Chapter Two: Irregular Newbies
The central arena’s lobby, ten minutes before the newbies went out to battle
In the central arena, the veteran Masters were gathering and preparing the newbies that would leave the barrier and go to battle. At the same time, they were using their Embryos and skills to gather information regarding the forces they’d face.
Rook, being one of those who would head to battle, made his own preparations.
“So we’re about to fight other players...” he muttered.
“Yep,” said Babi.
The battle he was about to partake in wasn’t just a sparring match under the protection of the arena barriers.
Failure would mean getting the death penalty and being removed from the ranks of those struggling against the chaos in the city.
If that happened, Rook would be unable to help Ray, which was something he couldn’t tolerate.
“At least we have some experience in this,” he muttered.
Fighting the player killers outside the arena wouldn’t be Rook’s first PvP experience. He was fortunate enough to have a sparring match just before this incident began.
Closing his eyes, Rook ran his mind over how it had gone.
It happened at noon, on the same day that Rook realized Marie’s true identity.
“This ‘Superior Killer’ that Ray often talks about... It’s you, isn’t it?” he whispered into Marie’s ear right after they and Ray went separate ways.
“H-How did you know...?! I-I mean, no no no no! I’m not!” she burst out, the bewilderment in her voice all too apparent. Normally, she would have been able to hide it relatively well, but the surprise factor had made her blurt out the equivalent of “Yes, that’s true,” making Rook turn absolutely certain of his conjecture.
“O-Oh, come now, I-I’m definitely not the man known as the Superior Killer.” Marie still tried to salvage it.
“Then allow me to present you with the circumstantial evidence I’ve gathered,” said Rook.
“Eh?”
Thus, he began listing the reasons why he had come to this conclusion.
First: despite the Superior Killer’s age and gender being unknown, Marie often referred to him as a man. To Rook, it seemed like an attempt to give the entity a different image than her own.
Second: her behavior when talking to Ray about the Superior Killer’s thoughts tended to be different from usual.
Third: during the battle against Gardranda, Rook had been high above the ground, but still hadn’t been able to see a thing of what was happening within the dense miasma below. Yet Marie, who had also been outside it, had stated with absolute certainty that “The Superior Killer shot Gardranda’s left shoulder.”
Fourth: despite Marie having played for a year in real life, which was three years in here, she had a total level lower than newbies such as Rook and Ray, which led him to believe that she was concealing her true powers.
Fifth: there was a comic with a journalist/professional killer protagonist bearing a great deal of resemblance to Marie, and from what he’d read of it, even their mannerisms were highly alike.
That was when Marie raised her hands, looking absolutely defeated.
“Heh. Heh heh heh,” she chuckled in self-derision. “I give up. This is the first time someone has realized it before I revealed it myself.”
“You’re not exactly the best at concealing your identity, so I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who connected the dots,” said Rook.
“Ghh!” Marie’s face contorted with pain. She’d had confidence that she was doing a decent job of hiding what she really was, so Rook’s words did a good amount of emotional damage to her.
“Also, you use an avatar that has both the name and appearance of a character that’s both a journalist and a professional killer, so it’s completely obvious to anyone who has read the work,” added Rook.
“I’m fully aware of that, but it’s part of my identity,” she replied. Marie was basing her Infinite Dendrogram character on Marie from her manga, so it was a given for her to be a “Marie Adler” that acted as both a Journalist and a professional killer.
“Anyway, we know your identity now,” said Rook. “However, it doesn’t look like Ray and Nemesis are aware of it.”
“I’d probably feel like dying if they found out,” Marie said.
“You’re the one who gave them their only death penalty, right? Normally, I’d have a thing or two to say about that, but it doesn’t seem like you have any malice towards them right now, so I’m content with being silent about that.”
“Thank you.”
“That aside, can I make a little request?”
Marie said nothing as she made a mental note of the fact that the flow of the conversation made his question seem much like blackmail.
