Decisive Battle

"All right. Let's go challenge Yamagata-kun to a decisive battle."

If I delayed any longer, I'd lose Kanan to the contract. That alone was unthinkable.

"Naoto… we'll be fine, right? We can definitely win, right?"

Kanan looked up at me with worry in her eyes.

"… It's fine. I… won't lose. We've all stacked up harsh training together for exactly this, haven't we?"

I held Kanan close and stroked her back to soothe her.

"Mn… that's right.

"I believe in you.

"Don't ever… let me go."

Squeeze, Kanan hugged me back.

The night before we'd formally issue the duel challenge, in my room, we held our final strategy meeting.

That said, on the tactical and strategic side there wasn't much more to discuss. Most of the talk was about… Sawako Aozawa.

For the session I'd gathered the people who knew the two of them well: Kanan and Haru, plus Maika, Yuria, and Lyuka.

Kensei Yamagata. He was Kanan's slave and bodyguard, and a skilled swordsman, but he wouldn't actually be the one fighting.

The main Garumon was Kanan's other slave, Sawako Aozawa.

Just what kind of abilities did she have? I couldn't quite picture it.

I'd tried looking up back issues of Garumon Weekly to extrapolate from her past battle records, but…

That was the only short article I could find. From it, I had no way of knowing what abilities Sawako had.

Well, I knew she was a Water User and used water-system magic. Since she was someone we already knew, it'd be nice if we could infer a bit more… yeah, it was kind of an unreasonable ask.

Now that all our preparations were complete, this was just idle chatter.

"Sawako's reasonably good at studies and athletics. But there wasn't really any standout talent to speak of…"

"Honestly, to me she never came across as anything more than a sycophant who flattered Kanan. And to think she was that cute, too…

"To Haru and me she was high-handed and contemptuous, always looking down on us like we were filth…"

"… That Sawako, I won't forgive her! For doing that to my Naoto… I won't be satisfied until I make her pay!"

Kanan was indignant.

… No, back then you were the ringleader who couldn't be bothered to give direct orders and made Sawako issue them, you know.

Still, that past was something I could now smile at wryly and let flow into the water.

To the Kanan who was lovingly slurping on Haru's penis and mine, none of it mattered anymore.

"Ham, nchu… juru… I'm really sorry about Sawako. Naoto, Haru… she made you both feel awful… let me at least make you feel a little good with my mouth, okay?"

Jupu, jupu…

"Aah, Kanan, both of them at once…

"Inside Kanan's mouth, rubbing against Haru's cock… it feels good."

"Kanan-san, I'm cumming, I'm cumming too!"

Dopyu, dopyu!

I let loose into Kanan's mouth with everything I had.

"Haa, haa… Yeah, just this one pleasure alone is enough that I could forgive every rude thing Aozawa-san did."

"Fufu, well, if that's the case, good…"

Kanan smiled coquettishly.

"You're betting Sawako and me against Kensei in this match, right? Which means Sawako will become our ally.

"So… after that, do you plan to give Sawako a clean acquittal right away and welcome her in as an equal among everyone?

"Or… do you punish her, to make her reflect on her past?"

Kanan's question. It was a topic for after winning the battle. I thought it was a bit much to count chickens before they hatched, but… well, fine. I considered Kanan's proposal.

"Punish her, huh… Kanan, you don't actually hold any grudge against Aozawa-san, do you?"

"My opinion is what I just said. First, I can't forgive how she treated Naoto contemptuously.

"… Even if it's the pot calling the kettle black.

"… If you tell me to get along with her, I'll do my best to let it flow into the water. I'm in no position to talk about other people, after all…"

She seemed fully aware that she was the pot calling the kettle.

"Hmm…"

Sawako Aozawa… Large, slightly upturned eyes and long, wavy hair… since coming to this world, her hair color had shifted to blue.

Combined with her outstanding figure, her looks were actually among the academy's finest. She wasn't at all inferior to Kanan, a magnificent beauty. Her position among the academy's Seven Greatest Beauties was no exaggeration.

Since the slightly upturned eyes and wavy hair were features she shared with Kanan, the two were sometimes likened to sisters. The girl herself must have considered it a great honor.

People around them called them Princess Kanan and Princess Sawako, lauding them as the twin pinnacles of beauty.

Of course, to us slaves, they were the twin pinnacles of witches.

"Look at that. Princess Kanan walking by with Princess Sawako in tow."

"Ah… they really are beautiful… Aah, I'd love to be ordered around by princesses like that too…"

"Hahah, what are you, an M? Well, I'd happily welcome erotic orders, though."

… I'd given many a wry smile at rumors from people who didn't know the girls' true nature.

