All-Out War: Versus the A-Class Sub-Master

"… To think it would come to this…"

Stein's Sub-Master, Reifen, was a futanari woman.

Granted, she was undeniably beautiful, but she was a large, muscularly built woman, and not exactly to my taste.

"For Stein-sama's sake, I shall defeat you!"

She seemed to genuinely cherish Stein. Stein's pettiness was its own thing, but if his Garumon loved him, I couldn't quite bring myself to hate him.

The three she sent out were…

A lewd getup of nothing but a loincloth. The three Jesters were a futanari party with their cocks fully exposed.

Their faces and heights differed, so they weren't triplets.

A skewed lineup, plus that special outfit…

All three were beautiful. Well, compared to our Yuria and Haru, they were completely outshone, of course.

This worked out just right.

"Haru! Patty! Adelia!"

I tweaked the lineup. Adelia had few Awakening uses left, so I'd swap her in with Patty's Barrier Crush and see if she could finish them.

But the opponent was an irregular party. Would standard tactics even work?

Whether the opponent would set up buffs or attack right away, you could roughly tell from their eyes.

… Buffs first. In that case, so would we.

"Haru, Wood Golem; Adelia, Boost Power; Patty, Ogre's Blessing!"

"Yuri, Deadly Speed; Mafi, Deadly Power; Saron, Deadly Shuffle!"

"Got it, Deadly Speed!"

"Got it, Deadly Power!"

"Got it, Deadly Shuffle!"

The buffs the two cast raced between the three of them. Before you knew it, all three had a Power buff and a Speed buff applied.

Oho, kind of interesting.

Shubababa! The unspeaking Mr. Golem unleashed a four-hit combo.

"Shuffle Dance!"

Tahn, ta-tahn, ta-tahn! The three flitted about with shifting, shape-changing movement… and the way their boobs and cocks jiggled was distracting!

If they'd been bustier it would've really been bad, but all three were on the smaller side, which wasn't to my taste, so I somehow managed to ignore it.

In any case, Mr. Golem's four-hit combo had been splendidly dodged.

What kind of skill was that? Something that swapped the three around to dodge attacks? It wasn't the teleporting type, so guaranteed-hit ought to still apply…

But aside from Adelia, no one had guaranteed-hit available…

The other side seemed set on stacking even more buffs. Confident in their defense, apparently.

"Haru, Green Wall; Adelia, Boost Power; Patty, Ogre's Blessing!"

The same actions repeated. So in essence, all of them had their attack and speed buffed by 100%.

… They'd come soon.

"Haru, Earth Barrier!"

"Deadly Connect! Deadly Drive!"

Zan! … Hm? Even halved, only about 3 damage. Weak…

"Deadly Drive!"

Ugh, a re-action? 6 damage. The damage had doubled.

"Deadly Connect, Deadly Drive!"

Onto the second one.

12 damage… so this was it! 24 damage!

Crap, a skill where consecutive attacks kept doubling the damage!

Setting aside the next 48, if we took the one after that at 96 damage, Haru wouldn't endure it!

That said, even if someone other than Haru covered, since high-defense Haru was the one taking 96 damage, with Adelia or Patty it'd be more than double that.

"Mr. Golem!"

Dogooo!

The last Deadly Drive, I had Mr. Golem take in Haru's place. Thanks, Mr. Golem.

He really was a meritorious contributor… I wanted to give him some kind of reward, but would fertilizer make him happy?

If all three survived, that'd be bad.

"Patty, Binding Curse!"

"Got it～! Don't move～!"

Jararara! An image of chains coiled around the three, hindering their movement. They had some kind of incapacitation resistance, so total restraint wasn't possible.

But if I could just create a moment's opening…!

"Adelia. Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening, Fire Boost, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw! Hit Mafi and Saron!"

If it was Adelia, she could slot her own attack in after the slowest action and take down the enemies for us!

… An aside, but let me explain inserting an action against the slowest action. It was actually a fairly advanced technique.

Patty's Binding Curse was the slowest action of the turn.

One turn ran about ten to twenty seconds.

The skill input window was about ten seconds, and the skill activation window was about ten seconds.

A case where a turn stretched to twenty seconds was easy to picture with the slowest-action Tornado or Blizzard.

They activated around the 9.5-second mark and remained active for about ten seconds, hitting twenty seconds maximum.

Patty's Binding Curse had an activation duration of about two to three seconds, but the activation timing was the same 9.5 seconds.

