Lumina also warned us about skills that nullified the effects. The gods had balanced this world so that there were skills which could overwhelm Immunity. Skills with the word Penetrate—or Godflame, which the gods themselves possessed—were capable of this. The Flame Sword Ignis had the Godflame skill, and there were records of it completely burning those with Flame Immunity to cinders. The Beast King’s Class Skill, Golden Flame of Extinction, was likely also of this kind.
“You’ve grown stronger through my training. But remember there are people stronger than you out in the world, Fran.”
“Hm.”
“And do not let your guard down just because you have an Immunity skill.”
“Got it.”
Fortunately, we had the ability to equip and unequip skills as we pleased. The Immunity skills would make a fine addition to our arsenal, as long as we used them at the right time and place.
But I’m definitely not going to unequip it when fighting Colbert!
I used Absolute Barrier, just in case. It was a high-level skill I got from maxing out both Mana Barrier and Physical Barrier. I thought it would nullify all attacks, but apparently it could only block magical and physical attacks. It decreased the damage of Colbert’s strikes, though, further reducing the maintenance cost of Physical Immunity. But I couldn’t say that things were going in our favor.
Fran, we need to finish this, quick!
“Hm!”
Fran held me above her head, looking to end the fight in one strike. Her stance left a hole in her defense, which Colbert was eager to exploit.
“Dimitris Combat Ultimate! Internal Rupture!”
Colbert charged his mana arm and corkscrewed it toward Fran’s torso. It landed, but she didn’t even wince.
“Damn it! How did that not work?!”
The attack was nullified, all right, but only at the cost of almost a thousand mana. I couldn’t imagine the damage the corkscrew would’ve inflicted without Physical Immunity. Colbert really was worth his salt, but now we were prepared to go on the counterattack!
“Hm!”
Fran jumped high into the air and prepared her strongest attack. She used Elemental Blade and added it to mine. Then she readied a Pressurized Quickdraw imbued with Vibroblade, Venomfang, and Increase Weight. Her form was perfect because of Sword King Mastery, and her signature move was deadlier than ever.
Colbert could easily dodge such a telegraphed vertical, of course, but I wasn’t going to let him. I locked him in place with Telekinesis and Wind Magic. My hold wouldn’t last long, but Fran only needed a second. Colbert crossed his mana arms in front of him to form a shield…
“Haaaa!”
“Gaaaargh!”
But Fran cut through all of them. She cut through his physical arms as well, and dragged me through all the way from his left shoulder to his waist. Although she didn’t manage to cut his physical arms off entirely, the damage to his lungs was apparent. My flaming blade singed his organs, filling the air with the smell of cooked flesh. His lungs were pretty much dust.
Still, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down. Colbert was strong, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a trick or two that allowed him to come back from the brink of death. Our mana reserves were almost dried up.
Keep going, Fran!
“Hm!”
She shifted me to her waist and launched a horizontal slash with the force of Pressurized Quickdraw. Shockingly, Colbert still attempted to dodge. He focused his mana and stretched out his phantom arms to strike back. Our mana would be finished if we nullified this attack. I elongated my blade. We had to end this fight right now!
“That’s not going to—”
You’re not getting away!
“Aaagh!”
I felt my blade cut through Colbert’s trunk just as his mana arms reached Fran. His belly opened up, spraying blood all over her face. The mana arms dissipated as their master lost his concentration.
“Dammit…” Colbert gurgled as he collapsed to his knees.
He keeled over, absolutely still. Blood rushed from the open wounds, flooding the arena with red. His insides, in their heavily poisoned state, followed suit. It was an awful sight, and we couldn’t minister to him since we had expended the last of our mana in our final attack. Fortunately, the guild was there to intervene and immediately tended to his wounds. The Healing Mages were old pros, curing the poison with magic and liberally applying healing potions over his fatal injuries. Fran was announced as the winner, and the crowd exploded with applause.
“And she does it again! What a finish! Swordceress Fran pulls through! The dark horse of the tournament seems unstoppable! Will Diamond Wall Gaudartha stop her winning streak?! Tune in next time!”
She threw one last glance at Colbert before leaving the ring.
Will he be okay?
Don’t worry. He’s in good hands.
Hm. Good. I want to fight him again someday.
That was her only reason for worrying. B-Rank he might be, but I didn’t think Colbert would be able to shake this off so quickly.
We decided to check in on him, and asked the tournament attendant where the infirmary was. Colbert was lying in bed when we came in. The Healing Mages had done their jobs, but he still needed to recover.
“How are you feeling?”
“Little lady…you killed me out there.”
“It was either you or me.”
“Fair enough. Can’t believe I lost after taking off the seal…ugh!” Colbert held his head in pain.
“You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah…I just went a little crazy. But this always happens after I use Asura.”
That was the skill which sprouted his mana arms. The skill probably improved his reaction time as well as improving his sight. His heightened senses allowed him to cope with Fran’s Sword King Mastery. The way he manipulated the mana arms would’ve taken up a lot of
