Defense specialization and 'Thunder Storm' 3.

Two figures are cast into a dueling arena, standing apart, facing each other, waiting for the start.

"Phew, I'm ready anytime."

"Whoever's HP drops to zero loses. I'm coming at full force!"

"Of course. I won't hold back if it means victory."

"Here we go."

The countdown begins. Velvet braces her fists. Sally grips her dagger. At the signal, lightning erupts from Velvet.

"Thunder God's Return!"

"I'm watching your fight. Here I come!"

Lightning crackles across her body, but from past battles with stone statues, it is known that the lightning itself inflicts no damage. Though not to be taken lightly, it is concluded that this skill functions as a switch for controlling lightning. If no damage is taken, then the effects of the lightning clinging to her body pose no issue.

"Eye of the Storm!"

Velvet shouts, and lightning streaks across the ground in all directions, centered on her.

"【Ice Spike】! 【Right Hand: Thread】!"

"Nice work!"

Sally, having ascended via thread to the sky, confirms the lightning passes overhead and immediately acts.

"【Haze: Black Smoke】!"

Black smoke spreads around Sally, obscuring her form. In the next moment, five Sallys descend from within the smoke, each moving toward Velvet.

"【Stance Spark】!"

From Velvet, an effect similar to Maple’s 【Paralyze Shout】 erupts, and all five Sallys collapse to the ground.

"【Vibration Fist】!"

Velvet strikes the ground. A shockwave erupts, hitting each of the five fallen Sallys in sequence. One by one, they vanish. All are gone.

"【Point-Target Attack】!"

"Didn't expect resistance..."

Velvet's HP dips sharply as a blow strikes her from behind, at the nape of her neck. Sally darts away in an instant, before the lightning strike lands. The damage indicates Velvet's defense is low—her HP had already fallen nearly halfway.

"Got it! The way it vanished was different!"

"Sharp eyes."

"Didn't you miss it?"

"I know my own weaknesses. I can't take a stun."

"Sharp indeed!"

For attacks that cannot be avoided by reacting after seeing them, prediction is all that remains. Especially for area-wide stun and paralysis, Sally has always been planning her strategy.

A lethal skill must be drawn out and used against an opponent. Make it appear as though all five were struck—use Mirage to keep the true body at a distance, then after activation, close the gap instantly with Thread, Leap, and Hyperacceleration, and strike from behind.

"Knew it vaguely... but I can't win through tactics!"

"Then what?"

"I'll invite her into the storm!"

"Ah... I see!"

"Thunderfield! Lightning Rain!"

No need to overthink. Burn everything with a wide-area skill. If one hit lands, it ends all. Scatter lightning around so thoroughly that no ambush, no maneuvering remains. Drag the fight into a pure clash of force, devoid of subtlety.

Lightning fell without cease around Velvet, shifting in range with her movement. Velvet was, at that moment, nothing less than a storm made flesh.

"What now? Electromagnetic Leap!"

As Velvet leapt forward, closing the distance, the rain of lightning advanced with her.

"Yoru — Instant Shadow!"

Sally vanished in an instant, her form erased by Yoru’s skill. She slipped beyond Velvet’s sight, creating distance from the storm of lightning, then reappeared behind, retreating further to observe.

"Aurora!"

Velvet’s aura of lightning intensified, refusing to let Sally escape. As the skill activated, the ground around Sally flared in a circle, and pillars of thunder roared upward in a deafening chorus. The power was certain to reduce anything struck to ash. It vanished, as before, without resistance.

"Again!?"

Velvet scans the surroundings. Outside the range of the descending lightning, she sees Sally standing.

"幻... you can use that so skillfully, huh."

"I have a few skills that work well with it. Soon... let's go!"

"Serious about this?"

"Of course. The lightning rain... isn't forming pillars like before."

Sally crouches, then dashes forward in a single motion, plunging into the storm of lightning. Velvet tenses her fists, watching the illusion with caution—Sally would not charge in blindly.

"Phew...!"

"...!"

Before Velvet’s eyes, an impossible sight unfolds. Sally moves forward, avoiding every strike—pure reflex, pure instinct. Not a single bolt touches her. Through a downpour that should be impossible to navigate, she advances straight ahead, untouched.

