Reido Academy Cup Tournament Round 2 (2)

"Right, here we go, Griera! Irana! Klara!"

"Get out there! Savona! Kufila, Balmera!"

Julian's lineup. Divine Bard was a performance-system class, same as Setsuna.

Divine Warrior was a combat job excelling in attack power. Divine Gunner was probably also a gunner attacker.

It happened to become a gunner showdown.

That all three were ultimate-class jobs. As expected of mid-tier S-Class.

But… no defender?

Two attackers and one supporter.

… Which meant a speed offensive was possible.

"Naoto-senshu's Garumon is Griera.

"She's called Griera, the One Targeted by the Demon God, a famous mercenary.

"Going all-in on mercenaries, perhaps?"

"Doesn't seem so. Griera has become Naoto's knight.

"Heh… to take in someone with such a hazardous storyline as being targeted by a Demon God, without flinching.

"Shows Naoto's open-mindedness and the loftiness of his ideal that he intends to eventually defeat even the Demon God too.

"Nice, I've taken to Naoto even more.

"It's OK to fuck our daughter… I said before. You can fuck one more～."

This person, really…

… But that one more, was she talking about Soleil?

Had it already gotten around that I was after Soleil?

What kind of moves Mira was making, I'd have to ask later.

For now I had to focus on the fight.

"And Julian's members are Savona, taken from Fabir.

"Balmera, taken from Maurin.

"Kufila, taken from Quied — it's a roster you'd think he picked on the fly after hearing my talk."

Just then Julian, having seen my lineup, opened his mouth.

"Or rather… Porter!? Top-tier job? You idiot! With the Item Box around now, useless. A trash job!

"Ahaha! I sure don't need this one! … Wait, you're Irana, aren't you!

"Ohhh, seriously!? The highest-grade courtesan, slacking off in a place like this? For real…!

"Sorry sorry, after all, I'll have her too.

"Useless in battle, but if I can plenty enjoy that supreme body for free, then it more than pays for itself…!"

Julian licked his lips.

"…!"

Did he know Irana's past? Irana flinched and her shoulders shook.

"Julian… shut up."

Griera and I glared at him with murderous intent.

"Fufu, even the verbal sparring's in good form. Nice nice…

"What kind of fight you'll show us… I look forward to it."

"Now then, both sides, ready…"

I glared at Julian… But he wore a cool face, smiling fearlessly.

It was vexing, but I didn't have the aura to make him tremble just by glaring.

… In that case, I'd have him tremble through the coming fight.

"Begin!"

"Go, speed offensive!"

"Yes, Julian-sama! Start Skill, Divine Art - Phantom Blink, Booster Blast!"

Dan! Dan! Dan!

Balmera's attack. First-strike + split into 3, with all clones firing bullets. Each attack applied a buff to herself.

Even attacks from clones applied buffs to the body, and those were distributed to the clones too.

A pretty powerful attack.

"Yes, Julian-sama! Gigantic Skill! Demon Art - War God's Aegis, Boosted Strike!"

Doggooon!

Kufila's attack. Attack buff, grant piercing, then attack! Here too, the buff applied after attacking.

"Demon Art - Re-Action!"

Jararara～n! Through Savona's performance, additional re-action.

… If our prep had been insufficient, it wouldn't have been strange for this to end us. It was a powerful attack.

But the fact that they'd come with speed-offensive was as read.

"Irana."

"Mm! Eternal Item, Ultimate Barrier!"

Opening with full-defense.

… If it hadn't been perfect defense, it might have been dicey.

… This guy was strong.

I hadn't meant to underestimate him, but this kind of obvious villain-move guy had, like the mohawk-mooks, a kind of third-rate vibe to him.

Because of that, maybe a tiny bit, there'd been a hint of underestimation.

… As expected of mid-tier S-Class. Tough.

But I had no intention of repeating the Aldis-fight folly.

That time too, everyone had told me Aldis was strong, but I'd been blithely making light somewhere, and the result was being on the back foot the whole time with mistake after mistake.

It was a barely-won victory only saved by my comrades.

I wouldn't show such an unsightly display again.

"Griera, we're going full power, all-out!"

"Yeah, naturally! I'll smash you flat! Dual Shot, All Shot, Demon Eye of Lightning activate, Infinite Magic Bullet! Demon Art - Desperate Magic Bullet!"

Dan dan dan dan dan!

Griera's flowing barrage.

"Agh!"

"Goff!"

"…!"

Parin, parin,

"Guah!"

The clones, apparently, didn't have the same durability as the originals. They shattered in one hit.

This was a save. Glad I went with Infinite Magic Bullet first. With this, Desperate Magic Bullet's consumption stayed at 3.

"One more shot!"

Dan! Dan! Dan!

Drilled Desperate Magic Bullet into the three.

Well, I figured they'd Endure, and as expected, all three were already on the brink. Yeah, no defender really was untenable.

What had he been thinking, going with this kind of roster?

"Tch, harden the defense."

"Y-yes, Julian-sama. Divine Art - Resurrect Aura!"

