Midnight Festival ① – Rematch.
I only learned about this yesterday.
Narcissus-san had requested a rematch, and Alveld had accepted it.
His designation was the middle of the night on the final day, at the arena.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Even at night, his gently flowing golden hair shone, and he looked at me with black eyes deeper than darkness.
From his deeply chiseled, Western sculpture-like expression, no emotion could be seen.
He wore white, mystical armor with a red mantle draped over one shoulder.
It was the same divine figure as when I first saw him. Nothing had changed.
“Please.”
I greeted him, activated 【Deep Silent One】, and chanted.
“【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】.”
They clashed. A strangely high-pitched metallic sound echoed, as if our guards were locked.
“【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】.”
We’re even. Completely even.
Alveld must be feeling it too.
It seemed as though a faint light had kindled in the black eyes looking at me.
“【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】.”
They collided with the exact same timing and the exact same power. The sound shrieked.
“【Impact】.”
“Ghk!?”
A sudden impact assaulted me. I was forcefully repelled, and pain shot through me.
“Impressive. To have reached this level in such a short time is worthy of praise.”
“【Vanish】!”
“【Crash】—【Impact】.”
“Guh!”
Right after they canceled each other out, a shockwave was unleashed. I took it head-on again.
“What’s wrong? It’s too early to be kissing the ground.”
“……You’re right.”
So, 【Crash】 and 【Vanish】 cancel each other out, followed by 【Impact】 as a follow-up, huh?
It’s too fast. There’s almost no time lag, so I can’t deal with it.
No—there is a way. I drew ‘Agaro’s Knife Modified’.
Its blade, like a blue flame, rippled as if it were an LCD panel.
Taking a stance, I ran.
“【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】—【Impact】.”
They canceled out, and the shockwave came. I pinpointed the timing and swung the knife.
“Hoh.”
The shockwave was severed. ‘Agaro’s Knife Modified’ cuts concepts.
In that case, it should be able to cut shockwaves too.
And then, I closed in on Alveld in an instant. One-Step.
At my sudden appearance before him, Alveld’s black eyes… seemed to glint darkly.
He probably intends to do something, but I’m faster. I raise the knife in my right hand.
“Misdirection!”
The ‘Agaro’s Knife Modified’ I was swinging down vanished from my right hand.
Simultaneously, a knife appeared in my empty left hand.
“Mmph.”
I slashed at Alveld from a complete blind spot.
In an instant, Alveld elegantly dodged, and my knife tore through his mantle.
“…He dodged it, huh.”
He dodged. As expected of him.
The one in my left hand isn’t ‘Agaro’s Knife Modified’.
It’s an ordinary-looking knife. Called a ‘Magic Knife’.
Misdirection.
Drawing attention to one point, then striking where they aren’t looking.
A basic magic technique.
That’s right. This is the Relic 【Knife Magic】.
A Relic bestowed by the Goddess of Knives.
“Interesting.”
Saying so, Alveld removed the torn mantle.
Beneath the mantle, a sheathed sword could be seen. Alveld drew his sword.
It was an expensive-looking, double-edged sword. An OOPArts, perhaps?
Not particularly flashy. I could tell it was highly practical. A sword befitting him.
After taking a stance, Alveld attacked first for the first time.
A straight, sharp sword strike. I instinctively blocked it with my knife. Heavy.
Alveld’s clashing sword was pulled back ever so slightly, then smoothly pushed forward.
The blade of my knife was cleanly severed.
“Ghk! 【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】.”
The two Relics clashed. Not yet. I still have two ‘Magic Knives’ left.
This knife is exclusively for 【Knife Magic】.
When the Relic 【Knife Magic】 is used, they appear in my hand.
【Knife Magic: Upon use, 3 ‘Magic Knives’ appear. Allows the user to perform magic using ‘Magic Knives’. Enters cooldown when knives are depleted. Cooldown: 6 minutes】
“Hide-and-Seek!”
