Chapter Twelve: L’Arc Berg
Therese magically floated over and stood next to him.
“What’s this about?”
I glared at them.
“Oh man. I really didn’t think that you were the Shield Hero, kiddo.”
“I told you so many times.”
“You’re right, you did. But I figured you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, you know? Kiddo. Or should I call you Naofumi?”
“Whatever you want. What are you up to?”
“Huh? Oh, I want you to know that I don’t have anything against you personally.”
“That’s right. I don’t either. I’m very sorry that things need to be this way, but . . . .”
I was getting a really bad feeling about this.
But I’d harbored doubts about that giant scythe of his for a while. Now I think I was finally getting my answer.
“We have to do it for the good of our world. You’ve got to die.”
He moved so fast it was unbelievable. Before I could even see what was happening his scythe was slicing through the air.
Without thinking, I reacted. I guessed where the scythe would land and readied my shield to block it.
“Heh! You’re pretty quick, kiddo.”
“What are you doing?!”
‘What are you doing to my master?!”
Filo jumped up and ran to attack them, but I held out a hand to stop her.
I don’t know why I stopped her. I felt like if she made a little mistake, she wouldn’t get out of it alive.
“I already told you.”
All he’d said was that I had to die for the good of the world. What was that supposed to mean?”
“We must hold this adventurer accountable for raising arms against Mr. Iwatani, the Shield Hero! Everyone! Prepare for ceremonial magic casting!”
They had already started the spell, and they sent it in L’Arc’s direction.
If their magic were as powerful as it looked, we’d all get caught up in it.
I looked to the queen and she caught my gaze.
I understood. She knew that we could survive the blast.
“Shooting star shield! Motoyasu, get over here!”
I quickly invited him to the party.
Surprisingly, he understood what was happening and immediately accepted. Then he ran into the range of my skill.
“This doesn’t look good.”
Therese raised her arms and her jewels sparkled. She was casting a spell.
What? The wind raised up, very powerfully, and began to swirl around us.
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Lend me the power to destroy them!”
“Ceremonial magic judgment!”
Therese finished her spell a moment before the queen.
Then she removed her tiara and there was another jewel set into the center of her forehead.
“Shining stone! Shooting star rain of fire!”
Magic flames rained from the sky. But no, it wasn’t like rain. Each one was a huge ball of fire.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Something like a meteor came shooting from the sky and shot straight through a ship, sinking it.
“Raphtalia!”
“I’m fine!”
Raphtalia, the queen, Itsuki, and his party all jumped from the sinking ship.
Dammit. The force of the sinking ship was forming a vortex. It was pulling people into it.
The queen tried to save them by teaming up with other people in a small boat and casting magic with them to calm the vortex.
The whole situation had moved in L’Arc’s favor and Therese had only cast a single spell!
I’d seen a lot of different kinds of demi-humans and creatures since I arrived in this world, but I’d never seen anything like Therese.
She must have been something else entirely.
“Damn!”
“Ren! If you don’t jump off that ship you’re going to die!”
Ren looked worried, but he understood that his teammate was right—he jumped into the water.
He really wasn’t much help, was he?
“Therese!”
“I know, I just had to keep them away!”
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Protect them from the falling flames!”
“Shining stones, silent ocean!”
Huh? When Therese finished her spell the vortex vanished completely. The queen was staring at L’Arc, completely baffled.
“I don’t want any unnecessary deaths.”
“But you want to kill me? What kind of logic is that?!”
“It’s not that we WANT to kill you. But we have to do what we have to do—I don’t want anyone else to get involved.”
“Then why are you trying to kill me?!”
“I guess we owe you that much. But I already told you we have to do it to save our world!”
“What does that mean?! Isn’t THIS your world? How does it help anyone to kill a hero in the middle of a wave?!”
“Oh man, you don't even know that?”
“L’Arc isn’t so good at explaining things.”
“Shut up, Therese. Fine, I’ll tell you, Naofumi. Our world is just what it sounds like—another world.”
“ . . . .”
What was he talking about?
Could it really be what it sounded like?
It seemed like it was too much. It couldn’t be true—and yet . . . .
During the last wave, we’d met an enemy named Glass.
If what L’Arc was saying was true, then were he and Glass from the same place? Where they the same enemy?
