It was truly an unbelievable sight.
Despite the blinding light obstructing her view, Manaka could still see a little. Within that intense glow, the silhouettes of Naoki and Artoria, who had jumped out, merged together!
*THUD!*
Both feet slammed into the ground, kicking up a towering cloud of dust. The radiant giant stood tall before everyone at close range.
Everyone—including the angel—who saw the giant standing firm on the ground froze in place. Even the glowing ribbon on the ground, symbolizing destruction, slowly faded and dimmed.
Inside the giant's body, once again in this shared space with Artoria, Naoki let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, it really flew here. This Holy Sword is incredibly smart."
"Master, please don't do something this dangerous next time. If the Holy Sword hadn't responded to our call, we could've fallen to our deaths."
"But we didn't die, right? No death means it's all good!"
Naoki wasn't someone who judged things by their outcomes, but the situation earlier didn't allow him to calmly think of solutions. He could only bet on instinct.
Luckily, he won.
Even if it wasn't nearby, as long as he called for the Holy Sword, it would automatically fly to him and merge with him and Artoria to transform.
This saved the hassle of carrying the Holy Sword every day. What a considerate tool.
Artoria wasn't entirely unsympathetic to Naoki's attitude. If she didn't agree, she wouldn't have jumped either. "Please be more careful next time, Master. But… is this really okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Someone might have seen that we're the giant fighting the monster—like Sajyou, for example."
"…"
Without answering, Naoki quietly glanced back at Manaka, who stood at the window staring at him. Taking a deep breath, he turned back. "Now's not the time to talk about this. Let's take down that thing in the sky first!"
"Alright, let's move, Master!"
Their consciousnesses merged. Under their combined control, the Sacred Sword Armor raised its head to face the angel in the sky. With that gaze, both sides locked eyes—since the Sacred Sword Armor appeared, the angel had been staring at this existence.
The angel had two instincts: the first was destruction, annihilating everything in its sight. This was an instinct present since its birth, a drive embedded in the fragments of power that formed its being.
The other was to eliminate the wielder of the Holy Sword.
Just like its instinct to destroy, this too was innate. The wielder of the Holy Sword was an anomaly meant to save the world, and also an anomaly that came to this world to eradicate beings like itself.
Both sides were mortal enemies. To avoid being destroyed, the other had to be eliminated.
[Holy Sword Wielder, confirmed]
[Target changed, commencing purge—announcement, destruction]
An emotionless voice echoed from the sky. The light wings, previously stretched wide, suddenly contracted and gathered behind the angel. Then, each feather forming the wings transformed into arrows, falling one after another like projectiles raining from the sky!
"Master! This attack can't be dodged—it'll hit the school!"
"I know—we should have a shield skill, right?"
"Probably!"
Here we go again!
(How can you, as the Holy Sword's Tsukumogami, not even know the functions of this armor? I've only used it once, so it's fine for me, but you're the Tsukumogami and you're like this too?!)
"It's coming, Master!"
"Fine, let's try—Shield activate, maximum scale!"
Both arms stretched toward the sky, accompanied by Naoki's shout. The triangular gem, like a sword sheath embedded in the Sacred Sword Armor's chest, instantly glowed, rapidly expanding and spreading, forming a massive light shield in the blink of an eye!
*ZWHISSSSHHHHH!!!*
The rain of destructive light relentlessly struck the shield, but astonishingly, no matter how fierce the attack, the light shield remained completely undamaged—perfectly intact!
[Absolute Protective Shield • Avalon]
A description like that suddenly appeared in Naoki's mind.
"This shield… it's called Avalon?"
"It should be. If it's Avalon, then I believe no monster can break through this shield, Master." Artoria said. "This way, we don't need to worry about collateral damage."
"I was thinking the same."
Naoki glanced back—Manaka was safe.
(Good, as long as she's fine.)
"But what's next?"
Seeing the relentless rain of light showing no signs of stopping, Naoki couldn't help but purse his lips. "The enemy's in the sky. We can't reach that height by jumping. Can we fly?"
"I don't know."
"You're a completely useless Tsukumogami."
"I'm sorry…"
Though he said that, it wasn't entirely Artoria's fault. While she was here to assist, this was only her second time piloting the Sacred Sword Armor. She didn't know why, in this consciousness world, the Holy Sword's power manifested this way.
Could it be that Naoki or Manaka subconsciously wanted it to be like this?
(Wait, hold on. If it's something Master wanted, then [that] should exist too, right?)
Suddenly recalling something, Artoria quickly said to Naoki, "Master, try saying [Activate Annihilation Weapon Construction]."
"What's that?"
"It should be an anti-air weapon with the same specs as Excalibur's beam."
An anti-air weapon?
If they had that, they could shoot it down!
"Alright, I'll try. Annihilation Weapon—"
[Command confirmed, commencing annihilation weapon construction]
Before Naoki could finish, the Sacred Sword Armor, receiving the command, moved on its own. Behind Naoki and Artoria, unseen, two slits opened on the armor's back. From within, two white weapon barrels extended simultaneously, attaching to the armor's shoulders!
At the same time, a light screen appeared before Naoki's eyes, resembling a rifle's scope, with a crosshair moving back and forth.
[Commencing magical energy charge, output authorized—100%, ready to fire]
"It worked, Master."
"This thing's automation is way too much, isn't it? I just gave one command, and it does most of the work itself? All I need to do is pull the trigger?"
Grumbling casually, Naoki focused on the angel in the sky. As his breathing steadied, the crosshair, previously moving erratically, slowly stabilized, finally locking onto the angel's body.
[Dragon Path Incineration Artillery Weapon • Excalibur]
"Fire—!"
Seizing a brief pause in the rain of light, Naoki released the Avalon shield and pulled the trigger! From the Sacred Sword Armor's shoulders, from the two fully charged magical energy barrels, a golden storm erupted!
*BOOOOOM!*