'Let's not attack me for the first five minutes.

　It's different from the red wolf, it's different from the true dragon.
　It's the same demon tribe.
　It's the closest thing we have, and it's clear.
　The absolute difference in status between me and Amber.
　The difference in the experience we've gained.
　The pressure I felt was like a huge mountain.

'First of all, go ahead and attack as you like. You can use your skills and arts freely.'

'......Yes!'

　I was a little more relaxed thanks to Amber speaking softly, so I ran in alone, not choosing to use my skills and arts.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to use my hands, but I'm sure it's a good idea for you to use your hands.
　Because of our height difference, I'm losing in reach.
　So, let's just try to get into his pocket.

　The emphasis is on moves and speed. It's obvious that I'm outclassed in every status, but since her status is focused on strength, the least difference is in agility.
　And I have practically twice as much SP thanks to my named equipment. In any case, I had no choice but to run for my life.


'Hey!

'Hmmm...'

　He must have dared to invite me into his bosom. The in-fighting came too easily, but Amber coolly brushed aside my random blows.

　Since I knew that there would be no counterattack, unlike when I fought Lowe, I blamed him mainly with a series of blows, including hard hits.
　Even though he's on the receiving end, it doesn't mean that all of his attacks don't hit.
　There must have been a few quick jabs, but Amber's HP did not move a bit.

　The reason is simple. I just couldn't break through her strength and defense with my attack power.

　The demon race has a strong physical status just because they are demons. Even if they specialize in one status, they can gain a physical status that is much more powerful than that of other races as long as they level up.
　I don't know how many levels Amber has, but if I were to convert my impression of her into a level, it would be at least three digits. My guess is that it is over 200 in some cases. That's not just a double score, but a six- or seven-fold difference in level with me.

　And Amber's fighting style is also a bit incompatible with mine.
　Unlike me, who focused on evading and countering with a combination of agility, kinetic vision, reflexes, and SP, she doesn't hesitate to take a hit.
　She carefully handles only those attacks she can see that are heavy, and doesn't care if she gets hit by those that are not.
　She could probably handle them if she wanted to, but she chose to take them with high status because she didn't want to devote her capacity for that.

　It's like punching a mountain, an inexplicably large difference in competence. I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to figure out how to handle this.
　After about two minutes of attacking him as if I were measuring his strength, I decided to backstep away from him.

　I decided not to attack, so of course Amber would not come after me.
　I put my left leg out in front of me and clapped my hands in front of my chest.




☆☆


　Oni no Mai does not have a unique motion for each of its arts, nor does it have an activation dialog like "Hungry Wolf". Instead, you need to register your own motion for activation.
　It is up to the user to decide what type of motion to use. However, according to the custom of the demon village, in most cases, the user inherits the master's form as it is.
　After I was shown Amber's form, I decided to take it over.

　Amber's Oni-no-Mai has the movement of 'clapping' as a standard in all the starting motions.
　In addition to that, they manage five types of dance forms by the way they open their legs, the angle of their hands, and other changes in their body posture.
　I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to memorize these five kata. The reason is that once a kata has been established, it must be reproduced very strictly in order for the arts to be activated.

　In the days when the "Demon Dance" skill was truly a "dance," it was to Shugen's credit that he transformed it into a more practical, manageable, and free form.
　Even so, the fact that there are some restrictions is unavoidable, considering the high effectiveness of the skill itself.
　If it is not a one-on-one fight, there is no limit to it.


　The one he activated was the "Double-Edged Dance".
　The jump in muscle strength and agility gave me a sense of excitement, but at the same time, I felt a chill as all my defenses were gone.
　In front of me is a being with undeniably the 'strongest' power.
　I have lost not only my sturdiness, but even the protection of my armor due to the effects of the double-edged dance.
　There are less than three minutes left for Amber to remain unresisting. As if to say that the wait was over, I unleashed my fist with an explosive step.

　As Amber tried to catch it with her palm, I opened my hand just before the fist reached her, and intertwined my fingers with hers.
　It was different from being caught and the impact killed.
　I used the hand I had grabbed as a base point, and took another step to pull our bodies together and hit the bottom of my palm.

'Oh!

　Amber's reaction was a bit surprised, but the first clean hit of the day, combined with the effect of the buff, finally succeeded in reducing Amber's HP.
　The amount of HP I lost was only a little, but at least I knew that I could penetrate Amber's defense if my strength exceeded 300 and if I equipped a weapon.

　When I tried to squeeze my arm for a further attack, the hand that I had just grabbed was firmly fixed by the amber.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

　I tried to pull it out with all my might, but he let go of my hand, and I let out a strange sound and fought to keep from falling on my butt.
　There was a small gap in time. Amber took advantage of this and spoke up.

It's not easy to control a double-edged dance when you're using it for the first time. ...... Oh, by the way, you have another similar skill, don't you?

　I was surprised to see Amber's reaction, but I knew she knew.

　It's not that I was hiding it, but I guess Amber knew that I had another buffing skill when she told me about it yesterday.
　Rather, Amber had been watching my fight with Lowe and my fight with Apocalypse.
　I think he knew I had some kind of skill as of the day before yesterday, to be exact.

　While replying, I moved forward again.
　I'm wasting time, so I'm moving my arms and legs frantically.

'I used it yesterday, so I can't use it today!

'It's rare for a skill to be limited to a single day. It didn't seem like a very powerful effect, though. ......'

　I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you.
　Yeah, me too. I thought so for a moment when I learned the double-edged dance yesterday.


　As it turns out, I discovered a new effect of the starvation wolf, so it wasn't completely pointless.
　There are differences in the order in which buffs are applied and how they are applied. This is a factor that will become more important in the future.


　Keep your hands busy while talking. I don't shy away from using dirty tactics such as surprise attacks.
　But unfortunately, most of the surprise strikes are not powerful enough because they are made from impossible positions, and Amber does not even dodge them.

'You really do have your hands everywhere, don't you?

'That's my point!　That's why!

　I hate the violence of status. I'm supposed to be twice as strong as you, but I can't seem to get hit.

'Come on, come on, you've got two minutes.

'Nooooooooo!

　I continued my desperation assault on Amber, who kept telling me the time.
　When I looked at the archives of my feeds later, I thought that the appearance of the mini-arena, combined with the appearance of the field, made me want to say that I was watching a bullfight.

　By the way.
　While he was dealing with my attack.
　I don't know what he was enjoying, but he kept smiling.
　d*mn it!