“It’s just like the girl said. There are tons of fake heroes out there pretending to be you. Everyone who calls themselves a hero is lying. It took a lot of time to find you, Naofumi.”
“What?!”
“What are you saying?!”
“Yeah! We are heroes!”
The other heroes jumped to their feet.
“Oh? Are you three pretending to be heroes too? Ha! Give me a break!”
L’Arc looked at the other three heroes and broke out into sincere laughter.
“You must be joking! You three are so WEAK! If you’re going to pretend to be heroes, you’ll have to be way stronger than that—like Naofumi here.”
“What?!”
“You want to try me?!”
“Motoyasu, wait!”
But Motoyasu ignored me and ran at L’Arc, his spear readied.
“I already told you, we don’t want to kill anyone we don’t have to. We only need to kill the hero.”
L’Arc waved his scythe.
“First form, wind slice!”
He had only flicked his wrist, but a massive tornado appeared and blew Motoyasu away.
“AHHHHHHH!”
Motoyasu flew through the air like a ragdoll and splashed into the ocean, where he floated face-up.
He’d defeated Motoyasu with a single hit?
“Guess they still have some fight in them?”
“Apparently. It’s a waste of time, but I guess we need to get rid of them too.”
“I suppose so.”
L’Arc and Therese readied themselves for battle, then rushed to attack.
“Shining stones, explosive thunder rain!”
Just like last time, a bolt of lightning struck L’Arc’s scythe, charging it.
“Combo skill, lightning firework!”
He spun the scythe between his hands, forming a quickly rotating disk. Innumerable beams of light shot from it—they shot from it and shot right through the people that were around the sinking ship.
I used shooting star shield and ran forward to protect the back line.
Raphtalia and Filo stood behind me, within the range of the protective barrier.
“What . . . what the . . . .”
“How . . . how could they?”
Luckily the queen and her immediate soldiers had been able to make it into the range of my skill, so they were safe. But the other heroes, and nearly all the other adventurers and sailors, had been shot straight through by the beams of light.
“Damn . . . .”
The actual attack wasn’t too powerful, but the range was incredible.
I didn’t know who L’Arc was, but his attacks were something serious to contend with. We’d have to be on our toes.
“I tried to make sure that wouldn’t kill you all. If you interfere in my battle with Naofumi, I won’t hold back next time.”
I turned to see the damage. Most of the people looked like they were paralyzed. Luckily they had been in boats, so they didn’t seem to be drowning.
“Such power . . . . Who are they . . . ?”
The queen began to chant a spell.
“Wait a second, queen. If that spell isn’t powerful enough to kill us, you’d better not use it. It looks like they are only interested in me.”
“That’s the Naofumi I know! A quick thinker!”
“How cute—you think you know me after only a few days?”
“Spending bit of time with a person is enough to get the gist of his personality.”
L’Arc was looking confident. He pointed at me.
“You must have a reason for stealing items from the defeated, Naofumi. You aren’t the type to commit an evil act for no reason.”
“Finally, someone who really understands what you're like, Mr. Naofumi.”
“Don't say that. You're bumming me out.”
They weren’t wrong. They weren’t wrong, but . . . .
“Damn! They betrayed my trust!”
I hate betrayal. But thinking back on it, I guess they’d never promised me anything.
They’d rejected my offer to stick together. I guess we were enemies that had accidently become friends.
Ha! What a joke.
“The flames have nearly died out. Raphtalia, Filo, we know these two, but we have to take them out!”
“It’ll be tough, but let’s do it, Mr. Naofumi!”
“Umm . . . . If they want to fight then I’ll show them what I can do!”
“It’s a fight just like any other fight.”
“Just another fight? So you want to play it fair? I prefer to think of it as strategy.”
“That’s just like you, Naofumi. Come at me then! I came to this world to take your life!”
“Shining stones, explosive lightning rain!”
Just like when they had defeated the inter-dimensional whale, Therese’s magic struck L’Arc’s scythe.
He pivoted, then swung at us.
“Combo skill! Electric great circle!”
I assumed that the skill would break through my shooting star barrier, so I held up my shield to block the attack.
I was right. The barrier shattered with a deafening crack and L’Arc’s sizzling skill broke right through it, flying straight for me.
“HAAAAAA!”
The crackling circle of light slammed into to my shield and sent sparks flying in all directions.
