Chapter Ten: Murder Pierrot
"Hey, Sebas. Out of curiosity, do you know where that Kitsune lady went?" Motoyasu asked.
"Beatrice? No, I haven't seen her lately. Did you need her for something?" The old butler responded.
"Oh, no. Just curious since you're the only one who seems to greet us each morning." Motoyasu shrugged.
"Hmmm, now that you mention it, that is bit odd. I will check with Master Hickwaal about her whereabouts later." Sebas replied.
Motoyasu nodded, flashing the old butler a smile from under his helmet.
But as the Spear Hero faced forward again, he noticed Amber on his other side, pouting at him. Seeing the obvious displeasure on her face, Motoyasu sweatdropped and began damage control. "I swear, I'm just curious. None of us have seen her since Hickwaal first introduced her to us."
"Hmph." Amber continued to pout as she turned her face away. "Amber doesn't want to think about Ugly Fox Lady."
UGLY- fine, okay, compared to Filolials, that was true, BUT STILL!
Suddenly, Amber saw a girl crossing their path up ahead, and stars appeared in her eyes. "My, that woman looks perfect for Amber's Big Brother, I say!"
"Wha- No! No no no no no!" Motoyasu pulled the angel-winged girl by the arm before she could race off to make another embarrassing situation for him to clean up.
"Ehehehe." Amber giggled to herself. Mission accomplished.
The group of three were walking along one of the underground streets. They were on their way to the fighting pit where Motoyasu would fight his next match.
It'd been two days since the failed slave raid on their town. And one week since Motoyasu assisted Fitoria with that Wave.
Motoyasu wished he could say that yesterday was interesting. In all honesty, there wasn't much that happened.
Sadeena hadn't delivered her message yet. The two fights he and Amber had lined up for that day were canceled… mostly because Motoyasu and Amber beat the everliving crap out of their opponents when they tried to ambush the pair in alleyways above ground and below.
At least Motoyasu knew he was building up a reputation for himself. At the end of yesterday, he walked into the Gladiator's Bar to see if he could find Sadeena. And while he didn't find the orca woman, he had the respect of all the other gladiators there. Including the ones who'd tried to beat him up in the first place.
After that, he returned to Lurolona briefly to check up on Atla. See how Fohl was adjusting to town life (he'd been in the middle of being beaten up by Granny when Motoyasu left), checked to see if Anya and Keel wanted to come back with him or not (they were too busy watching Fohl get beat up to want to return yet), and then he portaled back so he and Amber could settle in for the night.
The pair were awoken by Sebas knocking on their door the following morning. Which was when things finally began to get interesting again.
To start, instead of two matches, Motoyasu and Amber were only fighting in one today, separately. Amber's match was set to happen in another fighting pit after his.
Along with that bit of news, Sebas handed the disguised Spear Hero a folded piece of paper.
Sir Bubba. I apologize for the lateness of this message. It has been difficult to get my sponsor and his goons to leave me alone lately.
I want you to meet me in Hickwaal's private observation room after your match today. Your companion will be fighting in that pit during our meeting, so we should have some privacy. Just in case, I've asked a friend of mine, Larsa, to be your escort.
Be warned, your opponent today is not like any of your previous ones. I've heard through the grapevine that she's expected to be able to fight me specifically, so you better be on your guard.
But I believe in you. Expect to be hit with debuff magic at the start of your match.
Good luck ;) xoxoxo
Nadia
Motoyasu smiled a little as he recalled reading the short note earlier. He wondered if he should tell her about the attack on Lurolona last night when they met up later.
The image of an orca woman rampaging through the streets of Zeltoble suddenly went through his mind.
…
…
On second thought, he'd tell her about it later. After he brought her back to the village.
…
…
…
"Looks like we still have a few minutes before your match." The Spear Hero was pulled out of his thoughts, or lack thereof, as Sebas spoke again.
The blonde found himself standing before a familiar-looking portcullis. For some reason, Amber was no longer with them. She must have split off to grab herself and Sebas seats while he was spacing out.