While leaping back, I threw a ‘Magic Knife’.
Alveld deflected the knife without difficulty. Just as I thought.
The deflected knife vanished, then suddenly shot out from Alveld’s lower left.
That too was deflected, but this time it fell from his upper right, only to be deflected again.
“Hoh.”
Even if deflected, the knife attacks as if aiming.
You don’t know where it’s coming from. That’s why it’s ‘Hide-and-Seek’.
Well, one is easy enough, but what if I add another?
Two ‘Magic Knives’ targeted Alveld.
Unless they are dodged, deflected, or shattered, the knives will continue to attack.
Even with more, he’s dealing with them calmly.
As expected. As expected of Alveld von Rootbelt.
But that’s not all. I take a square, hatchet-like knife in hand.
I join the two knives.
“My, my.”
Alveld still manages to deal with it.
He dodges and deflects the two knives attacking from his blind spots, and also parries and deflects my attacks.
He also perfectly counters Misdirection.
His swordsmanship, though not flashy, feels more precise than Ax-san’s.
No, it might be on par with Ens-san.
Moreover, Alveld seems to have room to spare.
As I thought, I can’t win by fighting him head-on, huh?
“…【Rêve Move】.”
I picture the ideal movements in my head.
The ideal action at the limit of my ability that will definitely damage Alveld.
He deflects and knocks down both knives simultaneously. I launch an attack from directly in front.
Alveld easily dodges it… but before he can, my figure vanishes.
I appear behind Alveld and slash with my knife. But he defended. What a guy.
However, for the first time, Alveld’s black eyes widened.
Two uses of 【Rêve Move】 left, huh?
Two knives target Alveld from diagonally above and below on his left and right.
I attack from the front again.
“Tricky.”
He masterfully evades the two knives, and as I attack, Alveld also swings his sword.
Even though I attacked first, Alveld was faster. But I vanished before it could hit.
Then, Alveld immediately attacks behind him. I was waiting for that.
I reappear in the same place as before and, while thrusting my knife, chant.
“【Vanish】!”
Alveld’s armor shattered, and my knife grazed his side.
Blood flows. The first damage.
“Guuh, 【Crash】.”
“【Vanish】.”
Annihilation.
A tremendous crash and its aftershock reverberated.
It was then, at that very moment. Alveld moved his lips.
“—【Brechen】—“
I instinctively guarded with the ‘Gauntlet of Still Saint’. In an instant, it disintegrated.
Not only that, but the two ‘Magic Knives’ also shattered. They cracked from the inside out.
Having lost three, 【Knife Magic】 enters a 6-minute cooldown.
Only one use of 【Rêve Move】 left as well.
“…Hah, hah… haaah.”
My breathing is ragged. But Alveld has taken more damage than me.
Still, that Relic from before.
The Gauntlet of Still Saint didn’t just break; it disintegrated entirely.
The knives also cracked from the inside and shattered completely.
It wasn’t 【Crash】 or 【Impact】.
【Brechen】—is that the true power of the ‘Destroyer of Collapse’?
“Fuuu… I didn’t intend to use this on a person.”
Alveld wipes the blood from his abdomen with his hand.
Seeing the blood, he smiled.
“It’s been a while. No, how many years has it been since I was wounded by a person?”
The knife wound isn’t as deep as I thought.
That’s natural. I don’t want to kill him.
I want to win.
“I will win!”
“Come. 【Brechen】.”
“【Vanish】.”
“【Crash】.”
“Teyaaah!”
I slash with ‘Agaro’s Knife Modified’.
“【Impact】.”
“Guhaaaaargh!!”
I was sent flying by the shockwave.
Damn it, the combo of three Relics is tough. I don’t have enough hands.
My hope is just one thing.
The one use of 【Rêve Move】 I’ve been saving is my chance for a comeback.
If I don’t use it well somehow, I can’t win.