The ground was left scorched by Ancient Ray. Christina looked up and noticed that Machina Guardian was purely focusing on attacking her, one of its thick legs already mid-swing towards her.
(I just have to step on my shield…no, I won’t make it in time!)
Christina was still in the air from her earlier jump, without any way to dodge that powerful attack.
But just as the leg was about to hit her, the sounds of multiple explosions echoed from the distance and the leg changed paths, passing right next to Christina instead of hitting her.
「Woah…that was close…」
Machina Guardian’s leg slammed on the ground, and Christina landed next to it. She glanced to the side for an instant before jumping back again.
There were multiple fresh dents on the side of the leg. The cannons from the wall had fired to change the course of the leg, saving Christina. It would have been disastrous if their aim was just a bit off though.
But she could barely catch a breath before Machina Guardian continued chasing after her. The legs swept from side to side, slammed down, and the laser beams fired at her. Machina Guardian was ignoring Isenfald, the other Sisters, and even the army, focusing solely on Christina.
「Why is it only after meee!」
Christina moved from side to side, jumped, and ducked, dodging all she could. Because she was focused on escaping now, the light emanating from the Holy Sword had vanished, and it returned to its original shape.
「Say, Soul Howl. What do you make of that?」
Machina Guardian would not stop following Christina. Even though Isenfald had both the power and defenses to be the biggest threat, he was being ignored. Maybe it was a grudge from the stealth attack from earlier, but even then Machina Guardian would have picked Isenfald as the main target again. Mira had carefully planned the strategy to make sure Isenfald was always the one pulling aggro from the boss.
But things had started to derail just when they were so close to the end. Machina Guardian had never acted that way in the past, so Mira turned to Soul Howl to see what he thought of that.
「Maybe it’s that glowing sword from earlier. It’s normal that it would get lured by such a large amount of mana.」
Soul Howl replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Anyone could tell that the glowing sword was incredibly strong.
「So you think so too.」
Machina Guardian had likely taken notice of that surge in mana. Both Mira and Soul Howl’s theories matched. So Mira communicated her new strategy to Soul Howl and the Sisters in the battlefield.
『Understood.』 Alfina and the Sisters quickly followed the orders, and Isenfald began to move as well.
「That’s impossible! No matter how nicely you put it, I can’t do that!」
Christina still moved around desperately to avoid being hit. Now she was either getting exhausted of it, or Machina Guardian had learned her movements, but the attacks were getting harder to dodge.
The attacks were starting to graze her, and then she could no longer dodge them.
With no other option, Christina had to use her shield to block the attack, being flung back from the impact.
「Good, it went well.」
By blocking the attack, Christina had successfully managed to gain some distance. At the same time, Isenfald landed in the space between them while the Sisters and the army also rushed in.
That prompted Machina Guardian to switch targets to Isenfald again, creating what looked like a scene out of a movie with giant monsters. The Sisters also moved to attack again.
「Alright Christina, you can focus again now.」
The Spirit of Stillness Worthramble appeared next to where Christina landed. He could conceal Christina so the boss would not aggro on her while she focused, keeping Isenfald as the main target. Complete Suppression could not be used at that moment, but considering how busy the battlefield was, just concealing their presence would be enough. Using Worthramble to control who Machina Guardian attacked was also something Mira wanted to try out.
「Okay!」
Christina held the Holy Sword again, channeling mana into it. Worthramble also made sure to conceal that flow of mana at the same time.
That way they prepared the final attack on Machina Guardian in a corner of the battlefield.
Over in the frontline, Machina Guardian’s attack kept getting more fierce now that it had less than ten percent health remaining. It was also using Ancient Ray much more frequently. It would constantly sweep its legs to stagger the Ashen Knights and then fire Ancient Ray almost immediately. It was no exaggeration to say that most of the effort when fighting Machina Guardian was concentrated in that final stage.
Meanwhile Isenfald and the Sisters were forced to be defensive most of the time. Once Machina Guardian’s health would be down to five percent, its movements would become so violent and erratic that a powerful hit to instantly end the fight would be necessary to avoid a long and harsh fight.
Christina was preparing one such attack. Isenfald was also saving his Dragon Breath to add it on top if necessary.
The troops led by the Sisters also scattered away, making it easier to dodge attacks. Machina Guardian was still mostly fixated on Isenfald though, who took them head on or managed to dodge them somewhat. The Ashen Knights were mostly there as a distraction at this stage of the fight.
Even though everyone was largely focused on defending and avoiding, they were still taking considerable damage. Machina Guardian had gotten so violent that a single hit could destroy an Ashen Knight, even though they had the same resistance as Holy Knights.
『I’m ready!』
The number of lost Ashen Knights already had three figures and Isenfald’s barrier was down to twenty percent when Christina finally gave the signal.
Mira heard it, then communicated the last part of her strategy to everyone.
Everyone instantly switched to the offensive. The Sisters used all their powerful abilities, the Ashen Knights brandished their swords while charging forward, and Isenfald held onto one of Machina Guardian’s legs and tore it off. That threw the boss out of balance, which Soul Howl saw and shot all of his cannons at once to make the effect more powerful.
Everyone attacked one after another. Shortly after, what sounded like an emergency siren began to blare out, the mechanisms inside of Machina Guardian starting to screech.
That last barrage of attacks had finally brought the boss’ health down to five percent, meaning it would go into an uncontrollable and explosive state. Before that started, Isenfald and the others retreated to a safe distance.
But as everyone went back, one figure rushed forward. That was Christina, who had been hiding with Worthramble while she channeled her mana. Now she held a glowing Holy Sword that was ten meters long, which she held while running at Machina Guardian.
The blade was filled with much more mana than earlier when it had been seen as the biggest threat by Machina Guardian. The instant it was disclosed from Worthramble’s stillness shroud, the power amassed within it made the air tremble, being stronger than Isenfald’s Dragon Breath.
「Let’s goooo!!」
Machina Guardian was still changing phases, which gave Christina a good opening to charge and swing the Holy Sword.
The blade moved faster than the speed of sound, bathing everything in light. But that lasted only for an instant. Once the light faded away, everything was over.
All that remained was Machina Guardian’s body split in two, and Christina holding the Holy Sword.
The battle had lasted for many hours, and everyone had used every tool available to them. Even Christina had lost her own blade in the fight, which left her bewildered for a bit. But now she had successfully dealt the finishing blow.