Force meets force. This is brute strength overcoming what appears to have no counter. Make the impossible possible, and the opponent's strategy collapses.

"Me, m-madness! This is—!"

"If I can't do this... I can't stand beside you, so—!"

"【Violet Lightning】!"

The violet lightning unleashed from Velvet's outstretched arm strikes Sally head-on, narrowly avoiding the downpour that should have been impossible to dodge. The lightning, sudden and precise, seals every path—front, back, left, right—with a crackling barrier.

"Then...!"

With all directions blocked, Sally leaps to clear the violet lightning. Sally, who can create footing in midair, moves through space in three dimensions, seeking an opening.

"【Hyper Acceleration】【Leap】【Chain Lightning Strike】!"

Velvet accelerates abruptly, leaping upward as if waiting for it. No matter how great Sally’s aerial agility, it remains far inferior to that on the ground. Velvet strikes with a fist crackling with electricity, and as Sally’s body nears, a more violent surge of lightning courses through her.

“Liar… right?”

The fatal strike, delivered with no other option, fails thrice. Sally’s form flickers, dissolving into the air. Velvet feels a distinct presence behind her at once.

“【Discharge】!”

“【Hyper Acceleration】【Leap】!”

A torrent of lightning erupts from Velvet’s body, but Sally, behind her, instantly kicks off the air, accelerating through her skill and escaping the electric range.

“A skill that nullifies attacks… that’s right. I nullify 【Violet Lightning】, and the illusion is a decoy.”

How about that? But at last, I managed to force them to use the dangerous skill I’ve seen in past battles.

From the rate Velvet’s HP was dropping, it was certain that if Sally landed a single strike at that moment, the game would have ended. That was why Velvet had needed to use the skill that scattered lightning around—【Discharge】—even in that unfavorable stance, to push Sally back for sure.

Nice. Really fun!

Ha ha, I’m walking a tightrope here. But now, it’s quiet.

With the use of 【Discharge】, the rain of lightning ceased. The pale blue lightning emanating from Velvet also stopped. A skill that removes the electrified state, though it deals heavy damage. This time, there was no choice but to use it for protection.

Incredible! You really dodged it! Teach me the trick later, please!

Saying that, Velvet readies her fist again. Her expression holds no doubt. No sign of strain.

Still, there’s a final move, is there?

There is!

Hah, you’re truly unyielding.

Sally has no skill to call a final gambit. She walks only the path to victory, without pause.

There are many attacks that can only be avoided by reading the intent and missing them. Sally must determine what kind of final move Velvet speaks of. Never fall for the bait. She lives always beside death. Even the slightest strike can turn the tide, despite earlier advantage.

Velvet claims her lightning is spent. Yet, Sally decides, if she says so, there must be a trump card. Velvet does not play such petty tricks.

Sally waits, measuring distance, watching for the moment before Thunder God’s Return can be used again.

Do not move too soon... then, Hinata—Shadow Mist!

A skill that obscures vision, usable again immediately, Sally exploits it to unsettle once more.

One Sally emerges, breaking through the black smoke, straight toward Velvet.

The third time caught in Mirage, Velvet hesitates. The attack aimed at her is too direct. Hesitation creates openings. To use Mirage properly, she must strike from behind. And even if she continues forward, she can still evade the attack through sheer reflex. Sally does not falter. She does not miss.

Sally weighs advance against retreat, pressing damage toward Velvet.

…………

Still wary of Velvet, who showed no movement even as Sally closed to within a few steps, Velvet suddenly dropped her stance.

“【Thunderbeast】!”

Unlike 【Aurora】, electricity spilled from Velvet’s body, forming a brilliant white pillar that illuminated the surroundings.

Sally activated 【Mirage】, lowering her AGI with 【Ocean】 and 【Ancient Sea】, instantly creating distance. 【Karaage】—a damage-nullifying skill usable only as a final push—was now unusable for evading 【Hidden God】. It was too precious to waste.

Sally observed the unexpected event with calm detachment, maintaining distance. When the pillar of light faded, a massive tiger stood there, its fur faintly glowing, wrapped in electric energy.

“Muuu—won’t you hit me at all?”

