kscans

Chapter 482 - Losing the Match, Winning the Battle

Parfait faced off against Surya, who was dressed as a clown, on the back of the dragon Garland.

Just moments ago, she had unleashed a sword draw, but the attack was deflected by Surya's whip. To be precise, the attack was diverted, a technique more difficult than simply blocking a sword draw.

Parfait knew Surya had been playing AFO for some time. She had heard Surya was a veteran, so she expected her to be strong, but that was in the context of the virtual world.

Having her sword draw blocked was a surprise to Parfait. Surya hadn't used a game-like skill. She had blocked it with pure reflexes. And with just one hand.

Parfait's friends could block it to some extent, but that was because they were used to it. This was the first time she had shown her sword draw to Surya, and she never imagined it would be parried.

Delighted, Parfait unleashed another sword draw.

She had all but forgotten Rick's instruction to "keep her from attacking until Chariot is defeated" and had switched into a mode of pure enjoyment of combat. Her expression was even graced with a faint smile.

"This is what happens when you teach the Azuma-ryu sword style to someone with Esha-chan's bloodline...!"

Her expression was hidden by the clown mask, but Surya's voice was filled with exasperation.

Parfait paid her words no mind and unleashed another sword draw.

While Garland's back was reasonably wide, it wasn't spacious enough to move around freely. Furthermore, Surya was still holding the reins with her right hand. If the dragon suddenly moved, Parfait would inevitably fall to the ground. To prevent that, she launched a continuous assault.

"Whoa, hey, this is bad! Seriously bad!"

"Wow, amazing! You can block this one too...? Then what about this?"

"Why are you having so much fun!"

Despite crying out in alarm, Surya's whip in her left hand moved with what could only be described as protean grace, deflecting Parfait's sword draws.

Even though the limited space meant the attacks were coming from a fixed direction, she was skillfully blocking the rapid succession of strikes. Unlike in reality, her arm wouldn't tire, but even so, blocking all of them was something only a true master could do in the real world.

For Parfait, the worry she had recently felt about being a little different from others had been a needless concern, and a wave of happiness washed over her.

It's not just my peers, there are plenty of strong people besides Master Benny and Teacher Simon. I wasn't that worried, but there was no need to worry at all.

With that thought, Parfait launched another series of sword draws. She decided that, regardless of whether she could defeat her, her priority was to prevent Surya from piloting Garland, so she attacked relentlessly.

"Oh, come on! I won't lose, not for the sake of my increased research budget!"

With that declaration, Surya let go of the reins she was holding with her right hand.

It seemed Garland wouldn't just start moving on its own. It began to slowly beat its wings, entering a hovering state.

Parfait couldn't tell if having both hands free would make Surya stronger, but she raised her guard. It would be foolish to underestimate an opponent who could display such defensive skill with just one hand.

Despite her caution, Surya's whip coiled around Beelzebub's scabbard. It happened in an instant, and Parfait's eyes widened. She hadn't seen any initial movement.

In the next moment, Surya threw a knife with her now-free left hand.

With her scabbard entangled by the whip, Parfait dodged the knife instead of deflecting it. This threw her off balance, and unable to plant her feet, she was pulled along with her sword by Surya's whip.

"Now you can't use your sword draw, can you?"

Surya's voice, sounding joyful even through the mask, reached Parfait.

Ah, this might be bad.

Being so close made it difficult to draw her sword. She could draw it, but she wouldn't be able to swing it fully, not enough to deal damage in this virtual reality.

She tried to draw the sword anyway, but the hilt was so close it bumped against Surya's body, completely sealing her ability to draw it.

"Parfait-chan, sorry, but you'll have to be a sacrifice for the animals...!"

The words alone were quite alarming. Parfait was at a loss as to how to respond, though the phrase "for the animals" did make her hesitate slightly.

Surya, at some point, was holding a different knife from the one she had just thrown, gripping it in a reverse hold and preparing to swing it down at Parfait.

But Parfait grabbed Surya's left arm with both hands, stopping it.

"Eh? Ah!"

Surya was surprised by this action. Parfait had let go of Beelzebub's scabbard to block the attack. And because Parfait suddenly released the sword, Surya, who had been pulling on it with the whip, was now thrown off balance by her own momentum.

"Azuma-ryu martial arts...!"

Parfait twisted Surya's wrist as she readjusted her grip. Then, she quickly moved behind Surya and, with their backs together, executed a throw similar to an ippon-zeoi.

"Aah!"

Surya cried out as she was flung into the air.

I'm glad I learned martial arts too.

Parfait breathed a sigh of relief.

But just then, something wrapped around her leg.

"I'm not going down alone!"

Even while being thrown through the air, Surya had managed to wrap her whip around Parfait's leg. And she was pulling with great force.

