Even being right about the ship, the weightlessness that came from the teleport made my stomach do flips, as I braced for the largest spell I'd cast in this world, psyching myself up for it, and opening my menu. Flipping through the windows to spell customization, I quickly reset (Blink) to a multi target spell, and even as it warned me the cost of a single cast would be far greater than my means, I kept going.
"There!" shouted a voice from above, one of the more sharp eyed archers having taken to the crow's nest of the ship, and pointing towards the horizon. Shifting my gaze I was actually kind of glad it was only a few kilometers from our position, even as the cost of my spell shot up, as I planned our destination, keeping in mind that this would probably see a few people getting upset as we hadn't had time to inform anyone of the specifics of the plan.
'Everyone! Brace for more movement!' I shouted into the minds I felt nearby, and then, before any could probably understand what was going on, I flicked a switch in my brain. All the ships with us vanished for a second time in less than a minute, reappearing right beneath the largest hole in the sky, one that looked like a growing storm, as it spun in the heavens, throwing off its fell magic, and spawning even more gaps.
The moment we were down, dropping half a meter into the water as I'd not really been able to aim precisely enough to keep us level, I collapsed to the deck, my body feeling…well like it was dying. I could actually hear my heart pounding in my ears, and every muscle aches, like I'd been on a treadmill while pumping weights for twenty-four hours straight, even as my vision began to dim.
Apparently I'd overestimated my resistance to the effects of draining my MP so much, and was afraid, somewhere in the dim recess of my mind, that I really was going to die, that same lightness of thought overtaking me as my mind reminded me of a similar feeling as Raphtalia's blade slid into my flesh. Unlike there, the arms that gripped me as they raised my head off the deck of the ship were smaller, but no less strong, as I stared into the face of an angel.
The angel pushed a bottle between my lips, and with a stroke of my head, forced me to swallow one of the worst concoctions that I think mankind had ever dreamed up. Luckily, Naofumi's wares lived up to their maker's expectations, and with a few coughs, I felt my MP climbing back up, and looked out, the delirium of being tired fading as Ray lifted me back onto my feet, while Lucia stood, her Weapon in the form of a Longbow, with two crescents of ice linked by a gold bar she was holding.
Taking a look around, I saw eyes not on me, but on the hole in the sky, out of which was coming the enemy Motoyasu and I had expected. The Narwhal let out a horrendous noise, shaking the waters beneath it, as its flippers pounded at the air, trying to drag it through the hole faster, even as I turned on (Void Gaze), a ghostly image of it falling towards the ocean, not just between us, and in fact closer to the ship opposite the one I was on, making me wonder if the shot would reach.
"Aim there!" I shouted regardless, sending through the (Awakened Mind) what I was seeing, and Lucia, the moment she had her target, drew back on her bow, the invisible string stretching, and a glowing blue aura touching her fingers. That aura became an icicle with a crackling noise, even as Lucia loosed the shot, the thing arcing up, and almost perfectly coming down right where we wanted it, forming a small platform of ice on the water's surface, bobbing in the waves.
The moment the shot hit, everyone who could cast spells chanted, and bolts of blue light flew into the water, turning it into a sheet of ice that grew and expanded as each blast of winter struck the waves, chilling them. The spells continued to rain, even as the whale above seemed to notice the preemptive attacks, and let loose a deep, mournful bellow that blasted against the ice, shaking it, and for just a moment, I was afraid it would crack under the assault.
Then the Royal Vessel erupted in light, as the King let loose his magical power, showing me that they hadn't been exaggerating how easily he must have taken down Myne. Better, with a shout I could hear from more than a hundred meters away, his magic swept over the churning sea, the ice sheet coming together again, and even expanding outward, soon covering the ocean as far as the eye could see, and tossing most of us off our feet as the ships lurched to a halt.
The sheet of ice must have been several meters thick, and it extended out beyond all four ships for a good ten to twenty. It was sturdy too, as the moment it was done, the other Heroes and their parties rushed onto the ice, standing away from the spot where Lucia's arrow had struck, but near enough that, as the whale finally pulled itself free from the hole in the sky, it plummeted right by them.
The thing was huge, longer than the ships we'd been brought on, with the horn making up most of that, and glowing with the light magic that was the nature of the beast. Back in Dimensional Sign, I remembered it being one of the more annoying fights, as it constantly popped in and out of the water, forcing you to adapt your play to when it decided to come at you, and even countering you when it learned how you liked to hit it.
Here, there WAS no counter, as it slammed into the ice sheet, its horn digging a rut as it seemingly tried to bore through the frozen water, only to come up short and land, flopping on the sheet, far away from us. The moment it was down, the other Heroes advanced, and their blows rained on the creature, as its HP bar slowly filled up in the top of my vision, showing I hadn't been wrong about just how much this thing would have.
"Gods I hate damage sponge bosses," I muttered to myself, as small ticks were taken out of its massive health. Worse, we apparently were far enough away from my ship that none of the archers could hit it, their arrows falling short of the mark from the angle. Even the other vessels were at odds, and many of the adventurers joined the Heroes on the ice, hammering away at the thing.