Motoyasu turned his head to the old butler, who looked as calm as ever. "Do you have any questions for me today?" The old man asked.
"Um, well, Sa- Nadia, warned me that I'll be facing a stronger opponent today. Murder... something? What is he like?" The Spear Hero asked.
"Murder Pierrot, yes. Unfortunately, we know very little about her, since she is a newcomer just like you." The butler said.
"Very little is better than nothing." Motoyasu pressed on. So it was a girl he was fighting. Strange arena name for a person to go by.
Then again, what did he have to complain about since he was still going by Bubba?
…
Sebas thought about it for a moment more, before he frowned. "Her background is unknown. She appeared out of nowhere two weeks ago, explosively rising through the ranks, until she caught the attention of one of the City Council members, Mr. Saxon, who offered her his sponsorship.
"She currently has a victory streak of fifteen in the death pits."
"Death pits?" Motoyasu asked.
The frown on the butler's face deepened. "Where only fights to the death take place. Sure, accidents happen in regular fighting pits and even in the Colosseum up top from time to time… but when it comes to death pits, it's always a fight to the death. Hence the name." Sebas sighed.
"Bit of a 'seasonal' type of entertainment, since no one lasts for long there. But it also makes for more interesting bets for certain audiences, since there is always new blood pouring in. Quite literally too."
"Oh... I'm sorry for pressing." Motoyasu looked away.
"It is fine. I nearly ended up fighting in such a place after I lost my title to a woman my age decades ago. Don't worry about participating in any death pits though. Master Hickwaal is not a fan of those and as your sponsor, he won't agree to any on your behalfrrrrrrrrr." Sebas composed himself again. "As for this fight? Whatever the case, I would recommend you be careful in this match. Do not expect this Murder Pierrot to be on the same level as those gladiators you faced before."
"Got it. I'll be careful." Motoyasu smiled as he gave the old man a thumbs up.
Sebas nodded, smiling slightly in response before he walked away to observe the fight from up above.
…
…
Motoyasu breathed in deep.
He didn't know anything about his opponent. Both Sadeena and Sebas, strong people in their own right, were warning him to be careful.
Part of him wanted to listen, but the other part wanted to shrug it off. He was a Cardinal Hero for crying out loud! If anything, he was the one who'd probably have to hold back in this fight, even if he was the one hit with debuff magic!
No normal person could hope to face him on even footing! Motoyasu had this fight in the bag!
The portcullis in front of him started to rise, and the Spear Hero lowered the visor of his helmet. He gripped his naginata in both hands as he straightened into a confident stance.
"And returning after his smashing victories yesterday in and out of the arena against the Unholy Triumvirate and the Bad Bad Bastards, give it up for Sir Bubba of the Sworn Duo!" The Announcer Guy yelled from his box up above.
The crowds around began to cheer. Motoyasu found that there weren't many empty seats compared to the previous days. It seemed there was a lot more interest in today's match.
Motoyasu took the chance to wave, and many in the crowd began cheering his name. Including- OH! A fan section of girls! Nice!
Now, now, quit pouting Amber! Motoyasu could see you sitting next to them too! You were prettier than all of them combined, I say!
"And, facing him today, a figure some of you may already know from down under." The spectacles-wearing announcer grinned. "Finally making her debut in our beloved and 'legal' fighting pits below ground, with a body count of fifteen and possibly one more after today, warmly welcome our lovely, our fantastic, the majestic: Murder Pierrot!"
Motoyasu readied his weapon, facing the portcullis before him. He was waiting for it to open and reveal his opponent, which caught him off guard when a pair of figures landed on the sand to his left and right from above.
They weren't people. They were wooden dolls, holding twin blades in their hands. As Motoyasu tried to process what he was seeing, a third figure landed lightly on the ground before him.
Their appearance made the crowd begin to roar with delight.
His opponent… wasn't very tall. Nor did she have an imposing appearance, given what her name was. Her outfit of choice was a white and purple Jester's uniform from her boots to the half-white half-purple mask she wore under a twin-tailed hat that had a few round-headed sewing pins sticking out from its ends.
