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258. Metal Palms
258. Metal Palms
Ike dashed toward the monsters. They stared at him, startled, but only for an instant. In the next, they rounded on him as one, swinging their axes. A wall of blades cut toward Ike, the axes all striking at the exact same time so there was no escape.
Not that Ike was going to escape.
He rushed directly toward them, swinging with all his strength. The Hungry Sword crackled with lightning. He smashed the axes without hesitation. There was a sharp snap, as if something had clacked its teeth shut, and the axes burst into a thousand tiny pieces.
Ike blinked. He stared at the sword. Didn't expect that. He'd been planning to shatter the axes, weakened by the Hungry Sword as they were. The Hungry Sword deciding to finish the job on its own was beyond his expectations.
The monsters, too, had been stunned for a moment by the loss of their axes. Not only that, but they found themselves overreached and over-swinging. Ike recovered first. His body blurred. He dashed from one monster to the next, reappearing for just long enough to take the monster's throat before vanishing once more. The monsters thrashed, unable to respond in time.
It wasn't that the new technique made him faster. It had no bearing on his speed. But allowing the monsters to wear themselves out hammering on him first meant he was now immeasurably faster than them. To the contrary, Ike felt reinvigorated because of the Body Reforging Art. It was only a temporary effect. The skill had still drawn on his aether stores, and eventually the other shoe would fall. But right now, his body was flush with aether, and he felt powerful.
Not wanting to waste his time while aether pumped through his veins, Ike raced toward the next group of monsters the second he cleared the ones who'd been hammering on him. He and the Hungry Sword bit into the monster's necks, one after another. The monsters toppled behind him before they could even reach Wisp's fire traps.
"Damn, don't hold back too much," Wisp snarked. She sat back in her webs, content to watch and rest while he went nuts on the beasts.
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Embers flew and heads rolled. The monsters posed no threat to the empowered Ike, at least not for as long as he surged with strength. It was like they moved in slow motion. They couldn't dream of harming him.
A faint note of alarm sounded in his heart. If he was this strong now, how much aether had he used on the Body Reforging Art, without even realizing it? Though at the same time, he couldn't hate the results. He'd needed the steel hands to effectively use the Hungry Sword. If he hadn't allowed the Body Reforging Art to reforge his body into a more resilient form, he would have continuously injured himself from the Hungry Sword's blade. Even if he didn't brace it, the edge where the hilt met the blade shivered continuously, chewing for his skin, and whenever his hand impacted it, it bled—unless he had the steel palms active. Then the blades cut at the steel, and failed to cut it away.
Though, come to think of it, it can eat other blades, so why do the steel palms protect me? Ike glanced at his hands, then shrugged. It wasn't as if he was complaining. Plus, his palms weren't literal metal, they just looked like metal. It was probably better understood as 'a metal-appearing layer of aether' rather than actual metal palms. The Hungry Sword's hunger had been confined to physical objects, so far. It hadn't shown any intention to devour mana, aether, or spells.
It did make sense. The Hungry Sword was just a sword. Of course it would want to eat other swords.
What am I thinking? Ike thought to himself. That wasn't reasonable. It didn't make sense. It was absolutely insane that a sword would want to eat other swords.
Abruptly, Ike's strength waned. He retreated, fleeing back toward Wisp. The monsters, sensing weakness, charged after him. One reared back and spat fire. Ike activated the defenses of Storm Clad more strongly, and a wall of hail and sleet whirled around his body. The fire melted the ice, but the ice cooled it enough that Ike took no damage. "Wisp!"
"You done with your rampage?" Wisp asked, looking up from where she lounged in her webs.
"Yes!" An axe dropped toward Ike. He dodged to the side and struck it with the Hungry Sword as he ran on. It glanced off, but that wasn't the point. The blades shivered, and a thin layer of steel vanished from the axe's surface.
Shadow fell over Ike. He lunged to the side at the last second. The stomp slammed down beside him, tossing him into the air. Another foot loomed over him, ready to drop. Ike stared up, swallowing. If I go soft, maybe—
Spider thread stuck to his shoulder and jerked him away. The monster's foot struck bare earth instead of splattering Ike, as Ike hurtled toward a flaming mass of web. He braced himself, throwing his hands up.
"Oh, come on. Have a little faith." A second thread caught him by the back and pulled him upward. Ike swooped up and over the flames, rather than smashing directly into them. The monsters chasing him faced a less favorable fate.
The flames raged around the monsters, and as Ike dangled there, he breathed a sigh of relief.
A second later, he looked up. "I really need one of those flying thingies."
"What? When you have my spider thread and my parachutes, you still want more? Gosh, so greedy," Wisp complained.
Ike grabbed the thread and pulled himself up it. "Yeah, yeah. Be easier on you if you don't have to yank me all the time, too."
"Can't disagree with that."
The two of them watched the monsters burn for a second, and then Ike sighed. "Back at it?"
"Guess so," Wisp agreed.
"I think we send Rufus out here once we wipe out this wave, and wish 'em best of luck," Ike grumbled, more tired of fighting than outright tired.
"Ike! We need help!" Scar shouted. Her voice echoed over the trees from afar, rather than sounding from nearby.
Ike's head snapped up. He glanced at Wisp, then nodded toward Scar's voice. "You summon Rufus and his boys. You and them will have to hold the last of this round together. I've gotta go."
"Go get 'em, bossman." Mock-saluting, Wisp tossed another few balls of silk on the fire and scampered off over her thread toward the castle.
Ike hopped away. One or two of the monsters turned, only to find themselves facing an empty forest. Like a bolt from the blue, Ike was gone.