"You there, garbage, what's with that defiant look in your eyes? Trash like you should thank god just for tasting the honor of being Kanan-sama's slave. Until that twisted attitude of yours gets fixed… a hundred lashes!"

Bishi-bishi-bishii…!

… That hurt.

The thought of giving her a complete, easy acquittal for all of that did rub me a little the wrong way.

On the other hand, taking revenge by bullying or hurting a girl who'd come into my hands wasn't in my nature.

I'd be the one crushed by guilt instead.

"True, what to do about Aozawa-san is a tough call… If Kanan asks me to forgive her on her behalf, I'll forgive her as much as you want, but…"

"Like I said. If you tell me to forgive her, I'll forgive her."

If both of us would only forgive her at the other's say-so, we'd hit deadlock.

"… I mean, she was your right hand. Can't you back her up somehow?"

"… That girl, she isn't a bad child. She was just acting on the orders of her parents and me…

"But that girl is probably a better person than me. She was the type who, by following her parents' instructions, could genuinely be happy doing it.

"And me… I really don't dislike Sawako, you know. Whatever the form, she does adore me, and she's done plenty of things that comforted me.

"The fact that I could function, even crookedly, as that twisted master, was thanks to Sawako.

"Because that girl propped me up so much, respected me so much, recognized me as her master…

"But because of that, I got the wrong idea that I really was her master.

"… If she hadn't been there, I might have felt the wrongness of being the master, and I might have properly noticed that Naoto was the master…!"

She'd started off backing Sawako up, but it was sliding back toward blaming her again…

"If that had happened, I could've put on the act of being the fake master in line with your orders on the surface, while in reality I'd have spent days as Naoto's sex slave, days of dreamlike happiness… aah, what a waste! Yeah, I really can't forgive Sawako!"

… That situation, that does sound nice. Mn, Aozawa-san is unforgivable.

"… So that means we're going with the punishing route, then."

"… Yes! Good. In that case… I'll take responsibility myself and educate that girl!

"I'll make her understand that Naoto is the true master.

"If we do that, she'll become an incredibly good slave. I guarantee it!"

That was Kanan's recommendation regarding Sawako.

… Kanan had really thought the relationship between Sawako and me through from many angles.

My usual stance was to accept everyone as they were, as comrades.

But doing that would mean tolerating Aozawa-san's view that Kanan was the master and I was the slave.

That contradicted the truth.

So she was proposing that, even though it ran counter to my usual stance, I permit her to properly educate Sawako and correct that view.

That Kanan was thinking of me that much…

"Yeah, I'll leave Sawako to you. Educate her thoroughly so she can become a real comrade."

"Leave it to me! As her former master, I'll take this last responsibility!"

Kanan burned with passion.

All right, for that reason as well… I'd have to win cleanly.

I'd stacked plenty of preparation for exactly that. There was no way I'd lose.

And then… the next day.

Waaaah… waaaah… The arena in the town of Baria, designated as the stage for the duel, was packed with a huge crowd. Ursula was watching from the VIP seats too.

Naturally, Garumon Weekly's coverage was there as well. Or rather, Patty was.

Even private duels like this one, Garumon Battles were a matter of the greatest interest to people. When it was B-Class against B-Class, it became a major event. The announcement went out, tickets were sold… and a stage of this scale was set up in just a single day.

Maybe I was still underestimating this world.

"… I never thought it'd be accepted the moment I applied."

I'd heard that the standard timing was a duel the day after applying at the earliest, but the day of the match arrived the very next day.

"Don't be ridiculous. Leaving Kanan-sama in your hands is something I can't tolerate for a single instant.

"Burn into your skull that the very fact we waited at all is thanks to Kanan-sama's intercession.

"To leisurely string it out for an entire month…

"Leaving Kanan-sama exposed to your filthy lust was an agony as if my body were being ripped apart."

Yamagata-kun glared at me with enough force to kill.

"… It's as Kensei said. Pitiful Kanan-sama. We will rescue you from that filthy worm's poisonous fangs at once!"

Beside him stood Aozawa-san, glaring at me with eyes that looked ready to kill me, just like him…

"Hmph, Naoto. I never imagined a low-level garbage slave like you would actually become B-Class in three months.

"That much I can grudgingly acknowledge…"

She seemed to look down on me from the bottom of her heart, spitting the words out…

"Aah, I hate it, hate it. After all, an indecent slave like you, even for a moment, even as a stand-in, standing in the unfathomable position of Kanan-sama's master, I won't forgive it! Cut your throat and die right now! Anyone who dishonors the noble and beautiful Kanan-sama mustn't be allowed to exist in this world!"

