Long time no see, Second Triple Crown.
Yeah.

　It's been almost six months.

　Reiou, the former Spirit King of Vogue. Her growth has been remarkable.

　Perhaps she thought that the Great Spirit of Fire, Salamandla, was not enough to compete with me. Hence, she raised the 《Demon Summoning》 and came with three demons.

　She's a diligent person as you can see, she must have upgraded her other skills and raised her status.


　...... Only half a year and just one person, and you're prepared to go this far.

　Excellent. The expectations I had last time, those qualities that I felt might be the most "there" of the contestants, were not in my mind.


　Good. It's a nice and unsettling growth spurt.

　It won't even be competitive as it is now, but two or three years down the road, I really don't know.


　That's why we need to beat him to a pulp in the woodwork here.

　We need to develop him into the kind of player that makes me want to have a fun match with this guy, even if I don't care about winning or losing.

　We're not there yet. I'm not ready to bet on him for six months.

　Heavier, stronger. Vogue can do that. I think so.


"Sorry, but it's gonna be a crushing defeat.
Oh, you have a lot of confidence, don't you?
It's not confidence, it's just a fact.
......?

　Vogue is tilting his head.

　He really doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about.

　It can't be, he might be implying to himself.

　It's daytime now. She probably sees through it, that dark wolves are vulnerable to sunlight. If that's the case, I can only summon Angolmore, which means that I, who can use Salamandla and the three demons, have an overwhelming advantage, and maybe she's thinking about ...... how she's going to win overwhelmingly with such a difference in strength.


　The human mind is a strange thing. It's an automatic mechanism that sometimes works to maintain that peace of mind. I'm sure you'll find that if you think about it dispassionately, you'll realize that somehow you can't help but think: "There is no further growth for the higher class.

　Stupid. Vogue, I've grown many times more than you have in the last six months. You can see it in the title fight I'm scheduled to compete in. [Thread Manipulation], [Body Technique], [Spear Technique], [Staff Technique] and [Battling Technique] all reached the ninth level. It's not like I was raised there from the beginning. I learned them all from scratch, and from the 16th kyu to the 9th dan. In addition, I also tamed Wraith and Asura (Asura).

　The me that you fought and lost six months ago, strong as shit, is the me with no memory of these five skills at all.


　You're going to have to let go of your ...... fear. The fear in you that unconsciously reflects the way you think and wish it to be so.

　And that's what you need to do. You know what to do now, don't you?


"I'm going to win. You will be utterly defeated. You will see the thing you fear most.


　Numb your fears.

　You can taste your greatest fears so that you can't even think of lesser fears as fears.

　I've done it. You can do the same.


"Heh. You're right, the Three Crowns are a notch or two different in what you say.

　Yeah, I've seen that face many times in the past.

　The face when it was still so naive. The exhaustion of it became so distorted that I couldn't see it.


'Mutual courtesy!　...... poised!

　It begins.
　The Summer Spirit King Game.

　It's a nightmarish time for her.


"--Begin!


　At the same time as the call of the judgement, Vogt performs a "Spirit Summoning" and a "Demon Summoning" in succession.

''(Standby)'
"(Gyoi)

　As for me, I only performed 《Spirit Summoning》 and immediately gave instructions via telekinesis, making Angolmore wait in the air.

''Wasn't it supposed to be an overwhelming victory?''
............
You're not even close. Then I'll go first.

　Vogue charges at me, provokingly charging the Aquadragon and Yoroiboa at me.
　Wing Salecove stays above her head, while Salamandala seems to be preparing to intercept Angolmore in case he makes his move.

　A coordinated attack with few gaps. Excellent placement for both offense and reception. Breakthrough and flexibility. It's a perfect first step in the offensive.


''Now, show them a crushing victory!

　As soon as the attack begins, Vogue unleashes more provocations.

　It's not a bad strategy. Not bad, but .......



'Let's show you how to defeat ...... overwhelmingly.'


　What is an overwhelming victory? She doesn't seem to know that yet.

　Overwhelming isn't quite as glamorous as you think it is. It's more like...


　An overwhelming victory--

　Is it when you bury your opponent with a single blow and win?　No, no.
　Winning with the most genius move anyone has ever seen?　No, no.
　Is that what adults are supposed to do, torture children to no end and win?　No, no.

　-- An overwhelming victory is an overwhelming victory. Overwhelming is winning at everything.

　It's not winning by forcing your opponent to do nothing. It's about getting your opponent to give you everything he's got and then surpassing him with everything he's got.

　The opponent denies everything he has accumulated up to this point. In other words, deny everything (...). That is the overwhelming victory.


