Ursula vs. Sairas

The night of Day 1.

"Ah, Griera, do you want to try a battle against Ursula too?"

I made the suggestion off the cuff.

"… You sure? I mean, if it's all right with you, I'd like to give it a try, but…

"Ursula-sama doesn't know what we can do yet, right? Wouldn't you rather save us as a trump card?"

"No, we wouldn't do that. We know everything Ursula can do.

"And Ursula's going to fight us with full knowledge of what we can do too."

"… If that's how it is, then. They say I'm pretty much S-Class, but I've never actually fought an S-Class. I'd kind of like to taste the strength of an active S-Class Master."

"Yeah, I want to see it too.

"Ursula, would you?"

"Hmm… A bout against the renowned mercenary Griera, hm. As an S-Class Master, 'tis a disagreeable match where defeat is not an option… But the chance to fight a strong opponent is welcome to me as well. I shall take you on."

At my suggestion, the Griera vs. Ursula bout was set up.

Against Griera's pressing Infinite Bullet, Mira and Mikoto guarded Cellas tightly.

And then, three turns later…

"Divine Art - Raphaela!"

Cellas activated her Divine Art. Unusable for three turns, but once it triggered, Cellas's killing-blow Skill granted her five turns of invincibility.

Within that window, Cellas tore right through Griera, Irana, and Klara.

"Ngh… so strong… Are Seraphs all monsters across the board…!"

The back line was a luxurious matchup of Moruna-chan vs. Ursula.

"Demon Art Belzebute!"

"…!"

Moruna-chan was weakened by the mercilessly unleashed Demon Art.

Ursula broke through the incapacitation and steadily shot Moruna-chan down.

Moruna-chan finally pulled out Absolute Boundary, but Ursula didn't fall to instant death.

Moruna-chan was brought down by Ursula's killing-blow Demon Art.

Lizalind somehow managed to defeat Libera and saved face, but that was the end of it.

She was put down by Saria.

"… Phew, somehow my honor as an S-Class Master held up… But you were a tough opponent, Griera. Truly the renowned mercenary. The 'pretty much S-Class' title is no exaggeration."

"Tch… no helping it once you've lost. If Moruna had gone all out it might've been a different story… but I felt a little stiff facing the Demon Lord that's you. Well, no point making excuses when the core of my strength leans on an unstable Magical Beast.

"Truly the S-Class Master, Ursula Belzebute. You were strong."

The two understood each other and shook hands.

"You were both amazing."

The bout between the two strongest Masters I'd fought was fascinating, fun to watch even for me.

"Ursula-sama, you debuted the same year as that Sairas, right? What was he like? Mind if I ask?"

Out of nowhere, Griera lobbed the topic at Ursula.

"… What is it, you. You have an interest in the likes of Sairas?"

"Interest, like… I don't mean it in any weird way. The only man I've fallen for is Naoto.

"It's just, well, I followed the news in Garu Weekly and the like, and during your debut year, you were the center of attention the whole time, weren't you? Everyone was making a fuss.

"But by the end, it was all about Sairas.

"That year, 95… what on earth was that, anyway? I wanted to hear it from someone who was actually there.

"Plain curiosity, so if you don't want to talk, you don't have to. I've got plenty of things I'd rather not talk about myself."

In response to Griera…

"… You ask hard things to ask. But strangely, I cannot bring myself to dislike you.

"… Very well. We'll have a long association going forward, you and I.

"If you want to hear it, I shall tell you."

Ursula agreed to explain, with a wry smile.

S-Class number 3, the genius Sairas, huh…

With S-Class number 4 Leonhardt, I had connections through Suzanne and his sons.

With S-Class number 2 Aqueria, I had no connection, but I one-sidedly admired her.

With S-Class number 1 Satoru, I likewise had no connection, but Suzanne harbored a one-sided rivalry with his Garumon, Michaela Hilde… though she went by a different name now.

That much fate was there.

S-Class number 3 Sairas, by contrast, I had no connection with whatsoever.

He was so much of a pretty boy that not even jealousy came up.

… But it sounded like Ursula had history with him. Which meant that, by taking Ursula in as a companion, I gained a connection too.

The man who had racked up a 20-win streak through the S-Class Tournament, who existed almost like the protagonist of this world… if I aimed for the top of S-Class, sooner or later I'd collide with him. As soon as the next S-Class Tournament, even.

It seemed there'd be no harm in hearing about him.

"The current S-Class number 3, the genius Sairas.

"He and I were indeed in the same debut year, in the same cohort.

