Chapter 591 - The Acrobat's Explanation: Part 3
"This failed incantation, that's Kaleha, right?"
"Yeah. I only meant it as a feint, but he didn't even let me cast it."
"Well, with you right in front of him, senpai, even a graze would be fatal."
"Oh, and this, this, this! The part where Irorin's arm did that weird thing!"
"That's a skill I was saving as a trump card called `[Shadow Leaf] `. It's a crazy one that lets me forcibly change the direction of an action taken by an opponent I'm directly touching."
""The hell?""
"Huh?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not the one who designed the skill."
"That's just plain broken… So, was this stupid-looking heel drop that 'thing' too?"
"Yep, that was the result of unleashing the stored 'Outer Force.' I got the hint for techniques that combine it with martial arts like that from Rinne, who does something similar."
"Ah… well, she does do something like that with her `[Anima] `."
"Doing something with pure technique that should require an Anima is just not right."
"What's with the looks from you two? Don't look at me like I'm some kind of monster."
"…Are you not self-aware?"
"I am."
"And it's not just his personal specs, his equipment is nuts too… I already knew about [this (the Nine Tail)], so I wasn't surprised, but still."
"Irori-senpai is seeing it for the first time, so he looks surprised. Guess it was worth keeping it a secret."
"Yeah, thanks a lot for helping me train with it."
"Speaking of shadows, Tetra-kun."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't lump this in with my humble shadow."
"Calling a Terror Armament humble…"
"That's a 'darkness' attribute, not 'shadow.' They're different."
"That sounds so cool."
"Mister, stop getting stars in your eyes and slow down the playback. I can't see a thing."
"Ah, my bad."
"They're both incredible."
"How is a close-quarters battle of this dimension even possible without thought acceleration?"
"What's going on inside your heads?"
"Even if you ask me that, it's like ninety percent instinct and reflexes…"
"And the other ten percent?"
"Hype and momentum."
"Boys are such idiots."
"Hey, that includes me. Don't lump us together."
"And then—yep, here comes the ultra-sadistic part."
"This would definitely be traumatic for some people."
"You have to be careful who you use it on."
"Of course I am. Like Istians, who don't sweat the small stuff."
"Irori-senpai is… well, he's probably fine."
"That combat junkie probably thinks it's 'interesting,' right?"
"And he even tanked it… Damn, I can see a flicker of an effect, but I can't make out the details. Must be some kind of emergency defensive skill…"
— — — — —
— — — —
— — —
"—Alright, here comes the 'main event.' Give us a good explanation, you hear?"
"You got it."
Just as my on-screen self drew his katana, Mi-na, who had at some point started using my head as an armrest to watch the video, began patting my shoulder.
Ri-na, pushed aside by her partner, sat primly to my right, one hand on my knee, maintaining the activation and lending of `[Anhelmia] `.
With Tetra sitting with his knees drawn up on my other side, it was a perfect siege by the junior members.
If it were just the one pest on my head, fine, but being surrounded by a bustling group of a boy and girls would probably look incredibly peaceful to an outside observer.
For the record, all of them are 'rankers' who stand at the apex of this virtual world, and they're my 'senpais.'
—Or so I thought, relaxing for a mere dozen seconds.
"Okay, mister, rewind it."
"Alright, alright."
Watching from the sidelines, I found myself thinking, 'These guys are nuts.' I rewound the footage of our insane movements back to the beginning of what Mi-na called the 'main event.'
Then, play, rewind, a few more times…
"…Can't see."
"Ah, nope, this is impossible. Let's start with ten times slower, please."
"…Maybe we should just go with twenty times slower."
Alright, let's split the difference and go with fifteen times slow motion.
I fiddled with the dial in my thoughts, and suddenly, my and Irori's figures, which had been mere blurs, were clearly visible on the screen.
And now… for the crazy part about Arcadia's video recording. No matter how much you increase the slow-motion multiplier, the frames never get choppy or turn into a slideshow. Our movements at 1/15th speed were extremely smooth and perfectly visible—
"…Still too fast."
""Let's just make it thirty times slower.""
"Fine, fine…"
…Following the order, I increased the slow-motion multiplier even further and went back to the beginning yet again.
This time, it seemed they could finally see it properly. For ten, then twenty seconds, the three of them watched the video intently in silence…—it was Ri-na who raised her hand first.
When I mentally hit the pause button to answer, the screen froze on the moment I parried Irori's… fourth strike, was it?
It was the scene where I had instinctively blocked a move called `[Ushimitsu]` or something with my [Samidorizuki].
"Here, you're blocking the white sword."
"Oh, huh? You're right, seriously."
"…It's true, now that you mention it. Wasn't Irori-senpai's thing supposed to be an auto-loss on contact, even through a weapon?"
