Challenging the Summit

Before long, Lyuka and the others, who'd been separated, all arrived at the scene.

S-Class Master. For a Garumon Master, that was a kind of pinnacle. To think a chance to challenge a Master at that height would come around so soon.

If "Demon Lord" as a title really did denote her class, then her element was Demon-element.

Strong against Demon-element were Light, Thunder, and God.

Of course Luna's LV was way too low to even consider, but Lyuka, Leone, and Suzanne all had an advantage.

Still… I couldn't leave Kanan out.

My number one right hand was, no matter what, Kanan.

Which left the question of who to pick from Lyuka, Leone, and Suzanne…

"… Suzanne, sorry about this time."

For teamwork, Lyuka and Leone, who I'd been training with all this time, had the edge.

"…!"

For Suzanne, who'd been reigning as the absolute ace until now, dropping out of the starting lineup seemed to come as a shock.

"… Next time, I'll definitely make sure you choose me…!"

But more than the shock, she was fired up. She was a girl with real ambition.

"Leone."

I gave her shoulder a bon pat.

"Whew… I was surprised. To think we'd be challenging an S-Class Master right out of the gate."

"I'm counting on you."

Leone smiled, kusu.

"Yes, leave it to me… Becoming an S-Class Master out of nowhere isn't a bad idea either, I think."

She tossed off that little quip.

"… Inugami, you said?"

Mikoto reacted with a twitch.

"Oh my, you're a Yoko, aren't you."

Yoko. One of the seven top-tier Beastkin subspecies. Her race name had been Senko, but… maybe Senko was a higher form of Yoko.

"I will not lose to an Inugami, of all things…"

The silver-haired Senko, Mikoto, who'd been so unflappable until now, suddenly bared her fighting spirit.

"Oh my, is that so. Did you lose to some other Inugami somewhere? Please go easy on me."

Leone was unflappable too, but…

"I have never lost! Even you must know about the feud between the Inugami and Yoko races, mustn't you!?"

"But that has nothing to do with me."

Leone was the more grown-up about it.

A vein was throbbing on Mikoto's temple.

"Naoto-san. If we battle Ursula…"

"Right. I'm counting on you, Lyuka."

"Understood."

Lyuka accepted at once.

"… Was Yuria all right? She didn't stir up any trouble, did she?"

"No, nothing of the sort."

The one who'd lost it on his own was me. I covered for Yuria.

"Yes, when Ursula proposed that Naoto become her Sub-Master, Naoto blew up at her, which is so rare for him, so I just stood there thinking, 'wow, his angry face is wonderful too～,' and watched."

But Yuria's style was to spill everything herself.

"… Yuria…"

Lyuka was holding her head in her hands.

"Lyuka, Kanan, Leone. Let's go."

"Let us begin, Mikoto, Libera."

Whatever else was going on… the Garumon Battle was starting.

Through the Path of Radiance exploration, everyone had grown quite a bit. Now was the unveiling of those results.

The biggest growth was that Kanan's Wind Shield had evolved into Element Shield, which handled both physical and magic.

It hadn't mattered against Gurubon, who didn't use magic, but this would be its first true outing.

A less crucial bit of growth was that Bind Whip had become Wind Whip, which conferred first strike. It had been useful in the Gurubon fights, but how would it fare against a strong opponent?

For Lyuka, Cure Aura had evolved into Cure Shine, gaining a 30% Atk/Def UP. Her long-awaited Supporter performance had been reinforced.

"Kanan, Phantom Mist Clone. Leone, Accel Speed. Lyuka, Light's Blessing on Leone."

"Buffing up first move. So that's your type…Kusu. Opponents like that are our specialty."

Ursula smirked at seeing my play. And then…

"Mikoto."

"Yes… Curse Array!"

Mikoto, still in her maid uniform, activated some kind of art.

Bashu!

A pattern like a bagua spread across the entire field. Each ally had random stats lowered. Furthermore…

"Ah… ngh."

Lyuka was stunned.

"Wha… an area-wide debuff plus stun? Random or not, this is…"

Leone's Speed had dropped. Damn it…

But the reduction was around 30% at most. The buff from Accel Speed was still ahead.

Kanan's Atk, Lyuka's Magic Defense, and so on had been lowered.

… That was fine, I supposed. Lyuka couldn't take a proper attack and survive anyway, and Kanan had no intention of attacking this time around.