The shield was strong enough to stop it, but if the skill had hit at a bad angle, there would have been real trouble to deal with.
“Hey, hey! You were able to stop my electric circle—pretty good!”
I had the Soul Eater Shield equipped, and its counter effect, soul eat, activated, sapping L’Arc of strength.
“What? What’s that? Doesn’t hurt much.”
But he was shocked and thrown off guard. It was like he couldn’t figure out what kind of attack he was dealing with.
Soul eat was a counter attack that activated whenever I successfully blocked an enemy’s attack.
The shield itself moved, and it stole the enemy’s magic power.
If the enemy was a hero, I wondered if it would decrease their SP.
It didn’t deal any physical damage directly, but it did it in an indirect way.
If the enemy was good with magic, then they would find their spells less and less effective.
“Heh, you’ll have to do better than that.”
“I figured as much. You didn’t even flinch. Therese!”
“Shining stones, karma fire!”
Therese cast a spell and sent it flying at me. The spell made something like a giant wave of lava, and it was rushing straight at me.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to withstand it.
“You better not forget about us!”
“Or meeeee!”
Raphtalia and Filo jumped forward from the back line and both started furiously attacking L’Arc.
“Ha!”
L’Arc back-stepped away from their attacks. They were within inches of connecting.
They kept up the barrage. Sometimes he dodged, sometimes he blocked, and sometimes he parried their weapons away.
Were they telegraphing their moves that much?
Therese continued to cast magic spells. I used the shield to charge forward, pushing L’Arc back so that I could block the spells.
But the second the magic hit me, it split apart and turned away.
For a split second, I thought I could hear a small voice saying “I’m sorry.”
“What was that?”
“I know. You don’t want to fight him.”
Therese looked very sad. She was talking to her bracelet.
It was the bracelet I’d made for her.
“Therese! Use that spell on him!”
“Yes, I know!”
What were they talking about?! She turned to cast something on me.
It was starting to look like the only way out of this was straight through. We had to win the fight.
Besides, they weren’t from this world, and they had come here specifically to kill me.
If that was true, then there was no way I was going to escape from the battle, and if there was no way to escape then there were plenty of people there that I had to protect. L’Arc and Therese said that they didn’t want to hurt anyone else, but there was no way for them to escape.
“Raphtalia! Filo! I’m going to open him up to attack—you two rush in when you see a chance!”
“Yes!”
“Okay!”
I turned my gaze back to L’Arc. I was going to have to find some way to trip him up.
“Air strike shield! Second shield!”
I summoned two shields, one at his back and one at his stomach—I was hoping to restrict his movement.
The normal way to use the skill was to summon a shield to block an enemy’s attack—then you could use change shield to switch to a shield with a counter attack ability to deal some damage.
But when you were fighting against a person, or other enemies that could move quickly, there was another way to use the skill. And that was to summon the shields in such a way as to limit the enemy’s movement.
My strategy was to think about how he might try to dodge an attack. I’d seen him back-step, so I summoned a shield behind him to prevent any retreat.
If he tried to jump back, he’d hit that shield, but what if there was another shield in front of him to block him moving forward?
That was my plan.
“Huh?”
L’Arc tried to dodge Raphtalia and Filo’s attacks, but when he tried to move a clanging sound indicated he would not be able to.
“Now!”
“Hyaaaaaa!”
“Take that!”
Raphtalia sliced with her sword from the right. Filo swiped with her claws from the left.
“Floating scythe!”
L’Arc’s empty hand was suddenly filled with another scythe, a mysterious one that seemed to float. He used the blade to block Raphtalia’s attack and then pushed Filo back using the handle.
“That was close. Naofumi, I see what you mean about strategizing now. I’d figured the Shield Hero wouldn’t have too many attacks up his sleeve, but I guess I better be more careful around you.”
“We’re not done yet! HAAAAA!”
Raphtalia reared back from the blocked attack and stabbed forward again.
A scythe was like a spear: the user blocked attacks with the handle.
Which meant that it would be very difficult to block a stabbing attack.
“I’m not done with her!”
Filo flexed her arms and, bracing her foot, pushed back on the scythe handle that had blocked her last attack.
“Not so easy!”
L’Arc jumped straight up into the air, and both Raphtalia and Filo’s attacks slipped into the space between the shields where he had been standing.
