kscans

Chapter 487 - Famous Person

Kazatoki, a user of the mysterious martial art called Karate, and Parfait of the Azuma-ryu sword style were locked in a back and forth battle, neither giving an inch.

Kazatoki confounded Parfait with a varied tempo of charges and a high number of attacks. Parfait, in turn, continued to defend and evade with equal speed, but the sheer volume of attacks prevented her from landing a counter, forcing her onto the defensive.

Unlike Chris, who primarily used boxing, Kazatoki mixed in kicks as well. Parfait's nerves were fraying under the assault, but as she grew slightly more accustomed to it, she found she had enough composure to think about other things.

Is it a bad idea to draw my sword carelessly? If I land one hit, she'll probably land two on me.

The rule was that the first to land ten hits would win, so the power of a single blow was irrelevant. Considering that, Kazatoki's high volume fighting style was advantageous. With that in mind, Parfait focused on defense instead of countering.

Besides, despite being on a video stream, Kazatoki was wearing a smile no girl should make. An expression one might wear when alone with a lover. She unleashed her attacks, and what's more, her kiai had become more like bizarre shrieks, like "Dassharaa!" and "Dossei!". Counterattacking felt a little scary.

Is she the type who gets a high from battle? And all traces of her initial timidity are gone...

Kazatoki, who had been so hesitant before the fight, now had a smile on her flushed face. Moreover, she smiled wider each time Parfait blocked an attack. Though Parfait couldn't read minds, her expression seemed to say, "This doesn't work either!?"

However, Parfait felt a sense of oddity with each attack she received. Kazatoki's attacks were mainly a flurry of consecutive blows, but she could somehow read them.

A low kick to sweep the legs, then using the momentum to spin into a horizontal kick with the other foot, and when I jump to dodge that, a high kick... The attack is just as I predicted. I've seen this combo somewhere before, but where?

Parfait could block or evade all of Kazatoki's combinations because, in a way, she already knew the attacks.

"Chiiei!"

While her mind was wandering, Kazatoki charged, her posture so low she was almost scraping the ground. Her reaction was delayed, and she had to block an uppercut from Kazatoki's right fist, which came from just above the ground, with Beelzeb still in its sheath.

There was no damage, but the force of the blow was high. Parfait couldn't fully absorb the impact, and her hands were knocked upwards, leaving her abdomen wide open.

This is bad... Ah, I remember. This is one of Xenobia-san's moves...!

Immediately after that thought, Kazatoki's left fist struck Parfait's abdomen with a straight punch. Her guard broken, Parfait was sent flying.

Kazatoki started to close in on Parfait, but she stopped dead in her tracks. It was because the blown away Parfait had narrowed her eyes and was glaring at her.

That was close. I'm glad Benny-shishou and Simon-sensei taught me how important your gaze is. If she had pressed the attack just now, it would've been bad...

A feint using one's gaze, a tactic that only works on the strong. Parfait had directed a glare that showed her intent to counterattack, hoping it would work on Kazatoki, and it had paid off.

Parfait was in no condition to counterattack, let alone do anything else, but thankfully, Kazatoki halted her pursuit. Then Parfait let out a big sigh, her face slackening. "That was a close one."

At those words, Kazatoki realized her mistake. After a brief look of regret, she gasped, and her eyes lit up.

"I never thought you could stop an attack with just a look! Amazing!"

Kazatoki was overjoyed. The force of the straight punch had created distance between them, bringing a brief pause to the battle.

Parfait immediately remembered Xenobia's video.

Zeenobia. The bodyguard, aide, and best friend of Lunaria, the head of the Foundations. She had a fear of men and needed considerable distance to speak even with male acquaintances, yet for some reason, she could talk normally with Parfait's father, Hayato.

That same Xenobia was a formidable fighter within AFO. From what Parfait had heard, she was unbeatable in a one on one close range fight. At least, Simon had lost to her before, and Benitsuru, who had never fought her, had said, "Within AFO, I don't think I could win."

If you showed even a momentary opening, she would slam you with a precise attack, and once you took a hit, an endless barrage of combos would continue until you were down. Parfait had never fought Xenobia, but she had seen a video of her.

Kazatoki's fighting style was a spitting image of the combinations she had seen in that video. It seemed difficult to pull off an endless combo in a Real battle without Weapon Skills, but even so, some of her attack strings were quite long.

Didn't Simon-sensei say that Xenobia-san's strength lies in her insane analytical ability and her precise attacks? Kazatoki-san isn't at that level, right?

Xenobia cornered her opponents like in a game of tsume shogi, analyzing their movements to find their habits. By the time her opponent realized they were in trouble, they were already in checkmate.

Kazatoki wasn't quite at that level. If she were, the fight would have ended with that last straight punch. Just thinking about it gave Parfait a bit of relief.

What did Benny-shishou say...? Oh, right. She said that if you fight Xenobia-san, you have to strike first and not give her a chance to counterattack.

