*GRABS*
Hana flies towards the Game Master and grabs his face. She moved so fast the Game Master couldn’t even react in time.
“WHY ARE WE THIS HIGH, GAME MASTER-SAN? LET’S PLAY ALONG DOWN ON THE FLOOR!!!”
“GHH!!”
*SNAP*
*?!*
But the Game Master vanished from Hana’s hand with a finger snap.
“HEEEEE?? I GENUINELY FORGOT YOU CAN DO THAT!!! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING NOW, GAME MASTER-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN???”
*BWOOOOSSSHH*
Hana flies fast and patrols the air. She moves randomly with no certain direction while looking left and right, searching for the Game Master.
Down on the floor, Kasumi is taking on Claire.
*BWOOSSHH*
*CLOP CLOP CLOP*
Kasumi jumps forward while Claire transforms her legs and runs forward. Kasumi swings her katana from the right, and Claire raises her left arm and grows elk antlers from it.
*CTANG*
Claire blocks Kasumi’s katana with her antlers. Kasumi retracts her katana and thrusts it forward towards Claire’s left shoulder.
*CTANG*
Claire catches her katana in between her branching antlers growing from her right hand. She pulls back Kasumi’s katana to her, and she spins herself in the air.
*BAM*
She does a roundhouse kick at Kasumi with her elk's left leg. But Kasumi blocks the kick by jumping a bit into the air and knee strikes Claire’s kick, effectively blocking it. They both retract their legs.
*CTANG*
Claire swings and pulls Kasumi’s katana out of her grip and throws it far away to the side. Kasumi’s grip on her katana was strong, but she allowed Claire to take her katana. They both charge forward at each other.
Claire discards the antlers on her arms, and now she grows antlers on both sides of her head. She thrusts her antlers forward at Kasumi.
*GRABS*
Kasumi swiftly grabs Claire’s left antlers with her right hand and stops them in place. She then lifts Claire’s forehead upwards.
“HRRRRGGHHH!!!”
*!*
*BAAAAAMMMM*
Kasumi leans back her head and swings it hard to headbutt Claire right at her forehead.
“UURRGGHH!!!”
The impact sends Claire stumbling behind, but Kasumi still holds her left antlers in her right hand. She lands on the floor and immediately pulls Claire towards herself.
“HRRAAAHH!!”
*BAAAMMM*
“URRGGGHH!!”
She knee strikes Claire on her stomach, but her stomach transformed on contact, lessening the damage and pain by a large margin.
“HRAAAAHHHH!!!”
She spins herself and Claire along with her multiple times, and then she throws her away, letting go of her hold on her antlers.
*THUMP THUMP*
“URGH!!”
*DAHK*
Claire bounces twice, 4 meters away on the floor, and she immediately transforms her legs and kicks the floor to recover. She lands safely on her two feet.
*!*
But as soon as she lands, she looks forward and sees that Kasumi had already resummoned her katana and thrown it at her. Her katana is flying straight through the air, with its tip pointing at the center of Claire’s chest.
*CTANG*
Claire hurriedly crosses her arms forward and grows her antlers out of them to block the katana. The katana was deflected by the antlers and flung higher towards the air.
*GRABS*
*!!!*
But then Kasumi jumps into the air and grabs her katana midair.
*ZRRRTTT*
She activates her purple lightning on her katana.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!!*
“(HERE SHE COMES WITH HER POWERFUL TECHNIQUES!!)” thinks Claire.
“ELECTROCUTED WATERFALL!!”
Kasumi drops fast towards Claire and swings her katana vertically at her.
*GRAAAAHHHKKK*
“URRGGGHHH!!!”
She moved her crossed arms upwards to block the attack with her antlers, but her antlers were cut and broken into pieces with one slash. The sturdiness of her antlers pushes her back a little bit during the impact, making her untouched by the blade. Though she still groaned from the pain of receiving such a heavy downward impact from Kasumi.
“Told you, I’ll break your antlers!”
Kasumi quickly retracts her katana and puts it into her waist. She enters her Iai stance even with only one hand.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!!*
“(That is her special technique!)”
Claire immediately crouches on the floor, folding her transformed elk legs to prepare herself to dodge Kasumi’s attack.
*BWOOOOSSSHHH*
Kasumi disappeared from her vision, leaving a small shockwave of air behind.
*BWOOSSSHHH*
And Claire immediately jumps 5 meters into the air, creating a small shockwave on the floor.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“IAI SLASH!!”
Kasumi appears behind, where Claire crouched, seconds before she jumped.
*ZRARRAAASSSSHHH*
“URGGHH!!”
Claire was lightly slashed on her two legs. Kasumi was moving faster than her reaction speed allowed.
*!*
Claire immediately looks down to check on Kasumi, and she sees her pointing her katana at her. Her katana has purple lightning sparks on its blade.
“Elegant Bolt!”
*ZAP ZRRRRRRRRRR*
Kasumi shoots out a purple lightning bolt at Claire in the air.
“TCH!!”
Claire turns around in the air and puts her right hand downward, where she grows her antlers out of it.
