DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN NOW READ THREE TO SIX CHAPTERS AHEAD. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE LINK.
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'All of these are spirits.' Hinata assessed, her eyes remaining completely focused on Hachi while her magic sense and battle instincts kept track of the countless monsters surrounding her. 'She's using summoning magic.'
She exchanged blows with several of the monsters that rushed toward her, although calling it an exchange of blows would have been generous. Every time one of the creatures entered her range, Moonlight flashed through the air, cutting through their bodies with such overwhelming precision that they were unable to offer even the slightest resistance. One after another, the summoned spirits were reduced to fragments before their remains scattered into particles of light.
Hachi, meanwhile, simply remained in her position, watching.
She didn't even appear particularly concerned about the monsters being destroyed around her.
Hinata frowned. 'Is this her plan?' Her grip tightened around Moonlight. 'As a direct subordinate of the Ruler of Maple Tree, I refuse to believe it's to this extent.'
The thought had barely crossed her mind when the surrounding battlefield suddenly erupted.
In an instant, every monster surrounding Hinata and Hachi was sliced apart, their bodies being torn into pieces before they could even react. Dozens of summoned spirits were reduced to nothing more than drifting dust, leaving the interior of the barrier strangely quiet once again.
Hinata stood among the remains, her sword lowered slightly as the last particles disappeared.
Hachi tilted her head. "An impressive sword."
Her gaze idly shifted toward the massive insect limbs that had been protecting her until now. Each of the limbs had been carved apart by Hinata's previous attacks, with several deep slashes running across their thick exoskeletons. Some of them looked brittle, barely holding together as though another strike would be enough to shatter them completely.
Hachi regarded the damage for a moment before looking back toward Hinata.
Hinata raised her sword and pointed its tip directly at the Antari. She slowly ran one finger down the flat of the blade as she settled into a precise thrusting stance, her expression becoming completely focused.
"This blade was granted to me by Lady Luminous." Her eyes narrowed. "Her name is Moonlight."
Hachi's eyes widened slightly.
"A Legend-grade sword..." A cruel grin slowly spread across her face. "To think we'd encounter another person possessing a weapon of that level so early."
The insect limbs surrounding Hachi suddenly disappeared. So did the spatial portals from which they had emerged.
For the first time since the battle began, Hachi stood completely exposed.
But rather than appearing vulnerable, she looked almost excited. "Then allow me to reveal mine."
Hachi slowly spread her arms. "This was granted to me by the might and superior existence of Lady Kaede."
A deep metallic sound suddenly echoed throughout the battlefield.
Clang.
Then another.
Clang.
The sound grew louder with every passing moment, heavy pieces of metal colliding and locking together around Hachi's body like an enormous suit of armour assembling itself piece by piece.
CLANG.
The final pieces snapped into place. "His name is..." Hachi's voice came from within the armour.
"Wickerman."
The figure standing where Hachi had once been was nearly eight feet tall.
Her entire body was encased from head to toe in thick black metal, its surface carrying dark shades of moss green that gave the armour an almost organic appearance. The silhouette was unmistakably insectoid, with a large head shaped like that of an enormous insect and two massive antennae extending from the top.
Four arms extended from her torso, arranged into two sets, each ending in vicious claws capable of tearing through armour and flesh alike.
Then came the wings.
Three magnificent pairs unfolded from her back with flawless precision, each movement producing a deep metallic hum as they opened to their full span. Their surfaces were translucent, allowing a strange radiance to shine through them as though light itself had become trapped within their delicate membranes.
The air around her seemed to change.
The presence that had been hidden beneath Hachi's usual appearance was now impossible to ignore.
This was her battle form. Her Assault Mode.
The full power of an Antari brought forth, with the ancient lineage of her Insectar origin made visible for the world to see.
"She looks just like..." Luminous murmured, befor closing her eyes. "So she's also a member of that race... How troublesome."
Rimuru looked at Luminous. "What is it?"
<
'Ah, right, right.' Rimuru nodded, the his eyes opened. 'Hang on, the heck do you mean by magical creatures? Isn't that just everyone!?'
Luminous, however, paid no attention to his complaint. Her eyes remained fixed upon Hachi, her expression becoming increasingly serious as she observed the armour covering the Antari's body.
"The Insectars are an unusual race," Luminous finally explained. "Their bodies possess an absurd level of physical ability, while their exoskeletons possess a natural resistance to supernatural attacks. They are particularly troublesome opponents for beings who rely heavily on magic."
Rimuru's expression immediately changed. "So basically..."
<
"That's one way of putting it."
On the other side of the barrier, Hinata had also noticed the change.
She stared at the towering black figure standing before her, her eyes carefully studying every part of Wickerman.
Before, despite her strange abilities and overwhelming strength, there had still been something recognizable about her appearance. Something that made it easy to forget just how monstrous the Antari truly was.
That was no longer the case.
Hinata's instincts were screaming at her.
Danger.
Hachi slowly lowered her head.
Two enormous antennae shifted slightly above her head as they focused on Hinata. "You who cut down my kin."
Her voice sounded deeper from within Wickerman's armour, carrying a metallic resonance that made it seem as though the entire suit itself was speaking.
"Do not bear ill will for what I'm about to do to you." One of her four hands slowly curled into a fist.
