Yeah… this is exactly the situation I was most afraid of.
One of them attacks me while the other just watches.
A violation of the unspoken rules of a three-way standoff—if such rules even existed.
'…No, who am I kidding? There are no rules here.'
This is a battlefield.
No order. No fairness.
["M-Master!"]
'I know.'
Damn that bastard for making me go through this hell…
Unfortunately, I had no time to curse the Immortal further.
The Turncoat King's attacks came in waves—unrelenting.
SHHUK!
SHHHHHK—!
I pushed Ankelenth's Wings to their limit, dodging the surging bone tendrils.
Though at this point, calling them "tendrils" felt wrong—they were more like pillars.
'His attacks are absurd—both at range and close quarters.'
How could I not be reduced to just dodging and deflecting?
The Turncoat King truly lived up to the title of the worst Turncoat.
'I can't keep this up much longer.'
Janus's strength was draining fast—likely because there was no "food" nearby.
'…No choice, then.'
I pulled out the BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and ICE-54 Plasma Cooler once again.
From the heat they were putting off, I could probably fire once or twice before they overheated.
But I didn't have the luxury to conserve them now.
ZEEEEENG──!
BOOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOM!
Red plasma and blue frost lanced out, blasting apart the rising bone pillars.
Under normal circumstances, this would've blown through anything.
But the Turncoat King's attacks weren't normal—they pushed back against the firepower.
'Not enough—'
FWSSHHHHK!
And then it happened.
The plasma launcher and cooler gave in to the strain and overheated—hard.
Even with self-repair, they were unusable for the foreseeable future.
'Damn it.'
And that wasn't all.
With those weapons silenced, the earth erupted once more with rising bone pillars.
RUMBLE—!
Still in midair, dodging with everything I had, I couldn't avoid a tendril that broke pattern and struck me.
SHHHK!
THUDK—!
"Gghh!"
["Master!"]
It pierced clean through my thigh—straight through Janus's protection.
Fortunately, I had just enough time to sever the tendril with the Spear ofAnkelenth before it could drain me dry.
If I had hesitated for even a second…
["A-Are you okay? You're bleeding—"]
'I'm fine.'
Times like this, I was thankful I wasn't entirely human anymore.
Still, it wasn't enough. I poured a bit of Life Water from my flask onto the wound.
Drip, drip…
True to its legendary status, the gash healed in seconds.
But by then, the Turncoat King was already preparing his next strike.
'This is getting me nowhere.'
I couldn't fight back. I couldn't run.
There was only one option left—to force the Immortal into this fight.
'He's still just watching…'
What the hell was he thinking?
["…Maybe he's scared?"]
'No chance.'
Fear comes from death.
And the Immortal… doesn't have that concept.
Not even the Turncoat King could invoke fear in him.
'Whatever he's thinking… I need him involved now.'
And then it came.
SHHHHHHHHHK!
Another wave.
Bone tendrils—a tsunami of them—rushed toward me.
BOOOOOM—!
I pushed Ankelenth's Wings as hard as they could go, but without the Z-74 Jetpack, I was hitting my speed limit.
'He's going to catch up—'
The tsunami was too wide, too fast. I couldn't outrun it.
'Then… I'll change direction.'
I forced my flight path to twist—lower, toward the ground.
It brought me closer to the tsunami, but I wasn't dodging.
I was redirecting it.
'You're getting involved, whether you like it or not.'
Esther's whisper followed my will, Ether stirring around me.
[Move.]
[Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move…]
[Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly…]
The Ether boosted my wings, driving me forward—toward a single target.
The Immortal.
If he wouldn't join the fight…
I'd drag him into it.
FWOOOOOOSH—!
I plummeted toward him, and behind me—the tsunami followed.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!
The flood of bone tendrils swept the ground, crashing down upon the Immortal.
And just like that—the Turncoat King's focus shifted.
The assault meant for me was intercepted.
SKREEE—SKRREEEE…!
I saw it.
The Immortal, holding fast beneath the wave of bone.
Standing tall, unmoved.
'Finally… he moves.'
He might not care for others, but now, he had to.
My crisis had become his.
We were, for the moment… bound together by survival.
"…Bone."
The Immortal crushed the wave with raw power—breaking the Turncoat King's tendrils like brittle twigs as he stepped forward.
