Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

32. Excalibur

"We've arrived..." I murmured to myself when Yukina touched down just a few meters from the peak.

The low growls she was emitting, which sounded like she was in a lot of agonies, caused me to give the dragon a troubled glance. My chest tightened as I waved at her, feeling remorseful for having brought her here in the first place. If I had to speculate, it's possible that Yukina was barred from entering the summit. Hmm. If I had to guess, there might have been some type of curse or enchantment that prevented her from doing so? I sighed as I watched her go off at top speed. Maybe she pushed herself to come here so she could help us out.

In any case, we decided to take a break for a while. The overwhelming sense of presence that came from just a few meters away was...too much. When I heard the panther snarling, I got a shiver down my spine and thought I may actually. It seems to be aware that we have arrived and is simply waiting for us to enter its lair before attacking us. I was hella nervous because I was not certain that we'd be able to overcome it.

Kalix informed us straight out that the chances of our winning...were stacked against us. Even though we already have a handful of potions and enchantment items on hand, we can't be certain that we'll be able to make it out alive. Because of that, Kalix advised me to attempt to convince Kasai to identify me as Yuki so that things would go a bit more smoothly. Although I have my doubts about my ability to pull off such a feat, I must give it a go. But I do not believe that I am required to go to such an extent. It was just a gut feeling, but it seems quite powerful.

"Remove the potions from the bag. We have to drink them before we go up to the peak," I told them as I searched for the potions that I was supposed to use.

Freya smiled and distributed the appropriate remedies to the right people. These were given to us by Kalix to push us to level up, even if it was just for five hours. We must consume them before ascending since the panther will almost certainly attack us once we reach the top. After preparing ourselves, we made our way to the top.

"Position yourself," I instructed them.

"Roger that," they said as they took their positions.

We did some light training last night, learning the assault patterns that Kalix had recorded for us to use. Kalix informed us that the simulation he created was sloppy when compared to the genuine panther, indicating that this individual would be far stronger than that. It was for this reason that we remained still as we gazed at the enormous panther in front of us. He was staring at me as if he was trying to discern my identity, so I didn't move. I thought that he might actually see Yuki in me and just step aside.

But Shiro attempted to approach the panther in the hopes that the latter would recognize him and accept his approach. The panther tried to attack him but was unsuccessful. I could feel his anguish as he walked back with heavy feet. He seemed to be ready to weep out of frustration, which caused my heart to ache a little. The poor youngster just wanted to be of assistance to him.

"He is not the Kasai that Princess Yuki was familiar with. I can see that he isn't quite himself right now. We have no option except to assassinate him as a result," Shiro said after he transformed into his human form.

"I got it..." I whispered as I motioned to Freya to fire the first shot.

"Yuki..." the panther muttered as he fixed me with his gaze.

My eyes widened upon hearing what he said, but I didn't let my guard down, especially when the panther leaped on me from behind. After discovering that it could split my katanas in half, I bolted away from him, filled with dread at the thought. Suddenly, I realized that it was exclusively aimed at me! I'm not sure why, but I definitely didn't expect that! I have no option but to play the role of the decoy at this point...

I made the decision to go all out from the beginning for the three of us to finish him out. That is something I am unable to accomplish, particularly while Yuki's awareness inside me is actively attempting to prevent me from harming him more. I have no option but to push her to the back of my mind so I can do this without any reservations. I get that she doesn't want an old friend to die, but I will be the one to die if I stop here!

"Hail Dagger..." I murmured inside my mind as I summoned my katana. Daggers began to rain down from above, aimed squarely for the panter.

While he was evading them, I launched a frontal attack on him. Shiro ran up from behind the panther, shouting out as he attempted to hit it with his fist. Shiro fights in an elegant way, totally opposite to mine. But we were still able to keep up with each other. While the two of us are battling, the three of us are prepared to execute a coordinated attack that will almost certainly kill him in one blow. Otherwise, we will have to launch a full-scale offensive...

"Kasai..." Shiro murmured to himself.

While I was looking at him, I observed that there was a little expression of irritation on his face. It seemed as if he had shut off his thoughts to me as I sought to peer through them. He may be irritated by the fact that Kasai does not seem to recognize us, but we have no way of knowing for sure. I groaned and returned my attention to the conflict. Although Kasai continued to aim at me, they attempted to divert his attention while I unleashed my spells.

After coating himself in hellfire, Kasai revealed that it was somewhat stronger than Blake's. When he attempted to use his tail as a whiplash, I winced in discomfort. My arm had been grazed! When I realized how severe the burn was, I felt a piercing pain across my skin. I have gotten injured by all sorts of fire before, but this one was too much. It's as if my arm was being melted to the point that it was almost going numb. They were concerned about my well-being, so I made an effort to forget about the discomfort, even if it was only for a short period of time.

"Fallen snow..."

I'm well aware that it's already hella cold right now and that this will just make things more difficult for the other three. But they said that the cold weakens the panther, which is composed of the element of fire. I looked at the three to ask for their approval, so they quickly showed me a thumbs-up. Kasai's hellfire had been toned down, and this was correct. I made sure to avoid Blake because he would have a hard time fighting as well. Shiro and I took advantage of the situation to attack Kasai while his hellfire was still weakened.

"Ice blade."

I swung the blade, which was becoming longer, and it struck Kasai's feet. He grumbled as he bounced about, attempting to alleviate the discomfort. When his tail hit Shiro and me while we were still in mid-air, we were knocked out cold. Fortunately, I was able to raise a shield in time, preventing further injury. Even though my stomach was scraped by the hellfire, it's not that horrible. The same can be said about Shiro, who was hissing at Kasai at the time.

