Chapter 274: The Beast of Lightning and Fire Confronts the Sword Wolf, Part 4

"Ah, now I'm starting to get mad! Inflicting damage on yourself just to screw with me!? That's just BMing, isn't it!"

Kyogoku herself understood better than anyone that wielding a katana single-handedly prevents it from displaying its true power. Her stats were heavily skewed toward technique and dexterity, making her a technical swordswoman, so wildly swinging a two-handed katana with one hand fundamentally clashed with her playstyle.

However, an anger fueled by the thought that she herself was being utterly unreasonable by getting this mad was what allowed her to sustain the fight one-handed.

"Y-You coward, Kyogoku! In the first place, bringing up melons or whatever..."

"How many people do you think have sunk into despair looking at the fully ripened melons you and your sister flaunted in our large public bath? Are you underestimating me? Do you want me to smack you with a paper fan and record it on a super slow-motion camera!?"

"Hey, what on earth did that idiot feed you!? Attacking from the real-life angle is just cowardly!"

A performance boost fueled by emotion. That is essentially the mark of a tension fighter like Sunraku or Sylvia Goldberg, but since Kyogoku was half-rampaging, she didn't realize she was doing it.
By the way, Akitsu Akane is an incomprehensible Chimera of instinct and logic who "raises her performance via tension and then applies and reflects what she learns." Please do not point out that this sounds like a setting commonly used for invasive alien species.

Having lost her focus, Psyger-100 was currently unable to execute complex controls, making it entirely possible to dodge the roughly-trajectoried auto-controlled swords.
Focusing entirely on dodging the Magic Sword Wrath Pegasius, Kyogoku deflected the others with her black katana and relentlessly pressed forward.

"Kuh... It's frustrating, but it's an effective distraction... However!"

"I heard you destroyed another bra recently. Is that true!?"

"Kuuuh!"

Collapse. The Servant Swords began spinning uselessly in mid-air, exposing a fatal opening—a golden opportunity—right in front of Kyogoku.
The black katana "Polished Dragon's Sturdy Horn," crafted from the horn of the Draclus Dinoceras—a monster resembling a cross between a Triceratops and a horse—blazed with effects once more.

Secret Sword "Lion Drop." This time she wouldn't miss. The blade aimed directly at the sliver of exposed neck peeking through the gaps in the armor.
Furthermore, she activated 【Moment Sight】, which accelerates her cognitive speed and renders her visual input in slow motion, adjusting her trajectory to ensure a guaranteed hit.

Kyogoku didn't particularly like this sensation where only her consciousness remained at normal speed while everything else she perceived slowed to a crawl. But if fighting purely on preference could guarantee victory, there wouldn't be any weaklings in this world.

(I can do it... A guaranteed kill is impossible, but I'll definitely take 50% of her health!)

However, Kyogoku had forgotten one crucial fact.

The Supreme Class "Sword Saint." Its acquisition condition was achieving an outstanding record in an NPC-sponsored gladiator tournament. While it's true that now you only need to place in the top three to trigger the special quest, the time Psyger-100 acquired the Sword Saint job was before the nerf adjustment.

The truth that pointed to was incredibly simple.

The Sword Saint is a job that cannot be acquired unless your PvP skills are exceptionally high.

"【Surging Lightning Melody (Stun Beat)】!"

"Kwah!?"

A numbness ran through her entire body. It wasn't the result of taking massive damage; it was a damage effect specifically designed as the phenomenon "Paralysis."
Her blade wavered. Forcing her body, which was on the verge of stopping, to move, she slapped her left arm against it to forcibly complete the swing.

"D-Damn it!"

"Guh..."

Shallow.
It was true that the black katana had sliced Psyger-100's neck, but the sensation was far too light. She likely hadn't managed to shave off much of her health at all.

"Kuu... Fufu, a convenient magic, isn't it? As for the power itself, it's such a weak spell that even someone with magic-specialized stats would barely deal any damage... However, in terms of casting speed and serving as a surprise attack against players, nothing beats it."

"You're quite... used to PvP, aren't you."

"Of course I am. I am a 'Pre-Nerf Sword Saint'. Just how many times do you think I've fought without match-fixing against the Pre-Nerf group, including the Leader of the Knights Tempura?"