… In other words, if you could activate a skill within the 0.5-second window from 9.5 to 10 seconds, you could act after the slowest action.

With one skill, it wasn't even that hard. Though anyone bad with timing would probably mess up.

But in Adelia's case, she had to use three skills.

"Just pop, pop, pop them off, what's the big deal?" That was a thought poisoned by gaming.

Because this was reality.

Fire Boost made the blood feel as if it were boiling.

Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening dyed her vision red and intensely concentrated her consciousness, and as the power of piercing and guaranteed-hit took root, her hands and feet felt as if they were going numb.

Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw transformed both her hands and feet into sharp claws, draped them in flame, and had her grip the ground while spewing flame to charge, attacking the enemy with the claws of both hands and the flame.

The action and reaction of all that landed on Adelia's body as a load.

The activation itself wasn't a big deal, but in the sense that she had to absorb the recoil, activating a skill very much resembled firing a bullet.

Well, I'd never fired a gun, so this was secondhand. Kanan, who'd actually shot one overseas, gave the impression that it was indeed close.

Within 0.5 seconds, she pulled off the feat of firing three rounds from a heavy-recoil gun.

Adelia was amazing. Cute.

Back to the scene…

"Nyaaaaah!"

Dogo! The first one, Mafi, went down without letting Deadly Shuffle activate.

Immediately, a re-action!

"Deadly Shuffle!"

The evasion skill activated here. But Adelia's attack splendidly tracked them. Even without Binding Curse, guaranteed-hit alone might have been enough. Maybe I'd been too cautious.

Dogo!

With one more hit, Saron went down.

How about that…!?

With one left I'd thought they couldn't do anything, but they still seemed game.

"Deadly Resurrect!"

The remaining Yuri's dance revived Mafi. Even at 1 HP, since they dodged everything except guaranteed-hit, they figured it was no problem.

Damn, this was bad… My guaranteed-hit was used up.

If Patty had had guaranteed-hit, I could have gone for it, but…

Alright, repeat what we just did. The instant they were near-stunned by Binding Curse, land an attack. With Adelia, against one opponent, it was doable.

But landing consecutive attacks on two was impossible. Without guaranteed-hit, two wouldn't connect.

What to do? How to take them down? Thinking time was about ten seconds until the turn ended. I racked my brain for a plan…

… No, I could do this. I'd hit on a method.

"… Haru, time it with Patty's Binding Curse and land Flower Drain on Mafi.

"You haven't really practiced as an attacker, but Haru, you can do it!"

"… Yeah, I'll do it. I haven't been watching how everyone moves under Naoto-kun's commands all this time for nothing!

"If it's for Naoto-kun… I can do it too!"

Haru, too, was completely different from his timid manner of before. He stood ready, brimming with confidence.

Lately Haru often said the words "for Naoto-kun." When he did, courage welled up, apparently.

How cute…

"Good. The opponent has incapacitation resistance, but Patty's Binding Curse will halt their movement for just an instant. Don't miss that moment, hit them.

"Patty, Binding Curse! Adelia, Fire Boost, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw; Haru, Flower Drain!"

And so…

"Binding Curse～!"

Timed to Patty's slowest action, a coordinated, breath-matched chain of motion! It made for a far more beautiful linkage than the consecutive attacks their skill chained together.

"Nyaaaah!"

Zugaaan!

"Flower Drain!"

Zugaaan!

With the timing perfectly matched, we annihilated them without letting Deadly Shuffle come out.

"Nyaa! We did it nya, Haru! Patty!"

"Got it～! As expected～!"

"Yeah! We did it!"

Pap!

The sight of the three clasping hands and rejoicing was beautiful.

"All right, well done. Member change. Kanan, Luna, Yuria!"

Adelia was out of skill uses. I couldn't field her in the next match.

Their second party was a relatively orthodox lineup.

Our backline was Attacker Luna, Supporter Yuria, Defender Kanan.

"Now, Luna, show me your full strength. I'll protect you firmly!"

"… Yes. My dream, too… is to become a Seraph alongside Suzanne-san! I won't lose to anyone!"

"Like Haru earlier, you too are a futanari, Yuria."

Reifen had judged it from the two's pareo-clad Spirit Garb appearance.

"That's right?"

"… Hmph, with a boy like that for a partner, drilling his asshole must be quite enjoyable… As fellow Sub-Masters, we shall not lose to one such as you, soaking in such tepid waters!"

"… ? Wh-What…?"

Yuria was thoroughly taken aback.

