Kouki made the first move.
“Myriad of Soaring Wings, Reach the Heavens, “Soaring Flash””
The curved slash of light struck the Behemoth with a roar. Before he wasn’t even able to injury the Behemoth with his strongest skill “Might of Heaven”. However, he wanted to show that he wasn’t the same as back then, and it was proven.
“Guurugaa!!”
A diagonal sword line ran appeared on the Behemoth’s chest. It scraped the ground and screamed as its dark red blood dripped onto the ground.
“We can do it! We are certainly stronger! Nagayama left side, Hiyama take the rear, Meld take the right side! Rear guard ready magic! High grade magic!”
Kouki gave out instructions rapidly. The results of Meld’s officer training.
“Oh, he gave good instruction without hesitation. Did you hear? All hands, follow Kouki’s command!”
Meld shouted and ran to wrap the right side of the Behemoth with his knights. Everyone started to move at that moment and encircle the Behemoth.
The vanguard quickly devised a line of defense that was desperate in preventing the raging Behemoth from reaching the rear guard.
“Guruuaa!”
With the roar the Behemoth stepped into the ground and pulverized it as it charged.
“Like I’ll let you!”
“I won’t allow it!”
Ryutaro and Jugo, the two biggest members of the class, quickly huddled the Behemoth and started to wrestle with it.
“”The power to break the earth! “Herculean Strength”!””
Using their physical strength, strengthened by magic, they took the Behemoth’s rush while they feet slide on the ground.
“Gaaa!”
“Raaaa!”
“Oooooh!!”
Each of the three gave out a yell and strained their muscles. The smaller humans was not able to completely stop the Behemoth but it was enough to kill its momentum. It stomped on the ground in anger at that.
The other members did not miss the chance this brought.
“Supreme flash that cuts all, “Absolute Sever”!”
Shizuku’s battojutsu hit the Behemoth in the horn. Even with a sword artifact that added to the sharpness of the magic, it stopped midway and couldn’t complete the sever.
[T/N: Battojutsu: The art of the draw. Closely related to Iaido. This is the act of drawing the sword from the sheath and using that motion to accelerate the blade. Himura Kenshin from Kenshin is famous for this, so much that he is called the Battosai. If you want to see some examples of it then watch his fights.]
“As hard as ever.”
“Leave it to me! Grind, Crush, Blast, “Grand Hammer”!”
Meld jumped and flung his own sword at Shizuku’s sword that was stuck in the middle. The sharp, heavy blow enhanced by magic helped strengthen Shizuku’s sword and pushes it forward.
With that one of the Behemoth’s horn is severed.
“Gaaaa!?”
The Behemoth goes on a wild rampage with all its might after the cut. This rampage blew the four people away.
“The gentle light that embraces all, “Halo”!”
An innumerable amount of nets made of light sprang forth and wrapped the four gently, after they had struck the floor and lost their breath. What Kaori used was a shape-shifting defensive light magic that killed the shock.
In a flash, Kaori started to chant a healing spell.
“Heaven’s Blessing, heal universally, “Restore Heaven”!”
Even though all four did not experience at the same time, they were all being healed. The spell was a ranged recovery spell that was at an intermediate level. It could heal multiple people at the same time. “Restore Heaven” was a higher rank version of the “Heaven’s Blessing” she used before.
Kouki took a thrusting stance and rushed straight for the rioting Behemoth. He stabbed his sword into the previous wound as he finished an aria.
“”Light Burst!””
The enormous magic stored in the Holy Sword flowed into the wound and caused an explosion.
“Gaaa!!”
A large quantity of blood gouged out of the wound. The Behemoth brandish its sharp claws at Kouki during the slight pause after he executed the skill.
“Kuuu!”
Kouki raised a groan and was blown away. The St. Armour he worse reflected the claws, but the impact still passed through and caused a coughing fit for him. The pains was just a moment. Kaori quickly followed up with a heal.
“Heaven’s Blessing, restore his strength, “Restless Heaven”!”