Murder Pierrot's right hand was held to the side, while her left hand wielded a large pair of… scissors?
They looked large enough to resemble interlocked sword blades, but they were definitely scissors.
Motoyasu cocked his head slightly. This was the supposed Murder Pierrot? She didn't strike him as particularly intimidating for someone who was supposedly a serial killer from the death pits.
"Now, begin!"
The jester's right hand shifted, and the pair of wooden puppets leaped toward Motoyasu, their blades twisting around to pierce him.
'Huh-' Motoyasu's instincts took over, and he barely blocked the first puppet's strikes while avoiding the second puppet's leap in time. They'd moved fast, far faster than he'd been expecting!
Pulling up his HUD as he backed up and blocked additional strikes, he found that his stats had dropped by an astonishing amount. They were nearly half of what they were supposed to be with his current weapon form equipped. Yet even then, he shouldn't have been on the backfoot like this already!
Seeking a quick reprieve to regather his bearings, Motoyasu quickly chanted a fire spell to force his opponents back. "Fast Fireball!"
One of the dummies raised its blades, cutting the magic attack up. The brief moment of distraction allowed Motoyasu to sidestep past its comrade's next thrust, swinging his naginata up and severing one of the wooden arms clean off the dummy's body before it could pull back.
Ha! There we go! Now Motoyasu was getting-
"Spider Net." A chill ran down his spine, and Motoyasu quickly turned around only to watch as thick strings of silk wrapped around his arms and legs.
'What- what just-'
As he tried to process his thoughts, Murder Pierrot appeared in his vision. Swinging her closed scissor blades down at him. But even while Motoyasu's brain was trying to comprehend the situation, his lips continued to move on their own, guided by the Spear Hero's recently sharpened survival instincts, courtesy of Granny.
"Fast Fireball!" The blonde shouted the spell again, launching it directly at the sand underneath him.
The clown sharply cut her momentum short by stabbing her strange weapon into the arena floor just before the explosion went off.
BOOM!
A pillar of smoke and sand was launched into the air under the thunderous cheer of the crowd. Little did they know that the explosion propelled Sir Bubba backward into an awkward and lame tumble that was conveniently hidden from sight by the explosion's aftermath.
Motoyasu cursed under his breath and got back on his feet. He wasn't hurt too badly, but this was a bad start. He almost took a crippling blow from his opponent there. What the hell was that spell she used anyway?
He tore the remains of the sticky silk off his armor. Sure enough, the flames made it shrivel and melt. It was pretty wild how he remembered that weird bit of trivia from Elena's secondhand retelling of what everyone was up to during the Spirit Tortoise's rampage. Even weirder still was that he managed to remember that and to come up with a plan to stop himself from getting cut clean in half in the span of half a second.
Maybe Granny's insane training regimen wasn't so insane. Because it was definitely working.
"Interesting-" A quiet, distorted remark escaped from the clown's mask as Sir Bubba stepped out of the smokescreen under another round of thunderous cheers from the audience.
The clown jumped back, her blade held to her side while her free hand made another strange motion.
Motoyasu heard some movement behind him and sidestepped the wooden automaton's attack again. As he repositioned himself, he saw the other dummy's arm had reattached itself to its body, and it began attacking Motoyasu once again.
'&^%$!' He finally realized it then. His opponent was no common adventurer or gladiator like the ones he'd faced yesterday.
This was a legitimate match.
Time flew by. For the first time in a while, Granny kicking his butt in the mornings notwithstanding, Motoyasu found himself hard-pressed to defend himself. As he discovered early on, dismembering these dolls wasn't enough to stop them.
To try and work around that, he tried going for attacks that'd destroy the dolls completely.
"Bind Wire." As the Spear Hero attempted to cleave one of the dummies in two, however, thin strings of thread wrapped around the end of his naginata's blade, stopping it midswing.