I was thoroughly taken aback too. That line just now… uh, um, was Stein into being drilled? That fat, rugged middle-aged old man? Uaah…

I didn't want to imagine it.

"Um, Naoto's not into that, you know?"

Yuria firmly denied it. She didn't have to say anything else, but that part at least, I'd wanted her to deny properly.

"Foolish. Statistics show that 9 out of 10 Masters who like futanari Garumon enjoy being drilled by their Garumon!"

"He's just part of the other 10%, isn't he…

"Sorry, reality is too funny for me to retort…"

Yuria let out a sigh.

"Gnnngh… All the more unforgivable! I shall absolutely not lose to you!"

"You've had it rough, haven't you… I sympathize, but I can't lose either. The strength of my love for my Master, I won't lose at."

"Silence! No matter how painful, to endure is love! I shall absolutely not lose!"

… The image of Stein and Reifen's nights, which I didn't want to imagine, kept floating up in my head, so I really wished she'd stop the verbal spat…

Anyway, we were starting.

That said, the lack of piercing attacks was a bit tough.

"Kanan, Phantom Mist Clone; Luna, Angel Halo; Yuria, Black Matrix on Luna!"

"Hmph… Behold. My ultimate, supreme Divine Art, Ultimate Protect!"

Bachi bachi bachi…

Reifen's body was wrapped in an aura.

"Haaaaah!"

Dogogogogo…!

It exuded a fearsome, ironclad sense of defense. Hmm, with anything other than attack skills, I couldn't tell what it did.

Probably some absurd skill like full party-wide complete defense… The number of uses was likely no more than three. Maybe one. If I recalled, Guardian Knight was a top-tier class said to be the best-of-the-best in defense, leaning even more thoroughly into defense than Holy Knight.

So, until it ran out, attacking would be useless.

Still, what nerve to use a defensive skill of that magnitude as her opening move. I almost never went on the attack on the very first move.

… No. This was…

"This will do. Go! Crush Stein-sama's enemies, Sheilen! Mitri!"

"Ahahahaha! Now! That Defender there, she's the ace of your party, isn't she! In that case, it ends here!

"Go, Mitri! Demon Art - Curse King Descent!"

Dogogogogo…!

A tremendous buff rained down on Mitri. Attack power multiplied many times over with piercing added on top, by the look of it.

And Sheilen, who'd used it, collapsed.

"Ahahahahah! Now… take this! Demon Art - Demon God Descent!"

Dogogogogogogo!

Mitri, who'd used it, likewise collapsed.

This was… a self-destruct attack!

I see… not bad at all.

While Reifen guarded with complete defense, if the two wiped each other out, Reifen alone would survive as the winner.

… I'd just played it cool with that "not bad at all," but this was genuinely bad.

What to do. How to dodge. What kind of technique was that Demon God Descent? What was its area of effect? A way to escape…

Worst case, all I could pin my hopes on was Endure, but…!

In ultimate concentration, I tried to see through the gaps in the technique's effect.

A hole opened in the sky above the battlefield, and light… rained down in several streams. I didn't miss the position of those momentary shadows.

"Kanan, Clone!"

I issued instructions to Kanan and her clone, two of them in succession.

The two scooped up Luna and Yuria respectively and teleported via Otherworld Gate.

The change from Otherworld Wind to Otherworld Gate had brought one more thing beyond range and use count.

… You could pass through the Gate while taking allies with you. You could teleport simultaneously with allies.

Gooooooo!

The concentrated streams of light unleashed. Heat rays of tremendous thermal output bored holes in the floor of the battlefield.

But…

When the technique's effect subsided, Kanan, Luna, Yuria, and the clone… all survived unharmed.

"… Huh? … Huh? Whaaaaat!? Th-That's impossible! It's an all-range attack that pierces every defense!?

"There's no way it should be dodgeable…!"

Reifen was utterly dumbstruck.

… No, it had been a fairly opening-prone technique.

Even as an all-range attack, the area of effect was patchy, with quite a few openings. A common story.

In particular, a technique where the user themselves collapsed afterward had no further control to it.

The openings being there had been predictable.

… No, it was just a result that had broken right for me. If it hadn't worked, all I had to fall back on was the Endure of Kanan clad in Setsuna's Spirit Garb.

Still, so there was a way to fight like this… A fighting style only available to a Sub-Master, with a Master backing them up.

… Interesting.

One step wrong and we'd have been wiped out, defeated.