This spell has lost the efficiency of healing multiple people, but it increased its power for single targets. Kouki recovered instantly the light enveloped him.
The Behemoth was blown other members away when Kouki was knocked back. Without minding its injury it started to glow red hot.
“…Even if its horn is gone, it can use the spell. Here it comes!”
Shizuku’s warning and the Behemoth leap came at the same time. Everyone had already experienced the Behemoth’s Special Magic. However, the jump distance of this Behemoth was unexpected. The beast easily leap over the vanguard and advanced to the rear guard. It never jumped like that on the bridge and they didn’t even dream it could jump that much. Vanguard members showed an impatient expression.
One of the rear guard stop their chant and stepped forward. It was Taniguchi Suzu.
“Herein a Sanctuary, enemies of god shall not pass, “Absolute Virtue”!”
The dome of light appeared just as the Behemoth landed like a meteor. A terrible sonicboom and shockwave spread from the area and the surrounding floor broke into cobwebs.
However, the absolute defense Suzu made took the force of the Behemoths blow. But her version was the 2 verse version of the shield, not the 4 verse, so it didn’t have its original power.
The shield already had cracks in it. If Suzu’s class wasn’t “Barrier Master” it wouldn’t have even formed. Suzu grit her teeth as she poured 2 verse worth of magic into a spell that usually didn’t use that amount. She continued to picture the spell’s image in her mind as she raised both hands desperately. The barrier that showed cracks disappeared. She believed her defense was absolute.
“Uuu! I won’t lose!”
From the Behemoth, eyes full of murderous intent pierced the barrier and landed on Suzu. Her body was struck with fear and her hands shaked. She shouted desperately to convey her limit. The Behemoth continued its attack and she wouldn’t be able to hold for more than 10 seconds.
Its going to break! When Suzu thought that in her heart.
“Heaven’s Blessing, a mystery here, “Yielding Heaven”!”
Suzu’s body was wrapped in light, and with it the amount of magic poured into her spell increased. This was Kaori’s spell to recover magic. Originally, it was a spell to restore others magic, moves according to the magic directed in its formula, inflow can be made to amplify to original amount. That how this spell works. Kaori could only use it because of her “Healer” class.
“If its this! I love you Kaorin!”
Suzu poured the original 4 verse worth of magic into the shield and it was restored perfectly. All the cracks were repaired in an instant. Frustrated that it couldn’t break through the barrier, it gave an angry scowl at the impertinent caster. She didn’t budge at the stare and returned one instead.
Finally, the horn started to lose its red hot effect. The Behemoth loses its momentum and falls to the ground. Suzu’s barrier ceased to exist at the same time.
Behemoth tried to aim at the breathing Suzu, but the vanguard was already on top of it.
“Rear guard retreat!”
The back group fell back at Kouki’s direction, and the advance guard enclosed upon the monster. A hit and evade strategy was used on the Behemoth, until the rear guard finished their chant.
“Step Back!”
Eri, the rear guard representative, signaled. Kouki and the others at that signal distanced themselves from the Behemoth.
After they retreated, an advanced fire based magic spell went off.
“””””Scorching Sun”””””
Five people performed this advanced spell. High-temperature flames gathered into a sphere, and burned the surrounding area like the sun. The “Scorching Sun” was made directly above the Behemoth and was 8 m in diameter; immediately after it swelled it was dropped onto the beast.
A tremendous amount of heat attacks the Behemoth. The magnitude of the power was too much that an ally might have gotten damaged. So, they quickly put up a barrier. “Scorching Sun” did not give any spare time for the Behemoth to escape, and soon its strong outer crust started to melt.
“Guuruagaaa!!”
The Behemoth’s death throes filled the hall. A familiar scream from that day. Its cries were earsplitting, but soon it was exhausted like it was burnt away by the flames.
In the center of the blacken area, all that remained of the beast were ruins.
“D-Did we win?”
“I think we won…”
“We won…”
“Seriously?”
“Serious?”