To Ri-na's words, the other two nodded, and I nodded as well.
Just as Tetra said, Irori's white sword, `[Hyouka]`, means game over the moment it 'hits' you in melee, whether you block with a weapon or a shield. That's a fact.
So, normally, I should have been trapped in that ice prison at this moment, but… well, this part is pretty simple.
"Just before this, he dispelled it once to escape the black sword I left behind him, right? `[Hyouka]`'s instant freeze requires a bit of a 'charge.' Right after using resources to form the blade, he can't activate it. That's all it was."
"Huh…"
"I see."
"Whoa, I didn't know the details. I thought that move was pretty cheap too, but I guess it has its limits—…'This part'? Does that mean it's different other times?"
"Well, you'll see if you keep watching."
I gave a vague reply to Mi-na, who was now both satisfied and curious, and hit play again.
The three of them watched with exasperated looks at the ridiculous power of Irori's fourth strike, the unorthodox movement of his sixth strike, `[Kagamizuchi]`, that followed… and my own freakish maneuver to escape it all—at the timing I had predicted a hand would go up.
The scene where I unleashed the seventh strike, `[Shichisei]`, with my jade and black dual blades, and Irori knocked it down with his azure and white dual blades—in other words, the scene where both of us were doing something strange.
As expected, all three of them raised their hands at once.
"Here."
"Isn't this weird?"
"You're both touching each other's black and white blades. Neither the black's 'Perpetuity' nor the white's 'Freeze' activated… why?"
"Okay. Let's zoom in on the moment of the clash and increase the multiplier again."
Fifty times… should be about right. I rewound, increased the slow-motion, and hit play right before I lunged into `[Shichisei]`—
"—…………………Wha…???"
"……………………Huh…"
"You know… you two are just plain creepy at this point."
Three different faces, all expressing 'I don't understand' from the bottom of their hearts. More than the scathing remark from the red-head at the end, Tetra's rare, genuine sound of bewilderment at the beginning was so funny I couldn't help but laugh.
Well, that aside.
"As you can see. Both me and Irori… or rather, Irori intentionally blocked my black blade with his white one. I didn't realize it at the time, but he must have cut off his thought acceleration too."
I believe it was the type with an extremely short duration but a high multiplier.
I could see his eyes, which had flashed blue for an instant, clearly tracking the trajectory of my sword as I executed `[Shichisei]`—a maneuver that traced the sides of a pentagram around the target.
Now, I swung the 'black' sword in my right hand four times: on the first, third, fifth, and seventh strikes…
Each time, Irori would strike it down with his 'white' blade—and each time, he would dispel and reform `[Hyouka]` to escape the binding chains of the black sword.
So, what do you think, you three? Go on, say it.
"Mister is mister, but… Irorin is just as messed up…"
"…Well, I knew it, but still. His personal specs are just bugged."
"…………They're both, incredible."
I nodded at the three of them, who were equal parts dumbfounded and terrified, and added a supplementary point.
"Just for the record, though, he should have been able to activate 'Freeze' the very first time he intercepted my black sword. Even if it needs a charge, it only takes a few seconds."
"That's… because he wanted to take it, right? Your Kesshiki technique, senpai."
Tetra was probably suggesting that Irori 'intentionally didn't activate it' because of his feelings, or his excitement, or the flow of battle. From an Istian perspective, that argument is quite persuasive, but—I can state with certainty that's not it.
"This time, and only this time, neither of us would ever hold back."
"…That, is… I see."
"Yeah, if there was a chance to strike, he absolutely would have. He wouldn't pull a stunt like that based on his mood or excitement. …So, well, in this case, it was the result of my bluff getting through."
"A bluff…? Did you do something?"
"From the very beginning, Irori was the only one avoiding contact between the black and white blades. I, on the other hand, never stopped my hand even against his white blade. In fact, I swung my black sword as if I was aiming for it."
"Aah…"
"Now that you mention it?"
The intention was clear. I acted as if the 'Senten' form of my [Nine Tail], which Irori was seeing for the first time, was a 'meta' against his white sword.
As if it was, meaning—
"It was a total bluff, but he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Not just during `[Shichisei]`, but even in the scene where the black sword I left behind touched him right before `[Amayuki]`. If Irori had activated 'Freeze' then, I would have been instantly flash-frozen with no way to resist."
Even if I 'left it behind,' the 'shadow' is still connected to my right arm even after I let go. Of course, if he had wanted to, the 'ice' would have reached me in an instant.
…And so, as I once again provided the answer to their question, the reactions of the three were as follows.
"Yep, you're crazy too, mister."
"Your guts are bugged."
"………………You're both, incredible."
Hahaha, I'll take that as a compliment.
If you could accurately tell who was who in that initial rapid-fire conversation, you are a first-class Arcadian.