Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 112: Riftclaw
The forest that had been filled with Familiars was empty... and a blur ran across the ground, parting several bushes behind him as quakes ran through the earth itself.
"The hell... it’s fast." Koya said as he poured more mana into his feet and blurred forward even faster, leaving blurs behind him... and on the side of the forest, several quakes shot out of the ground destroying trees and ground as the Spider was moving at equal speed in the distance.
Every time he extended the gap, another set of legs ate through it.
"Haah... Once again, fuck 「Fate」."
Several spikes came through the air and Koya flipped forward, dodging several of them in quick succession... one passed his shoulder, one passed under his arm mid-flip and another carved the ground where his feet had just been.
They shattered the ground creating craters in them and the impact points smoked.
’The objective is to survive until the Dean gets here.’ Koya thought as the spikes dispelled poison that leaked out of the pores and under normal circumstances, he would have gone there and gotten a lick of it himself however...
「If you attempt to consume the Poison that Ysterion is expelling within those spikes then you will lose bodily functions over minutes before dying brutally.」
Koya was many things... a student, a husband, and even someone that was willing to take pain to make his skills grow stronger however he most certainly was not a masochist!
"Is there any way to defeat this thing?" Koya asked, he had to keep running in a straight line... to prevent Familiar Isle from being completely damaged, he was instead going to draw the Spider to the outside of the zone.
He weaved between two trees and a spike carved both of them in half behind him without slowing down.
「All data of Ysterion is being gathered from the world...」
"CREEEE!" Another volley of spikes came from the monster’s body and volleyed through the air, and they shot in front of him this time as well, cutting off the forward path.
’It’s really smart too.’ Koya curved to the right, moving away from the spikes that came downward and pulverized the ground as well as the trees.
It was adjusting its aim based on his movement patterns so it was not just scattering spikes everywhere but it was actually reading where he was going... which was scary.
However his Danger Sense rang and he looked to the right to see one barreling straight through the dust and coming for his head, it covered the distance fast and right as it was about to pierce his head, it was stopped by a thin mana construct which held it back for a moment giving Koya enough time to rear his head back and let it soar past.
"The hell...?" Koya muttered as he kept running, he hadn’t even expected it at all since it was firing the surrounding. "Is it watching my every move?"
The thought sent a shiver down his spine as he continued running.
’System. Has the information been gathered? Any known weaknesses?’
「Data of Ysterion has been compiled... Ysterion is one of the original monsters that existed when the Isle was created by the original Dean Of Familiars, the monster was one that had managed to intrigue the White King enough for it to be captured and-」
"CREEEEE!"
"Could you hurry...? If you weren’t aware, I’m going to die." Koya clicked his tongue and accelerated even faster, as fast as he could manage. "All of my skills upgraded and I can barely outspeed this thing. Tch..."
「There are currently no weaknesses that someone of your level can manage. Even if you managed to close the distance by dodging the spikes of deadly poison, then you will die to the sheer mana purity that the creature has which can eviscerate you completely.」
"Again, why does this even exist on the Isle?!" Koya shouted out immediately.
「Because the White King wanted to research on it, didn’t you listen? It is advisable to keep running and focus on surviving instead of attacking.」
Even the System screen was giving him sass, both of them running for their lives and it still found time for attitude.
He made a mental note to find a way to delete the personality settings later.
’Even though the mana generators are down.’ Koya thought while looking forward at the barrier that was still intact and glowing blue in the distance. ’It’s still on... We just need to get past that point and I’ll be able to receive a reward for preventing the deaths of the familiars.’
That was the play; get outside the zone, draw it out, and wait for the Dean. Surviving was nothing he hadn’t done before... He just had to not die in the process of executing it which was a detail that was proving more complicated than expected.
Just then, the speakers let out a screeching sound and he glanced at one.
"Amagi Koya, are you hearing me?!" Itsuki’s voice sounded across what remained of the functioning speakers. "Well even if you did, I wouldn’t be able to hear you back."
Koya kept running but he perked his ears to listen.
"So as for the good news, we reached the top of the tower and taken control of the control panel. A distress signal has been sent out to the Dean and he will be arriving in ten minutes." Itsuki said. "Sendou said that he used your scent to attract the monster so it will only chase you until you’re dead so you’re the last hope of everybody in the Isle including the Familiars."
Koya clicked his tongue, he didn’t like it... not one bit of it.
’But how did they power the whole generat-’
"Bzzt! Koya-kun, you better not die!" Mirei yelled out, cutting clean over Itsuki. "I connected myself to be the mana generator because of you so you better live and come to my room later!"
