“Somehow, it looks like I’ll make it in time…”
I can’t say for sure, but my guess is that the battle hasn’t quite started yet.
According to Mitsuki’s Explorer Ring, the King is still within the capital city based on his location.
There was an event where the King would charge out from the castle the moment the battle began.
Since that hasn’t happened, it’s only natural to assume the battle hasn’t started.
We’re already rushing to the field near the city.
Regardless of whether we make it before the fight starts, it seems unlikely that the battle will have ended by the time we arrive.
I slow down our pace just a little.
Before the enemy comes into sight, I quickly go over the plan.
Just in case, I’ve also been checking the types of enemies while walking.
So far, among the monsters that seem to have come from the west, there are no enemies I haven’t seen before.
The level distribution is around 130-170, and there don’t seem to be any Butcher-class enemies yet.
It’s possible that monsters from the undeveloped area’s edge have overflowed, as Mitsuki also mentioned that there are monsters she can’t handle in the deep western regions.
However, there’s still a vast difference between enemies around level 100 and those around level 150.
Honestly, if enemies around level 150 were to attack with sheer numbers, the city would fall in an instant.
They easily exceed the level that the Knights’ Order can handle.
I don’t know how many high-level enemies are mixed in, but without our efforts, there will likely be damage.
“Let’s go with the original plan.
When the battle begins, we’ll attack the enemy’s rear and draw their attention.
That alone should reduce the monsters’ pressure and make things much easier for the city.”
When I say this, Mitsuki twitches her cat ears with a worried expression.
“Monsters generally have the instinct to attack the closest enemy.
If only the three of us attack the enemy’s rear, we might end up fighting the entire rear half of the enemy by ourselves.”
“Of course, I know that.
That’s precisely why, even if we find a group of enemies, we won’t engage until the battle with the city begins.”
In my heart, I even want to take on the entire army by ourselves.
However, that would be too reckless.
“It’s going to be a tough fight for you two, but…”
As I started to say, Mitsuki interrupted me in a strong tone.
“No, what I’m worried about is you.”
“Me…?”
I was taken aback by her unexpected words.
Mitsuki looked at me with sharp eyes and said,
“Frankly, monsters around level 170 are no match for me.
It will take time to annihilate them, but I’m absolutely confident I won’t be killed.”
“Mitsuki, I suppose that’s true.”
When it comes to survivability, Mitsuki is definitely the best NPC in “Nekoneko.”
In addition to her outstanding evasion skills, she also excels in magic and status abnormality resistance.
No matter how large the horde of enemies, I feel safe knowing she can get through it.
“I’m concerned about Ringo’s defensive capabilities, but as long as she keeps her distance and fights, there shouldn’t be any problem.
There are hardly any long-range attacks that can match her lightning strikes, so in a long-range engagement, she’s unlikely to lose.
Even if she were at a disadvantage, she also possesses enough agility to escape when things get dangerous.”
“That also makes sense.”
In fact, I intend for Ringo to focus on long-range attacks in this battle.
Even if Maki becomes a Princess, I don’t know if she can use lightning strikes.
We need at least one person for anti-air attacks, and in that case, there’s no need to get too close to the battlefield.
As long as we can ensure some degree of safety.
“So, the problem is you.
I acknowledge your creativity and your ability to use tactics that exploit loopholes.
However, this is a swarm of monsters with no preparation and no knowledge of who they are.
…Can you still fight?”
Mitsuki’s gaze pierced me.
When I think about it, it’s perfectly understandable that she would say that.
I’ve repeatedly fought and won against opponents who were considered my superiors, but this was due largely to my wit and knowledge rather than my strength.
Mitsuki is asking if I can truly fight in this situation, where there’s almost no prior information and it might turn into a free-for-all.
However, I also sensed her strong expectations for me from within Mitsuki’s eyes.
Despite what she said, I believe Mitsuki is the one who values my abilities the most.
And right now, I have the strength to meet that trust.
(That’s right…)
I have a little time to spare.
Also, before the real fight, I want to test how much I can do.
“Then, I’ll prove it.”
With that, I declared, pointing to a monster in armor visible far in the distance ahead.
Living Armor, Level 160.
