High School Hack and Slash Chapter 103 Part 2
「… Err, I’m back?」
「Huh? By any chance, did you clear it, Oto-chan-senpai?」
Otoha-senpai, perhaps expecting words such as congrats or you did great, is standing there with dull, still eyes.
It doesn’t fit the image of someone whose both body and mind are battered after a repeated life and death struggle.
There is no damage on her body and equipment, and her own mental state also seems to be the same as usual.
In a sense, Otoha-senpai may be the toughest person in our club in terms of mind.
Maybe she’s simply dull, though.
「Now then, well, I’m off.」
「Take care. I’m not worried about you, so just adequately do your best.」
At the light encouragement of Mai, who is waving her hand, Seiichi, answering yeah and smiling bitterly, leaves his seat.
I’m not worried either.
He’s not the kind of best friend that would lose against a conviction-less mirror image.
「Otoha-senpai. Congratulations for breaking it through. You did great.」
Otoha-senpai, who sits down on the chair in Seiichi’s stead, is sulking with her lips pouting like an octopus, so I try to humor her.
「Eh, yes. I guess I got a little too serious. It was totally not big deal of an opponent, though!」
Isn’t that the same as dissing the ability of Otoha body, which served as the source of the copy, I wonder?
Otoha-senpai, who easily recovers her mood, is simply cute.
「Somehow, you see, she strangely put on airs, going on about using a killer technique or something. It was so irritating, so I imitated it and beat her with it, serves her right.」
Otoha-senpai may be steeped in the way of bullied characters, but in fact she is quite the genius type.
「The battle between the summoned dragons must have been worth seeing.」
「… Maybe. It’s like, I couldn’t see it, but the stage blew up with a bang, I got run over, got caught in a breath, and so on, after all.」
I get the feeling that she also got caught up in a friendly fire from Peperon-kun.
「… Otoha-senpai. By any chance, Peperon was unnecessary for this trial?」
「Wh, what are you talking about, Shizuka-chan? I managed to clear it exactly because Peperon was there, yes.」
With this, the ones who have passed the trial are Mai, Saki, Miharu and Natsumi, and Otoha-senpai.
Incidentally, Natsumi and Miharu were, how should I put it, they broke through with a somewhat foul play move.
They went and stormed into the gate together while holding hands, and came back out of the gate together with a nonchalant and composed look on their faces.
It seems that the『Mirror Image Devil (Doppelganger)』 came out for one person’s share only.
Moreover, it appears that even the people in question didn’t know which one was copied.
「Everyone is clearing it smoothly, right….」
Although the order in which we are to take on the trial of the gate has been decided in a casual manner, everyone has expressed their will to take on the challenge.
The pressure that they might fail is akin to that of one waiting for an interview test.
Shizuka, where next is her turn to challenge it, also seems to be nervous.
I, who am not concerned about the order, am scheduled to be the last one.
For argument’s sake, even if we were to fail in the challenge this time, we could just come back for another try.
To be frank, if the boss is a copy of yourself, I think this trial is an obstacle that’s no more than a temporary hindrance.
If I have to put it into words, it’s no more than a quest that『anyone can clear』.
So I think it’s fine even if they don’t get so worked up.
◇ ◇ ◇
「… !, ha, … Kuh… Seyah!」
A marionette of the same stature, speed, and power dexterously twirled the knives held in both hands with its fingertips.
The knife spinning, which held no particular meaning, was something of a habit that Seiichi had somehow learned by practicing it because he thought it looked cool.
As he got such a black history of his shown off, shame naturally welled up.
「Ha, aah!」
Seiichi, stepping toward the clown (marionette) again, made the daggers wielded in both hands dance wildly.
The marionette, which was drained of strength like a suspended puppet, intercepted all strikes with the knives in both hands.
*Clang clang clang* The sparks that flew about were, in fact, light.
「Tch, shadow!」
Seiichi’s shadow, reflected at his feet, split and ran like an arrow.
As if responding to it, the shadow of the marionette split apart and turned into thorns that covered the ground like a needlepoint holder.
Seiichi’s fighting style was that of defensive movements, placing priority on defense and, above all, putting emphasis on avoiding fatal injuries.
And then, his abilities and crafts had been refined through daily training.
The fact that the battle against the『Mirror Image Demon (Doppelganger)』 was in an equal state could be said to be proof of his high level of proficiency.
The shadow crawling on the ground sprang back to avoid the thorn blades that sprang out.
Two knives were thrown toward Seiichi, who was in the air.
Seiichi, anticipating the follow-up attack, repelled them with the knives he was wielding.
Sliding on his own shadow like a surfboard as he landed, he reestablished his maai against his opponent.
Even as he tried to sweep its legs with a low kick, which he had never used or showed, it was easily defended like a textbook by raising its shin.
However, that was a wait and see-ish response.
Even as he slid his knife into the neck of the marionette, who had stopped moving, it was stopped with a knife that should have been thrown.
He swung down the knife he held in underhand grip to the top of its head, but was stopped in the same way.
Kicking its chest, which was virtually empty as its hands were clashing against his, he opened up the maai again.
「Haa… The breathing isn’t cut off, either. So it’s something like a virtual simulation, huh.」
The mirror image of Seiichi, who let out a sigh, bent down in a spider-like posture, looking for an opening.
However, it was also a posture that focused mainly on escape.
「… If it’s supposed to be a copy of me, well, I guess that’s just how it should be, but still….」
He didn’t think it was a bad thing, and he had no thought about changing it, either.
However, he had already perceived the method to change their current situation, which had turned into an endless repetition of moves.
He knew best the method to kill himself.
All that remained was whether or not he had the resolve to carry it through.
He casually stepped forward and swung his knife.
A heavy echo was mixed in amidst the light, clear metallic sound.
The knife piercing Seiichi’s abdomen and the knife ripping apart the mannequin’s neck.
*Crumble crumble* As its ripped neck fell, the marionette, collapsing as if its thread had been severed, turned to ashes.
In order to lure and kill a coward, bait to make them hesitate in their judgment was needed.
Seiichi, who had taken that step, was on his knees, holding his stomach.
「… As I thought, it fucking hurts.」
The knife he pulled out turned to dust.
The wound also vanished at the same time, but the memory of the pain remained etched in his body.
Before he knew it, a massive, heavy door had appeared in front of him.
The moment Seiichi, who was letting out a sigh, opened the door.
The moment he realized that the place was not the 21st stratum, but the space for the next trial, was the moment when his neck was neatly sliced apart.
◇ ◇ ◇
「Seiichi, GW ~! Took you long enough, didn’t it?」
「… Yeah, to think it was a two-stage trial.」
Seiichi, holding his neck, glares at me with a fed up look on his face.
I wonder if he finds the fact that I’m relaxing and eating tea cakes over here displeasing.
「No, I’ve finally figured out a bit about how to use my authority (skill)… Rather, what manner of authority (cheat) have you pushed on me?」
「Hell I know.」
Will you stop dissing me by saying such incomprehensible things?
「Two-stage trial, is it? Maybe the same will also happen for me, huh.」
Shizuka, quietly getting up from her seat, is holding her naginata in her hand.
「Now then, I’m heading out now. Touma-san.」
「Yeah.」
Shizuka-san, who has grown valiant, boldly gets into the gate and rolls out of it right after, getting driven out.
Well, let’s try a little harder.
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Tftc