Glowing angel-like shadows dwelled on the three. Resurrect… a revival-type skill.

"Ultimate Body!"

Kufila hardened her defense. Self-only, but apparently a considerable defense UP. Should have been used earlier.

"Demon Art - Death Bind! Kishaaaaa!"

Jaraaan!

Savona's death-voice shout while performing.

"…!"

Gigigi!

It sealed Griera's movement.

I see, the idea of sealing the attacker's movement to eliminate the need for defense was one approach.

Not bad.

… Or rather, he did well. To seal the movements of Griera, who had already finished her action, again.

He'd read that we'd re-action.

His wild instinct… could be troublesome.

But…

"Irana, Item Use, Panacea!"

"Mm!"

Pirorin.

"Thanks, Irana!"

Griera's action-block was cured.

Through Irana's cheat trait, Linked Action, she could perform additional actions tied to Griera's action count.

"… What?"

"Klara, Princess Veil! Miraculous Aura on Griera!"

"Yes!"

Klara's action put a buff on Griera. And Griera re-acted.

"All Shot, Dual Shot, Demon Eye of Lightning, Infinite Bullet!"

Pan! Pan! Pan!

All three went to KO state, but were immediately restored to full HP. So that was the effect of Divine Art - Resurrect Aura.

"Haha! That much you'd better give us!"

Pan! Pan! Pan!

But with the additional attack, two more were on the brink. Only Kufila was holding, at less than half.

"Irana, Item Use, Splitter!"

Irana used an item on Griera.

"Klara, Perfect Order on Griera!"

"Yeah! Dual Shot, Splitter! Demon Eye of Lightning, Infinite Bullet!"

Pan! Pan!

"… How… many times… will you… attack…"

"S-strong… someone… stronger… than me… a gunner this strong…"

Thud, thud…

In one shot, Savona and Balmera were KO'd. They Endured once, but Dual Shot attacked again.

This time, Savona and Balmera were KO'd for real.

"Irana, Eternal Item, Mechanical Knight!"

"Yes!"

Irana brought out the defender Mechanical Knight.

End of turn.

"Gah! Gohoooo!"

Baki baki baki…!

Desperate Magic Bullet drilled into Kufila.

Almost downed.

After this, one Dual Shot would finish it.

"Oooh… in an instant, Julian-senshu's Savona and Balmera have been KO'd…!

"And in only one turn's exchange…!"

"A pretty watchable speed-offensive exchange.

"But Naoto outpaced him overall. In particular, Irana, whom Julian had underestimated before the start, played a decisive role.

"Or rather, again and again, she sure moves a lot. Fufu, that's nice. She's strong.

"In ancient specs Porters were important because items had carry-count limits, but now that the system stores items endlessly, it's become an unused class.

"But this might be the fight where its value gets reassessed."

So Silvana praised them.

"… Julian-sama, w-what should we do…"

"… Tch, this useless thing. Shave at least a little."

The battle continued, then. Well, on the premise of Enduring and being able to fight a bit more.

"Booster Blast!"

Bakiiin!

His attack was caught by the Mechanical Knight.

"Princess Protect."

"Speed Booster."

"Dual Shot - Infinite Magic Bullet."

"Speed Booster."

"Dual Shot - Infinite Magic Bullet."

"Gufu… a…"

And just to be safe, with Dual Shot I made sure to land the finisher this turn. Put a 20% speed buff on Griera and that was that.

In what could be called an ideal flow, I was able to win the 1st-stage match.

"Right, keep this up!"

"… Tch, shit…! Don't mess with me! It's not this kind of thing!"

Julian seemed to be raging.

… But surely, in his head, he was coldly calculating the path to victory.

I really couldn't see how, at just this level, he could be mid-tier S-Class.

… No, no doubt Griera was too strong. Amazing. She worked perfectly fine at mid-tier S-Class.

In any case, the next was the real thing. I'd go without underestimating.

This time he had a proper defender. Well, taking the odd hand of going without a defender was more like the weird choice.

Karsa's name resembled Carla. Karsa was a normal beauty, but Carla was way cuter and more charming. I had needless thoughts like that.

Now, the one most worth paying attention to was Lespora. High level, and Bandit, the same class as Julian's own epithet.

She was probably Julian's true ace.

… But honestly, by appearance…? Upturned, narrow eyes, with freckles…

For a Garumon possessed by an S-Class Master, she could hardly be called beautiful. I wasn't saying she wasn't beautiful, but somehow she was like a stepmother or witch from a story.

Compared to the previous three, Karsa, or Marena, she was nothing close. Probably her rarity was SSR. Even an SSR should be a bit more beautiful.

Whether he was keeping her really just for performance, or whether, regardless of looks, she was an irreplaceable existence for Julian, I wasn't sure.

"Crush them, Lespora!"

"… Yeah, I'll crush them! My darling Julian.

"What you want, I'll get all of it for you…!"

Lespora whispered in a raspy voice.

… Honestly, far stronger-looking than the previous three. The real fight started from here.