The Turncoat King didn't flinch.
He faced him directly.
["Master… this is…"]
'Yeah. This was the plan.'
Whether forced or not, it worked.
The Turncoat King and the Immortal—locked eyes.
BOOOOOOMMMM—!
A massive shockwave followed as their clash began.
Countless bone tendrils surged from the Turncoat King—
All targeting the Immortal.
The Immortal charged at the Turncoat King, swatting away the bone tendrils like they were made of straw.
'At a glance, it looks like an even match… but the Turncoat King has too much of an advantage in terms of affinity.'
As if to prove it, bone tendrils began to pierce into the Immortal's body one by one.
At first, the Immortal brushed them off and snapped them like nothing, but as time passed, the number of embedded tendrils steadily increased.
Thwock!
Thwock-thwock!
It was all too predictable from there.
The tendrils embedded in the Immortal began to pulsate, and soon the Turncoat King was absorbing his blood and flesh.
'I can't let this continue.'
Even as the Immortal snapped bone tendrils by the handful, more kept piercing him than he could destroy.
Immortal or not, his regenerative powers were no match for this terrible mismatch in elemental affinity.
'The BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and ICE-54 Plasma Cooler are still overheated and unusable.'
Which meant, the answer was already decided.
Of all the weapons I had, only one could match those two in raw power.
Clack—
I drew my Ark-34 Automatic Conversion Rifle and switched it to Railgun mode.
Zzzzzt—
Clack. Clack. Clack—
I took aim.
As much as I wanted to take out both the Turncoat King and the Immortal in one shot, I didn't have that kind of luxury.
So, I focused solely on the Turncoat King.
Tzzzt, tzzzzzt!
Violent sparks flared as massive energy charged into the Ark-34's barrel.
If Esther were still in full control of the Ether, I could have drawn on that too—but she had lost much of her control during the earlier clash with the Turncoat King.
'Still, this will do.'
Click—
Then I pulled the trigger.
SHRAAAAEAAAK─────!
The shockwave hit after the beam, because it broke the sound barrier.
A searing blast of light fired in a straight line, cleaving through the Turncoat King's bone tendrils and surging toward him.
Shhhh—!
The Turncoat King's reaction was near-instant.
With unbelievable calm, he simply let the beam graze his shoulder and passed it.
'…He dodged?'
To think he could evade a railgun blast—one I fired practically as a sneak attack…
Even watching it with my own eyes, it felt unreal.
If there was one silver lining, it was that the Immortal managed to free himself from the Turncoat King's tendrils in the chaos.
'Right now, my Ark-34 Railgun is the only weapon I have that can deal real damage to the Turncoat King. I need to switch to a defensive strategy.'
Perhaps because of the earlier surprise attack, the Turncoat King didn't resume his assault on the Immortal—instead, he backed off.
'Is he coming for me now?'
I stayed on edge, ready for another ambush—but the Turncoat King didn't move.
Instead, he simply turned around without hesitation.
'…What's he doing?'
At first, I thought it was a feint.
But as he walked off into the distance, I had no choice but to accept it.
'He's just… leaving?'
I didn't understand it.
But it was happening.
With that, the only ones left here were me and the Immortal.
Which, in its own way, might've been worse.
'I can't believe he just turned his back and walked away…'
Now I was left with two options: flee from the Immortal—or fight him.
Neither option was appealing.
'If I run, Ark is in danger. If I fight, I am.'
And the fact that I had no clue where the Turncoat King had gone kept gnawing at me.
Odds were, he was still lurking nearby.
'Clever move. Not like him… but smart.'
That was the Turncoat King for you.
He probably could've defeated us both with brute force, but chose to minimize risk instead.
A dangerous opponent, through and through.
["Master, he's looking this way…"]
'Yeah, I see him.'
The Immortal's gaze was fixed on me.
And though he didn't look great—his condition far from ideal—I couldn't take him lightly.
["We're gonna have to fight him, aren't we?"]
'Seems like it.'
I held my Ark-34 Automatic Conversion Rifle tight, never taking my eyes off him.
The tension was unbearable.
And then—
Thump—
The Immortal collapsed.
["…Huh?"]
Esther was stunned.
So was I.
["What is he doing?"]
'…No idea.'
Something was… wrong.
The situation had taken an unexpected turn.