kscans

Chapter 719 - The Selfish White Who Smiles on the Silver Screen, Part Three

It's been a good two and a half months since I acquired it.

[Nine Tail], which I had almost given up on due to its extreme operational difficulty, thinking, Maybe I'll just use it for simple tasks, is a one-of-a-kind item that produces 'shadow threads' corresponding to the wielder's magic (MP) amount.

Of course, they aren't mere threads. Without the user's will, they cannot be cut or separated. They are freely stretchable with a maximum range of well over fifty meters. When operated with my total MP, which far exceeds the standard for a pure mage even in my base form, let alone my transfer body, its overall output is more than sufficient to function as a standalone weapon.

That's precisely why it felt like a waste, a regret, a shame to be at the mercy of its control system, which demanded an extreme level of finesse—and that's when the perfect model appeared.

It was none other than the Southern Faction's seventh seat, [Thread-Weaver], who perfectly commanded her 'threads.'

One is a unique item, a reward for the first conqueror of a previously unconquerable dungeon; the other is a one-of-a-kind Anima, a shard of one's soul. Since both are items that others cannot handle, it's impossible to compare them in the first place... and well, I doubt their control systems are exactly the same.

However, the most important factor in taming a wild horse is set in stone. Imagination.

To be more precise, it's whether you can have absolute pride and conviction in the 'image' you establish, thinking, This is the best, this is absolutely right, shut up and obey me, you bastard.

Such confidence becomes the greatest power for a player in Arcadia.

And what makes that difficult is the problem of where to pull the basis for that conviction from. Naturally, a flimsy suggestion is meaningless. There must be an absolute persuasiveness that can become an absolute power.

And now, I have acquired the perfect image for wielding these 'threads' as a memory.

Then, with unstinting respect, all that's left is for me, as a junior, to follow my senpai—I narrow the shadow overflowing from my right bracelet, clearing the flood to spin something delicate.

Five threads, I won't be greedy. I connect the black threads to my own fingers, one for each of the five, and what I transmit is... an imitation play of my short-tempered but incredibly cool senpai, burned into my mind.

Now then, let me present the performance I've been secretly practicing since the last Four Pillars event.

"—'Weiss Schwarz (Five-Element Thread Performance).'"

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Ugh, seriously..."

"This guy, really..."

"Fufu."

"This is the height of idiocy, come full circle..."

"Isn't he an idiot even without going full circle?"

In a room where various voices of exasperation flew about, there was one screen and twelve figures. And the scene projected by the former showed black threads beginning to run across a battlefield where magic bullets flew.

It was like a one-handed piano performance. The fingers of the right hand, clad in shadow threads, moved with exquisite precision and without pause, as if playing a soundless tune. And that 'technique' was—

"................................................"

It was, without a doubt, unmistakably, her technique—the one who could be called virtually the sole existence in the virtual world to have leaped over the technical hurdle of practical combat application.

Even to the eyes of those who knew of it but didn't understand the detailed principles, it was such a perfect imitation. So naturally, attention turned to the reaction of the original, who had been intimidating him with taunts of 'not cute' and 'cheeky'...

"Oh."

"My."

"Hm."

"Hoh...?"

Again, several voices, from who knows who. The whispers, hushed so as not to be overheard, were—not angry, not sulking.

It was a reaction to seeing the little cat staring at the screen with a somewhat dazed expression.

Normally, considering everything up to now, it was a surprising reaction. But for example, a senpai from the same faction who knew her well as a direct junior could probably guess.

"............Well, yeah, I guess so."

So then, another whisper. So as not to disturb her as she stared intently at the 'junior' on the screen, Karasu's amusedly spoken words were,

"A junior imitating you... that must make a senpai happy."

—And he was probably, most likely, right on the mark.

◇◆◇◆◇

—I recall the most important item in the anti-[Acrobat] manual that was shared during the last Four Pillars event, in anticipation of a case where we would have to face the [Acrobat], whose movements were utterly unpredictable before the final battle.

Opening number one. He has a habit of needing to look in his direction of movement before taking any action.

Number two. His speed exceeds the speed of sound, but his thoughts are not at the speed of light.

Number three. He usually has a composed look on his face, but he actually panics with surprising frequency.

Number four. He has an excess of cards in his hand that he's been struggling to manage lately, and there's a pattern where he gets flustered, carelessly throws his trump cards, and corners himself, and so on...

Some of these were things that made sense when pointed out, while others made me tilt my head, wondering if they could even be classified as openings or weaknesses. There were even some that made me feel sympathy, a desire to not expose the inner workings of his mind.

With that information, primarily provided by the Southern Faction's [Sword Queen] and [Poet], Tonic had sharpened his resolution of the [Acrobat], despite their still shallow connection.

Therefore, to be honest, he no longer thought of facing him as something overtly 'scary.' While the reliability of his lawless partner was a premise, he felt that even in a head-on fight, he wouldn't be trampled without being able to do anything.

He wasn't underestimating him. It was simply an assumption made after looking at the reality calmly and objectively as a 'ranker' to avoid making a mistake—and so,

"This is that, that head-case Acrobat...!!!"

"I think I heard something rude!?"

This was the actual situation.

Following his grand mage move that revealed an unexpected talent, he now started playing with 'thread-pulling' in a masterful way that couldn't help but bring the image of [Thread-Weaver] to mind.

Even while shouting a response to the uncharitable soliloquy he'd picked up, his head and fingers moved without pause. He drove the ever-manifesting water spears and water rings, extending his fingertips with the five shadow threads.

Scattering and stealing the incoming magic—there were no openings. It probably wasn't dependent on stats but rather on MP consumption or some other resource. The bursting shadow threads weren't so fast that he couldn't see and dodge them, but they weren't slow enough to escape from with ease.

And most importantly,

"Whoa, that was close!!?"

—Most importantly, the other guy showed not a single shred of intention to let him escape.

He dodged the waves of water and jumped back. He noticed the thread-board that had been laid on the floor amidst the after-effects of the magic battle at the last possible second and activated the wind-attribute movement support magic [Sonic] to float his body and evade.

As he shivered at the trap that snapped shut like a flower blooming in reverse, he retreated with all his might to stand beside his partner, who had been working her lawlessness without moving since the start of the battle.

"You alright?"

Then, he received a glance and a word from [Screen], who wasn't particularly friendly but not a bad person... and all the while, he harbored a quiet reverence and exasperation for her, who didn't stop her ridiculous barrage of magic for a moment.

"A bit tough, I guess. Your junior is amazing, as expected."

He replied with an honest assessment of the battle situation and an ambiguous smile, and the senior rank-holder snorted unhappily and narrowed her eyes.

Her gaze was directed at...—there was probably no need to confirm.

Even as her junior rode the lawless stage, showcased a surprise performance, and extended an invitation to play, [Screen] did not smile.

However,

"I'll cover you. So, do your best."

"Please do. Well, I'm going in again... yo!"

However, and yet.

He saw his partner turning an annoyed face towards the figure who was having a blast, as if showing off with all her might.

At the very least, it didn't seem like her heart was completely unmoved.

"This is going to be a long—dowai!?"

The estimated difficulty remained unchanged. While wishing 'Good luck, junior-kun' with some half-hearted encouragement from another team's perspective... Tonic, who had thrown himself back into the hellscape, began to let out endless screams once more.