As expected, her anger and hatred toward someone who'd debased me, or rather Kanan, ran fiercely deep.

In her own way, she must have worshipped and respected Kanan from the bottom of her heart. Without ever stopping to wonder whether that aligned with what Kanan actually wanted.

"Is her opinion the same as yours, Yamagata-kun?"

"A pointless question. All our loyalty is for Kanan-sama. We joined hands as comrades to crush this world's absurd system.

"… You protected Kanan-sama? Don't make me laugh.

"How much filthy lust you've thrown at her against Kanan-sama's will… my guts are boiling.

"If it had been in line with Kanan-sama's will, you'd have defiled her purity before you ever met us.

"That you've been twisting Kanan-sama's will, the system of this world proves it."

Yamagata-kun spat the words out.

"… Did you really not realize Kanan was suffering from working us slaves like livestock? If you love Kanan, did you give no thought to what Kanan's happiness would be?"

"… What are you talking about? Don't speak of Kanan-sama with your impoverished sensibilities. Kanan-sama is different from lowly creatures like you.

"She is one who reaches for the heavens.

"Until that day, all we do is support Kanan-sama… If this world's system serves that end, we use it.

"Once we've welcomed Kanan-sama back, we shall command her, as our master, to make use of slaves. That alone."

"… You bastard, do you really think that's for Kanan's sake…?"

Kanan was just listening with her head bowed.

If I lost, Kanan would be ordered to become, and remade into, the form they desired.

They were going to kill Kanan with 100% goodwill and good intent.

Really, now… I couldn't lose, even if it killed me.

"Any further argument is pointless. The rules are 6V6 battle. What we wager on each side is Sawako and Kanan."

"Acknowledged long ago. Just a little longer, please wait, Kanan-sama.

"Right now, we shall save you from this fool's hands."

All right. Time for the match.

I was momentarily overwhelmed by the Value figures I hadn't been able to get from the books.

Calculating backward from Value gave the rarity. At LV50 it was +1500, top-tier job +1000, so Tiara's base value was 4900, UR-Class. She'd surely be tough.

My prediction that Aozawa-san would be sent to the second team was on target. Success.

The difference from prior intel was… nothing in particular. The members were probably the same.

Tiara was a beautiful girl with white hair, wearing a gorgeous tiara just as her name suggested. Princess of somewhere, maybe.

"It is a pleasure. Please, address me as Princess Tiara."

Eslada was green-haired in a swordsman-style outfit, somewhat sexy but at a level that could appear in any standard all-ages galge.

"H-hello…"

Marishi was a black-haired bikini-armor female knight. She had the bearing of a dignified warrior woman, but…

"Fueeh… p-please go easy on me…"

She herself seemed timid.

The three formed up with Tiara in front and Eslada and Marishi in the back, in a rather unexpected arrangement.

The prior intel was useless. Oh well, from here it'd be playing it by ear.

"Let's go… Kanan, Adelia, Suzanne!"

"Mn, Naoto!"

"Nyaaa! I'll do my best-nya!"

"Now, I shall offer victory to Onii-sama!"

The three rushed forward in high spirits.

"… Kuh, Kanan-sama, how pitiful…"

"Kanan-sama! Kuh… you bastard, Naoto Akai! Putting Kanan-sama in such an indecent outfit… know shame!"

Yamagata-kun saw Kanan's appearance and clutched his head, while Aozawa-san was furious with rage.

What Kanan was wearing was Adelia's Spirit Garb, a counter against fire-element. To anyone unfamiliar, it'd look like an outfit too erotic to bear.

From my point of view, my reaction for a moment was, "Eh, I could see it for the Lewd Garb, but the Spirit Garb?"

These guys really did maintain their original-world sensibilities solidly. Even with so many around them drowning in sex, the fact that he kept his hands off Aozawa-san completely… that mental fortitude I had to acknowledge.

"… You've assembled high-Value Garumon. You must be exceptionally lucky."

"That much, I'll admit."

"Hah, that's no luck at all. If you'd been raised a few more months, you might have put up a decent fight against us.

"To have to fight with LV46… Garumon still in development, I pity you."

Aozawa-san laughed as she peered at Yamagata-kun's system screen.

… They'd been in this world nearly two years, so they seemed well-versed in the system.

But…

"I have no intention of losing. I challenged you precisely because I figured I could win."

"Spare me… Go, Tiara, Eslada, Marishi. Trample them."

The battle started.

"Kanan, Phantom Mist Clone. Adelia, Boost Power. Suzanne, Angel Halo."

"Tiara, Star Aura on yourself. Eslada, Double Boost on Tiara. Marishi, all-out."