Everyone was looking stunned at the area the Behemoth was. Bit by bit mutters of victory spread throughout. Kouki was stunned, and when he regained himself; he hoisted his Holy Sword above his head and straightened his back.
“That’s right! It’s our victory!”
The sword seemed to respond to his feelings as it started to sparkle. At his victory cry, the others came to the same realization and cheers arose. Guys were patting each other shoulders, while the girls hugged each other. Meld and the knights were impressed.
Shizuku called out to Kaori, who was still staring at the place the Behemoth occupied.
“Kaori? What’s the matter?”
“Eh, Ahh, Shizuku-chan…Yeah, it’s nothing. I was just thinking how far we came.”
Kaori answered Shizuku with a wry smile. She was immersed in her emotions after defeating her previous nightmare and confirming she was stronger now.
“That’s right. We did get stronger.”
“Yeah…Shizuku-chan. Further ahead is Nagumo-kun…”
“You are going to check, right? It was for that reason you tried your best.”
“Ehehe, that’s right.”
To move forward. To ascertain Hajime’s state, because of possible specifics. Scared that there would be no answer, she became faint-hearted. Shizuku sympathized, and held Kaori’s hand.
Kaori showed a smile at her forceful grip.
Kouki started to gather around the two.
“Are you two safe? Kaori, your heals were the best. If you are here, I fear nothing!”
A refreshing smile dawned on his face as he thanked the two.
“Eh, I’m fine. Are you fine too, Kouki?”
“Yeah, no problems. Kouki-kun, I was glad to have been helpful to everyone.”
The two also gave a smile in return. However, Kouki’s words casted a small shadow over their hearts.
“With this, Nagumo-kun can rest in peace. Because the classmates he defended was able to defeat the beast that killed him.”
“”…””
Kouki did not notice the expression Kaori and Shizuku had, as he was immersed with his emotions. In Kouki’s mind, the only reason Hajime fell into the abyss was the Behemoth. There was no mistake. The direct cause of the bridge collapsing was the shock from the Behemoth’s attacks. However, the magic that hit Hajime was the real reason.
Right now there was an unspoken agreement to not talk about what happened, but the fact does not change. Kouki seemed to just forget or was unaware about this fact, and thought that defeating the Behemoth would allow Hajime to rest in peace. For he unconditionally believed in the good will of people. Those that were negligent would not be blamed forever. Besides, he would never dream that someone had done it intentionally.
However, even if she didn’t mind it, she won’t forget about it. Since she did not know “who”, she just tolerated. She would certainly torture severely(*) if she knew. That is why she is shocked at how Kouki forgot that fact.
Shizuku dropped a sigh. She wanted to complain reflexively, but Kouki did not mean anything bad with it. Rather, his speech was his best at thinking about Hajime and Kaori. In a sense, that is why standing up to him would be bad. In addition, the classmates were celebrating. Shizuku was woman who could read the atmosphere, so talking about this out loud was not the time.
An energetic girl flew in this delicate atmosphere.
“Kaorin!”
Suzu embraced Kaori after calling her out with such a weird way.
“Fuwa!?”
“Ehehe, Kaorin, I super love you. If Kaorin didn’t support me, I would have been flattened.”
“M-Mou, Suzu-chan. Where are you touching!”
“Gehehe, is this place okay? I guess this place is no good?”(*)
She was embarrassed by what Suzu was saying, Suzu got carried away and started to fondle Kaori’s body like an old pervert. In response, Shizuku gave a chop. An intense tsukkomi smashed into Suzu’s head.
“Stop it. Who is Suzu’s?…Kaori is mine.”
“Shizuku-chan!?”
“Fu, I won’t allow it~. Only Suzu will get to do those things with Kaorin.”
“S-Suzu-chan!? What are you thinking of!?”
Kaori was stuck between Shizuku and Suzu, so she quickly did a tsukkomi. The delicate atmosphere was gone.
From this point on, they would be entering unexplored territory. They had shaken off their past and advanced.