Chapter 187: The Terrifying Supreme Magic Bullet
"Shh. Quiet."
The moment Asagiri spoke, Yuuki Asuna and the others instantly held their breath, even forcing themselves to stop breathing for a moment.
Sakuragawa Rikka had also learned from him that a terrifying existence called Chris Walker roamed this mental hospital. She had not seen that monster with her own eyes, but she could tell that this four person team was made up of top tier Players. If even they had to avoid it, then the creature's terror was self-evident.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. At that moment, both Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi could feel their heartbeats accelerating from the tension. Asuna lightly bit her lip, suppressing the fear rising in her chest as she rapidly weighed their options.
The best outcome was obvious. Chris Walker would fail to notice them.
But if he did...
Asuna's gaze flicked toward the office wall. Given her strength and Asagiri's, smashing through the wall and escaping was possible. The problem was whether the wall itself might be protected by the same strange force as the barrier in the corridor earlier.
If that was the case, then the five of them would be forced to face a monster like a living armored vehicle in this cramped office, while also keeping one eye on Sakuragawa Rikka, whose abilities remained unknown.
This... was just too difficult.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The footsteps stopped.
No one in the room relaxed in the slightest, because they had stopped directly outside the office door.
In the dead silence, even the sound of their own heartbeats felt unbearably loud.
Boom!!!
The office wall exploded inward.
Chris Walker smashed through the thick concrete as if it were paper. Towering and oppressive, he stood amid the rubble, stared at the five people inside, and let out a beastlike roar.
"Why are you yelling so loudly?"
Asagiri moved first.
Without the slightest hesitation, he switched into the [Hunter's Windbreaker], pulled on the dark gray mask, and his eyes changed from black to brilliant gold. At the same time, the phantom image of Human Asura appeared behind him. Chains rattled as the Rope Dart in his hand shot forward, piercing straight toward Chris Walker's right eye.
The Rope Dart was sharp. Combined with Asagiri's monstrous throwing force, and aimed at the eye, one of the few weak points on that giant body, it finally broke through Chris Walker's defense.
The moment the Rope Dart stabbed into his eye, Chris Walker roared again. This time, it was not pain, but fury.
He seized the chain with one hand and yanked violently, dragging Asagiri toward him. His other hand clenched into a fist and smashed down at Asagiri's body.
[King's Gambit.]
The instant Asagiri was pulled forward, he vanished.
In his place appeared Yuuki Asuna, who had already finished charging and was moving at full speed.
Draped in a dazzling light, her light armored figure looked almost unreal.
[Sword Skill: Flashing Pierce.]
No one present, not even Asagiri, could clearly follow Yuuki Asuna's movement. All they saw was a streak of blinding sword light slash through the corridor.
Bang!
Yuuki Asuna's body crashed into the corridor wall outside. A thin line of blood ran from the tip of one of her pale fingers, and her sword arm trembled so badly she could barely keep hold of the rapier.
[Flashing Pierce] placed a horrifying burden on the body. Fortunately, she had used it at full speed, with all of her physical stats amplified. Otherwise, she might not even have remained standing.
And this full speed [Flashing Pierce] was, at this stage, the strongest offensive move any of the four could use besides Asagiri's [Supreme Magic Bullet].
Clatter.
For the first time, an expression other than rage and resentment appeared on Chris Walker's face.
He slowly turned his head and looked at his empty right shoulder, then at the severed arm that had fallen to the ground. Confusion filled his bloodshot eyes, as if he could not understand what had just happened or why his arm was suddenly no longer attached.
"Ice Spear."
"Netherworld Grip."
The instant Asagiri raised his right hand to condense a spear of freezing air, Iwanaga Kotoko extended her own hand toward Chris Walker and clenched it. Both of them called out their skills at the same time.
Not to be outdone, Kato Megumi made her move as well.
[Throw.]
The moment she instinctively called out the skill name, she realized with some embarrassment that her move's name sounded a little too plain.
[Ice Spear]. [Netherworld Grip]. Those sounded cool.
[Throw]... well, it was straightforward, at least.
Bang!
The spinning battle axe slammed into Chris Walker's chest. It failed to break through his defense, but the terrifying force behind it still blasted the giant monster backward several meters, smashing his back into the corridor wall.
The next instant, the freezing [Ice Spear] shot forward like an arrow and pierced straight through his abdomen.