Both sides opened by stacking buffs. Maybe a similar combat style.

"Star Aura!"

Kira-kira-kira…

Light filled the air, and Tiara's stats visibly soared. That move from Marishi was probably a technique that traded defense for attack. The Atk-up effect was likely large in proportion.

Double Boost was probably also an Atk-up.

A stack-attack-hard-then-slam-it-down style, huh.

Next turn.

"Kanan, Wind's Blessing. Adelia, Boost Power."

"Eslada, Double Boost on Marishi."

So far it was buffs.

"Crush them! Marishi, Sword of Destruction!"

And then the attack came!

"Haaaaaa!"

Marishi, who'd been timid earlier, started gathering her fighting spirit. And then…

"Take this! Sword of Destruction!"

Buon!

She raised a sword with terrific momentum and brought it down toward Suzanne.

Obviously fearsome destructive power. Was this… a piercing attack? If non-piercing, just deflect with Elemental Shield. If piercing, the attack power should be low. Even so, it was strengthened by a heavy buff stack.

It might not drop her in one hit, but taking it would be bad.

"Kanan!"

Kanan's clone covered. And then…

"Dodge!"

Skill-less Skill, Evade.

You'd think there'd be no such convenient thing as dodging just because you were told to, but by timing the order well, when the Garumon's Speed was high enough and Master and Garumon were in sync, evasion was actually possible.

On that count, Kanan was an evasion expert.

For attacks other than guaranteed-hit, evasion at a fairly high rate was possible. The probability was already close to 50%.

Add the gamey 30% evasion from Wind's Blessing on top, and it became about a 65% evasion rate.

65% wasn't a probability you'd want to rely on entirely, but you could see how broken dodging two out of three attacks was for the game balance.

"Hauu…"

All the fighting spirit Marishi had stacked up went fushuu and her hips collapsed.

"You bastard, putting Kanan-sama as a Defender!? Are you sane!? Is this revenge for the slave battles!?"

"No, just the right person for the right job, but…"

Yamagata-kun's reaction and the way he interpreted it were a bit funny.

Now then, our turn to counterattack.

"Suzanne, Tempest!"

"Haaa!"

Searing winds blew forth!

"Tiara!"

"Divine Art, Tyrfing!"

At that moment, Tiara raised a sword to the heavens.

… In that instant, the heat wave Suzanne had unleashed got sucked into Tiara's sword and… nullified!

"A magic-sealing sword…!?"

"It's not just magic-sealing! My Tyrfing is a magic-killing divine sword! Receive the blade of justice, hyaa!"

Tiara unleashed a counterattack sword. An auto-counter…?!

"Kanan!"

"I won't let you!"

Gakeen! … But this one wasn't piercing. Defense was possible with Kanan's Cover.

"Kuh… a defense wall!"

"As long as I'm here, I won't let my comrades be hurt!"

"… Fufufu, well done. But my Tyrfing is a reflex action when receiving a magic attack.

"… In other words, it can attack one more time!

"… Here I go. Princess Veil!"

Tiara activated some skill again.

Light filled the surroundings, enveloping her, Marishi, and Eslada.

"Haaaaaa! Sword of Destruction!"

"Haaaaa! Storm of Thorns!"

Marishi and Eslada, who'd just acted and shouldn't have been able to move, started moving in defiance of physics.

"I shall come too! Star Aura!"

Even Tiara!

… A re-action skill on everyone!? A technique that strong actually existed…!

Receiving Tiara's buff, Marishi targeted Suzanne. On top of that, a massive amount of thorns appeared, trying to wound everyone on the battlefield…!

"… Kuh, Kanan, protect!"

Caught off guard like that, dodging an unseen technique was impossible. Kanan covered Adelia, the clone covered Suzanne.

Gakeen!

"Hold on…!"

This was just a prayer.

The thorns were blocked by Elemental Shield, but not completely. Adelia took 25, Suzanne around 6 damage.

And the Sword of Destruction couldn't be blocked. The damage went to Kanan's clone.

… Gauge reduction was… 100. Nearly two-thirds of the gauge. If she hadn't been LV50, she'd have gone down. Glad she'd held on.

Take one more hit and it'd be dire. The clone would drop.

"You're pretty good. As long as that Tyrfing is around, Tempest is meaningless."

"Yeah, then it's physical attacks only, but…"

Would they handle that as well, I wondered.

What to do, who to drop first. Tiara, the core of the enemy force, or Marishi, currently the highest-firepower piercing attacker?

Of course there was the option of dropping the Supporter Eslada from the start, but…

Next turn.

