Chapter 1036 - The Star that Bears the Name
And so, one minute later.
"... It's really annoying how this guy actually follows through on his cheekiness."
"Now, now, Senior. Thanks for being the straw man."
The scene was colored with the red of a single death effect that had been blown to smithereens, and the grey remnants of what looked like dancing flower petals.
As for the four people watching... it was likely a reflexive action. Everyone except for one person had their hands over their ears and was staring with the biggest "What?!" of the day.
This was a first for Sora-san too. So it was natural for her eyes to be wide with surprise, and she was super cute as always... but putting that aside.
"What did you..."
"I wasn't taunting you. You get it, right?"
My choice of words must have bothered him, as Master Tiger frowned slightly, but I followed up to keep him in check. I had said I would "blow him away" and I did, literally.
I meant thanks for being the target... that is, for taking the hit without moving.
"... Haru."
"Yeah."
It was the one person among the gallery who called my name, sensing I wasn't joking or fooling around. Ashe spoke up.
"That move... can you only fire it straight ahead?"
She was quiet and serious, providing a perfect observation. I replied with a blunt smile.
"Exactly. To be precise, I can also fire it directly behind me, but that's about it."
Full marks for her.
"So, this is the other half of Samidare-zuki's new ability after gaining the scabbard... it's a pattern for a finishing move. As you saw, it requires a charge, and once I draw the blade, the motion and direction are completely fixed..."
"It's practically unusable solo. It's not realistic to land it in PvP either."
"Exactly... You probably wouldn't get hit by it either, Tora-kichi."
"Of course not. Don't underestimate me."
As I gave further explanations and more "marks," I returned the emerald blade to its black scabbard. Right now, they both looked pristine...
"The duel system fixed it this time, but normally, after using this, I'd enter a two-day period where I couldn't use them. Both the sword and the scabbard would lose all attack power and abilities and go silent."
Actually, the hilt would be swallowed by the scabbard, making it even less useful than a wooden sword... it would just be a stick. I could still hit things with it, I suppose, but in my case, I'd just switch to a different weapon, so it would be headed for the inventory.
"So, the camp integration benefit also..."
"Gone, of course."
"... It's a finishing move that can't be used lightly."
Well, that's the way it is. However...
"You said it was a 'finishing move pattern.' In other words, I assume there is also a way to use that form normally?"
"Naturally."
As Helena-san mentioned, the first form... or rather, Samidare-zuki's second form, which is reached by activating Kurikara's other ability, Himorogi...
"For about four minutes, I can guarantee a rampage that more than makes up for the loss of the integrated camp blessings."
It was a broken power worth the price.
After all, this was truly the blade meant for me. Since I was the one wielding it, it was only natural for it to reach a height that far surpassed the previous supreme state.
"... I see. To incorporate that into a strategy..."
"It's more than enough as a trump card."
"As for the finishing move, it's hard to hit people, but it should be easy to land on large monsters."
With that, I had received the trust and understanding of those three.
I also checked the reactions of Nia, who stayed out of tactical discussions, and Sora, who was usually quiet during strategy meetings despite her on-field command skills...
"Uh, what... I can't really say anything besides 'That's amazing.'"
"Ah, haha... It's... a bit more than I heard before, so I was surprised."
They gave me such cute reactions.
"By the way, you mentioned earlier that the basic ability 'increases the power of the draw attack.' Was that also part of what you just did?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, technically. But that's honestly just a bonus ability, so it's not like the power increases dramatically. The cumulative increase has no ceiling, but it's limited to each individual battle, so I can't build up a reserve in advance."
"I see. ... Wait? Didn't you just say something subtly insane?"
And so, after finishing all the explanations without any trouble...
"Alright, next."
"Oh, honestly... do whatever you want..."
Let's keep going. I happened to have a massive amount of cards that I needed to share for party coordination.
So, here's the second one.
"My special title that I changed. About its enhancement effects."
From [Clown] to [Hoshikake]. Not only the rank title but even the special title carved into my status had transformed.
The special title [Hoshikake]... the name and form had changed from the [Doke-no-Dokeshi] that I had used so much during my time as a [Clown]. The new enhancement effect's name was...
"Regulus Regalia."
I opened the system's memo function and wrote down both the upper and lower formal names, which were honestly so grandiose it was embarrassing.
Luckily, no one seemed to be teasing me yet.
Before the embarrassment could catch up, I should just...
"Uh... this one is also pretty ridiculous, so listen closely?"
I decided to lay everything out.
[Special Title: Hoshikake]
[Enhancement Effect: Regulus Regalia]
Activates automatically when total self-damage reaches 90% of total HP. Until the end of battle, the HP cap is fixed at 10%, healing effects are disabled, and the following enhancement effects are gained:
- Ignores damage calculation for all damage judged as self-inflicted.
- Reduces cooldown time for all skills by half.
- Instantly converts HP lost to self-damage into MP as an additional cap through percentage calculation.
- Applies the special enhancement effect [Tsumugareshi Hoshiboshi] to a single party member belonging to the same party.
[Special Enhancement Effect: Tsumugareshi Hoshiboshi]
- The target gains 1/10 of the Status buff values held by the [Hoshikake].
- The target shares the skill cooldown reduction effect from [Regulus Regalia].
- If the target is judged as dead (game over), the [Hoshikake] can activate the special skill [Resurrect].
[Special Skill: Resurrect]
- Rewrites the target's death judgment into the death judgment of the [Hoshikake].
Everything is a mess.