It’s a monster with high resistance to physical attacks, making it a disadvantageous opponent for warriors like us.
However, if I can defeat it, it will serve as proof that I can defeat most of the monsters that are attacking us this time.
“I’ll defeat the Living Armor over there before you can, Mitsuki.
That way, you’ll acknowledge my strength, won’t you?”
“I see, so you’re challenging me to a speed race.
Very well, I accept.”
She doesn’t show it much these days, but Mitsuki naturally loves a challenge.
I was sure she would take the bait.
We stood side by side, focusing on our target.
We measured the distance to the enemy and constructed the flow of how to defeat them in our minds.
“Thinking like this, it feels like we’ve gone back to the old days.”
Suddenly, Mitsuki said something like that.
Come to think of it, I remembered that Mitsuki and I became allies through these kinds of challenges.
“Still, please don’t use any strange tactics like you used to.”
At her words, I gave a wry smile.
“Ah, I understand.
This time, no tricks.
It’s a genuine test of strength.”
Otherwise, I won’t be able to get Mitsuki to acknowledge my strength, and I won’t be satisfied either.
Therefore, to defeat it before Mitsuki, I must accomplish two things.
First, I must reach that monster faster than Mitsuki, who was called the fastest in “Nekoneko.”
And then, within the short time it takes Mitsuki to catch up, I must deal with that tough monster.
I take a deep breath before the challenge.
The plan is decided.
All that’s left is to execute it.
(Alright, I can do this!)
As I finished all my preparations, Ringo, who volunteered to be the judge,
“…Begin!”
With a cute shout, she raised her hand, and the match began.
“‘Step’!”
The first step was entirely simultaneous.
However, Mitsuki’s movement speed surpasses “Step.”
Even so, with the fast initial speed of “Step,” I won’t be left far behind in the early part of the skill.
I somehow keep up with “Step,”
“‘High Step’!”
With “High Step,” I move alongside Mitsuki,
“‘Shukuchi’!”
With the final movement skill, “Shukuchi,” I completely overtake Mitsuki.
…But I can’t continue from here.
“Shukuchi” is a high-level skill, and it cannot be canceled by other movement or attack skills.
Whether I choose to accept the skill’s inertia or forcibly cancel it with a skill that has high canceling ability like “Jump,”
either choice will cost me precious time and stamina, and I’ll end up being overtaken by Mitsuki.
It’s a dead end.
— Or at least, that’s how it would have been for my past self.
However, with my current abilities, I can make another move from here.
“Shukuchi” cannot be canceled by other movement or attack skills.
But conversely, it can be canceled by ‘things other than skills.’
“‘Air Hammer’!”
Just before the skill’s inertia set in, the “Air Hammer” magic I’d prepared beforehand propelled my body forward.
My body, having finished “Shukuchi,” accelerated even further forward from there.
Feeling the wind cut through, I smirked.
This is the other skill canceling method in “Nekoneko,” the ‘KB Cancel.’
While skill-to-skill cancellation is set by the developers, ‘KB Cancel’ is an unofficial technique that exploits the game’s specifications.
Knockback is a game term that generally refers to ‘knocking an opponent back after attacking them.’
As the name suggests, this ‘KB Cancel’ method is a rough technique devised by “Nekoneko” players that overwrites and cancels skill inertia with knockback.
As I mentioned when explaining “Midarezakura,” normal skills without super armor are interrupted when struck by a strong attack or a attack with knockback during skill activation, forcing the character into a staggered state.
The ‘KB Cancel’ technique takes advantage of this.
The mechanism itself isn’t difficult.
The basic usage is to intentionally hit yourself with magic that has a knockback effect at the end of a skill to omit inertia, and then immediately use a skill after the knockback ends.
This technique, which allows skills to be chained faster than usual and is also called ‘Rapid Fire Mechanism,’ brought about the same level of shock to all “Nekoneko” players as ‘Godspeed Cancel Movement.’
While skills with special attack properties like “Midarezakura” or skills with super armor like “Zetsutou Shikisaigaes” cannot be canceled, most other skills can be canceled at any desired timing.
This has dramatically increased the freedom of combat in “Nekoneko.”
In practice, knockback is commonly utilized by two spells: ‘Petit Explosion’ and ‘Air Hammer.’
