The Road to S-Class

And so, I won the A-Class Tournament.

The remaining two matches weren't against weak opponents, exactly, but honestly… they'd been underwhelming. No one had been as strong as Aldis, and the whole thing had ended up a letdown.

Well, in any case, a win was a win. I was very happy.

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you very much."

The last bit was the hero's interview. I climbed onto the winner's stand and took the questions.

"Now then, with this, Naoto-senshu has earned the right to be the first to challenge for S-Class.

"… Ah, technically you've also earned the right to become an A-Class NPC… but of course, you'll be challenging for S-Class, won't you!"

A-Class NPC? I had no idea what that meant, but it wasn't worth stopping the interview to ask. I'd check with Lyuka later.

"Then, please tell us who you'll be challenging."

"… I challenge S-Class number 24, Ursula Belzebute."

Oooooh…

A roar of cheers went up.

… It had been a long road!

Ever since I met Ursula, nearly fought with her, then became close to her…

A long, long stretch of time had passed. It went all the way back to when I made B-Class, so honestly, it really had been a while.

Ah, but, finally… the day had come at last, the day of my decisive battle with Ursula.

And… the day Ursula would become mine!

Once I made S-Class, not only Ursula but Suzanne would also be…

Ah, and Shaina, and Aqueria, and maybe I could even get close to those beautiful S-Class Masters!

And then, the showdown with Eclair Feradria!

Still so many fascinating bouts and fun events lined up ahead.

All of it hinged, first, on the match with Ursula.

That mighty Ursula Belzebute, against whom I'd been completely outmatched…

At last, the day had come to face her as an enemy I had to defeat.

Ahhh… I couldn't hide the shivers of anticipation, the excitement!

At last! At last!

"Naoto Akai-senshu challenges Ursula Belzebute! For the S-Class swap matches starting on the first of next month, the opening bout has been set as Naoto Akai-senshu VS Ursula Belzebute!

"On the momentum of your A-Class Tournament victory, please, by all means, secure the win!"

"Yes, thank you very much!"

Wahhhhhhhh…!

A huge ovation. Flower petals and confetti, streamers and all manner of other things rained down…

Ah, all of this was celebrating my victory, my championship.

The A-Class Tournament was only one rung below the top, but…

Even so, surely… I had carved a name for myself in this world's history.

It was a wonderfully proud, dreamlike stretch of time.

An honor, truly… and I felt anew that I wanted to make this honor a greater one still.

Then came the victory party and the ceremonies, the awards, the medals, the chasing reporters and their interviews,

people's cheers, blessings…

All of that and more went on endlessly into the night, and while I was happy, honestly it was also a hassle.

… No, I understood it was an honor, and I was certainly proud.

But congratulations from self-styled A-Class NPCs, supposedly great personages I'd never even heard of, honestly… I couldn't care less!

If it had been congratulations from active S-Class Masters, I'd have been willing to listen, but…

Unfortunately, not even Ursula had come.

She was, no doubt, sharpening her fangs for the coming decisive battle with me right now.

Once she'd seen me beat Aldis, it seemed she'd decided I was bound to win the rest, and she'd ignored the whole thing entirely.

… I couldn't keep on dawdling either.

Being celebrated for winning was wonderful, but a ceremony that dragged on for two days, no thank you!

That sort of feeling.

Wondering if I'd come off rude, I nonetheless excused myself partway through the long-running ceremony and went home.

I had to get back to training as soon as possible.

… Well, just for today, my beloved companions said they'd throw a celebration party for me, so I'd let myself indulge in that.

Even though it was the same kind of party, this one I was genuinely happy about from the bottom of my heart.

"Naoto, congratulations on winning the A-Class Tournament…!"

Wahhhhhh…!

Seeing my companions, plus Ursula and hers… all gathered together in one place was overwhelming.

Gorgeous and beautiful, and a lovely fragrance in the air… ah, was this paradise?

It was like a dream world.

"Wait, Ursula, you came after all?"

