Chapter 1151 - Angel and the Ball of Sweets
A roar in the so-called "Sweets-speak"—a mysterious scale unique to the [Fun Castle of Sweets] that has yet to be deciphered and remains uncertain if it is even a language—was bellowed by the "King," causing the girl to take a step back, overwhelmed.
The girl who had reflexively retreated, however...
"U-Um! —It's okay (・・・・・・・), right!?"
Stopping her retreat at that single instinctive step, she turned back to ask for confirmation (・・). What that confirmation implied was self-evident for a Player.
"Of course."
"Go get 'em, Sora-chan!"
"Right... yes!"
The question was simply whether it was acceptable to defeat that thing; there was nothing else to it.
And so, the battle began.
The King stood up, kicking over his throne of sugarcraft in a fit of temper. And, whether it was due to the trust built in ordinary times or not, his former pawns took up combat stances without needing to be forced, drifting an aura as if they were somehow sighing—taking stances not for a game, but truly for "war."
Pawn, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen, and King... or rather, the body doubles of [Terpadore King Chocolatier] who seemed to have been playing the role of the King.
Six types, sixteen pieces each, in both black and white. Perhaps as a sign of respect toward the victor who had displayed a command that overwhelmed their King, the white pieces seemed particularly apologetic... but,
It appeared the "King" still commanded deep loyalty. They did not raise the flag of rebellion as they might against a Queen; all thirty-two pieces stood firmly together, blocking the challenger's path.
Soldiers made of chocolate, pop-styled, fantasy-like, and sweet... even so, as expected of the King's royal guard, the informational pressure they emitted was different from other soldiers.
Combined with the fact that each one was a large figure exceeding two meters, the pressure one would feel if surrounded was nothing short of extraordinary—or so,
"...Well then."
To say the same thing as her partner, her basic sensibilities were mostly normal. The girl, who was a self-acknowledged person of common sense in her fundamental thinking, correctly recognized the situation she was in...
"Here I go...!!"
As of now, she stood at the highest rank of the virtual world Arcadia, recognized by the world itself.
The girl (Sora), striving (・・・) to be worthy as the partner of the third-ranked [Hoshikake (Clown)] of the Eastern Camp Istia, naturally moved forward as if the option of retreating did not exist.
Thus, the moment she took a step.
"────────────, !?"
The thirty-two members of the royal guard became sixty-four (・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・), and the King's angry roar broke off in confusion.
And then,
"«Circle of Thunder Swords (Tonel Kreis)»."
As the King of Sweets (Terpadore) turned to follow the flash of light that surged in a dazzling trajectory—
"«Clad Thunder Sole Flower (Revolt Blume)»...!"
In the blink of an eye. What stood behind him was a golden wind holding a greatsword of thunder (・・・・・・・・・・) glowing in violet-blue.
—Snap, a streamer (preceding discharge) was released from the lightning enveloping the girl. The moment those glowing threads pierced the skin of the sweet, the atmosphere around the King, who had exposed his unseemliness in quick succession in a different sense, changed.
That is to say... from a foolish King to a strong King.
In an instant,
"Hah...!!"
"────!"
Two spirits clashed, a flash flickered, and the sound of striking halberds rang out.
The blade of the greatsword swung by Sora, who had truly turned into lightning (・・・・・・・・・・), surged forward. It was met by the "Royal Sword of Sweets," a palette knife that appeared in Terpadore's hand from nowhere.
It was a visual that looked like a joke—or rather, "fooling around"—but the fact that it was held by a boss enemy in Arcadia meant that, nine times out of ten, it was neither blunt nor decorative.
The proof was that even when his vitals (neck) were targeted by a sword flash unleashed without hesitation or mercy, the HP bar that appeared above his head remained undiminished—and, at the same time,
It was also proof that this King of Sweets, despite being a boss of a relatively (・・・) low-difficulty dungeon, was indeed an "Arcadia Boss Enemy." In short,
"──────,"
After two exchanges, they reset. The girl, who had returned to her original position after a round trip in a blink that could be mistaken for the speed of lightning, faced the "King," whose face had skillfully added a shade of terror to his sunny smile...
"«Attribute Loading»."
The "Maiden of the Scales" was setting her gears (・・・・・・). This meant he had become her benchmark.
Twice counted, the greatsword of lightning that had drawn dazzling trajectories vanished upon her declaration. However, the destination of the lost magic remained the same: within the hands of the slender girl. Thus—
Power dwelled within the maiden's white-based opera gloves,
And manifesting upon the girl's graceful limbs were delicate gauntlets and greaves that harmonized with her battle dress.
What began (・・・) was,
"«Circle of Swords (Schwert Kreis)»."
Lasting as long as the few seconds prior, or perhaps longer,
"«One of a Thousand Swords (Nel Widersh)»."
A solo dance by the girl alone.
—A third flash of lightning surged. And then,
"──, ! ──────, ────! ...!?"
The third time (・・・・・) never ended (・・・・・・), remaining a flickering flash (・・・・・・・・・・). Violet-blue light raced through the cramped space of the grand hall, a thousand dust-like swords danced, carried by the lightning, and the screams of the King were forced to dance along.
The palette knife, slipped from the baked sweet's hand, was blown away by the aftershocks.
The chocolate cloak, scattered into thousands of pieces, was scorched by the lightning, charred, and vanished into phosphorescence.
His cookie body, his candy-drop joints... despite looking fragile, the King of Sweets actually possessed physical stats to the degree that it was said "an average Warrior should never fight him one-on-one,"
Yet he was, pitiably, utterly helpless.
Exactly ten seconds since the start of the battle... or rather, the massacre.
"Hah—I'm sorry...!!"
Beneath a lightning flash that flickered with particular intensity.
Pierced by a finishing blow that surged at the end of countless sword flashes, he shattered into fine dust.
[Author's Note]
It's a pity, but it's his fault for picking a fight with a Demon King.
By the way, this Terpadore-kun. He actually possesses a special unique skill and such, and it seems he has enough strength to unilaterally beat the crap out of an Awakened Hayagake-shi in a head-on one-on-one.
So what.