“Therese? Still not ready?!”
“It’s ready!”
Therese raised her hands and began chanting a spell.
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Destroy their unshakable protection!”
“Shining stones! Protection shatter!”
A flickering light flew at me. I wouldn’t let it hit me!
I jumped to the side to avoid the spell. It flew past me, then it turned and kept coming like a guided missile.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“I’m fine! Focus on your attack! You don’t have the time to worry about me!”
“He’s right. But Naofumi, you really need to pay attention too!”
“ . . . .”
He blocked Raphtalia and Filo’s attacks.
But I felt like they were getting closer to breaking through. If they were close, then there was one last thing I could try.
I kept dodging Therese’s persistent spell as I chanted a spell of my own.
“That won’t be easy! L’Arc!”
The light from her spell grew stronger, then expanded to completely engulf me. I felt it seeping into me.
I couldn’t get away from it.
I felt like it was draining away my energy.
I quickly opened a menu to check my stats. Sure enough, my defense stat was blinking as the number dropped.
They’d noticed how high my defense rating was, and they were trying to deplete it with support magic
“Source of all power, I am the Shield Hero! Hear my words and heed them! Support them!”
“Zweite Aura!”
I had to respond with support magic of my own. I cast aura on Filo and Raphtalia, raising all of their stats!
It was affecting me too, raising my defense as it fell, effectively rendering their magic ineffective. Not only that, but it was raising all my other stats at the same time.
“Sorry to tell you, but that spell of yours won’t really work on me.”
“Guess you’re right, kiddo. Therese!”
“Raphtalia, you focus your attacks on Therese. Filo, stick with me!
We’re taking out L’Arc!”
“Okay!”
“Understood!”
This time I would hold him down directly and get Filo to use her best attack on him.
He’d only be able to target me, and I wouldn’t have to try and dodge his attacks.
“This is good. That’s starting to hurt a little!”
L’Arc let out a sincere laugh, like he was actually enjoying himself. He swung his scythe at me.
Therese was dodging Raphtalia’s attacks and casting a spell. When she couldn't dodge, her bracelet flashed and a magic barrier appeared to block Raphtalia’s sword.
“Naofumi, aren’t you enjoying this too?
“I don’t have the time to enjoy myself!”
But he was right in the way. I was getting so worked up by the battle that I didn’t really have the time to remember why we were fighting in the first place.
That’s what a direct battle was like. It wasn’t about standing back and thinking and planning a strategy—it was about being there in the thick of it, reacting.
L’Arc. The guy was mysterious.
I knew he was my enemy, but I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.
Did it mean that I was still holding back?
Was this the way a coward thought?
I couldn’t laugh at the others who still treated this world like it was a game. We weren’t supposed to enjoy battle and yet . . . .
I wanted to know. I wanted to know who would win.
He kept coming at me with the scythe. Sometimes I dodged and sometimes I blocked it and was showered with sparks. It was all very mesmerizing.
I didn’t have any way to attack him. So I did what I could—I grabbed his wrist and held him back.
“Filo!”
“Yup!”
Filo crossed her arms and her claws filled with wind. She sent them flying at L’Arc.
“Wind claw!”
“Oh!”
There was a tearing sound, and two red lines appeared on L’Arc cheek and arms.
The cuts were not deep. But I still had a grip on him!
“Not bad! Let me repay you! Spirit scythe! Protection break!”
His scythe flashed brightly, and the tip touched my shoulder.
That was all.
And yet a searing spike of pain ran through my body, and my hand let go of his wrist almost on its own.
“Damn . . . .”
What?!”
L’Arc jumped away, dodging Filo’s second attack. “Well, looks like we found what works against the Shield Hero.” “Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia shouted my name, though she was still locked in battle with Therese. I was holding my shoulder to keep myself from bleeding out. I needed to get a healing spell cast, and fast. “You’re looking at me like you don’t understand what just happened.” “Not quite.” I could think of a few explanations. It could have been a defense ignoring attack. Glass had done something similar when we’d fought during the last wave. It was one of the only ways to hurt someone with a high defense rating. Those types of attacks dealt damage irrespective of your defense rating. If I was dealing with something like that, then I’d have to give up the option of blocking the attack. The only way to avoid injury was to dodge. The other possibility was not good at all. “A defense rating attack.” “Bingo, kiddo. That defense rating of yours is a liability now, eh?” When Glass had attacked us, I’d been using the Shield of Rage, which had a high defense rating anyway, so it was hard to figure out what was going on. I’d only been touched by the tip of his scythe, but he’d dealt some serious damage. If he’d hit me with the full attack, I wasn’t going to make it out of this with just a scratch.
