A-Class Tournament First Match (Part 2)

At the start of the next turn, Kanan's main body waited in formation, holding Adelia in her arms.

"Kanan, Realm's Blessing. Adelia, Boost Power. Colette, do your best with Conqueror's Shield."

"Yes!"

The three of them moved as instructed and waited.

"Gaaah! Dragon Art - Dragon Slayer!"

It came.

"Haaaah!"

Colette planted herself in the way for all she was worth.

If she could block it that'd be ideal, but the chance of stopping a guaranteed-hit attack wasn't zero, just exceedingly low.

Sure enough, it was no good.

In that case…

"Kanan, Otherworld Gate."

Pan! I clapped my hands at exactly the right beat.

If she used Otherworld Gate, allies could teleport along with her.

Then why not do that from the start?

Because the gate funneled people through one after another, Kanan teleported into the otherworld first, then Adelia followed one tempo later.

So there was a momentary lag.

In other words, the teleport had to be brought one tempo forward.

That demanded even tighter precision.

For a clone Kanan controlled, that was extremely difficult.

What's more, even with perfect timing, teleporting in advance gave the opponent room to delay their own swing.

If they shifted their action timing, it was meaningless.

We'd just get attacked the instant we emerged.

That was why I hadn't done it from the start.

But Amanda was in a frenzied state, half-unconscious and operating on autopilot.

In that condition, I'd surmised, she couldn't manage anything as advanced as deliberately shifting her timing.

"Go…!"

Suka!

By a hair's breadth, Adelia evaded Amanda's slash. The gamble paid off!

"… Wha… … Go! Lunatic Marionette!"

But then Sertia's skill rained down two consecutive re-actions.

This one was just being puppeted, so the timing was even easier to read.

"Dragon Slayer! Dragon Slayer!"

"Otherworld Gate! Gate!"

Each one perfectly evaded with one Otherworld Gate apiece.

"Good grief… it's getting depressing. Still, that means Otherworld Gate has ten uses, eh.

"You switched from clone to main body because you can't evade three in a row. I'll give up the next two turns, but on the third, just how do you intend to dodge?"

Rudis laughed fearlessly.

… He'd read me. I was the one wowing the venue with high-level technique, sure, but flip it around and that just meant I was so cornered nothing short of circus-act stunts could keep me alive.

One beat off, one instant of error, and the side getting blown away in a flash would be us.

So this… was an A-Class versus A-Class battle.

A nasty sweat slowly crept down my back.

But… I had no intention of losing.

The reason I could pull off these perfect dodges wasn't only that my read on the timing was perfect… not just that, not at all.

More than anything, it was because Kanan trusted me from the bottom of her heart and executed my orders flawlessly.

To answer her trust… I absolutely could not lose.

For the next two turns, just as Rudis had predicted, I succeeded in evading.

That brought us to five stacks of Boost Power and eight stacks of Realm's Blessing. From the next turn we could finally shift to attacking. But the Otherworld Gate uses left were one for Kanan's main body, two for the clone.

That meant blocking three consecutive attacks with just that, which demanded even tighter timing.

First, Kanan's clone scooped up Adelia.

"Dragon Art - Dragon Killer!"

The opening strike. Evaded with Kanan's clone. The clone's teleport was actually half a tempo slower. If I hadn't read the timing right up to this critical moment with Kanan's main body, the trick of having the clone hold Adelia and dodge wouldn't have been possible.

But we'd practiced nine times by this point.

Speeding up by half a tempo was doable.

"Gate!"

Cleanly evaded.

"Lunatic Marionette!"

And the teleport destination was where Kanan's main body stood. From clone to main body, Kanan smoothly handed Adelia off and instantly teleported.

This timing was so brutally tight it was impossible without the main body. And we'd pulled it off beautifully.

"Re-action!"

And the last one. Kanan's clone teleported in and tackled Adelia and Kanan, knocking them aside.

She couldn't teleport again, but the teleports were exhausted anyway. For a rough teleport that just had to act as a body double, the clone could handle it.

Zan!

At last, the clone took one hit… And in that single hit, the clone's HP, equal to Kanan's, was almost completely shaved away. Even with Hero's Armor restoring her defense.

No, on top of Dragon Aura, Amanda had had buffs piled on by Dance of Exhilaration, so the fact the clone barely survived at all was honestly miraculous.

Could she put up Realm's Blessing one more time, I wondered. Well, no need to fixate on it.

Dowaaaaah…!

"Incredible… too incredible! Bouncing Adelia back and forth between main body and clone like she's juggling, evading three consecutive attacks for the cost of just the clone's damage!

"Naoto-san's evasion technique is at the level of divine artistry now! Too amazing!"

Commentator Millenia was hugely excited.

We'd cleared a major hurdle on our side, too.

"… Splendid. I take my hat off."

So Rudis said, and gave me a bow.

"That said, the contest's just getting started, you know?"

"Of course."

We exchanged fearless smiles.

Next turn, both sides would finally attack. Now, what would happen. Was Guaranteed-Hit Dance truly out of charges.