"Tch…"

"Fufu, looks like things landed in the right places. The Inugami, I'll crush her for sure."

Mikoto had Leone in her sights.

But Leone's Speed had effectively gone up, and Kanan had produced a clone. Not a bad opening.

"Holy Shield!"

Whatever Libera had been wearing under her suit, she was now in fully-armored knight form. She looked every inch a Holy Knight specialized in defense.

"So she has Holy Shield…"

It hadn't fired this turn, but that Holy Shield skill…

It defended one chosen ally in the party.

If the defense succeeded, the user defended too. The pinnacle of defensive skills, letting two people evade damage at once.

I'd read about it in a book.

"… Tch."

I'd been aiming to take her down quickly with Leone's Thunder God, but as long as Holy Shield was in play, breaking through might be hard.

"Now then… behold. Burn it into your eyes… my Demon Art."

… Demon Arts. One corner of the strongest tier of skills. I remembered nearly being trampled by them when up against Edna.

"… Demon Art, Lævateinn."

And then she went to loose the skill at Kanan's true body.

… By normal logic, having her unload a big technique on Kanan, who was protected by Element Shield, was exactly what I wanted.

But… every hair on my body stood on end and I sensed danger.

"Kanan, Otherworld Wind!"

And just before it hit, I'd pulled Kanan into my arms.

"… Hoh? You sensed the danger and dodged?

"My Demon Art Lævateinn deals 100P fixed damage, with piercing and guaranteed-hit. Many Garumon at LV50 or below would not survive it.

"For thee to dodge that… a splendid read."

"…!"

100P piercing and guaranteed-hit…!? If Kanan took that, she'd be done in one shot!

"That Otherworld Wind just now, how many uses doth it have? Five? Ten?"

… Why was this person asking me that?

Normally there was no reason to tell her… but earlier she'd explained her own skill without being asked, which made me feel I ought to answer.

I was treating this as a serious match, but somehow… maybe she felt like it was an in-house battle.

"… Five."

"I see. My Demon Art Lævateinn is ten… Then I shall simply muscle through with six straight casts of Lævateinn. Canst thou defeat me before then? Let me see thee try."

"You're trusting your enemy?"

"I am skilled at seeing through lies.

"And if I'm deceived even so, then so be it.

"… Thou art an honest one. I do not dislike that."

I was being completely read.

But really, she was underestimating me.

Still, if she had Holy Shield, defending for six turns wasn't impossible.

After all, she could defend up to two at a time.

Who would she protect with Holy Shield? I'd dodge that read, deal damage, and finish her off.

If I got blocked, she'd buy any number of turns.

That was the mind game.

Now, next turn.

"Leone, Accel Speed. Kanan, Wind Whip on Mikoto. Lyuka, Cure Shine on Leone."

Kanan's whip flew first… but…

"Holy Shield!"

Kakiin! Blocked!

"Fufu, prediction confirmed. Once thou knowest thou hast five turns, thou'lt buff up early. So I read that thou'dst come to lock down the Mikoto who'd disrupt that."

Ursula said. Damn, was I in the palm of her hand…

Feeding the opponent information to steer their moves. That was her fighting style.

"Curse Array!"

Lyuka was stunned again. Stats dropped. Leone's Defense, Lyuka's Atk and Speed, Kanan's Defense.

Those were stats I could afford to have drop, but each ally taking a 30% hit on one or two stats was awful…

This was a pain.

"Now then, as promised, I shall muscle through with Lævateinn.

"… However, if thou canst truly read my timing and force me to miss five times, I'd recognize thee as a top-tier talent for that alone."

Ursula readied herself. And then…

Slow. She was measuring her timing.

Kanan was… completely relaxed, waiting on my command. As long as I didn't misjudge, this would be fine. From here on, I just had to sync my breathing perfectly with Ursula's.

… She moved. But this was a feint.

"…! She read me…!"

She moved again, late. Now!

"Otherworld Wind!" A hand-signal command.

Shubat.

Kanan was in my arms… Safe.

But she even saw through the difference between phantom and true body… had she attacked the phantom, the teleport count would have been pure profit.

It was as though Ursula could read minds.

"… To miss twice. If thou truly forced me to miss five times, I'd want to bestow at least a kiss for it."

… Was this another joke meant to spur me on? Even if so, it was working. I was definitely going to make her miss five times and have her kiss me.

