Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 303: (System) Break 05

The tree I grew could cover and protect us by consuming more of my mana, but it didn’t hold a candle to the forest the elves could regrow back in that world. If so much as a fraction of the AOTG men surrounding it were to attack, even my entire mana reserve wouldn’t be enough to keep it standing.

Something like that would easily force Pip and me into a precarious situation, yet the tree stood unscathed.

Miwen: "...You need him alive, huh?"

Gary: "..."

He offered no rebuttal, and his poker face remained unshaken, yet enough was said.

I could barely contain the grin on my face, knowing I had found an Achilles heel to exploit.

Unfortunately, karma wasn’t kind to the wicked, and a fist descended on my head.

Piper: "The good guys are not allowed to take hostages, moron."

I never thought I’d say this, but Piper was the most troublesome of the trailblazers to fight with.

Even among the best, her power was the real deal, yet her restrictions made it incredibly difficult for us to work together.

Miwen: "Never took you for the holier-than-thou type."

Despite hammering me down earlier, she seemed surprised that I’d strike back.

Piper: "Heh. Kids really don’t understand anything, huh? See..."

My ears rang with an annoying high-pitched sound as crushing air pressure hit us.

It approached from above, but despite searching the sky thoroughly, my eyes couldn’t catch it.

Piper: "Heroes aren’t only about doing the right thing. It’s about making it look cool, too~"

A small hole formed on the treetop as the leaves fell to the ground.

Barely a second later, all the pressure I felt earlier hit the facility’s ground with a tremendous boom.

In the center of the fractured ground stood a hero. A bona fide comic book hero, cape and all.

Miwen: "...Hah."

I had a hard time wrapping my head around it, so a genuine laugh escaped me.

Only in her mind could any of that make sense.

Though I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t cool.

Miwen: "Alright, Pip. If that’s what you want... I’ll make your jaw drop."

Piper: "Oh! Now that’s an attitude I like!"

A thick thread of blood approached my neck like a bullet.

Pip was the first to react, blowing it away with a recognizable joke item, a baseball bat with a fiery stick on its end.

Piper: "I got business with that one, but I’ll be watching, yeah?"

Miwen: "You better be fast then. This won’t take long."

I was pretty much the antithesis of the action heroes Piper liked. Rather than being cool or showy, I preferred to do things efficiently and silently.

Yet, it was fine to act this way if it meant I could see that big, dumb, thrilled grin of hers.

I watched as Piper jumped towards Finn. Her summoned hero swept through the AOTG army behind her, drawing fire and knocking out one enemy after the other with comically devastating punches.

I took a page from Claire’s book and used [Fire Magic] to propel myself, launching a flame tornado from each hand.

When I was close enough to Gary, I stopped the flames of one hand, letting my body spin midair and the dancing fire spirals explode towards him.

I enhanced my free hand with [Ice Magic] and, just as I had predicted, Gary disappeared from my sight, returning to his minuscule self to avoid the fire.

It was an annoying move.

But it was also predictable.

Unlike before, I knew the general area he was in, so when my hand landed on the ground, I spread a thin layer of frost towards him from which an ice prison erupted.

Thinking he’d grow to break out of the prison, I skated towards it while slashing away any AOTG member standing between us.

I enhanced my arms with [Lightning Magic], hoping for a clear shot the moment he appeared before me.

However, Gary did not change his size.

Instead, he used his own air slashes to cut open an escape.

He wasn’t dumb enough to only cut in one direction, either. The frost prison had four holes cut through it.

Not wanting to waste my mana, I spread the lightning around me, knocking out the closest enemies.

This gave me a much-needed second to think.

Even non-executive members of the AOTG were tricky to deal with. I had already learned this lesson the hard way thanks to Yuri and Bianca.

I could try something inspired by them. Maybe I could curse him. Maybe I could poison him.

But Piper would definitely call me out on that...

Since Piper and Cass were both into barbarians, the thought of asking her crossed my mind, but...

Asking Cass for ideas was more frightening than going in blindly.

Besides, she seemed quite distracted in her own delusions.

Miwen: "...He’s not attacking, huh?"

It was probably the same as before.

Instead of disclosing his position, he’d prepare his attacks and wait for the right moment to fire and grow them. This way, even if I could trace the trajectory, I’d be firing into thin air.

Before my time ran out, I realized that the only way for me to win was if I could find a way to locate or ambush Gary.

This was easier said than done. He was careful with his movements, and there was a lot of magic and bullets being shot around me.

It’d be hard to hear him. It’d be hard to see him.

But if I concentrated on my mana, perhaps...

Miwen: "...!"

While fending off enemies, I noticed that I had been afflicted with a [Weak] debuff. It caused a small reduction in my stats, nothing to worry too much about.

If not for the trigger mechanism, that is.

Every time I was hit by a bullet, despite it not piercing my skin, the debuff got stronger, and more time was added to its duration.