Hachi's wings suddenly moved.
The sound that followed was not the delicate buzzing of an ordinary insect but rather a thunderous metallic roar.
The six wings accelerated simultaneously, causing the air around Hachi to distort violently as her massive body disappeared.
Hinata's pupils contracted. 'Fast!'
Moonlight immediately rose.
CLANG!
The sword collided with a black claw.
The impact exploded outward, tearing apart the ground beneath Hinata's feet as she was pushed backward several meters.
A drop of blood ran down her lip. 'Just the force alone ruptured something from my insides.'
Before she could recover, another claw came from the side, forcing Hinata to twist her body.
CLANG!
She barely intercepted it.
A third claw descended from above.
This time Hinata ducked beneath it. The claw struck the ground instead, completely pulverizing the stone beneath it.
'This speed.' Hinata's expression hardened. 'None of my defensive measures are working against it.'
Hachi's remaining arm swept toward her.
Hinata leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the attack before her feet touched the ground.
She immediately lunged forward, flashing Moonlight as she aimed for Wickerman's chest.
A brilliant arc of light erupted from the impact.
Hachi didn't even budge, as if it was just a passing breeze. Her four arms spread apart. "Don't make this too boring. I have a lot of frustration I want to take out on you, you know."
Hinata didn't answer. She simply lowered her stance.
Her battle instincts were already warning her that the next exchange would be far more dangerous.
Hachi's six wings opened behind her.
The translucent membranes began glowing.
Magicules gathered around the enormous Insectar in an amount that caused even the barrier itself to tremble.
Hinata responded by exploding with magicules as well, her Holy Armaments embracing her before transforming into armour that shone with divine radiance, six wings blazing behind her.
The barrier was trembling now with a constant hum, the dimension that Rimuru had created fracturing under the pressure from two high dimensional beings.
First Hachi vanished.
Hinata barely managed to raise Moonlight.
BOOM!
The impact sent her flying.
Her body crashed into the ground and rolled several times before she dug her sword into the earth, using it to halt her momentum.
She immediately rose.
Hachi was already above her. Instantly her claws descended like a rain of armoured death.
Hinata moved like a woman possessed, pushing herself to the utmost limit.
Parry. Twist. Sidestep. Twist. Twist. Twist. Dodge!!!
The fourth swept across her waist.
Hinata bent backward, feeling the claw pass dangerously close to her body.
Every limb moved with its own purpose while the wings constantly adjusted Hachi's position, allowing her to attack from angles that would have been impossible for an ordinary fighter.
Moonlight flashed repeatedly.
Slash.
Clang.
Slash.
CLANG!
Sparks erupted throughout the battlefield.
Hinata continued blocking and evading, her sword moving with extraordinary precision, but Hachi was slowly forcing her backward.
In the next moment, the ground beneath Hinata exploded. Dozens of black insect limbs erupted from below.
Hinata's eyes widened. She jumped.
But the limbs twisted through the air, following her movement.
"Got you." The six wings behind Hachi flared. Every one of them released a burst of condensed energy.
The battlefield disappeared beneath a storm of light. Within that storm was another storm, a miniature sphere of swirling energy roughly the size of a large watermelon, with a dense nucleus glowing ominously at its centre. Six of these balls of destructive energy suddenly formed around one of Hachi's wings, orbiting it in a tight formation as the immense Insectar gathered them together.
Then, with a sharp movement of her wing, Hachi sent all six projectiles hurtling toward the overwhelmed Hinata.
BAHOOM!
The six spheres detonated almost simultaneously, their combined explosions swallowing Hinata's position in a violent storm of light and destruction. The barrier shook intensely from the impact, its surface rippling as wave after wave of force crashed against it, while dust and debris were thrown into the air and Hinata's figure disappeared completely beneath the explosion.
For a brief moment, there was nothing but the deafening roar of the attack.
Of course, it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of someone like Hinata.
When the smoke finally began to clear, a figure could be seen standing within the crater, her clothes barely disturbed and her expression as composed as ever. Surrounding Hinata were six glowing figures, each radiating a different elemental presence as they floated silently around her.
Hinata slowly raised her head, her eyes settling on Hachi.
"You're not the only one who can summon."
She swung Moonlight to the side, shaking away the lingering particles of dust before slowly raising the blade once more. Golden particles began to gather around its edge, dancing along the weapon in a brilliant display of spiritual energy.
The six greater spirits responded almost immediately.
Each one surged forward, their forms accelerating across the battlefield as they moved to surround Hachi from different directions.
Hachi's head turned slightly.
The first to reach her was the massive greater earth elemental, War Gnome.
Hachi simply swung one of her fists.
BOOM!
The impact struck War Gnome head-on, completely obliterating the elemental before it could even reach her position, its enormous body shattering into countless fragments of earth and energy that scattered across the battlefield.
The greater water elemental, Undine, followed immediately behind.
Hachi's second fist moved.
CRASH!
Undine was destroyed just as easily, her watery form exploding outward from the force of the blow before dissolving into shimmering droplets that evaporated into the air.
Hachi lowered her fists.
Two of Hinata's greater spirits had been eliminated before they had even managed to touch her.
And yet, the remaining four continued their advance without hesitation.