At present, my one useful play was to stun Mikoto. But there was a high chance Holy Shield would block it.

Still, Leone's buffs were stacking up. She had to be over double Ursula's Speed by now. Attacking Ursula was an option too.

… But even landing the current Thunder God twice probably wouldn't take Ursula down.

Then how about dropping Libera? Even there, with Speed as it was, two attacks was a borderline call, and two Thunder Gods wouldn't fell her. With Lyuka's buff it'd be different, but…

Still…

"Leone, Thunder God. Lyuka, Cure Shine on Leone. Kanan, Wind Whip on Mikoto."

Kanan's whip flew.

"Nuoh!"

And Mikoto was stunned…! She'd dropped Mikoto's defense?

She'd read that I'd attack here… Would she cover Ursula, or…

"Thunder God!"

"Holy Shield!"

Gakiin!

She read that I'd target Libera!?

"Thunder God!"

Gakiin!

Thunder God had fired twice. Leone's current Speed was 108. Libera's Speed was 54 or below.

It was nice to gain that intel, but I'd wanted to read her Defense to some degree too.

Why… could she really read minds?

"On the final stage, my side will defend me with Holy Shield exclusively.

"Which means thou hast no choice but to take down Libera first. Thou'dst want to gauge how much offense it'd take to drop Libera…

"I read that thou'dst think so.

"Thou art easy to read. Cute, really."

Ursula was grinning… Damn, I really was in the palm of her hand!

"Now then… a third try. I am prepared to miss five times, but having so many missed isn't entertaining.

"… Time to land a hit."

Demon Art, Lævateinn.

She inched closer, no telegraphing… here it came!

"Otherworld Wind!"

"Wha…! Missed again! There should have been no signs from me; or were they insufficient…!?"

"No, your spirit, the way your hair shifted, was different."

"Hair shift!? … Hmmm… thou art something. I am impressed."

She praised me. Well, I was on thin ice. Two more turns was the limit too.

The problem was Ursula's Speed. If she were sluggish like Edna, I could aim for four straight. Counting the beats of her action timing, she had about 50 Speed.

If at all possible I wanted to aim for a triple-hit at four-times speed. For that I needed to Accel Boost twice more and have Mikoto's slow miss.

… Pretty tough. But still… I'd aim for it.

"Leone, Accel Speed. Lyuka, Light's Blessing. Kanan, Wind Whip!"

"Au!"

Mikoto was stunned. It was supposedly probability-based, but stun was landing pretty consistently.

Well, the mechanic was that wind wrapped around her and locked her movement, so it'd be weirder if it didn't land, I supposed.

"… So thou gambled on a triple-hit. This time I missed… Lævateinn!"

This time, no preamble, she went straight in.

"Otherworld Wind!"

Dodged again.

"Khh… why canst thou read me so!?"

Ursula was indignant.

Next. This time, the choice over there was Mikoto-defense, surely.

… Just to be sure.

"Wind Whip!"

I tried it on Ursula.

"Knowing it'd be defended, thou tried it on me. I have stun resistance."

It didn't look like a single dot of damage. Truly insane Magic Defense.

"Curse Array!"

This one from Mikoto couldn't be helped. Now, what would happen…!

Leone's Atk, Lyuka's Atk, and Kanan's Defense dropped. No stun. That was lucky… Or was it.

"Guah…"

The attack on Leone was too painful. Lyuka's Cure Shine was offsetting it, but at this rate firepower might fall short…

Even so, my next would burn through the last of Otherworld Wind. After that…

"… Now then. Truly being defended through to the end would be a disgrace for me… Here, I shall let myself land a hit.

"… Lævateinn!"

"Otherworld Wind!"

She'd put her spirit into it, but thanks to that the timing was easier to read.

"Ppt… putting her spirit into landing the hit… and missing… missing…"

Mikoto laughed.

"D-don't lose heart! It's the other side that's strange!"

Cheered on (?) by her allies, Ursula's shoulders trembled, puru puru.

These girls really got along well.

Even so, Otherworld Wind had run out. From here on, Kanan would fall. After that… only attack.

"Then… here we go. Lyuka, Cure Shine on Leone. Leone is… Thunder God!"

"Haaaaah!"

By the effect of Light's Blessing, first strike, guaranteed-hit! And it went… at Mikoto!

