The enemy before me, Glass, was immune to (Insight) it seemed. Her HP bar had replaced the boss' though. And she had as good as admitted to being part of all this. Part of the Waves…somehow. Nothing I'd read, either from books of this world, or in the (Help Menu) had suggested that there were people behind it, let alone ones that were well spoken, and challenged the Heroes with weapons like their own.
What (Insight) provided on her was…glitched text. It was there, I could read it, but it was jumbled, the words shifting and moving. Heck, her stats weren't even right, as it looked like she had more categories than she should, with the display dancing between them, leaving me to stare, trying to quickly read through her biographical information, and instead getting a headache for my trouble, as I took in her stance, and then glanced at the others around me.
Worst of all, I took a glance at the Wave timer. Before, it had been the time between sunup and sundown, as that was how long we had to deal with the event. Now? This woman's presence had shortened it, as her meter took over for the boss, it swept down to thirty minutes, and looking out into the monster horde, I could tell that it was no idle threat, either, as their HP bars were rising faster now. If we let her survive too long, she'd let them fully come into this world, and a lot of people would be hurt, on top of the direct threat she posed.
Naofumi and Filo were close to exhaustion. Their bodies were tired from the prior battle. Worse, the two behind me were still actually exhausted. The timers said they'd recover in a few minutes, but this woman before us didn't look like she'd give us those minutes, and instead was smiling, pointing one of her fans menacingly at us, as she gave a small chuckle, and then lowered it.
"Why are you waiting to attack, Hero Naofumi? Why not try sending those servants of yours at me first?" she asked, looking towards Raphtalia, myself, and probably the other two behind me. I could hear growls of frustration from them, and realized quickly that this was not a good situation, and so I needed to change the variables.
"Well, Miss Glass, can I call you Glass? I think we're all just shocked that something like you represents the Waves," I said, walking out between Naofumi and her, standing right there in front, and drawing her eyes.
"Oh? And why is that?" she said, smirking, and I smirked right back.
"I mean, it's just…I expected the force behind the Waves to look differently, is all. Like some gods from on high. Power Given Form, Will Given Flesh sorts of things," I said, and she nodded.
"And do I not look like that? Do you think me weak because I am a woman?" she asked, and I shook my head.
"Lady, I got picked up by someone less than half my size, who could tie me in knots, so playing that card ain't even close. But what's taking me back is that kimono of yours. I mean look, this is a European fantasy setting. We've even got rideable giant chickens and dragons. That look shouldn't be within three genres of this one," I opined, and she seemed amused, looking herself up and down.
"I don't have the faintest clue what you're talking about, young man, but you will find that insulting me is not the best way to start a battle," she said, smiling at me with that 'ooh, I'm dangerous' look that…well I'd seen it before.
"Oh, forgive me, Lady Glass. I wasn't intending on insulting you," I said with a bow, and then smiling as I rose back up.
"After all, if I wanted to insult you, I'd have to reach pretty far, given your obvious association with the monsters," I say, gesturing to the still falling hordes around us, none of them coming close to the ship, but instead pouring down onto the land below. This seemed to amuse her, for some reason. I didn't know why, but I leaned forward, and held up a finger while winking at her.
"I mean, that face of yours, with the crooked nose and the wrinkles? It would be an insult to the monsters to put you in their league at all," it was probably the way I said it that caused the most stunned reactions, as they all stared at me. Glass herself just seemed frozen in place, her brain trying to process what I said and failing. Smiling, I decided to push onwards.
"And the monsters are fit, even the worst goblin is a block of muscle, but you? That kimono looks like it's barely holding in all that blubber you're carrying around. The hips alone put mountains to shame," I told her, and she lowered her fan, and slowly tilted her head to one side, staring at me blankly, obviously trying to control her emotions.
"Do you think insulting me would somehow distract me, Bow Wielder? That I am so sensitive to the barbs of an idiot's tongue that I would turn from my course?" she asked, and I barked out a laugh.
"Nah, nah, I just figured you were so old, I have to speak in slow terms for you to understand me. I mean those wrinkles say you're what one-hundred? Two-hundred years? Gods I bet you have grandchildren about five times my age," I told her, and that did it, as she flashed a dark look, and waved her fan at me. A blast of wind shot forward from the motion, but I just used (Blink) to move to the side. Luckily, I'd positioned myself so the angle went off the ship, rather than towards the others.
"Wow, and you must be going blind too. Tell me, did your eyes or your brain start going first?" I jabbed, and she growled, this time using both fans against me, waving them, and sending a pair of blasts, one right towards me, and one towards where I'd be if I were stupid enough to port right back to where I had been. I, quite obviously, instead got behind her.
"I mean, we both know the hips went first, that rotund form of yours must have taken a while to get that fat," I told her, right behind her, and this time she whipped around, turning fully away from the others, as I smiled, and then ported away, this time with her sending a few horizontal slashes of air towards me. Not one hit, of course, instead slamming into the wood, splintering it briefly, before it started reforming.
