Tap!
Alain took a step forward. His foot landed on the dark ground, splashing up radioactive ripples like water.
Tap!
The second step.
At that same moment, the Man-Headed Spiders, who had gone from 'lush and luxuriant' to sparse in number, moved aside to open a path, retreating to stand before the Mitas and protect them.
Tap!!!
The third step. Alain stomped heavily into the darkness, the tyrannical force of his tread making the gloom radiate with pitch-black mottling.
Thick ink flew in a drizzle toward the surroundings, and one of the droplets reflected his charging figure:
His hands gripped the greatsword, his body bent slightly forward, the blade positioned at his side as he sprinted at full speed toward the Corrosive Entity.
Cool Mita opened her eyes slightly and beheld this very scene.
Alain was fighting for them just as he always did, like a hero facing a demon king.
He held no confusion, no fear; the depths of his eyes held only sheer determination for their sake.
While Cool Mita worried...
"Do your best..." she also expressed her heartfelt gratitude.
Ka!
The sound of a door opening spread from behind Alain.
Alain could feel wisps of suction force. This meant... the Corrosive Entity wanted to repeat its old trick and make him get the hell out the door.
But the current him was completely different from the Alain of a dozen seconds ago.
That wisp of suction did not hinder Alain's steps in the slightest; in fact, it only made him fight with more courage:
His swift and orderly footsteps suffered no stagnation, focusing solely on a single target:
The Corrosive Entity.
The greatsword had long completed its charge midway through his approach. 'Accelerated Cleaning' carved out an azure arc, intersecting with the arms of darkness.
Peng!
It was still the sound of a violent chopping strike; he could feel his muscle fibers tearing, revealing a trace of soreness.
But the sensation of the strike was completely different!
If before it was like an old farmer chopping at a towering tree... then now, it was a vigorous young man chopping at an ordinary tree.
They were evenly matched!
The Corrosive Entity was no longer invincible.
"Hah!"
Alain grunted heavily, the strength in his arms instantly becoming weighty—he hewed off one of the arms on the black hand-tree.
Inertia carried the greatsword to slash against the ground. The black tide briefly retreated, revealing a crescent of deep brown wooden flooring.
Although it was quickly dyed by the blackness again, it was completely different from his previous powerlessness.
"You're finished." Alain caught his breath, staring coldly at the Corrosive Entity close at hand.
The palm-hands of the black tree, swaying softly like leaves, hastened their movement.
In Alain's peripheral vision, the surrounding blackness suddenly rose up—transforming into sharp spikes, stabbing straight at every part of his body.
Yet, they were all blocked by a thin film that seemed both there and not there.
Alain looked at the 'Memory Optimization' icon on the screen, which had dimmed, and the 'Safety Guard' that had lit up again. The next moment, his solemn gaze returned to the Corrosive Entity.
The greatsword swung out a bright blue semicircle once more. The target this time was not the branches for a test strike...
But the main trunk of the Corrosive Entity.
Ka!
There was still a strong sense of resistance, but Alain clearly saw it—
"The greatsword, it hacked in!" Prankster Mita's surprised, delicate cry answered in Alain's stead.
The 'Accelerated Cleaning' greatsword was not a sharp type; it could be counted as a blunt weapon.
Even so, the not-so-sharp edge embedded slightly into the trunk. Even if it was just a tiny inch of progress...
For Alain, it was the first step of success!
He took a deep breath, driving every muscle in his body to apply force to the hilt.
Ka, ka... zzt...
An ear-piercing tearing sound echoed from the intersection of the sword edge and the black trunk.
Then came wave after wave of resistance, like the Corrosive Entity's hindrance against him.
And the gradually deepening sword edge was Alain's response to it!
Ka!
The greatsword went in a bit deeper; in total, it had cut roughly one-quarter of the Corrosive Entity's arm diameter...
But the Safety Guard could barely hold on.
Those spikes from the darkness were still stabbing at the Safety Guard, showing no sign of abating.
Like venomous snakes eyeing their prey from the bushes...
At this moment, a sound of "Wah-ya-ya" rang out. He glanced over and discovered Prankster Mita carrying Mila's tachi, and Tiny Mita holding an inflatable hammer, walking quickly to his side.
Peng!
The sound of a hammer smashing.
Hua!
The sound of a tachi slashing.
The two young girls, strike by strike, carefully cleared the spikes around Alain.
"D-Do your best!" Prankster Mita almost cried as she spoke the words. One could see the girl was truly afraid... but she still came to help Alain.
"For me, for everyone, and for you too!" Tiny Mita cheered him on like this.
"...En." Alain nodded heavily, and the Safety Guard shattered in response.
Ka!
The greatsword went deeper into the trunk again, reaching one-third of the distance.
And Alain faintly saw a few more black spikes gradually emerging in the surrounding darkness.
This time, he had no Safety Guard.
The formation of the black spikes would probably take some time. They were condensing, sharpening; it would take about a few seconds.
And Alain accepted the reality of racing against time.
"You guys—don't come over!" Seeing the two girls about to come over to help upon seeing the black spikes, Alain shouted to stop them.
Meanwhile, his gaze was fixed right before his eyes, on the Version Authority console.
The versions on the console were abnormally chaotic, and beneath them, certain versions had progress bars indicating viral corrosion.
Obviously, some of the Mitas who had given him their versions were also victims of the Corrosive Entity.
Then, it would be easy to handle.
With a thought from Alain, he utilized the Version Ownership—and simultaneously cleared all the progress bars on the console to zero.
Ka-zzt—
In an instant, chopping the Corrosive Entity became much smoother.
Just as he expected: the Corrosive Entity's power originated from versions. Therefore, he only needed to lower the corruption level of the versions in his hand, or even clear them to zero...
It would likewise thwart the Corrosive Entity.
Hua—
In a certain instant, time seemed to stop flowing.
Alain could see the black spikes that had finished condensing and were stabbing toward him.
He could also see the progress bars on the console that were completely cleared.
And he could see even more clearly the action of the greatsword embedded deeply into two-thirds of the Corrosive Entity, still cutting toward the depths.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of his heartbeat intertwined with the ka-zzt sound of the trunk tearing...
A drop of crystal-clear sweat hung from his eyelash. Through the reflection in the water droplet, those black spikes were already within inches of him...
But he was still faster.
Hua—
A pale blue crescent sliced through its enemy.
The arm of the tree stump snapped in response.
The blackness that had almost stabbed into Alain's skin instantly turned into droplets of black water.
Pu!
The sound of the trunk falling to the ground arrived belatedly. Even so—the Corrosive Entity was still writhing.
Alain walked in front of it, looking down at it.
Then, he swung the final sword.
___
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