CH 68

[Bring It On, Korin-chan!!!]

I landed on the ground with a loud thud sound. Thanks to the ‘Demon King’s Body’, I received no fall damage.

“Shit, you’ve done it now, Korin…! When did you even make it on Chuntaro’s back?”

It was when I muttered so. No sooner had a shadow covered me than Korin dove down straight toward me with her blade pointed at me!

Hahaha, she wasn’t even giving me time to complain. She was on fire, alright.

I faced her as thousands of enemy players came rushing over from a nearby fort.

“Okay, bring it on, Korin! It’s kill or be killed!”

“Yes, I’ll kill you and take your place as the top player!”

I readied my bow and fired several arrows at once to shoot down Korin.

Her weapon was but a short sword. She would have a hard time deflecting them all and since she couldn’t move in the air, she would have trouble avoiding them on top of that.

Now, how will you deal with this, Korin? The moment I thought so…

“Activate skill, ‘Lightening’! Activate magic art, ‘Wind Shot’!”

At that moment, Korin became a bullet!

She must have chosen Magician as her second job. Thanks to it, she could now wield wind magic, which she released behind her, effectively using it as a thruster.

She made the best use of her small body to slip in through the gap between the arrows and plunged at me—!

“Please die for me, Yuri-san!”

“Ha, like anyone will die when you tell them to!”

I tossed aside my bow and threw out my fist at her short sword.

At the same time, ‘God-Slaying Fist’—the skill that made my fists invincible—and ‘Demon King’s Surge’—the skill that gave a huge knockback effect to my attack—activated, turning my fist into a deadly weapon.

The moment it collided with the blade—CLAAAAAAAAAAANG!—a loud clanging sound echoed across the battlefield.

“Tch… I knew you wouldn’t go down so easily—hup!”

The clash was brief. Kolin made a backflip and landed on the ground.

Maybe it was the effect of the ‘Lightening’ skill, she made such a perfect landing that she didn’t make a sound, like a cat.

“I see… you made it behind me on Chuntaro’s back by combining wind magic and that skill.”

She nodded in affirmation at my words and showed off her shining blue blade. “Now, Yuri-san, my ‘Spirit Sword Futsu no Mitama’ is strong! It only deals 1 damage, but to make up for it, it can randomly seal the target’s skills!

“It has one condition, however. The effect won’t activate if the target’s Defense is way higher than my Strength… but that won’t matter now, will it?”

“Yeah, it’s the perfect weapon to counter me, since I have 1 HP and 0 Defense.

“—But I bet the baldhead told you this: ‘If you think you can, then go for the kill. But if that doesn’t seem possible, then surround him with thousands of players and make him use the special art ‘Frenzied Destructive Summon’—do I hit the nail?”

“…?!” Her relaxed expression stiffened slightly. Seemed like I was right.

Sheesh, that damn bastard buddy of mine… he was seriously resorting to all means to kill me.

If I was being honest, using schemes didn’t suit him—especially considering his face—but that he did, all to kill me. What a bastard, I loved him.

“U-uhh… you are right. If I failed to seal your ‘Tenacity’ with the first few attacks, I planned to first prioritize weakening you, then killing you second…”

“Someone who starts introducing their weapon so fluently out of nowhere is either trying to buy time or is just a plain idiot.

“It was but a shot in the dark, but thankfully I was right, it seems.”

“Ugigigigi…?! Then, how did you get every word Baldhead-san said correctly down to the last comma?! That’s what took me by surprise, in fact!”

“Eh… who knows? Because I can understand him without talking to him, maybe…?”

“W-what sort of reason is that?!” Somehow Korin became all red and she scolded me, “Please don’t say embarrassing things like that in public!”

Which part of it is embarrassing, I wonder? All I meant to say was that that was just how good of buddies we were.

Hmm~ I tilted my head when Korin suddenly asked me, “…So, Yuri-san. You know I’m stalling for time, so why are you just chatting with me?

“Although Baldhead-san also said ‘Well, knowing Yuri, he’s gonna counter-massacre you’, still thousands of players are undaunted and coming this way as we speak you know?”

“Mm? Isn’t it obvious? –It’s his plan, so of course, I mustconfront it head-on.”

And so, I manifested an enormous number of summoning formations.

As Korin’s eyes widened in shock, I activated my special art.

“Activate special art, ‘Frenzied Destructive Summon’! My monsters, show those players your strengths!”

[Gishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!]

Like that, a hundred monsters were released. All of them had been super high-level monsters originally then I had leveled them up, making them even stronger on top of that. Though they were very inferior in numbers, they should give the players a good fight.

I saw off my monster army and turned back to Korin, who was staring at me. “Wh… that art, it has a long cooldown, doesn’t it?! But why…!”

“Didn’t I tell you already, Korin? To face you head-on.

“Are you going to give up just because you couldn’t finish me off with your first few attacks? You sure you’re okay with that? You okay with just following what the baldhead says and reducing my combat power?

“—I don’t think so. You said it yourself, you were going to kill me and take the top player’s seat. That’s your heart’s true desire.”

“…!” Korin tightened her grip on her short sword at my words.

Fighting spirit began to light ablaze again in her large round eyes.

“You’ve been figuring out combinations of arts and skills to become stronger and be respected, right?

“You want everyone to look up at you just as they look up at me, don’t you?

“What are you waiting for, then?! If you beat me, you’ll be the strongest player from today! Let’s fight to the death, Korin!”

“Y… you asked for it!!!”

Korin kicked off the ground as she roared.

And so, I started a heated life-and-death battle with the girl I had once helped.