Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

I’m Satou. There are things you know you shouldn’t do but just can’t resist. Like working late into the night and, knowing it's bad, still giving in to high-calorie snacks.

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“If you underestimate me thinking I’m the same as before, you’ll lose in an instant, you know?”

“That sounds scary. Please go easy on me.”

“Hmph. I wonder how long you can keep that smug look on your face?”

Today, Laka is unusually quiet.

She seems busy secretly activating logic arts: physical enhancement, high spirits, and acceleration.

After confirming that Laka finished casting her enhancement magic, I got into position.

—There’s no start signal when explorers face off.

Karina, approaching low to the ground, suddenly “stumbles” right in front of me—or so it seemed.

In fact, she just faked a fall.

She spun on the spot and launched a heel drop.

In a film, crossing your arms to block in an X shape here would look stylish, but there’s no time for such flair.

I shifted my body half-turn to dodge the heel strike.

—But the heel I thought I dodged suddenly gained lateral momentum and attacked diagonally.

Laka must have created a foothold in midair, allowing Karina to change her posture.

Even without that, Karina’s athletic reflexes to do this in an instant are impressive.

Tama is good at this kind of maneuver, so maybe Karina learned from her.

I countered with a palm strike from close range toward Karina’s leg.

The palm strike broke some of the small shields Laka had created while deflecting Karina’s initial attack.

Cheers erupted from the gallery.

“Oh! She dodged that strike!”

“Hey, is that beautiful lady’s armor magical equipment?”

“That’s the same gear the Pendragon people wear, right?”

“As expected of the ‘Flawless’ armor!”

No time to listen to the commentary.

Karina pivoted on her grounded foot and launched a spinning kick with the other.

I backstepped to avoid it, careful not to go out of bounds.

Maybe deciding big moves weren’t landing, Karina switched to a series of precise small strikes.

She used rapid jabs to draw my attention upward, then followed with a leg sweep—clearly more skilled attacks than when I knew her back in Muno City.

Her training against beast girls in Labyrinth City is showing.

Karina and I exchanged blows in a back-and-forth duel.

Our fight, unfolding freely in all directions, looked like a dance.

I parried Karina’s triple aerial kick with my hands and countered with a spinning kick.

Of course, I held back enough, but my kick was fast enough to match hers, so no one found it suspicious.

Karina used the force field Laka created as a foothold to change her trajectory midair and dodge my kick.

Truly the movements of an expert.

“Hey, how did she dodge that kick!?”

“Quiet! Focus on the goddess’ battle!”

“Ah, so close! Go, Lady Karina! Fight!”

“Geez, quit fighting so dangerously and finish this quickly!”

“Hmph.”

Amidst the gallery’s unsolicited commentary and cheers, Karina finally unleashed her trump card.

“Hey! That!”

“Demon blade?”

“But it’s blue?”

Karina swung a blue glowing blade down from midair.

I leapt back to avoid it, guided by my crisis awareness skill.

It was about a 30-centimeter blade of light, like a manifestation of Laka’s true form’s emitted light.

An unexpected attack, but if the blade had been just a bit longer, it might have startled me.

At this distance, though, it couldn’t have hit.

“Gotcha!”

Ah, Karina, that phrase ruins your surprise second-stage trump card.

Karina’s second move—a glowing blade flying away from Laka’s main body—I dodged with a torso twist.

Since it was a diagonal downward attack, no one stood in its line.

I was wary that the blade might explode as it passed by, but that worry was unfounded.

It simply pierced the ground and dissipated.

“Not yet!”

Karina launched a fierce follow-up attack without giving up, but fatigue and frustration showed on her face.

That last was evidently an all-or-nothing gamble, and the blue light leaking from Laka’s true form was clearly fading. Karina’s magic power was almost exhausted.