'&^%$!' Because Motoyasu couldn't let go of his weapon, he had to grab the sword of the other dummy with his gloved hand before it could strike his helmet. He managed to throw the dummy back with that, but not without leaving a small bleeding gash on his hand. And that wasn't accounting for the original dummy he'd tried to target, who took its opportunity to slash at Motoyasu's chest plate, leaving a nice scratch along the armor before the blonde managed to burn the strange thread that'd appeared from out of nowhere with a quickfire spell.
Actually, where had it appeared from? This didn't make any sense.
"And Sir Bubba has officially lasted the longest out of any of Murder Pierrot's opponents, human or monster! Remember folks, betting is still open for the first ten minutes of the match!" The announcer man yelled.
Not helping!
"You can do it Big Brother!" Amber shouted next to the group of excited fan girls.
NOW THAT WAS A BIG HELP, I SAY!
Motoyasu blocked another strike with his naginata but the second puppet's sword left a deep gash on his shoulder pauldron when the blonde raised it to protect his neck.
Yeesh! Fighting three-on-one was no joke! He couldn't even concentrate enough to cast any magic above the first tier!
Motoyasu was starting to wonder if he should just throw caution to the wind and start using Hengen Muso moves now. He didn't think he'd be pushed to this point here. He hadn't wanted to resort to that bag of tricks, in case there was someone here who remembered the way Granny fought.
"Bind Wire." Motoyasu dove out of the way as many strong threads came from his right, covering one of the dummies that'd been fighting him. Not that it mattered, as his opponent jumped in while the wooden puppet freed itself.
Motoyasu would start small then, using life force to adjust his senses and reflexes. He didn't need to increase his stats necessarily, he just had to even the odds.
He focused life force into his eyes and other parts of his body. His ability to dodge and counterattack increased in tandem.
He blocked Murder Pierrot's next strike, then spun around the wooden puppet that tried to swing at him, before landing his first strike on his actual opponent.
Murder Pierrot jumped back, part of her outfit on her arm cut open. The shallow grazing slice didn't manage to pierce the skin, but the girl seemed more wary of fighting him up close now.
Her right hand made another motion, and…
He finally spotted it. Small lines of thread, extended from her fingers to various parts of the dummies he'd been fighting against.
Of course! They were puppets! Damn, now he really felt stupid for not seeing the obvious solution to his woes before.
"Ha!" Motoyasu charged forward this time, allowing the puppet's blades to land on his chestplate.
He didn't care about needing to fix up the armor later. This maneuver gave him the perfect opportunity to slash directly above the wooden things with the blade of his naginata.
And just like that, both puppets collapsed to the ground. Their strings cut.
"Whoa! Look at that ladies and gentlemen! Sir Bubba has just become the first person to bring down Murder Pierrot's puppets! This is a whole match of firsts for our favorite clown!"
The crowd roared as Motoyasu turned to face down his actual opponent. Amber cheered more loudly than the fan girls next to her, and Sebas, who'd taken his seat next to the Royal Filolial by that point, began to politely clap his hands as well.
Motoyasu smirked behind his visor as he pointed his weapon towards his opponent. "I'll admit. You're stronger than I expected. This match is actually kind of fun."
He wasn't speaking loud enough to be heard over the crowd. But it was loud enough for Murder Pierrot to hear him. "Let's wrap things up now, shall we?" Motoyasu took an aggressive stance, readying to charge forward.
His opponent didn't flinch, however. Instead, she took her scissor blade in both hands and forcibly pried it apart with a loud metallic screech.
Now, she was wielding two sharp swords and the display caused another uproar from the audience.
This must have been her serious mode. Perfect, he was taking things seriously too now.
The two fighters charged each other, and the real clash commenced.
"My goodness, ladies and gentlemen! This is incredible! I can barely even follow their movements!" The announcer screamed, his voice amplified with magic.
The crowd had quieted a lot by this point, this time in awe at the match that they were witnessing.
Sir Bubba and his opponent were both a blur of speed, matching each other blow for blow. It was hard for the common tourist to discern who was landing blows on who and which fighter was winning.