The zapping sound vanished and Itsuki cleared his throat.
"Right, sorry for that brief intermission. Now we released Ichinose’s drones around so we can keep tabs of what you’re currently facing... I apologize that we cannot help." Itsuki said and there was another CREE which shattered the speakers and made Koya press his hands against his ear.
"At this point... do I even have a choice?" Koya muttered and moved forward, moving through several trees and revealing a bigger lake in the distance.
It divided this set of the forest and another one and on the water there were no fish which was not surprising since everything that could leave had left.
He placed his leg atop the surface of the water and kept running along by using his legs to pump mana into it making each step harden the surface just enough to push off from before the water swallowed the footprint behind him.
Just as he was almost past the lake, one gigantic leg came sprawling down and crashed into the ground in the distance; however it was not the force that hit him but the mana that was the problem... it came out and completely eviscerated the distance between them, eating through stone and water.
Koya flipped out of the way and slid to a complete stop on the far bank, looking at the Spider that wasn’t too far and they stared at each other.
「Wait is this the same stream from before?? It went offline」
「IT CAME BACK AND HE’S RUNNING FROM A GIGANTIC SPIDER?!」
「SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW」
「Is that thing going to eat him??」
「KOYA RUN」
"CREEEE!"
Koya was on the move again and several spikes shot out in all directions, shooting down some of the other speakers around as well and even went for the drone though it managed to dodge all of them that had threatened it with quick movements and Koya managed to dodge his own set as well, waving back at the spider mid-run.
"Hey, you’ve been chasing me and you still haven’t caught me!" He brought out his tongue and the Spider let out another CREE that shook the trees around them before following him.
’Good, just keep following me... if you damage this place too much, then my reward for saving it will be a lot lesser.’
「Host, I find it very admirable that you’re still after payment even while your life is flashing before your eyes」
’Well, if I stop... I die, might as well make it profitable.’ He thought and Danger Sense began ringing at the back of his head. ’What is it doing this time?’
「Host, I would advise you to move even faster」
The whole body of Ysterion began glowing in purple mana and it was generating a field around the screeching monster and the air between them changed temperature instantly.
"Fuck... it’s hot." Koya muttered as he pushed as much strength as possible into his legs and gave the monster a bit of a gap.
The heat from the field was reaching him even at this distance... the scorching feeling that came from it was not like standing near a fire but like the air itself had decided to participate. The mana was burning the air...
’I’m trying to save Frame Skip up in case I’m forced to square up with the monster itself but I might have to use it...’
The mana spread outward, eviscerating the ground as it spread completely outward, the trees... everything in the distance was destroyed and the light was gradually catching up with Koya.
He pushed more mana into his legs and the gap stayed the same... He pushed even more but the gap stayed the same.
There was a ceiling to his speed and the mana field didn’t have one.
「Host, you need to move faster」
Koya’s eyes twitched.
’Do I look like the Flash to you?’ He asked as he saw a stone slanted upward in a curve and smiled.
The thing was natural and jutting out of the ground at just the right angle which was wide enough to ride and high enough to catch real air.
’Well well well... seems like I’ll have to take a bit of a risk. Since you know my thoughts... do you think we can pull it off?’
「Surely, there’s a 99% chance of succeeding given you don’t fuck up」
’Sure, let’s clear the remaining distance.’
He could bear a little bit of pain... it wasn’t like he could even feel it.
Numb was still activated, he was currently testing the skill to see the limits of it and as far as he could see, there was no deactivation time.
If there was no deactivation time, then he wouldn’t turn off Numb and if he didn’t turn off Numb, then there wouldn’t be any backlash coming from it as well.
Every wound he was collecting... the cuts on his face, the sword wound from Takeru, the bruising from the mana field... all of it was sitting quietly in the background waiting for the moment he turned the skill off.
Koya manifested a mana platform below his leg in the shape of a board and carried himself forward in the direction of the slope making the board glide across the ground and picking up speed as the incline approached.
「3 Stream comments wondering if Koya was actually surfing at this point in time」
He soared into the air with the force and turned around as the purple spreading mana caught up to him.
After that, he turned the board made of mana in its direction and the two colliding forces of mana met before imploding completely, sending Koya flying through the air from the sheer force of the explosion in the direction of the barrier like a ragdoll.