Then a massive pale ghost hand emerged from thin air. Its five fingers, tipped with sharp black nails, clenched around Chris Walker's body, restraining him in place. Even for a monster known as the Human Armored Vehicle, and one further twisted by the supernatural, he could not immediately break free from the Pale Ghost Hand's grip.
"Retreat."
The moment Asagiri gave the order, Yuuki Asuna and the others instantly turned and followed him. Sakuragawa Rikka also moved with them.
They had only run a few meters when the heavy footsteps resumed behind them.
"He broke free?"
Kotoko frowned.
She had assumed that the Pale Ghost Hand, which carried curse type power, would at least exert some suppressive effect on Chris Walker, who was now clearly some kind of weird supernatural entity. But just like Human Asura and her Black Particle construct earlier, he had broken through it in moments.
This strength was ridiculous.
Asagiri noticed that Yuuki Asuna's movement had become awkward. [Flashing Pierce] had placed too much strain on her body. It was not only her sword arm. Even her left leg was losing strength.
"You brought this on yourself."
Asagiri suddenly stopped.
He turned to face the huge figure charging down the corridor like a runaway truck, his footsteps pounding like an earthquake.
His eyes turned bright gold, and dark red rune-like patterns spread through the space around him.
The moment that terrifying pressure burst outward, Sakuragawa Rikka, who stood not far ahead, felt a fear she had never experienced before. Her pupils widened.
"What... is this...?"
Chris Walker, who had been charging with unstoppable momentum, also froze.
For the first time, clear fear appeared on that ugly, brutal face. His huge body stopped dead, then turned as if he meant to flee like a terrified animal.
But Asagiri had already spent too much mental strength to let him escape now.
His golden eyes burned brighter and brighter. The dark red symbolic patterns whirling around him accelerated. A beam of pitch black light, laced with dark red lightning, erupted forth and swallowed the entire corridor ahead.
[Supreme Magic Bullet.]
Sakuragawa Rikka stood within that black beam, terror filling her eyes, yet she herself suffered no harm.
Chris Walker, however, experienced something entirely different.
He did not even have time to scream. The moment the black light touched him, his massive, durable body rapidly dissolved into the darkness, as though he had been erased from existence itself. Not a single trace remained.
Yuuki Asuna and the others, standing behind Asagiri, then saw something even stranger.
After erasing Chris Walker, the [Supreme Magic Bullet] did not immediately disappear. Instead, it abruptly bent downward, drilled straight through the corridor floor beneath them, and only slowly vanished nearly five seconds later.
"What... was that...?"
Only after the [Supreme Magic Bullet] vanished did Sakuragawa Rikka seem to regain control of herself. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor. Confusion and blank disbelief filled her yellow eyes.
As someone who had eaten mermaid flesh and possessed an immortal body, she had never feared death. In fact, Sakuragawa Rikka had once believed she simply lacked the emotion called fear, that nothing in this world could truly terrify her.
She had been wrong.
There were no words to describe what she had felt in those few seconds.
And more than that...
She looked at Asagiri, standing there in his black coat and dark gray mask, his eyes having already returned from gold to black.
A thought quietly surfaced in her mind.
He had not even targeted her, and yet those few seconds had drowned her in despair and terror. Even knowing that this was only a clone body had changed nothing.
Did a monster like this really exist among the Players at this stage?
"Leader, are you alright?"
Hearing Yuuki Asuna's voice, Asagiri casually raised a hand and deliberately showed her the ring on his finger.
"Yes. I'm fine."
[Ring of Conversion (Quality: Purple, Excellent): When worn, this equipment allows the user to consume physical strength to replenish mental strength, or consume mental strength to replenish physical strength.]
Using [Supreme Magic Bullet] had consumed around seventy to eighty percent of Asagiri's mental strength, pushing him close to his limit.
But he had already converted part of his physical strength into mental strength through the ring. If he were willing to pay the price of completely losing the ability to fight afterward, he could still force out one more [Supreme Magic Bullet] right now.
That was the terrifying value of the [Ring of Conversion].
"What, you're just sitting there waiting for us to help you up?"
Hearing Asagiri's lightly mocking tone, Sakuragawa Rikka finally came back to herself.
She forced herself to stand. She took one deep look at Asagiri, then another at Iwanaga Kotoko standing beside him, as if she wanted to say something.
But in the end, she said nothing.
Her body dissolved into black mist and drifted off toward the far end of the corridor.
.....
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