*ZRRRRRRTTTTTT*
The lightning bolt hits the antlers, and instead of raging wildly, it flows and sparks stably in between the tips of her branching antlers, constantly.
*!*
Kasumi sees that Claire has successfully contained her lightning bolt using her antlers.
*THUMP*
Claire lands on the floor seven meters away from Kasumi. She immediately stands up and turns around.
*BWOOOOSSHH*
Claire immediately dashes forward with her transformed legs.
*CLOP CLOP CLOP*
She prepares her right hand where her antlers are stably containing Kasumi’s purple lightning. She raises her arm up in a position to do a lariat.
“Unfortunately for you, Faith power won’t work against their own user.”
“Then please take this attack without defending yourself!”
“Unfortunately for you again, I wasn’t asking for your advice!”
Kasumi enters her Iai stance once again.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!!*
“(Screw it! I’ll contest your speed now!!)”
*BWOOOSSSHHH*
Kasumi disappeared from her spot and left a small shockwave behind. She suddenly appeared right in front of Claire. She has her katana raised above her head.
*!!!*
“(It’s not her Iai technique?! She tricked me with her stance!)”
“POWER CLEAVE!!”
“BORROWED LIGHTNING LARIAT!!!”
Kasumi swings down her katana, and Claire thrusts her entire forearm with her electrically charged antlers.
*GRAAAHKKKKK*
*ZRAAAARRRRR*
Kasumi breaks apart Claire’s antlers, and the purple lightning dissipates. She immediately moves her katana to the side.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!*
“SWEEPING EDGE!!”
Kasumi spins her katana 360 degrees horizontally at Claire’s side. Claire immediately jumps back as hard as possible to dodge.
*ZRRAAASSSSSHHH*
“URGH!!”
Her sides transformed on contact, and the cut was shallow because of her thick white elk fur and her jump. She lands 30 cm behind.
*BWUSSHH*
*!*
Kasumi throws her katana, and it spins vertically through the air. Claire raises her left arm and grows her antlers out of it.
*CTANG*
She bashes her katana away, and it flung far away to the left. But then she sees Kasumi is in a position to throw another katana despite only having one katana.
“(What is she doing??)”
*!*
Claire saw Kasumi resummon her katana back into her hands. She throws her katana yet again, and it spins vertically this time. Claire prepares her right arm this time and grows her antlers there.
*CTANG*
She easily deflects Kasumi’s katana away to the right.
*!*
“(Where is she?)”
Claire looks to her left and right in a hurry once she notices Kasumi is not in front of her.
*BWUUUSSHH*
*!!*
Claire looks behind and sees Kasumi already throwing her resummoned katana at her. It spins diagonally this time.
*CTANG*
Claire once again easily deflects her katana with her antlers.
“(Hold on a second! What is going on here?? After relentlessly attacking me, she’s attacking me like this? What is she after? These throwing attacks are mad easy to deal with. What even is her game?)”
*!*
Kasumi appears diagonally behind her to the right this time. She also throws her katana once again.
*CTANG*
“. . .”
“(Is there a reason for doing this? Is she. . . getting tired?)”
Kasumi throws her katana again, from Claire’s left this time.
*CTANG*
“(So that’s it!! She’s been fighting nonstop inside this infinite maze!! She must have been pretty exhausted after all this time!!)”
*CTANG*
As Claire was thinking to herself, Kasumi kept repeating this same attack over and over again, albeit from different directions every time.
*CTANG*
“(She may be strong, but she’s not invincible! Her fight against that red-haired woman must’ve absolutely drained her! Huge chance!)”
*CTANG*
*!*
Kasumi appears directly in front of Claire, and she resummons her katana and throws it right at the center of her forehead at point-blank range.
*CTANG*
Once again, Claire easily deflects her katana. She grows antlers on the side of her head this time and headbutts her katana away.
*DAHK*
*!!*
Kasumi immediately ducks down after throwing her katana. She spins herself on the floor in a full circle, sweeping her legs all the way around, and kicks both of Claire’s feet. Claire stumbled into the air a bit by the sheer force of her kick. Kasumi continues to spin herself to get up and stands up. She prepares her right hand and clenches it into a fist.
“HRAAAAAHHHH!!!”
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
“OHHHOOORRGGGHHH!!!!”
Kasumi punches Claire right in her belly, and her momentum is massively increased from her spin. Her belly transformed on contact, lessening the damage and pain.
*BWOOOSSSHH*
But she was still sent flying violently 20 meters away from her.
*SSSSSRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTT*
Claire untransforms all of her antlers from her head and hands to transform her leg, so that she doesn’t reach the transformation limit. She stomps the floor with her hooves to slow herself down from the momentum she was given.
*THUD*
Her butt falls to the floor as soon as she stops. She stopped herself before she supposedly was 20 meters away from Kasumi. She stands up, and is 14 meters away from her.
*pant pant pant*
“(I thought she was getting tired! Was that whole sets of throwing attacks a ruse to lead me to jump to conclusions?)”
