Chapter 1077 – #256_Small Wars(4) – DeepL

#1071

1.
The heavens and earth tremble.
The sky screams as if torn apart, the earth turns over, and heavy vomit gushes forth.

“Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

The halberd, wielded with characteristic gusto, flashes blue and strikes at the upturned red branches.

-Kwajijijijiji!

As if he had struck red-hot iron, the distortion field and the red branch’s unique crystallization field scattered, mixed with lightning.

“I’m-!!! about to-!!! war!!!”

The distortion field was clearly tearing through Herya’s body.
Horrific pains and internal injuries must have ripped through her entire body.

But Herja was like a raging bull.

Her beaky eyes narrowed, her blood-stained teeth bared, she charged like a fierce beast.
With the power of a man throwing his life away, he pummels Xiu’s defenses with blow after blow.

-Boom!

Valjing takes advantage of the momentary gap and strikes at Herya’s chest.
The sound of steel hitting steel is unmistakably a clean hit.

A blow that penetrated from toe to toe without wasting a single inch.

“Suck!”

The blow didn’t stop Herya for even a fraction of a second.

Instead, she lurched forward even more, attempting to drive the blow into his already crushed forehead.

I’m forced to close the distance as if I’m running away.
Of course, that doesn’t make things any better.

“Sing thou thy wrath, Goddess!!!”

-Passsssss!!!

The moment she realizes the gap is closing, Herja prepares for an all-out bombardment of thunderbolts.

Unlike Rinne, who specializes in melee combat, and Bianca, who specializes in ranged bombardment, Herja’s stats are hexagonal.

This means that mid-range doesn’t weaken her at all.

At first glance, each of Herya’s seemingly simple tours is a kind of shamanic “dance”.
Since ancient times, “dance” and “martial arts” have been the difference between one end and the other.

The Touro of Herya is magic in itself, a spell that creates an ion tube around the area, providing a “path for the thunderbolt to run”.

-Bang! Quang! Kwaaang!

The path is now much denser than it was at the beginning, and the white thunderbolts shoot out in rapid succession.
It penetrates insulation, has a powerful energy of its own, and strikes with such speed that it cannot be dodged.

-Whoosh! Whoosh!

The ribbon stretches out around Xiu, forming a circular circle of magic.
Similarly, a ring of magical formulas beats like a drum, sending out waves of energy to deflect the charge.

But that’s not all.
Xiu is outnumbered and defensive, and Herya is furiously attacking.

The score is already 6-4.

Honestly, I was surprised.
Even if she had gone into the fight with her guard down, I don’t think she would have made it this far.

He’s using the Angel’s Ring, which is essentially a one-time doping device and overclocking technique, and dispensing it at the right time.

She uses the tricky distortion field at her disposal, as well as the occasional ribbon, wave impact, or elemental magic to mitigate damage.
Add to that stats like Eight Tones, which makes up for her lack of melee strength with skill.

It’s no wonder Xinxiu is a hexagonal archdemon like Herya.

“Hah… You’re a bit cheerful.”

To Herya, it looked like Xinxiu was also aiming at her.

“This isn’t fun.”

Herya’s thunderbolt magic is as costly as it is destructive.

Even when aided by the formation of ion tubes and the scattering of negative charges on the ground.
With such an explosive burst of power, it drains her magic in a very short period of time.

Xin Xiu, who was initially curious to go head-to-head, realized this and opted for a battle of attrition.
He postponed the short-term battle and adopted the tactic of waiting for Herya to fall.

So you’re hunkered down like a turtle and doing the bare minimum.

She was disappointed and angry at the same time.

“You snitch, show some manhood!”

He killed Talia.
Within a month, he had cut the Rehar group in half and plagued them with all manner of epilepsy.

With such a formidable opponent, shouldn’t he have shown a fighting spirit worthy of his rank, rather than the sleepiness of a Moribae?

“…….”

I can’t recognize him from his helmet.
No answer.

She doesn’t even like him.
For a moment, she thinks about sparking a fight with a reference to Dorothy’s final words, but then decides against it.

She didn’t want to get any more out of him than that.

“Okay, I get it.”
“…….”
“From now on, this is not a struggle. It’s an execution.”

With a grunt, Herya spread her arms wide.

Xiu doesn’t react to the sight.

He’s not surprised.
With a feat like hers, there must be a trick up her sleeve, and she’s about to reveal it.

-Patz, patz, patz!!!

Lightning struck.
It didn’t strike Xiu.

Herya’s short hair stood on end as a powerful bolt of lightning struck the top of her head.

Along with it, Herja’s dwindling magic power was recharged.
It was the kind of rapid charge that Tesla would covet.

It wasn’t as clean as Xiu’s repeated amplification, but it was a trick well worth keeping hidden.

“Aaaaahhhhhhh!”

The changes didn’t stop there.

The overcharged, overflowing magic transformed Herya’s body.

With a rigid skeleton and every muscle cell imbued with electricity, she was no longer human.

