"...She's a stunning, pale-skinned, black-haired Japanese beauty!!!" I said, looking at Glass with an awestruck gaze.
A... deathly silence fell.
It felt like even the monsters crawling out of the rift had frozen in place, jaws dropped, staring at the whole scene.
"He's... joking, right?" I didn't even catch who said that.
"I'm afraid... he's absolutely not joking right now." That one was Naofumi.
As for Glass herself... the fierce, intimidating warrior who had come here for a deadly battle with the utmost seriousness... instantly turned into a completely flustered girl. That's exactly what happened — no exaggeration.
She stood there, lips slightly parted, blinking helplessly as she looked at my face, full of admiration. And I wasn't even faking it! Honestly, this might've been the first time in my entire life in this world that I was completely, genuinely sincere!
Damn it, I nearly fell in love at first sight!
I had called Night perfect, and I stand by that. But Night and Glass were two totally different types, so comparing them just didn't make sense. And honestly? I wouldn't even be able to say which of them I found more beautiful.
And that says a lot!
"This... I..." Glass was slowly starting to come back to her senses. "W-what a dirty trick! Trying to distract me with words like that!"
"A trick? Absolutely not! I was completely serious." To sell it even harder, I gave a solemn nod — with the most serious expression I could muster.
"Kh." Glass took a step back. "I... w-won't let words like that throw me off. Defend yourself!"
Well, that's it. Having apparently hit peak awkwardness, Glass decided to go on the attack.
"Circle Dance Zero Formation: Reverse Snow Moon Flower!" she called out — a little rushed — as she took a stance and swept her fans, one arm tracing a wide arc.
Fans didn't exactly look like threatening weapons, but in this world, even sewing tools could be lethal. And Glass had just proven that unpleasant fact once again.
A black arc flew from her fan, heading toward us at high speed. I switched to the Scythe of the Reaper and swung it downward — a clean vertical slash that sliced the crescent in half.
Only... the attack had a lot more power behind it than it seemed. Even after the arc was cut and flew past me, the blast of wind it left behind tossed my hair and clothes around.
Behind me came a bunch of voices — groans from the Heroes and the screams of their teammates.
In the end, the only ones left standing were me and Naofumi, who had blocked the attack with his Shield and protected his party.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Night had finished off the Soul Devourer and was now quietly standing off to the side, not getting involved. Smart girl. I didn't need any more surprises.
Even though Night was stronger than Filo, who was also level 40, she still couldn't stand up to Glass. After all, Glass was the Hero of the Vassal Fans — the equivalent of a Star-class Weapon in this world.
But back to my opponent...
First, she was clearly stunned by how easily I'd deflected her attack. But then, when she looked more closely at me...
"A scythe...?"
"Hm?"
It took me a moment to catch on. We both stood there frozen for a few seconds, but the realization slowly crept in for both of us...
"So there can be similar weapons in other worlds..."
"Could it be, my lady, that you've developed mutual feelings for me? Your attention is like the warm rays of a gentle sun." Realizing what exactly had made Glass pause, I tried to steer the mood in another direction.
Honestly, I was curious myself — could there be duplicates of Legendary Weapons? I'd been ignoring that little detail for a while, but if you think about it... my weapon wasn't Sacred, or Clan-based, or Star-class. So, in theory, it wasn't the same one as whoever she was thinking of.
It was lucky she didn't notice the number of Heroes was off. I'm sure she just didn't count one of the four as a real Hero and came up with some logical explanation herself.
"What?" Glass snapped out of it, like waking from a dream. "No, that doesn't matter right now." She shook her head. "You really are strong — even if you act like a fool."
"Oh... But I already said I was being completel—"
"E-enough! Our battle is only beginning!"
Before I could finish, Glass lunged forward again — this time charging me head-on.
"Erst Shield!" Naofumi put up a shield right in front of me to block her. Not that she even noticed it. "Change Shield!" Then, right before it broke, the shield morphed — and Glass took a counterattack to the face in the form of snake bites.
Interesting. Totally useless, but still.
"Ha. Weak attacks like that won't work on me. They're just disappointing." She brushed the snakes away like they were mosquitoes. "Is that really all one of the Heroes can manage?"
"Gh." Naofumi grimaced but didn't say anything.
Not meeting any real resistance, Glass finally reached me — and attacked.
She crouched low and tried to jab me in the stomach with the tip of her folded fan, but I just twisted my torso and dodged.
"You're even more breathtaking up close, my lady," I said, giving a theatrical bow. "That flowing black hair, dancing in the wind like a pure night sky... and your eyes, like dark ruby gems..."
"H-how much longer are you going to keep that up?! I came to your world to fight for the fate of the realms, not to hear compliments!"
"Nott... are you trying to defeat her psychologically?" Naofumi asked, genuinely confused.
"Psychological warfare is still warfare," I replied, raising my index finger as if delivering great wisdom.
"…"
Glass kept attacking. She was pouring a huge amount of mana into her fans, wielding them with master-level finesse. She even managed to land a few cuts on me — nothing serious though, and mostly my fault for being careless.
But Glass was strong. She didn't even register the other three Heroes. And Naofumi, the Shield Guy, could barely fulfill his role as a tank — none of his defensive skills slowed her down even a little.
By my estimate, she was about 30–35% weaker than me. If I'm right, the situation with Heroes in her world was even worse than ours. They refused to cooperate with each other, which meant they didn't share any power-up methods — not among themselves, and definitely not with the Vassal Heroes.
Still, her skill more than made up for it.
"My apologies, my lady — I was wrong," I said, suddenly jumping back to dodge another one of Glass's attacks, putting on an apologetic look.
