c21-c40 · 036-ch36

Chapter 36: A Duel Without Witnesses

No starting signal is needed. I immediately unleash magic toward the three of them.

"《Blast Shot》"

When fighting multiple opponents, the ironclad rule is to strike before the enemy can form their formation. My opponents are an S-rank party—I let my guard down, and they'll crush me. The quickly conjured sphere of light lands on its target without fail, causing an explosion.

Explosion magic converts most of its mana into destructive force. That's the very purity that makes me favor it over fire or water. An average explorer wouldn't be able to stand after taking a direct hit.

Well, assuming the information was accurate...

"Haaaaaaaaah!!"

Sandai-san emerges from the smoke and charges at me, swinging a massive axe down toward me. Her body, unsurprisingly, bears not a single scratch from the explosion. As I step back to dodge the attack, the axe blade strikes the ground before me.

DOOOOOOM!

The moment the axe hits the ground, the impact point erupts with an explosion equivalent to my Blast Shot.

"Whoa, so it really doesn't work on her."

"You knew that and attacked anyway."

Sandai-san channels the explosive momentum directly into her assault, following up with a second strike, then a third. I dodge the second blow and deflect the third with my deck brush, creating distance from Sandai-san.

So far, everything's going according to plan. The problem starts now.

Hmm, how should I take her down?

The information Sandai-ren has made public includes her skill and combat style.

The skill is called "Magic Fusion"—the ability to absorb magic into herself, which she uses to strengthen herself by absorbing magical attacks like she just did. All offensive magic just becomes fuel to make Sandai-san stronger, and naturally, debuff magic is equally useless.

This is her fighting style—using this ability to utterly demolish monsters.

Information you reveal yourself is information you're okay with being known. Now that I've seen it in person, this magic immunity is way too broken...

"I'm not done yet!"

"Intersecting are the spiral of flame burial and embers—《Fire Lance》!"

As Sandai-san charges, a lance of fire launches from behind her. The spear pierces through Sandai-san's chest and hurtles straight toward me.

"Whoa there. Didn't know you could do that, you surprised me."

"...And you still dodged it."

She caught me off guard, but I barely managed to respond. So she doesn't just unconditionally absorb all magic that touches her body—she can choose whether to absorb it or not. Meaning, the mage can attack without worrying about hitting Sandai-san. ...Seriously, that's an insane ability.

Spears of flame launch one after another, flying all around and targeting me from every angle. As I focus on dodging, Sandai-san grabs the fire spears that missed and absorbs them into herself, imbuing her axe with flames before attacking. I somehow manage to respond with my deck brush, but the heat being transferred is slowly scorching the bristles.

"You're honestly pretty strong...!"

"I'm honored by your praise!"

This is pretty bad. S-rank really is on a completely different level. If I keep taking hits like this, my brush will break.

The magic is coming from Ririka-san. If I keep ignoring her, Sandai-san will become even more impossible to handle. I need to neutralize her quickly.

"Can't be helped.《Dust Blast》"

"...! A smokescreen!"

I trigger a small explosion near the ground. The rising dust obscures visibility around us. The blind won't last long, but that window is more than enough to close the distance to Ririka-san.

When facing a formed-up party, the standard strategy is to pick off the easiest target first. In most cases, that's the rear guard. How a party responds when their rear guard is targeted is the most crucial point in party combat. Now, how will these people respond?

"...!"

Ririka-san notices my approach a beat late. Sandai-san is too far to provide immediate support. But given the distance between us, Ririka-san should be able to cast one spell. Will it be offensive magic? Restraint magic? Or will she fight back? She isn't holding a weapon. I'll charge in as is.

"《Bullet Warp》!"

She chose to run. As the spell activates, Ririka-san's figure vanishes, and in her place appears Sandai-san. I can't kill my momentum. I swing my deck brush at Sandai-san as I pass, using the impact to create distance.

I see, instantaneous movement... and by restricting it to position-swapping with an ally, she shortened the incantation. Ririka-san runs at full speed from where she warped, moving to a distance where I can't carelessly attack.

Actually, choosing to run was the right call. When the rear guard is targeted, the options are basically for the rear guard to either escape or fight on their own, or for the other members to do everything they can to protect them. With my current inability to recklessly use magic, close combat becomes my main option. With position swapping, she can create distance while pushing Sandai-san onto me. Good teamwork.

But, this is troublesome. Sneak attacks like the one I just tried won't work many times, and Sandai-san in front of me won't allow it. Plus, that teleportation—if she didn't shorten it, she could probably warp anywhere without the position-swap restriction. Which means she can dodge long-range area attacks too...

Man, so many things to think about. ...Wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something.

"Right, you were there."

"Seriously!? You noticed that!?"

I evade Anju-san's sudden attack from behind with minimal movement.

This girl is way too good at erasing her presence. I couldn't tell where she was until right before she released her killing intent.

A skill? No, just technique. Her offensive power itself is low, but attacks where you don't know when they're coming are incredibly annoying.

"If possible, I'd prefer you not look away from me!"

"...You're strong, so I don't really want to trade blows with you...!"

The opening Anju-san created is immediately exploited by Sandai-san with a follow-up attack. Her individual strikes are incredibly heavy. Honestly, just responding is taking everything I've got.

For now, I won't change my goal of neutralizing Ririka-san. But to do that, I need to figure out how to deal with Sandai-san's skill. I won't get anywhere near Ririka-san if I don't handle this person first.

However, if it's just close-range trading blows, I'll slowly lose ground due to the other two's support. Not being able to use magic is too painful...

...I really have gotten old. Back in the day, I would have thought of more countermeasures by now. To think I'd feel my own decline this keenly.

What did I used to do at times like this...

——"At times like this, it's trial and error, Ichiro! You have to attack from different directions, one by one!"

I guess because I'd been talking about the clan earlier, I suddenly remembered that.

"...Haha, that's right."

"Don't evaluate your opponent based on speculation and imagination alone. Confirm the facts one by one, and then expose everything about the enemy!"—that was it. Always so loud, yet he could rattle off such proper advice so smoothly. Even though I don't have the stamina or mana left to try that many times.

I forcefully deflect Sandai-san's axe and create distance so she can't close in.

My brain is still calculating possibilities it can speculate. I slap my cheek to forcibly stop that thinking.

"Huh, Shibasaki-san?"

Don't misunderstand, Shibasaki Ichiro. You're not strong. Be aware that a half-baked person can never become the strongest.

And remember—victory doesn't always go to the strong.

"...Even slapping his own cheek to focus himself looks cool...!"

Some kind of interference, but yeah, I've reset. Alright, time for the practical application.

"《Ice Shard》"

I create a large number of small ice fragments.

Alright, let's start by attacking with magic that won't work.