Come on, Miroku.

　《Demon Summoning》. The one that appeared was Miroku in human form.
　As soon as it appeared, I gave the order to intercept it.

　I sent Miroku to the right to face the aquadragon.
　And to the left, Yoroi Boa, I'm going to intercept myself.

"Lord, may I cut you down?
Good.
"...... is a great pleasure.

　Roughly - and he felt the throbbing of the audience at his back.

　It's probably because Miroku, that is, Asura (Asura) is a demon that I've never seen before. Or is it because he is a demon? Or is it because he carries a sword on his hip? Or is it because they were surprised to find me using a demon other than anko? Well, it's probably one of them.


"--Hiruko style, Nanakumo.


　Miroku activated 《King General Battoujutsu》 while uttering some kind of cool technique name.

　...... It's a terrific technique. How many times did you just feint?　Seven times?　With that one, it's not easy to see that the Golden General is coming in an instant. The way he carries his feet is also unquestionably great. He seems to be advancing and retreating, luring them to the point where it's impossible to avoid the timing while pulling the skill's preparation time to the very edge.

Yeah.

　Hiko style. Oh, right, 0k4NN's .......


Oops.

　I forgot. I'll have to deal with Yorroiboia. Without any skills.

　But there's nothing wrong with that.
　There was no way I was going to be able to deal with a grade B demon, a grade B demon, now.

"Hey, pass.

　While ducking the rush, I lightly put my hand on the corner of the Yoloi Boa and spun around in a circle.
　While further accelerating its momentum, he throws it towards Miroku.

"Yes.

　Miroku, who was about to chase after Aqua Dragon down with the counter effect of the 《King General Battoujutsu》 counter effect, looked at the Yoloi Boa I threw out and nodded one.


'Scrape. Miroku style profound technique, Ryuge Issen.


　Miroku immediately delivered the sword, moved, and without a moment's pause, prepared the 《Long Horse Battoujutsu》 and waited for the moment when the Aquadragon and Yoroiboa overlapped in their effective range.

　The Dragon Horse Battoujutsu is an all-directional attack. It's a skill that is tailor-made for killing two bodies at once.

　However, another difficult skill ...... is to deal with two of them at once when you can just do it one by one from Yoriboa first. It's a good thing that you're in front of a crowd of people.


It's not a good idea.

　Vogue makes a pitiful sound with a pitiful expression.

　It's because Miroku's single shot, the Dragon Horse Battling Technique, caused Aquadragon and Yoroiboa to receive a fatal wound, or stun.

　Two B grade demons were buried together. And that too, with just a single blow.
　Anyone would have been able to understand that Miroku had an offensive power that was out of the ordinary. Vogue must have been made to understand, even if they didn't want to.

　Still, the game was not over. And there was no way the former Spirit King could do such a thing as surrender.


''Stand by.''
Yes, sir.

　I'll have Miroku on standby.

　Now, what's next?　Vogue.

　All you have is a Salamander and a winged Salekobe. Plus, you're on your own.


　Now, come on, show me everything you've got.

　I'm going to crush you one by one.


"d*mn it ......!

　With a grim look on his face, Vogue gave the Winged Salekobe the order to attack.
　Immediately afterwards, the Salamandara moved forward unnaturally.

''(Type 4no)'
"(Huh-haha!)　(Gyoi!)

　I see. Normally I'd be stopping (...), but this time I'm going to dare to accept it (・・・・).

Don't eat it!　My fire is hot!

　With the 《Fire Attribute, Type II》, Salamandaras scatter fire over a wide area. Dazzling it, the Winged Salekobe comes falling at high speed from far above.

　It's a skillful tactic that is hard to notice, daring to come in the opposite direction when the firepower Salamandaras should normally be the main target.


'Lukewarm!　Bow down, Salamandarah!

　However, as an offensive strategy, it is lukewarm.
　But that doesn't take out the slightest bit of the receiving hand.

　Since he had started preparing from the minute Salamandara advanced, Angolmore was able to activate the 《Lightning Attribute, Type IV No. 1》 as if to cover the activation of Salamandara's Type II No. 2, and he was able to activate the 《Lightning Attribute, Type IV No. 1》.

''What?!''

　Salamandaras are surprised that you were expecting this.

　No way. He wasn't expecting it, he was preparing for it.

　The four-knockout type is the most time-consuming skill to prepare for out of all the possible response methods. Hence, I just started preparing ahead of time. If there was an attack that required another response, he could cancel the four-knocker type and prepare for it.

''Kyah!''
Ooooh!

　Immediately after activating it, the raging four-footer's thunderbolt drowned out the flames released by Salamandara without a trace.


