after hearing Yuti's information, Night once again released compressed water on the flame serpent. Then, the serpent was hit by a water bullet and lost more and more of its heat, turning into a blackened rock that crumbled into pieces.
"It's true! But there's still too many of them…!"
The first thing I did was to unleash the [Thousand Spear Piercing] at a flame serpent, which is one of the reinforcements for the giant. It's not that there's any particular magic in it, but the serpent collapsed as it was after being hit by the [Thousand Spear Piercing].
It seemed that not only water-attribute magic but also physical attacks could defeat the flame serpent.
And so, as we continued to neutralize the flame serpent while avoiding the giant's attacks, Merl-san finally found the giant's weak point.
(…Yuuya-san! I've found that giant's weak point! There's a tremendous energy reaction in the center of the giant's chest! Perhaps that's where the energy crystals it took in are!)
"Center of the chest?"
(Yes! However, as you can see from the battle so far, even if you gradually remove the armor from the chest area, it will return to its original state! Besides, if you attack it half-heartedly, there is a possibility that it will split like that arm! So please attack with the intention of blowing off all the armor with one blow!)
"You're being unreasonable there…!"
Even Yuti's bow and Night's magic can barely scrape off the lava armor covering the giant's body. In addition, the giant's chest armor is thicker than other parts of its body. Now that I've heard Merl-san's words, I can see that the armor is thicker because that's where the energy source is.
"Yuti! Night! Its weakness seems to be the crystals in the inside of its chest!"
"Affirmative. In the chest?"
"Woof."
"Ahh! If we attack it half-heartedly, we will be the ones who suffer the most! That's why we need to blow it up with maximum firepower!"
"…Understood. Then Yuuya is the right person for the job. We'll assist you so that you can attack."
"Woof!"
I don't know what made her think that I was the right person for the job, but I guess Yuti saw something in me. More importantly, now that I have been entrusted with this task, I must fulfill my job.
In the meantime, I've just come up with a way to blow up that armor.
While Yuti and Night are using their own attacks to distract the giant, I used my [Magic Attire] and also the [Three Divine Steps] to close in on the giant.
"Goooooooo!"
The giant seemed to realize what I was trying to do. It ignored Yuti and Night, and started to crush me.
But…
"Useless. I won't let you get in Yuuya's way…!"
"Gruaaaaaa!"
Yuti unleashed her greatest technique, the [Comet], and Night, while deploying the [Magic Attire] as I did, slashed the giant's arm with his magic-infused claws!
"Guooooooooo!"
I finally succeed in slipping into the giant's bosom, which was left open by the attacks of Yuti and Night.
And then──.
"[Heavenly Saint Slash]…!
I ducked into the giant's bosom, jumped up in front of it, and used a technique I learned directly from Iris-san and swung the [Omni-Sword] down with such force that it cut the giant in half from the top of its head.
However, it seems that the title of guardian of the planet is not just flattery, and even with a single strike of the [Heavenly Saint Slash], it was only able to slash through the giant's armor, and the energy crystals hidden deep in its chest were unharmed.
However, it seems to have succeeded in tearing off the giant's armor.
"Shocking. That hit it, and the inside was still safe…!"
Yuti seemed to think that my attack had completely defeated it and shuddered at the giant that was still moving. In addition, the lava that was supposed to have exploded began to gather again and try to wrap around the energy crystals.
"Not good! We have to stop it…!"
"Woof!"
As Yuti and Night hurriedly attempted to attack the gathering lava, I was still in the air and switched my weapon from the [Omni-Sword] to the [World Strike].
"──If that one is a planet, this one is a world!"
While making full use of the [Magic Attire] and the Evil's power, I slammed the [World Strike] in my hand into the exposed energy crystal of the giant.
In an instant, with a tremendous bursting sound, the energy crystals exploded.
In any case, with my full power, I struck a blow with the same mass as the world. There was no way it could be unharmed.
The giant, whose energy crystals were blown to smithereens by me, collapsed into a heap and finally fell completely silent.
"Oh… is over!"
I couldn't help but shout as I sat down on the ground.
We won! No, I really didn't know what to do, but we managed to win!
It was a terrible feeling of despair when I was fighting Avis, but it was a different kind of despair this time. I mean, it's the guardian of the planet, you know? You have no idea how to fight it.
Even so, we were able to defeat it only because of the cooperation of Yuti and the others and Merl-san's help in finding its weak points.
As Yuti and the others crouched there, looking exhausted, Ouma-san, who had been watching the battle unfold, approached us.
"Hmm. It's finally over."
"N-no, we barely won… No one can beat something like that normally."
"You should not be so foolish. I'm not going to let you fight an opponent you can't beat."
"R-really…?"
When it comes to training, I shouldn't trust Ouma-san as much as Master Usagi. They both think in terms of their own standards, so they mistakenly believe that it is possible for me to do something that is incredibly difficult.
When I looked at Ouma-san with bitterness, he laughed and muttered.
"Kukuku… it's good that you were able to defeat it, isn't it? Well then… It's time for you to stop being quiet and let your voice be heard."
"Eh?"
Ouma-san talked to the emptiness, which surprised me.
"Hmph… As I thought, when Yuuya and the others reached the center of the planet, they would be able to hear your voice too. Right ── Argena."
"──You're still the same as always, Genesis Dragon."
Suddenly, the soft voice of a woman echoed in our minds.