Mock Battle

… So.

If you asked whether I felt up for it, I didn't, really, but…

"Alright, let's give it a try.

"Yuria… You take command of Suzanne, Luna, and Lyuka.

"I'll go all-out in a mock battle with Kanan, Adelia, and Maika."

"… Are you sure? Honestly, your odds against us…"

"No, I want to try it once. Please. Yuria. Suzanne, Luna, Lyuka. Don't hold back. Give it everything you've got."

"… Yes, understood."

… All right. Time to settle this.

"First skill, Divine Art Messiah!"

Luna activated her opening skill. All stats UP 100%, status-ailment block, and on top of that…

Suzanne and Luna sprouted six wings each, and angelic halos manifested. Angel Halo's effect was active.

"Light's Sanctuary."

Lyuka's skill. Atk/Def UP 50% party-wide + Light-advantage attribute. And then…

"Divine Art Michaela!"

From there, Suzanne's stats doubled.

Suzanne was at Atk/Def 5x, Skill and Speed 4x.

When base stats were nearly even all around, getting acted on at double Speed right out of the gate was honestly brutal.

"Kanan, Phantom Mist Clone. Adelia, Boost Power. Maika, Divine Art Accel Mirage."

On our side, Adelia got Atk 1.5x, Maika got Speed 2.2x. Kanan doubled our numbers.

We were getting completely outclassed in the buff race.

Turn 2.

"Cure Shine."

A finishing-touch Atk/Def 30% UP on Suzanne. And then…

"Divine Art Michaela!"

Atk/Def 10.6x. Speed and Skill 8x.

Suzanne's stats had turned into a nightmare from the enemy's perspective.

Calculating it out fresh, it really was brutal.

"Here I come. Divine Art Eternal Shine."

Luna and Lyuka had done what they needed to do; from here on, all that was left was to attack. Even Luna and Lyuka, at all-stats 2x and Atk/Def 2.5x, had been more than enough of a threat to begin with.

Light-attribute attacks were 3.5x. Taking one head-on, getting wiped out in a single shot wouldn't have been the slightest bit strange.

"Kanan!"

"Yes!"

Kanan teleported, and she and her clone planted themselves in front of Adelia and Maika respectively.

She blocked the attack on herself with Elemental Shield and kept the damage to Adelia and Maika to a sliver.

Kanan's defense was masterful.

… The slip damage applied to everyone, however, couldn't be avoided. Everyone would take roughly 25 damage at end-of-turn from this.

"Here I go… Holy!"

Luna's attack followed.

For Demon/Wind-attribute Kanan and Fire-attribute Adelia, God-attribute was super-effective.

Take that head-on and it really would be the end.

"Khh…!"

Likewise, Kanan blocked it… Adelia and Maika's HP was already down to nearly half.

… All right. Much as I'd have loved to take the time to layer on more buffs, there was no leeway left for that.

"Kanan, Realm's Blessing x2 on Adelia,

"Maika, Demon Art - Cocytus!

"Adelia, Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening, Fire Boost, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw!"

"Yes!"

Bwah…!

Tremendous freezing air bore down on Suzanne and the others.

… But the damage was minor. And the freeze effect, in the face of status-ailment immunity…

It did, however, serve as just a touch of action interference.

"Nyaaaaah!"

Tan!

Adelia leapt at her.

Two-hit piercing combo at Atk 4.2x.

Normally, that should have easily taken down a couple of enemies, but…

Standing in Adelia's path was Suzanne.

Adelia, with her right hand, feinted at Suzanne's eyes for an instant, then went for the stomach.

But Suzanne, without blinking, saw through all of it. With her flamberge, she stopped the strike aimed at her stomach dead.

Damage was a mere 14.

Cleanly cut down to 1/2.

"Nyaaah!"

Re-attack. A hook thrown along the diagonal.

That blow, normally hard to dodge, Suzanne lightly twirled her sword and brushed aside.

Adelia's technique was quite advanced in its own right.

But when the Speed and Skill values were 4x apart, it became the kind of brushing-off you'd see between an adult and a child.

Of course, it wasn't only that; Suzanne had been a possessor of exceptional technique to begin with, I knew that much.

28 damage to Suzanne.

That was the result of Adelia's all-out strike.

… The next turn.

"… Here I go. Divine Art Testament!"

And then… a light of ruin rained down.

"Kyaaaaah!"

"Nyaaaaaah!"

"Adelia… Maika… gh."

Thanks to Elemental Shield, Kanan was unhurt, but…

The light of Testament raining down from above over the entire range wasn't something you could block by standing in front to shield someone.

Even supposing you could block it and hold the damage to under half…

Its overwhelming destructive power meant that even a sliver getting through was enough to take down Adelia and Maika.

Adelia fell.

"Demon Art - Cocytus!"

Maika's Cocytus-from-Poison-Apple activated, but the effect against Suzanne, with her Fire attribute, was minor.

"Divine Art Testament!"

On the re-attack, Maika…

"Divine Art Testament!"

A three-strike combo. That was the attack count once Speed-4x territory was reached.