Was Marishi really an Attacker? She was a Holy Knight. She probably had defense skills… If so, the most likely target for her to defend was Tiara.

This was the turn after I'd flagged Tiara as dangerous. They'd read me as fearfully attacking Tiara. If so, my target was…

"Adelia, here we go! Demon Art, Beast-Blood Awakening! Fire Boost! Demon Art, Flame Severing Claw! Aim for Eslada!"

"Nyaaaaa!"

Adelia's new strongest attack!

"…!? Vine Wall!"

Vines sprouted forth, trying to block the attack. So she did have a defense against physical attacks too.

But the piercing attack added by Beast-Blood Awakening tore through such a thing easily.

"What…!"

Zugaaan!

Direct hit! With buffs piled on, plus fire being 2x super-effective against grass! It was a one-shot kill, making the evolution into Flame Severing Claw almost overkill.

"… Tch! Going for Eslada…!"

"Suzanne, Divine Art Flamberge, attack Marishi."

"Mn! As expected, Onii-sama. You saw through that Marishi was about to cover Tiara!

"When she's about to cover for someone, getting targeted herself is a weakness, right? Divine Art, Flamberge!"

"Kyaaa!"

Suzanne's sword splendidly cut Marishi's HP in half.

"Tch… so surviving up to B-Class isn't for show, huh."

Yamagata-kun let out a deep fuu… sigh.

"Tiara, Aura of Miracles on Marishi."

"Understood."

… Some kind of buff. She might come at us with crazed combo attacks.

… If so, defense would loosen, wouldn't it? If we weren't taken down by this, we could win.

"Oooooo! Sword of Destruction!"

I didn't know what buff was attached, but…

"Kanan."

Shun!

If she teleported, it didn't matter.

"… Eh?"

Marishi stared blankly at her blade, which had only cut empty air.

"Suzanne, hit Marishi with Flamberge! Adelia, Fire Boost, Demon Art Flame Severing Claw on Tiara!"

"Goodbye, Marishi. Divine Art, Flamberge!"

Zan!

With splendid swordplay, she sliced open Marishi's neck. Of course, that didn't actually take her head off, but…

She'd splendidly chunked her HP down.

"Splendid! Suzanne!"

… That was the result of two crits in a row. I praised her swordplay.

But,

"Gaaaaaa!"

Bashuu! But Marishi's body shone, and her HP held at 1 dot.

"Damn, an Endure-effect skill…! Adelia! Switch attack target to Marishi!"

Switching targets after starting an attack was a fairly difficult technique, but… not impossible.

Skimping on Awakening had been the right call. Guaranteed-hit attacks always landed, which meant cancellation wasn't possible.

"Nyaaaaa!"

Dogooooo!

It was complete damage overkill, but it'd grind out Marishi's HP…

Bashuu! But, no good! Marishi's HP held at 1 dot again.

"Tch, does she have a skill that won't let her die for 1 turn…!?"

Dogo! Another hit from Flame Severing Claw! Naturally, Marishi's HP went to 0…

Bashuu! Held at 1 dot again. She'd survived three times…!

"Sword of Destruction!"

Marishi took her re-action. We had to defend at all costs!

"Kanan!"

"Go!"

Kanan's clone teleported again to act as a shield.

Zan!

The clone's HP went to 0. The clone vanished.

"Sword of Destruction!"

How many actions did this thing have…!

"Kanan!"

Next, Kanan's main body teleported!

Zan! Damage about 100, same as the clone.

"Sword of Destruction!"

Same number of actions as her resurrection count, huh.

"Kanan!"

Predicting it'd be one more, I ordered another teleport.

… Somehow, Kanan survived.

Next turn.

"Suzanne, this time for sure with Flamberge!"

"Enough is enough!"

Zan!

… At last, Marishi fell. Up to three times, huh… she really hung on.

"Adelia, Fire Boost, Demon Art, Flame Severing Claw!"

"Nyaaaaa!"

Zugaaan!

I'd thought Tiara would hold on too, but no such thing.

"… Strong… aren't they, Kensei-sama… I'm sorry…"

Dosa.

All three went down… All right, total victory!

"Impossible, that I… should fall behind to the likes of Akai.

"… Kuh, with Marishi's potential as a Defender utterly unrealized, with no recourse like that…"

Yamagata-kun seemed despondent. Ah, so it really was that. She was a Holy Knight, so I'd figured she had defensive ability.

Ideally I'd have wanted to draw out the opponent's strengths fully and surpass them, but… if I actually did that I'd lose. In actual play, it was ideal to shut down the opponent's strengths.

I couldn't get carried away over this, though. The next match was the real deal. I glared at Aozawa-san.