"Hoh, so it went over there. This time I missed."

Dogo…!

"Guh… I, to an Inugami of all things…"

Mikoto's HP halved in one shot. Then,

Dogoh!

A combo attack at over double Speed.

"Gah… beaten by… an Inugami… what humiliation…"

Thud.

In one turn, Mikoto was down.

Yes…!

"My prediction missed… I had predicted that since thou couldst only fell one, thou'dst stubbornly attack me."

Ursula said that and… readied up.

"… Here I come.

"Demon Art Lævateinn. With this I take down Kanan, and after that I won't even need defense. We finish off Leone and Lyuka, and that's that.

"… Well, in terms of getting in a parting shot, targeting Mikoto was the right call. Saying thou'dst not lose to an Inugami and then losing to an Inugami, how funny, Mikoto. Pee-kuss-kuss, indeed."

They really were close.

… What Ursula was saying was right.

Even if Leone's strike landed, Libera couldn't be felled.

By my count Ursula was on the borderline, but it probably wouldn't be enough.

… But that was if Kanan got dropped here.

"… Hast thou some secret strategy? Otherworld Wind has five uses… that surely isn't a lie.

"Guaranteed-hit means an attack that always lands. There is no way to evade it. Save by a teleport skill like Otherworld Wind itself.

"Well, struggle if thou must… Lævateinn!"

Tan…!

And the moment it was loosed at Kanan's true body…

"Otherworld Wind!"

I used the skill on Kanan's phantom, the one I'd put out at the start and left untouched.

"What!?"

The phantom swapped places with Kanan's true body, took the Lævateinn strike, and vanished.

"… Could it be that the phantom too could use skills on a separate counter! And thou hidest that until now…

"No, even hadst thou shown it, the phantom vanishes when the body does. The truth is there's no use for it beyond covering the body once.

"Thou simply preserved it for the most effective moment.

"Even so… to exceed my predictions… Interesting!"

Now my side had a chance of winning too.

Next turn. I scrutinized Ursula's every twitch and motion. From her breathing to her heartbeat.

Ursula or Libera, which would she protect with Holy Shield? If I missed even once, my side was finished.

By normal thinking she'd protect Ursula, but the strategy of dropping Libera first was viable enough that, reading me to read that, she might protect Libera.

Or she might not cover at all and use Lævateinn to fell Kanan, with Libera's attack felling Lyuka.

Her side had the advantage that they didn't go down in a single hit.

If she came at it that way, that was actually exactly what I wanted.

Both our orders were in, and… time to check the answer.

"Leone, Thunder God."

Where she was headed was… Libera. Take down the shield first…!

Doka! Hit. But damage was less than 1/4. She was tough…! But it wasn't just one shot.

Two… three! Speed had reached four times. After three hits, the damage to Libera barely cleared half.

One more hit would fell her.

"Cure Shine!"

On top of that, layer Lyuka's buff. With this, Leone's Atk/Def was reinforced.

But… even so, whether one strike could fell Ursula was unclear.

"Tch… fall already! Lævateinn!"

If I could protect Kanan here.

"Leone, cover Kanan!"

I gave the order with little hope.

Leone's HP was over 100. With 100 guaranteed-hit damage, Leone could take one and be fine.

But…

"… Kh. The thinking I'll grant, but a Skill-less Skill like Cover doesn't apply against guaranteed-hit techniques!"

Dogo!

The strike slipped past the covering Leone, and Ursula's blow pierced into Kanan.

"Kuah…!"

Element Shield, which blocked all attacks, had activated, but the strike had bypassed it with utterly no effect.

A strike of death that nullified all defenses and shaved HP away in a single blow. Truly worthy of the name Demon Art.

… Kanan, who'd held out against this for a full six turns, was a truly splendid Garumon.

"Element Shield carrier, eh… a fine Garumon.

"As it turned out, muscling through with Lævateinn was the right move after all… I'm tired."

Ursula had finally dropped Kanan, but she looked thoroughly exhausted.

That was one each down. But…

As things stood, the outlook was grim.

I'd drop Libera, she'd drop Lyuka, I wouldn't quite manage to fell Ursula, and she'd drop Leone.

Going by the obvious, that was how it'd play out.

Of course, the other side had other options too.

She could choose not to cover Ursula and have both of them attack, or have Libera defend herself.

But… I wouldn't miss those. If the defense on Ursula loosened, I'd seize that chance and take her down!

