Blades clashed under the fading light of dusk. Facing Sakura's fierce strikes, Silas—who had been getting pummeled by her for months—could finally keep up with her speed!
Of course, with a spear he still couldn't beat Sakura. After all, in game terms, Saber > Lancer (not really). But Silas wasn't the type who refused to adapt. If his spear couldn't win against Sakura, then he could just switch to a sword. It wasn't like he didn't know how to use one. Aside from Black Abyss White Flower and Judgment of Shamash, he also had the nearly standard-issue Xuanyuan Sword.
And after enduring Sakura's "merciless beatings" for months, his swordsmanship had actually improved quite a lot. At least now he was better than when he used to just swing wildly with brute force based on MOTH's basic sword drills and his own "instincts."
Not that he was anywhere near Sakura's level. By his estimate, if the fight kept dragging on, he'd end up losing sooner rather than later.
But then…
After barely blocking one of Sakura's slashes, Silas twisted his blade hard, forcing her katana off and opening a gap between them. In that instant, he drew his gun with lightning speed and fired straight at Sakura.
Sakura—times have changed!
She was caught completely off guard. Silas didn't just shoot once, either—he emptied enough rounds to wipe out her entire life point bar.
Not that it was entirely her fault. She had sparred with Silas for months, and he had always fought her straight with a lance while getting beaten down. Naturally, she'd never considered the possibility he might suddenly pull out a gun mid-fight.
There was another factor, too: Sakura hadn't been treating Silas as a true opponent. She'd gone into this match with the same mindset as their usual training sessions.
Still, she didn't get angry. She sheathed her sword with a smile.
"You won this time, Silas."
Silas reloaded his gun with a smug little grin.
"Sometimes, you just have to strike where they least expect it."
That had been his Type-0 Quickdraw—a move he had practiced endlessly in his past life. His draw and firing speed weren't just for show!
But before he could savor the victory, he suddenly felt a few taps on his back. The next second, his own life points were cleared out.
Blinking in disbelief, he turned around. Pardofelis stood there flashing a peace sign, her chakrams in hand.
"Gotcha, Brother Silas! This is what they call, 'while the mantis stalks the cicada, the cat pounces from behind!'"
Silas rapped her lightly on the head.
"It's 'The Mantis stalks the Cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind,' thank you very much."
"But I'm a kitty, meow~." Pardofelis stuck out her tongue. "And besides, when you transform into a Fallen, don't you sprout a whole bunch of wings? That makes you more bird than me!"
"So you two were targeting me from the start?" Silas glanced from Sakura's amused smile to Pardofelis's smug grin. "I thought Elysia would have sent you to help her deal with Kevin."
"Oh, that? Elysia said today she had to go all-out against Big Boss Kevin. And since your combat instincts are sharper than his or even Kosma's, she told me to team up with Sakura-nee and take you out instead." Pardofelis shrugged. "Who'd have thought I'd actually knock out the leader of the Fallen Angels? I can brag about this for a whole year!"
Silas rubbed his chin, eyeing the practice chakrams in her hand.
"Then why didn't you just use a gun from the start? That way Sakura wouldn't have gone down with me."
Pardofelis looked sheepish.
"Well… with my shooting skills, I was scared I'd accidentally take Sakura-nee out instead."
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, her cheeks puffed out and she glared at Silas.
"Wait a sec—Brother Silas, you cheated! Ugh, forget it, forget it! I'm off to team up with Hua and get Kosma out next!"
She scampered away before he could reply.
Silas could only chuckle helplessly. He hadn't intended to play dirty, honestly. Then his gaze swept the environment. So Pardofelis had been hiding in the dusk shadows the whole time, and he hadn't noticed because his focus was glued to Sakura…
Honestly, she'd make a better scout than a skirmisher. Her ranged support wasn't reliable—skirmishers needed solid ranged ability—but she was excellent at tracking and staying hidden. Recon work would suit her perfectly.