"I assume of course, the face is just naturally that ugly though, so I guess you're right, it had to be the first thing that went," I smirked at her from the rigging of the ship, and she leapt upwards, somehow sailing towards me, and this time she rapidly shot at me, forcing me to (Blink) several times to avoid her, as her air blades tore through the sails and wood, leaving both in tatters as I kept her attention on me.
I would throw single word insults at her, and she grew more and more frustrated, to the point where it seemed she'd pop one of her teeth out from grinding them so hard against each other. This game kept us both busy for several minutes, as I dodged around her, keeping her focus squarely on myself as I bounced between the levels of the masts, and once had her fire some kind of laser bolt from her fans that blew one clean off the ship in a spectacular display, that of course reversed a second later.
Not that this wasn't taking a toll on me. My MP was going down, steadily. Even with no delay between the regen and use, my regeneration rate was simply not enough to keep up with the use I was putting it too. I even had to duck into the crow's nest briefly to take a breather, before returning to the mockery, even telling her I took a nap since she was starting to bore me, which got her even angrier somehow.
Finally, the timers I kept an eye on ticked over, and I glanced down, almost getting hit by one of her attacks, but I saw Ren and Motoyasu climbing to their feet, not looking their best, but able to stand at least. Leading Glass upwards into the rigging, I then dove down, letting her tear apart the crow's nest as her head spun, looking around her for me, even as I landed on the deck beside the two, with Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo motioned to come closer, giving me a bit of cover as Glass looked for me.
"I think I've kept her busy long enough. Who's up for sending tall, dark, and blowhard back to whatever hole she crawled out of?" I asked, and got some nods, as I spent a full minute doling out the boosts, including giving Naofumi some for Magic Attack, which I figured would boost his defensive skills. The moment they were done, I was smiling, and stepped out from behind them, finding Glass still up above.
"Hey! Are you looking for something, old lady?" I cried out to her, and she spun around, eyes almost as on fire as Naofumi's had been when he pulled out his Rage Shield. She landed, and then saw that the others were all standing around me, apparently not having noticed them from above, and then smiling, calming herself down almost instantly, as she ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it back out from the few split ends she'd had before.
"I see, you were a fine distraction then, but now you're willing to face me, all at once?" she asked, trying to act cool, but you could see it in her stance. She was still pissed. Luckily, I had a couple of nice, well stated up people between myself and her, and I drew out my (Hydra-Line) in stereo, and aimed for them, dividing the boost in speed between them all, before loosing them with a cry.
It took a huge load of my remaining SP doing that, almost a third, as even with my armor this was putting a strain on that stat. But it was worth it. Three heroes, a young lady, and a giant chicken vanished, and Glass, confident, stood against them, only to suddenly be knocked from her feet by a blast of wind, and then slamming into a Shield, which burned her back, as the other two Heroes and Raphtalia came at her from the front, the hammer and anvil working wonders.
She got out of that, slipping between the strikes, but her kimono was torn now, and she had to wipe something from her lips, a golden fluid…blood perhaps? Regardless, they struck again, their weapons still glowing with (Light Boon), allowing them to break through her defenses. She was literally pinballed between them on more than one occasion, with me shouting out her moves as she tried to make them over the din of the battle.
Then, all at once (Void Gaze) filled with red, and I reacted. I cried out for Naofumi to Shield with all his might, and tried to grab Ren and Motoyasu, but they were too far out, so I settled for Raphtalia, diving behind Naofumi as he held up his Weapon. The blast of wind magic or whatever it was that came from her as she found a single moment to react was startling, as it blew around the whole of the deck, splintering the masts, and slamming the other three into the railing, nearly tossing Filo over the side, but she dug her talons, equipped with metal tips, into the boards.
The moment it was over, she stood there, breathing hard, looking even more angry than before. We'd done damage, almost a quarter of her HP was gone, all in less than a minute. Better, that attack had taken off another huge chunk, as her powers apparently relied on her life force to work. Casting from Hitpoints was how some bad guys operated. Sadly, she regenerated those points, and with us no longer hammering her, she was slowly going up.
"I will NOT be made a fool of!" she declared with a snarl, as she aimed her fans at us, saying something I missed, as I watched her turn one of them into a lightsaber like glowing stick, and then let it fly towards us, blowing the front of the ship off, even as I used (Blink) to drag the others to the side a few feet, avoiding the main damage, but the backblast knocking us all down to the deck.
There was, I noticed as I lay there on the wood, a slight delay in her regeneration, but not enough to really take advantage of, as she stomped forward, looking ready to end us. I, looking around, tried to find something to use against her, but with only two awake party members, it wasn't going well. Worse, I could run…but I couldn't bring ALL of them with me. If I wanted to flee, it would mean abandoning people.