Rook might actually have a sadistic side to him, she thought.
“A request, you say?” she muttered. “A-Are you about to have me do something inappropriate and—”
“Nothing about that would remotely interest me.”
“Okay, kid... No need to cut me that deep... But what do you want of me, then?”
“I want you to have a mock battle against me.”
“A mock battle?” she asked.
“As I said before, I want to learn more about battles against people. And I figured that facing a hardened player killer such as yourself would be a good initiation.”
“Well, I don’t really mind, but why the interest in such battles?” Marie asked.
“That’s a secret,” he answered with a smile on his face.
His expression was so beautiful it was angelic, but once she considered the conversation so far, Marie found it a bit scary.
And so, the two made their way towards the sixth arena, located in the duel city’s sixth district. Though such places were normally bustling due to various events and betting matches, all the standard arenas were nearly barren today.
During low activity times such as these, it was possible to rent the arenas for barrier-protected mock battles. Unlike in normal matches, it was also possible to make the barriers opaque, and Marie was truly thankful that she wouldn’t have to fight while minding any potential observers.
“You’re still below level 51, right, Rook?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m level 48,” he answered.
“Then don’t go near the barrier. You’ll slip right through.”
The barrier system allowed those of level 50 or below to pass through freely. Though those players benefited from the barrier’s restorative qualities, it didn’t wall them off inside. That was the reason why they couldn’t partake in official arena battles.
“The preparations are done,” said Marie as she set the block they’d rented into opaque mode.
With Babi at his side and Liz taking the form of his equipment, Rook summoned Marilyn and Audrey, making him fully ready for battle.
“We have plans for the evening, so let’s not go above ten matches,” she added. “Also, we might be sparring, but the gap in our power is still an issue, so I won’t be using my special rewards.”
To her mind, fighting while using special rewards like the Palsy Stingblade would cause Rook to lose the ten matches without giving him a chance to learn anything. Marie would use her Embryo, but she would avoid using its ultimate skill for exactly the same reason.
“Compared to many, my Embryo isn’t particularly tricky, so I’m confident it’s good for such practice,” she said. “Are you ready?”
“Yes!” Rook answered with vigor.
“Then let’s begin... Arc-en-Ciel.” Marie summoned a revolver-shaped Embryo into her left hand, and held a blackened dagger in her right. The Embryo was Arc-en-Ciel, Type Legion, while the dagger was named Night Pain.
In response to Marie readying her weapons, Rook sent Marilyn and Audrey after her while Babi vigilantly eyed her for an opportunity to use a skill. Rook himself stood at the rear, protected by Liz, and used the Charm skill.
This was the battle style they’d used many times during the hunting they’d done after Liz had joined.
He was clearly planning to avoid using trickery and go all out on the very first match.
“Very well, then I won’t do any tricks, either,” said Marie as she swung her right hand, causing the break-action revolver to unload its chambers.
That action made Rook look puzzled. And not without reason, for she had emptied a gun that had yet to shoot a single bullet. However, even though it had the shape of a revolver, Arc-en-Ciel was more Embryo than gun, and what it shot weren’t bullets.
“Black Homing, Red Burst, Blue Spread.” Marie’s words made three types of bullets — no, transparent containers filled with paint — enter the revolving chambers of her Embryo. Once again, she swung her hand again to give it the shape of a gun...
“Fire.”
...and pulled the trigger.
“GYAGYAGYAGYAGYAH!”
A moment later, several dozens of bullet creatures escaped Arc-en-Ciel’s muzzle. Bending their expected trajectory, all of them rushed to overwhelm Audrey. She flew in an attempt to evade them, but all the creatures followed after her.
There was little difference between Audrey’s and the creatures’ speeds...
“KIEEEEE?!”
...so, when she soon reached the top of the barrier, they all caught up with her and exploded upon impact.
Reduced to smithereens, Audrey’s corpse became particles of light and vanished.
“VRAAAAAGH!”