Motoyasu was grinning in delight under his helmet and came close to laughing more than a few times. It was no wonder his opponent was so strong, she was also a Hengen Muso Practitioner!
He'd been caught off guard by it at first. But because he could recognize life force, he'd learned several things about his opponent right away. Like the fact that she was also using life force to increase her stats and physical capabilities like he was. As well as that, she could manifest her life force outside her body in the form of walls and barriers.
That was a trick Granny had never taught him. Was it some kind of advanced technique? Regardless, Murder Pierrot was using these barriers to great effect, slowing down the Spear Hero's attacks for just a split second or otherwise deflecting his attacks away from her, creating openings against him, which resulted in quite a few scratches and bruises on his end.
"Drifa Heal!" Which he subsequently dealt with by using a healing spell on himself after they disengaged. Thank you Granny for all that sparring! He never thought he'd ever admit that to himself, but here he was.
The girl took a step back, and Motoyasu's grin widened as green energy covered his body. With only one opponent to focus on, casting higher-tier magic was a piece of cake.
"Oof!" One of the wooden puppets from earlier slammed into his side, tackling him to the ground.
Shoot! He hadn't even noticed that she'd roughly reconnected the threads going from her hand to her puppets! The blonde had no idea what kind of magic this was, but whatever the case, she had great control over it!
Motoyasu threw the wooden dummy off, just in time to block a heavy downward strike from Murder Pierrot that caused a shockwave to come out from the point of impact. And when she disengaged to avoid his counterattack, Motoyasu cast another fire spell, burning away the threads controlling the puppet.
"What a back and forth, ladies and gentlemen! Could we be seeing a fight featuring the Undercity's next grand champion today?!" The announcer was starting to lose it. The crowd was going ballistic too.
"GET HER BIG BROTHER! TEAR OUT HER THROAT I SAY!" Amber screamed from the top of her lungs while shaking a fist in the air.
Some of the fan girls sitting next to her stared at the other half of the Sworn Duo in shock. Others took up her chant though. Cheering for his victory.
"TEAR OUT HER THROAT, I SAY!"
Motoyasu laughed as he chanted his next spell, blocking several of his opponent's strikes in the process. Murder Pierrot tried to launch another bundle of threads at the fallen puppets but that just gave the spear hero the opening he needed to finish casting his spell.
"Zweite Hellfire!"
The pierrot covered her mask as the bright flames appeared. However, instead of hitting her, they engulfed the two mannequins. Within seconds, the wooden constructs had been reduced to ash.
She looked back and forth from the ashes of the puppets to him. Almost as if she was shocked.
Motoyasu's smirk widened. There, now they wouldn't have any other distractions, and he could focus on winning this-
"Bind Wire." Threads launched from the tip of one of the girl's blades, wrapping around Motoyasu's body.
"Fire Paralysis Wire." As Motoyasu was still reeling from the surprise attack, the lines of thread trapping him suddenly caught fire.
"AHHHH!" Motoyasu cried out in pain as he fought to free himself from the red-hot threads. What the hell? She had fireproof threads this whole time?! And beyond that, they hurt! This attack surpassed his defense stat by quite a bit.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
He then staggered back as his opponent unleashed a new onslaught of melee attacks, not giving him a moment to recover.
He hadn't realized that those attacks from earlier were coming from her. He should have expected it, in all honesty, since she controlled the marionettes with similar threads, but in the heat of the moment, he never made that connection.
"Hah!" He punched forward with his left fist, landing a blow on the girl that pushed her back. She dug both blades into the ground to keep herself from stumbling back too far.
Motoyasu took the moment to cast another magic attack at her. "Zweite Fireball!"
The large fire projectile headed toward the girl, but then, Motoyasu saw the girl reaching out with her hand. The spell began to slow down and then was suddenly repelled and flew right back at Motoyasu.
It was life force again.
Boom!
Motoyasu, pushed back by his attack, dashed forward afterward to begin attacking the female clown again out of frustration. But as he tried to strike, many lines of thread extending out from her arm wrapped around his weapon, forcing him to block one of her blades with his armored wrist before he could rip the Cardinal Spear free of its binds.