If it was still active, we couldn't block any more.

Unless the miracle of guaranteed-hit defense via Colette's Cover, which hadn't once activated, finally fired, we'd be done.

"Elsa, Guaranteed-Hit Dance."

At Rudis's words, my spine went cold. No, not yet. Colette hadn't just been flying around aimlessly all this time. She'd been waiting for the right timing.

By now it wouldn't be strange for guaranteed-hit defense to trigger.

Until the very last instant, I would absolutely never give up!

"Colette, I'm counting on you!"

"Yes!"

With exquisite footwork, Colette met the charging Amanda head-on.

Gakiin! Brilliantly, Colette blocked Amanda's Dragon Slayer with Conqueror's Shield.

Piercing defense. One of the strongest defensive techniques, after a long stretch of being a dud, had finally fired.

… Or rather, that was a bluff, wasn't it, Rudis.

Most likely what Elsa had danced was Dance of Exhilaration. Just as I'd guessed, Guaranteed-Hit Dance had run out at five uses.

If I'd given up for even one instant, thinking Ah, guaranteed-hit's still in play, he'd have landed the hit in that opening.

… Rudis was strong. But this was as far as he went.

"Here we go, Adelia! Fire Boost + Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening + Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw. On Sertia!"

Adelia's speed had been raised 240% from continuously stacking Realm's Blessing, but the base was halved, so it was only 1.7x. Amanda, with double speed, was just barely faster.

But she was faster than Elsa and Sertia.

Take down Sertia first, and the three-action chain wouldn't happen. The Moon Rabbit Lunatic state might also wear off.

The core of Rudis's lineup was Sertia.

"Marionette Protection!"

Realizing she was the target, Sertia immediately pulled Amanda back into her own guard.

"Nyaaaaaah!"

But Adelia had read it, and her aim was perfect. She drove her claws straight into Amanda's vitals, gouging deep!

"Dragon Art - Ultimate Protect!"

A defense skill?

Ultimate… probably an absolute defense skill!

Dragon Aura double defense, plus Dragon-element halving Fire-element. Even with all that…

Adelia's attack power had been buffed massively with Realm's Blessing and Boost Power. Roughly twenty times her base attack.

Land it perfectly with a critical hit, and that became forty times!

Dogoooooooh!

Through Adelia's Breakthrough trait, Amanda's HP was shaved away in one go.

"… What the!?"

Rudis was astonished. He apparently hadn't expected Ultimate Protect to be broken through.

I couldn't let that instant of opening slip!

"Kanan!"

"Realm's Blessing!"

The last Realm's Blessing was poured into Adelia.

"Adelia!"

"Nyaaaaaah!"

Re-attack…!

Doggoooooh!

The follow-up strike magnificently shaved Amanda's HP to nothing.

But…

"Gaaaah! Dragon Art - Reincarnate!"

Doshu! Amanda was instantly restored to full HP.

"Wha…!"

She had a skill like that!? No wonder he kept his only damage source as the cover-tank.

… I'd been the one underestimating her for not being an Ultimate-Job class. They were extremely strong Garumon.

… The fight continued. This was going to drag on.

"Lunatic Marionette!"

And then Amanda's attack.

"Colette!"

We'd win. We'd absolutely win. For that, Colette had to not let a single attack through.

"Dragon Art - Dragon Slayer!"

"Haaaaaah!"

Gakiin!

Colette had practiced earnestly and seriously up to this point.

Aware that Lesser Hero was a class that dragged everyone down, she'd trained harder than anyone, drilling herself until sluggish movements could block fast attacks.

The reason I'd judged we could win wasn't only that Kanan and Adelia could cover Colette's gaps.

Colette herself was an extremely strong, dependable Garumon!

Gakiin!

Amanda's consecutive attacks were perfectly shut down.

Next turn. From here on, the fight came down to how many uses Amanda's Reincarnate had.

"Nyaaaaah!"

Adelia first. With a flowing two-hit combo, she reliably whittled down Amanda, who was bracing with Ultimate Protect.

I made it sound casual, but this was a divinely-skilled, ultra-high-end technique, you know.

Adelia was way stronger than Amanda! And cuter!

"Dragon Art - Reincarnate!"

Full HP again. Quit messing around, how many of those does she have!

… Well, about three, I'd guess.

Two more turns.

If Colette deflected even one attack before those ran out, it was over.

That said, no matter how strong Colette was, asking her to block 100% perfectly was honestly unreasonable.

"Aaagh!"

The third time, the shield was slipped past.

"I won't let her!"

Zan!

Kanan covered. The clone shielded Adelia. With this, the clone was gone, but…

"Leave the rear to me! Hang in there, Colette!"

"Yes!"

Two more, Kanan's main body would block.

If she could block even one of the next three-attack combo, we could pull through.

If it wasn't three, that meant additional attacks, but we'd handle that when it came!

Rudis was true to form with his poker face.

I couldn't read at all how cornered his side was.

I was good at poker faces too, but not letting your expression be read was a must-have skill for top-tier Masters.