Right after that attack, Marilyn directed her horns at Marie and charged at her with all she had. In real life, this would be the equivalent of a 10 ton truck going at full speed...
“Too slow.”
...but to Marie — whose high AGI allowed her to break the sound barrier — Marilyn was barely even moving.
She dodged the horns right before the impact and unloaded the chambers yet again before wordlessly filling them with two types: Red Burst and Green Piercing. Then — slowly from her own perspective and immensely quickly from Marilyn’s — Marie put the muzzle against Marilyn’s shell and fired.
The bullet creature imbued with great piercing ability penetrated the tough material with little effort before exploding within Marilyn’s insides, quickly killing her and making her become particles of light.
Next up, Babi, Marie thought as she looked around, but she couldn’t see the succubus anywhere. A moment later, without even turning around, Marie swung Night Pain behind her.
“...Ah.”
That action caused the slashed space to release a gush of blood before becoming Babi, clearly on the verge of death.
Since she was able to use Drain Learning to absorb the skills of other monsters, Babi had received the Optic Camouflage skill from a Lesser Chameleon Basilisk, a creature inhabiting a forest area near Nex Plains. However, the hiding ability of that skill meant nothing to the Death Shadow — the apex of stealth.
Babi disappeared, leaving only Rook and Liz, who was still acting as his equipment.
With Arc-en-Ciel’s bullet type still set to “penetrating and bursting,” Marie fired at him.
Marie had intended to end the fight with that one shot, but unexpectedly, the bullet creature shifted its trajectory away from Rook and exploded after hitting the barrier.
Upon focusing on him, Marie realized that a part of his coat had become curved.
Rook had already noticed the bullets’ penetrative abilities, and he’d chosen to turn them away instead of stopping them.
“I see,” she said, astonished that the boy could notice that much from just one shot.
He also seems to know that I need to do the unloading motion to change modes, she realized. Rook’s observational ability made chills go down Marie’s spine.
“You won’t protect against this, though,” she said as she unloaded Arc-en-Ciel, loaded it with only Green Piercing, and fired once more.
The piercing bullet creatures that escaped the muzzle had far greater penetrative power than the ones mixed with bursting, allowing them to easily overcome the curved defense, pierce Rook, and kill him.
The primary feature of Marie Adler’s Arc-en-Ciel was the creation and firing of bullet creatures. The qualities of the bullet creatures fired depended on the paint used. There were six types of paint, and the ones she’d used in this battle were black for homing, red for bursts, blue for spread, and green for piercing. Besides these, there were also white for paralysis and silver for flash.
Loading the six chambers with multiple paints gave the bullet creatures more abilities, but lowered the potency of each separate one. That made Arc-en-Ciel an Embryo that had to be used differently depending on the situation.
“And that’s how it works.” Marie ended her explanation.
“And how, exactly, is that ‘not tricky’?” asked Rook. By the end of the first fight, he had been shot to death, Babi had vanished, and Marilyn and Audrey had exploded, but they were now just standing there — all alive and well, because even monsters were protected by the barriers.
“Hey now, I said ‘compared to many,’ and I stand by that,” replied Marie. “As far as sixth form Embryos go, Arc-en-Ciel’s very straightforward. By the time they start getting their ultimate skills, Embryos can become a bit... creative. For example, there’s an Embryo that ‘Turns people within a set boundary into toddlers.’ Then there’s one that ‘Forcibly removes people’s equipment and makes them naked’ and one that ‘Turns people into creatures that they hate.’ Mine’s quite modest in comparison, no? By the way, the ones I just named all belong to Legendaria’s Superiors.”
Masters often described Legendaria as the “Land of Perverts,” and their strongest certainly lived up to that reputation.
After that, Rook and Marie went on to have eight more matches, all of which were won by Marie.
The second and third battles were basically replays of the first. On the fourth, Rook’s movements and actions had gotten better, so Marie started using the Shadow Clone Technique. Come the fifth battle, he was moving in a way to compensate for that, so she took to using Art of Hiding as well.
