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«E.H.O», like many other online games, featured the familiar setup of multiple elements. Each spell and race was associated with one of the seven elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Darkness, Light, and Neutral. Naturally, the game had the usual advantage/disadvantage system. As far as «E.H.O» was concerned, the power hierarchy was:

«Earth ﹥ Water ﹥ Fire ﹥ Wind ﹥ Earth»
«Darkness ﹥ Four Elements ﹥ Light ﹥ Darkness»
«All Elements ≧ Neutral»

Weapons or magic with a superior element would receive a bonus adjustment (or an overwhelming negative penalty in the opposite case) on physical or magical attacks. Thus, the usual strategy was to choose the superior element for simplicity and greater efficiency.

Of course, some challenging gamers enjoyed testing the system and honing their skills in neutral magic. Although the neutral element wasn’t particularly strong, it was often recommended as a versatile, jack-of-all-trades option.

In my case, my race and job elements centered on Darkness and Light, respectively. My weapon focused on the Darkness element, enhanced with the four elements, while my armor was based on the Neutral element to handle any situation. However, this also meant it didn’t have a particular specialty.

Meanwhile, Shima’s race and job centered on the Darkness element, while all his weapons and equipment were of the Neutral element. Thematically, it certainly fit the vampire trope but had a disadvantage against the Light element.

It just so happened that my job was “Saint,” the highest-ranking role one could achieve in the light magic category. There’s a reason my friends nicknamed me “Masquerading Race.” Anyway, it was practically a given that Shima would be no match if we faced off directly. He’d be squashed in no time—or at least, that’s how it was supposed to play out.

My saintess’ offensive skill, «Holy Circle», and Shima’s warlock skill, «Dark Hexagram», collided, and the resulting explosion threw both of us back.

“No… way?!”

A surprised voice escaped my throat as I used «Appraisal» to check Shima’s status and confirm the damage we’d both taken.

“What in the blazes is with that nonsensical status?!”

▼
Race : Vampire (Ancestor God)
Name : (´・ω・`)
Alias : Self-saboteur
HP：378,902,700/379,002,630
MP：411,991,128/420,003,547

On the other hand, my status after merging with Tengai in «Pet Unison» mode was:

▼
Race : Vampire Princess (Ancestor God)
Name : Hiyuki
Alias : Graceful Lady of the Sky
HP：61,304,120/61,309,800
MP：51,992,500/53,841,500

He had six times my HP and eight times my MP!

“Pet Unison?! Is it Nidhogg? No, wait, I definitely saw it wreaking havoc earlier. Its status should have been at one-third at best. Then how…?”

Shima flashed a crafty smile, like a conman who’d just pulled off a trick, as he watched my confused state.

“Well, well, no one said there’s just one Nidhogg. But I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. I brought six Church Knights with me. So, where do you think the rest of the 6,000 Church Knights vanished?”

“You’re saying you’re merged with all of them?!”

“Bingo~. The Nidhogg 2 inside me, in «Pet Unison» mode, is built on the entire 6,000 Cathedral Crusaders as its foundation. They certainly lived up to their title as the Continent’s Strongest Knights. Believe it or not, after vampirification, their average HP was around 50,000-60,000 and their MP was around 60,000-70,000. It was a truly first-class feast. Thank you very much.”

Shima finished his speech with a theatrical bow of gratitude.

Damn. This disparity wasn’t a joke. I’d just lost about 5,000 HP from his attack, and he seemed to have lost around 20,000-25,000 HP. I had the upper hand with superior elements, as expected, but the damage he took was just a drop in the ocean… I’d need to land at least 15,000 attacks to whittle down all his HP.

Even my trump card, «Sealing Cross», that I received from Kagerou was unusable in this scenario. It would be impossible to fully seal him without having a significant advantage in MP.

“Princess, I’m bringing over the group that’s currently dealing with Nidhogg.”
“No, you can’t. We can’t risk Nidhogg coming back to backstab us if we leave it unchecked. We have to keep pushing forward as is. Taking down the weaker targets first is the best strategy.”

I shook my head mentally at Tengai’s suggestion.

“But…”
“Relax. I was just temporarily blinded by the high numbers and got flustered. But thinking about it, even HP that’s ten times higher isn’t unmanageable.”

Weren’t bosses’ HP usually just as bloated? So, what I needed to do hadn’t changed either.

“Kokuyou!”

Kokuyou, a knight clad in jet-black full-body armor, holding a lance in his right hand and the 1.5-meter Pavis shield in his left, emerged from the shadow beneath my feet at my call and dashed silently toward Shima like a bullet.

“Dark Impulse.”

Black lightning shot from the tip of Shima’s Galient Sword, but Kokuyou shrugged it off as effortlessly as water from a showerhead and quickly closed the gap.