My spine had gone cold, and I was breaking out in cold sweat. But… interesting! Not bad at all… after all the lukewarm stuff up till now… I'd had to revise my opinion!

As expected of an A-Class Master! I wanted to taste more battles like this, ones that sent shivers of fear up my spine…!

For that, I couldn't lose in a place like this!

"Gaaaaah!"

Reifen alone, perhaps to drain even a little of our skill uses, struggled and struggled, but…

"Divine Art - Balmung!"

No matter how capable she was, with one Defender and feeble attack power, there was no way she could win.

Kanan and Yuria stayed on standby, conserving resources.

It became almost a one-on-one with Luna, a drawn-out fight where she struggled to land her attacks, but at the end of it… Luna's sword cut Reifen down.

"Haah, haah… To stumble around so much and look so unsightly, that's me…"

"Not so. The opponent was a Defender of higher rank. The Sub-Leader of an A-Class Master. Taking her down one-on-one is a splendid thing."

"Yes, you were wonderful, Luna."

Embraced by Kanan and Yuria, Luna smiled happily.

"But… I'll get even stronger. Like Suzanne…!"

Luna was brimming with motivation, burning with passion.

Battle ended. Patty and Luna leveled up. Reaching LV40, they got considerably stronger.

Patty had a skill mutation.

Piercing Charge →

Now it granted guaranteed-hit. Straight-up an upgrade. Area attacks could now be guaranteed-hit.

The technique Luna learned was…

Oh, wasn't that the technique Throne Olgia used earlier? Well, sharing the name didn't mean the effect was the same, but with piercing-grant and large damage it was incredibly strong! Unlike Suzanne's Flamberge it was single-element, but it had Demon super-effective 4x.

So since God was originally 2x-effective vs Demon, did this mean 8x, or did it mean the 2x became 4x…?

If it was the same as Balmung, Balmung had ignored the 1/2 and gone 4x. So this one was probably 4x as well.

Well, the fun would be in trying it out.

And then…

"O-Oooh…!"

Here it comes, here it comes! LV50, baby!

Yeah, the top-tier class for Grass-element. No problem at all, great, great.

… But, just a tiny bit, I'd been hoping for a special evolution like Kanan or Maika, so I was really sorry I'd been just a tiny bit disappointed.

No, like Leone, there was already proof that even after reaching LV50, growth depended on what came after. If a top-tier class wasn't enough, raise to ultimate, and if even that wasn't enough, raise to legendary. I just had to train them to the very limit.

"Tree Spirit is the best class among Grass-element top-tier classes. The order is Grass Spirit < Wood Spirit < Tree Spirit."

Lyuka filled me in on that.

So it was properly excellent. Of course. Haru was super strong and cute.

Without a worry, I instantly selected Yes.

Only one skill evolved. Mr. Wood Golem evolved into a spirit!? Hmm, just what had he turned into?

Reaching LV50 meant of course there was fun to be had after this…

Ugh, leaving Ursula on hold and bringing Haru home would get me yelled at again…

No, it'd all come after this was over.

Now, finally, the battle against Stein.

Hmm… was it okay to field the evolved Haru? Was it okay to level Patty and Luna?

Gogogogo…

Stein's fighting spirit was bearing down on us with a fearsome momentum.

But…

Well, leveling the two further was overdoing it, so the win went to Luna with her newly learned Divine Art.

Including Lyuka and Setsuna, both still unhurt to this point… ah, Sawako was unhurt too.

Sawako instead of Luna… but Sawako was already at LV50, so she didn't need leveling either… and she had no piercing attack…

"… Uuu…"

Sawako was visibly sad. An all-out war, and she was the only one not relied on… originally I'd planned to rely on her more, but Colette had tried too hard against the C-Class knights.

"No, really, sorry… Recently Colette learned a skill that hampers buff removal, so Tranquil Water Surface got easier to use too… see, you'll get to shine from now on, see, see."

"H-Hmph. W-Well, I don't mind, it's fine!

"… Next time, rely properly on me, the second-place slave of Kanan-sama! For your sake… for the sake of you, Kanan-sama's foremost slave! I'll do anything!"

Sawako forgave me with a smile. That's right. There would always be a next time.

"… To think, this much… But I shall not lose! To the lovely Ursula-sama, I shall offer my victory…! When that dawn comes… gufufu… I shan't let the likes of you obstruct me!"

… Ugh, I'd ended up imagining what kind of fantasies Stein was indulging in.

… To sully my Ursula with weird fantasies… unforgivable. I'd crush him.