Chapter 833: December 18th: In Human Affairs, All Is Like the Old Man of the Frontier's Horse
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The New Continent's Great Sea of Trees. Amidst the sea of trees, two girls......... were running.
"W-Wait, time out! Time out! Okay!?"
"Fufufufufu......... There's no pause button for time, you know."
No, they weren't having a footrace. It was a competition for survival where one attacked and the other fled.
The girl fleeing, having just dodged a flash of steel tearing through the air by retreating, requested a temporary ceasefire, but the attacking girl, with a smile on her face, showed no signs of stopping her assault.
(This is bad this is bad this is bad! To think I'd run into that crossroads-killing-brained junkie Kyogoku-chan in a place like this!)
The girl fleeing...... Hiiragi, looked at the attacking girl...... Kyogoku, and recalled how things had ended up this way. Right, it happened when she was testing the equipment she had stolen from Sunraku in this unpopulated Great Sea of Trees on the New Continent......... (Flashback Start)
......
............
<<Hey there, Hiiragi.>>
<<Eh, ah......... Kyogoku-chan? G-Good evening?>>
<<Well then, for starters, let's go with some divine puni—... actually no, let's fight.>>
<<Eh?>>
............
......
"(Flashback End) ......Attacking out of nowhere like that, your head is way too steeped in crossroads-killing, you know!? Right!?"
"Well gee, I don't really have any words to respond to that."
It was as unreasonable as a wild boar suddenly bursting out from around a corner and charging straight into your side. Hiiragi was indignant at Kyogoku for launching such a cowardly surprise attack, but she had known since her time in the Ashura-kai that Kyogoku didn't exactly have a sane head you could reason with.
"What's wrong? I don't mind either way, but do you want to get PK'd without putting up a fight?"
"Ugh........."
At Kyogoku's mocking words, Hiiragi pulled out a Tantō and took a stance. However, while its blade could normally guarantee a one-hit kill, in this specific instance, compared to the katana Kyogoku was leisurely holding, it looked far too short and unreliable.
Hiiragi's basic tactic involved combining her job with Exordinary Skills to launch a preemptive strike from stealth, and securing an escape route if she failed. However, that seemingly perfect kill plan possessed one single, fatal flaw.
"I-Isn't a sudden surprise attack too mean!? We used to be in the same clan, right? Right?"
Hiiragi's stat build was entirely dedicated to that preemptive strike and the ensuing "assassination" offensive. It was designed to completely deplete the opponent's HP before they could react, and almost all of her resources were poured into that single strike from stealth. Furthermore, the unique magic of the "Killing Joker" class, 【A Death Worth Laughing At!】, had to be activated in a non-combat state at the save point she intended to revive at beforehand.
To get straight to the point,
"Sudden surprise attacks are your specialty, aren't they, Hiiragi? Don't tell me you've never experienced one yourself?"
Ironically, an enemy who completely turned her own tactics against her was Hiiragi's absolute greatest natural enemy.
"W-Why are you trying to PK me in the first place!? It's not like I did anything to you, right!? Right!?"
"Eh? Why, you ask............"
At that moment, Kyogoku suddenly realized: going for the kill with zero hesitation was considered extremely rude, or rather, completely lacking in common sense in normal games, wasn't it? As Kyogoku felt slightly depressed wondering if she had become too accustomed to "insane" games where that sort of thing was acceptable, Hiiragi sheathed her dagger and readied a different weapon.
"Ei!!"
"............Hmm, well, let's just say you had bad luck."
"Wha...!?"
While not an absolutely guaranteed first strike, it was a blow combining a skill that accelerated stepping-in speed with a skill that silenced footsteps. As Hiiragi's eyes widened at the sight of Kyogoku dodging it with ease just by twisting her body, and at the words she spoke, a katana swung down.
"Oops?"
