“BRRT!”

The sound of gunfire ran through the air. Kotori was beginning to feel the consciousness of Hikari feel faint.

[Hold on a little longer!]

The bullets shooting out began to move faster.

And soon it stopped.

Hatakes shield was strong. It was battered beyond recognition, the surface of it was covered in pocket marks.

It must’ve been made of manatanium as well.

Hatake peeked out from the shield. Realizing that there were no more gunshots he stood up from his hunched position.

He looked at the great shield in his hand it was little more than a battered piece of metal and tossed it away.

To a normal person tossing away such an expensive piece of equipment that could still be repaired would be wasteful but it didn’t seem like Hatake had those concerns.

He cracked his neck

“Nice arrows? First time I’ve seen something like that to be honest.”

Kotori could only grimly smile, Her firepower was simply not enough to get past Hatake.

He started walking over to them again with a relaxed gait.

“The King is going to be very happy when he gets his hand on you little girl”

She didn’t have another trump card, [Charm] would not work if a person was actively trying to fight her it was not able to overwrite a conscience like that.

Kotori put up a stance again. She wouldn’t be able to get through the tank that was Hatake the way she was now. There was no finesse that could be done with her current skills. She would have to overpower him.

She did have one option left, but she was sure the people involved would not be happy about it.

“Shu, Umi, Layla to me! Amelie cover!”

The spirits, and dutifully leaped over

“Yes, Ojou?”

“Yes, goushujin-sama”

“What do you need Kotori”

Kotori could only grimace

“I have a plan,” she said while transferring the idea with [Spirit Seer].

The spirits upon learning the plan nodded, their faces resolving themselves.

“I’m sorry!” Kotori said her voice pained, she didn’t want to hurt the ones who had been following her the entire time.

She activated [Hunter] on them all. She felt mana surging into her.

The spirits groaned and gave a pained moan. Spirits were creatures made of mana, after all, Kotori taking their mana buff away would be akin to flaying the skin off a human.

“Ohoho? Sacrificing your companions? I didn’t take you for a cold-hearted person.” Hatake said slightly surprised.

Umi, Layla, and Shu all began to shrink, their forms flickering, they kneeled on the ground, and Kotori heard a pained scream from Layla. Amelie desperately tried to ward off Hatake and soon was knocked prone.

[I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please hold on!] Kotori thought.

They shrunk down even further until the pitiful figure of a watery otter, a small rat, and a fox cub on the ground. Their mana not even enough to maintain their forms.

Kotori poured the mana into Hikari and activated [Magic Minstrel].

Hikari seemed to roar to life from her slow drowsy state, and soon a blob of metal popped out and turned into a spear in Kotori’s hand.

Kotori was doing a specific kind of buff. She would have Hikari turn into a spear and pierce through Hatake. She would overpower him, and rush through his defense. She was putting all her mana into Strength and Agility. Both stats were now over 700, higher than Hatake’s 500 defense.

She felt power pouring into her and a slight glow emanated from the spear that was now in her hands.

[Ah, I feel so light] Kotori thought

Kotori dashed forward, stabbing at Hatake, her movement so fast it left an afterimage.

She felt resistance. And a grunt from Hatake

“GAH!”

She had hit her target!

She looked up to confirm her hit and all she was an arm in front of her. Hatake had used his arm to block the blow.

The spear had pierced through his arm and stuck him on the chest. Hatake jumped back while pulling Kotori’s spear out of his arm. Hatake had a pain expression, his left arm now hung limply on his side. The wound, which was no longer being plugged by the spear was gushing blood staining the pavement below them and dripping into the ocean.

“Grrr, how long has it been since someone has pierced my skin, what a troublesome job,” Hatake said.

[It wasn’t enough!] Kotori thought.

She had poured as much mana as she could into strengthening Hikari, and it was still not enough.

Hikari would not be able to maintain such hardness again on such a short notice. Kotori didn’t have the mana for it.

“Hatake gave a pained smile,

“Out of options? Good, this was a little… more difficult than I would’ve liked” He grunted

He was right. Kotori was out of options her companions landed on the pavement beside her and she was running low on mana.

She lowered her guard, starting to resign herself to her fate.

[Ah, maybe the King won’t be so bad.] She thought to herself.

Suddenly, a light appeared from the Eris ship behind her. It arced towards the sky and bent towards the sea.

For a moment, everybody paused looking at the light.

[What was that!] Kotori thought

Hatake didn’t seem perturbed by it and continued to make a pained step forward.

Kotori heard a voice behind her, it was Fawks who had been standing behind her the entire time.

“Took him long enough” Fawks muttered.