''-- Hiko School, Nachihoko.


　At about the same time, Miroku intercepted the Winged Salekobe that flew in from the sky with the Flying Car Battou Technique.

　Awesome. A precise and unmatched strike, like a needle piercing a grain of rice that fell from high in the sky. By gradually adjusting his standing position and accumulating to the limit, he harmonizes everything: quickness, sharpness, hit rate, and firepower. This is no ordinary technique.

　Miroku, after all, is stretching out more than usual. It's shakariki just because it's a big stage.



"Ah ...... ah ......

　Now, Wing Salekobe has been stunned as well.

　Only Vogue and Salamandala remain. So, we'll have to go for a reversal with the Spirit Possession.

''......!　Salamandla, get possessed!
Oh, come on!


　That's right.
　Good fighting spirit.

　If it had been me during the winter, I would have paid tribute to Vogue's fighting spirit, sent Miroku back, possessed Angolmore, and fought him one-on-one.

The first half of the fight was tattered, but Vogt was very brave in the face of it, and in the end it was a good fight.　I cried unconsciously~" ...... would have been a development that would have made the stupid-looking, big-breasted woman with no idea what the word "mevion" means on Mevion TV every time she was invited to say it with a flirtatious smile.


　...... Not so fast. I'm not so naive in the summer season. I'm not going to be able to get it right.

　I'm not going to be able to get the best out of it.


I'm coming!

　While her entire body burns red, her long burgundy hair, which has grown to her waist, wavers and floats in the air, Vogue releases a fighting spirit that makes the air shake.

　She performed 《Spirit Possession》 with her rugged status, the number should have been suitably blown up.

　Hence, she must believe that she still has a chance to win.


　This is her last hope. This is our only hope.

　Win or lose, I'll put everything on the line here," she said.


Please reach me at ......!

　With all the thoughts we've accumulated so far, Vogue ran out.



　...... I deny that even the meagre thoughts are not enough to reach them.

　It's not possible to reach them. I'm not going to be able to snatch it away in such a tacked-on six months.


Type 2.
"As you wish.
The Dragon King Battoujutsu.
Yes, sir.

　Instructions to Angolmore. Immediately afterwards, the "Lightning Attribute, Ni-no Type" appeared in front of me like a barricade, blocking Vogue's path.


　Next to me, Miroku is accumulating the Dragon King Battoujutsu.

　An extremely powerful ranged attack. The more you accumulate it, the more powerful it becomes.


''......!

　When the lightning strike had subsided, what Vogue saw was a ...... 《Long King Battoujutsu》 fully charged Miroku.


　This situation - just inevitable.

　No matter how you go about it, the two words waiting for Vogue are "Defeat".



............

　A silence flows.

　If it were me normally, I would have ordered the activation to Miroku without even a moment's pause.

　Then, using the Dragon King Battoujutsu as bait, I would have prepared a counter to the Vogue that came after me, and won the scene brilliantly.


　However, I won't do anything so sweet.

　Here, I'm going to take it with a firm, board-like stance. You need to fortify your defense with an ironclad defense that makes you feel dizzy. In other words, we are going to win by catching them all. The goal is to win overwhelmingly. There was no way we were going to win the game.


　Hence, we are on standby.

　Only in the moment that Vogue makes an attack, or in the moment that the Spirit Possession is released, which is a moment that cannot be ducked, will Miroku be instructed to activate the Dragon King Battoujutsu.

　Otherwise, stand by. No matter how long it takes, he will stand by.


　I'm not going to give you the slightest opportunity to win, not even a shred of victory, but to win completely, safely, and overwhelmingly.



"..................

　Vogue just stood there, unable to do anything.

　No, I should say that he had done everything he could and there was nothing more he could do.

　He couldn't attack, confront, speak, listen, go on to win, or admit defeat.


　You can't do anything.


　Because I've done everything I can and it's all been no good.

　Everything she had was proven, one by one, to be vastly inferior to me.



........................


　Yes, that face.

　That frustrated, sad, helplessly miserable, death-dead-at-all-costs-at-all-costs feeling.


　You know, the fear of being denied everything you are, the pain of near-death defeat, and that's what you feel deep down.


　And Vogue.
　Do me a favor.

　But you must still crawl away.
　I beg you, please, to get through this hardship.

　If you do, I'm sure you will.



".........


　Five minutes pass, and Vogue's 《Spirit Possession》 ends.

　A moment later, Miroku's right hand pulls out the sword at his waist and releases--



That's enough!　Winner, Second Firth Test Spirit King!


　My defense is sealed.