The intense sparks that blinded her and the azure glow that emanated from her eyes and mouth were naturally linked to a single word.

A being described as the most powerful deity in Eastern and Western mythology.

Thunder God.

“Stay there like a turtle, and I’ll crush you on your back.”

He stretched his hand to the sky.

-Currrr!

Tens of thousands of bolts of lightning that had been waiting for their master’s call, writhing like dragons in the dark clouds, crashed into Herja’s grasp with an eerie roar.

After discarding Halberd, Herja’s new weapon of choice is pure thunderbolt, woven into the shape of an axe spear.

“This doubles my combat power.”

Her voice was twisted and raspy from being surrounded by an airstream of so much power.

Her words sounded like a cheesy villainous line, but she wasn’t exaggerating.
Even to Xiu, this power is dangerous.

-Yi Yi Ying!!!

As soon as Herya’s magic power showed any sign of slowing down, I amplified the Angelic Ring to its maximum.

By embracing the power of the Thunder God, Herya has transformed herself into something close to a natural disaster.

Her blows are met with a red distortion field as she tries to kill her foe with all her might.

—-!!!

“Uh–what–!!!”

I didn’t see it at all, even though I was clearly concentrating.

Herya had already become one of the thunderbolts.

The only reason I barely blocked it was because I had learned her habits from previous engagements and had set up my spear like a bunt.

A powerful force that was impossible to block from the front.

Therefore, Xiu bent the space around his body to channel the force itself.
The combined magic of dimensional magic and distortion field that he had practiced countless times.

“Jian-Jian–!!!!”

The tip of the deflected axe blade released a tremendous amount of power.

The saw blade-shaped skull that missed Xiu’s shoulder touched the surface of the water….

-Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo!

The black sea became another sky, flickering white and black like a thundercloud.

Undaunted, Herya stepped back in a flash, then charged again.

It would be laughable to call it a hit and run.
In the blink of an eye, the maneuver transformed into an overwhelming breakthrough.

In response, Xiu raised his spear like a spearman preparing for a mounted charge.

This was no longer a defensive move.
A counter with a minimal counterattack in mind.

Probably looking for a moment of defenselessness to strike.

“Yeah-!!! That’s how it should be–!!!!”

Despite knowing everything, there was no hesitation in her charge.
A cone of electricity ripples out from her back, charging towards Xiu dozens of times faster than her own shout.

An overflowing power.
A gambit that would decide the winner and loser in the blink of an eye.

The corners of Herya’s mouth twitched.

Alas, this moment, this struggle, this war, this fight.
How could I not love it?

-Kaaaah!

Their attacks narrowly missed each other.

Xiu’s counter was deflected by the destructive force of the blow from the front.
Herya’s strike also misses in front of the space-bending defense.

However, even with the bending of the space, the impact of such a force from the front was just as devastating.

-Kwazizik!

Xiu’s armor exploded like a shotgun blast.

The armor was made of shadows anyway.
It was a method he had devised early on to absorb shock by releasing the armor itself when a certain amount of impact was applied.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Her voice grew harsh when she saw Xiu’s helmet fly off and reveal his bare face.

Her tone was furious, as if she had received an unacceptable insult.

“What are you–!!!! insulting me–!!!!”

What Herya saw was a fierce look on Xiu’s face that lacked the slightest hint of fighting spirit.

“I didn’t mean to.”

I feel like I’ve pissed him off, but I can’t help it.

It’s been like this for a while.

I wonder if the heat in my head is still there because I’ve been working my brain hard to utilize ‘Moon’.

My heart, which should be pounding with adrenaline, is quiet.

Clearly, you’re fighting this epic battle at full strength, at peak efficiency, and with all of the combat experience you’ve honed over the years.

But even as he watches the battle unfold before him.
Even as a crushing force crushes his entire body.

Somehow, it doesn’t feel real, like a dream.

Something has been bothering you since the beginning of the fight.

It’s as if I’m suddenly conscious of blinking.
Like the natural actions of swallowing and breathing started to bother me.

His “magic” that he usually took for granted felt terribly unnatural.

It’s magic that he’s broken, created, and honed over and over again, but in this moment, it feels as awkward as anyone else’s.

The awkwardness of the situation is even more troubling than Herya, who looks like she could rip Xiu’s head off at any moment.

I can’t help but feel strangely helpless in this situation.

“…Hmm.”

Why had I been so stupid as to insist on this uncomfortable method?
Why didn’t she think of another way?

Suddenly, a golden staircase appeared in front of Xiu’s eyes.

This is a mental landscape.
A narrow, winding staircase that could reach the heavens.

The Stairway of Extremes, Xiu’s own interpretation of Linnaeus’ Way of Sura, is a double-edged sword that can either push a user’s potential to the limit or cost them their life.

“Let’s change things up a bit, shall we?”

Xiu muttered in his unrealistic languor.

Then he placed his foot on the stairs.