“Huh?!” a voice of surprise escaped my lips. Before I realized it, I had jumped a whole twenty meters.

The surprise was aimed at both my unbelievable jumping power and the fact that...

...Nemesis wasn’t human.

Nor was she a greatsword.

She was a spear.

Though, since she had an axe popping out from one end of her grip, the word “halberd” was more apt.

The part opposite of the axe blade was leaving a trail of black light, making the whole of her look somewhat like a battle flag.

I looked at the equipment window and saw the name “The Flag Halberd.”

“Nemesis... what happened to you?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m not sure I’m able to answer that question,” she replied. “I happened to become like this before I could even realize it.”

I guess she was unconscious while she was turned into particles, I thought.

“However, there is one thing I’m certain of,” she continued.

“And that is?” I asked.

“I’ve evolved into my second form,” Nemesis revealed. “The power inside me is greater than ever.”

Evolution.

That was the primary feature of every Embryo — the function that gave them powers from infinite patterns.

The red window had also said something about “emergency evolution.”

Is that how it normally goes? I asked myself. It didn’t seem that way when Rook’s Babi evolved, though...

“...Well, this ain’t the best time to think about this, anyway,” I muttered. I had to focus on only one thing right now.

“COOAAAGHHH!”

After having lost sight of me once, Gardranda noticed me again and roared with both of its shoulder-mouths.

“By the way, Nemesis,” I said.

“What is it, Master?” Nemesis replied.

“You said that your power is ‘greater than ever’... to what extent, though?”

I could almost see her put up an intrepid smile.

“Enough to make it possible for us to defeat that damn demon,” she answered.

“Perfect,” I smiled. The possibility was there.

The fact that she’d only said that it was “possible” made me remember the first time we’d met. However, that was all I really needed. If the possibility of us winning was there...

...then, for the sake of Rook, Babi, Marie, and the tians in danger of dying...

...we only had to bet on that possibility and give it all we had.

“Let’s do this, Gardranda,” I said.

Since Gardranda’s appearance after we’d annihilated the goblins, the demon had possessed the upper hand, it had even been able to corner us after getting its head smashed. But now, we had a new way of achieving victory.

I know how you work, I thought. I’ll end it soon.

I brandished The Flag Halberd above my head and roared at the headless demon. “This... is the final round!”

After spinning the halberd above my head, I charged at Gardranda.

Though Weakness was supposed to have lowered my stats, I was running much faster than I could have run while in my normal state. And though Intoxication was supposed to be making my vision turn dim, I felt like I could perceive far more than I ever could.

Gardranda attacked me with a swing from its right arm — the one with fewer fingers on the hand — but I was able to smoothly evade it and sink the halberd’s axe into the demon’s wrist as I did so.

My attack bit through the skin, sunk into the meat, and cleared its bone. I cleanly cut the demon’s hand off, causing crimson blood to burst from the wound.

“We’re doing well,” I said. It was obvious that her evolution had improved Nemesis’s stats and bonuses, but the difference between this and her previous form was just too great.

Yeah, I think we can handle this... Oh, wait... I thought, and remembered something.

I was still under the effects of Poison.

If I’m not careful, my HP might decrease a whole lot, and... Huh?

“...we’re doing way too well,” I muttered.

Though Poison was supposed to be gradually lowering my HP, it was actually going up instead.

The increase in my physical ability, the clarity in my sensations, and the continuous HP regeneration. It was as though the debuffs had been reversed.

“I see, so this is your...” I said slowly.

“Indeed,” said Nemesis. “This is my new skill: ‘Like a Flag Flying the Reversal.’”

Nemesis opened a window that showed the skill’s name and described what it did.

Basically, it reversed the effects of debuffs received from an opponent.

Instead of dealing continuous damage, Poison healed me.

Instead of lowering my stats, Weakness increased them.

Instead of paralyzing my senses, Intoxication made them clearer.

“Like a Flag Flying the Reversal” was a buff skill that reversed all and any afflictions that affected me.

“It’s quite ideal for this situation,” said Nemesis. “It honestly seems a bit overly-convenient.”

“...You’re not wrong there,” I said. “However...”

According to the message on that red window, out of the possibilities available to her, Nemesis had been equipped with the “optimal solution.” However, that message had merely described what happened.

For some reason or another, I was convinced that I was the one who’d summoned this result. Regardless, this skill made it possible for me to find a way out of this situation... It was much like the first time Nemesis and I had met.

Thus...

“For now... I’m betting it all on this possibility!” I shouted.

“Then we are of the same mind!” she called back.

Nemesis and I released a battle cry as I made my way through Gardranda’s arm attacks and continued chopping away at the demon.

The three debuffs it had given me had originally been simply the worst. However, now they were making me stronger and closing the power gap between me and Gardranda.

I was effectively buffed with HP recovery, perception, and physical strengthening, while the demon had lost its head and practically had its miasma’s ability completely negated. Our power balance was now equal — no, in fact, it had been reversed.

“CUUUOAAAGGGHHH!”

Seemingly upset at this turn-around, Gardranda began randomly releasing miasma in every direction.

However, to me and Nemesis, those fumes were nothing but a smokescreen.

“Rraagh!”

As Gardranda continued to release the miasma, I pierced into its stomach. The Flag Halberd dug through the demon’s meat and touched the weak spot — the core — within it.

“CEEEAAAAGHH...!” Gardranda roared out in anguish. That was proof enough that the stomach was where I had to aim.

However...

