kscans

Chapter 732 - Ice that Blooms in Spring

—It was absolutely, utterly incredible.

With every passing second, not figuratively, the thought of 'this is why' just kept piling up.

"Hah, surprisingly, I think I can still… go on!"

"Tch—…!"

The rhythm changed.

He dodged a sword strike, and as before, Irori tried to bind his weapon with ice as it was about to move… but what came next was different. Uni abandoned his twin daggers in mid-air as a decoy, and his right hand flashed out, the gauntlet deflecting and parrying the second strike that had pursued him.

And then, a rotation.

While his enemy was trapped in the briefest of openings from the missed swing, Uni's small body spun without losing the momentum of the exchange, and the roundhouse kick he unleashed—caught the ice.

Shattered chains. A released weapon. And with the same speed it had been knocked away,

"There, yah!"

It was a feat of acrobatics truly reminiscent of someone.

With the kind of divine skill that, until someone else had emerged, had been his trademark,

"—Tch…!"

His left hand, having unerringly caught the grip of his weapon, shot forward, grazing the neck of Irori, who had reflexively moved to evade.

Up to the midpoint, it was the same as before, but the ending was the complete opposite. The [Peerless], clicking his tongue as he took a large step back to reset, glared ahead.

"Hah, tough one."

The [Heavy Tank] was smiling, though his breathing was ragged.

He was certain that he had surpassed him.

His abilities, his techniques, his spirit—everything combined, he was confident that he had overcome his senior. It wasn't conceit; it should have been a fact.

He, and Uni too, should have recognized that.

In this virtual world, they had spent more time in battle than anyone else. That's why, if nothing else, they would not be mistaken. They would absolutely not misjudge who was stronger than whom.

Yes, it should have been that way…

"…This is incredible."

—He was still so high.

The 'wall' he should have surpassed, the 'wall' he should have left behind him,

…was so tall that he had to turn around and face it head-on once more. It was still proclaiming, 'I'm right here,' exuding a presence that belied his avatar's small frame.

In that case, not yet.

If so, not yet.

If he couldn't shake him off completely, then they were just two peas in a pod.

"…"

He became aware of the smile that mirrored his own.

This was a different kind of relationship from the one he had with his eye-catching, troublesome 'junior.' Being near him was both unwelcome—and yet, strangely, a little pleasing.

"Eh, what are you smiling at? Stop it, it's creepy."

"Right back at you."

Even the lighthearted banter they had started exchanging at some point was annoyingly, yet comfortably, familiar.

He was difficult, a burden, a mirror image, a presence that at times would get on his nerves and disturb his peace… but at the root of it all, if it weren't for him.

He probably wouldn't have been able to welcome that 'harbinger of spring.'

So, yes.

"Uni."

"Hm?"

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

"I'm ending this with the next move. I'm not taking any complaints."

"…Heh. Bring it on."

For letting me reach this point.

"Come on. You're going to surpass my expectations anyway, right?"

And for always, always forging me with the pressure of your expectations.

"[Trance]."

And so, he spun the words and donned the form.

The tickle of his hair growing and touching his neck, the unreliability of his slender frame, the discomfort of the prayer clothes that felt heavier than the formal kamishimo of his main form—it was all still an unfamiliar, alternate self.

And though it was vexing that he had inadvertently gone in the same direction as someone,—

—now that he had spent months forging it into a 'power,' he had no hesitation in wielding it.

"Ice Chamber Release."

"—…!"

The only commonality between his two forms. He thrust the tip of the blue sword in his hand into the ground at his feet, and as he chanted the prelude, his 'enemy' kicked off the floor at full speed.

As expected, the correct judgment, and none too soon… but unfortunately, too late.

If he hadn't been caught off guard by the sudden [Trance], if he hadn't been caught off guard by his first look at the 'alternate' form, if he had chosen to close the distance before anything else, it would have been easy to take the head of the extremely fragile, transformed Irori—but, that was that.

Because a jack-in-the-box first-time kill is a bad thing he learned from his junior.

"[Tsugenoinagi, Ice World's Advent]."

Now, I shall proudly display it.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Nn, mmuu…"

The [Castle Lord], letting out a disgruntled murmur, opened her eyes not because the bell signaling the end of the match had rung, nor because the countless presences she had been facing had suddenly vanished.

It was simply because it got cold.

And so, her eyelids fluttered open, and her amethyst eyes reflected a world of pure light. A world of ice, so dazzlingly brilliant as it caught the stage lights.

She looked around, but it was impossible to gauge its scale… because, except for the area immediately around Mei, which was protected by an emergency-activated absolute defense function, the space was filled with ice without a single gap.

She thought that it might have swallowed the entire stage whole. In this abnormal scene, the sleeping princess, momentarily roused from her slumber, was…

"……………………c, cold…"

…muttering a complaint, she slowly closed her eyes once more.


Semi-finals, first match, winner: [Peerless & Castle Lord].

A moment of silence for the Northern Faction's number two, who was taken out along with everyone else as collateral damage in a rivalry dispute.

――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Title: Peerless
Name: Irori
Lv: 100
STR: 500
AGI: 150 (+50)
DEX: 200
VIT: 100 (+100)
MID: 150 (+100)
LUC: 50
――――――――――――――――――
◇Status / Trance◇
Title: Peerless
Name: Irori
Lv: 100
STR: 10
AGI: 30
DEX: 10
VIT: 0 (+100)
MID: 1100 (+200)
LUC: 0
――――――――――――――――――