Should I switch to a shield with a lower defense rating?
If I did that, I wouldn't be able to block his regular attacks though. This wasn’t a good choice to be forced into.
Still, there was a weakness to defense ignoring attacks.
I didn’t really know what kind of weapon he was using, but it seemed to be a lot like the hero’s legendary weapons—and the legendary weapons had attack skills.
If that attack was one of those, then it would have a cool down time or it would use up his SP.
But I’d just hit him with soul eat, so he shouldn’t have much SP left.
I assumed he wouldn’t be able to use his new attack very many times.
“You might just decide not to block my next attack though.”
“Yeah, there’s no rule that says I can’t just dodge.”
Being the Shield Hero didn’t mean that I had to use my shield all the time.
If he was only attacking me, it made since to prioritize avoiding his attacks.
“But I might not need to. I think that defense ignoring attack of yours has a major weakness.”
I was half bluffing to see how he reacted.
I didn’t know if he was going to answer me honestly, but I tried to think of a way around the attack regardless.
“It won’t be effective against my indirect defense skills, like air strike shield and second shield.”
It would probably break through the skill though.
But that was fine, as long as it didn’t hit me directly. So I still had a way to block that attack.
If he was able to use the skill quickly, time after time, then I’d have to defend against it with a shield that had a lower defense rating.
The Chimera Viper Shield had a counter attack that would poison the enemy—that might work out well.
“Correct. It only works if I can hit you directly.”
“You don’t have to tell me the rest.”
He didn’t have to give away his plan. That was suicidal.
I didn’t need him to do anything like that. I just needed to take the initiative and see what happened.
Besides, I still needed to keep an eye on Raphtalia and Filo. Filo continued attacking L’Arc, but he was quick on his feet, dodging all of her attacks with relative ease. If he used a ranged attack then I would have to jump in to defend the others.
“Let’s get back to it!”
L’Arc swung his scythe. The blade was glowing.
That meant that he was using a defense-ignoring attack!
I turned on my feet and dodged it.
“Yikes!”
“Now!”
Filo ducked low and swung around behind him; her claws flashed.
“Hya!”
“Argh! Damn. That was a good one. I didn’t think you were going to dodge that.”
“Of course I would, right? Why should I try to block all the attacks? There’s only one real job for a shielder; you know that I’m talking about?”
I only had to do one thing—protect. If the shield was the problem, then I just needed to dodge the attack.
I wasn’t some sort of mindless wall for the party. You didn’t need a person to do a job like that.
“This is getting better and better! Naofumi, I feel like I’m getting stronger the longer I fight you.”
“Ha! Leveling up in the middle of a fight are you? Cut the jokes. You’re no hero.”
Perhaps thinking I’d found away around his best attack, L’Arc switched gears and started using another skill.
“First form, wind blade! Second form, sky blade!”
Two swirling tornadoes appeared, then they titled downwards like tunnels of violent wind.
The wind was so powerful I thought it might blow me away, but I was able to stand my ground.
Did he think he was going to defeat me with a normal attack like that?
I switched to the Chimera Viper Shield and blocked the attack.
“Huh? You changed your shield?”
“Yeah, now deal with the counter attack!”
The awakened version of the Chimera Viper Shield had a counter effect called snake fang (large). The sculpted snake design of the shield came to life and bit L’Arc. “Huh! It’s . . . poison!” L’Arc jumped back from the attack and held his head in his hands, reeling from the poison’s effect. While he was stumbling, Filo got in a few good attacks, though none of them were strong enough to knock him down. “Master! I’m going to try a powerful attack, so you better stand back!” “Got it!” “Damn. That was tricky.” A bottle of medicine shot out of his scythe. He caught it and drank it. It was probably an antidote. But there was something else. Another bottle! Soul-healing water! He’d figured out my plan. But it was enough to confirm one thing: L’Arc had SP to deal with. Traveling with Raphtalia, I’d realized that normal people didn’t have any idea what SP was. For most people, soul-healing water didn’t do anything more than help them concentrate—but for heroes, it was something else all together. That meant that L’Arc was a hero or something else roughly equivalent. “Master!” Filo had finished charging her attack. All I had to do was give her an opportunity.