Only Kanan and her clone managed to hold on, but…

"Divine Art Cláu Solas!"

Luna's attack. Since Kanan had a Demon attribute attached, Demon-super-effective 4x kicked in.

Zan…!

"Kuh."

Kanan took it desperately, soaking massive damage… It was, however, considerably less than I'd projected.

"… Luna, attack properly. If you hold back, it doesn't make for practice."

"S-sorry."

Well, I understood the feeling. Going all-out against an ally was hard to bring oneself to do.

Luna's stance had been a bit hesitant, so I hadn't had Kanan dodge.

"Divine Art Eternal Shine."

Lyuka, on the other hand, was plenty merciless. True, she couldn't deal attack damage, but the slip damage climbed even higher.

"Kanan, Realm's Blessing on yourself. From here is the real fight.

"… Concentrate. In theory, no matter how outclassed the opponent is, if you dodge all of their attacks and land all of yours, you can win.

"Even from here, a comeback isn't impossible."

"Yes. Of course. Realm's Blessing!"

She used her own and her clone's blessings on herself.

At end of turn, gatun, massive damage slammed Kanan and the clone.

Kanan was down to about 1/3. The clone to about 2/3.

"… All right, Kanan, Realm's Blessing on yourself."

"Divine Art Flamberge!"

Suzanne's sword meant instant death from a mere graze.

"Kanan!"

She read the perfect timing and dodged it.

But Suzanne instantly tracked to where she'd dodged. A re-action courtesy of her Speed-2x-or-more.

Her swordwork didn't run on a simple trajectory. Through several feints, with truth and feint mixed in…

"Kanan!"

I read it perfectly and had her dodge.

"… Kuh. Luna!"

"Y-yes! This time for sure…! Divine Art Cláu Solas!"

Luna had been attacking the clone almost simultaneously.

If they hit both at the same time, our attention would scatter and we'd make a mistake.

But,

"Kanan."

Luna's sword was still easy to read. Or rather, it was that I knew Luna so well.

Her free-changing, truth-and-feint-mixed sword inherited from Suzanne, the clone teleport-evaded with ease.

"… One more time!"

Turning at a sharp angle, Luna chased the clone too.

Good movement. I'd teleported it out of her sight, into a spot where a second strike should have been hard to throw, but she'd responded immediately.

Not yet, though.

"Kanan."

Once again Luna's sword cut empty air.

"Kuh…"

When it came to teleport-evasion, even against opponents like Suzanne and Luna who overwhelmingly outclassed us in stats, it was working.

However…

"Divine Art Eternal Shine."

A field-spanning all-out attack that persisted for a certain amount of time. This couldn't be evaded by teleporting.

And the slip damage from being hit by Eternal Shine couldn't be evaded either.

"Agh…"

Massive damage at end of turn. Kanan was already on death's door. The next tick of slip damage would take her down.

Once Kanan fell, regrettably, the Phantom Mist Clone vanished too.

This, in other words, was the last turn.

"… Dragon Art Blast Storm, four consecutive. Dodge cleanly, and show me you can land them precisely."

"… Luna, if you can't finish this off, that's good and embarrassing.

"We just have to land one, so the two of us will coordinate to make sure it lands."

"… Yes!"

Tan!

Suzanne stepped in at top speed. Luna followed behind her.

"Kanan."

Suzanne's flowing sword. The reason I could so easily dodge expert-class swordwork flying in at this kind of super-high speed was, I thought…

Because I watched Suzanne's every move closely and understood her well.

"Kuh…"

To Kanan's teleport destination, Luna reacted instantly and slashed in.

"Divine Art Cláu Solas!"

A straight, truly fine sword.

… That said, well, when it was the very sword I'd taught her, reacting wasn't all that hard, really.

If "you can dodge it because she did exactly what I told her" was a problem, then what was a Garumon supposed to do, exactly.

Well, I chose to think she'd grow stronger by thinking about it.

To Kanan's next teleport destination, without a moment's pause Suzanne slashed in. As expected, splendid reactions.

"Kanan."

Pan!

But Kanan's teleport had been trained to the level of a spinal reflex; given even a blink-of-an-eye gap, she could teleport.

"Wha…"

"All right, Kanan!"

"… Yes! Dragon Art Blast Storm!"

Kanan's… last attack.

But Suzanne and Luna immediately shielded Lyuka. The damage to all three was minor.

… And then, the slip damage at end of turn finished it. The result was my defeat.

"… Haa."

In-team mock battles were between sides with nearly equal forces. Even within that, Suzanne and Luna's ability stood a head above the rest.

Specifically, Divine Art Messiah and Divine Art Michaela were too strong.

How to win when they used those… I racked my brain, but I couldn't quite find a winning thread.

"… I shouldn't get carried away. We're still weak.

"Even against Suzanne, we have to shape up to put up a better fight.

"Kanan.

"Against all-out attacks, things are rough for Kanan.

"It's not like Kanan alone has the firepower to survive and finish off the opponent.

"No matter what, we have to keep at least Adelia alive."

"I know… Against all-out attacks, Cover alone won't cut it.

