Gladiator vs Villainess (2)
We were heading to the academy. To be precise, to the academy that had been swallowed by a gate. Only Cecilia and I rode in the carriage. I could have brought the Iris Duchy’s private soldiers, but any movement on that scale would inevitably catch the eyes of other houses or factions. After weighing every option, I concluded that resolving this incident with just the two of us was the proper course.
“It is visible even from here.”
Beyond the carriage window stretched a crimson fissure. Though we still had some distance before reaching the academy, every building glowed with an ominous red light, as if the entire world had been draped in a blood-red filter.
Cecilia, gazing at the sight, wore an oddly gentle smile.
“My homeland—the Allenmis Kingdom—was destroyed by the Red Fog Monster.”
She spoke the words softly. Cecilia’s past was rather well-known among the nobility.
“Even then, a red gate opened in the sky. Monsters poured out, and the Allenmis Kingdom was devoured by the red fog.”
“So the entity consuming the academy now is also this ‘Red Fog Monster’?”
“I could not confirm that much. I was too busy fleeing to see its form, but… most likely.”
Her sentence trailed off, yet no further words were needed. I understood. Cecilia was already certain.
“I told you it was for revenge, Lady Laura, but the truth is I hold no thirst for vengeance. The people of the fallen Allenmis Kingdom would not wish it of me either. It is simply…”
It is simply another trial.
That was what Cecilia had said that day.
She had received expectations that did not match her station. She had received malicious comments as well, yet they did not trouble her. She was used to them. How many streamers had never once received hate? Besides, the comments were nothing particularly vicious. So the viewers’ reactions were manageable.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“You’ll do better next time! Today was just an off day, right?”
Encouragement from her teammates. It was not all right. She knew she could not live up to their expectations, yet she was forced to bear them anyway. That was Kisaki Rinko’s guilt.
Clang!
Aurora caught the greatsword Rinko had swung down. Rinko’s eyes widened in shock.
“A Gladiator’s attacks must always begin with an overhead strike.”
The Gladiator planted its greatsword into the ground and used the weapon as an axis for devastating kicks. Conversely, that meant an overhead strike was a prerequisite for planting the sword. From Aurora’s perspective, reading Rinko’s movements was not difficult.
Of course, because the Dark Knight used a one-handed sword, it could not fully parry the greatsword. The weight difference was simply too vast. All Aurora could do was deflect it slightly. Yet that was enough. Merely reducing the physical force carried by the greatsword caused Rinko’s intended “axis creation” to fail.
The greatsword never planted into the ground. Instead, Aurora closed the distance at once.
Tsk. Rinko clicked her tongue and unleashed a powerful kick.
Whoosh!
A kick strong enough to shatter bone if it connected cleanly. Rinko had experienced situations where she could not create her axis many times before. She had therefore prepared countermeasures for close-range combat as well.
Aurora narrowed her eyes and retreated once more. The angle of the kick was strangely precise.
If I still had my armor, I would have charged through.
She had discarded the armor the moment the match began, however. Without it, a direct hit would end her instantly. Aurora therefore gave ground generously.
Though she had been away from the game for some time, Rinko was once a Gladiator who had reached Master tier. As a result, Aurora was finding the fight more troublesome than expected. When Aurora pulled back, the two naturally created distance and began to stare each other down, each taking time to think.
Rinko could no longer swing her sword recklessly. Aurora had prepared for the Gladiator far better than Rinko had anticipated. Approaching her was also difficult for Aurora. She had assumed Rinko’s skills would have dulled after her long hiatus from Labyrinthos, yet the experience Rinko had accumulated was not so easily erased.
She was the strongest opponent Aurora had faced in Labyrinthos so far. It could not be helped; it was simply the truth.
To beat Aurora, I have no choice but to create my axis no matter what.
Rinko reached that conclusion first. From what she had seen so far, Aurora frequently sealed the very motion of Rinko swinging her sword. It seemed Aurora believed that without the axis, the Gladiator’s strengths were nullified. In practice the strategy was working quite well; Rinko had yet to land any meaningful blows.
In that case, she would have to use reach. She would plant the greatsword at a distance Aurora could not deflect, then pressure her with the weapon’s superior range. Fortunately, there was already a decent amount of distance between them.
Rinko slowly retreated further to maximize her reach advantage and observed Aurora’s movements.
To defeat Rinko, it seems I have no choice but to let her create her axis.
Aurora, on the other hand, was thinking nearly the same thing. Honestly, she did not believe she was inferior to Rinko in any regard. This was not arrogance. Rinko would not know that Aurora had stood on countless battlefields where lives were wagered. Therefore she believed she did not fall short in experience, physical ability, mental processing, or senses.