After that, it was a one-sided show of Marie combining her Embryo and job skills to defeat Rook.
By the latter half, Marie was putting more effort into their fights than she had during yesterday’s battle against Elizabeth’s would-be assassins, The Reaper’s Pinky.
With Marie being a Superior Job wielding an Embryo in its sixth form, the difference in power between her and Rook was great.
The onmitsu grouping’s Death Shadow job had high base resistances to debuffs, not to mention that she was equipped with items that increased them further still, rendering Rook’s Charm useless and giving him next to no chance of victory. However, there was one thing that greatly astonished her — specifically, Babi.
Optic Camouflage wasn’t the only skill she’d gained through Drain Learning. She also had skills such as Monstrous Strength, Petrifying Breath, and even increased resistances to fire and poison.
That certainly gave Rook a wide array of tactics, but alas, it wasn’t enough for him to land even a single hit on Marie.
This makes me question if he’s actually learning anything, she thought.
Since she’d experienced many PvP battles, this sparring certainly wasn’t the first time she’d encountered and prevailed against tactics meant to kill her. The time when she’d gotten attacked by what was most likely the King of Destruction was no exception, for she’d survived that onslaught. That made it quite obvious that lukewarm tactics were ineffective against Marie.
Battles against someone more or less equal to yourself always teach you something new, she thought. However, when fighting opponents significantly stronger than you, it’s all or nothing — either you leave without any new knowledge or mature a lot. I wonder which one applies to Rook...
Such worries went through Marie’s head as they prepared for their tenth and final match.
“This will be our last battle, right?” asked Rook.
“Yes.” Marie nodded. “Are you ready?”
“...Just one more minute, please.” Rook was breathing heavily, making it evident that he was drained. The barrier restored all the stats to what they were before the battles, but they had no effect on mental fatigue. It was only natural for someone to get tired after being killed nine times in a row.
“There, I’m okay now,” he said as he summoned his monsters.
Despite his fatigue, Rook was ready to spar for the tenth and last time.
“Very well. Let’s begin,” Marie spoke as she activated both her Shadow Clone and Hiding techniques.
As her five clones appeared and assaulted Rook and his monsters, Marie herself hid and loaded Arc-en-Ciel. Her plan was to use the distraction created by her clones to load her Embryo with the most effective qualities and fire the bullet creatures at her targets. If all went well, that should end the battle, but...
“KIEEEEE!” Audrey sounded a call as she released an intense stream of flame. The fiery tongues reached across the entire area, thoroughly scorching it all. The blazes were vast, immense, and bright enough to obstruct Marie’s vision of the arena.
However, she’d seen this skill used in the previous battles, so she did exactly what she’d done the previous times. Marie slipped through the flames and aimed at the spaces between them, ready to fire bullet creatures in homing mode.
“...?” That was when she felt something was off.
It came not from beyond the fire, but from the base of her feet, as she stood in the place she’d reached after passing the flames. It was as though something was lying and waiting to ambush her here... and that “something” was a silver-colored, human-shaped creature.
“...!” Overwhelmed with questions, Marie was at a loss for words. How did this thing predict that I, the original, would move to this location? Why is it able to wait to ambush me while surrounded by blazing fire? What is “it,” anyway?
In an attempt to find the answers, she ran her mind through those questions. That created a momentary opening in her movements...
“Mithril Strain!” Rook shouted.
...and he and the silver creature took advantage of it with a skill.
Assaulted by a silver slash, Marie was in no state of mind to evade it. Barely being able to bend in a way to avoid the damage, Marie lost her left arm to the slash.
“■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ — Arc-en-Ciel!” she shouted.
From point-blank range away from Rook, Marie hit him with her ultimate skill — the one she’d intended not to use.
In but an instant, Rook and his monsters alike were all evaporated.
