by Sakon Kaidou
Masters often described Legendaria as the “Land of Perverts,” and their strongest certainly lived up to that reputation.
After that, Rook and Marie went on to have eight more matches, all of which were won by Marie.
The second and third battles were basically replays of the first. On the fourth, Rook’s movements and actions had gotten better, so Marie started using the Shadow Clone Technique. Come the fifth battle, he was moving in a way to compensate for that, so she took to using Art of Hiding as well.
After that, it was a one-sided show of Marie combining her Embryo and job skills to defeat Rook.
By the latter half, Marie was putting more effort into their fights than she had during yesterday’s battle against Elizabeth’s would-be assassins, The Reaper’s Pinky.
With Marie being a Superior Job wielding an Embryo in its sixth form, the difference in power between her and Rook was great.
The onmitsu grouping’s Death Shadow job had high base resistances to debuffs, not to mention that she was equipped with items that increased them further still, rendering Rook’s Charm useless and giving him next to no chance of victory. However, there was one thing that greatly astonished her — specifically, Babi.
Optic Camouflage wasn’t the only skill she’d gained through Drain Learning. She also had skills such as Monstrous Strength, Petrifying Breath, and even increased resistances to fire and poison.
That certainly gave Rook a wide array of tactics, but alas, it wasn’t enough for him to land even a single hit on Marie.
This makes me question if he’s actually learning anything, she thought.
Since she’d experienced many PvP battles, this sparring certainly wasn’t the first time she’d encountered and prevailed against tactics meant to kill her. The time when she’d gotten attacked by what was most likely the King of Destruction was no exception, for she’d survived that onslaught. That made it quite obvious that lukewarm tactics were ineffective against Marie.
Battles against someone more or less equal to yourself always teach you something new, she thought. However, when fighting opponents significantly stronger than you, it’s all or nothing — either you leave without any new knowledge or mature a lot. I wonder which one applies to Rook...
Such worries went through Marie’s head as they prepared for their tenth and final match.
“This will be our last battle, right?” asked Rook.
“Yes.” Marie nodded. “Are you ready?”
“...Just one more minute, please.” Rook was breathing heavily, making it evident that he was drained. The barrier restored all the stats to what they were before the battles, but they had no effect on mental fatigue. It was only natural for someone to get tired after being killed nine times in a row.
“There, I’m okay now,” he said as he summoned his monsters.
Despite his fatigue, Rook was ready to spar for the tenth and last time.
“Very well. Let’s begin,” Marie spoke as she activated both her Shadow Clone and Hiding techniques.
As her five clones appeared and assaulted Rook and his monsters, Marie herself hid and loaded Arc-en-Ciel. Her plan was to use the distraction created by her clones to load her Embryo with the most effective qualities and fire the bullet creatures at her targets. If all went well, that should end the battle, but...
“KIEEEEE!” Audrey sounded a call as she released an intense stream of flame. The fiery tongues reached across the entire area, thoroughly scorching it all. The blazes were vast, immense, and bright enough to obstruct Marie’s vision of the arena.
However, she’d seen this skill used in the previous battles, so she did exactly what she’d done the previous times. Marie slipped through the flames and aimed at the spaces between them, ready to fire bullet creatures in homing mode.
“...?” That was when she felt something was off.
It came not from beyond the fire, but from the base of her feet, as she stood in the place she’d reached after passing the flames. It was as though something was lying and waiting to ambush her here... and that “something” was a silver-colored, human-shaped creature.
“...!” Overwhelmed with questions, Marie was at a loss for words. How did this thing predict that I, the original, would move to this location? Why is it able to wait to ambush me while surrounded by blazing fire? What is “it,” anyway?
In an attempt to find the answers, she ran her mind through those questions. That created a momentary opening in her movements...
“Mithril Strain!” Rook shouted.
...and he and the silver creature took advantage of it with a skill.
Assaulted by a silver slash, Marie was in no state of mind to evade it. Barely being able to bend in a way to avoid the damage, Marie lost her left arm to the slash.
“■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ — Arc-en-Ciel!” she shouted.
From point-blank range away from Rook, Marie hit him with her ultimate skill — the one she’d intended not to use.
In but an instant, Rook and his monsters alike were all evaporated.
With that, Marie won all ten of the battles. Besides the loss of her left arm in the last one, the result had been exactly what everyone would’ve expected. However, that single loss of limb made Marie feel like she was the one who’d lost.
At the start, Rook and his monsters had moved in a way not too different from before, but then he’d gone on to read her movements with terrifying precision and caught her off guard, giving him a chance to take her left arm. It was safe to say that, at that very moment, Rook had cornered Marie — a being far stronger than himself.
“Thank you for the practice matches!” Now that the fight was over, Rook lightly bowed his head, expressing sincere thanks.
