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Most likely, there is no one other than that man in her eyes.

Without realizing it herself, Hiyuki released Joey’s hand and unsteadily approached him.

“…Did the others come here too?”

In the view of Joey, who lost the warmth of her gripped hand which made his chest slightly hurt, the smile of the wolfish man intensified even more.

―No, it’s wrong! Those are the eyes of a thug or a monster that torments its prey.

“Crap! Hiyuki, get away from that man!”

Joey immediately drew his sword and gave her a warning. She looked back at him with a face that said she couldn’t understand at all what he was talking about.

“Ay~, I have a lot of things to talk about with Hiyuki, but before that―”

Sharp fangs revealed from the warped lips of that man―Animaru.

“―Take a BANG first!”

Instantly, at the same time that he rushed in, an attack that pressed and tore up the air―the Fighter skill ‘Blow’― blasted at Hiyuki’s chest from below. However―
just before making contact, as there was already a warning from Joey, and partly due to her reflexes, she was able to backstep and evade it. Before her very eyes, the fist hit the air; the shock wave blew away the roofs of nearby houses.

A moment of silence ensued.

Subsequently, screams rose here and there around the street, and the passerby fled in panic.

“It’s regrettable, really regrettable. Why are you not in ‘No Bra’ mode?”

Although Hiyuki avoided it by a hair’s breadth, the wave tore her summer dress on the left breast and exposed her tube bra. Seeing it, Animaru smacked his lips in disappointment without any concern for the surrounding turmoil and clatter.

With that kind of Animaru before her, with her surprise and bewilderment and also being exposed, she couldn’t decide on her next action.

“Then, I shall go for the bra next!”

Animaru made a step forward while smacking his lips. “Deyaaaaaaa!” Joey slashed his sword towards the back of Animaru.

“… What’s with this brat?”

At that time Animaru turned around, with his right hand he completely stopped Joey’s attack, and only hit back with the Fighter skill ‘Knockback’. Joey’s brand new sword broke into pieces, his body was sent flying like a rubber ball from the pressure and slammed into the ground while dragging along an unmanned stall.

“Joey!?”

This violence had reached its limit. Hiyuki deemed the Animaru in front of her as an opponent. She summoned her beloved sword ‘Gilles de Rais’ from her inventory.

Perhaps for this man (Animaru), this kind of helpless figure that was almost unarmed (in a summer dress) was the best, so he probably wouldn’t let any other equipment be summoned.

Joey had given her some time; this chance must not be wasted.

Hiyuki immediately judged so and moved first.

She dashes in, then with a forward-bent posture she attacks swinging upwards, aimed at Animaru’s body. However, it didn’t reach him. It was avoided. He lowered his posture and launched a flurry of blows―the Fighter skill ‘Barrage’― that stopped her pursuit.

When they got plenty of distance, this time on the contrary it was Animaru who stepped in. His aim is her left breast which is protected by a single piece of cloth exactly as he said he would. The right fist approached in a straight line together with the shock wave.
She dodged towards the left side of her opponent and countered at his opening.

The sword stopped. The back of Animaru’s left-hand guard blocked it. Currently, it’s a moment of balance. However, if she stays still a kick would soon be coming.

Close-quarters combat is her opponent’s forte. For her, it’s an overwhelming disadvantage. Concluding that, Hiyuki separated herself from him. Coincidentally, Animaru also separated.

Suddenly before she knew it, there was an itchy pain in her chest. When she took a glimpse downward, three cuts were running on the side of her bra, with blood flowing from the shallow cuts.

His fist could be avoided; however, this is the result of failing to read the final point of his attacks.

“Some moves you have there, Hiyuki. I thought you were going to pray to the top of your happy mountain, but that last-second evasion of yours was great. You never participated in PvP in E.H.O, but like this wouldn’t you be in the top 20?”

“Even hearing that from someone who usually reigned as one of the top 3 won’t make me happy at all.”

At last, with the moment of clashing just now it is finally proven that the man before her eyes was using a skill that can only be used by E.H.O. players. He also possesses equally powerful equipment that can receive attacks from ‘Gilles de Rais’ as if they were nothing―Animaru’s exclusive-use equipment, the hand guard ‘Kanshou’ and leg guard ‘Byakuya’. That means the fact that he isn’t just some phantom or doppelganger (some monsters could change into someone you know) has been verified.

Hiyuki’s words made Animaru express a face with a sign of a bitter smile.

“Top 3 huh…perhaps I should say it’s quite the disappointment that I am not first.”

At that moment, they coincidentally moved together.

Hiyuki’s attack split into seven stages of thrusts, the Swordmaster skill ‘Seven Heavens Descend’. Animaru evades it and repels it with both hands, but it still wasn’t enough so he also guarded using the Fighter skill ‘Vajra’.

However, it can’t be defended, the attack capability of ‘Gilles de Rais’ exceeds that skill.

Animaru did a matrix dodge and performed a somersault. ―At the same time, Hiyuki felt a bad premonition and twisted her body. That instant, a nail went through the air in the place where her jaw was just previously at.

Animaru’s vertical rotation in the air which ignored the laws of physics became faster and faster, and from there, his limbs flew out. The road, the paving, and the stalls were breaking into pieces with just the shockwave.

It’s the Fighter skill ‘Ashura Dragon Fist’.

Dealing with it, Hiyuki fought it by rotating horizontally, executing the Swordmaster skill ‘Phoenix Slayer’.