Adelia's next attack. With this, Awakening expired. Well, since she had Breakthrough, even if piercing ran out, fighting an absolute-defense opponent wasn't a problem.

Amanda revived via Reincarnate.

How did Rudis feel about Amanda being downed in one turn for three turns running? His expression was unreadable.

Did Reincarnate still have charges left.

Or was it out of stock now.

"… Amanda."

"Lunatic Marionette!"

"Dragon Art - Dragon Slayer!"

! The movement pattern was different from before!

The footwork was different. Even the spacing…! She'd been holding back this movement all this time…!

The previous patterns were overturned, and as expected it was impossible to handle on first sight.

"Adelia!"

But Kanan covered. Endure activated.

"Haaaaaaah!"

Second strike, also… different movement! With an arm swing completely unlike before, Colette's shield was again slipped past.

Zan!

It struck Kanan, who was covering.

"… Colette, Adelia… I'm leaving the rest to you. Bring Naoto victory!"

Dosa…

Kanan's HP was shaved to nothing and she collapsed.

"Yes! I will… never let another through!"

Colette steeled herself and reset her shield.

That said, if a third pattern came at us…

… No, it'd be okay.

I'd already learned the pattern of "the pattern is different."

After seeing this much variety in movement…

"Colette!"

"Yes!"

Gakiin!

Even first-sight movements, we could respond to.

"Wha… t…"

Even Rudis finally let his agitation show.

Or rather, he must have exhausted every measure.

Next turn.

"Nyaaaaaaah!"

Zan! Dogo!

Adelia's strike. It was the first time I'd seen the gauge get blown away in such an instant.

So Ultimate Protect was out of charges too.

"Gu… ha…"

Dosa.

Amanda, who had endured for so long, finally fell.

Adelia immediately re-attacked Sertia.

Dogo!

"… My regrets."

Sertia fell, with no means to resist.

The remaining one was Elsa alone. But Rudis didn't swap members.

… Correct call.

What Rudis's side could still do was shave Adelia's skill counts even once.

Indeed, to defeat Elsa, Adelia had no choice but to use Flame Severing Claw, and using it would exhaust her skill count.

If we swapped members, he'd just swap too.

… His judgment was sharp. He was thoroughly squeezing out every last drop.

But…

"Nyaaaah! Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw!"

And then the final attack. Adelia shaved Elsa down on the opening hit.

Victory. A paper-thin victory, but victory.

"Oooooooh! Amazing! Too amazing! At the end of a magnificent, fierce battle, at last, in the first-party match between Naoto-senshu and Rudis-senshu, Naoto-senshu has won!"

"My, Colette's defensive technique was truly splendid as well! I apologize for dismissing her as a Garumon mid-leveling."

Deeds-san said as much honestly.

Good, forgiven.

When old folks make up their minds about something, plenty of them never change their views, but his flexibility was wonderful.

"Good grief… it's still only the first match, you know. And it's an uproar like the contest's already decided.

"Your side's swapping too, right? I'd think the next one's a fresh start."

"Yes, that's right."

Rudis was strong. But once it became a 2nd-party-vs-2nd-party fight…

If Rudis's party was only at the strength shown so far, he might no longer even be a match.

But he probably hadn't expected a Lesser Hero on the second party.

Yet Rudis didn't look like he was throwing in the towel.

If anything, he seemed to think the real bout started from here.

So this would be Rudis's ace party's turn.

"Come forth, Anantha, Fatori, Sharla."

Ohh… a Dragon King, just like Saria! Written "Ryuou" this time, but apparently the rank was the same either way.

"Fufufu… Thou hast tormented our knight Amanda quite thoroughly.

"It is the lord's duty to clean up after a subordinate's misdeeds!"

So Anantha declared, steeling herself.

The 2nd party looked plenty formidable too.

… But, sorry. From here on, I doubted it'd heat up.

I apologized in my heart.

"Here we go, Luna, Maika, Setsuna."

"Yes. Kanan-san, Adelia-san, Colette-san have entrusted this match to us… we absolutely will not lose."

"Let's win, Naoto-kun."

"Onii-chan… I'm going all-out too."

The 2nd party had no restrictions whatsoever, so the ultimate supporter Setsuna, the Snow White Maika at the Legendary-Job tier, and the fifth Seraph Luna could all take the field.

"Let's go. Luna, Divine Art - Messiah."

All allies' stats doubled. The stat-halving condition we'd just suffered through was forcibly imposed on the opponent.

Of course, showing it off here meant countermeasures might be prepared from the next battle onward, but for this battle I'd judged we could fight one-sidedly in our favor.

"Haha… seriously? Snow White, I had advance info on, but… Lucifera Luna…

"Following S-Class rank 1 Satoru's Michaela Hilde, S-Class rank 2 Aqueria's Gabriella Aqua, S-Class rank 18 Melville's Uriela Aisha, S-Class rank 24 Ursula's Raphaela Cellas…

"You're saying she's the fifth Seraph after all of those?

"… Hahaha, this is…"

Rudis was already showing agitation just from looking at our lineup.

Now then, round two.