kscans

Chapter 503 - State of Selflessness

The magical girl archangel Lion's song and dance number ended, and the battle between Parfait and Kazatoki was about to begin.

Back in the waiting room, Lion was a complete contrast to her on-stage persona. She sat on a chair hugging her knees, muttering, "Where did it all go wrong...?" Her backup dancers, however, were encouraging her. "You were amazing this time, too!" "The archangel look is lovely!" "The unlucky moe is still going strong!"

The encouragement seemed to bring a little life back into Lion's eyes. With a tired smile, she waved at Parfait and Kazatoki, wishing them luck.

Kazatoki responded with a, "I'll do my best!" and Parfait gave a small wave back, saying, "I'll do my best."

Cheers loud enough to be heard even in the backstage waiting room erupted. Contrary to her own reaction, Lion had done a great job of livening up the place. And next up was the main event.

Originally, this battle was the main attraction. Many people had gathered to see it, but then a series of events, the kind you'd expect from AFO's management, occurred one after another, and the crowd swelled.

It was putting the cart before the horse, but Parfait had become a top 100 ranker on her first day of logging in, so telling her not to stand out was an impossible request.

She hoped that the spotlight would shift to Noat, Cecil, and Xenobia's group of Demon Lord's Army remnants. With that thought, Parfait stepped onto the stage alone.

The roar of the crowd was deafening. There were even some less-than-welcome cheers for the "Battou Sister." Unaccustomed to such things, Parfait gave a slightly strained smile and a small wave. Then she waited for Kazatoki.

She expected Kazatoki to come from the same backstage waiting room, but instead, a different group of people in miko outfits stepped onto the stage.

About ten miko, with fox ears and tails, their faces hidden by large paper charms, lined up in a row. As the audience murmured, wondering what kind of performance this was, the miko each took out an instrument.

They seemed to have assembled a collection of Japanese instruments like the koto, biwa, shamisen, shakuhachi, shinobue, tsuzumi, and hyoshigi. They all raised their instruments. And then, they began to play in unison.

(It's surprisingly rock-like...)

Parfait had expected traditional Japanese music, but for some reason, it was hard rock. Still, it had a Japanese flair to it.

As Parfait watched, wondering if that was really how you played those instruments, she heard a voice from above cry, "No jaaa!"

Parfait looked up and saw Kazatoki falling from high in the sky.

It was unclear how she had gotten up there, but Parfait worried that the fall damage would deplete her HP. Just then, Kazatoki shouted, "Chesto!"

Just before hitting the ground, Kazatoki used the Hand-to-Hand Combat weapon skill, Earth Shaker.

It was a move that created a small earthquake by stomping the ground, unbalancing the opponent and momentarily lifting them into the air, but it had the side effect of nullifying fall damage. It was a difficult technique that required perfect timing to work, but Kazatoki pulled it off.

The ground shook violently. Amidst the suddenly silent surroundings, Kazatoki, now in her new costume, was on one knee. She slowly rose to her feet.

"Through my training, I have mastered the secret arts of Karate! The fox shrine maiden and tomboyish princess with a slightly archaic speech pattern, now known as, the Nine-Tailed Fox, is born! Shall I turn you into a killing stone, no ja!"

Kazatoki was trying hard. Her delivery was a bit monotone, but Parfait could tell she was definitely trying her best. The audience must have felt the same way, because they enthusiastically hyped her up. "You can do it!" "Don't lose!" "No ja princess!" The cheers were tremendous.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was known as a bewitching beauty who could topple nations, but Kazatoki didn't fit that image at all. She was energetic and vibrant, with a high-spirited demeanor.

Her fox ears stood tall, she now had nine tails, and she wore a chihaya over her miko outfit with geta sandals. Parfait thought the new outfit looked even harder to fight in than the last one, but Kazatoki paid it no mind, practicing a series of punches and kicks.

Then, with a powerful "Hah!" she let out a spirited cry.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Let's have a good match!"

"Ah, okay."

Her tension must have peaked, because the "no ja" she had been using until just now was gone. But that was what Parfait wanted. It wouldn't be fun if she couldn't perform at her best because she was distracted by something weird.

Kazatoki was incredibly strong for someone about her own age. Last time, they had a draw due to the time limit, but Parfait was quite looking forward to seeing what would happen if they fought for real.

Kazatoki sent a duel request. Parfait responded, setting the combat format to realistic. A dome-shaped battle field deployed on the stage.

Parfait held Beelzebub's scabbard in her left hand.

Kazatoki stood, bowed her head deeply, and then immediately took a stance.

The sound from the surroundings vanished. Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the stage.

As Parfait wondered what to do, Kazatoki immediately leaped forward.

She closed the distance in a single bound. A high speed right fist followed. The straightforward attack, without any feint, was enough to throw Parfait off, and she barely managed to block it with Beelzebub's scabbard.

(She's faster than last time! Her attack was so direct, my reaction was delayed...! Oh, this is bad!)

As if ignorant of Parfait's thoughts, Kazatoki launched a continuous assault.

Her attacks were straightforward, as if to say she needed no feints. Kazatoki's assault, focused solely on landing blows faster and more accurately, was a step ahead of Parfait's thoughts.

Parfait was completely on the defensive and still hadn't drawn Beelzebub. The Azuma-ryu style was meant to counter the opponent's attacks, but there was no opportunity for that.

(No... it's not that there's no opportunity. It's that I'm overthinking things.)