Both are intended to be used on oneself, so the basic approach is to reduce their power through magic customization and increase their casting speed.
‘Petit Explosion’ has weak power and only a very small knockback effect.
If you hit yourself with the blast wave of ‘Petit Explosion’ immediately after a skill, you can act in a much shorter time than the skill’s inertia.
It’s the easiest spell for KB cancellation.
‘Air Hammer’ is originally a spell that ‘fires a mass of wind in a designated direction, blowing away any hit enemies,’ and as such, it can’t even be used on oneself.
However, if you reduce the casting range to the minimum, it somehow changes into a spell that ‘blows yourself in the designated direction.’
My theory is that ‘the end point of the magic actually changes based on the range, and when it’s made extremely small, the end point becomes closer to the caster than the start point, causing the magic to be fired towards the caster.’ But I don’t really understand.
Well, in any case, it’s probably another setting error.
When used on oneself, its characteristics are the opposite of ‘Petit Explosion.’
Because the distance, duration, and speed of movement from knockback are significant, it can also be used as an evasion or movement tool.
And now.
As I use the knockback from ‘Air Hammer’ for movement,
(‘Air Hammer’!)
While in a staggered state, I chant ‘Air Hammer’ again.
This is an advantage of KB-based skill cancellation that normal canceling doesn’t have.
There’s a clear difference between skill inertia and being in a staggered state. Unlike skill inertia, where neither skills nor magic can be used, while staggered by knockback, you can chant magic.
Another bonus is that during knockback, stamina recovers naturally at the same rate as in a normal state.
In other words, by inserting knockback between skill combos, you can recover a small amount of stamina.
And when the knockback ends and my feet touch the ground,
“‘Step’!”
I activate the skill again.
Once again, I connect ‘High Step’ and ‘Shukuchi,’ inserting ‘Air Hammer.’
This approach uses higher-level skills and, by not inserting intermediate cancels like Slash or Horizontal Slash, it is faster than Godspeed Cancel Movement.
If I had more MP, I could connect “Shukuchi” and “Air Hammer” directly, but I decided against it this time.
Still, I was able to pull away from Mitsuki to some extent.
If I continue like this, I’ll be able to get a preemptive strike on the Living Armor.
(From here on, it’s a test of strength!)
I’ve shown Mitsuki my speed.
Now, I’ll show her my attack power.
And prove to Mitsuki, and to myself, that I can fight!
With the enemy just ahead, I pre-emptively reserved the magic cast, and then,
“‘Step’!”
While making minor distance adjustments, I recall.
Certainly, I don’t have the superior basic stats of Ringo or the abnormal normal attacks.
I don’t have the cheat-level speed of Mitsuki, nor am I skilled in swordsmanship.
Even so…
“‘High Step’!”
I possess the legitimate strength of a game character.
I don’t have anything special, I just leveled up, acquired strong weapons, and collected easy-to-use skills and magic.
Even if I can’t perfectly replicate my gameplay from when I was playing the game, I have acquired enough ability to reproduce about 80% of it.
“‘Oborojyuuji’!”
The ‘Oborojyuuji’ I just used is one of them, a mid-range attack skill for the Odachi that activates with a time delay.
After swinging the weapon, there’s a slight pause, and then a slashes appear at a distance.
Because there’s a time lag before the slash appears, it’s difficult to hit unless you’re used to it, and since the initial swing has no hit detection, it becomes vulnerable if approached, which is a drawback. However, this skill has enough utility to compensate for it.
“‘High Step’!”
It’s considered that the skill motion is over at the time of the initial weapon swing, so I can cancel the skill before the main slash appears.
What’s more, even if I cancel the skill there, the slashes will still activate.
So,
“‘Jump’!”
To synchronize with the appearance of the ‘Oborojyuuji’ slashes, I use ‘High Step’ and ‘Jump’ to cover distance and time,
“‘Horizontal Slash’!”
By using another skill, I can perform simultaneous attacks with two skills.
However, there’s not much advantage to simultaneous skill attacks.
But, as with anything, there are exceptions…
“‘Power Up’!”
The Power Up, which I had reserved to cast during the final stagger, activates in time, causing my body to glow red.
