kscans

Chapter 309 - The Heroic Tale of Two, Part Five

The [Dress of El-Clelia]—an outfit that forms a pair with my [El-Gran Series], and a special piece that also possesses the properties of one of Nia's signature accessories.

Its most noteworthy feature is its defensive capability.

In Arcadia, concepts like attack power and defense aren't displayed as direct numerical values, but if they were shown in its details pane, the [Dress of El-Clelia]'s defense would be displayed as—'0'.

That pale blue garment, despite being crafted as 'clothing equipment,' possesses absolutely no defensive properties, much like a cosmetic 'costume item.'

That's not to say it boosts other stats in exchange, either.

The [Dress of El-Clelia] that Sora wears has only one ability—the accumulation of mana.

The fabric, woven with gems that have a high affinity for mana, continuously collects small amounts of it from her avatar for a specific purpose.

Unlike mana crystal accessories that function as a player's spare tank, the use for this 'accumulated mana' is predetermined from the start.

'Amplify & Compress Accessory Effect'—that extremely simple power is the function Nia smugly built into the dress, and,

"—[Arcturus Aurum, Woven Garment of Golden Brilliance]!"

It's an extremely niche, broken ability worthy of the [Milmarinus]'s smugness.

Following the girl's call, the golden sapphire jewel adorning her waist emits a dazzling radiance—and in that instant, a golden light unfolds.

The ability hidden within that brooch is 'Barrier Deployment'... but the thin wall, which normally couldn't be called 'sturdy' by any means,

"Ngh—...!"

—is transformed into a fortress-like shield that can repel even a mighty sword by the vast stores of mana accumulated by the magic swordswoman, who now boasts one of the highest MID totals in Arcadia.

"Haru!"

The moment I heard her call.

I caught Sora, who had blocked not only the attack aimed at me but also a sword strike from behind, and we made a full-speed retreat as the brilliant golden light shattered and dispersed.

There was no sign of pursuit—but right now, I wanted as much time as possible to assess the situation.

Retreating to the edge of the boss room without stopping, I turned back to see the twin knights standing perfectly side-by-side, calmly watching us.

"...My bad, I rushed in without thinking—"

The words of apology I was about to offer were cut off by a green light of healing.

My HP, which had been stained red from the self-inflicted damage of [Rocket], was replenished, and the unique title's crown that had been shining above my head at some point disappeared.

She gave my arm a light pat, signaling me to put her down. Sora just smiled as if it was nothing.

"It's just how things turned out. I was trying to overwhelm it before it did something scary, too. If I had been the one targeted, you would have saved me, Haru."

"Tch... O-Oh, yeah."

—Damn it, I almost grinned.

Does a partner this reliable both mentally and physically, who even offers perfect follow-up, actually exist?

She exists right next to me right now; can I go brag about her to the whole world???

"...Ngh, y-you're thinking something weird, aren't you? This isn't the time for that, geez!"

She glanced sideways, reading me perfectly as always. As she poked my shoulder with a face caught between annoyed and troubled, I gave up on suppressing my grin.

Ah, my partner is cute today, too—but that aside.

"Sorry, I could barely see a thing. What happened?"

"Um... about ten seconds after you started, you know, that."

"I was bouncing around for ten seconds? ...Ah, please, continue."

Yeah, that thing makes my sight, hearing, and sense of time just vanish.

"The 'chain' appeared, it glowed, and the white one disappeared."

"Disappeared."

"A teleport, I think."

Ah... so, I see—in other words,

"A countermeasure to being separated."

"That's what it seems like, doesn't it..."

It grew again, learned again—how diligent of it.

"So, how did you make it in time, Sora?"

"I... I took a bit of a gamble. I used the [Mana Cladding] skill to spike my agility for a moment... Being able to control my body properly was a complete fluke."

"I see... best if there isn't a 'next time,' then."

"Yes, preferably..."

In that case—well, there's really only one option now.

As if getting impatient with our conversation, the armored knights began to walk. I looked away from them to my side. As expected, her amber eyes were on me.

"...—Alright, let's do it!"

"Hee hee... this is kind of exciting, isn't it?"

As if there were no tension at all, we laughed together.

And then, as if to layer it over the metallic footsteps of our approaching foes, we both took a step forward.

With our ability to separate them sealed, we're stuck. It's plain to see that fighting them together will be far more troublesome than taking them on one by one... but well, it just means we execute our original plan.

That was our intention when we knocked on this door from the start—to show our former 'wall' the coordination of the new us.

"[Everquartz, White Crystal Sword of the Sky]."

"[Prima, a Single Sword (Eins) is What I Seek]."

With our respective swords in hand, we faced our transformed nemesis.

"Haru?"

"Ladies first."

When I replied to her inquiry with a suave remark, Sora gave a small smile.

"Well then—I'll take you up on that."

Quickening her pace, the girl stepped in front of me.

Her back is small and slender—but it's so reliable it almost brings a tear to my eye.

Witness this, [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King].

It's a shame the world can't see this.

From here on out, it's truly—

"[Scareless, the Scales' Song]."

—a stage for two: me (Haru) and her (Sora).

---

[Arcturus Aurum, Woven Garment of Golden Brilliance]
Accessory: Adornment (Brooch)
A masterpiece from a smug artisan—that would be the outfit. This accessory itself isn't all that exceptional. The materials are quite rare, so it's valuable, but still.
Fundamentally, accessories in Arcadia are divided into categories: 'crafted items provide stat bonuses' and 'dropped/reward items grant special abilities.' When a player tries to create an item with a special ability like this, it tends to turn out mediocre... however, the golden protection that blocked the boss enemy's back attack with no damage was the result of boosting it with the outfit, a mysterious technique that uses clothing to support an accessory.
However, as mentioned in the main story, it's designed with 'Mana Accumulation (Charging)' as a prerequisite, so it has limited uses. Not only that, but the outfit's mechanism is 'Amplify & Compression,' which means its effect duration is shaved down to the absolute limit in exchange for a massive boost. The protagonist previously mentioned it having "an oddly niche finish" or something, and this is why. To be specific, it requires just-guard timing and can only be used twice even with a full mana charge.

In other words, the [Dress of El-Clelia] is a zero-defense outfit that only allows two hits.
Cute.

Also, I'm sorry.

I CAN'T FINISH TODAY SO IT CONTINUES TOMORROW!!!!

I'll draw an even hotter, more intense fight, so please forgive me. That's all for the Valentine's Day posts!!