There was only one area in which she was behind.
Her understanding of the Gladiator.
I have faced Gladiators before, but…
There was a vast difference between fighting one and playing as one. Moreover, Rinko was a veteran user who had played the Gladiator for a long time. She would understand its strengths and weaknesses better than Aurora, and she would have experienced every situation a Gladiator could face. If Aurora could render that experience meaningless, Rinko would cease to be a threat.
“Come forth, if you would.”
Aurora spoke deliberately. It was an open declaration that she would meet her opponent head-on. Rinko found it slightly ridiculous, yet she accepted the invitation.
Crunch!
Rinko charged, swinging her greatsword in a wide arc and planting it into the ground. She then performed a tumbling motion, flipping her body.
In that instant—
Dark Knight 2nd Skill — Wall of Lament
Rumbleeeeee!
A wall erupted from the ground directly beneath her.
“…Kh!”
Rinko was sent flying. The knockback effect of the Wall of Lament. The wall had pushed the planted greatsword, launching both weapon and wielder into the air. It was an absolutely desperate crisis.
Even so, Rinko kept a death grip on her greatsword.
The greatsword… I haven’t let go yet.
It was not solely because she refused to give up. Part of her had already been prepared to surrender. Yet she had not released the weapon simply out of long-ingrained habit from playing Gladiator. Losing her sword had often led directly to defeat. That small habit was what kept Rinko from giving up.
By a twist of fate, an opportunity still remained.
…If I adjust my posture, I can control it.
Rinko looked down at the ground. There was still a considerable distance. The Gladiator was a class originally specialized in posture control. It had been designed that way from the start. On top of that, Rinko—who had used the class extensively—was particularly skilled at it. Though this was her first time attempting to adjust posture while falling from the sky, she believed she could do it.
“MadMask…”
The name of her former nemesis slipped from her lips. This was the first time since that day she had been so thoroughly dismantled. Her opponent was not even a pro gamer, but a brand-new junior who had just debuted, and her rank was still only Diamond. Somehow the situation felt eerily similar to that time.
Black Team had placed their hopes on Rinko. She had tried to prove herself against MadMask. Her classmate Ichika. Her juniors Mikael and Gabriel. After they had all been defeated by the sixth generation, the only thing left that might save them was Rinko’s victory.
Would this be revenge for them? Or would it be proof of her own worth?
Without knowing the answer, Rinko swung her arm.
BOOM!
Using nothing but arm strength as she fell, she drove the greatsword into the ground. Then, with every ounce of power she possessed, Rinko kicked toward Aurora.
Squelch!
Aurora’s swung blade severed Rinko’s ankle cleanly.
“Wow… Aurora’s actually insane, huh?”
One of the pro gamers muttered in awe.
“Hey, doesn’t the Dark Knight counter the Gladiator?”
“In theory, yeah, but we’ll have to see how it works in practice. Might need to do some research.”
“Just looking at it, the angles are perfect. Dark Knight isn’t a troll pick, and its teamfight performance has been proven for ages. It just lacks CC.”
“What if you take the increased wall range trait and just delete every stationary turret?”
“Dude, go practice Dark Knight.”
The pro gamers were impressed by Aurora’s play and eagerly discussing new strategies and tactics. Amid their lively conversation, Arima remained silent.
Rinko…
Only Arima was taking this match heavily. Last year he had served as the Black Team’s manager in the Streamer League. He was the one who had first-round picked Rinko as a tier-one player, passed on various teachings to her as a teammate, and even told her to face MadMask.
I should have been the one to face MadMask back then.
He had accumulated many regrets after becoming a pro gamer, but that day’s events might be the greatest regret of his professional career. Arima was a pro gamer. The people around him were pro gamers. Accepting mistakes and defeats was part of the job. If you could not handle it, you should quit; perhaps you had never possessed the qualifications to begin with. At least, that was what people who watched pro matches believed.
But Rinko was a streamer. She was simply one user who had enjoyed playing games. If Labyrinthos VR had wounded her, then it was the fault of Arima himself—a pro gamer of that very game.
She still hasn’t shaken it off.
Arima let out a long sigh. Winning or losing did not matter. He could only pray that she would find some meaning in it. Yet aside from watching, there was nothing he could do. The distance between himself and the virtual world called VR was simply too vast. The only one who could intervene in Rinko’s match was Aurora, who now stood against her with blades drawn.
Would Aurora become new despair for Rinko?
Would Aurora become her salvation?
Even Arima did not yet know what Aurora would mean to her.