「KOYA YOU GENIUS 🔥🔥🔥」
「BRO USED THE MANA FIELD AS A LAUNCHPAD I’M CRINE 😭」
「CHAT HE ACTUALLY CALCULATED THAT 😭🔥」
「KOYA YOU LEGEND LETS GOOO 🔥🔥」
「wait is he okay tho... that looked like it hurt 😭」
And then immediately after that, the drone itself was completely eviscerated.
"Fuck." Koya muttered as blood dripped from his mouth even mid-air as the force of the implosion had gone through him like a wall. "That was a lot more brutal than I expected."
「Well you did turn yourself into a living cannonball but stand proud Host, you understand mana」 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
When two opposing forces of pure mana collided with each other, the weaker force of mana would be forced to implode.
Saki had taught that to them in the last class and she had used the analogy of if a Blue crest awakened wanted to kill a Four-liner by overpowering them with mana, it would work by forcing the mana into the body and in the process of the body rejecting the mana, the vessel would explode.
Koya hadn’t thought he’d be using that lesson while being shot out of the Isle like a human projectile but here they were.
’It wouldn’t be that useful in battle as I don’t have enough mana to overwhelm Blue liners which I usually fight but-’
"CREEE!"
’Can this thing let me fucking rest for one minute...?’ Koya thought as he looked at Ysterion that had brought back its mana and instead was glowing differently now... it was not the same spreading field as before but it was focused on one spot located in it’s back. ’Why is it even chasing after me this hard... Do I smell that bad?’
One spike shot outward, covered in pink mana and his back was now facing the barrier as he was accelerating there.
This one was different from the others, it was much more narrow than the others and was faster than a speeding bullet and covered a lot more distance.
"So if the barriers don’t let us out, I’ll become squashed like a mosquito and even if I did... that spike would still pierce me." Koya muttered and as the spike came... He made several mana constructs in front of him in rapid succession and they all shattered as the spike broke through them without ceremony, each one taking a fraction of the momentum before breaking.
However his back and then his body passed through the barrier so he created a mana construct above his head immediately, redirecting himself downward as the spike shattered the construct and then continued forward, destroying a long line of buildings before finally stopping.
Koya flipped through the air with the remnants of the momentum and used mana to solidify his fall, landing on the ground and forming a crater that made him stagger but both of his legs held. He straightened up and spat blood to the side.
「Congratulations Host, you’re almost there...」
Before he could reply, a large shadow showed all over and Koya looked up with wide and alarmed eyes.
Ysterion had jumped with him as well and was about to flatten him... The shadow it cast covered everything around him.
Moments later, the giant spider landed on the ground outside the barrier that had turned green.
It had all sixteen legs tucked and practically shattered the already wrecked outside, consuming the whole surrounding area in one shockwave and destroying everything.
The ground went from damaged to nonexistent in the radius of the landing.
It unfurled itself slowly, reaching its formidable height once more... Ysterion then took a sniff with its nose cavity and all of its eyes focused on one piece of rubble that had been erected like a shield, it dissolved into sand and Koya was grinning from behind it with blood coming out of several wounds in his face, including right below his eye but he didn’t notice.
"I guess we’ll have to fight..." Koya said as he materialized the Hereto Daggers in his hand and took a combat stance while using Mana Enhancement to cover his body in a thick aura of it
Blue mana coiled up his arms and across his chest.
"CREEEEEEE!"
Neither of them moved and the destroyed ground between them was completely still...
There was no wind and there weren’t sounds of monsters as every living thing in the vicinity had evacuated.
Ysterion’s eyes were all open with every single one of them tracking Koya without blinking while Koya held his stance and held the Hereto Daggers steady.
However before either could move... the air suddenly changed, it turned completely dark purple and it was as if they could no longer move as something appeared in front of Koya in a pouncing stance.
It had no mana signature as even Domain Sense registered nothing... It simply was there between him and Ysterion and was crouched low, like it had been sitting there the whole time and only now decided to exist.
"Meow!"
It sounded cute however the crushing feeling that followed after was not cute at all... the whole area that had been destroyed had its gravity increased, forcing Koya to his knees and not only that but even Ysterion who had tall legs watched as its own legs shattered and the remnants of the limbs surrendered to gravity... Every single one.
One after another, each one giving way, the monster dropping incrementally as the domain pressed down on everything in its radius.
It let out a sound that had never come out of it before... a loud whimper that sounded just as awful as the CREE.
’The hell is happening...’ Koya thought, he couldn’t experience the pain but he felt his bones creaking under the force.
「Riftclaw has activated its Mini-Domain.」