“It’s regenerating!” Nemesis shouted.

The wound I had just given it disappeared with a dark purple smoke.

“Hah,” chuckled Nemesis. “It appears that only the weak spot is protected by regeneration.”

“That means it’d take us forever to defeat it if we relied only on weak attacks,” I said.

“It’s not like we can keep fighting for particularly long, anyway,” she said.

I knew exactly what Nemesis meant by that. Due to the effects of Like a Flag Flying the Reversal, my HP was continuously regenerating. However, my SP only continued to decrease. That was the cost of keeping the skill active.

Compared to my HP, my SP wasn’t particularly high. It wouldn’t last for long. Thus, I had to figure out what I had to do to win.

Upon considering the regenerating core, the limited amount of time and our abilities...

...there was only one answer.

“I have to stop evading and simply let him hit me,” I said.

“Nothing else would work,” agreed Nemesis.

I would accumulate the damage the demon did to me and hit it with another Vengeance is Mine. This time, however, it would go straight to the weak spot in the stomach.

“There is something to keep in mind, though,” said Nemesis.

“What is it?” I asked.

“This form doesn’t allow the use of Counter Absorption and Vengeance is Mine,” she answered.

“We’re already out of Absorption uses, anyway,” I said.

“No,” she said, refuting that statement. “My evolution increased its stock to three, so there’s one more use left. However, just as Reversal can only be used by The Flag Halberd, those two can only be used when I’m in my greatsword form.”

Basically, to use Vengeance is Mine, I had to change The Flag Halberd into the greatsword. That meant losing the effects of Like a Flag Flying the Reversal.

To be able to land a clean, lethal hit while under the effects of the debuffs... I have to kill its mobility! I thought.

“Nemesis, let’s go for the legs!” I shouted.

“Understood!”

I swung The Flag Halberd and repeatedly damaged Gardranda’s ankles.

The demon retaliated with swings from its arms, but I simply let them hit me.

Naturally, I got damaged, but the reversed Poison quickly healed me back to full health.

Things were going much like they had when I’d been under the effects of the Elixir. Except — thanks to the continuous regeneration — I could attack, get hit, and heal much more smoothly than before.

“...3250... 3784.”

As I listened to Nemesis speak the amount of damage I had gathered, I looked at the edge of my status window and checked on my SP.

53... 52... The amount of time I could keep the Reversal active was already below one minute.

“...4265, Master!” she called.

All right, I’m betting it all on this!

“Hhaaaagh!”

I dashed through the miasma — which was nothing but a smokescreen to me — dove right next to where Gardranda was standing, gathered my resolve, and horizontally swung The Flag Halberd at the demon’s legs.

Both of its tendons had been severely damaged by my attacks up to that point, so with that deadly swing, the ax-head split both of them apart.

“CUEEEEEEEGHHH!!” Gardranda screamed and fell to its knees, making the ground tremble.

“Do it now, Nemesis!” I shouted.

“Form Shift — Black Blade!” she called. Her command made The Flag Halberd lose its integrity and scatter into particles of light, which soon gathered once more to create the familiar black greatsword.

At that very moment, I was put under the effects of the three debuffs. However, it didn’t matter anymore. I only had to land my final attack.

As my legs were shaking due to Intoxication, I dashed towards the demon. Gardranda was still kneeling, and when I raised my sword and readied myself to strike...

...I noticed something.

The dark purple miasma smokescreen was hindering my vision. However, it did nothing to hide the fact that both of the demon’s shoulders were emitting a bright red light.

“CHHHHGHAAAAHH!”

Deadly flames.

They weren’t limited to the head I’d destroyed — Gardranda could release them from its shoulder-mouths, too.

However, I refused to stop.

“Counter Absorption!” Nemesis spawned the third barrier of light — the one she’d gained from evolving. It stopped the flames and absorbed the damage they were meant to do.

Though it was unnecessary, that made the damage I’d accumulated reach the greatest amount ever.

I couldn’t be more certain that I had it in the bag.

“Now, Master!” she called.

Once I passed the flames, the barrier of light dispersed.

Finally, I began to swing my sword at Gardranda’s stomach...

“CHHHGHAAAAHH!”

...and was suddenly faced with the demon’s left shoulder-mouth, ready to spit more fire.

“What...?!” I gasped.

“Huh...?!” Nemesis exclaimed, as we realized that Gardranda had actually learned something from the battle up till now. The demon had used the lethal flames from both its shoulder-mouths separately...

...just for the sake of getting past Nemesis’s Counter Absorption.

All the miasma it had previously released hadn’t been meaningless, either — it was a preparatory action meant to render us unable to see that the demon had separated the flame bursts.

“Master!” shouted Nemesis.

I was already swinging the sword.

The blade was slicing through the air for the sole purpose of striking Gardranda’s stomach with Vengeance is Mine. Even with the debuffs, I could land the hit in a mere three seconds. However, the demonic flames would reach me faster.

As if on the verge of death, I began seeing the world in slow-motion.

The left shoulder-mouth opened wide and was about to bathe me in flame. “Gyaghghghghghgh!”

But before it could do so, something resembling a bullet broke through the miasmic veil and hit Gardranda’s left shoulder.

The familiar object exploded and the demon’s left shoulder — when caught in the burst — blew up before it could release its fires.

The moment the heat waves caressed my cheeks...

“Vengeance is Mine!”

...Nemesis and I shouted the name of the skill, landed the hit on Gardranda’s stomach, and pulverized its core.