And this is the reason I aim for simultaneous attacks.
The effect of a normal Power Up is ‘to increase Strength by 1.3 times for 30 seconds.’
However, through magic customization, I drastically reduced the magic’s duration and increased its MP consumption, maximizing its magical effect.
As a result, the completed magical effect is this.
‘For 0.5 seconds, Strength is increased by 9.9 times.’
I know that the adjustable range for ability modification (buff/debuff) states in “Nekoneko” is from 9.9 to 0.1.
In other words, this magic can achieve the maximum ability enhancement possible on a system level, albeit for a very short time.
The cost is that the effect duration is only half a second.
But all attacks executed within that time transform into a decisive blow!
“Hyaaaah!”
In response to my roar, two skills simultaneously strike the armor, a vertical and a horizontal slash.
I feel a hard sensation in my arm.
But with the Power Up, I can push through with brute force.
I won’t bother aiming for weak points!
I’ll just swing through!!
(—It went through!)
With a unique sensation, my arm swings through.
The armor is torn apart, and the vertical slash of ‘Oborojyuuji’ and the horizontal slash of ‘Horizontal Slash’ neatly overlap, drawing a cross-shaped trajectory.
(How’s that!?)
While still in the posture of swinging my sword horizontally, I look up at the armored monster.
No matter how much of a Level 160 monster it is, it seems it can’t survive being dissected into four pieces.
The Living Armor couldn’t even retaliate and dissolved into light particles, disappearing into the sky.
“…Phew.”
I let myself fall into the skill inertia that followed the completion of the move and exhale the breath I had been holding.
A sense of accomplishment slowly wells up within me.
This means I’ve won the match.
But even more than that, I feel like I’ve gained something valuable.
That is, confidence.
Until now, I haven’t fought properly.
I relied on unconventional tactics, tricked opponents with my glib tongue, and defeated enemies with wit rather than ability.
Because of that, I was even nicknamed ‘Strange Sword User.’
But now…
“Maybe I’m retiring from being a ‘Strange Sword User’ now…”
Now, I can finally say with pride.
I—
“—I can fight strongly even by fighting normally now!!”
As I declared so triumphantly, letting the overflowing sense of satisfaction take over,
“Eh?”
A surprised voice came from behind.
What was that voice, sounding flustered, like she hadn’t expected it?
I turn around and ask Mitsuki, who has caught up.
“Uh, no, wasn’t I strong just now?
Even without using strange tactics or peculiar swords, I fought normally, right?”
“…Huh? Ah, yes. That’s right.
You were, just, like your usual self!”
Mitsuki replies, her cat ears twitching.
When I stare at her, suspecting something is amiss, Mitsuki averts her eyes.
Her cat ears also flatten completely, as if saying “Don’t look at me!”
(Why is she reacting like that?)
Mitsuki, breaking even from her usual stoic demeanor, is acting conspicuously suspicious.
Confused as to why,
“…Soma is misunderstanding.”
“Ringo…?”
The blue-haired girl slowly approaches.
As expected, Ringo is my goddess.
As she gently clasps my hand, which had been tensed with excitement, my frayed emotions begin to heal.
Then, the goddess looks up at me and says, as if admonishing me,
“The words ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ have different meanings.”
…God is dead.
(Is my way of fighting really strange to onlookers…?)
A new worry is born, and I realized the flaw of VR games that are always seen from a personal perspective, in this scene before the decisive battle.
Bonus
Technique Introduction: ‘Oborojyuuji’
One of Soma’s signature moves from his gaming days.
He releases ‘Oborojyuuji’ from a distance, approaches with ‘High Step’ to match the distance and timing.
By inserting ‘Jump’ as a connector to match the timing, he uses ‘Horizontal Slash’ to deliver a cross-shaped attack.
The attack power of ‘Oborojyuuji’ is calculated when the slash appears, so the advantage is that the Strength boost from the modified ‘Power Up’ applies to both ‘Oborojyuuji’ and ‘Horizontal Slash.’
The technique name is ‘Oborojyuuji,’ read as ‘Invisible Cross.’
He’ll likely cringe when he remembers it years later.
Soma’s chuunibyo phase is not yet over!!