More of these threads kept getting in his way. As well as those barriers of life force. So annoying! He wasn't able to land a single hit on her and she slashed him quite a few times in return before he pulled back.
"Drifa Fireball!" Motoyasu sent a larger magic attack at her. This time, he infused the spell with life force.
She caught it with the same technique she used earlier, but she briefly cried out in pain as it began to explode in her grasp.
She managed to throw it away just before it could, but Motoyasu saw the light burns covering her hands. And she wasn't able to protect herself from the entirety of the exploding magic attack.
So she couldn't block or redirect powerful magic it seemed. Fine, he needed to end this anyway. His MP bar was only getting lower, and he would exhaust his life force soon enough.
This was going to be the third time that he was trying to make this spell that King Aultcray taught him months ago work. Hopefully, this one would actually work, since he put more time into studying it and how it worked to unlock a more powerful version of it.
"I, Sir Bubba of the Sworn Duo have deciphered the laws of creation. I command the elements to heed my call. To gather themselves, and to strike my target with a fiery vengeance!"
He continued chanting as Murder Pierrot rushed him to try and disrupt his chanting. He blocked and parried, his lips not stopping for a second.
Right as he finished, he slammed his weapon into the clown's blades, throwing her back. Motoyasu then raised a fist in the air. "Go forth, Drifa Hundred Fiery Javelins!
Murder Pierrot stepped back again as the many fiery constructs appeared in one line after another above Sir Bubba's head. These constructs were twice, if not three times as big as before. The collective heat they gave off was so great that even those behind the protective magic barrier separating the audience from the fight turned their faces away as it suddenly became too hot to look at the two directly.
"Is that- MY GOODNESS! I NEVER REALIZED SIR BUBBA WAS SUCH AN ACCOMPLISHED FIRE MAGE! HAS HE BEEN HOLDING BACK THIS WHOLE TIME?!" The announcer screamed, his eyes boggling out of their sockets while his glasses went crooked on his face.
Murder Pierrot took yet another step back, staring up at the powerful spell in disbelief.
"Huah!" And just like that, without giving her even a moment to process what she was looking at, Motoyasu brought his hand down, sending the full might of his most powerful spell down all around the clown.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The crowd and announcer covered their faces as one explosion after another rang out inside the fighting pit.
Motoyasu covered his visor too as bits of molten glass slammed into his armor over and over again. Even though it was his spell, he was sweating from all the heat.
Had this been a little overkill? He hoped he hadn't accidentally killed his opponent here. He watched as his MP bar dropped and dropped with every passing second.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions continued ringing for a while, melting the sand covering the arena floor into glass until, finally, at last, the magic attack came to an abrupt end.
…
Motoyasu leaned on his weapon as the smoke around his immediate vicinity began to clear. Though it still hung heavy in the air all around him. Immediately, one of the first things he noticed all around him were the craters, scorch marks, and of course, the field of glass he was standing on.
To think he'd cast that while using a weaker weapon form, and while debuffed!
Motoyasu shivered in excitement. He couldn't wait to see what it'd look like at full power!
…
Eventually, the figure of a person became visible on the ground before him. He hadn't gotten an exp notification, so that meant that she was still alive.
Motoyasu approached the collapsed form of Murder Pierrot and cautiously pushed her over. He wanted to make sure that he didn't accidentally cripple her.
…
…
…
What the… why was there a log wearing her outfit!?
"Scape-Doll." From the smoke, a weave of thread formed in the air. From it, the real Murder Pierrot materialized, still dressed in the same outfit, though noticeably burnt.
"!" Motoyasu's eyes widened as she said nothing else, dropping down to attack once again.
&%$#! &%$# &%$# &%$# &%$#-
"Chaos Thrust!"
His MP reserves were empty, and in a last-ditch desperate attempt to defend himself, Motoyasu activated the Hero skill and slashed up with his naginata, not bothering to defend against the girl's own desperate attack.
Slash!
