CH 72

[Three-way Decisive Battle]

“Yuri is mine (prey)! Get in my way, and I’m gonna kill you!”

“Eei, shut your mouth, baldhead! I am the only worthy one (opponent) for her!”

In the next moment, the baldhead and Zansword collided with each other with their gauntlet and sword!

Chiiiiiiing, a metallic sound echoed. Not stopping there, the two went on to dish out their techniques, seriously aiming for each other’s life.

At such a sudden turn of events, the little fairy Navi, the commentator, yelled out, [Ooooooh! The two men started fighting over Yuri-san!]

Hey, why was that little runt getting excited instead of confused…? I mean, these two were supposed to be allies, but out of the blue they began trying to kill each other.

The spectators gathered in the plaza were also getting hyped up. “A fight over a woman? Now we’re talking!” “Noice, rip each other apart!” So they yelled, picked up by Navi’s mic.

“…Oh well,” I muttered while watching the men fight at super-high speed.

Though I was confused, I did find joy in the situation.

The baldhead needed no explanation, he was my best rival/bud. In the battle royale, we had fought a battle so heated my blood boiled, and this time he threw tens of thousands of players at me just to defeat me.

Zansword wasn’t bad, either. Previously when he appeared out of nowhere and declared himself the strongest player in the game, I thought he was just some dude with a screw loose, but then we fought and he proved me wrong; he had the ability to back up his claim. His level was high too, and he probably had spent a lot of time accumulating combat experience.

““Uooooooooooooooooo!!!””

These strong men were trying to kill each other to fight me. I couldn’t not be happy about this.

So…

“—Don’t leave me out of the fun, bastards!!!”

I shot more than 200 weapons at them!

They both reacted instantly. Together, they unleashed special techniques, repelling the swords and spears one after another.

“Kh, stay out of this, Yuri! Just quietly wait until I kill this man with a shiny bald head!”

“Fuck, whose head you call shiny huh, ya game addict?!”

Though they screamed at each other, the men gave me looks of protest.

But if anyone had the right to protest here, it was me!

“The nerve you guys claiming others as ‘yours’ (prey)…

“Listen here, you bastards! I’ll be the final victor here. You will be mine (preys)!”

““Ngh—?!””

The moment I said those words, I felt their hearts go thumping.

The baldhead and Zansword bared their fangs as they grinned then they charged at me at full speed while repelling the weapons I continued to fire at them.

“Those were some bold words, Yuri! Let’s see if you can live up to them, take thiiiis!”

“Fuhahaha, you are daring, Yuri, I will give you that! I will pierce through you with my blade!”

Bring it on. I smiled at the two who charged at me.

It’d be a waste to just watch from the sidelines when two strong men were battling it out.

I wouldn’t mind even if you guys pincer me from the front and the back. Come hit me with your best shot, baldhead. Come pierce me with your blade, Zansword. I would take you both on with everything I got!

On this heated stage watched by tens of thousands of players, let’s enjoy ourselves to our hearts’ content!

“The rule is simple, the last one standing is the strongest! –Activate job skill, ‘Forbidden Summon’!”

“Guhahaha, good, I like ‘em simple! –Activate skill, ‘Fierce God Transformation’!”

“Fuh, you are indeed an interesting woman, after all! –Activate special art, ‘Ultimate Fire Enchant’!”

In the next moment, the battlefield was filled with three different brilliance.

A summoning formation that gave off jet-black light appeared behind me and out came the chimera monster ‘Genocide Firebird’, clad in dark flames, flapping his wings sinisterly.

The baldhead, on the other hand, had his body transformed. Two horns grew out from his forehead, and a scorching aura rose from his whole body. It was the effect of the skill that he had used in our last decisive battle. It greatly increased his stats, but in exchange, he would die one minute after activation.

And finally, there was Zansword. The guy used art from his second job ‘Enchanter’, wrapping his whole body in flames.

They were blue in color. This meant that the flames were in complete combustion, exceeding 1,000°C in temperature… which, in turn, meant they were very dangerous, but…

“Hang on a sec, Zansword. As far as I know from browsing through the strategy guide site, don’t you need to evolve ‘Enchanter’ to its advanced job to learn ‘Ultimate Fire Enchant’?