“Raphtalia!”
“Yes!”
She immediately knew what I meant. She started casting a spell. I’d needed her to keep Therese from interfering in our battle, but the time for concerns like that was over.
Therese noticed that Raphtalia had backed off her attacks, and she used the opportunity to immediately start casting a support spell.
But Raphtalia could swing her sword even as she chanted.
“Ah! You’re very good!”
“I don’t have another option, I have to attack and cast my spells at the same time against someone like you!”
“I am the source of all power. Hear my words and heed them. Hide!”
“First hiding!”
“Hiding Shield!”
Our combo skill could make an invisible shield. I set it to where I needed it.
“Change shield! Second shield!”
“Watch it!”
L’Arc, unable to see where the shield was, swung his scythe in a wide arc.
He was coming at us!
“What?!”
L’Arc’s kneecap slammed into the invisible shield.
And I had changed it to the Two-Headed Black Dog Shield—with the special effect dog bite!
The shield warped into the shape of a dog and bit down on L’Arc—hard. He couldn’t move.
“Spiral strike!”
Filo used the move she’d defeated the inter-dimensional whale with. She was flying straight for the immobilized L’Arc.
“Damn! That doesn't look good!”
L’Arc switched his scythe to his free hand and started to spin it. He was able to stop Filo’s attack.
He must have been using some kind of defensive skill, because Filo’s attack didn’t seem to do any damage.
“ . . . .”
But Filo kept spinning and spinning, delivering attack after attack. Slowly, she seemed to be breaking through.
“That’s not enough!”
The dog bite effect ran out. The shield vanished, and L’Arc jumped out of Filo’s attack range.
But I wouldn’t let him get away that easily.
“Shield prison!”
The third strongest shield skill I had, after air strike shield, was shield prison.
You could use it to hold an enemy in place or to protect yourself. It was perfect for restraining someone that tried to dodge all the time.
“Ugh! Dammit, Naofumi!”
With the shield prison in place, he couldn't avoid Filo’s attack any longer. It connected.
“ARGH!”
What? He blocked her attack with his bare hand!?
Not even L’Arc was strong enough to pull that off. The attack broke through. He was bleeding, but not defeated.
“Damn. Not bad.”
His arm was covered in gashes. He pressed his free hand against the wounds and held out his scythe.
“Guess that wasn’t enough!” said Filo.
“Filo-chan. That was one impressive attack. I never thought you all would get this far.”
“L’Arc!”
Therese shouted for him. Raphtalia had kept the pressure on her so consistently that she wasn’t able to cast any sort of support magic on him at all. Raphtalia was really impressive. Therese kept flinging spells at her, but whenever she wasn’t able to dodge them she bat them away with the blade of her sword.
And Therese must have been very powerful too—she was holding her own against all of Raphtalia’s attacks, and she only had her magic to rely on.
If I had to fight them both at the same time, I don’t think I could win.
“You know I really thought I could win. But it looks like I just don’t have what it takes to beat you, Naofumi.”
He was still acting like my superior.
I was amazed he could set aside the battle for a minute to talk.
I looked out at the ocean where an unconscious Motoyasu was floating. Ren and Itsuki were unable to fight. The fools. What would they have done in my situation?
This isn’t how my game went! You’re supposed to lose this fight! I was sure they would say something stupid like that.
If L’Arc or Therese were able to use a curative spell or medicine, then we’d have to start this all over again.
Then what?
I was about to think of how to end the battle when a great spray of water erupted before us, and a shadow appeared.
“How long are you going to take?”
“You?!”
An unexpected visitor landed right between us. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It made sense. I’d started to wonder about it myself. I’d felt there must have been a connection.
The person before me was so powerful. I hadn’t stood a chance the last time we fought.
She had a refined face, long black hair, and pale skin. She wore a somber kimono, held a folding fan, and her fighting looked like dancing, like art. She had disappeared into a rift during the last wave.
She looked just as she had the last time I saw her. She exuded an oppressive sense of power over the whole area. She was staring straight at me.
It was Glass.
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