The final phase had truly arrived.

"… A straight-up bout from here! Libera!"

"Yes, I'll guard you!"

… As expected, no clever moves from her side. Standard Ursula-defense.

"Leone, take down Libera!"

"Yes! Thunder God!"

Dogo, dogo, dogo!

"… Khh… you're… strong…"

Thud. Libera was safely felled.

"Lævateinn!"

"… Kuah…"

Ursula, perhaps fearing extra risk, dropped Lyuka with the same guaranteed-hit, piercing technique as before.

And then, it was one-on-one!

"Leone, Thunder God!"

"Yes!"

"Come at me!"

Zugaaan!

One strike… not even 1/3. It cleared 1/4, but with Speed at 50, the moment a Speed-down landed, exceeding her by eight times was impossible.

Zugaan, zugaan!

A tremendous triple-strike clad in lightning was added… but her HP, while dropping below 1/4, was still hanging on.

This was the kind of sliver Lyuka's Holy Light wouldn't have shaved through.

Even if Lyuka hadn't fallen, I couldn't have won.

"Thou hast fought well to here… A parting souvenir on the way to the underworld. Behold the supreme strike!

"Demon Art, Apocalypse!"

It was… a strike of nothingness. No piercing, no guaranteed-hit, no superfluous attributes attached. But by its ultimate destructive power, it was a strike that warped even the dimensions.

"Leone, dodge!"

My one chance of victory was for Leone to evade that strike! Pure luck only…

Leone had her Speed boosted very high.

The chance of evasion couldn't be called zero.

But…

Per my command, Leone's evasion timing was, I think, almost perfect.

But more than that, Ursula's movement was fast, sharp, accurate, and… heavy.

Zuga…

It hit.

Dogogogogo…!

Dogoooooo!

A black hole was born at the impact point, a destructive black orb that sucked in everything.

Leone's body twisted and she was blown away…

Thud…

By the time she'd weakly collapsed, Leone's enormous HP had been wiped away like a charred ember.

… I lost… I came up short.

"Whew… I admit thou madest me uneasy, but thou must engrave deeply in thy heart that this was only because I fought holding back, to give thee a flower."

Having finished the bout, Ursula returned to her throne and tossed those words at me.

"… Yes. I'll engrave it deeply."

That was how it was, I thought.

This time she'd been adjusting quite a bit to me. Ursula had only used two skills.

There were probably many techniques she'd deliberately not used as well.

If she'd shown her true ability, it'd have been no surprise had I been overwhelmed even more.

She was unmistakably strong.

… Still, the gap to S-Class, while not enough to let me get carried away thinking we were evenly matched, of course,

was at least not so large that I couldn't even land a hit, not on a wholly different dimension…

That much, I could feel confident about.

In other words, my eventually rising to S-Class wouldn't be just a pipe dream.

In this world, I could aim for the summit. Together with everyone, I felt I could do it.

… That I'd been able to set my goal anew like this was a great gain.

And of course, it bore on the upcoming duel with Yamagata-kun too.

"Oh yes, during the battle, I made one promise to thee.

"… That if thou couldst splendidly evade five of my attacks, I'd permit a kiss.

"I shall fulfill the promise."

Saying that, she held out the back of her hand.

Supple fingers. A soft-looking hand…

… Ah, so what she meant was I could kiss the back of her hand. Even I, ignorant of aristocratic society, could grasp that much.

Hmm, said "kiss" and offered the back of the hand, that was a bit stingy, wasn't it.

… But maybe because the intense battle had left me feeling bold, mischief welled up inside me.

Disrespectful, surely… worst case I might be punished. I thought so, but…

… Eh, screw it.

"Then, with your leave."

I took her hand and… pulled her toward me as I leaned in.

And then… I gripped the back of her neck with my other hand, pulled her close, and…

Chu, kuchu…

Boldly, I kissed Ursula on the lips.

Soft lips. A sweet, melting, alluring scent…

Aah, what… pleasure. What a wonderful taste…

Chu, nicha, kuchu, juru…

I sucked on Ursula's sweet, delicious saliva. Aah, what nectar… wonderful…

I pulled her in even more strongly, embracing her tightly, and…

Guih!

In the middle of losing myself in it, I was wrenched away.

Between my lips and Ursula's, a silver bridge of saliva stretched.