“And when you choose your second job, you can only pick the basic ones, so how…”

“Fuhahaha, how naïve, Yuri! You can evolve your second job when you reach level 75!

“Since that day I lost to you, I have been tirelessly grinding for twenty hours a day, and my level has since gone up from 50 to 75! This is my new power!!!”

“Twenty hours a day?! You’re gonna kill yourself?!”

This bastard is literally playing with his damn life.

Both mine and the baldhead’s faces twitched. Was this insufferable NEET samurai okay…?

Facing the outrageously stupid bastard, the baldhead brought up a proposal

“Oi, Yuri, how ‘bout we focus our attack on this insufferable NEET samurai? Let’s quickly take him out and force him to rest…!”

“Wait, who’s the insufferable NEET samurai?! Eei, no matter, in the end, I will be the victor!”

Zansword’s enraged reaction had the baldhead and I burst out laughing, then we all put up our guard against each other.

And thus, the final three-way battle began.

“Go, Genocide Firebird! Burn your life and kill them for me!”

“Pigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Responding to my order, the bird of hell shot off toward the two.

This guy had only one attack method. And that was, to cause a big explosion by making his magic run wild, essentially sacrificing his life.

Sure enough, the moment the Genocide Firebird made contact with the two, it blew up, causing a big explosion that couldn’t be avoided, but—

“Oraoraoraoraoaroraoraoraora!!!”

“Futile!!!”

My deadly move proved to be ineffective against my rivals!

The baldhead neutralized the blast heading his way with a flurry of punches imbued with the effect of ‘God-Slaying Fist’, whereas Zansword simply rushed straight through the flames.

The baldhead I could predict, but how the hell did Zansword pull that off?!

“Ah—I remember now, the effect of ‘Ultimate Fire Enchant’ is…!”

“Indeed! Not only do all my attacks now imbued with the fire element, but I am also completely immune to fire-based attacks! Now die, Yuriiiiii!!!”

When we were only one step apart, Zansword swung down his sword at me! I held up my Beginner Bow like a shield and blocked his blade.

However, the heat from the flames covering Zansword—which made him look like a fire demon—burned my skin!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

・The effect of ‘Ultimate Fire Enchantment’ is activated!

Inflicts damage equivalent to ‘Scorching Zone’ on all players and monsters within 1 meter. You are taking damage equivalent to 1% of your max HP per second!

‘Tenacity’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Tenacity’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

‘Tenacity’ activates! You survive with 1 HP from a fatal wound!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“You fucking kidding me?!”

I was taking damage just by being close to him. It was too dangerous for me with my 1 HP?!

Not to mention, I had zero Strength. My strength here was equivalent to mine in the real world, but to Zansword, who had practically turned into a superhuman thanks to the boost from his stats, I was no different from a baby. I was overpowered in an instant.

After he brought his face close to mine enough for the tips of our noses to touch, he said as I gritted my teeth, “Look at me, Yuri! I have always been at the top in any game, but you are the first one to have ever humiliated me!

“Your rival is me! Don’t look at that baldhead anymore, just keep your eyes on me and die for me!!!”

“Shit…!”

He wasn’t someone I could fight head-on. My bad, Zansword, but let me cheat a little!

“Skill, ‘Arms Barrier’!”

Though I was suppressed, I activated my deadly skill.

At that moment, summoning formations appeared underneath Zansword—!

“Wha, t-these are?!”

Too late, man. Right, ‘Arms Barrier’ was a skill that summons weapons around you.

In other words, if they were close enough to you, you could use summon weapons from under your enemies.

“Bye!”

Then innumerable swords erupted from the ground. They skewered his body and took him into the air!

“Guooooooooooooooooooooooo?!”

Zansword screamed as he disappeared into the sky. That should be enough to kill him, but better safe than sorry.

I held up my bow and took aim at the soaring Zansword.

“I’ll finish you with this!”

It was when I was about to take my fingers off the bowstring. A heavy thump came from behind me! The moment I heard that I realized I had messed up big time.

My other rival, the baldhead, was taking a punching stance—!

“—, baldhead?!”

“Yo, Yuri… havin’ a blast with another dude, are we…! I’mma make you pay the price… for looking away from me!!!”

I instantly turned around, but it was too late. The baldhead’s fist exploded in my chest and I was sent flying away for dozens of meters—!