ch301-ch320 · 317-ch317

Chapter 317: The Childhood Friend Is a Sword Saint Flag 【Sword Saint-chan】 Part 3

SIDE: Hoshino Chiharu ('Sword Saint-chan')

(What a beautiful sword arc......)

Even while entranced by the sword stroke of the one facing me, I slip out of its line.

I'm not praising myself, mind you.

This one does seem to be a copy of me—but not me, apparently.

Honestly, I can't swing a sword that cleanly.

She feels closer to the 'Sword Saint of the North'—to THAT 【Sword Saint】—than to me.

A powerful stroke with zero wavering, exactly what the name 【Sword Saint】 deserves.

Nothing like my own twisted sword, which chases nothing but speed......

(One more......)

I dodge the second invisible slash.

That takes away her last decisive blow at long range.

No—then again, I have no intention of using 【Dimension Slash】 against her either, so maybe it's mutual.

【Flying Slash】 won't be fatal to either of us.

Even so, as I close the distance, she keeps sending 【Flying Slash】 my way.

That's not a failure to learn, I'd say.

For her, this is all a first encounter.

I carry my dream memories with me, so I know she'll use 【Dimension Slash】 on her first two swings—and that she won't have the MP to fire another.

If this were my first time, I'd have died on the first strike. No—I DID die.

(Now, let's begin!)

Cross range.

Dedicated to evasion, I've closed in to where both our swords reach.

Land a slash directly, and it cuts—even with 'weapon enhancement' running over her whole body.

Both our swords are 'weapon-enhanced,' after all.

(I am! I am SO strong!)

Strong.

Relax for one instant, and the next I'm cut clean in two.

But this instant is unbearably fun.

It's like spending a whole night talking with a best friend who knows everything about me......

(Amazing! I can still get so much stronger!)

So much to learn.

She swings left and right without the slightest difference in quality.

How to make the sword look good. Where to place her feet. How to swing her head......

Everything about this one is 【Sword Saint】.

I've lost any number of times, bewitched by how beautiful it all is.

(That hand-chop of hers is no good, though.)

I exploit a split-second gap and force a blade lock.

The fun is almost over.

Ao-senpai will be out soon.

I have to finish this before then.

I know how to win.

Our strength is even—but this one is a skeleton.

Our weight is different.

Once I've forced the blade lock, all that's left is to push.

And in raw blade speed, mine has always been a touch faster.

With her stance broken like this, it's not even a contest.

My sword tip touches the spot where the magic stone sits, and—

(This way of winning took me any number of losses to figure out, you know.)

Fondly watching her crumple, I change position for the next one.

......Time's up, but nothing comes out.

It's always like this.

I keep an eye upward, put on my not-lowering-my-guard face, and settle my breathing.

(Knowing nothing's coming is almost a relief.)

There.

The 【Spear King】 skeleton.

And a beat behind it, 'Blue Shadow the Ninja' skeleton.

Whether it's a trait of the support job 【General】 or the scout-type job 【Ninja】, I couldn't say—but this 'Blue Shadow skeleton' never shows up alone.

I'd love to call that Ao-senpai-like, but that man won't come out unless all five are assembled, so I figure this skeleton isn't Ao-senpai either.

(【Flying Slash】! Triple!)

At the 'Blue Shadow skeleton' striking its nin-nin pose, I send three horizontal 【Flying Slash】s—one high, one middle, one low.

An unavoidable attack—but with its evasion skill it slips away to somewhere else before I know it......

(Too bad for you.)

There's already one more 【Flying Slash】 waiting there, oriented vertically.

It can't deal with this one—body bisected, straight down.

I aimed for the magic stone at its center, so it won't be getting back up either.

We've fought how many times now.

I've memorized every one of its movements, including where it pops out after using its evasion skill.

On its own it isn't all that strong, but two-on-one with the 'Spear King skeleton' turns the odds against me.

And that last nin-nin will have applied an upper-tier Strength buff to the 'Spear King skeleton.'

Endurance aside, if it gets Agility raised too, I have no chance—best to finish this one early.

(Here it comes! Backstep!)

