Shatei Kyokufuri Yumi-Ojisan - CH 227

Data.217 – Old Bowman, Pure Battle

Did VRHAR and I have a score to settle…? I suppose we did, but it wasn’t a big deal.

I had been attacked once, but was able to run away, so nothing was lost.

If anything, I had learned more about their leader, Nord, from that fight than any fight during the tournament.

Yes, even after seeing all of their battles, there was still a lot about VRHAR that was mysterious…!

And so the fight on the Ghost Float had benefited me.

I was able to actually experience the power of this player called Nord.

That being said, it was not enough to come up with strategies on how to deal with him and his party.

Currently, what I knew about them was what weapons they used, but I wasn’t sure what kinds of things they were capable of with those weapons.

I had little contact with them, and so little information.

But they were still high-ranking players.

And yet we had to win…!

In a way, this situation might be the best way to purely enjoy a fight.

Taking on a boss after doing your homework was fun in its own way, but the feeling of excitement towards the unknown… To borrow Anne’s words, there was a bigger sense of romanticism.

Furthermore, not knowing them well meant there were no distractions.

In the first battle, Satomi had to fight his older brother.

And so in order to oppose his older brother, who tried to force his more efficient playstyle onto him, Satomi had gone in the other direction.

The gulf between them was deep, and I could feel that Satomi didn’t want to lose.

Thankfully, they had made up after the fight.

As for the second battle against the team of old men, there had been a lot for me to think about after the fight.

Had I not quit my old job, I might not have started playing VR games even by the time I was their age.

I wouldn’t have met any of the people I was playing with now, so my life would have been different.

And would I have been as receptive as they were, when coming into contact with this new culture…? I couldn’t help but wonder.

So they were a vision of what may have been my future.

Well, even if it would be like that, I think I would find some other way to enjoy my life. But since I was enjoying myself now, I couldn’t help but feel a little emotional when I thought of a different future.

It reminded me that ‘if’ was a dangerous theme if you thought about it too much.

With the third battle, it was a battle of people that were related to me.

When it came to Hatake and Buckler, I even knew their personality and strengths, so I had to be thinking constantly while fighting them.

And then the semi-final battle was against Macoco, who had a strong connection with Necoco.

Even though Necoco had put everything else out of her mind, I’m sure she also had a lot going through her head up until that point.

It was obvious now that I looked back.

Compared to the other battles, there would be a lot less to think about while fighting VRHAR.

We just needed to fight…and defeat them!

And after we beat them, there would be no sense of guilt, like there may have been with the others.

Though, it would be the same for them. They would not hesitate to defeat us.

In a way, there was a kind of trust there.

If anything, they seemed to think that it was obvious that they would win and everyone else would lose.

That was how capable they were.

But we would not be defeated.

Had we lost to Hatake, Buckler, or Macoco’s parties, we would have been sad, yes. But I think we would also be happy for their success.

But if we lost to VRHAR…I would be a lot more upset!

At this point, we didn’t need words of encouragement like, ‘You lost but did well,’ and ‘the enemy was just too strong.’

The only thing ahead of us was victory…!

“I don’t think there is anything for us to say to each other before the fight. We have no information, so it’s not like we can plan ahead.”

Necoco, Satomi, and Annemarie nodded at my words.

“We’ll just have to use brute force then. Look at every moment, think, and do what your instincts and body tell you to do. Well, I guess that sounds haphazard, but it’s fine.”

They all nodded quietly.

There was no need for long speeches here.

I had talked during the early parts of the tournament as a way of easing the tension, but by now, everyone knew what we were facing.

“I want to win! Let’s win!”

“Exactly!”

“Of course!”

“Let’s get them!”

What was going to start now…was a pure battle!

‘And now for the final battle of the tournament! VRHAR vs Ghost Guild! And the chosen field is… Serpent Palace Kai!’

Serpent Palace…Kai?

The Serpent Palace had been used during the Zodiac trials event. It was where the final boss fight took place.

A floating field surrounded by white, Greek pillars. There was also a forest, lakes and even small hills on it.

Right now, the Serpent Palace that showed up on the monitors also looked like it was recreating the natural scenery with lots of variation in the terrain.

