Chapter 385: Bring Down the Ancient Aerial Fortress! 8

Bring Down the Ancient Aerial Fortress! 8

* * *

ZGYAAAAAN!!

The red-illuminated, silvery cleaver swung down by the steel forest sage, Gorilla Dragon, clashed with the jet-black 【Black Arm】 swung up by Emi, a strange clashing sound spreading along with the shock wave!

“…!”

That… sensation.

Emi felt a sense of dissonance from the impact of clashing her 【Black Arm】 against the cleaver.

Therefore.

“Rah… Yah!!”

When the other cleaver swung horizontally, she didn’t try to block it, but lightly jumped up, dodging the blow.

And then, step by step, she retreated, escaping the giant cleaver’s attack range.

Emi, checking the condition of the 【Black Arm】 that blocked the cleaver, was shaken, despite her emotionless expression.

Her 【Black Arm】…

Her giant fist, which had mercilessly crushed countless enemies…

…Was almost severed, up to about halfway through the fist… revealing a gruesome scar, despite blocking the cleaver.

Hearing Extra-sama’s instant analysis, Emi’s sense of danger intensified.

【Black Arms】 are something… made of mana.

She doesn’t feel pain even if they’re sliced apart, and they can be repaired as many times as she wants, by consuming mana.

But that’s not the problem.

That Gorilla Dragon’s cleaver can penetrate her 【Black Arm】’s defenses.

Which means, it can also penetrate the defenses of the jet-black armor she’s wearing.

Beads of cold sweat ran down Emi’s forehead!

A moment of hesitation…!

“【Dragon Fire Breath】! UOOOーーー!!”

“!!”

But that hesitation allowed Gorilla Dragon to take the next initiative!

As Gorilla Dragon let out an electronic roar, a cylindrical structure emerged from its head, and then a fierce jet of flames was unleashed!

“Tch!!”

What Emi did, clicking her tongue, was to dodge to the other side of the magical cable.

Emi, using the technique her master taught her, 【Silverfish】, can walk on walls and ceilings, defying gravity.

She escaped to the other side of the magical cable, and was planning to approach Gorilla Dragon’s feet, upside down, and launch a surprise attack.

But…!

“UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!!”

Here, Gorilla Dragon took an action that Emi hadn’t anticipated.

It spun around, with a ‘gurun’ sound, using the magical cable as an axis!

It turned upside down, chasing after Emi!

“【Dragon Storm】!!”

And then, shouting that, it deployed a giant fan from the mechanism extending from its back, which resembled dragon wings!

What it generated was, of course, a powerful gust of wind!

“G-Nuu!?”

Emi couldn’t withstand the completely unexpected wind attack.

Her small, light body was blown away from the magical cable and thrown into the air!

“U-RAAAAAAAAAGH!!”

Of course, Emi wouldn’t make the mistake of falling headfirst to the ground.

She immediately extended her 【Black Arms】 and gripped the magical cable.

And then, she swung her body around powerfully, like a trapeze artist, and returned to the upper side of the magical cable!

But!

“【Gorilla Machine Gun】!! UOOOーーー!!”

Gorilla Dragon was, of course, already back on the upper side of the cable!

And seizing the moment Emi landed, Gorilla Dragon exposed the machine gun mounted on its chest and unleashed a volley of bullets!

What’s so gorilla about that machine gun!?

“Guh, guh!?”

RATATATATATATATA!!

A shower of bullets, firing horizontally, with enough power to probably pierce even a steel wall!

Even Emi couldn’t take that head-on, so she placed her 【Black Arm】 fists in front of her, creating a shield, and focused on defense!

“【Gorilla Missiles】! UOOOーーー!!”

But the rain of attacks, instead of stopping, only intensified.

Towards Emi, who was unable to move, Gorilla Dragon continued firing its gun, and then, opening the hatches on its shoulders, launched ultra-compact missiles!

What’s so gorilla about those missiles!?

“AAAAAAAAAAHーーー!!”

BOOM, BOO, BOO, BOOOOM!!

A total of four missiles accurately hit Emi’s 【Black Arm】 shield and exploded!

An explosion engulfed the surrounding area!

Emi… taking those powerful, consecutive attacks… fell silent, after her scream before the missiles hit.

A few seconds later.

The aftermath of the missile explosions still filled the air with smoke and heat, obstructing the view, but…

…Gorilla Dragon… or rather Megzam, from the fact that Emi wasn’t moving, and remained silent… became convinced.

That he won.

“UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!!”