I knew you were aiming for something… Actually, I’ve never seen anything like that outside of Maple.

How’s this? Now it’s my turn to strike!

Same size as Maple’s [Cruelty]. Overwhelming presence. The revived lightning. Rain of thunder could fall at any moment. Yet Sally was smiling.

Yeah, I can test it. You’ve got a good skill.

…?

I’ll be the one attacking.

At a moment when she should have hesitated, Sally accelerated sharply and charged toward the beast-form Velvet. The unexpected reaction lasted only an instant. It delayed Velvet’s first move.

[Water Cannon]!

Whoa!?

Just as she stepped forward, the water lifted the supporting leg. No matter the weight, no matter the size—the effect of being lifted threw her balance off. In that single moment when she couldn’t use her skill, Sally slipped beneath her body.

"Maple, Double Slash! Water Path, Ice Binding Field!"

She delivered damage with a skill that completed within the freeze frame, confirmed the HP increase, and moved to the next action. Sally instantly surrounded Velvet with water, then wrapped herself in cold air and froze it. The ice formed a restraint, buying a moment of time before Velvet could move freely.

"Kuu..."

"Those ice pillars... you don’t use skills, don’t you? It must be because of your form."

The five ice pillars Sally created were normally nothing more than walls. But Velvet, now of great size, could not pass through the gaps between the pillars arranged to enclose her properly.

"Ice pillars can’t be broken. That’s why you can’t escape. That’s how it’s made."

"I never thought I’d be sealed off so completely. Total defeat, I suppose."

"Ah, I see. I’ll take that honestly."

Once restrained, she could be attacked from outside with no resistance. As Velvet said, completely read and sealed, the duel ended immediately.

The duel concluded. Velvet and Sally remained within the dueling arena, moving into post-battle analysis. Velvet asked Sally repeated questions—why that move, how this outcome came to pass. She listened with clear fascination, interested in both the result and the process.

"Hmm… but strange. Even with such sharp reading, how could she avoid it so thoroughly? I’ve never seen a Thunderbeast before, have I?"

"...There’s a small secret behind today’s victory."

"Wait—what? What is it? What’s the secret?!"

A normal opponent wouldn’t have been so one-sided. Velvet is strong. I’m not that compatible with her.

Hmm, that’s true. It should be easier for me to land a hit than for Sally.

Yet the result is reversed. So Sally’s words must still have an important continuation.

Velvet… she’s kind of… similar.

Similar?

Yeah. Powerful area-of-effect attack. Vulnerable to status effects. Strength at close range. Long-range attacks. And beast form.

The answer lies in what Sally herself said during battle. Velvet has realized it too.

Velvet’s danger zone resembles Maple’s.

I see… because I watch her most closely, I’ve naturally developed the ability to sense danger.

Of course, that’s part of it. But… not quite. Don’t tell Maple, okay?

……? Understood.

Velvet answers. Sally pauses, then speaks.

I want to fight Maple someday. If I’m to defeat her, I’ll do it myself. If I’m to be defeated, I want it to be by Maple. I’ve thought more than anyone about how to win against her. And how to lose.

Not just because I watch her closely. Because I’ve simulated her defeat more than anyone else. That’s why the same movements apply to Velvet.

Hmm. My opponent’s a tough one. So we’re partners. And rivals.

Well, one-sided, really. I don’t know if Maple even wants to fight. But until that day comes, I won’t lose. And Maple will hold her ground.

……The more you can’t afford to lose, the sharper your movements become.

That’s right. But next time, it won’t go so smoothly.

I still have another move left. I was caught off guard this time. But fighting with Hinata… that’s when I become strongest.

One day, perhaps, Velvet and Hinata, Maple and Sally—two against two.

We’ll win. I can’t afford to lose.

I say the same to you. I learned much this time.

…Did I talk too much?

Perhaps. I’ve noticed, even to myself, that I’ve been acting too much like Maple. I’ve never spoken this way before.

I’m going back. Hinata’s waiting.

Yes.

Velvet made the same promise to Frederica as she did—another duel partner added to Sally’s side.

One day… I hope we can fight.

…Yeah. Maybe this time was the only one.

Maple and Hinata tilt their heads, watching the two who exit as if they had grown strangely close after the duel.