Chapter 395
Claudia, equipped with the High-Speed Maker, was undeniably overwhelming.
It was akin to accomplishing something close to the "hundred-man challenge" training.
"Phew, it's quite user-friendly equipment."
Claudia, having finished her bouts with everyone except me, adjusted her breathing while lightly sweating.
"You're too strong~"
Nell, who challenged Claudia, used a long weapon, a halberd—a heavy weapon. Combined with the difference in combat experience, the compatibility with Claudia was poor, and the fight lasted only thirty seconds.
"I shall strive to improve."
Ingrid, a balanced type, challenged with iaijutsu, aiming to counterattack. However, maintaining a purely defensive posture meant she couldn't adapt to high-speed combat, leading to a defeat similar to Genjirou's. The record: about two minutes.
"Does she... dodge lightning!?"
And then, Esmeralda slumped to her knees, utterly dejected. Her record: less than ten seconds.
As a mage, she was exceptionally allowed to use attack skills, and the spar was conducted with full medical support. Yet, this was the result.
Her plan was to open with Shock Bolt for suppression, then activate parallel Ice Boomerangs to set up an interception. However, Claudia dodged the crucial lightning magic and took her down with one hit. While Esmeralda's stat build focuses on magic, so this outcome isn't surprising, taking on Claudia, who can move at high speed without specialized anti-personnel gear, was probably too much.
"Don't worry about it."
"No, you had a similar result too!? Stop making it sound like I was the only one instantly defeated!"
"I lasted five seconds longer than you♪"
"That's just margin of error!!!"
I sincerely hoped the back-and-forth between Judas and Sharia, who were comparing their insignificant results, would cheer her up a little. With a scout-type skill build, speed was a disadvantage in a way. Like the mage-type Esmeralda, the current Claudia, with superior speed, was a bad matchup.
Sharia tried to comfort Judas, who made a declaration of effort but lost easily, but seeing their exchange—where Sharia, having witnessed Judas's defeat, only lasted five seconds longer—the other Entertainers could only offer wry smiles.
"Ahahahaha, we got some incredible results."
"Well, in a sense, it's as expected, I suppose."
If you give the strongest combat expert the strongest speed-enhancing item, this outcome was foreseeable.
Amina, who had been continuously buffing everyone, wore a hollow smile—an extremely reasonable reaction. I, standing next to her with a similar wry smile, thought at least one person might strike back. However, the wall of high-speed Claudia magnificently repelled all challengers, leaving me with a mixture of acceptance and astonishment.
"Well then, I guess it's time for the finale."
To challenge Claudia, who now had moderate fatigue, a warmed-up body, senses honed by repeated battles, and complete familiarity with the speed increase, I stood up, walking forward with a training scythe-spear in hand.
"So, how does it feel to wield such a powerful weapon?"
"I must be careful not to lose my discipline. Relying entirely on this power would make me weaker. That's clear to me now."
"If you're aware enough to think that, the worry seems minimal."
Slowly lifting the spear's shaft with both hands, swaying side to side to loosen up while asking about the High-Speed Maker's feel, it seemed she was aware of the trap even gamers easily fall into.
Gaining a powerful weapon naturally makes you simply stronger. But in return, your senses can become overly accustomed, causing a disconnect when using other weapons and narrowing your technical range.
We gamers do challenge runs to avoid this and improve our skills, but Claudia seems to have that talent.
"Do you need a Stamina Potion?"
"I'll take one. I want to challenge you in perfect condition."
"Challenge? Stat-wise, I'm weaker because of the equipment, you know?"
"What are you saying? Don't you remember the skill that tried to overcome the initial stat difference in our first fight? Or our sparring record after your level caught up?"
"Bringing up old memories. Come to think of it, I never counted."
"578 fights. 224 wins, 135 losses, 219 draws."
"That's a lot of draws."
"Most were time-outs. And as this record shows, I am 'losing' to you."
When Claudia mentioned challenging me with a wry smile, she had dutifully counted our sparring record. I hadn't kept precise track, but I never imagined my record was better.
"Oh," I couldn't help but murmur. Hearing a number where I was clearly ahead, indeed, "challenge" was the more accurate word.
"Winning with this power feels somewhat unsatisfactory, but conversely, I also want to see it."
"See what?"
Accepting a Stamina Potion from Ingrid, drinking it, wiping her mouth with a hand towel, then handing the empty vial and towel back, Claudia took her stance.
"Your form, defeating me in this state."
"You're raising the bar."
"Everyone around us probably expects it too, right? 'Liberta can probably do it.'"
"Ahahahaha, no way... Seriously?"
Full of motivation, and full of expectations.
Thinking only Claudia was expecting me, I looked around to see many sending hopeful gazes my way.
If I were to lose pathetically here, I'd betray those expectations.
Nell and Amina's sparkling eyes, Ingrid looking at me seriously, Esmeralda's passionate gaze urging me to take down the opponent, Genjirou clenching his fists determined not to blink even for a second, Judas crossing his arms in a 'show me what you've got' pose, Sharia cheering me on.
Behind them, Gato, the benevolent old man, strokes his long beard, watching with an interested smile.
The Gardener Retainers and Entertainers are also watching. It genuinely looks like they desperately want me to win.
"Sigh, being the leader is tough."