"No way!?"

Like Surya, Parfait was flung into the air. Falling from this height would surely result in enough fall damage to reduce her HP to zero. There was a way to negate fall damage using wind magic, but Parfait couldn't use magic, so she resigned herself to the inevitable.

Then Parfait remembered her mission. At least Surya was coming down with her, and Garland was just hovering in the air, so she felt relieved that Rick wouldn't be too angry with her.

That's what she thought, but when she looked at Surya, she saw her preparing her whip in mid-air, as if timing something.

As Parfait wondered what she was planning, Surya swung her whip towards a nearby tree just before hitting the ground. The whip wrapped around a branch, and Surya's body was pulled towards it, swinging like a pendulum.

"I've seen that in a game before!"

Parfait cried out in surprise.

Parfait had seen a game with movements like Surya's. It wasn't a complex virtual reality game, but a much simpler, retro one she had played before. She never thought she would see it done in real life and was so surprised she shouted.

Surya disappeared into the jungle. Then, a short whistle was heard from where she vanished, and Garland, which had been hovering in the air, started moving towards the sound.

After that, a whip extended from the forest into the sky and wrapped around the leg of Garland, which was flying just above the treeline. With Surya dangling from the whip, they flew away.

Seeing this, Parfait understood.

I guess this is my loss... I think she aimed for my leg to adjust her position in the air. The momentum from pulling me brought her closer to a tree within whip range, so she wasn't just trying to take me down with her. Whether it was a split-second calculation or a matter of experience, either way, it was amazing...!

She hadn't been able to defeat Surya. That was the result of her own complacency, thinking she had won the moment she threw Surya into the air. And now she would crash into the ground and her HP would become zero. Surya had escaped. By any measure, it was a loss.

However, Parfait felt a little happy. There were strong people other than Benitsuru, Simon, and those related to the Foundations. And this person seemed strong not just in virtual reality, but in the real world too. For some reason, that made Parfait happy.

Well then, once I'm defeated, I'll resurrect at the base and come back.

Just as she was thinking that, she felt an impact, and her falling speed slowed. From the sensation, it felt like someone was holding her.

"Well now, what's wrong?"

"Ah, Rhadia-chan."

"Chan, huh... It feels like we're the same age, I like it...!"

Rhadia said this happily. It seemed Rhadia, riding the cheetah-form Lucky Seven, had caught Parfait in mid-air, saving her from the fate of crashing into the ground and losing all her HP.

She landed on the ground with almost no impact. Then she dismounted from Lucky Seven alongside Rhadia.

"Thanks to you, Parfait, we were able to defeat Chariot. The clown and the dragon seem to have run away. You're amazing!"

"Really?"

Parfait had been so engrossed in her fight with Surya that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't know the details of the contract regarding research funding, but she figured Surya had fled because Chariot had been defeated.

"I wish we could've defeated the clown and the dragon too, but I guess an alliance of mostly tamers can't win against that. The dragon's movements are insane. Well, we'll just have to leave that to the progression-focused clans."

Is Surya-san going to come every time? I don't think she has that much free time with her job, but...?

"Oh, right, here's this. I was surprised when it fell from the sky, but thanks to this, I knew you were falling too."

Saying that, Rhadia held out Beelzebub to Parfait.

Come to think of it, I did let go of my sword, she thought, and accepted Beelzebub with a word of thanks.

It was a short fight, but it was fun... I wonder if Surya-san is good with a whip in real life too? I'll ask her all about it next time we meet. I wonder if I could do it too?

From the technique to block her sword draw to the skill to move with a whip like in a game, her movements were so impressive Parfait wanted to learn them herself. If she could do that in the real world, it would be pretty cool.

Rhadia pushed Parfait on the back as she was thinking this.

"Come on, come on, we pretty much won thanks to you, so let's hurry back to everyone. The loot festival is starting now, so you need to check your item bag and announce what you got."

Rhadia's words made Parfait look towards the group of players.

However, from that crowd, she could hear a chant of "Nekkomimi! Nekkomimi!" And their conversation was punctuated with "nyan" at the end of every sentence.

"...What's that? Some kind of status effect?"

"Oh, that. Apparently, the analysis team was speculating that it might be a weakness for Chariot and the clown, so everyone's getting hyped up about it. They were saying that next time we fight, everyone might wear cat-ear headbands. They've been trying to boost morale like that for a little while, but it's as embarrassing as that 'hyahha' chant, isn't it."

...Surya-san might not come back again. Or rather, maybe she ran away because she hated that chant...? Yeah, I should probably not explain the situation.

It was a situation of losing the match but winning the battle, or perhaps the other way around. Either way, Parfait sympathized with Surya. Setting that aside, she headed towards the celebrating group with Rhadia.