"Honestly. Leave the rest to me. That much… is no problem."

And then, their second party appeared.

All three together wore garb close to Eslada's from earlier, mage-style.

A bit on the sexy side, but a level of exposure that wouldn't be out of place on an all-ages game heroine.

Going by hair color, Rubilia's red suggested fire-element, while Saibel's yellow-green suggested wind-element.

"Tranquil Water Surface."

And the moment they took the field, Aozawa-san activated a skill.

Bashuu! In that instant, all the buffs we'd been stacking vanished cleanly.

"Nya!?"

"Mu…"

Adelia and Kanan, with all those buffs piled on, were back to their original stats in one stroke!

What a vital, intense skill for a second party to have.

"… Unfortunately, there's hardly a skill that can nullify Angel Halo."

But Suzanne was unaffected. I see, there were buff skills that couldn't be nullified.

Now, most of our buffs had been wiped, and Adelia had a disadvantage against water-element, but our skill counts remained plenty, and there was no problem fighting on.

Even if I'd kept going as is and won total victory, it would've been no issue, but…

"Kuh… Kanan-sama! What a cowardly bastard! You read that I'd find it hard to fight Kanan-sama, and now you mean to use her as a shield!"

Aozawa-san griped at me.

If that really would make her hands stiffen, there'd be no reason to swap, but…

… But it might be fine to swap. The Haru, Leone, Setsuna combo had Haru wearing Adelia's Spirit Garb, so fire wasn't a weakness. Element-wise we had a sufficient advantage.

In reality, if we kept going there were element disadvantages, and there was a non-zero chance of losing.

Better to swap first than to let them carry their momentum into our 2nd party.

Swapping also had the advantage of putting us at a psychological superiority.

You might think that since we'd just won with the 1st party, swapping would make winning meaningless… But the value of grabbing this psychological advantage alone was huge.

Going into the next fight after having crushed the opponent with a clear win once, that was big.

"All right, Kanan, Adelia, Suzanne, well done. Member change."

"Oh, we could've won as we were… Well, fine. Haru and the others want their chance to shine too, I'm sure."

"Nya! Leave it to Leone-nya!"

"Setsuna-chan, do your best!"

The three withdrew, and we swapped members.

"… Kuh, you had plenty of margin, and you call for a member change…"

Yamagata-kun looked a bit irritated.

"… Midoriya… is it? That body of yours…"

"It's been a while, Yamagata-kun. In this world I obtained the body that suits me.

"… The me who fights now for Naoto-kun's sake… won't lose to anyone. I'll win."

The Haru who used to be timid now faced Yamagata-kun with confidence and composure.

"Kanan-sama… Lowering yourself to a slave of trash like Naoto, even temporarily, how pitiful. I will rescue you at once, right now."

Aozawa-san seemed easier to fight now that Kanan had withdrawn.

"Sawako… There's nothing I can say that'll get through to you, is there.

"All right, everyone, do it! How happy belonging to Naoto is, how much strength it gives you…

"Teach this foolish girl!"

"Mn, Kanan-san!"

"Mn, Kanan!"

"Got it, Kanan-san!"

Their fighting spirit was more than enough. For Kanan's sake too… they'd surely deliver victory.

And then… it began.

"Haru, Wood Golem."

That much was certain. But…

"Onii-chan?"

Normally it'd be March of Exhilaration twice. Leone would stack Thunder Aura or Accel Speed.

But Aozawa-san's Tranquil Water Surface from before… was there any guarantee that it was a one-turn-only thing?

She'd activated it the moment they showed up, separate from a turn action. If it could be used regardless of turn, and multiple times at that…

The buffs would go to waste.

If I wanted to confirm it, I just had to try using one. But in a Garumon Battle with limited turns, I wanted to avoid burning a turn just for confirmation.

But… if I assumed the buffs would be erased, then I could pour everything into one turn and fight.

"Setsuna, Leone. Coordinate with Golem-kun."

"Mn."

"Mn."

Haru summoned the Golem, and I waited a moment until the Golem acted.

"Aozawa, Water Spirit Barrier. Rubilia, Flame Laser on Haru. Saibel, Tornado."

"…!"

Zubaaan! Flame Laser hit Haru directly, dealing 40 damage in one go. HP at 2/3.

Wind whipped up for area damage. This one wasn't as bad, but… it dealt 20 to 30 damage to everyone.

High firepower, huh… were they all Attackers?

But…

"Setsuna, Soul Refrain, March of Exhilaration twice! Leone, Accel Speed, Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening, Demon Art Gale Thunderclap! On Aozawa-san!"