The Spear Hero stumbled backward as, even with his sudden increase in speed, his opponent's strike grazed against the vizor of his helmet, ripping it open and revealing the blonde's face.
But at the same time, Murder Pierrot stumbled back. A thin line had been cut right across the middle of her mask by Motoyasu's sudden attack.
As the Spear Hero looked up, the two halves of the mask fell to the ground, and the girl's ruined and burned jester hat fell off her head as well.
…
Motoyasu's world stopped at that moment.
She was beautiful.
Short silver hair framed the sides of her young, full-looking face. She had a small button-like nose above an adorable, pretty set of lips that were currently parted slightly in surprise. Her pale and flawless porcelain-like skin was tinged red, probably from the heat of Motoyasu's earlier fire spell.
Murder Pierrot's eyes were like a mixture of blue and silver amidst the clearing smoke. Full of so many different flickering emotions that Motoyasu couldn't help but stare into them and get lost.
Had… had…
Had he been fighting a ten out of ten the whole time?!
Holy- she was so beautiful, I say! Just how low had he fallen so far as to try and harm a beautiful maiden like her!? He had to cut off his hands- NO, HIS ARMS, I SAY, FOR THAT VERY ACT ALONE WAS WORTHY OF-
The Spear Hero shook his head. No, bad Motoyasu! What the hell was he thinking?! The two of them were fighting each other in a pit! He couldn't show mercy just because she turned out to be the most dreamlike visage of femininity he'd ever laid his eyes upon!
Motoyasu focused on his opponent again, trying to ready his tired aching body as well as his frenzied, simping mind for one last push.
…
But, curiously enough, Murder Pierrot was not in a hurry to retaliate either.
…
In fact, as the Spear Hero stared at her, he noticed that her face was growing steadily redder by the second. Which didn't make sense, since the heat was already dying down.
Oh, wait, his face was visible, so maybe she recognized him as the Spear Hero? But that still didn't explain why her face was slowly turning into a tomato.
Finally, the girl slowly and awkwardly started to walk up to him. She sheathed her scissor blades on her back. Something small appeared in her hands.
"H-H-H-█ █ █ ███████"
Motoyasu tilted his head in confusion. What the heck was that static noise? Had it come from her mouth?
"I'm sorry!" Murder Pierrot suddenly pushed Motoyasu back with both hands, before bolting into the dissipating smoke behind him.
"Huh-" The Spear Hero turned around on the glass floor but was suddenly blinded by a flash of light.
…
By the time he regained his sight, it became apparent that Murder Pierrot had vanished.
…
…
Motoyasu said nothing, still looking surprised at what'd happened.
He could only hastily push the broken visor on his helmet down so that his handsome face would remain hidden as the last of the smoke hiding the floor of the arena from the crowd began to dissipate.
"I… I… Folks, I don't believe it! It appears Murder Pierrot was entirely incinerated by Sir Bubba's impressive magic attack!" The announcer shouted in disbelief and genuine glee.
"This fight's winner is Sir Bubba of the Sworn Duo!"
There were gasps of shock from the crowd.
&^%$. Was he about to be thrown out and arrested for murder?! That was unreasonable, I say! But how would he convince the others that she was still alive, and-
"YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A massive roar drowned out all other noise in the room.
A roar of approval from the people to the disguised, exhausted Spear Hero.
… you know what? Motoyasu had a feeling he'd be just fine.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, give a round of applause to today's victor!"
Oh well. Not like it really mattered if they knew that she was still alive. Damn, he was tired. What a battle.
That fight had turned into a draw at the end there. It was only because she'd run off that he'd finally won.
In a way, it hurt his pride, just a little bit. If they ever fought again, he wouldn't be so quick to underestimate her.
…
Oh man, he hoped he'd see her again. Maybe next time, he'd remember to ask for her name and see if she'd be down for some lunch together.
That'd be entirely amazing, I say!
"Blondie, you did great!"
"Ow ow ow! Careful, that's still tender!" Motoyasu cried out in pain as he pried an excited Amber from his chest.