"It's a heavy responsibility."
"Could you maybe go a little easy?"
"You know that's not in my nature, right?"
"I know. I know!! Dammit!"
Then, there's only one thing I must do.
"Then I'll show you that I can win, even against Claudia in her super-high-speed state!!"
"Oh?"
Bring out Claudia's true, serious, genuine high-speed state, and win against that.
I deliberately cornered myself, realizing that only by clearing this incredibly high hurdle was possible.
As expected, my declaration brings a fierce, intriguing smile to Claudia's face.
Her one eye, facial scars, and refined features combine with that smile to exude an aura of a formidable warrior.
It suits her so well. Trying not to get captivated, I gently raise my scythe-spear.
"...I'm coming."
"Please."
No signal is needed between us.
As always, we exchange a glance to confirm readiness.
And then, without a clear start, the battle begins.
*Don!* A fierce kick-off sound echoes, and Claudia charges from spear range to fist range with such speed she leaves afterimages.
Now, if I straightforwardly thrust the spear here, her dodging it is a standard move.
Then, while I'm pulling back, Claudia would likely close in further and fight within her own range.
So what do I do?
The answer is simple: **"Don't thrust; place it."** This is the basic tactic against high-speed opponents.
"As expected, you'd do that."
"Well, it's the basic tactic against fast-moving opponents!"
I simply hold my stance and wait, while Claudia charges to close the distance. Our spars often start like this.
The spear is originally a weapon designed with the premise of maintaining distance and attacking safely from afar.
In some cases, it can also serve as a stake, planted in the ground at an angle to intercept charging opponents.
Simply placing it, combined with the opponent's high speed, means a straightforward charge would lead to disaster.
However, if the opponent is a seasoned warrior like Claudia, just placing it becomes a foolish strategy, requiring caution.
"You always place it in such hard-to-see positions!"
"If I didn't, you'd just knock it aside and be done with it!"
Therefore, against Claudia, I employ tricks: making it hard to see and difficult to grasp its precise location.
I manipulate the shaft, positioning it to appear as a single point from the opponent's perspective, or slightly shift it to distort depth perception, creating a situation where they cannot charge straight and must choose evasive action.
"Here!"
"Tch!"
Distance is the ultimate defense, as they say.
Against Claudia trying to flank me, I change the spear's placement, positioning the scythe blade as if to hook her stepping foot's landing point.
By combining footwork and spear handling to place the scythe-spear to hook the landing point, she can't carelessly try to flank and is forced to change her foot placement.
"First move."
No matter how fast one can move, the actions of stepping and kicking don't disappear.
If I can attack from a range her fists can't reach, I must actively employ moves to crush her initial actions.
I'm using the "placement" technique, but this too is a legitimate offensive move.
Claudia shifts her stepping point using Air Walk, controls her body movement, and attempts a three-dimensional aerial maneuver.
"Second move."
But I can do similar things.
There's no restriction on Air Walk, so I maintain spear distance while consciously ensuring she doesn't flank me, always keeping Claudia in my frontal view.
Incidentally, I also place a Shadow Clone where I was standing, trying to divert her attention even slightly.
"Third move."
Now, instead of placing, I can thrust.
From stillness to motion, deceptive movements force decisions upon the opponent.
Assassin builds are exceptionally strong in PvP because they can use such decoy skills.
Instantaneous firepower, maximum firepower, sustained firepower—this build lags behind in all those areas. Yet, in the field of combat, my constructed build can compete at high levels and even reach the top depending on the situation.
"Fourth move."
Calmly sealing the opponent's movements, deceiving, presenting choices.
Claudia, looking somewhat uncomfortable, shakes off the Shadow Clone that momentarily stole her attention, dodges the spear thrust aimed at the opening, uses the remaining Air Walk steps for posture control, and tries to transition to an attack, but...
"!"
Hate Down.
The skill that lowers the target's hostility causes a momentary lag in recognizing me as an enemy.
"Hah!"
"!"
In that opening, I sweep Claudia's feet, still in the air, with the spear's butt-spike (石突).
Breaking her posture, I don't follow up with the spear. Instead, I close into the same close-quarters range and attack Claudia's abdomen with a side kick.
"As always, you're difficult to fight."
"That's just the style."
However, the sensation of the kick wasn't the feeling of hitting an abdomen but a hard sensation.
It wasn't that Claudia's body was hard, but the feeling of the vambrace on her arm, thrust in at the last moment.
Give and take.
It was a fleeting exchange in a moment of time.
"Will you manage to handle this speed as well?"
"It's not my first time seeing it; I could perceive the movements. It's just faster; attack and defense power haven't changed. So I can handle it."
"Normally, you can't!"
Through that exchange, my eyes and body have synchronized.
Even if I'm a beat slower, I can handle it.
But doing so would create a discrepancy in skill rotation.
Then perhaps being half a beat slower, leaving some margin in skill recast times, is just right.
"Hah!"
Matching Claudia's faster steps, this time I respond without using skills, relying on evasion and counterattacks.
With the added speed, her power increases, and the number of attacks rises.
So, I block only the minimum necessary, redirecting to break her posture, disrupt her tempo, consciously linking her movements with mine.
Feeling my thoughts accelerate from the widening grin on her face as her attack rotation speeds up, I began formulating a path to victory.