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It was finally time for the main event, the eight teams that won the preliminary round would face off in another battle royale. But unlike the previous ones, this time they had to assign an actual ranking to the teams by the end of the fight.

So here, the team that survived until the end would be granted 20 points, second place 10, third place 5. On top of that, all teams could be awarded 2 points for each member they managed to defeat.

That meant that if someone wandered around on their own, they would become a really appealing target for any guild. And as Crim was acting independently from her guild, she constantly attracted the attention of other guilds.

“Damnitt, I’m supposed to be searching for Sorleon to beat him up, but I just keep running into other guilds!!”

If Frey finds out he’ll never let me live it down.

Such trivial thoughts filled Crim’s mind as she ran away, finding herself in the southern district, quite close to the area where her guild had been spawned the previous day.

“Hey, stop running away with an indecent short skirt like that! Or are you trying to use seduction tactics on us!”
“Stop using words like indecent and seduction, you sleazebag!!”

Hearing the shouts of the men following her, Crim felt forced to stop and turn around, pulling the hem of her skirt as low as she could while baring her fangs, her eyes teary in dismay.

“Do you even know what it feels like to be denied the chance of even picking the length of your skirt?!”
“Umm…ermm…I’m…I’m sorry…”

Her pursuers were overwhelmed by her sudden mood change, and somehow began to apologize. They were all part of a guild called Black Wolf Pack, where all members were canine War Beasts and frontliners.

“Urgh, I tire of running around! If thou desirest a fight that badly, then I shall acquiesce, let’s fight!” Almost out of despair, she called forth her weapon with Shadow Magic. “…Shadow Heavy-Weapon…Scythe!”

This time the weapon was one she had never used in front of other players before, her scythe. So far not many players had encountered scythes or knew they were a type of weapon usable in the game, so the Black Wolf Pack stared at her in shock.

“Wha…is that scythe?!”
“Wait, I never even heard they could be used!”
“…A little girl…with a huge scythe…YES!”
“Wait! I believe I just heard something disturbing there!!”

Crim had caught a different reaction amongst their shocked comments, but everyone had already taken a fighting stance, so there was no follow-up.

They all maintained a safe distance, being extremely careful of the weapon they were seeing for the first time. Crim watched them circling around her, and by the time she had counted up to forty in her mind, she lowered her stance.

I have to strike first.

Her enemies clearly had the advantage in numbers. Crim’s chances of success relied entirely on how many enemies she could take down before they were able to react.

“Nacht…” Her body was nearly touching the ground, a motion which activated her weapon art. “…Angriff!!” After storing up as much power as she could in her legs, she darted forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Cliiiiinkkkkkk!! There was a shrill sound.

That was the weapon art she had unlocked with 20 points in the Scythe Skill, called Nacht Angriff, meaning nocturnal assault, and allowed her to close in on an opponent nearly instantaneously.

Even though she moved so rapidly, the result was a collision of metal against metal, as a War Beast with a shield blocked her path. Sadly for him, this was his first time fighting against Crim’s scythe.

“It’s a scythe, moron!!”
“Ah- damm..?!”

Just as their leader shouted that, the young man with the shield realized his mistake. While he held the shield forward, the scythe’s twisted shape moved around it and behind his head, before sliding behind the neck.

At that point Crim pulled back with all her might, the scythe’s handle making sparks as it rubbed against the side of the shield.

“Gh…hah…”

The blade moved like a guillotine through his neck, slicing his head clean off. With no life supporting his body, he fell over as his body disintegrated into Remain Light.

“You…how could you do that to Freddy!” The leader of the Black Wolf Pack held his sword ready, while the other three guild members spread out to the sides, surrounding Crim.

Somehow their faces and voices did not seem like those of a group lamenting the loss of an ally, but rather confident, Crim thought. It was almost like they still believed they had the upper hand, that they could win.

Crim had spent a month constantly logged into the game, without ever leaving. During that time, she had taken notice of something.

There were four main stats, VIT, MND, STR, and MAG. That was common knowledge, something all players had access to. But Crim felt like there was one more, which she provisionally thought of as INT, and was hidden from everyone.

It did not refer to how smart someone was, or anything so mundane. It was more like one’s familiarity with virtual spaces, reaction speed, or affinity to the system assists. Essentially how in sync one was with a VR world.

The higher that value was, the easier slight changes in the surroundings would be picked up, like a new source of information for one’s brain. Like a sharper intuition or some sixth sense or enhanced spatial awareness.

someone is lying in wait behind me who wants to attack when I lower my guard.

Before Crim could look or find them through conventional means, her instincts had already informed her of that. It had started like a tingle on the nape of her neck, and when it got strong enough she ducked.

At the same time, she felt a dagger grazing the top of her head. That was the Assassination weapon art, obtained with 70 points in the Dagger Skill. If used by someone hidden from their target, it would deal an immense amount of bonus damage. The blade that passed above Crim’s head was glowing with an ominous color, but as it merely grazed her white hair, it had no effect on her.

“Huh…how..?!”

Crim had been looking away, he had been completely hidden, and he had chosen the perfect time to attack. So the fact that she had been able to dodge it without missing a beat left the Black Wolf Pack’s assassin in shock.

A shock that lasted mere moments. But it was a critical mistake, giving Crim enough time to deal with him.

Crim’s body went into a low stance before springing up into the air while spinning. As the assassin tried to find an explanation, Crim’s scythe that circled around her rapidly cut his body apart into many slices. That left him with no HP, and he turned into particles of light that lingered for a while.

The Black Wolf Pack had made sure to attack Crim in a way that she could only escape by going back, and the assassin was lying in wait there. But now that key piece, the assassin, had been killed.

“But now your posture is all out of balance..!”