“People say the laurel was stolen, but bringing back one with interest is just fantastic, right? You agree too, Nokteon?”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Your Highness, please… spare me… I am nothing…”
“Ha… dragging this on is really not my style. Don’t you miss your family?”
The man gripped the girl’s chin with one hand.
Her already gaunt and skinny face was crushed in his rough grip.
“Ugh… sniff… hic… please… I’ll do my best…”
“Oh, so a little slave like you miraculously escaped, huh? Then you’d better live like a dead person; there are those who dream of revenge, you know? Go deal with them and bring back the laurel. Then I’ll make sure your family in the Forest of Arseria safely reaches the empire.”
“Ugh… I can’t fight… I’ve never…”
“Nokteon, why can’t you understand my words?”
As he pulled off her robe with his other hand, the skinny girl looked terrified.
The man slowly ran his fingers through her hair with four fingers.
“I’m giving you an order right now.”
In his hand sparkled a ring made of laurel.
As if proposing, he carefully slid it onto her finger and whispered in her ear.
“So the Kingdom is going to burn the Forest of Arseria to the ground soon. If you want to save your siblings, you better hurry, right?”
The girl’s ears, hearing the devil’s whisper, were pointy and long.
—
To confess, I was more interested in swords than magic when I was young.
Even if my new life was in a fantasy world, magic was just a headache-inducing study, while knights using auras truly soared through the skies, which naturally drew my admiration.
Above all, the fact that I could stand on two legs was so exhilarating that as soon as I could hold a wooden sword, I begged my swordsmanship instructor to teach me.
Marquis Bastion had a unique perspective on swordsmanship; he claimed that the one-on-one duels knights engage in were like playing a game of Go.
While pondering why such a game with nearly unchanged rules existed in this world was beside the point, it seemed he wanted to express that the fight was about finding the best probability.
He believed that when both parties made the best offensive and defensive moves, the one with the initiative always had the advantage, and since perfect swordsmanship could not exist in this world, one should flexibly respond according to the opponent’s moves, emphasizing the virtues a perfect swordsman should possess.
At that time, when I thought of swordsmanship merely as a kind of sport, I was influenced by his radical ideas and followed him like a disciple. However, I regretted not being able to hear more of his lectures as the time to prove my own worth came sooner than expected.
[Veixel: I’ve never done 10/10/10 either, but that boss is notoriously vicious, so above all, be careful with your health. The necromancer can only handle one doll at a time, but you’ve heard there are two spare dolls, right?]
“Yes, I know.”
[Daehagwonsaengsalryeo: When a new doll appears, it absorbs the attack patterns of the user from the previous phase, so you can’t expect that attack to work anymore. Use Adella as much as possible in phases 1 and 2; it’s best to throw everything at it in phase 3.]
[LG Chaos: NoName, are you really going to face it with Skiabona instead of a Claymore? The main penalty is gone, but the weapon penalty will half your attack power, which can be pretty fatal, so I personally recommend something that deals more damage.]
“Skiabona is more familiar in my hands. Plus, I need the hand guard to not drop my sword in the middle of casting magic.”
[LG Chaos: Sure, let’s go!]
– So they skipped the entire story.
– Can it really pass through walls?
– How did they break up with the Knight Captain and go straight to part 2 boss battle lol.
– Let’s go~!
– Nokteon rocks ♥ Nokteon rocks ♥ Nokteon rocks ♥ Nokteon rocks ♥.
– Please save our Adellaㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.
– I wonder how the 10/10/10 pattern for Nokteon will come out?
└ Probably 320bpm.
└ Is this a rhythm game lol.
We stepped into a cave that radiated a chilling atmosphere.
As expected, a small kid jumped out from the darkness to block our way.
[Necromancer · Nokteon Nailink (0/1)]
Wearing a robe that didn’t fit her body, the hem dragged on the ground, stirring up dust with every step.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… ugh, I’m so sorry…”
The girl displayed her remorse openly from the very first meeting.
Adella seemed unnerved by her appearance and clung tightly to my waist, her tail rigid.
“I have family I need to protect… I think you understand, having been trapped in the forest yourself…”
[Necromancer ‘Nokteon’ summons a random ‘Doll 1’.]
[The infamy difficulty is set to 10.]
[Incomprehensible Explorer · Mesomia Evening (0/1)]
– Shit got real!
– Did a legendary doppelganger just come out from the start?
└ Who is this?
└ You learn about founding figures in classes at the main Academy, and she’s one of them.
– Doesn’t appear under infamy 3 or below.
– That red ponytail girl looks hot, heh.
└ According to the setting book, she’s actually 59 years old, not 200 or 500, so that’s a strangely distant feeling lol.
– What’s her pattern?
[Veixel: Ah… you’ve started with a tough fight. Mesomia Evening has a very high magic reduction rate, so magic will hardly work; you must use melee weapons exclusively.]
[LG Chaos: Noktoon’s summoned doll is fixed at 3 phases, so Mesomia will start with copy patterns. This makes it impossible for Adella to manage her health alone, so definitely team up.]
– I really don’t want to face Mesomia when she appears as an object during ranked games lol.
– For real, even when you’re winning, the health bar drops quickly, resulting in turnarounds all the time.
└ Why haven’t I ever seen it while playing ranked?
└ It only appears at Platinum 4 or above, for sure.
└ That’s interesting; I didn’t know there were conditions.
└ It’s more surprising that you play ranked and are still in Bronze/Silver/Gold!
– How far do you have to go for Noktoon to appear?
