259. VS Vanguard – Divine Spear Beld (Part 2)

A giant log fills the space within the barrier.

It looks like a massive pillar towering toward the heavens.

Or rather, strictly speaking, it is a log.

——The Divine Tree Log.

It is Goshogawara’s exclusive equipment, made by processing Peony’s branches.

A crushing attack that utilizes the simple yet powerful properties of extending and expanding.

Looking down from the sky, it would look as if a giant stamp were being pressed into the earth.

“Haa… haa… Did I manage to make it work…?”

From the top of the log, Goshogawara peers down at the situation below.

The height of the log is approximately 100 meters—roughly the height of a famous giant Buddha statue.

“The barrier… it’s not broken, right…?”

He gazes down anxiously, but there is no sign that the barrier erected by Sea King Shuram has broken.

The barrier does not allow the Vanguard to pass, but it permits the passage of local residents and monsters.

That rule also applies to weapons and attacks.

Goshogawara’s log had slipped through Shuram’s barrier, allowing him to attack the interior unilaterally.

“Goshogawara-san! Please keep the log where it is for now!”

“Understood!”

Ivar’s shout echoes from below, and Goshogawara calls back.

He has to yell, or his voice won’t reach.

“…If this goes well, we can keep the opponent restrained just like this.”

——If possible, he doesn’t want to kill.

Even if they are members of the Vanguard who came to kill them, that was Goshogawara’s honest feeling.

“If only I could somehow bring them to a dialogue…”

“—Bring them to a dialogue, and then what?”

“Eh…?”

Thump——something pierces through Goshogawara’s heart.

It is a single red spear.

Goshogawara stares blankly at the tip of the blade protruding from his own chest.

“…A tremendous strike. A crushing blow from overwhelming weight. Had it been anyone other than me, it would have been checkmate… I admit it, Brother. These people are strong. And I was wrong.”

“Ah… eh?”

The spear is pulled out.

A massive amount of blood sprays from Goshogawara’s chest, falling like rain.

Furthermore, Beld appears at Goshogawara’s feet—from inside the log.

“Goshogawara-san!”

Ivar screams.

The others stare at the scene with stunned expressions.

“…If I pass through the ‘inside’ of the weapon—the log—I can slip through the barrier.

The properties of the Divine Tree… Peony, and the properties of the Sea King apparently didn’t mesh well. They are eating away at each other’s traits. …A defect I would have noticed if I had more time.

Thanks to that, I’ve escaped the barrier.”

The figure that emerged was tattered and drenched in blood.

His left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and one of his eyes was crushed.

Even so, the fighting spirit he exuded had not diminished in the slightest.

“Now then, let us proceed with a fight to the death with all we have…”

Having escaped the barrier and gained his freedom, Beld’s spear lunges toward Ivar and the others.

Meanwhile, Nishino and the others continued their relentless long-range attacks from outside the barrier.

However, the results were not promising.

Even with Ichinose’s most powerful sniping, they were unable to inflict any damage on Gashmash and Rialdo—the two Vanguard members.

“Tch, stop pecking at us with these piddly attacks. Hey, get in here already! Let’s punch each other directly!”

Rialdo taunts them, but Nishino and his group do not move.

Nishino simply continues to calmly gather information, analyzing the current situation—specifically, the difference in strength between them.

(This is bad… it’s impossible. No matter how we struggle, they aren’t opponents we can beat as we are now.)

No matter how many times he thought it over, the conclusion he reached was the same.

Defeat. Only those two characters.

(The big guy is Rialdo, and the slender one is Gashmash. …I’ve started to see their abilities to some extent. Rialdo uses close-quarters combat with a strengthened body—a boxing style. Conversely, Gashmash uses long-range magic—specifically, attacks using ‘Ice’.)

Rialdo used his fists, and Gashmash used his ice walls to block Ichinose’s sniping respectively.

And they didn’t even show a hint of trying to dodge any other attacks.

SDF bullets, bombings, even toxic gas were all neutralized.

The only time they had shown their hand was against Ichinose’s sniping.

Even then, they hadn’t suffered a single scratch.

(Naturally, my skill ‘Command’ won’t work either. The opponents are far above me. It’s at the point where it might have some slight effect only if they’re on the verge of death…)

He glances toward Rikka.

(Even with Rikka ‘Onified,’ she probably can’t handle the big guy. The stat difference is too large. In terms of pure stats, he’s probably above Libera-san or that guy Glen who appeared first. If he strengthens himself further with skills, he’s not an opponent we can handle.)

“This is a mess…”

The more he thinks, the more desperate the situation becomes.

So, what then? Give up?

The answer is no.

“Let’s give it a shot…”

He had overcome despair many times before.

“Everyone, I have a plan. Listen up.”

He would show them.

That the people of this world—are not weak.

End of 259