Despite there only being a few men capable of shooting guns in the facility, this could easily become a problem.

Miwen: "...Is this the effect of those bullets?"

I couldn’t be certain about it yet; however, I knew I had to end this soon.

I wasn’t as good a mage as Bea and Liz. If I were to spread my mana too far in this battlefield, not only would I lose most of the sensory feedback, but I’d also be overwhelmed with information.

Forget about locating Gary; if I overdid it, I wouldn’t be able to defend against his wind sniper or the men who had me surrounded.

Still, I couldn’t stay put and wait for him.

When I felt one of his wind bullets pierce the small mana dome I kept around me, I had an idea.

Since his attacks were coming from so close to the ground, I didn’t need to surround myself like in a normal fight.

Instead, I extended a thin line of mana from my feet, spinning it as fast as it would go.

My very own improvised radar.

With it, I could sense and destroy Gary’s magic while it was still so small it barely required any mana.

This alone was enough to neutralize his ability while I fought the AOTG members, but it was not all.

It didn’t take me long to become acquainted with the unique feeling of feet on the ground and Gary’s magic.

By following the trail of his magic, I hoped that eventually, my mana would stumble across a different sensation: Him.

And if that wouldn’t work...

Gary: "Gah!"

I had laid a few traps around his magic. In case he came back to check why they weren’t working.

However, this wasn’t what got him.

Miwen: "Got you."

The small explosion that triggered a few feet away from me wasn’t a trap I laid near his magic, but one I’d set up near the tree.

Considering the pattern of magic he had laid down, I thought he might’ve been making his way there, and seeing him return to normal size with half of his face burnt confirmed it.

Despite catching him, it took me a moment to realize his objective. He had even avoided heading there in a straight line...

Miwen: "...I should’ve imagined."

I couldn’t contain my exasperation as the figure before me grew into a giant, hiding the tree behind his back.

Cassandra: "God... Let’s bring him to Angelica."

If she were in her human form, Cass would definitely be salivating by now.

I had to admit, though. It was an impressive Gift.

It only took him a second to go from nail-size to towering buildings.

And if the ability to hide and grow small magic wasn’t troublesome already, he showed us what happens when magic is cast in his giant form.

A single wind bullet, by far the most basic wind spell, sent all the other men surrounding me flying.

Their backs cracked against the nearby buildings, and even though Cass extended her blade into the ground to stop us from being blown away, the wind pressure was too strong for my ears to handle.

An even worse ringing started to echo inside my head.

Miwen: "Alright, big guy! I’ll step up too!"

I could barely hear my own voice, so I had to shout each word.

Still, now that Gary had grown to this size, I had a clear target to aim for.

Using Cass as my second mana pool, I activated my [Body Double] skill.

Doing it this way allowed me to retain enough mana for a big spell, and since I wanted to be flashy today, I used [Fire Magic].

It just so happened to be my most powerful skill thanks to Claire’s obsession with it.

With Cassandra coated in flames and my output essentially doubled thanks to my clone, I erupted the biggest half-moon-shaped flame slash of my life towards the giant.

Even the massive tornadoes he cast couldn’t protect him, and despite his power increasing proportionately to his size, he was left bleeding profusely as the flames cut through his chest.

Feeling outmatched, he roared before shrinking again to escape.

Unfortunately, it was too late for him.

Once he stood between the tree and me, there was no escape, as the very leaves on the ground he stepped on were my magic.

I could feel his every movement through them.

Using the tree roots underneath him like a whip, I cracked at his back while restraining his limbs.

Gary struggled against the roots, using his magic to cut them.

However, I had created the tree with a spell. There was too much mana poured into it.

Without gigantifying again, there was no way he could set himself free.

Seemingly realizing this, he once again appeared before me, the roots snapping as he charged forward.

The fist before me, once normal-sized, grew bigger than my entire body.

Only for it to be met by Cassandra’s blade, as she extended herself as much as she could.

Just like he had done to Piper’s wyvern earlier, Gary’s hand split in two.

He grabbed it in shock.

I didn’t waste any time and wrapped the roots around his body again, this time, erupting thin spikes from them as they dragged the giant towards the tree.

In his giant form, they were painful.

If he were to return to his normal size or even shrink, he’d die from the spikes that made their way through his body.

As I suffocated him against the tree, I remembered that I was supposed to end this battle in a cool way and, unsure if the massive flame slash and a giant man stuck to a tree were cool enough for Pip, I decided on one last strike.

With Cass still as big as she could get, I used [Wind Magic] and [Fire Magic] to propel a spin attack, hitting Gary’s stomach with the blunt side of the sword.

The air left him, and unable to breathe, he passed out.

The gasp of his voice echoed throughout the vicinity as Cass returned to her normal size, and I stood before the tree, ready to face any new challengers. I had exhausted almost all of my mana in a single fight, just to show off as much as possible.

If Piper turned and said it wasn’t cool enough...

I’d give up.