"… I am the child of S-Class Master Esta Belzebute, and from LV1 a Demon Lord, an Ultimate Job.

"As that peerless, special presence, I sat at the center of the new-Master talk that year.

"Sairas, on the other hand, was a commoner's child. At the start, surely no one paid him any attention.

"The first time I met him was at the C-Class Tournament in September.

"For a rookie debuting that year, if they steadily climbed the ranks, that was naturally where they'd cross paths.

"At that time, he wore a mask.

"Because of it, the intense aura and presence he carried were veiled. Even I could not read at all how much of a threat he was."

"A mask…?"

Chuunibyou?

"When I asked at the A-Class Tournament, he said it was because too many people kept mistaking him for a futanari Master and coming on to him, which he hated."

Aah, even pretty boys had those kinds of struggles, huh.

"My impression of him at the time was… a strange masked man.

"As you both surely know, the C-Class Tournament is famous in name only.

"Back then there weren't even any matches; the four challengers were simply decided.

"… And then came the B-Class promotion match…

"Even back then there were Lagas, Idosen, and Maizu. I didn't mind whoever I drew, and as it happened I got the one remaining lower-rank Master and won easily, of course.

"I went home in comfortable fashion just like that, and I didn't watch how Sairas fought afterward.

"Sairas, if I recall, was matched against Maizu, and apparently struggled quite a bit before winning. I learned that much later from the Garumon Battle Weekly Report."

Ursula had someone bring out a back-issue of the Garumon Battle Weekly Report from that time.

… It was nothing but write-ups about Ursula. Ursula, Saria, Cellas, Mira, and Mikoto, looking completely unchanged from now, filled the photos.

Libera wasn't there… ah, well, that made sense. Libera was the secretary she took on as a companion after promoting to B-Class.

Sairas's article was just a tiny boxed insert.

… For starters, Maizu's lineup was a pain. Nothing but knights, all locked up tight…

But what deserved more attention was Sairas's lineup.

"Mirror Adept, Thunder Knight… doesn't every single one of them have a weird race name? I've never heard of any of them.

"You hear Swordsman a lot, but Sword Person? Battle Maiden sounds like there might be others, but…"

"You'd notice that, naturally. I didn't pay it much mind at the time.

"Sairas's lineup is composed entirely of Unique Jobs that exist nowhere else.

"He'd been collecting nothing but those special Garumon.

"… That said, at this point their levels were still low. You couldn't say their true value had come out yet.

"That's why he struggled even against the likes of Maizu.

"… In fact, their levels were low. Apparently every one of them was LV30 or below."

"… Eh?"

LV30…!? Even granting that Maizu ranked beneath Lagas, a B-Class Master would have SSR-Class LV50s lined up, surely.

"… The Garumon Weekly Report didn't touch on that information either.

"Even though they were the two Masters who promoted to B-Class alongside me."

"… So embarra～ssing～…"

Patty drooped.

"Patty, this would have been before your time…"

The fiercely conscientious Patty was being defended even by Ursula.

"Well, it can't be helped. Sairas back then concealed his presence beautifully.

"Unlike me, who climbed from B to A-Class without much delay and gathered the spotlight, his promotion to A-Class happened just barely in time for the start of the A-Class Tournament.

"Other B-Class Masters were promoting on that same kind of timing too, and he wasn't a topic of conversation at all.

"In the end, the first time he and I directly faced each other was the A-Class Tournament finals.

"On our side, Cellas had just promoted to LV50 Seraph right before that.

"Demon Lord, Seraph, Dragon King all lined up. We were already being treated as guaranteed champions.

"Sairas, on the other hand, was challenging the A-Class Tournament with his still-undeveloped six unusual rare-name Garumon hovering around LV40.

"By that point I'd memorized his name as well, and recognized him as a male in my cohort, so I'd watch his matches sometimes.

"… Every match, he'd skim by at low altitude and win by the skin of his teeth.

"Leading nothing but underpowered, mid-development Garumon like that, he fought well, I marveled.

"By that time I'd at least somewhat noticed his extraordinariness.

"… Well, I can't deny if you say it's just hindsight.

"As if reading the opponent's moves in advance, with precisely-targeted buffs, buff-strips, and combinations of status ailments, he'd inch ahead of his opponent. The strength gap between sub-LV50 Garumon and LV50 Garumon is about 1.5x.

"And yet, he constantly dominated the battlefield on at-least-equal terms, and by the time you noticed, he'd won.

"What he was doing, I understand now. He was using the A-Class Tournament to raise the floor on the lowest-level Garumon in his party.