“You’re welcome,” replied Marie. “You and your monsters aren’t bad at all... In fact, considering your total playtime, you’re nothing short of amazing. The way you use your skills and coordinate with your monsters is simply splendid. I was especially surprised by what you did last. Were you saving that tactic for the final battle, when you more or less understood the way I act?”
“Yes.” Rook smiled. “I must say, you’re very strong, Marie. Even nine battles weren’t enough for me to become able to read your movements well enough. To be honest, I was going for your head with my last attack.”
Oh, I see, she thought. He used the first nine battles to get a grasp of my movement patterns and then predict what I’d do in the last one. That aside, that bright smile of his certainly doesn’t fit what he’s saying. This boy might have the makings of a nonchalant brute. I’m kinda scared of what he’ll become.
“Also, losing your arm didn’t affect your movements at all,” added Rook. “I expected that to create more openings.”
“In high-level battles, losing limbs or organs is common, after all. It’s something you get used to.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “Thank you very much for today.”
“Did that help you much?”
“Yes! Very much!”
That makes losing an arm worth it, Marie thought. Still, he pushed me — a Superior Job — this far despite being a non-battle-oriented low-rank job. I’d already established that Ray, a newbie who’s already killed two UBMs, was amazing, but Rook certainly isn’t far behind him.
Having played for long, Marie knew enough Masters to be certain that these two were simply exceptional. And it wasn’t because of their growth as players; they’d deviated from the norm right from the start. Marie was half-excited and half-scared trying to imagine what the two would become.
“I wonder which one of them is stronger,” she muttered.
“Come again?” asked Rook.
“Oh, never mind. By the way, in the last battle, you used a skill you haven’t used before, right? Oh, and I don’t mean Mithril Strain.” Discarding the question from her previous mutter, Marie brought up something that had been on her mind ever since the battle ended.
Rook had rea
d her movements to ambush her, then used Liz to attack. Marie could understand that much, but she didn’t see the process linking those two points.
She couldn’t see why he’d been able to wait for the ambush while surrounded by searing flames. The silver-colored humanoid figure might’ve been the result of Liz covering his body, but that shouldn’t have been enough to protect Rook from the heat. That feat required a considerable amount of fire resistance. Otherwise, he would’ve died from the flame before Marie even came close enough for the ambush. Due to that, Marie assumed that he’d used a skill that he didn’t use before then.
“That was Union Jack!” Babi shouted with pride before Rook could give his answer.
“Union Jack...?” Marie raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Rook nodded. “It’s a unique skill Babi acquired when she reached her third form.”
It seemed she’d gained that skill when she’d evolved during yesterday’s hunting, and they’d kept it hidden until the tenth battle.
A skill they preserved for the very end... With all the preparation they did for it, it’s obvious that it has a powerful effect, but... But Marie was unable to tell what kind of effect it had been. Most Embryo skills were based on the Embryo’s ability characteristics. However, unlike that of Ray’s Nemesis or Marie’s Arc-en-Ciel, Babi’s primary characteristic wasn’t too clear. Due to that, Marie couldn’t see the full picture behind Union Jack.
But, at the very least, she was able to tell that it was as terrifying as Rook’s superhuman talents.
◇◆◇
“All right,” Rook said and opened his eyes, having ended the short recollection. At his side was Babi, looking right at him.
“Hey, Rook,” she said. “Were you remembering the practice battles from this afternoon?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Why’d you want to do them, anyway?”
“I guess you could say that I wanted to prepare.”
“For what?” she asked.
“This afternoon, Ray told us about his battle against a tian group called the ‘Gouz-Maise Gang,’ and, well, I think it must’ve been pretty hard for him. After all, Ray... he’s a gentle soul.”
“That’s true.” Babi nodded.
“However, he was faced with a situation where he absolutely had to overcome that mental hurdle and fight against people. That made me think that, sooner or later, I would have to do it, as well, so I figured that I needed to prepare a proper mindset for such battles. And, just as I expected, we’re about to fight people, meaning that the practice matches against Marie were absolutely worth it.”
“I don’t really get it, but if you’re gonna kill, then I will do it, too!” Babi declared.
While they were talking, the people around them were finishing up their preparations.
In the lobby, there was Ray, Rook, and a number of other newbies. However, the enemies outside were many, and they surpassed them in terms of both level and stats. Naturally, breaking through the enemies filling the plaza would be no small task.
“Okay,” muttered Rook as he remembered his battles against Marie. “The most important thing to keep in mind while fighting those stronger than you is to take advantage of their openings.”
Then he devised a certain plan and passed it over to his fellow newbies. With it, even they — no, especially they — would be able to take advantage of the enemies’ openings.
They all agreed to the plan and soon headed out of the arena.
◆◆◆
Duel city Gideon’s central plaza
The central plaza expanding before the central arena was usually full of stalls, street performers, and hustle and bustle in general, making it one of the city’s most popular attractions. Yet, despite it being the night of one of Gideon’s greatest events, the stalls were all barren and the performers were absent.