I adjusted the snow to make it colder, but Kasai retaliated by increasing the intensity of his hellfire. My ice was losing to him, and it was making things a lot harder than they already were. I clenched my teeth in irritation as I struggled to maintain my calm. This damned panther is putting my patience to the test! Shiro assisted me in fortifying the snow, which ultimately hindered Kasai's hellfire attack. Heh, at long last.

"Shiro, the flowers will be ready in three," I said.

He smiled and nodded. "I understand."

We moved closer to Kasai, constantly defending ourselves against his strikes. We couldn't get away from some of them because he was too strong. I bit my lower lip as I attempted to cope with it, even if it was just for a short period of time. The heat was a little too much for me to bear! It even melted a section of our clothing, which was a first! Shiro and I mentally counted down the seconds before responding to Kasai's assaults.

"Crystal flowers..."

The two of us, now heavily injured because of the attacks that hit us, struck Kasai together from different directions. We sprinted away from him as we manually detonated the crystal blossoms that had sprouted on his body with our hands. As I watched him writhe in agony, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. My conscience was killing me, but I had to bear with it. I see that wasn't enough to put him to death.

"Dylan, could you assist me?!" I shouted from above. Because the explosion was too powerful, I used snow to create my wings.

"Yeah, hold on a minute!" he said in response.

It began to rain after a short period of time. It didn't take long for me to transform some of the droplets into ice, which I then combined with the ones that had been collecting since earlier. When I saw Kasai slowly climbing to his feet, my brows wrinkled. Before he could even rise to his feet, the three of them launched their combined attack!

"Heavenly thunder..." I heard them murmur before launching it.

Because of that attack, I wasn't expecting Kasai to rise up after being struck, which was far stronger than my combined attack with Shiro. My mouth dropped open as I saw him slowly rising from the smoldering heap of smoke. How the hell is he so tough?! As I assumed the position that needed all five of us to fight, I began to come down.

"Ice blade..." I summoned my blades once again because this time, we would have to go at it without minding our limits.

As we prepared to protect each other's blind spots while battling Kasai, the rest of the group summoned their blades as well. I closed my eyes as I began to feel the effects of the potions I had consumed earlier in the day. The ability to silence them for an hour was granted to us since it may prove to be rather...inconvenient while the initial potions are still in effect.

In fact, I felt my strength surge much more than it had before, and I am now confident in my ability to use Rigid Glaze without Dylan's assistance. We'll be able to defeat him as long as we keep up our current pace. I clenched my teeth as I battled to maintain control over my emotions and actions. Shiro came to our aid since the four of us were clearly agitated, and he helped us out.

"Piercing snow..." I said as I shielded everyone from the blizzard.

Because Kasai was the only one who was struck, we took advantage of the opportunity to assault him at the same time. Blake took advantage of the fact that he had been taken off guard to absorb the hellfire hurled at him. Kasai lost his balance, which enabled us to take him out with a single hit. Blake leaped from above and slashed him in the face with his own fire. However, before he could deliver a blow, Kasai unleashed a torrent of fire, almost destroying us.

I fell to the ground as I tried to get rid of the pain that was caused by that attack. The snow made everything a little more bearable, but it wasn't enough to lift me out of the pain that was caused by the burn. Everyone was fighting to rise to their feet because of this, but Kasai stood in front of us, positioned to unleash another attack on us. He was exactly as battered as we were, yet he stooped to his feet as if nothing had happened.

"Shiro..." I called out as I struggled to rise to my feet.

"Yes...Your Majesty..."

Kasai was getting ready to use his tail as a whiplash once again, and it was going to be hella terrible if we didn't get out of the way. Shiro was able to repair himself swiftly before attending to us. As a result, he managed to attract Kasai's attention. At that moment, my eyes opened, and I sprung to my feet as the adrenaline rush began to take effect. Dylan and Blake were healed by Freya before she came to our aid and supported the two of us.

"Dagger hail..."

Shiro and I were able to move freely because of the mist caused by the daggers. As a result of Freya's assistance in guiding Dylan and Blake through the fog, we encircled Kasai. Kasai was already having trouble walking due to the injuries on his feet, and I saw this right away. And besides, he is losing a significant amount of blood. The snow had already begun to turn crimson because of his blood.

We were suffering from burns of the first to the second degree during this time. It was excruciatingly painful, but there was nothing we could do about it. I licked my lips and tried to cure them, but I couldn't concentrate. In the process, I conjured ice spears from the earth and targeted Kasai's heart with a heavy sigh. I don't have a choice at this point...

While Kasai's attention was diverted by the spears, we took advantage of the situation to execute a coordinated attack. I raised my palm and closed my eyes, letting my elemental energy flow into the strings leading to a figure of a sword with wings that appeared on the horizon. We've been working hard to get everything just right, and I believe the moment has come to put it out there.

"Ivory, the chants," Blake said with a hoarse voice.

"Thank heavens for the celestial gods have granted permission to use thy divine blade, Excalibur..."

As soon as I completed the ritual, the sword sprang to life and moved as I directed it to. Everyone put their arms over my shoulders, attempting to ease the weight of wielding the Excalibur. When the blade struck Kasai's heart, I swallowed the lump in my throat and controlled the sword to do so.

"Goodbye, my beloved..." Yuki whispered to me from the depths of my mind.