"Or perhaps he was deliberately holding back… staging close, evenly-matched bouts for show. Without even his own Garumon noticing. That way, levels would rise more efficiently.

"… And then, the finals. The Garumon he brought were also six at around LV45.

"Most predictions favored my crushing victory. Not even worth his attention, they said.

"I fought without holding back at all. I made full use of every Demon Art, Divine Art, and Dragon Art. Including Demon Art Belzebute, which I'd been keeping in reserve until then.

"For him too, it was a Skill he was seeing for the first time. He must have suffered greatly from the Poison and stat reductions.

"… But the result was his victory.

"By a hair's breadth at the very edge, his last attack pierced through me… and I went down.

"Whether he held back and staged a deliberate close bout, or whether even he fought all-out that time… I can no longer tell.

"I'd at least like to believe it was the latter, though…"

So spoke Ursula, with a wry smile.

In terms of class, all six were in the same state as now. And Ursula lost to that, against six LV45 Garumon…?

Without anything like Ursula's Spirit Garb, no countermeasure to Demon Art Belzebute, and without a Seraph among her allies?

Eh, what did that mean? It didn't quite make sense.

"Was there a Hero or someone with anti-Demon-Lord super-effective?"

"No, there was nothing of the sort.

"I remember his lineup well. Diana, just before she became a Goddess. And those intense thunder attacks…

"But… I couldn't beat him. Now I understand why too.

"It was simply that, one by one, I couldn't match him in tactical exchange.

"Our Garumon's performance was higher. In terms of class, it was the same as now. Naturally.

"And yet… before we knew it, like falling into an antlion's pit, we found ourselves on the back foot.

"That clever tactical play still gives me chills.

"… He came up to me at the awards ceremony.

"'23rd or 24th, which are you going for?' he asked. I'm going for 24th, I answered. 'Then I'll go with 23rd.' He answered just like that, like it was nothing…

"At the S-Class swap match,

"he defeated 23rd and just like that climbed up to S-Class. With his three LV48s, Ranka, Ibuki, and Fremia, in a six-in-a-row knockdown.

"I had to fight quite hard for it before finally winning, though…

"And then at the end of October, the S-Class Tournament started.

"The first match was him at 23rd, and me at 24th.

"… And there, he brought out his serious lineup.

"These three at LV50.

"… I had absolutely no chance. Not only did I never lay eyes on Sairas's second party, I couldn't take a single one down… no, I don't even remember dealing a single point of damage.

"It was a complete and utter defeat.

"For a first-year rookie to possess a Goddess of the Legendary Job class, and the Faerie Queen, said to be the most ultimate even among Ultimate Jobs… who would ever have imagined?

"But more than that… he was simply too strong. It wasn't just the quality of his Garumon. Through his command and tactics, he amplified that quality several times over and totally overwhelmed us.

"… I heard he lost to Aqueria and ended up at 3rd place, but from my standpoint, I was astonished Aqueria managed to win against that at all.

"Above the heights, there are still greater heights…

"At this rate, I… would never be able to climb higher. I came to feel that sense of urgency…"

So Ursula said.

Even now, Ursula stood a step above me. And the opponent that very Ursula had no chance against…

"If it's the current Ursula, could you beat the Sairas of back then?"

"… Heh. If only I had the conviction that I'd grown at least at that pace…

"I've no thought of taking you on as my Sub-Master anymore.

"You're surely still telling yourself you'll beat him by your own strength one day, hm.

"… Sadly, even if I fought the Sairas of those days now, the result would not change.

"And what's more, the present-day him has surely grown four years' worth beyond then.

"Now, I wouldn't even merit his attention…"

Ursula laughed like that, lonely.

… I see. So the reason Ursula tried to bring me on as her Sub-Master was…

"… Was to aim for taking down Sairas by adding me as a companion?"

"… Just so. If I alone cannot reach him, then I should swallow up someone with talent and elevate myself.

"It's for that, that I set my sights on you."

Ursula admitted as much.

That was… an honor.

It meant she'd thought I, of all people, could stand against a genius that overwhelming.

But…

"In that case, I'll be the one to surpass Sairas.

"… And make you my own."

I wasn't about to meekly become Ursula's possession on an "I see."

"… Hahaha!"

Ursula laughed.

"Oh, aim for that, and aim well! You are one I have acknowledged.

"That you have the makings, even I believe.

"… Of course, the one who shall swallow your talent and rise to the top is this Ursula Belzebute."

And then, she and I held each other's gaze.

We would, sooner or later, face the same direction and fight together.

When that time came, who supported whom would finally be decided. A little ways off still, though.