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No, I’m not purposely trying to rile him or anything. I simply can’t remember his name. It’s only when he mentioned the “Aniki” word did I somehow recall he’s the sub guild master who is always beside Animaru, but my information about him is limited to ‘someone following Animaru like a shadow’, and more importantly, I don’t recall talking with him ever. That’s why I called him that.

“It’s Otomaru! Just like Aniki, I have earned my court rank through hard work, unlike you who received it out of pity. So my status is far higher than yours, you understand!? Far higher!”

Together with an outcry, the young boy grandly brandished the saber in his right hand and directly threw it at the ground down below.

That was a Sword skill, «Lightning Sword» and soon, the sound of dry thunder rumbled as the pale purplish lightning surged up from the saber deeply embedded into the ground and spread in all directions.

I didn’t even need to dodge as Kokuyou instantly appeared from my shadow and blocked the lightning attack. At the same time, the seraph Mikoto and her four principalities, members of the Imperial regiments under her direct supervision, made their debut from the shade under the rocks they were lurking in and landed behind me, fluttering their wings.

Following after them appears the «Yog-Sothoth» Ikaruga 一a shining polyhedral crystal with a giant single eye at its center and tentacles growing from various parts of its body一 the head of thirteen demon generals slowly descending from the sky and grabbing onto him are,

“I’m sorry to make you wait, Princess!” Gaijin, a giant orc king.

“Ooooh, Princess! I’m so excited to be on the same battlefield as you!” Iki, a saber dog and also my first pet in the game.

“This truly is an honor for me, Princess” my second pet Soujyu, a green man.

I don’t recall calling them but here they are, jumping down several meters away looking exultant for some reason.

“Hmph, I knew it! A h̲o̲m̲o̲ b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ like you wouldn’t dare to fight me alone and brought along your pets!”

“Aren’t you talking about yourself? I finally remember who you are from the earlier lightning attack. You’re that ‘blind follower,’ a dual swordsman who uses lightning-type magic swords, with your alias officially recognized as the ‘Mr. Tag-Along’ who entered into the top ranking due to Animaru helping you in leveling.”

“Shut up, you h̲o̲m̲o̲ b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! My court rank was earned through hard work!”

“Hmm?” I tilt my head inwardly feeling a strange tug at my heartstrings as I look at the frenzied appearance of Otomaru, to whom my impression even after hearing his name is only to that extent.

I wondered if he was fuming because a part of him has accepted that fact somewhere and the outburst was to deny that feeling when I point it out but… he should have been able to hide his emotions?

It would have been understandable if the same thing were to be replayed around the time he received his alias.

But given that he has received his court rank much sooner than me, it should have been an everyday occurrence to stumble upon gossip about him and should have already been accustomed to them. Why is he angry as if it’s a recent thing and what is the reason for his rage to persist till this day?

If I say otherwise, I’m sure he will deny it. Just like when he called me “h̲o̲m̲o̲” earlier. However, I was of the notion that the anger usually wears down after a passage of time. I have a nagging feeling here. Just like how it was with Animaru.

I felt as if he was acting in a way that was only natural in response to something I said.

“―Whatever, I will interrogate you after capturing you for more details. I can promise you will not have to go through pain if you obediently surrender, or so I wanted to say, but I guess you’re going to resist no matter what.”

Kokuyou took a step forward while Mikoto’s subordinate, the imperial regiment, spread in a formation to form a protective shield around me. Gaijin and others behind me also look ready to jump at the enemy at any given moment like always.

Each of them has strength similar to boss class monsters while he’s just a lone player surrounded by them.

Otomaru looked down with his shoulders shaking in a situation that can only be described as hopeless but… he burst into laughter.

“Congratulations. Is that how you’re going to trap me? However, it seems you didn’t even realize why I released «Lightning Sword» earlier at all!”

No sooner than he finished his words that the ground shook as if an earthquake hit just now.

“This is, beneath the ground…?”
“Princess, it’s from the north. Please be careful!”

At the same time as Ikaruga’s warning pour into my ear, several hundreds meters 一or perhaps even several kilometers一 out of the desert area from that direction exploded, blowing away the clouds of sand like a volcanic eruption as something gigantic crawls out from there.

“…Is that Centipede, the mobile fortress and the guild home of Animaru?”

I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded seeing the distinctive figure of that creature composed of tiny blocks 一although I said tiny, any of the blocks surpass a hundred meters in length一 with each of them equipped with a pair of legs for moving spanning several kilometers in size.

I never thought it was that big. It surpasses all the common sense when it materializes.

“Bingo! This is under my control right now. Andー”

Otomaru was holding a purple crystal, probably retrieved from his inventory.

“This will end it all! 一Duel space • Open!”

The crystal in Otomaru’s hand shattered along with that keyword and I sensed the air around me had changed at the same time.

“一This is?”

“Hahahaha, I knew it! It’s impossible for a coward like you who never participated in a PvP battle to recognize this. With this crystal, the area around has switched to a different space! No one can unbind the space until the outcome has been decided between the two players. In short, you won’t get any reinforcement! Howeverー”

The side of the mobile fortress Centipede opened and pets began to flow out from there when he snapped his fingers. There are even a few boss-ranked pets mixed in them.

“I have 1000 pets here. What will you do? I promise to refrain from killing you if you don’t resist!”

I guess he was imitating the line I said earlier, as his words were mixed with scornful laughter.

“…Hmm, I don’t care but it looks like your pets don’t have names?”
“Huh…?”

I can see “What nonsense are you saying” words written all over his face.

“Of course. It’s not like giving names would upgrade their ability.”

I looked at the faces of my comrades, upon hearing his remarks about how he treats his pets as mere tools. They collectively facepalmed and shrugged their shoulders all at once as though to express ‘good grief.’

I guess we have a mutual understanding now.

“I will deal with that autistic kid for the time being.”
“Very well, we will subjugate those pets then.”

Mikoto bowed her head and headed towards the centipede along with my other pets.

A single mobile fortress plus thousands of monsters vs nine of my pets. The difference in combat power is just incredibly high if you think about it normally but, none of my pets seemed to be overwhelmed. Rather, they even look excited to battle.

“…What the hell are your pets thinking? Are they stupid?”
“Hmm, I can’t deny they aren’t.”

I summoned my favorite sword «Gilles de Rais» along with my battle equipment with a wry smile.

“But you know, I took quite a liking to them these days. Those stupid bunch.”

Saying that, I turned the sword tip of «Gilles de Rais» at Otomaru.

“Now, shall we begin?”