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

And Gorilla Dragon, still gripping its cleavers, expressed its joy at defeating its powerful enemy… by drumming its chest!

Gorilla Dragon is a gorilla… and a dragon!

And it’s also… made of steel!

In other words, it’s strong!!

It can’t lose… to a small black bug!!

But at this time, Megzam was drunk on power.

He mistook the power of Gorilla Dragon, a terrifyingly strong weapon, for his own…

He became arrogant and overconfident.

His sense of danger… had dulled.

Even though he should know the fear that Emi evokes…

He forgot.

No, it might be more accurate to say that he was trying to forget, to suppress that fear.

But that…

That carelessness…

Became a fatal… opening!!

“RAAAAAAAAAAAHーーー!!”

The next moment, a jet-black figure burst out of the smoke from the explosion with incredible force!

Of course, it’s Emi!

Despite having burns all over her body, she was still standing!

Her 【Black Arm】 shield… had indeed blocked even the missiles!

“UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!?”

Gorilla Dragon hurriedly swung its cleaver, trying to cut Emi in two, but it was too late!

“AAAAAGH!!”

Emi, slipping into his embrace before he could react, punched Gorilla Dragon’s chest with all her might!

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

Denting its chest armor, Gorilla Dragon was pushed back dozens of meters by the impact!

“RAAAH!!”

But Emi’s attack didn’t end there!

Towards Gorilla Dragon, which had retreated, she kicked off the magical cable, leaped towards it, and…

…Punched it again, this time in the abdomen!

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

Gorilla Dragon was pushed back even further by the impact!

“RAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

And Emi, closing in on Gorilla Dragon, which was sliding backwards from being punched…

…This time, without a break, she jumped up and punched its face!

“UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!?”

Gorilla Dragon’s electronic scream echoed!

Emi had already made up her mind at this point.

She was afraid of the cleaver before.

Afraid of the cleaver that could kill her, she hesitated for a moment.

She thought about fighting from a distance.

But fighting this Gorilla Dragon in long-range combat is a disadvantage, no matter how you look at it.

If that’s the case…

She has to get closer.

She has no choice but to challenge it to close-quarters combat!

She’s afraid of the cleaver?

She’ll die if she’s sliced?

Of course!

People die if they’re sliced!

And if she’ll die if she’s sliced…

…Then she just has to avoid being sliced!!

“UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!!”

Gorilla Dragon swung its cleaver horizontally towards the approaching Emi!

“RAAAAAAAAAAHーーー!!”

But Emi jumped over it, dodging the blow, and with that momentum, punched Gorilla Dragon!

“U-UOOOOOOOOOHーーー!!”

Next, vertically!

Gorilla Dragon swung its cleaver down vertically at the approaching Emi!

“RAAAAAAAAAAHーーー!!”

But Emi dodged this one by changing her running direction and using 【Silverfish】 to run on the side of the magical cable, and with that momentum, ran towards Gorilla Dragon and punched it!

“UOO!! UOO!! UOOOーーー!!”

Now, it was desperate!

Gorilla Dragon, to prevent Emi from getting close, started swinging its cleavers around wildly!

“RAAAH!! RAAAH!! RAAAAHーーー!!”

But Emi, sometimes jumping, sometimes ducking, dodged every single slash, continuing to punch Gorilla Dragon!

“U-UOOO, ZAUO, OZAZA…”

As they continued this back-and-forth, Gorilla Dragon’s movements gradually lost their sharpness.

Static mixed into its electronic voice, and the speed of its cleaver swings decreased.

And because Gorilla Dragon was being pushed back with every punch, and Emi was advancing, she had climbed quite high up the magical cable.

Her goal, the giant red sphere… the power source of the aerial fortress ‘Soul Conqueror’… was now right in front of her, glowing.

Destroy that.

And then… it’s over!

Emi, renewing her resolve, was about to punch Gorilla Dragon again.

But it was at that moment!

>>

That unpleasant, high-pitched laugh, which she heard before, echoed from ‘Soul Conqueror’.

And then, from the lower part of the fortress,

Nyo-ki, nyo-ki.

Several gun barrels extended!

>>

That voice echoing from ‘Soul Conqueror’… shouted triumphantly.

And then, the gun barrels, which had been pointing straight down, all turned towards Emi!

>>

And the next moment, after those words!

BOOM!!

BOO, BOO, BOOOOM!!

With such deafening roars!

The all-out bombardment from ‘Soul Conqueror’… towards Emi… had begun!!