The 'Spear King skeleton' closed in during all that.

A spear closes the distance, and I—the sword—back away......

And—two ninja blades come flying at where I was standing, from two directions.

Harassing you to the very last breath: that's the scout job for you.

(This 'Spear King skeleton' and that guy from the video—which one's stronger, I wonder?)

I saw something interesting today.

A video of Yukiya-senpai losing to an Association staffer.

He'd apparently gone to the Chiba branch to take down Watanabe Kasumi, but got beaten by a different staffer first.

Sure, it was a bout on the surface—but Yukiya-senpai is a Quadruple adventurer too.

He didn't get this far on stats alone.

'All-rounder job' is his nickname for a reason—he's versed in every martial art, and he secretly swings a katana on his days off.

More than anything, his body should still remember how to move in the dungeon......

And yet—two losses in an instant.

Totally controlled, allowed to do nothing.

He must be remarkably strong inside the dungeon too.

With skill like that, there's no way he's still a Double.

Watanabe Kasumi, and the spear user from the video.

The idea that the Chiba branch is stocked with more seasoned fighters than headquarters is a strange one.

Something is going on there.

(This 'Spear King skeleton' is closer to that guy from the video than to Watanabe Kasumi.)

Initiative, then more initiative—fighting so I never get to do a thing.

Watanabe Kasumi was a defensive fighter.

Her stance was the naginata's, too.

Honestly, 【Naginata King】 suits her better than 【Spear King】.

(No change from this one today either, huh. Then let's finish it.)

I deliberately take a step back.

Taking advantage of the fact that a step back puts my attacks out of reach, it fires its one decisive blow.

【Aiming】.

But I take yet another step, slipping just barely out of range.

From here, my attacks can't reach.

The 'Spear King skeleton' believes it can take its time lining up the next attack, I'm sure.

Fire a 【Flying Slash】 now and I'd win the easy way.

But that would mean losing the contest of technique.

A 【Sword Saint】, beaten by a 【Spear King】?

As if.

(True, my attacks can't reach you. YOURS, that is.)

What I aim for is the spear.

Snapping it back quickly is the basics—but 【Aiming】 is a skill that ALWAYS reaches the spot it's aimed at.

That one-instant lag is fatal.

"Sey!"

My full-strength downstroke lands on the spear.

But it pushes back!

【Deflection】.

Even a strike from directly overhead, and it shoves it back with a skill.

(【Slash】! Damn it—)

Used on me again today.

And I was so sure THIS time I'd cut through skill and all with nothing but the blade......

I power through and cleave the spear in two.

I did end up using 【Slash】, which I normally keep sealed—but now it's mine.

With a shortened spear, it has no choice but to close the distance itself.

And as spite for being made to use a skill, I'll carve it into pieces.

(Here it comes!)

Next up is THAT one......

'the naked skeleton.'

(Close the distance now, and strike it the instant it appears!)

Its identity is still unknown—but then, so is the 'fire mage' up top's.

First I beat this one and move on.

(【Dimension Slash】!)

Got it!

This one wears different gear every time, but for once it came out wearing armor from the start.

【Dimension Slash】 cuts it—armor and all—diagonally in two.

Whether it was the timing of its entrance or the range being too close, it seems it couldn't use 【Dimension Wall】 either.

(Anyway, a win is a win. Now if only the one up top would show itself...... Huh?)

A spear bursts out of the armor's belly and plunges into mine.

(Huh?)

Before I can process what happened, comes something else that makes no sense......

The armor, slumping down—is EMPTY.

It makes no sense......

It walked out here, didn't it?

"Ugh, ugeh......"

I back away and pull the spear out of my stomach.

Back away I do—but my legs won't hold, and I topple backward.

A cross-tipped spear.

Come to think of it, that guy in the video who beat Yukiya-senpai used a cross-tipped spear too......

(Can't...... muster any strength...... This time too...... no good, huh......)

I drop my gaze, and there before me lies the spearhead of the 'Spear King skeleton' I cut away moments ago.

(That girl could surely have cut through skill and all......)

Swallowed by scorching flames, my consciousness cuts out......