“Ack—”

Finally realizing that a passive stance would leave him vulnerable to potentially life-threatening attacks, Shima brandished his Galient Sword. The blade disconnected and whipped toward Kokuyou like a serpent. Kokuyou spun his lance with «Cyclone Impact», leaving after-images in its wake and neutralizing the attack with a single strike.

Kokuyou kept charging undisturbed toward a bewildered Shima.

“Hrgh!?”

Shima narrowly dodged the lance, but Kokuyou had already factored this into his attack. He swung the Pavis shield at Shima from a different angle.

A crunching sound, unexpected when striking a body, echoed as the force of the blow sent Shima flying like a cannonball. He crashed through the wall and was flung back into the corridor, spinning across the ground like a tire.

“Ack… taking it easy isn’t an option, huh? That really rattled my bones…”

Shima stood up, brushing the dust from his hair and body.

It truly wasn’t going to be easy. The recent attack only took away a small percentage of his HP, leaving Shima calm and composed.

Kokuyou stood in front of me with his shield like a wall, while I readied my ‘Gilles de Rais,’ and immediately charged at the unarmed Shima.

After a moment’s hesitation between attacking and defending, Shima unleashed a dark whirlpool from his hand.

“Dark Soul Eater.”

It was an area-of-effect attack that dealt Darkness damage with the designated target at the center. It also drained both HP and MP while inflicting damage. Hmm, so that’s what he was aiming for?

“Divine Blessing.”
“Ying-Yang Eight-Trigram Seal Formation.”

However, a buff—a Light-element resistance skill that increased PHY ATK, M.ATK, and DEF while granting over-time HP and MP recovery—protected me before the attack could connect. This was followed by an all-element anti-magic barrier to counter the assault.

Most of Shima’s attack power was nullified by the barrier, and I quickly healed any damage it managed to inflict.

After managing the attack, I pointed my sword at Shima’s midsection as he jumped around, trying to avoid my sword’s path. I charged forward with the Swordmaster skill, «Swan Song of the Chirping Wind».

“Haaaaaaa—!!!”

The sword tip, glowing with a dazzling aura, pierced through his body with a thud, and an additional blow blasted a shockwave into his internal organs.

“Pff—cougggh!”

A series of violent explosions rocked him, and blood flew from his body as he was blasted far away.

I didn’t pursue further and waited with ‘Gilles De Rais,’ expecting his next attack. I was certain my strike had dealt significant damage, but checking his HP as he was blown away, it wasn’t decisive.

“…Cough… props to your strength, Lil’ Hiyuki. But I didn’t become «E.H.O» PvP No. 2 for nothing.”

Shima said this while taking out ‘Memento Mori,’ a level 99 warlock item, from his Space Inventory and used it as a crutch.

“But bloodstains are truly creepy, aren’t they~?” As Shima spoke, still crumbling, his equipment suddenly emitted an intense light and, in the next moment, was replaced by new tailcoats and a top hat.

A quick swap, huh? The mechanism to instantly switch to pre-designated gear had been around since game time. I often used it in battles for an immediate change.

“Look at him; has he taken this place for a park?”
“Why bother when they’ll be smeared with their filthy blood again?”

As they made their taunting remarks, Mikoto, armed to the teeth with battle gear, and Utsuho, wearing a traditional priestess garment with her nine tails fully unfurled in battle stance, entered from the opposite corridor. They were the ones who had cast the earlier buff and barrier.

“What are you doing here, Utsuho? What about the chain of command?” Tengai asked in a discontented tone.

Utsuho brushed it off with a faint smile and replied casually, “Ikaruga is handling the command now. Since he can’t be useful against Nidhogg right now, I put him in charge. They say, ‘right person in the right place,’ right? I’m just being resourceful.”

Utsuho and Mikoto moved behind me while talking, and with Kokuyou standing in front, I suddenly found myself at the center of a triangular formation.

“…Princess, would it be alright if I joined the battle line too?” Tengai suggested leaving the «Pet Unison» state and heading to the front lines. I figured he was losing patience from missing the action, but I would be squashed in no time without his support, you know?

“Tengai, your role is to protect the Princess from harm, so quietly focus on that. Your size would only be a hindrance inside the castle anyway. Why not act like the leader of the Four Heavenly Evil Kings for once and leave the rest to others?” Utsuho retorted in a disapproving tone.

“I agree as well. Our enemy’s element is ‘Darkness,’ so it would be more effective for Kokuyou and me to fight together. Lord Tengai, make sure no harm befalls our Princess.”

“……”

With Mikoto joining in, Tengai finally nodded reluctantly.

“Well then, it’s been a while since we Four Heavenly Evil Kings have fought together. I hope you’re ready to face your judgment, you moron. But if you’ve got any sanity left, this is your last chance to surrender peacefully.” Utsuho’s final warning drew a bitter smile from Shima as he clutched ‘Memento Mori.’

“Four Heavenly Evil Kings? I see your eighth-grader syndrome hasn’t healed yet, Lil’ Hiyuki~”

Buzz off! I didn’t even give them that title, alright!