On top of that, the field itself was larger, and instead of a starry sky, a shining sun and blue sky hung above it.

Last time, it was 4 players vs Charin, but since it would be 4 vs 4 this time, they had to make the map bigger.

Well, after that quick analysis…what should we do?

As we were somewhat familiar with the map, it would be easier to move around in.

But it was the same for VRHAR as well.

And they had defeated Charin before us.

At this point, it was fifty-fifty…

There really was no point in thinking too deeply about it.

After all, we would not be able to predict how the battle would play out from here…!

‘Both parties to the battlefield!’

And so the Ghost Guild warped to the final battlefield, Serpent Palace Kai!

◆　◆　◆

The warp ended, and I could see again.

Now, our location was…

“…Tsk! This is bad. We’re in the center!”

The center of the Serpent Palace was a platform that could be seen from any location on the map.

Not only that, but we were all clustered together this time!

It was like we were asking the enemy to target all of us at once!

We needed to hurry and escape to the forest…!

“Gar! Gar!”

Garbow let out a hostile cry.

As he had now scattered out the Gazer Fish scouts, the volume of the cry was telling me how close the enemy was!

They were already…within eyesight!

Four players were holding their weapons as they shot towards us and unleashed their charge attacks!

Should we counter or run?

Everything was happening so suddenly that I hesitated for a moment.

Even though I knew that it could be my downfall, I couldn’t help it.

After a short delay, my answer was ‘counter.’

However, even if we could cancel the charge attacks, the blast would still ensure that we were at a disadvantage…!

Still, I aimed with my bow!

But just then, all of the enemy charge attacks turned upwards as if being pulled. And then they passed right over our heads.

I didn’t know what had happened as I looked up.

What I saw was…

“E-earth…!?”

There was a sphere that looked like a miniature earth. It was floating above the Serpent Palace!

It wasn’t that far from the ground. In fact, you could feel the gravitational pull coming from it.

And so any flying skills or charge attacks would be affected by it.

So that earth’s pull had changed the trajectory of VRHAR’s attacks!

But who put that there…

Could it be a new stage gimmick added to ‘Kai’?

“What do you think? It’s my Miracle Effect, Mother Earth!”

“Anne…! Since when did you have that?”

“Hehe. Actually, I got it near the end of the event when I soloed Charin after she was nerfed! But I didn’t know how I was going to use it, so I ended up saving it until now!”

While she was weaker, she beat Charin by herself…

Anne really was more capable than she appeared.

Perhaps she had the most potential out of us all.

And it was a good thing too, as she saved us…!

“Counter!”

VRHAR seemed to be cautious of the sudden earth that had appeared. And so they only unleashed weak attacks as if to test the effect.

And those attacks were also affected by the gravitational pull!

This was our chance to attack the enemy!

“Inferno Arrow Tempest!”

The storm of arrows I unleashed…did not go where I had intended!

They were affected by the pull from below and from above, and the arrows were too light to resist…!

Of course, I knew they would go off course a little.

But I thought that since I had unleashed so many, at least half of them would go towards the enemy.

However, the majority went off in the wrong direction, and the others were slowed down so much that the enemy was able to dodge them with ease.

This environment…was worse than I thought!

Still, I was able to read the flow of the wind a little now, and so I could keep that in mind when shooting.

However, reading the gravitational pull was difficult.

It was going to take a lot of time to get used to it…!

In any case, I had to shoot and shoot and shoot until I could do it without thinking.

I had to hurry, or the enemy would try and get closer to us.

No…they already are!

“Tsk…! My arrows keep floating! They…huh? I’m floating too!?”

My feet had left the ground and I was being pulled upwards!

It wasn’t just me, but everyone in my party as well!

It was like we were cows being abducted by a UFO… It was going to be cattle mutilation…!

The pull of the earth had become stronger!

VRHAR were shocked once again, but they started to attack us with ranged skills.

They may have been the most powerful guild, but it didn’t mean they always knew how to handle a skill they had never seen before.

But the bullets did not hit us. And we could not hit them.

We just had to wait until we landed on the small earth.

And just like that, the battle moved up to the next stage!