Until now, her excellent kinetic vision had allowed her to react in time even while thinking, but that wouldn't work against the current Kazatoki. She was attacking with that much speed. And it was relentless. Parfait had already been hit several times and was practically a punching bag.

(What did Benny-shishou say to do in times like this? A state of selflessness? Not that you think about nothing, but that you clear your mind of extraneous thoughts and focus on one thing, right...?)

Amidst these thoughts, Kazatoki threw another straight punch. Parfait didn't defend against it, instead taking it head-on. She was sent flying backward.

The crowd went wild, but this action made Kazatoki stop moving.

In that opening, Parfait slowly stood up.

"P, Parfait-san? Are you perhaps not feeling well...?"

"No. I'm sorry, I was thinking about unnecessary things even though you're my opponent, Kazatoki-chan. I guess you just knocked some sense into me."

Parfait smiled at the bewildered Kazatoki.

"This isn't a handicap or anything. It's just impossible to fight you while thinking. I finally understand that now, so from here on, I'll be serious. Or rather, I'll do my best in a state of selflessness."

Now it was Kazatoki's turn to look surprised. Then, as if sensing there was no lie in Parfait's words, she immediately leaped to close the distance.

But before Kazatoki could land a punch with that speed, her torso was slashed by Parfait. Parfait had leaped out at the same time, landing a counter-like blow.

As Kazatoki reeled in surprise, Parfait's drawn blade attacked again.

Kazatoki dodged the attack aimed at her feet by jumping up, then seamlessly launched a spinning kick in mid-air. But Parfait dodged the kick and used her right hand to knock Kazatoki's leg away, throwing her off balance.

Losing her balance in mid-air, Kazatoki curled up and landed on her back, then used the momentum to spring back up.

As if expecting this, Parfait grabbed the front of Kazatoki's clothes as she regained her posture.

"Eh?"

Still holding Kazatoki's chest, Parfait shifted her weight backward and threw her with a tomoe nage. Perhaps because of the momentum from her spring-up and Parfait's excellent leverage, Kazatoki flew quite a distance.

This time, Kazatoki landed on her back, but she immediately rolled to her right and stood up.

Just then, the scabbard of Beelzebub, thrown by Parfait, struck Kazatoki in the stomach.

"Ah..."

Next would be a thrust with the sword, aimed at the scabbard. Kazatoki must have remembered this from before, because she immediately tried to create distance.

But this time was different.

Parfait threw the sword as well. In such a way that it would sheathe itself.

No way, was the thought of everyone present. The thrown scabbard was stuck in Kazatoki's stomach, and it would fall to the ground. The scabbard's opening was facing Parfait for less than a second. To simply throw the sword at the scabbard in that time would be one thing, but to throw it in a way that it would sheathe itself was impossible.

But Parfait pulled it off. It probably wouldn't have mattered if it didn't go in the scabbard, but the act, requiring an incredible amount of concentration and luck, sent the venue into an uproar.

Of course, it didn't end there. Parfait closed in on Kazatoki at high speed.

Confirming this, Kazatoki immediately picked up the now-sheathed Beelzebub from the stage and threw it far away.

She probably thought that this would halve her attack power, or force her to create an opening by going to retrieve the sword, but her plan backfired. Kazatoki frowned.

Parfait approached Kazatoki without even looking at the sword. In fact, by throwing the sword, Kazatoki's reaction was delayed.

And so, a hand-to-hand battle began between them.

Kazatoki's face immediately contorted in shock.

Every attack wasn't just countered. It was crushed the moment she began the motion. An attack that didn't fully extend had no attack judgment. Even when she occasionally managed to land a blow, it was dodged by a hair's breadth. And she would immediately eat a counter.

Parfait's movements were not those of someone who had learned formal martial arts. But her attacks from blind spots, her movements that caught her opponent off guard, all of it confused Kazatoki.

The damage advantage she had at the beginning was long gone, and now Kazatoki was losing. In fact, not a single attack had landed since Parfait said she would "do her best in a state of selflessness."

Not just Kazatoki, but the cheers from the surroundings also died down. It wasn't as fast as Xenobia or Cecil, nor was it a connoisseur's fight like Ingrid and Balbara. But everyone was wide-eyed at Parfait's movements, which seemed almost like she had precognition.

One more blow. With a look of resolve, Kazatoki smiled and threw her best straight punch.

But Parfait was no longer where she had thrown it. She was already under the fist, in Kazatoki's blind spot, and had grabbed her right arm.

Parfait executed a shoulder throw. Kazatoki was slammed onto her back on the ground, still held by the arm. That was the final damage. Immediately after, the dome of the battle field shattered spectacularly.

It was a visually plain ending. But the process had been so incredible that after a moment of silence, a huge cheer erupted.

And then, with a delay, Parfait's victory was declared.

As Parfait let out a long breath, Kazatoki, who had just finished fighting, immediately sat in seiza and bowed her head to Parfait.

"Parfait-san! That was amazing! In the second half, I couldn't lay a hand or a foot on you!"

"Ah, um, yeah. I was only thinking about winning, so I don't remember much, but did I really win?"

"Y, you don't remember!? Amazing! So this is the state of selflessness! Please, watch the video! I'm going to watch it hundreds of times!"

"Eh, ah, yeah, in moderation, okay?"

Parfait felt a little guilty under Kazatoki's admiring gaze.

(All I was thinking was that if I won, I'd eat a deluxe jumbo parfait in the real world, and before I knew it, the match was over...)

Deciding to keep this secret to herself, Parfait's heart danced with thoughts of what toppings she would get on her parfait.