I shook that thought from my head, noticing as I did that something had fallen out of Ren's coat, my (Void Gaze) helpfulling identifying it as (Soul Soothing Potion) with an SP recovery effect. I chose not to engage with the name, and instead rose, a bit unsteadily, to my feet and just flipped Glass off. I had no idea what that gesture meant to the people of…wherever it was she was from, but it seemed to make her focus on me, as I used (Blink) to get away for a moment.
I knew leading her wouldn't help this time, as she would just come back down to finish the others, but even an instant allowed me to do three things in rapid succession. First, moving Filo, Ren, and Motoyasu to the quarterdeck, and thus, out of the line of fire. Second, I ported back to Naofumi, and handed him the bottle, telling him to distract her. Third, I grabbed Raphtalia's hand, and we ended up behind her master, as he chugged the bottle, and the very moment Glass was down, he repeated the Iron Maiden.
"That's not…it's not going to work," said Raphtalia, as we watched the Shield Prison rise into the air. She was hitting it from within, her blasts of air coming out, but she wasn't going to break out before it got to the Iron Maiden that reappeared in the sky. Mind, I knew the Demi-Human woman was right, and nodded.
"Yeah, and that means we are in desperation mode here, so I've got one card left to play," I said, as I focused. My MP was low, thanks to all the tricks I'd pulled, but I had just enough left for this, and as Glass burst free of the attack, Naofumi gritting his teeth, looking disappointed but in no way surprised as she gently came down this time, a look of utter triumph on her face.
"I need you to let go of all the boosts I've given you, Miss Raphtalia," I said, holding my hand on hers, and she turned to me, confusion in her face, but she didn't question, she didn't need to. I'd given good advice, and she probably thought I had some boost or something to use on her that the others would interfere with. So she took a deep breath, letting it roll around in her chest, before breathing out, and her stats began to bottom out.
I acted the moment Glass was in range, reaching out with my spell, and then grabbing at the thread of her life. I'd been afraid, in the back of my mind, this wouldn't work, but luckily, the spell's effect was able to do what it said, and I did the most utterly stupid thing I could think of, linking my life threads with her's, feeling that tug that Strong had once described, and I wondered, briefly, if she could feel it, though she gave no indication of it as she settled back onto the deck, and began to gloat.
"Stab me," I said, suddenly, and that seemed to get all three of the still awake people to look at me, interrupting Glass' speech. Raphtalia, turning, looked like I'd just told her to eat her own head, but I nodded.
"Do it!" I cried, and she did it. No questions, no hesitation, she drove her sword into my gut, and suddenly, I was in pain. I'd avoided all damage since I'd arrived on this world. The worst blow I'd taken had been in that duel with Ren, and even then. I called it before I'd taken as much damage as I gave. As such, I only had the others' words that pain in this world wasn't quite what I remembered, and as the sword dug into my stomach, just above my waist, I got my first taste of pain.
I would have called them liars at that moment. Ren had even said, during the goblin thing he'd had a spear driven into his side. He'd described it as painful, but no more than a shot back home. This? This was like my world had turned into fire, as I felt a copper taste in my mouth, and knew I was bleeding internally. Worse, the weapon was shaking, a bit…or rather, I was shaking, nearly falling over until Raphtalia stopped me.
Still, through agony, through tears in my eyes, I watched my HP bar drop, a lot. Not to full dead levels, but enough that I was in sight of it. Better, I watched the blurry shape that was Glass stagger backwards, clutching at her side, and the HP or energy, or whatever it was bar showing her health plummeted. She stayed just above zero, but it was only just, as she staggered back, and nearly fell to the deck.
We stood there for a while, just staring at each other, me through tears, but as I blunk them away, I could see she was not much better. Worse, When she began to regen I…jiggled. Not a lot, but enough that the pain hurt all over again, and took just a bit more damage, keeping us both at critical health, as she pointed a fan at us, but then thought better of it, as she grabbed at the slick patch on her kimono.
I tried to say something. I had a whole speech in my mind ready to go, but opening my mouth had thick blood pour from it, and instead I started coughing, which seemed to affect her as well, her own body shuddering as each jolt from mine passed to her. When I stopped, we were staring right into each other's eyes now, and she was furious. She also knew she was defeated, and snapped her fans closed.
"Very well. I see this world has Heroes other than the Shield I should worry about. Next time, I will not go easy on you," she said, standing up straighter, and then leaping…well really wafting upwards into the air. She ascended slowly, like she was trying to draw it out, but in the end, she reached the hole in the sky, and it…cracked. Like a golden break appeared and she passed through it, the moment she was gone, the hole itself inverting, and the Wave finally coming to an end.
"Good riddance," I said, as I felt us starting to descend. The ship was moving gently towards the ground, as the timer began to flash in the side of my vision, almost fifteen minutes to spare, which made me smile. I turned to say something to Raphtalia, but before I could do anything my status suddenly showed (Bleeding Out) in my effects list, and I felt weak, my knees pulling out from under me, as Raphtalia gently lowered me towards the ground, the woman, barely up to my damn chest, not even bothered by my weight. Cheating world, was the last thought I had as I closed my eyes.