Setsuna played March of Exhilaration twice in succession.

Golem-kun's attack rained down. But,

Bashu, bashu, bashu, bashu!

Golem-kun's attacks were stopped by a wall of flame. Probably Rubilia's auto-trigger defense skill.

But… it didn't matter. At the same time, Leone accelerated, and then…

"Gale Thunderclap, Beast-Blood Awakening!"

Dogooooo!

"Gah…!"

Aozawa-san was blown away. There was supposed to be a wall of flame, but the piercing of Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening tore through such things easily.

Aozawa-san's HP dropped by more than 1/3 in one stroke.

… We'd won.

This single hit confirmed it for me.

Dogo! Dogoo!

A 3-hit chain whittled her down to 2/3!

Re-action! Demon Art Gale Thunderclap doubled Speed when attacking! That was why a re-action could basically always be taken.

"Tranquil Water Surface!"

At that moment, while being battered, Aozawa-san just barely activated the skill.

But it was a moment too late. Leone's re-action had already triggered.

But,

"Castling!"

Saibel instantly swapped places with Aozawa-san.

A skill that swapped places with an ally!

Naturally, Leone's attack landed on Saibel.

Gakeen, gakeen, gakeen!

… But it was deflected by Wind Shield. I see, against a wind-element mage, I should've been wary of Wind Shield.

But why had Awakening gotten cut off… it was Aozawa-san's Tranquil Water Surface.

"… To even nullify my Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening."

… Amazing. If she polished her timing of skill activation, this would become quite the all-purpose defense.

Of course, it had the drawback of also nullifying buffs you'd put on your own allies.

The damage race was about even. But the other side might be slightly favored.

… This match hinged on how perfectly Aozawa-san could time her Tranquil Water Surface.

Next turn.

"Water Spirit Barrier!"

Aozawa-san re-stacked the skill… Come to think of it, that earlier attack, despite landing with 100% Atk-up and being thunder-element, had done surprisingly little damage. That Water Spirit Barrier was probably a skill cutting damage by about 70%.

Part of the reason Aozawa-san had been late on Tranquil's activation was that she'd been overconfident in this skill.

… But from here on, she'd be more wary.

"… Thunder Aura."

Leone restored her Awakening.

"Flame Laser!"

"Tornado!"

Their side was just brute-forcing attack magic. With Tranquil forcing buffs and debuffs to be cleared, buff skills were meaningless, after all.

"Earth Barrier!"

Haru drew the attacks and shielded. Earth Barrier had evolved to where it could draw even AoE attacks and halve the damage… But this turn she only just barely survived. The next turn, she'd fall.

Wood Golem's attack was blocked by the wall of flame.

"Setsuna, Soul Refrain, March of Exhilaration twice."

Setsuna's buffs. Aozawa-san probably wanted to use Tranquil Water Surface, but doing so would also clear her own Water Spirit Barrier, so she seemed to be waiting until just before getting attacked.

… Now then, next turn. This was the deciding moment.

Could Aozawa-san nullify Leone's Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening? Could Saibel succeed at Castling and protect Aozawa-san?

The match hinged on that.

If Leone's Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening was undone… it was over. We wouldn't be able to take down a single opponent this turn. Haru would be defeated, and with Haru gone, AoE attacks would take Leone and Setsuna down in no time.

Even if it wasn't undone immediately, if Castling succeeded then with Aozawa-san safe she'd undo the Atk buff before we could finish off Saibel, and we wouldn't be able to drop her.

Leone had to slip past two skills, Aozawa-san's and Saibel's, and land an attack on Aozawa-san.

After Leone used Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening, she had to land an attack on Aozawa-san before Aozawa-san and Saibel activated their skills.

… Logically, that was impossible.

No matter how fast Leone was, Aozawa-san and Saibel activating their skills was faster.

Aozawa-san and Yamagata-kun knew that too. They'd think they had the advantage.

By this point, I was in what could be called a cornered state.

To break this situation open…

"… Leone, Setsuna. I'm counting on you. The next Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening… we land it for sure!"

I locked eyes with them as I said it.

… There was no time to communicate the strategy directly. Telling them now would just make them wary.

But thanks to all the training we'd done up to this point, they should understand how to act in what kinds of situations.

… I trusted in that accumulated time.

… The match would be decided right here.

"Leone! Settle it here! Go! Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening, Demon Art Gale Thunderclap!"

"Yes!"

I called out the skill names, and Leone charged.

"I won't let you! Castling!"

"Vanish! Tranquil Water Surface!"

Perfectly timed to that, Saibel swapped with Aozawa-san, and Aozawa-san's skill activated.

