CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.54 'LIKE LIGHTNING! PT.2 - FORCE OF COURAGE! A SIX-FRONTED ASSAULT!'

From six angles, the forces of the Nowhere Generation closed in on their newfound enemy. This Chimera, Geryon, had an air about them which was... different, surreal, in a way that the likes of only some of the Nowhere Generation had felt before. A pressure was built as it closed in with its own counterattack, the full force of the calamitous storm behind their clenched fist as they fired forwards.

In an instant, the pressure crescendoed as the chorus of the storm shouted, and one of the Nowhere Generation was stuck in a flash of light and explosions. Meeting Geryon's fist, Andrei's charred arm was crackling with electricity still, and he stared back at the golden-crimson eyes of his foe as his companions flanked the powerful monster before him. Giving a wicked, fanged grin, he grabbed hold of Geryon's slender arm and pulled the body of the beast inwards towards him, holding it still as it fought in his grasp. "Hrk- Shit, hit 'em fast and heavy, I can take it-!" Andrei shouted.

As his voice carried in the wind, the five warriors flanking pivoted around on their heels simultaneously to attack from behind. Andrei felt as claws tore at his sides, but his own crimson-amber eyes reflected nothing but satisfaction before Geryon's own fangs sunk into his shoulder, ripping upwards and spraying blood and viscera.

From behind still, as their friend held the Chimera still in a dangerous grapple, Saionji took the lead, pushed forwards by the very wind which the rest of the group fought against to move ahead. At her side was the android Alpha.1, the two of them fastest among the flanking attackers.

"Right then..." Saionji said, steeling her gaze and gripping her drawn rapier.

"Calculating required output..." Alpha spoke beside the girl, her sword hovering over her left arm like a sort of bladed shield. "... Maximum. Attack together, Akoto."

"Hyacinth...!" Saionji shouted now, as the emerald energy around her arms flared up and amplified itself. All the while, Alpha's sword now began to glow with destructive force as it sprayed steam and pressure. "Apocalypse..."

Behind them, Shimoda and Hirano, the closest of the student-teacher bond, closed in shoulder to shoulder. Hirano's sickle scraped the stone beneath his feet as he lowered himself to the ground, picking up speed to match his student now. He smirked... it had been some time since he had to push himself to this level. As Shimoda's sword began to conduct his Ki separate from his body, and purple light flared up, Hirano's own magic focused on his blade, like a wave on the ground trailing behind them.

"Hirano... I'll make you proud, alright?" Shimoda asked as they approached, his aura taking on a smoother shape now as he focused on his mentor. Something about his company, knowing he was at his side, put the boy's mind at ease.

"Of course, Shoda." He gritted his teeth now, his fangs tight to the rest of his jaw. Behind him, the wave of shimmering blue water began to freeze, catching rain as it solidified. "Frost..."

The furthest behind, Baka-Bayashi's eyes widened as he saw the blood and gore spraying from Andrei's torn-open shoulder. He had seen battle before, but for such blatant disregard of oneself... was it insanity? Or necessary sacrifice? He wouldn't know... he had never had somebody to fight for before. The colossal Chimera now galloping on all-fours, his heavy body shook the very earth as he ran, until he came to a sudden halt out of sheer terrified awe...

As Andrei's arm lost its strength, the devilish Chimera he had been holding down broke free of his grip in spectacular fashion, shredding the lower half of his torso, and his shirt by proxy, and kicking him away with a fur-coated leg, Geryon's claw-like toenails leaving a slash spanning his abs as he slammed into the mountainside, the wind knocked from the invincible boy's lungs in that moment. Spinning around, Geryon locked eyes with the largest source of power at that moment. "... CLEAVER-!"