"A skill to protect allies is absolutely necessary.

"… I wonder if I could expand Elemental Shield to cover everyone… like, shubaaan…"

With that, Kanan spread both arms wide… Cute.

"For the time being, I'll focus and pray for it to happen. Apparently the way Patty got the skill she wanted was that, in the end…"

Kanan tilted her head, mu, mu, mu.

"For Adelia, what's finally needed is accelerating into the power-up.

"Against the high-level opponents from here on, even Kanan will struggle to defend for five or six turns.

"You have to ready your attack faster and strike…

"If we can cut down the opponent's numbers, the burden on the defender eases too. Offense is the best defense."

"Nya! I'll do my best, nya! Two-action ～ Three-action ～"

Adelia tilted her head too, mu, mu, mu. So cute.

"I wonder if I should stay an Ice-attribute attacker like this. If I'm pairing with Kanan and Adelia, should I aim to be a supporter instead?"

Maika was thinking too.

"Hmm… assuming the matchup against Ursula… for now, stay an Ice-attribute attacker.

"Right now, no one can replace an Ice-attribute attacker. And when we fight Saria, Maika is who we'll rely on.

"That said, once we join up with Ursula's group, we get three more attackers, and at that point shifting toward supporter is also an option."

"That's true. It'd be nice if I could share my Speed with Kanan and Adelia."

"That'd be the best. Still, every skill Snow White learns is powerful, so I think it's also fine to leave it to natural growth.

"It's fine if she just grows up freely and energetically."

"Fufu, you sound like a parent. But, understood."

Maika smiled with a carefree innocence.

"Suzanne.

"No matter how thoroughly I see through all of your tells, with this stat gap, struggling this much is no good.

"If a Dragon-attribute Garumon uses Dragon Aura, even using Michaela twice only gets you to even… it's by no means an all-purpose power."

"I know.

"Just because I've become a Seraph, I have not the slightest intention of getting cocky! From here is just the beginning.

"But… how is it that you can tell my feints from my real attacks to that extent?"

"Well, I know everything about you, Suzanne.

"For now, let's expand the range of options in your movement.

"It looks like free-form variation, but the patterns in the foundational stances are not actually all that many.

"Once that's the case, the points to watch narrow down, so no matter how fast it is, I can respond.

"Just because it's the fastest, the shortest, doesn't make it the best.

"If anything, the fastest means there's no faster movement than that.

"It might be good to deliberately mix in dynamic motions and bewilder the opponent."

"Range of movement options… understood."

With one piece of advice like that, by the next mock battle she'd be properly adapted to it; even within a single mock battle, I couldn't let my guard down with Suzanne.

"Luna… first, holding back in a mock battle is, sorry, but unthinkable. Precisely because it's practice, you have to go even more all-out than the real thing.

"There's no risk of injuring anyone like in the original world either. If you don't cleanly eliminate weaknesses here, in the real fight someone will exploit them and you'll lose.

"The kindness you show during practice is nothing but harmful. Reflect on that."

"… I'm sorry."

"But aside from that, things were really good. Your swordwork is amazing too, your level has gone up, hasn't it?

"Keep at it like this."

"Yes!"

Luna smiled like a flower.

"Lyuka has nothing for me to say. As a supporter, and as an attacker for the critical moments, your maneuvering is properly executed.

"I'm looking forward to your continued performance as the brain of the party."

"Thank you very much… Although, I am rather mediocre across all my abilities, aren't I?

"As an attacker my attack patterns are few, as a supporter my buff effects are weak, as a defender I can't handle piercing…

"To improve from here, do I also need to specialize in one of them?"

"Hmm, but there are merits to being all-purpose, you know. You can perform in any party.

"It's also easier to cover for composition mistakes, so your stability is exceptionally high.

"If you end up being treated like a jack-of-all-trades down the line, I'd be sorry, but… in any case, we still don't know how Faerie Princess will grow, so for now let's go with your natural form."

"Understood."

"All right, next, in practice format. We'll all dodge maximum-accelerated Leone's attack. Leone, on my command, will land hits on all four cleanly.

"I'll take the chance to practice issuing high-speed commands too."

"""Yes!"""

In this manner, by repeating mock battles to surface our challenges, we worked toward improving our combat strength.

Once you hit LV50-and-up, leveling up wasn't easy, so this, I thought, was the best shortcut to getting stronger.

Honestly, in the A-Class Tournament, our fighting strength had come together to the point where, fighting seriously, we wouldn't struggle anymore.

But what I was looking ahead to was beyond that, to S-Class, to the fight against Ursula, so not losing against an A-Class opponent was a given.

There was nowhere I could afford to slacken.

Ursula, right about now, was probably stacking up the same kind of hard training and growing.

There was no way I could afford to lose.

From New Year's onward, the frequency with which I'd met Ursula had dropped considerably.

I wanted to see her… but I wouldn't.

From a state of fully understanding what skills each of us had and what stats, we were now polishing each other up for the final stretch without letting each other see.

By enduring the time apart, we kindled our fighting spirit, preparing for the decisive battle to come.