Chapter 46
"Mob-style, huh... Never heard of it. But I can't say I don't feel a certain kinship. I trained my own 【Shadow】 to this level all by myself. How did you come up with that fighting style?"
"How? Well, you see..."
Bad news.
For some reason, Baldo the Severing Shadow was really hung up on me.
Why I came up with the inconspicuous Mob-Style Combat Method.
In other words, the question was: Why aim to be a mob character in the first place?
――The reason for aiming to be a mob.
"Well, I learned from every kind of media," I said.
...Yeah. I don't think that's wrong.
Basically, in every anime and every movie, arrogant villains end up dying.
Reincarnated into a world like a game and become the strongest???
I'd already given up on that being possible.
That's why I aimed to be a mob.
An unremarkable mob in a neighboring class or something, the kind who never causes trouble.
That's what I'd learned from all sorts of anime and light novels.
"I see. 'Every kind of media,' huh? So you pored over countless old books, pieced that information together, and trained until you could put it into practice."
"Yeah, well... I guess so."
"Oh, interesting."
Just then.
"――Since we're here, I'll give you some credit, Genesis."
Baldo shrugged off the coat he was wearing.
"You're insane, you know that? You pushed the efficiency of your magic-powered body reinforcement to the limit, dramatically extending how long you can fight. Worrying about magic efficiency in the middle of a fight is like looking away from your opponent. No one with a normal mind would fight that way. How much of a battle maniac are you?"
"……………………"
I felt like the Mob-Style Combat Method I'd come up with was suffering from some serious reputational damage.
No, I wasn't trying to make the fight last longer or anything. My main goal was just to avoid standing out...
"――But whatever," the man muttered, then began mumbling some kind of incantation.
"Watch out!!!! He's about to do something!" Iris cried.
"Too late, girl――Deeper than darkness, O shadow. Reveal your true nature now. Destroy and shatter everything."
In an instant,
the air around Baldo changed.
"Hahaha! Genesis, you have no idea what I'm doing, do you?"
"……………………"
Of course I don't, I thought.
Was this guy pretending to be one of those childhood-friend light-novel heroines who suddenly asks, "Hey, hey, can you tell what's different about me???"
Silence.
At last, the man began to speak.
"Heh heh heh. I'll admit it: you're strong. Your fighting style is impressive. But in the end, the one who wins is me, the 【Severing Shadow】. Do you know why?"
The man smiled eerily, though his face remained expressionless.
No idea.
"No..."
I shook my head.
I had absolutely no clue.
"I'll tell you, as a parting gift before you die. What you lack is finishing power. If we keep crossing swords like this, you'll win in swordsmanship. But I'm a warrior, not a swordsman. I'm going to use magic instead of fighting on your turf."
"Hm?"
Then I immediately noticed something was wrong.
The amount of shadow at the man's feet had suddenly increased dramatically.
"Oh?"
There were more shadows than before, and they were sharper, spreading over the ground around the man's feet.
"I just disabled Auto-Defense. In this state, I can control my shadows any way I want. Of course, it takes magic and concentration, so I can't keep it up for long."
As he said that, the man waved his hand.
With a swish,
a large stone that had been lying right beside him split cleanly in two.
"As you can see, don't assume my attack power, speed, and precision are still the same as before. Only one person has ever seen me in this form and survived. That man!!!!"
In that instant, Baldo the Severing Shadow let out a scream and charged.
"Genesis!!! You're finished, too!!!! You were just one move short!!!!"
At the same time, magic power poured out over the whole area.
What terrible fuel efficiency.
"Tch!"
――Thinking to myself that being more efficient would surely be better for the environment and all, I faced Baldo head-on.
◆
"Come on! You're slowing down! You were just one step short!"
Baldo said, closing in on me.
I was certainly being driven back.
Baldo's swordsmanship was even sharper, and his shadow, now moving more flexibly, came latching onto me like a snake.
"How's that?! My Dragon's Jaws?!"
Correction.
Apparently, it wasn't a snake, but a dragon.
But,
"――This is bad."
As I fended off Baldo's attacks, I felt like clicking my tongue in frustration.
Baldo's assessment had been pretty much right.
This Mob-Style Combat Method.
It was eco-friendly, and my magic was nearly impossible to detect. It had all sorts of advantages, but what it did was incredibly simple.
Magic-powered body reinforcement did nothing more than enhance physical abilities across the board.
That's why this method was ill-suited to opponents with overwhelming strengths like Baldo's shadow magic.
Right.
But that was only if I kept doing things this way.
"Should I use it?"
As I was forced onto the defensive, I looked for an opening to catch my breath and gather magic power.
Not the magic power I used to reinforce my body, but a different kind.
――Magic power for Extra-Domain Magic.
◆
"What kind of fight is this...?"
Iris murmured as she watched the overwhelming battle unfolding before her.
It was truly a fight worthy of legend.
Genesis, who handled magic-powered body reinforcement with incredible efficiency, and Baldo the Severing Shadow, who wielded shadows like his own limbs.
In a proper venue, at a proper tournament, this would probably be the sort of high-level contest people remembered throughout history.
Even Iris, who had some confidence in her own fighting ability, couldn't keep up with it.
(This is bad...!)
――But the situation was gradually changing.
Because Baldo the Severing Shadow was fighting in earnest.
Baldo's true strength, as he began using his own shadow to attack as well, was astonishing. Even the masked man, whose skill was so remarkable, was being driven back.
"Genesis...!!!"
Iris cried out.
Genesis, dodging Baldo's follow-up attack, leapt into the air.
――But,
(That's a bad move...!)
Just as she'd expected, Baldo's face twisted.
"You can't escape in midair! Too bad, Genesis!"
Baldo swung his arm like a conductor, and shadows with sword-sharp points rushed at the masked man, who couldn't move in midair.
If they hit, he wouldn't get off lightly.
It was over.
Predicting the carnage to come, Iris squeezed her eyes shut.
――But.
The shadows didn't hit him.
"Huh?"
An inexplicable sight unfolded before Iris's eyes.
With a casual "Hup," Genesis landed without a scratch.
"No... way..."
Iris couldn't believe it.
Genesis had changed direction in midair to dodge.
Impossible.
It was a phenomenon that couldn't be explained by physical enhancement alone.
How could he do that?
Silence.
The area fell completely silent.
No one could say a word.
Neither Iris nor Baldo.
"Well. It seems..."
There was only one person here who remained calm.
"――I wasn't one move short after all."
Genesis took his stance.
The next moment, the masked man's counterattack began.