Chapter 352

“What do you think? It’s my turn to go now!”

It was the same size as Maple when she used ‘Savagery.’ The overwhelming presence had also brought back the lightning. Sally had no idea when the rain would return. However, she was laughing.

“Yes, I can test it now. That’s a nice skill you have there.”

“…?”

“I’m the one that’s going to attack.”

Sally should have been afraid, but instead, she accelerated as she charged towards Velvet. This unexpected reaction caused a delay in Velvet’s first action.

“‘Iron Water Cannon’!”

“Wha!?”

As Velvet frantically stepped forward, water burst up where her feet landed. And though she was heavy, it didn’t matter. The upwards pressure caused her to lose her balance. And in that second where she was unable to use her skill, Sally dove right under her.

“Oboro, ‘Fire Child,’ ‘Double Slash’! ‘Path of Water,’ ‘Freezing Area’!”

And like that, she used skills to inflict damage while Velvet was still stunned. And once she had observed that Velvet’s HP had increased, she moved on to the next step. Sally immediately spread water out around Velvet, and then she used cold air to freeze it all at once. Velvet would be trapped for a little longer now.

“Grr…”

“‘Icicle’! …She is likely not using skills because there are limitations when in that form.”

Normally the five pillars of ice that Sally made would just be ordinary obstacles. But now that Velvet was huge, she could not escape them, as they were placed perfectly in order to hold her in place.

“You can’t break Icicle. And that means you can’t escape in that form. That’s the way it works.”

“I never expected to be sealed away like this. I’ve been completely defeated.”

“I see. Well, I’ll accept that.”

Once she was bound, all Sally needed to do was stand out of reach and spam magic attacks. Like Velvet said, Sally had read all of her movements and trapped her. The fight was already finished.

After the fight, Velvet and Sally moved on to talking about the fight. And so they were still in the dueling area. Velvet wanted to know how Sally did everything, and she assaulted her with question after question. She was very curious about how things ended the way that they did.

“Hmm, but it is strange. Even if someone is that sharp, how is it possible to dodge all those attacks? This was your first time seeing ‘Thunder Beast,’ right?”

“…There is a little secret to how I won today.”

“Huh? What-what-what! What is it!”

“Usually it would not have been such a one-sided fight. You’re really strong, Velvet. And I’m not really a good match for players like you.”

“Hmm. I agree to all of that. It should have been easier for me to land a hit, than it was for you.”

However, the results were quite reversed. This meant Sally was about to say something that was very important.

“Velvet. You are quite…similar.”

“I’m similar?”

“Yeah. Abnormal states where you can’t be hit by powerful wide area attacks, being strong at very close quarters, long ranged methods of attack. And turning into a beast.”

The answer to this had come out of Sally’s own mouth during the fight, and so Velvet was able to understand.

“Your danger area is similar to Maple’s.”

“I see… And you’ve observed her very well, so you can naturally detect the danger?”

“That’s part of it, yes. But not exactly… Uh, don’t tell Maple that I said this, alright?”

“…? Okay.”

Velvet said. And Sally paused for a moment before continuing.

“I want to fight Maple one day. If anyone should defeat her, it’s me. And if anyone is going to defeat me for the first time, I want it to be her. I think I’ve thought about fighting her more than anyone.”

In other words, she wasn’t just observing her a lot because they were close. More than anyone, she was simulating ways to beat her. And all of that had been put into use during her fight with Velvet.

“Hmm! That’s an unfortunate coincidence for me… So you’re buddies but also rivals?”

“Well, it’s just me that thinks that. I don’t think that Maple really cares for that kind of thing. So I don’t know if we’ll ever actually fight. But until the time comes, I won’t ever lose, and I’ll protect her.”

“…I guess it’s because you don’t want to lose that your movements are so precise.”

“Exactly. Of course, I’m sure it won’t go so well for me the next time.”

“I still have other tricks up my sleeve too. Though, you did beat me this time. Besides, the best way for me to get stronger, is to fight alongside Hinata.”

Perhaps one day, Velvet and Hinata would take on Maple and Sally at the same time.

“We’ll win. We can’t lose.”

“Same here! I’m glad that I was able to learn a lot today.”

“…I think I might have said too much.”

Maple had been aware of it herself. There was something about Velvet that was similar to her. After all, Sally was not usually the type to talk so much to others.

“I’m going back now. Hinata will be waiting for me.”

“That’s true.”

Like Frederica, Velvet promised to fight Sally again. And so Sally had yet another dueling partner.

“I hope…you get to fight her one day.”

“…Yeah. Or this will be the closest I get to it.”

And like that, the fight ended and the two came back looking like they had become much closer to each other. Maple and Hinata could not help but be a little puzzled.