"Mn. Right now, we are in the very midst of sharpening our fangs for the decisive battle with thee.

"From here until that battle, we shall not meet.

"That is our resolve. But…

"But a single word—we did wish, after all, to bless thee.

"Well done winning, Naoto. Of course we believed thou wouldst… but that thou didst answer that faith so splendidly is magnificent.

"Thou art wonderful. It was truly a fine showing."

So Ursula blessed me without reserve.

She gave me a firm kiss.

A fierce kiss, tongues fervently entwining.

"… Thy radiant, dazzling talent. Blinding, truly. If we became thine, wrapped in thy light, surely we could grow stronger than we are now…

"And yet, we, too, have the pride of a Master, inherited from our mother Esta Belzebute.

"With our entire body and soul, we shall meet thee.

"To bring thee down, we shall stake everything and challenge thee.

"And… we shall surely win.

"Casting aside the bliss of becoming thine, thy slave, and dominating the man we love, surely we shall achieve our next evolution.

"We shall drain thee of everything and make thee our nourishment."

She smiled fearlessly.

… I knew. No matter how much we loved each other… no, because of that, she would absolutely never go easy on me.

She'd use every bit of strength she had to try and beat me down.

"I know. And I'll defeat that you… and make you mine. Absolutely."

"Ah… we await it eagerly.

"… But let's set the talk of what's ahead aside for now.

"Today… we bless thee from the bottom of our heart, Naoto…! Well done winning. It was truly magnificent…!"

And then, Ursula showered me in a rain of kisses.

Once again, I felt strongly… that I wanted to make her my own.

With Ursula, I lost myself in mouth and breasts.

With Ursula's companions, I had plenty of sex too, and they added their flowers to the celebration of my A-Class victory.

Of course, with my own companions, I had even more sex than that…

I got to spend a dreamlike, happy stretch of time.

Ah, this was exactly what made a victory party splendid.

And then, Ursula and the others went home. The next time we met would be at the start of April. The day of the S-Class swap match, no doubt.

"Umm, so, let me introduce, properly this time, the two who've become my companions. First… well, everyone's already familiar, I think.

"Garumon Entertainment, Starlight Production's manager: Farida-san."

"Y-yes, um… I'm Farida.

"Ah, properly this time. From today, I've become Naoto-san's Garumon!

"I'll do my utmost with all my heart, so everyone, I look forward to working with you all!"

Farida-san bowed her head with a small dip.

Her side-tail of hair swayed lightly.

… No, was it all right to just call her Farida, no honorific, now?

Mn, this kind of pure-white status sheet, full of room to grow, was exciting to look at.

… However, it did look like she had some rather unique skills and traits. Interesting.

"… I'm… weak, aren't I. My mother, honestly, wasn't a very strong Garumon either.

"I'm sorry to have disappointed you."

"No, on the contrary, I'm excited. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you'll grow stronger.

"Whoaaa… what kinds of skills will you learn, and how will you grow! I can't wait!"

I couldn't help my voice bouncing on its own.

"Let's work hard from here on, Farida."

"… Yes!"

Farida-san smiled brilliantly.

"Continuing on…"

"Seika Shikina! … With me having joined, your glory is as good as assured!

"Follow my lead! We're going to dash straight for the top of the idol world!"

Pose! Seika thrust her fist toward the heavens.

… The reactions from everyone, though, were sparse. A few were politely clapping, at least.

"… Mn, what we're aiming for is the top of the Garumon world. Idol stuff is a bonus.

"Of course I think it's fine for Seika to put effort into the idol side too. Let's keep working at it from here on."

"R-right."

Hmm, getting along with everyone might be a bit of a challenge?

But still, everyone was good, and Seika wasn't a bad kid either. I was sure things would work out.

… It wasn't like there'd be a worse kid than Kanan was when she first arrived here, anyway.

The skills were as shown. The truly interesting one was Hero's Triumph.

"Raising both skill and class by one rank. That really is amazing."