Clang! A high-pitched sound of metal clashing against metal echoed through the sea of trees, and this time, it was Kyogoku's turn to widen her eyes. The blade imbued with the Destruction attribute, swung down with the intent of severing Hiiragi's arm, had been deflected by a pitch-black gauntlet.
"F-Fufufufufu! Amazing defensive power!"
"That's........."
Kyogoku recognized it. It was an armament heavily associated with a certain player who drew upon the legacy of the Divine Age, and was almost always brought up when people talked about him.
The terrifying "Reject" fist that had blown away the White Dragon Bryreinyego with a gut punch; or rather, a Re-Legacy Weapon where a modern blacksmith had resurrected a technique from the Divine Ages.
"Isn't it great, Kyogoku-chan? It's my new weapon, you know!"
Having readied the Re-Legacy Weapon: Bilac's "Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets", Hiiragi smirked, confident that with this pitch-black fist, she could easily shatter a flimsy katana like Kyogoku's however she pleased.
Kyogoku, on the other hand, was wondering why Hiiragi possessed the black-gold gauntlets that served as one of Sunraku's trump cards. After thinking for about two seconds, she decided it was best to just ask the person herself and spoke while readying her katana.
"Where did you get that Re-Legacy Weapon?"
"........................Ah, do you know what this is, Kyogoku-chan? That's right, it's the loot I got by PK'ing him!"
"Heeh〜."
Half a lie, half the truth. That was the conclusion Kyogoku reached from Hiiragi's slightly stiffened demeanor.
Hiiragi and Kyogoku used to belong to the same clan......... the early 【Ashura-kai】, as it was called. It was a clan comprising those who sought tangible profits through PK'ing, those drawn to the content of PK'ing itself, and those who chose the path of the outlaw for roleplay purposes............ with Orcelott as the head and Arthur Pencilgon acting as the hands and feet to gather them, it was, for better or worse, an assembly of various motives.
Even among them, Hiiragi was a particularly incorrigible handful. Seeking the practical benefits of PK'ing, enjoying the act of stealing equipment and items from players via surprise attacks, and above all, possessing a robust mentality where no matter what anyone said to her, she'd completely forget it an hour later—she was, in a word, an incorrigible Player Killer.
While Kyogoku absolutely didn't want to be friends with her, she was so far gone that she possessed a certain kind of charisma that drew curiosity about what kind of end such a person would eventually meet (you could say it was like watching a documentary about a rare beast).
Because of this, Kyogoku had a decent grasp of Hiiragi's personality. And if Hiiragi had truly PK'd Sunraku and stolen his equipment, there was no way she would be this humble about it. She probably would have started bragging the moment she pulled the weapon out without Kyogoku even having to ask.
More importantly, if Sunraku had been PK'd by Hiiragi, he likely would have started his retaliation immediately. Whether he explained the situation to an active PK like herself or not, he would have made some sort of approach. That was what a Bakumatsu patriot was; a Bakumatsu patriot who forgets revenge does not exist......... and this was especially true for Sunraku, who was an even older veteran patriot than she was.
However, Kyogoku couldn't imagine Sunraku giving it to Hiiragi as a present either. By this point, Kyogoku had formed a rough guess.
(During the Kingdom Turmoil event, if you die, you drop all your equipment right there on the spot. Most likely, Sunraku died, and she just happened to pick up what he dropped.)
It was an incorrect answer that was extremely close to being correct, but regardless of the process, the fact remained that Hiiragi, wielding Sunraku's armament, was an enemy. Slowly swaying her tail, Kyogoku readied her katana.
"............"
"............"
A silence as thin as ice; the cannibalism between active Player Killers was about to begin.
Amidst all this, Hiiragi was............
(Why isn't anything happening!?)
Infuriated by the fact that the silence was being maintained.
Author's Afterword
(Look! I'm doing a really good job acting as bait right now! Right!? What are you doing, Isuna-chan!? Hibernating!? Are you sleepwalking or something!?)
(A virtual battle against Sunraku huh......... I might as well clear my grudges from Bakumatsu while I'm at it.)
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