Vanargand VS Kukulkan

Three minutes had passed since the battle of Shadows began.

The plan—Vanargand teleporting into the enemy lines to cut in and quickly take Sobra’s head—ended in failure due to Ruru’s interference.

Furthermore, due to the secret art called Boring a Snake’s Lair, which dramatically boosts physical abilities, we were forced onto the defensive by someone like Ruru.

Meanwhile, the small pieces “Orcs” that clashed in the central chamber’s battlefield were completely wiped out.

It was an ill-omened turn of events.

While barely parrying the exchange of slashes from Ruru that were just barely trackable by eyes, I checked the battlefield out of the corner of my eye via the Shadows’ shared visual window.

First, the center――

“Grrrrrrrrr!!”

“Kishaaa――――!!”

――Two of the 《Five Great Demon Lords》—Vanargand and Kukulkan—were staring each other down.

“Wau!”

“Shah!”

Then, as if timing had been measured, the Great Serpent and the Giant Wolf lunged in at the same time.

Vanargand’s powerful jaw clamped onto Kukulkan’s neck, but Kukulkan wriggled free and its sharp fangs drove into Vanargand.

Vanargand shook its head violently to free itself from Kukulkan’s fangs, and once more the struggle for each other’s necks began—bite or be bitten.

The grappling between the beasts was spectacular; fierce enough that if it were happening on the surface it might even reshape the terrain.

“Shaaaaaa!!!!”

Kukulkan opened its jaws wide; the back of its throat glowed white—and it spat forth countless blades of steel.

So that’s Kukulkan’s ability said to create matter.

But—over here (Vanargand) is a gluttonous beast that swallows all kinds of matter, right?

“Waon—gyau!?!”

“…!?! Vanargand!?”

Vanargand also, following Kukulkan’s example, opened its mouth wide and tried to gulp down the incoming blades.

What should have been stored in another dimension impaled the back of its throat, and Vanargand bled heavily from its mouth.

“(Is there a type of matter Vanargand can’t swallow!?)”

‘Kukulkan and Vanargand’s abilities are of equal rank—the matter Kukulkan creates may be something Vanargand cannot swallow.’

Kukulkan coiled its long body around the startled Vanargand and restrained it.

Even when it tried to escape to another dimension, perhaps because they were monsters bearing the same divinity, it couldn’t perform spatial movement while bound by Kukulkan.

The Great Serpent immobilized its foe, took position above the Giant Wolf, and bit at the nape of its neck.

Vanargand’s jaws couldn’t reach Kukulkan.

With its abdomen and neck compressed and its nape bitten—like other serpent-type monsters, it’s a strategy to slowly sap a prey’s stamina and HP that way.

“Hold on, Vanargand! If you go down, we have no chance here!”

“Grr…!”

Vanargand was completely restrained by Kukulkan.

We have to break from this situation and head for rescue before Vanargand’s HP runs out…!

But――Ruru was not about to allow that.

――Kiin!

“Maybe because of Freya’s enhancement magic, Ruru’s movements aren’t slowing down at all…!”

“Aaaahhhhh!!!!”

Ruru still let out a pained scream and, with eyes rolled back showing only the whites and blood-tears streaming down, swung her dagger at super speed.

There’s no way we can go rescue Vanargand under these circumstances.

――Next I checked the battlefield on the left flank from my perspective.

An enemy small piece Saber Panther annihilated my small piece Goblin and was advancing.

The pieces in my left camp Shadows were Dullahan, Dark Horse, and Windine—three of them.

“Dullahan, intercept! Windine, support Dullahan!”

Dullahan was mounted on Dark Horse, facing three Saber Panthers.

Saber Panthers are highly agile beast-type monsters, but for mobility Dark Horse was no slouch either.

Dodging the Saber Panther’s fangs, the longsword brandished from the saddle cleaved the Panther’s neck.

Dullahan cut down all the Saber Panthers on the left flank—but Sobra’s major piece Ogre raised two giant swords and swung at Dark Horse!

“Goraaah!!”

“Hihin――n!?”

――Slash!

Dark Horse planted its forelegs and sprang back like a spring in a quick backstep.

It seemed to have somehow avoided a direct critical hit, but the damage was still severe.

It probably couldn’t withstand the next blow.

“Goraaah!!”

――Slash! Slash! Slash!!

The Ogre swung its massive swords—which would be hard for a person to wield—as if they were ordinary longswords.

Dark Horse sidestepped and backstepped to avoid, and Dullahan attacked from horseback, but hardly any damage penetrated the Ogre’s robust body.

Against the Ogre’s massive frame, the height advantage of fighting from horseback provided no benefit.

“Mad Mother Spider—stop the horse’s movement.”

“Kishu――――!!”

“Hihi――――n!?!”

Sobra’s Knight on the left battlefield, ‘Mad Mother Spider,’ spat out black threads.

They slapped and stuck to the floor—and Dark Horse landed on them after a sidestep jump.

Dark Horse became immobilized by the thread’s stickiness as if trapped in a bottomless swamp.

“(So ‘Mad Mother Spider’ doesn’t mean crazy mother spider but Mud (mad) Mother Spider!?)”

“Goraaah!!”

The Ogre’s deadly blade closed in on the immobilized Dark Horse.

At the last moment Dullahan kicked off the saddle and leaped—landing outside the range of Mad Mother Spider’s swamp threads.

“Tch!”

The window announced that Dark Horse had perished.

But Dullahan, not wanting his steed’s death to be in vain, ignored the Ogre and charged at Mad Mother Spider.

“Kishu――――!!”

Mad Mother Spider spat out black threads again.

Dullahan predicted the threads and their points of impact, stepping left and right to evade.

He steadily closed the distance to Mad Mother Spider.

“Kishu――――!!”

“~~~~♪”

Irritated, Mad Mother Spider stopped spitting to lay traps on the ground and instead directly spat threads aimed at Dullahan.

However, Windine deployed a spherical barrier in front of Dullahan.

The threads slid along the barrier’s curved surface and were deflected to the rear.

Cracks formed in Windine’s barrier—and as it shattered, Dullahan reached Mad Mother Spider.

“――――!!”

“Kishu――――!?”

――Thrust!

――Slash!

He plunged his longsword deep into the mouth that spat threads, then slashed upward!

Mad Mother Spider’s head split into two—and perished.

“Goraaah!!”

“――――!?!”

But—an Ogre that had caught up slammed a heavy blow into the unguarded back of Dullahan.

The armor crumpled, and with a single strike Dullahan perished.

Our casualties were the Rook (Dullahan) and the Knight (Dark Horse).

Our only gain in return was one Knight (Mad Mother Spider).

“Goraaah!!”

“――――♪”

The pieces of Shadows remaining in the left-central battlefield were my Bishop (Windine) and Sobra’s Rook (Ogre) only.

The Ogre continued to swing its massive swords, relying on sheer muscle.

“(Windine is holding it off with barrier magic, but that’s probably only a matter of time.)”

Realizing the annihilation of the right battlefield, I ground my molars in frustration and kept parrying Ruru’s slashes.