"Fufufu. Right? You can also think of it as roughly doubling the effect of every skill!

"… Well, when you actually grow into it, that's not strictly how it works. The raising is fairly approximate.

"There's randomness too. Think of it as a random 1.5x to 2x enhancement.

"Also, when the base is already a Divine Art, Demon Art, Dragon Art, or Ultimate Art, the effect doesn't apply, so be careful."

So Seika added.

"Also, I hadn't known, but this Sacred Be is amazing too. Buff-strip blocking is an essential skill for our party, so I'm grateful."

"Fufufu! Yes, rely on me more and more!"

Seika was easily flattered. But I thought even that side of her was cute.

With this, the roster was sixteen people. If I wanted to add any more members, I'd have to think about, say, sending them over to Griera's side.

Hmm, I really wanted to scout a good knight.

Someone like Griera, strong and cute, a lovely futanari girl I could grow stronger alongside, would be the best.

… Of course, I didn't think such a person would turn up that easily.

… Beyond that, of course, if Ursula joined us, two slots would open.

And then, the other one I was actually eyeing was Shaina Fervey. If I could grow close to her, then somehow or other, five slots would open!

No, if some other S-Class Master would cooperate with me, that'd be twenty-one slots instead of five. I'd have to line up two Sub-Masters, though.

My dreams kept expanding. Of course, whether I could really grow close with Shaina Fervey was getting way ahead of myself, since I hadn't even met her in person yet.

If she turned out to be horrible when we actually met, this'd be a non-starter…

Well, a cute girl like that couldn't possibly be horrible, right! (Bias.)

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . .

"All right then, let's think about strategy for the Ursula match."

"The gap's whiplash-worthy. Just now we were in full goofing-off mode."

Yuria fired back.

"Loosen up where you should loosen up. Tighten where you should tighten. You've got to value contrast."

I said it with a smile.

"… It's the strategy I'll lay down to get my hands on Ursula.

"I'm going to put everything I've got into building it."

And then I wiped the smile off and turned to face them with a serious expression.

If I lost the swap match, I'd become Ursula's slave.

Even if that happened, Ursula wouldn't treat me harshly.

I'd have sex with Ursula and get her pregnant… No doubt some very pleasant days would await.

… But the me who lived as a slave wouldn't be the me of now. I'd be like a soul-dead, living corpse.

From there on, I think it'd be the life of someone else entirely, not me.

For the me of now to remain me… losing to Ursula was absolutely not allowed.

Because I loved Ursula so much… I couldn't lose, even if it killed me.

I'd had countless practice matches with Ursula up until now.

So we both knew each other's hand inside and out.

Knowing all that, then building a strategy that surpassed your opponent's… that was the kind of contest this was.

However, our last fight was at the end of last year. Since then, we'd both trained separately.

For three months… just how much had she grown? That part was guesswork.

Whoever showed growth that exceeded the other's predictions would, without a doubt, have the advantage.

"… First, my prediction for Ursula's formation."

I wrote out Ursula's party on the blackboard.

"The crux is how she arranges her three Ultimate-Job attackers.

"First, the main premise: Ursula will be in the second party. For a Master who's also her own Master's Garumon, that's a given. If she fields herself in the first party and loses, she'll be knocked out, and she won't be able to give instructions to the second party.

"Of course, if she had a reliable Sub-Leader, there'd be tactics that turn that on its head, but…

"Rather than 'no Sub-Leader,' it's that Ursula is exceptional as a leader.

"It's not my place to say, but I'm pretty good as a leader too. So fighting me without Ursula at the helm is basically unthinkable.

"Well, this is a decisive battle where we'll both be putting everything we have on the line, so I doubt she'd go in for some surprise hand.

"That being the case, Libera will also be in the second party to protect Ursula.

"So if I commit to a prediction, it goes…"

"I think it'll be like this."

I laid them out.

"… What if Saria and Cellas swap? Or what if she pairs Cellas and Saria up together?"

Yuria raised her hand and spoke up.