They both used potions. Though their health was back to square one, the situation could only be described as the absolute worst.
Sexual harassment distractions wouldn't work anymore. The five blades, now back under stable control, floated in mid-air...

"Five blades, you said?"

【Servant] absolutely requires the user to hold one "Conductor Sword" in their hand. If that's the case, having five floating in mid-air should be impossible.

"Just like skill levels, the Sword Saint's 【Servant】 increases the number of swords you can handle the more you use it—Solo, Duo, Trio... Ah, that's right."

The maximum Sword Play revealed so far was a Quintet consisting of four Servant Swords and one Conductor Sword. But what if that wasn't the limit?
As if confirming Kyogoku's chilling premonition, a "Seventh" blade joined the lineup.

"Septet...!?"

"This is the first time I'm showing this against a player, but please, enjoy... 【Servant · Septet】!"

Her disruption was too late.
Six Servant Swords formed a shape resembling a hexagram missing half its parts, and following the conductor's will, the seventh Conductor Sword brought down the hammer.

"【Seven Sinners (Seven Sinkers)】!!"

"Puguh."

It felt exactly as if an invisible hand was pressing down from directly above—a massive force of compression that no human struggle could overcome. A voice leaked out, sounding as if the air in her lungs had been forcibly expelled, and her vision plunged straight downward. The only reason she didn't let go of her katana was likely due to her pride as a swordswoman.
Forced face-down onto the ground, unable to even lift an arm under the immense pressure, Kyogoku realized the principle acting as the system process behind this.

"Don't tell me... Gravity?"

"Correct. Don't you think this would even work on Lycaon?"

Though its fatal flaw is that the MP consumption is horrendously inefficient... the Sword Saint muttered as she pointed the blade of the Holy Sword at the Swordmaster.

"I win."

............

.........

......

I had quite a few thoughts, like "She really is just a Boss character, isn't she," or "We just got reverse 3-swept, we're in a massive pinch," but... The two fiends and I quickly surrounded Kyou-timate when she returned after getting casually defeated.

"Ahaha, sorry, I lost."

"No, I seriously never expected you to pull off public sexual harassment, Kyogoku-chaaaan."

"To hell with manners. That's the very model of a PKer right there... I'm honestly impressed."

"No, all of us completely underestimated Kyou-timate... I mean, Kyou-timate-san! You're an unimaginable Sexual Harassment Great Demon Lord, aren't you!"

"Kuh...! I expected this, but you people really have zero hesitation when it comes to mocking others...!"

That is that, this is this. The losers get mocked; that's the privilege of bystanders and winners alike.
That being said, thanks to Kyou-timate, we learned a lot. Like how Psyger-100 was hiding two more modes, or that she had magic that practically screamed "Does this even have a use outside of PvP?"...

"Can anyone even win against this blind...?"

"If we lose, Wolfgang becomes Black Wolf's errand boys, so you really need to try your best here, Sunraku-kun."

"No, she's literally just a Boss character. Honestly, if she suddenly pulls out 'I was actually hiding Octet too!' I'm going to cry, okay?"

But complaining wasn't going to weaken Psyger-100, and as Wolfgang's final anchor, I had no choice but to do whatever I could.

"If I win, I'm going to use this as material to mock you losers for the next six months, so be prepared."

"Big talk. If you lose, I'll use it to mock you for the next three years."

Three years is way too harsh.

"Um, Sunraku...-san."

"Hm?"

"Um... Please do your best."

An encouraging cheer from Rei-shi, directed at me as I went to face her older sister. Nice, doesn't it feel exactly like a scene straight out of a game?

"Leave it to me. I'm pretty confident when it comes to raw attack volume."

Besides, some very interesting keywords popped up during Kyou-timate and Psyger-100's fight.

Allow me to show you my Roleplay: Ryuguin Fugaku!

Author's Afterword
In reality, while she makes it look like she has completely mastered it, Psyger-100 can only perfectly control up to a Quintet. She can't operate a Septet without setting two of the swords to auto.
Also, she makes it look like she has plenty of leeway, but "Seven Sinkers" completely emptied her MP.

As expected, splitting your processing power seven ways while simultaneously fighting in close combat is incredibly difficult. Even setting that aside, she definitely boasts top-class Servant Sword control among the current "Sword Saints."