*!!!*
*THUD*
But then she actually sees that Kasumi falls to her knees on the floor.
*pant pant pant*
She also sees that her breathing has become heavy.
“(Wait no! She IS tired! That last punch was her final attempt to finish me off, but she failed! THIS IS MY CHANCE!!)”
Claire crouches on all fours, and she transforms all of her limbs into the elk’s legs. She grows her antlers on both sides of her head again.
*BWOOSSHHH*
*CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP*
She starts galloping with her full power to close the gap towards Kasumi as fast as possible; she even leaves a shockwave behind.
Kasumi sees her coming towards her quickly. She summons her katana and uses it to help her stand up as if it’s a cane.
*CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP*
Claire has reached Kasumi within 4 seconds. Kasumi lifts her katana above her head.
“Kasumi style!”
“THAT AGAIN, HUH?”
*BWOOSSHHH*
Claire suddenly boosts herself forward and thrusts her antlers at Kasumi’s chest.
*BWOOOSSSHHH*
*?*
But Kasumi did not unleash her technique. Instead, she jumps high into the air, 3 meters off the floor. Claire’s ramming attack completely misses.
*FLAP*
*!!!*
All of a sudden, Hana flies down from high above in the air towards Claire.
“I CAN’T FIND THAT PATHETIC MAN ANYWHERE, SO YOU’LL MAKE A GREAT SUBSTITUTE!!”
Hana clenches her fist, and her red aura intensifies around it.
“CLENCH YOUR TEETH, BIG BREAST WOMAN!!”
Hana reaches Claire on the floor within a second.
*ZRRTT ZRRTT ZRAAARRR*
But at the same time, purple lightning sparks violently on Kasumi’s katana, and she also falls down rapidly towards Claire. She had already planned for this since the beginning.
“ELECTROCUTED WATERFALL!!”
“TAKE A NAP!!!”
*ZRAAAAASSSSHH*
*BAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Claire stood up in reflex to face Hana, but she didn’t anticipate Kasumi’s descent. She was punched in the right side of her head, as well as slashed diagonally across her torso, between her breasts. Her head crashed towards the floor. Her white masquerade mask also falls off her face on impact.
. . . .
Her head transformed on contact and lessened the damage. She did not lose consciousness as a result. But her entire body became numb because of Kasumi’s purple lightning.
*Thud thud*
Both Hana and Kasumi land near where Claire is lying.
“ARE YOU OKAY, KASUMI-SAN??!”
*?!*
Hana suddenly approaches Kasumi and grabs both of her shoulders to check on her well-being.
“I-I’m fine, Hana-san! Thank you for worrying about me!”
“EH? YOU CAN’T BE FINE!! I SAW YOU BREATHING HEAVILY AND FALLING TO YOUR KNEES!!”
“Umm. . . Uuhh. . . That was actually a strategy! I was faking my own exhaustion to bait her into thinking that she had the upper hand, so that I could instantly end the fight when she’s being careless. . .”
“K-K-Kasumi-san, I never thought that you’re the type of person to pull this type of deception during combat.”
“Well, I was feeling a bit frustrated because of how long I’ve been inside this maze. . . And also. . . I kinda. . . miss master quroe. . .”
As Kasumi nears the end of her sentence, her voice gets quieter and quieter.
“EEEHHH? SO, YOU REALLY DO HAVE A CRUSH ON THAT SCARY LOOKING RED-HAIRED GUY!!”
“P-PLEASE DON’T CALL MASTER QUROE SCARY!!”
“Eheheheheh!! Alright, sorry, sorry!”
“. . .By the way, Hana-san.”
“Hm?”
Kasumi points to the pair of pitch black wings behind Hana’s back.
“Is that. . .alright? Are you fully in control?”
“Yes, of course! But I can only pull this off for a while before her influence comes out and affects me yet again.”
*!!!*
Kasumi felt a little bit scared hearing Hana’s explanation.
“Please don’t put yourselves in that position ever again, Hana-san!”
“. . .Yeah. I understand. I’m sorry that I hurt you a lot in that fight. It’s all my fault.”
Kasumi smiles after hearing Hana’s honest apology.
“Nah, you got it wrong! Every fault and blame falls to the person who puts all of us inside this stupid game in the first place, after all.”
Hana feels a bit lighter on her chest hearing Kasumi.
“You’re right. . .”
Meanwhile, Claire, who’s still lying on the floor, closed her eyes this whole time, pretending not to be awake.
“(They really think that they already won, having such a casual conversation near my body without even checking whether I was awake or not. Nacht-kun, I am going to use it! I’ll make them pay! Or at least, tire them out so that you can finish them off later!)”
*!!!!*
As Kasumi and Hana talked to each other, Claire’s whole body was suddenly engulfed by a white sphere.
“SHE’S AWAKE THIS WHOLE TIME?!”
“Oh no! We never checked on her, Hana-san!!”
A white light shoots out from the top of the sphere towards the ceiling, high above. It even went past the height of the ceiling. The white sphere slowly crumbles, and Claire comes out, already standing up. Claire has entered Second State.
