ch441-ch460 · 441-ch441

Chapter 441: Spring Shadow-maru, Launch!

"Match one is about to start—please get ready. Hm? ......Have we met somewhere?"

Mami-tan came to tell me the match was about to begin.

"No, this is our first time."

I pull my hat down low to hide my face.

Well, it really IS our first time meeting face to face, so being seen wouldn't matter—but you know, better safe for what's coming.

"Really? And you are...? Sorry, I didn't realize there was still someone I didn't know......"

Mami-tan hasn't been with 'Blue Ocean' all that long, so she seems to have mistaken me for another 'Blue Ocean' member.

"I'm with Robo-ko Labs."

Chiba Dungeon, the Jumonji Spear Shrine.

Today, several exhibition matches are scheduled to be held here.

"Robo-ko? Oh, the company that made this robot? That explains it. Thanks—anyway, it's about to start, so wish us luck! 'Spring Shadow,' please take your position!"

Match one: Kaito-san versus the new powered suit, the 'Spring Shadow-maru.'

"Nin-nin! Suit up! 'Spring Shadow-maru,' launch!"

Forget the theatrics—just start already.

If my MP runs out I'm in trouble, and if it builds up too much, that's trouble too.

"Then let match one—Kaito versus 'Ninja Spring Shadow'—begin! Ready, and—fight!"

At the signal, Kaito-san lunges in all at once, aiming the shortish wooden spear in his right hand at the 'Spring Shadow-maru's' torso—dead center of the chest.

Kaito-san fights with a shield in his left hand and a short spear in his right—the so-called 'ideal adventurer' style—one of the world's finest shield users.

According to Chiharu-san, the strongest adventurer in Japan after herself.

His skill lives up to the rumors: the 'Spring' riding in the suit can't even react to this thrust.

The wooden spear sinks right where it was aimed—dead center of the 'Spring Shadow-maru's' chest—and the moment it does, the spear shatters.

"Eh?"

Kaito-san and 'Spring Shadow's voices harmonized.

Neither of them seems to have any idea what just happened.

But he really is the 'ideal adventurer'—a shattered spear doesn't kill his fighting spirit.

The surprise lasts only an instant; he's already moving on to his next action.

He releases the broken spear from his right hand and comes in with a shield tackle, shield in both hands.

That's the right call.

Powered suits like the 'Spring Shadow-maru' have a high center of gravity thanks to the balance between armament and armor, so they're weak to tackles.

Lower your hips and set your stance to receive it, or you'll get sent flying—but for 'Spring Shadow,' who couldn't even react to the first attack, that would be a tall order.

Unfortunately for him—unfortunately for Kaito-san, that is—the one riding in the suit is 'Spring Shadow,' and yet not 'Spring Shadow.'

It's gotten to the point where you can't tell which 'Spring Shadow' is the real 'Spring Shadow,' but the one in the suit is the 'Fake Shadow,' and the one piloting it is 'Me-Shadow.'

Right now, that 'Spring Shadow-maru' is being remotely piloted by my 'Armor Manipulation.'

And I'm in Ultra Mode—no wait, I released the shield's MP charge on the first strike, so I guess this is Hyper Mode......

Hyper Mode makes everything look slow, so Kaito-san's movements are as easy to read as a picture book.

He's charging in with a shield in both hands—wouldn't that mean he can't see the 'Spring Shadow-maru' itself properly?

Then here's my move: one big jump, a front-flip half-twist!

Well, I'm wearing a powered suit, so the height difference is total—no way I'm getting full jump height.

I leap over him at just the height where 'Spring Shadow's' head grazes Kaito-san's, and turn around.

Then, faster than I land, I rest the wooden jumonji spear on Kaito-san's shoulder and prop him up so his target-lost tackle doesn't send him tumbling.

"Kyaaa! 'Spring Shadow-san' wins! Right?"

"No way...... Kaito, to something like that......"

"That's a foul if I've ever seen one."

"Classic Hiramatsu-ryu."

Call it a win, I suppose?

Today's a secret shoot, so there's no gallery—though 'Blue Ocean's staff are—

"Kaito, what now?"

"Did I lose? ...Yes. I lost. A splendid strike. I never even saw the activation motion......"

Ao-san knows it was a foul, so he didn't count that one as an ippon.

Strictly speaking, it's a win by Kaito-san's surrender.

That first thrust would have been worth an ippon on its own, though.

Ao-san is making a somewhat complicated face.

"Eh? I won? Whoa, this OS is amazing."

'Spring Shadow' only just now seems to have realized he won.

The 'Summer Shadow' explained to him that it's a machine that moves all by itself and that that's a secret, so he'll manage the rest somehow.

"?!"

Oops. Bad.

Kaito-san lost, so I cut the skill and slip away.

Time's up......

First nosebleed in a while.

Going all the way to Hyper Mode AND remote-controlling the armor on top does indeed push me past my limit.

But if I go that far, I can beat even Kaito-san......

He watched my feet even with his vision blocked—that's why he mentioned the missing activation motion.

'Armor Manipulation' might be a skill that works AGAINST masters.

No activation motion, or anything of the sort.

It floats you up with the power of a suspicious skill—Gwah!

Well, if you watch my eyes, maybe you could tell......

"Are you all right? 【Heal】! ......Doesn't look good. Let's get some distance."

Doesn't look good?

The one who chased me out of the shrine was Shiraishi-san.

【Heal・Evil】 is too conspicuous, so I suppose her judgment was that she can't use it here—she moved us to the warehouse and healed me there.

"Thank you. I'm going to rest here a while, so please head back."

I send Shiraishi-san back to the shrine.

I need to rest a bit—I lost quite a lot of blood.

Definitely not because I saw Mami-tan jumping up and down in delight.

"Is that OK?"

"Soushi and the others would be in trouble if they got hurt too, and the cooking showdown is about to start, right? Please look after those two."

Right about now, the 'Summer Shadow-maru' versus 'Lucky Blade' match should be underway, and after that they're scheduled to film 'West Shadow' and 'East Shadow' challenging 'Blue Shadow' to a cooking battle.

The only ones who know their identities are me and Shiraishi-san, so if neither of us is with them, those two will be anxious too.

It's their first shoot, after all.

"Then I'll send Kasumi-san over when I get a chance."

Please do.

I'll lie down for a bit......