"Well, just thinking normally, we're fairly strong against Ursula's Demon element.

"However, the one I'm wariest of in there is the two Seraphs.

"And the one strong against those Seraphs is Dragon King Saria.

"So I think Ursula and Saria will be paired together.

"Saria also has support skills.

"And above all, in Ursula's team, after Ursula herself… or maybe even more so than Ursula, the truly tough and troublesome one is

"Raphaela Cellas.

"The elements strong against the God element are Metal, Spirit, and Dragon, and the only one on our side who meets those conditions is Patty.

"In other words, right now, the God element is the one I struggle against most.

"To let Cellas fight freely… by that logic, the better play is to put Cellas in the 1st party."

"So then, you're going all-in on that prediction with our formation?"

"That's what I'm going to do.

"And, well, I'll announce the formation too.

"I'm thinking of going with this."

… The regular members I relied on most right now. Anyone would think it was a natural lineup.

The ones who didn't make the cut might feel dissatisfied inside.

Even so… I announced it to everyone.

"Right, I think it's good.

"In the A-Class Tournament you were putting things together fairly loosely, but this time it really feels like full-throttle.

"It's a formation that says, 'I've gathered up our particularly strong members and the ones Naoto especially trusts.'"

Yuria signaled her understanding.

"For the record, may I ask the intent?"

"Sure. First, Cellas's biggest feature is her Divine Art Raphaela.

"What kind of skill it is, exactly…

"Once Raphaela activates, no attack gets through, and she unilaterally attacks twice per turn for 5 turns.

"The only one I think has a chance of taking Cellas down before Divine Art Raphaela activates is Suzanne.

"Same God element, but Fire > Wind for the matchup, and she can dominate on stats.

"… And if Divine Art Raphaela does activate, our only path to survival is essentially Suzanne keeping Overcharge going for 5 turns straight.

"Suzanne is weak against defense skills, but Patty can shatter those.

"And the only one who can protect Suzanne and Patty from Cellas's onslaught is Colette.

"For Haru, Sawako, or Yumi, it's tough. Sorry."

"… Don't apologize, Naoto-kun. We'll definitely… get stronger so you can rely on us in moments like this.

"It's all on you, Colette."

Haru indicated his understanding too. Sawako and Yumi looked frustrated, though…

"So, the intent of the 2nd party?"

"Mn, first, if I'm pitting someone against Ursula, there's only one option, and that's Kanan.

"Frankly, if Kanan weren't around, Ursula's tactic would just be firing off Lævateinn six times.

"Every time Kanan dodged would buy us another turn.

"Even so, breaking through Libera's guard in six turns would be hard. Or rather, if one or two of ours go down along the way, it's over right there.

"So Kanan is the only one."

"… Um."

Colette raised her hand.

"I… have Complete Defense too. Ursula-san's Lævateinn—I'll show you I can defend against it!"

She made her intent clear. She had gotten stronger…

"Mn, if the 1st party manages to win, do your best.

"… But, unfortunately, it's difficult.

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield, only the shield part is a true perfect defense, and if they slip past the shield and aim at Colette's body, she takes damage. Ursula's already caught on to that.

"And if it's Ursula's Lævateinn, she'll 100% slip past Colette's shield and land the hit.

"On top of Ursula's high attack technique, the attack is guaranteed-hit, after all.

"Colette has the mission of blocking Cellas's Divine Art Gungnir over and over.

"That one is piercing and has a ridiculous number of attacks, so it has to be Colette with her turn-defense.

"For Kanan, Element Shell wouldn't work, and her teleport would burn through its uses in no time.

"It's the right person for the right job."

"… Yes! Understood."

"The only one who can break through Libera's guard is Adelia's Breakthrough, so this is also the only option.

"For taking down Saria, Luna's Balmung is enough to manage.

"So… these six will fight. Three weeks until the decisive battle. We're going to train hard!"

"Yes!"

Everyone replied with vigor.

… At last, the decisive battle!