"W-w-what are you doing!? That person, Ursula-sama, is a great and holy S-Class Master, you knooow!"

The one who'd pried me away was Colette.

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry! It's only because I was so inadequate…!"

And then, Colette dropped into a deep dogeza.

"… Fueh… a, ah… I-it's fine. I am the one who said the kiss was permitted.

"That a kiss on the back of the hand wouldn't satisfy was natural. My joke went too far.

"Naoto only did as told. As for blame…"

Ursula tried to magnanimously forgive me, but,

"… Ursula-sama. This truly is disrespectful. To commit such an outrage against an S-Class Master, the leader of the world…

"It cannot simply go unpunished."

Libera said.

"Hmm? Is there such a law? Even so, would it override the judgment of the current S-Class Master, namely, me?"

But when Ursula said that…

"… I-I overstepped my bounds…"

Libera withdrew.

"Ah, fine, fine. Thou wast chiding me. Even I do not intend to wantonly wield my authority.

"Law is law. Even an S-Class Master had best obey.

"… Will some token punishment preserve appearances?"

"Y-yes. Just so. Yes, that much would suffice… I am indeed a Holy Knight who upholds law and order, but provided law and order are maintained…"

Libera seemed mollified.

I see, this world too apparently had laws like "commit an outrage against an S-Class Master, you'll be punished."

But in a world where winning a Garumon Battle made anything go, I wondered just how much law actually applied.

The Holy Knights bore the role of upholding that law even so. Ursula was respecting that.

"Then let me see… the death penalty."

"W-w-wha!?"

Libera, who'd asked her to give a punishment, widened her eyes in shock.

"What is it? Wast thou not the one who said to give a punishment? It is the first time I have ever permitted my lips to another Master, you know? Surely that is a great crime worthy of ten thousand deaths?

"For me there is no problem because I am my own Master, but at worst he might have forcibly enslaved me."

… Now that she said it, that was true. Suddenly kissing her was…

Wait, hold on, kissing the hand also formed the master-servant contract with a Garumon.

Which meant if kissing the hand was okay, then in terms of enslavement, kissing the lips wouldn't matter either…

"T-that… still, please, mercy. Naoto-san showed such ability; he is a highly promising Master. To carelessly take his life over something like this would be far too great a loss!"

But before I could even argue back, Libera interceded.

"Fufufu, oh? … Or rather, this excuse should come from thee. Colette."

"Awawawa, that's right! M-my heart stopped… p-please, mercy…!"

And Colette prostrated herself.

"Yes, yes. Fine, fine. He should be acquitted because Naoto is a highly promising Master.

"That is the claim of the two of you.

"… Then Naoto should prove that to me as well."

So she addressed me.

"… Meaning?"

"The duel with the Yamagata fellow scheduled for next month, defeat is not permitted. Lose, and as agreed, the death penalty."

"That was my intent from the start. Having lost Kanan, I have no intention of shamelessly going on living."

At my immediate reply, Ursula murmured, "Oh."

"Wha!? W-wait…!"

Kanan was visibly shaken, but…

"… Fine! I just have to win, right!? Fine. There's no way Naoto'll lose! … And if you lose, I'll die together with you!"

Kanan declared.

"Ehhh…!?"

This time it was my turn to be shaken.

"… What? There's no way I'd shamelessly go on living apart from you…! You and I are forever together!"

… Kanan said that for me.

"… All right. I just have to win."

I declared too.

"… Splendid. What beautiful love. I am moved.

"Very well. I had thought to throw further fault thy way, but if thou splendidly win that duel, this offense of thine shall go entirely unquestioned."

"… Thank you very much."

She'd said "throw further fault." … Well, fine. Beating Yamagata-kun was a given. With a little extra riding on it… it wasn't worth worrying about.

… No, beating Yamagata-kun meant I'd get to see Ursula again to report the win. That was a fine reward.

"… That duel, I shall watch as a spectator too. I look forward to it."

Ursula was in such high spirits, you'd never guess she'd been threatening me with the death penalty just moments before.

For my part too… my next goal was set.

The immediate goal was, of course, to win the duel with Yamagata-kun.

But the real goal was…

To make this lovely, beautiful S-Class Master, Ursula Belzebute, my Sub-Master.

… Yeah, somehow I was fired up.

Then against the likes of Yamagata-kun, I'd have to win overwhelmingly!