"Huh?" Glass froze, staring at me warily.
"I called you a beauty before, but that wasn't entirely accurate." Her face got even more guarded. "You are a Magnificent Warrior! Even your combat skills leave me trembling in awe!"
"Mmm..." Groaning in frustration, Glass rolled her eyes, squeezed them shut, took a deep breath... and then — "You... you're just messing with me, aren't you?"
"Perish the thought!"
"...Then I have no choice but to show you everything I've got! Circle Dance of Nothingness: Moon Break!"
Glass swept her Fans, and the soft glowing ripples that had been lingering in the air — building up from her previous attacks — suddenly flared and transformed into dozens of blood-red crescents that shot toward me in a chaotic pattern. It was a multi-directional attack, and dodging it wasn't going to be easy...
And then a thought hit me — like a lightning bolt straight to the head.
Glass... was using a technique. Something different from standard system skills or Weapon abilities. More like a fusion of personal skill and the unique properties of her weapon. That was the impression I'd gotten from watching her fight — and from the fragments I remembered about her from the original story.
I'd trained a lot myself, building the early stages of my own fighting style — but I'd never reached something like that. Then again, my Scythe Mastery wasn't maxed out either... But now that I was thinking about it...
[Skill level up: Scythe Mastery (Lv. 10 – MAX)]
Yeah... now I think I understand...
By now, the crescents were almost on top of me. In a split second, I closed my eyes, focused, crouched low, drew my Scythe back behind me and...
"Reaper Stance: Full Moon."
It felt like teleportation — that's how fast the dash forward was, ending in a sweep of the blade that shone with lunar light. All the incoming crescents simply vanished, unable to withstand the strike powered by a mix of all the energies I had access to.
"W-what?" Glass stared at the tips of her own hair, gently drifting to the ground.
The attack exceeded all my expectations. I barely managed to control the power and direction of the slash — and even then, the area immediately around me wasn't the full extent of the strike. The flash of light didn't just slice through everything nearby, it also sent out a thin, almost invisible ripple of energy farther outward. That's how a small lock of Glass's hair — the part she'd unknowingly exposed — got cleanly cut off from her left side.
"I can never be forgiven for such savage vandalism!" I said, watching the falling strand of hair with the most tragic expression I could muster.
"Kh!.." Glass flinched — whether from shock, embarrassment, or helpless frustration… or maybe all of the above, who knows.
[Reaper Stance – the pinnacle of mastery over the Demonic Scythe, a unified set of highly focused offensive techniques. Characterized by the Sharpness of the Scythe's blade.]
[Serenity Stance – the pinnacle of mastery over the Demonic Scythe, a unified set of defensive techniques. Characterized by the Unshakable Nature of the weapon.]
"This isn't over yet!" Glass spread her arms wide, then brought them together sharply as she activated another skill. "Circle Dance Attack Formation: Flower Wind!"
Several large energy blades came flying at me, layered over one another. They were much stronger than the smaller blades she'd used earlier, but...
Still not enough.
"Serenity Stance: Eclipse."
The shaft of my scythe slammed into the ground in front of me, and the space around me darkened — as if cut off from the rest of the world.
For a second, I actually got a little scared — I wasn't entirely sure what I was using. But the moment the flying blades entered the "darkened" area, they just started to dissolve. They vanished like a mirage.
Actually… I think I finally understood why this stance was called Serenity Stance. The moment I started doubting whether this kind of "darkening" could really protect me, I instinctively tried to dodge the blades but... I couldn't.
I had simply lost the ability to move while the skill was active.
"This can't be... All my attacks are useless?" Glass stared in shock as what was probably her strongest move just disappeared into thin air. "This whole time... you were just toying with me."
Frustrated, she clenched her fists around her fans. A few drops of sweat even rolled down her face...
Wait — isn't she technically a ghost? Can ghosts even sweat?
"The sincerity of my feelings is beyond question."
But no amount of mystical weirdness could dull my emotions. And sweat... under certain circumstances... could be quite... ahem, pleasing to the eye.
"…"
Glass said nothing. She just squeezed her eyes shut in deep concentration.
"This isn't—"
[00:59]
She didn't get to finish. A glowing countdown appeared in front of everyone's eyes. Oh — looks like the wave is about to end?
"Seems that, to my greatest regret... our time together is almost up..."
"Kh. I admit it — this time, the victory is yours. But next time will be different."
"I really hope so..." I said, wearing a dreamy expression.
"Not like that! What is even going on in that head of yours?!"
"My lady, all you have to do is look in a mirror — and you'll immediately see everything that's filling my thoughts right now."
Glass opened and closed her mouth silently, like she wanted to say something — but couldn't find the words. Her cheeks, though... they definitely looked a little flushed.
Seriously though, how do these Spirits even work?
"Don't worry, Glass..." I said, taking a step toward her.
"…" Glass silently stepped back.
"There's a good chance I'll be visiting your world soon." Her skin actually went even paler than before. "And when that happens, we'll finally be able to get to know each other better!"
"D-don't."
"Of course, I'm already completely smitten, but that's not enough. We need a more... intimate connection." I took another step forward, and—
"N... No!" Glass swept her Fans, kicking up a cloud of dust. And when the air cleared...
"Did... did she run away?" Naofumi asked, stunned.
"Sigh..."
All I could do was let out a long, wistful sigh. When's that Lingui guy supposed to show up, anyway? I need to get to Glass's world, stat...
And just like that — that's how this world's third Wave went down. The greatest damage was probably to the egos of the Three Heroes, while the harm done to civilians was kept to a minimum.
As for me — clearly, I suffered on a much deeper level...
I've really got to sort out my feelings at some point.