Kin! Kin! Kin!

Leone's attack was deflected by Wind Shield.

Far from slipping past two skill activations, both had gotten off…

"… We won!"

Aozawa-san was sure of victory.

"… Honestly, this is nerve-wracking…"

Yamagata-kun, also confident of victory, let out a fuu breath.

But, in that instant…

"Soul Refrain, Radiant Symphony + March of Exhilaration!"

Setsuna's buffs activated, and…

"Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening, Demon Art Gale Thunderclap!"

Leone called out the skill names herself and charged at Aozawa-san.

"Wha…! Wasn't Leone's Awakening only one use… twice!?"

So they'd figured out that Leone's Beast-Blood Awakening, unlike Adelia's, was only one use.

"Mn, that's right. Without restoring it via Thunder Aura, she can't use it twice."

"Then why…!?"

… What we'd done was simple. The first time, I'd given the order, but it was a bluff.

Leone ignored my order and only used Demon Art Gale Thunderclap on the first go.

The idea of a Garumon deliberately ignoring orders normally wouldn't occur to anyone, so I'd hoped they'd be fooled.

Well, it was thanks to Leone's speed. The moment Leone used Demon Art Beast-Blood Awakening, you had to instantly fire Tranquil Water Surface and Castling, or you couldn't keep up. There was no time to think calmly.

On that count, the moment I had this bluff prepared, I hadn't actually felt cornered.

Zugaaan!

Leone's strike landed on Aozawa-san beautifully!

"… I, for Kanan-sama, can't lose, you know, Tranqu…!"

Zugaaan!

She desperately tried to grit her teeth and activate her next skill, but Leone's second strike came faster. There was no way to slot a freely-triggered skill in between Leone's flowing chain attacks.

Aozawa-san… fell.

"Castling… eh…!?"

Saibel's Castling was late. Of course, it failed to trigger.

Free-trigger skills were activated by your own thinking. Whether you could match them to attacks that came too fast depended on skill.

If you couldn't match them, naturally they failed.

"Demon Art Gale Thunderclap!"

With consecutive actions from doubled Speed, attacking someone other than the same target was fairly difficult, but possible.

Left alone she'd activate on the same target, so all I had to do was choose a different target the moment the re-action triggered.

I'd judged that Saibel, with Wind Shield, was more troublesome than Rubilia, who only used single-target attacks.

This time I'd land Leone's piercing + guaranteed-hit attack with Atk buff and Speed buff still intact!

Dogoo!

In one strike, Wind Shield was pierced and Saibel's HP was chunked down by 2/3.

Dogoo!

In other words, two strikes would finish it. Even if Endure triggered, the third strike would finish it.

"… Last Attack, Tornado!"

"Kill them with this, Saibel! Triple Boost!"

But at that moment, whether by death-trigger trait or skill, Saibel activated a final attack. With an intense buff from Rubilia attached.

A Tornado strengthened many times over raged…!

"Earth Barrier!"

… Haru drew it all in and took the damage alone… and fell.

Without Haru, that single attack might have wiped us out.

Well, I thought Leone would've survived.

It was a fearsome Last Attack.

Bishi-bishi, bishi! "Ah-gu!" Bishi! "Hyaa!"

Golem-kun's attacks dug into Rubilia.

It seemed the wall of flame had run out as well.

"Impossible…

"R-Rubilia! Defeat her, by any means defeat her! If we just take down Leone the Attacker, we win!"

"U-gugugu… Last Support! … Double Boost, Flame Laser!"

Rubilia tried to answer Yamagata-kun's unreasonable demand by firing off an attack with an attack buff stacked. But…

"After casting a buff, the Supporter is just another Defender. I won't let an attack reach Leone."

Setsuna covered Leone and fell.

"Thanks, Setsuna-chan. All right then… let me close this out. Demon Art, Gale Thunderclap!"

Dogo! Dogo! Dogo!

Leone's attack ground down Rubilia's HP completely…

"… One more time! Last Attack! Double Boost, Flame Laser!"

"…!"

Dogooooo!

The final blow struck Leone directly.

Apparently when you defeated the opponent with a Last Attack at the moment your own HP hit 0, the side that fired the Last Attack won.

On that count, this had also been an absolutely huge pinch, but…

… Leone hadn't let her guard down until the very last moment. Because she'd kept her composure to the end, she could put up a precise defense even against the final attack.

Leone took close to 100 damage, but only that. With Leone's HP intact, Rubilia fell.

The result was a victory by a very thin margin. But I prided myself that I'd built up my forces, polished my tactics, and assembled them to the point where I could win this fight ten out of ten times.

It was the victory of that preparation.