Franklin’s game had thrown the city into a state of absolute chaos. Naturally, the common folk had scattered from the plaza like flies, as far away from the core of the chaos, the central arena, as possible. But a certain group was there to replace them.
It was a gathering of about forty Masters and their tamed monsters or slaves. They were all prepared for battle, standing alert about anything that could leave through the entrance of the arena, ready to block the paths of anybody who tried.
The group certainly wasn’t there to stop any of the monsters released in the arena from escaping to town. In fact, they were there to eliminate any Masters trying to curb the chaos enveloping Gideon.
The group were Franklin’s pawns: the ones he’d referred to as “the betrayers” when having a phone talk with his sponsor, prime minister Vigoma. Just as their name said, they were the kingdom’s Masters who wished to defect to the imperium.
Their reason was simple: profit. When wars happened and ended, there was a world of difference between the advantages gained by the victors and those gained by the losers.
Thus, due to the situation in the kingdom becoming worse, many Masters were switching to other countries. Among those were ones who wished to switch after doing something to improve their standing with Dryfe, both to avoid becoming a loser and to curry favor with the winning side.
The people in the plaza were exactly that — a group of Masters from the kingdom that Franklin had enticed with good conditions if they switched to Dryfe. He was having them participate in his plan as player killers.
“Heh heh. Looks like they realized that low level kiddies can get out,” said a leather-clad traitor as he watched what was going on in the arena’s lobby.
“Oh? And here I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t get to do anything,” replied a woman wearing priestly clothing.
“HYAHAAH! Time to shoot some fish in a barrel!” shouted a man with his hair in a pure-red mohawk and sunglasses over his eyes. Though the sunglasses and hair didn’t seem to fit it, the rest of his apparel made it clear that he was actually a mage of some sort.
The three with the highest levels among those that’d gathered in the central plaza.
Strong Swordsman, Ryzac.
Bishop, Myanna.
Pyromancer, Mohawk Red.
While most of the betrayers were somewhere around level 100, these three were over level 300. Also, perhaps due to them knowing each other for so long, they were acting like the leaders of the entire group.
However, they certainly weren’t the strongest betrayers in the kingdom.
There were two types of treacherous Masters. The first type had considerable power, while the second type wanted to switch because they were relatively weak. The former were tasked with handling the high-rank players that could potentially escape the arena, while the latter, weaker ones were positioned in the plaza to take care of the newbies.
The very fact that these three were here meant that Franklin didn’t consider them to be particularly strong.
“Well, time to do our job,” said Ryzac.
Though they certainly weren’t pleased with his assessment, they still considered themselves lucky. After all, the task they’ve been given was extremely easy. Logic itself dictated that low-rank jobs were weaker than high-rank jobs and that low-rank Embryos were weaker than high-rank ones. Everyone knew that a job where people had to face those weaker than themselves was simple.
“HYAHAAH! Here they come!” guffawed Mohawk Red.
The betrayers could see that the newbies in the lobby were done with their preparations.
There’s just over twenty of them... Yeah, we’ve won, Ryzac thought to himself and grinned.
They were above the newbies in both individual power and numbers, making failure absolutely unthinkable.
“Red, greet them with a little AOE spell,” said Ryzac.
“HYAHAAH! Time to take out the trash!” replied Mohawk Red as he prepared an offensive spell, which was ready in just twenty seconds. It needn’t be said that it had power no low-rank job could withstand.
They’ve probably got some buffs from the higher-rank
players stuck in there, but that’s never going to be enough to bring a low-rank to a high-rank’s level, Ryzac thought confidently. Due to that, what was about to begin was going to be less of a battle and more of a one-sided extermination. Ryzac was absolutely certain of that.
And then he was proven wrong.
“What?” he raised an eyebrow. He’d expected the newbies to charge at them at full force. Instead, a mere one of those inside stuck his arm out through the barrier...
“Hellish Miasma, full power.”
...and released an intense flow of dark purple smoke.
While the barrier prevented any of it from going into the arena, it spread throughout the entire central plaza, making about a fourth of the traitors lose their postures.
“Huh? Wh-What...?” Ryzac looked at his status summary and noticed that he had a debuff called “Intoxication.”
He then looked at the status displays of his party and saw the same Intoxication debuff, along with two others: Poison and Weakness.
“G-Gas that gives three debuffs?!” Ryzac shouted in a panic. Luckily for him, he had accessories that protected him against Poison and Weakness, but that wasn’t the main thing to consider in this situation. “Why is a low-rank newbie able to use an item like this?!”
His confusion was perfectly justified. After all, equipment had level limits. Skills that were able to apply three debuffs at once were the realm of high-rank jobs focusing on curses, so low-rank people should never be able to equip items that could do the equivalent. Even Ryzac and his buddies would have trouble getting and using such gear.
However, there was an exception.