The tornado that was born became a slashing attack. It had brought in the surrounding debris as well and gulped down Animaru who was in the air. Each of their rotations struggled for supremacy, but with Animaru’s body posture unstable in the air, for a moment he lost control.

Not missing the opportunity, Hiyuki’s “slash” approached to bisect Animaru’s body. However, Animaru’s eyes perceived that attack.

“Deyaah!!!”

Together with his scream of spirit, he intercepted it with both of his palms using Fighter skill ‘Blast Attack’.

The compressed atmosphere created an explosion. It kicked up the surrounding rubble and dust, narrowing the field of vision.

―I missed him!

Or possibly, he dodged it. The feel of her sword cutting the air made Hiyuki regret bitterly in her mind. Even so, she withdrew from that place as soon as possible. Within the cloud of dense dust that blew violently, she quickly turned her sight left and right searching for the presence of Animaru, but she couldn’t….

Suddenly, Hiyuki remembered a similar occurrence before.

Prince Acyl, amidst the darkness. There were indications of him approaching from all directions. In the spur of the moment, he fled above―’Above?’

The chain of related thoughts like dominoes guided her to the optimal answer. Hiyuki suddenly looked up.

He’s there! Using the force of the explosion Animaru flew above, soaring even higher. And now that he reached the top of his jump, his eyes locked with Hiyuki’s.

Animaru expressed a gruesome smile on his face which was polluted with soot and his own blood. He approached like a bullet using the force of gravity, falling from the sky.

By sacrificing half of his HP, he gains an unavoidable attack, Fist Saint skill ‘Qigong of the Shadow Sphere’.

“Deyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !!”

Animaru’s roar made the air shake.

This will decide it. Hiyuki made her decision and jumped.

By consuming all of her MP, she will deal a great amount of damage using the Swordmaster skill ‘Swan Song of the Chirping Wing’.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaa―!!”

Will his attack come first? Or will my attack shave off his remaining HP first?

Still, considering each other’s remaining HP and special skill characteristics, I am surely in quite the advantageous position.

That’s what she was telling herself, and Hiyuki who abandoned her defense, let her sword clash with Animaru’s fist―

Instantly, Animaru’s fist changed into an open palm.

How can it be? Cancellation after invoking a skill is impossible―!! Don’t tell me, including that scream, it was just a bluff?!

In front of Hiyuki who had a shocked expression and wide eyes, the point of ‘Gilles de Rais’, had been stopped by both of Animaru’s palms.

It’s the Fist Saint skill ‘Bare-Handed Blade Block’.

This is something that depends on a player’s ability so the success is by no means high.
However, in the case that the user is a top player, if he knows the released skill and the timing, the probability is surely high to succeed.

Animaru smiles, ignoring his hand that was torn by Hiyuki’s skill.

“―Well, this is the difference between people who are used to PvP and people who aren’t.”

Approximately at the same time, he grasped Hiyuki’s unsteady body in the air and released a roundhouse kick.

Hiyuki’s small body was blown away like she was hit by an explosion.

She slid around on the stone pavement of the street, caught something, jumped over it, and then slowly rolled to a stop.

‘Gilles de Rais’ separated from her hands, stabbing into the ground.

“…khu…”

Hiyuki’s hat was already gone, flying somewhere else long ago. Her summer dress couldn’t serve its function to hide her underwear. She barely held onto her consciousness and unsteadily began to stand up.

“Hu~p”

The pit of her stomach was nailed with Animaru’s Fighter skill “Stun Blow”, it ended her consciousness instantly.

“Whoops…!”

Animaru supported the fallen delicate body with his single left hand. He looked into the face of the unconscious Hiyuki, after that he gazed through her whole body like he was licking it. He inserted his right hand under her bra confirming the feel then licked his lips.

“It seems there is no harassment regulation. In that case, snatching food here would be fine too, but well, a dead fish won’t be interesting. After I carry her and return, I shall thoroughly eat this delicious food.”

A footstep from the debris on the ground sounded behind him as he left the place while humming “A person takeaway~”.

“…Wait a minute. Put Hiyuki back.”

“―Hmm?”

When he looked back, he saw Joey (brat) who he thought that he’d already killed. Even though Joey had wounds all over his body and was breathing heavily, he confronted Animaru with a burning fighting spirit in his eyes. His hand grasped Hiyuki’s beloved sword ‘Gilles de Rais’.

“Oh kid, you’re still alive? I thought you were already dead. That sword’s defense power is surprisingly high huh…”

“Shut up! Stop your gibberish and release Hiyuki!”

Across from the angry Joey, Animaru stared back at him with an unamused face. “You see, kid. That sword is a Lv 99 equipment. Even if a brat like you grips it, it’s just the same thing as a pole. In the first place, with your skill level, what the hell can you do anyway?”

Animaru pointed out with his jaw, the surrounding disastrous scene looked like it had been hit with a bomb. There was not a single moment of hesitation within Joey.

“So what!? Like hell I would lose to a b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ who harasses women!!”

Joey shouted as he went toward Animaru and attacked him with all his might.

“Stu~pid.”

Animaru murmured a single word with eyes like he was seeing trash. He casually added a counter blow with his vacant right fist.

Joey’s sword and Animaru’s fist clashed. The thick sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed. In the next moment, Animaru’s body was knocked down with a violent force. He created a ditch in the ground and rolled over.

“Wh―what?!”

Author’s Note:

That is it, next time it will be peerless super Joey that was woken up by his violent anger, look forw… it’s a lie.