Parfait took a deep breath. She lowered her stance slightly and touched the hilt of Beelzeb.

At this action, Kazatoki, still smiling, readied her own stance warily.

Just as Kazatoki had done at the start of the fight, Parfait closed the distance with a single leap, moving at high speed into Kazatoki's personal space. Then she drew her sword.

Surprised by the sudden attack, Kazatoki deflected the sword's trajectory with her fist. She could have counterattacked then, but she remained on the defensive. The instant after she deflected the sword, the sheath of Beelzeb, which Parfait still held, came at her.

Kazatoki deflected that attack with her fist as well, but in the next moment, the sword she had just parried was upon her again. It wasn't a sword drawing slash, just a simple cut. Parfait was now attacking with her sword and sheath, dual wielding.

Moreover, she didn't fight the force of the parries. Instead, Parfait rotated her body left and right, unleashing a series of attacks. It was a fluid combo, so graceful it was almost like a dance.

No matter how many times she parried, the attacks wouldn't stop. Kazatoki, though smiling, couldn't find an opening to counterattack. Growing impatient, she threw a straight punch.

It was an attack meant to create distance by landing a powerful blow, even at the cost of taking a hit herself. But Parfait had predicted it. She backstepped and dodged.

Kazatoki, who had expected her attack to at least be blocked, was thrown off balance by the dodge. Parfait's sword came down on her head.

Kazatoki crossed her hands in front of her face and took a large leap backward.

"Huh?"

As Kazatoki jumped back, Parfait threw her sheath at her. Completely unguarded against such an attack, the sheath struck her squarely in the abdomen.

Kazatoki's surprised eyes widened even further. Toward the sheath now sticking into her abdomen, Parfait lunged with her sword.

The thrust pushed the sheath in her abdomen from behind. With a high pitched clang, Kazatoki was sent flying backward. She rolled across the ground.

Kazatoki lay sprawled on her back, staring blankly at the sky, but she quickly scrambled to her feet.

"Amazing! That was so amazing! I never thought I'd be hit with an attack like that—"

Kazatoki spoke excitedly, but was interrupted by a pikon pikon sound, like a notification.

"Huh? Oh, the stream time! U, um, I'm sorry! We have to stop the fight here!"

"Oh, okay."

At the sudden announcement, Parfait picked up her fallen sheath and sheathed Beelzeb. Meanwhile, Kazatoki was operating a small window floating in the air.

"S, sorry, I got too caught up in the fight... That's all for today's Dojo of Finishing Moves... Huh? Why is the screen full of comments? Is it broken...?"

Kazatoki said this while tapping the side of the small window.

That's a pretty old-fashioned way to fix something, Parfait thought as she peeked at the window. It was flooded with so many comments that it was hard to read them.

"Huh? It's streaming, right!? This has to be streaming, or I'm in deep trouble! I like bean sprouts, but I don't want to eat only bean sprouts!"

"Maybe it's not broken, it's just that there are a lot of comments?"

"A lot of comments...?"

"Yes, because the viewer count is—"

Parfait pointed to the viewer count on the window. The number, which had been three at the start, had already surpassed ten thousand.

"Huh? Over ten thousand viewers...? It's seriously broken...? A bug...?"

"I don't think so. I think more than ten thousand people are just watching the real time stream."

"No way... I'm a streamer whose viewer count is always in the single digits. I'm more of a fail-streamer..."

Parfait wondered what the difference was since they sounded the same, but she guessed the latter had a heavy dose of self-deprecation. That aside, the viewer count was definitely over ten thousand, and it was still climbing even after the fight had ended.

"Oh, sorry, I'm getting a voice chat from outside... Huh? Lion-chan? You're sick, so you shouldn't be shouting like that... See, now you can't stop coughing... Oh, you watched the stream... Huh? The Sister-san who fought me? Oh, yeah, she was just someone who was nearby... Huh? She's famous?"

Kazatoki looked puzzled, tilting her head again and again.

"Huh? Ranked 100th? Beat a ranker on her first day logging in? Come on, Lion-chan, I know that person, but that's the Sister-san who uses the sword drawing style, right? I've seen her in videos many times, but the person who helped me today is—"

At that point, Kazatoki flinched. Then, her head slowly turned toward Parfait.

"...Um, I know this is a strange question, but your rank is...?"

"It's 100. Reluctantly."

"One hun—"

Suddenly, Kazatoki prostrated herself on the ground.

"I, I, I, I'm so sorry! I thought you were a ranker, but I had no idea you were so famous!"

"Hey, please stand up!"

"I will never forget the kindness you've shown a fail-streamer like me!"

"If you feel indebted, then please stand up!"

Amidst this exchange, a quick glance at the streaming window revealed a chaotic flood of comments like "A perfect prostration," "Rematch!," and "Battou Sister."