'Gather up! I'm going to enchant your weapons!' I sent to them, and made part of the deck shine, the adventurers, some of which I realized were ones I recognized from Thud and Sanctuary, coming to stand in a group. A single bubble from my Bow then had their arms shimmering, be they bows themselves, or shuriken, knives, and even some kind of bladed ring. Chakram I thought it might be called. Regardless, the shimmer took on a shadow tone, as the element the thing was weak to was (Dark), mostly because that made it harder to counter as most stacked (Light) instead,
'Head out and assist the other Heroes. Ray, take command, Glomenthal is a (Dark) attribute weapon naturally, so the bonus to it will be greater than the rest,' I ordered, and she looked to me, then to Lucia, who nodded, draining her bottle of Naofumi's potion to restore her MP. With that, the panther woman leapt onto the railing, gave a few short lines, and the men and women leapt down onto the ice, and charged their enemy.
It seemed Therese stayed with us, not that I minded, she was a high level, beyond cap, and having a bodyguard on the ship made it easier as some of the enemies began to pour from holes in the sky. Horrid looking fish men, floating skulls, and just a general menagerie of creatures rained down onto us, the people below spending almost as much time taking on the foes around them, as continuing to pepper the boss.
Lucia and Therese together were able to keep the enemies off my own back, the former quickly shifting her Replica Weapon between forms, slashing with a sword one moment and cleaving a dog monster in two, shifting to a bow to put lightning arrows in a rabbit like creature causing it to explode, then finally into a shield as a penguin slammed into it feet first, with her tossing it skyward and then skewering it with a spear.
Therese, meanwhile, was simply using spells, though like none I'd ever seen before. Her arms glowed brightly, as bracelets on her wrists shone with magical light. Fire blasts leapt from her hands, then beams of destruction, and even something I could only call a serpentine dragon made light woven together, which moved seemingly independently of her, as she kept swapping bracelets somehow, their color changing and glowing with each spell.
My overwatch helped keep everyone informed, as I tried to give what advice I could, but in a huge melee like this, there wasn't much I could do for the individual fights, instead refocusing on the boss, and trusting the two protecting me to keep me safe as I got Naofumi to block a strike with his green energy shield that would have tossed Motoyasu into the sea, if not killed him outright as he leapt about with his armor.
Ren, meanwhile kept pounding into the monster with his blade, leaping onto the flipper and tearing into it, or chopping at the great horn like it were a tree, causing the thing to scream in agony, as it futilely tried to force them off it, to try and get to the water where it could more easily move, only for Rishia, Welts, Raphtalia, Ray and even that L'arc man to make any such efforts hurt more smashing, blasting, crushing, and slashing the creature from every angle they could with the Heroes.
In my vision, I noted its HP was almost gone, the elapsed time, a bit over five minutes. That was because everyone was going all out, however, as I noticed my two party members were starting to run dry. It was over when, with one final cry, the three on the ground did a combined attack, as Naofumi manifested a shield, that Motoyasu struck from behind, sending it slamming into the creature, shattering the green plate as the monster was tossed backwards, just as Ren let loose some kind of (Dark) attribute slash, creating a pillar of black light that the creature nearly bisected itself on.
The whale, Interdimensional Whale, just like how the Soul Eater had been Interdimensional, roared one final time, the sound turning into a wet gurgle as purple blood spilled from its lips, and it flailed for a moment or two. Then, at last, it lay still, and a cheer went up from everyone, even as the fighting of the mobs continued, and I looked up into the sky, anticipating that we'd see the holes 'invert' again.
I noticed, just like with the Chimera a cord of light, subtle but there, that had seemingly connected the monster with the hole above. However, it refused to light for anyone else, and I forewent asking anyone about it, watching it ascend, and then…nothing. The hole above remained spinning, and there was a moment of pause, as I considered if there was a second phase to this fight as well, one I'd forgotten.
However, instead of a phase, a second boss health bar appeared, one that looked glitched as if it were both MP and HP at the same time…
'It's Glass! She's the enemy that tried to kill us last time! Everyone keep your eyes open, she's got to be around here somewhere!' I shouted into everyone's mind, and all the adventurers that could began to look around, especially as the streams of monsters from the sky started to…shift away from us, indicating she had to be nearby, as it was the same way it had happened before.
Then, without warning, a second bar appeared, and then a third, making my eyes boggle, as I tried to look around, only for my vision to show clearly a red blotch near the others, with me about to scream L'arc's name as he raised his scythe, only to be distracted in that moment as more red flickered beside me. Therese, her body done in a crimson hue, marking her as my enemy, as I saw her bracelets change again, this time to a golden color.
"Wall of Light, duel cast!" she shouted, and I felt the static of magic in the air, looking up to see a huge shimmer appear in the sky, a curtain that fell, covering the ship, before a similar, smaller one fell towards me, making me try to run, only for it to fall far too swiftly. My last view, as the world was covered by the wall of light was Lucia, looking shocked, even as she drew her weapon into a shield form, and rushed at Therese.