"Looks like we're about to lose," Silas admitted, turning back to Sakura.
He'd been taken out through carelessness, even if he'd dragged Sakura with him. But now, with only Kevin and Kosma left to face Elysia, Pardofelis, and Hua…
To be honest, Silas didn't think Kevin and Kosma stood much of a chance.
"Elysia really does want to win, huh." Sakura sighed helplessly. "By the rules, our team's life points should've been halved, but… Silas, aren't you letting her have her way a little too much?"
"Kevin and the others didn't object, did they?" Silas shrugged. "Besides… it's just a little indulgence. Elysia deserves that much."
"…Is it because of your relationship with her?" Sakura asked softly. There was a trace of envy in her tone. After all, she was a girl too, and what girl wouldn't want the boy she liked to spoil her a little?
"Maybe that's part of it. Recently, I have gotten closer to Elysia," Silas admitted. "But more than that… it's because of all the effort and sacrifices she made in the last life. She deserves to be treated gently by the world."
Sakura fell silent for a moment before whispering, "Silas… you do too."
"Me? I don't care much about things like that." Silas chuckled. "I don't really feel much passion for most people. In my eyes, most aren't worth knowing. So… I've never expected anyone to do anything for me."
"Then… do I fall into that 'most people' category? I mean, when we first met." Sakura hesitated. Deep down, she felt that Silas must have cared more about her than others—but she wasn't certain.
She always thought it was because of her younger sister, Rin. In the last life, Rin often spoke of Silas, and she was sure Rin had talked about her just as much to him. Maybe that was why he'd cared, at least at first. She only wanted an answer—nothing more.
Silas thought for a moment. Their first meeting… was when she tried to assassinate Mei, got stopped by Kevin, and even left him injured? No… they hadn't really interacted then. They'd truly gotten to know each other only after the Eleventh Herrscher incident.
"…No. From the beginning, it was never like that," Silas answered honestly.
"I see… thank you." Sakura gave a small nod, her gaze shifting toward the virtual sunset. "After training, would you… stay and play games with Rin and me?"
Silas felt like he was speeding headfirst down the road to becoming a playboy.
Seriously… how had he managed to max out everyone's affection points?!
On the other side—
Kevin ducked awkwardly as Elysia loosed another crystalline arrow his way. Even with a practice bow, her special nature allowed her to form arrows of condensed Honkai energy. They weren't lethal, but they still stung.
From the start, their battle had been one-sided. Elysia didn't even seem to be using her full strength, yet Kevin was already forced to scramble for cover, desperately looking for an opening to counterattack.
He knew he couldn't win at range. His only chance lay in close combat!
With his mind made up, Kevin rushed forward. From her high vantage point, Elysia watched his every move clearly—and of course, she knew exactly what he was thinking.
And she was more than fine with it.
The Elysia of the Elysian Realm had shown it before—even in close combat against Herrschers like Raiden Mei, she wasn't weak. She just preferred not to fight that way. The reason? Likely because melee combat wasn't graceful or beautiful enough for her tastes.
Setting her bow aside, Elysia picked up a training lance. In MOTH, the standard sparring weapons included both lances and spears. Since Silas usually split Black Abyss White Flower apart, with Abyss leaning more toward a spear's fighting style, he trained more with spears.
Honestly, what Elysia really wanted was to bash Kevin over the head with her Herrscher conjured staff. She'd done it once already in the last life, and she was absolutely planning to do it again in this one.
But not today.
Can you imagine waiting anxiously for Silas to arrive, only to see Kevin show up holding an invitation instead?
She'd been heartbroken. And frustrated. And oh-so-tempted to pummel Kevin right then and there.
And in this life… Kevin had gone out of his way time and again to meddle with her. Now, finally, she had a legitimate chance to thrash him openly. There was no way she'd let this slip.
If she couldn't use her staff, well—that was fine. A lance would do just as well to smash Kevin into the ground.
________________________________________
15+ advanced chapters available on Pat/NoobyIdiotka