Defense specialization and two blades.
Several days later, Kasumi arrived at the room where the floating blade hovered, as if she belonged there.
It was no surprise. She had already attempted this challenge more than fifty times.
……Alright, here we go.
Kasumi descended the stairs and entered the room. As always, the blade greeted her.
……
Kasumi quietly drew her blade and met the incoming strike, recalling the next motion as she cut through the air.
The sound of metal rang through the dim room.
A health bar floated above the hovering blade. Kasumi kept her eyes on it as she moved her sword.
[Leap]!
At the moment the blade’s health bar dropped slightly, Kasumi leapt forward.
Immediately after, the spot where she had stood was pierced through by multiple blades.
The blade acted in a set way each time its health reached a certain threshold.
Such actions became easily avoidable with repetition.
“[First Strike: Mirage]!”
Closing the distance once more, she stepped back a single pace to the right.
She knew the blade would emerge from the ground.
Moving step by step in a circle around the blade, she kept it in her sight.
A second after her movement, the blade shot up from the ground.
Stopping meant death. The blade that grew from the ground would not vanish unless its conditions were met. Moving recklessly would cost her the advantage.
It had taken her considerable time to refine this method of movement.
Just as she completed one full circuit, the blade’s HP bar dropped to a set threshold. The action advanced to the next phase.
The blade vanishing from the ground was replaced by purple flames descending from the ceiling.
If struck, AGI would drop to zero for ten seconds.
The crucial blade has shifted to high-speed flight. It is clear that evading it properly becomes impossible if AGI decreases.
Kasumi found the rain of fire here the most confounding.
She could not evade the flames until she reached the next stage.
Thus, Kasumi reconsidered the skills available to her now, and thought on whether any means of breakthrough existed.
[Final Blade: Hazy Moon]
Thus, they acted before being acted upon.
Twelve strikes in rapid succession, each one driving the blade to the brink of shattering.
The blade's HP bar dwindles at a terrifying pace. Still, Kasumi's expression holds no joy.
The twelve strikes bypassed two stages of the blade’s motion, advancing directly to the final stage.
The blade's HP bar lingers by just a millimeter—this is inevitable.
No matter how much HP is reduced beforehand, only a small amount remains.
Kasumi’s hidden technique, Oborozuki, halves Kasumi’s status for a set duration, rendering the remaining skills bearing the title 【Tachi】 unusable.
This is the final phase.
In truth, Kasumi has attempted this passage dozens of times without success.
…………
The blade teleports to the farthest point of the room. Its blade glows more intensely, more strangely than before.
Flames ripple around Kasumi, rising to the ceiling. When they vanish, a single path remains—flames forming a wall from the floor to the blade.
Ten meters. Three meters wide.
Kasumi must sprint through this path and deliver the final strike to the blade.
Fh!
A sharp exhale. Feet slow. Running toward the blade.
Countless blades fly from ahead. Flames erupt periodically from both side walls.
If she stops, a blade grows up from beneath.
Ten meters. Close, yet impossibly far.
“Hah!”
She meets the oncoming blade with her own, deflecting it slightly, pressing forward.
Flames erupt from the side walls—AGI must be avoided at all costs. The blades rising from the ground cannot be endured. But the flying blades—those she can manage.
Only if she remains unharmed thus far, could she endure three.
Kasumi advances steadily, reaching halfway. Her body feels the rhythm.
“【Hyper Acceleration】!”
She activates the reserved 【Hyper Acceleration】, cutting through the zone of intensified attacks.
Yesterday, Kasumi had paused her advance. She had asked Sally and Shin to train her in evading the flying blades.
That training showed now. The trajectory of each blade appeared clearer than before.
Still, as the distance closed, some blades moved too fast to react to.
“N-no…”
The impact struck—blade piercing left shoulder, right abdomen, left thigh.
A painful red effect burst like fresh blood, swirling in the air.
Yet Kasumi did not stop. She was a true demon.
Her outstretched right hand touched the blade’s edge floating in midair.
At the same moment, the blade lost its glow and settled quietly onto the ground, enveloped by a sheath wrapped with a talisman that emerged as if rising from the floor.
Flames vanished. The blades embedded in flesh disappeared. The dim room returned.
…………
Kasumi reached for the fallen blade and lifted it.
Fufu… hahaha! Did it! Did it! Finally did it!
She could not contain her joy, examining the item like a piece of gear.
『Demon Sword of Devouring Flesh – Purple (Yukari)』
[STR +30]
[Demon Sword]
[Self-Repair]
[Demon Sword]
Five skills, each trading a different cost—HP reduction, MP reduction, temporary stat reduction, permanent stat reduction, and physical limitation.
【Self-Repair】
While sheathed, durability recovers.
"Shall we test it? Let's find a suitable monster to try on."
Kasumi immediately equipped the blade and stepped out of the room, heading toward a monster with high endurance.
She walked for a time, then found a suitable target.
"Good, good. That one had high stamina, yes."
As Kasumi drew the blade from its sheath, purple smoke rose.
"O—? Hmm?"
The smoke vanished instantly, swept away by the wind. Yet Kasumi noticed a clear change.
Her clothing.
Her lower body wore thick purple hakama. Her upper body had thin purple bandages wrapped around her chest and both arms. Nothing else covered her.
Purple smoke streamed from the exposed arm and the blade, flowing backward.
«…………»
Kasumi sheathed the blade with quiet precision.
The purple smoke was drawn into the blade, and her attire returned to its original state.
— Can you grow used to it? No, but...
There is no reason not to use the finest gear, now that it has been obtained.
Kasumi cleared her throat, her cheeks faintly tinged, and drew her blade anew.
Kasumi chose to test the skill that came with a bodily limitation whose cost was unclear.
"【Violet Mirage Blade】!"
Kasumi’s body accelerates, aided by the skill, moving straight toward the monster.
She slashes with the sword in her right hand.
As the skill progressed, the sword in her right hand vanished, and a sword appeared in her left.
Grasping it, she slashed with her left hand. Releasing the blade, she slashed again with the blade newly manifested in her right hand.
Ten strikes, alternating from right to left, pushing the enemy back, lunging forward with each blow.
At the final strike, Kasumi released the blade she held and brought her hands together sharply in front of her chest.
Ten blades, hurled into the air.
They floated around the monster, piercing it simultaneously.
Twenty strikes in total. No monster, even one with slightly greater stamina, could survive such a barrage.
When the skill ended, the blade returned to Kasumi’s right hand.
“Nice… nice.”
Kasumi thought, idle thoughts of perfection if only she didn’t care about her attire—then she was once again enveloped by violet smoke.
“U… wait—gone? Wait—dropped the blade…?”
Kasumi reached for the fallen blade, then noticed her hand was impossibly small.
“U… huh?”
Her hakama remained firmly in place, held by the system, but hung loose. Her sleeves and chest were slack, exposed.
Her height could not exceed one hundred and twenty centimeters.
“What… oh, wait?”
She could not properly hold the blade even with one hand.
Even with both hands, swinging it would be a struggle.
“This….”
Another monster approaches Kasumi, who is still assessing the situation.
Monsters offer no consideration.
“Oh…! Wait! Look at this—she’s cute! Probably! Let her go! U…ggh”
Her plea reaches no one. Kasumi is sent back to the town.
When she returns, her sash and exposed chest are tightened again, though her body remains small.
Kasumi checks her status.
“Stay like this for ten minutes…”
Defeated, Kasumi walks slowly, dragging her hem toward a nearby step. She closes her eyes there, shutting out the gaze of those around her.