With that, Marie won all ten of the battles. Besides the loss of her left arm in the last one, the result had been exactly what everyone would’ve expected. However, that single loss of limb made Marie feel like she was the one who’d lost.
At the start, Rook and his monsters had moved in a way not too different from before, but then he’d gone on to read her movements with terrifying precision and caught her off guard, giving him a chance to take her left arm. It was safe to say that, at that very moment, Rook had cornered Marie — a being far stronger than himself.
“Thank you for the practice matches!” Now that the fight was over, Rook lightly bowed his head, expressing sincere thanks.
“You’re welcome,” replied Marie. “You and your monsters aren’t bad at all... In fact, considering your total playtime, you’re nothing short of amazing. The way you use your skills and coordinate with your monsters is simply splendid. I was especially surprised by what you did last. Were you saving that tactic for the final battle, when you more or less understood the way I act?”
“Yes.” Rook smiled. “I must say, you’re very strong, Marie. Even nine battles weren’t enough for me to become able to read your movements well enough. To be honest, I was going for your head with my last attack.”
Oh, I see, she thought. He used the first nine battles to get a grasp of my movement patterns and then predict what I’d do in the last one. That aside, that bright smile of his certainly doesn’t fit what he’s saying. This boy might have the makings of a nonchalant brute. I’m kinda scared of what he’ll become.
“Also, losing your arm didn’t affect your movements at all,” added Rook. “I expected that to create more openings.”
“In high-level battles, losing limbs or organs is common, after all. It’s something you get used to.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “Thank you very much for today.”
“Did that help you much?”
“Yes! Very much!”
That makes losing an arm worth it, Marie thought. Still, he pushed me — a Superior Job — this far despite being a non-battle-oriented low-rank job. I’d already established that Ray, a newbie who’s already killed two UBMs, was amazing, but Rook certainly isn’t far behind him.
Having played for long, Marie knew enough Masters to be certain that these two were simply exceptional. And it wasn’t because of their growth as players; they’d deviated from the norm right from the start. Marie was half-excited and half-scared trying to imagine what the two would become.
“I wonder which one of them is stronger,” she muttered.
“Come again?” asked Rook.
“Oh, never mind. By the way, in the last battle, you used a skill you haven’t used before, right? Oh, and I don’t mean Mithril Strain.” Discarding the question from her previous mutter, Marie brought up something that had been on her mind ever since the battle ended.
Rook had read her movements to ambush her, then used Liz to attack. Marie could understand that much, but she didn’t see the process linking those two points.
She couldn’t see why he’d been able to wait for the ambush while surrounded by searing flames. The silver-colored humanoid figure might’ve been the result of Liz covering his body, but that shouldn’t have been enough to protect Rook from the heat. That feat required a considerable amount of fire resistance. Otherwise, he would’ve died from the flame before Marie even came close enough for the ambush. Due to that, Marie assumed that he’d used a skill that he didn’t use before then.
“That was Union Jack!” Babi shouted with pride before Rook could give his answer.
“Union Jack...?” Marie raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Rook nodded. “It’s a unique skill Babi acquired when she reached her third form.”
It seemed she’d gained that skill when she’d evolved during yesterday’s hunting, and they’d kept it hidden until the tenth battle.
A skill they preserved for the very end... With all the preparation they did for it, it’s obvious that it has a powerful effect, but... But Marie was unable to tell what kind of effect it had been. Most Embryo skills were based on the Embryo’s ability characteristics. However, unlike that of Ray’s Nemesis or Marie’s Arc-en-Ciel, Babi’s primary characteristic wasn’t too clear. Due to that, Marie couldn’t see the full picture behind Union Jack.
But, at the very least, she was able to tell that it was as terrifying as Rook’s superhuman talents.
“All right,” Rook said and opened his eyes, having ended the short recollection. At his side was Babi, looking right at him.
“Hey, Rook,” she said. “Were you remembering the practice battles from this afternoon?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Why’d you want to do them, anyway?”
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