The Abyss Guardian raised its head.
Its three pairs of yellow eyes locked onto the two intruders as a low, vibrating roar—like a subterranean earthquake—shook dust from the stone ceiling.
“Haruto, that bone hide looks almost impenetrable,” Aoi said under her breath, planting her feet and raising her greatsword level with her face.
“A standard direct hit is just going to bounce right off.” “We won’t attack its hide,” Haruto replied, his eyes glowing with greater intensity as he scanned the monster’s energy lines.
“Its core sits beneath the neck plates.
When it pounces, it will use its upper two legs to pin us.
In that microsecond, the plates separate by one centimeter.” “One centimeter is more than enough.” The beast lunged.
Despite its massive size, the Guardian’s speed was absurd; it moved across the hall like a black bolt of lightning.
“Inertia Sequence: Zero!” Haruto shouted.
Rather than dodging to the side, Haruto charged directly into the beast’s claws.
Right before impact, he channeled a burst of mana into the soles of his boots, altering his own velocity vector to slide across the smooth stone floor, right beneath the creature’s belly.
With a surgical strike of his short sword, Haruto severed the tendons in the beast’s rear left leg.
Not to kill it, but to force it to dip its head as it lost its balance.
The Guardian’s roar turned into a screech of pain.
The creature tried to stabilize itself by shifting its front weight, and just as Haruto had predicted, the bone plates on its neck opened slightly to accommodate the movement.
“Now, Aoi!” Haruto’s voice echoed from behind.
Aoi was already airborne.
She used no gravity, but rather the raw propulsion of the crimson aura bursting from her feet.
She concentrated every drop of her soul’s energy into the tip of her greatsword, reducing the impact area to the size of a needle.
CRUNCH!
The massive blade driven straight into the one-centimeter gap.
The compressed energy of Aoi’s soul detonated inside the Guardian’s neck, shattering the dark mana core within.
The massive mass of bone and muscle slammed into the floor, inert, kicking up a cloud of violet dust.
Aoi landed heavily on her feet, leaning on her sword as she caught her breath, a victorious smile playing on her lips.
Haruto walked over quickly, catching her by the arm to steady her.
“Great thrust,” he said firmly.
“Great call, genius,” she replied, resting her head on Haruto’s shoulder for a brief second to gather her breath.
“Look at the back of the room.” At the center of the pedestal the creature had been guarding, a black stone altar began to glow.
Hovering above it, suspended in the air, floated an ancient tome bound in chains of golden mana.
The first record of the Ancient Way was finally within their reach.