└ Diamond 4.
└ Whoa.
– Clearing Nightmare is like eating rice if you want to reach Diamond.
It seemed unlikely that I could hope for a team-up with Adella as I did during the part 1 boss battle. Separate fights seemed to be the answer.
The main body would be stronger than the doppelganger, so I decided to let Adella deal with the illusions.
In reality, when facing such enemies from the necromancer class, hitting the main body — which was the girl now closing her eyes and concentrating over there — is usually the optimum strategy. Still, the reason viewers would advise against it was clear.
A strong magic barrier enveloped the entire cave, preventing our reach to where the girl was. It was some kind of illusion magic.
I glanced at the red-haired woman across from me.
Her body was perfectly balanced for a swordsman’s life, except for one thing — her breasts were far too big.
“Do you know that large breasts decrease agility and you can’t escape back pain no matter what position you take?”
[Veixel: Huh?]
– ????
– What did you just say? lol.
– Are you really trying to undermine her for having big breasts?
– Mesomia’s got some assets, huh lol.
– NoName is a flat-chest faction… noted…
If you truly want to reach the pinnacle with a sword, removing those breasts could be a way to break through walls.
After all, didn’t a tennis player get breast reduction surgery and jump from 300th to 1st in the world rankings?
Pain can be endured, but the issue is that our bodies have an instinct to unconsciously avoid painful postures, and that leads to particular habits when wielding a sword.
I briefly pondered if the AI could capture those nuances but figured it was best to assume I was dealing with a human for now.
“So there must be habits, no — patterns, so let’s tackle those specifically.”
If she could also remove those breasts, that would be a bonus.
Though she was dead, I decided to elevate my skills a level.
—
With the nick of Veixel, which was not well known to the public, Bae Yeon-ji, active in the second league, couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her.
A streamer who had shot to fame in the World of Arseria.
Watching her creative play, she thought it might be time to challenge Nightmare again after a long time.
However, as she gradually became accustomed to the battle, it didn’t take her long to realize every move she made was anything but ordinary.
‘This person has trained with a sword.’
Having debuted in the second league as one of the main members of her team, Bae Yeon-ji, like most rookies, ended up ruining the game spectacularly. She couldn’t describe the pain when the negative comments poured in.
She felt the wall not just with the first league but with pro players in the second league, questioning whether it was truly appropriate to offer advice to this player.
No matter how poor performance was, her pride was that professionals outperform amateurs.
And that perception was about to be shattered by this streamer.
In her field of vision, the two women rushed at each other.
Mesomia was a foe nearly impossible to read.
She was the very same Mesomia who had been the third object (neutral legendary boss) in my debut match.
In a fierce 6v6 skirmish, Bae Yeon-ji had been the sole survivor, but with the pressure of the moment, she found herself defenseless against the boss’s combos.
“Could a pro really die to an NPC? That was definitely something said all over the place.”
What kind of performance would she display now?
NoName was going for the first attack.
Even while running, her sword traced its arc several times.
Just when Bae Yeon-ji thought it was unnecessary and wasteful stamina, Mesomia’s response was already being set.
At that moment, seeing NoName’s sword aimed backward, Mesomia quickly closed the distance, calculating that it would take time for NoName’s sword to realign.
Women’s humanoid bosses are generally fast.
Bae Yeon-ji’s head raced.
It would be a huge regret if she hadn’t informed NoName of the enemy’s weapon mobility. After all, Bae Yeon-ji was someone who truly loved Adella.
Then it happened.
[LG Chaos: Now’s your moment! Parry!]
“I know…!”
Ping!
Mesomia’s sword hit the guard of the sword NoName held, bouncing back.
‘Not with the sword but with the guard to parry?’
Adding to this, the tip of the sword that was initially aimed backward had now reached Mesomia’s head.
The initiative was now shifting to NoName.
The advantage of a weapon like Skiabona, a broad sword, lies in its leading position.
Once an attack begins, even with a block, the initiative is with the other, and even some techniques can inflict immense pressure without resetting positions, regardless of a successful parry.
NoName didn’t miss that point.
The sharp sound of metal clashing echoed in the cave.
Though it seemed they were furiously exchanging blows, NoName was successfully making cuts into the boss.
Feeling the urge to help in any way, Bae Yeon-ji carefully observed the fierce battle.
Suddenly, she noticed NoName’s attacks were too focused on thrusts.
Without mixing in slashes, the pattern is destined to become monotonous.
It didn’t seem likely they were unaware of that.
Yet, Mesomia’s counterattacks came surprisingly slow.
Considering her usual speed, it was at least half as slow.
Soon, Bae Yeon-ji figured out the reason and laughed helplessly.
Thrusting or stabbing attacks cannot be blocked with static defense when wielded with broad swords.
To effectively execute static defense, one must precisely predict the thin sword’s thrust location, which is challenging, and even if it’s accurately guessed, if the attacker changes the point of impact, it’s over.
But Mesomia’s dynamic defense took too long because her breasts kept getting in the way as her arms swayed.
To keep targeting her chest was impressive in itself from NoName.
Bae Yeon-ji, completely forgotten she was on Discord, muttered in awe.
“Wow, this is seriously amazing…”
“More.”
“…Huh?”
“Is that all your feelings? Don’t you have other praises?”
“Ah… NoName, you’re the best! You’re really impressive! You’re turning this cave upside down!”
– LOL
– If you can’t give advice, at least praise her LOL.
– The cheerleading squad is real LOL.