"Oops. Hehe, sorry Blondie." The girl giggled innocently. "But you fought very well today! Amber's super proud of you!"
"Indeed. Even I was surprised at the ferocity that your opponent displayed. You have my congratulations for winning such a match." Sebas smiled and bowed his head while complimenting Motoyasu as well.
The Spear Hero almost felt touched, but then the old man followed up on his words. "However, I am a bit disappointed that you underestimated your opponent at the start. I could have sworn you had better judgment skills than that."
"Can you blame me though? Everyone else up to this point barely put up a fight." Motoyasu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Hmmm… perhaps I could help you warm up before your next fight then?" As the butler said this, a dangerous, all too familiar aura surrounded his body. A shadow covered the top part of Sebas' face as he balled his hand into a fist, causing veins in the back of his hand to bulge out threateningly.
"N-N-No, I'm good. Thanks for the o-offer though." Motoyasu said in an all too nervous voice.
"Oh, I'm not offering," The aura around Sebas intensified, and Motoyasu nearly screamed in terror as he desperately started apologizing to get the guy to calm down.
Strange, for a moment, it almost felt like Granny was the one in there.
The Spear Hero was currently staying inside the examination room of a small private clinic, being treated by one of Hickwaal's healers.
It was honestly a bit overkill. His injuries weren't that severe. Motoyasu could have easily patched himself up with his healing magic or even with one of his new Yggdrasil Elixirs. But the Spear Hero was rather tired from the unexpectedly challenging fight. A brief stop in a clinic like this helped him to both rest and keep up the appearance of being a regular fighter, rather than a Hero with access to top-of-the-line healing magic and medicines.
Not to mention, even if he could make them using his weapon, it'd be better not to waste the world's most powerful medicine in a scenario like this, especially since it took so many resources to make. Better to save it for someone who really needed it.
"You know, I'm just glad I managed to get through that fight," Motoyasu said with a sigh. "It was honestly really hard not to switch to a stronger weapon form or use Hero Skills when Murder Pierrot showed how strong she was."
Amber, wrapped her arms around the seated Motoyasu's head this time, hugging his face close to her chest while stroking the Spear Hero's long blonde hair. "There there, I still think you would have won, Moto." The Filolial Royal spoiled him.
Now this, this was soothing on the soul, I say!
But not even having his face buried in aviary mammaries could get Motoyasu's mind off his opponent.
If only he could get that girl's face out of his mind. Damn, he wanted to see her again. When was the last time something like this had happened to him?!
As he was thinking about her again, Sebas suddenly spoke. "Did your attack incinerate Murder Pierrot? Thinking back on it, I'm certain that I saw movement through the smoke as well as a flash of light."
"I… well…" Motoyasu had to gently break the heavenly embrace that he was in to briefly explain that he hadn't killed his opponent. And how after one final clash where their faces were revealed, she just apologized out of nowhere and ran off.
"... strange. I shall report this to Master Hickwaal. Every wall in this city has eyes and ears, so it's unlikely that her 'death' will stay as common knowledge for long. Not to mention, Mr. Saxon would be furious if he found out one of his prized gladiators suddenly quit..." The old butler thought to himself for another moment, a frown adorning his features.
Whatever his thoughts were on how the Spear Hero had handled himself, the way Motoyasu had fought today… in many ways, it'd seemed eerily familiar to the old butler.
"Well… I'll just hope we'll see her again in the future." Motoyasu shrugged nonchalantly, choosing his words carefully so Amber wouldn't look at him with suspicion. "That draw at the end felt awkward. I'd like to get a proper rematch against her and finish our fight next time." That wasn't too out there for him to say, right?
"Hmmm, Amber would like that too in that case." Thankfully, the redheaded filolial nodded to herself with a smile. "Your fight looked like a lot of fun!"
"Ahaha, yea, it was." Moto nodded in affirmation with a mellow smile before suddenly remembering where he was and addressing Hickwaal's butler again. "Oh, right, how long will it be until the meeting with Nadia?"
"It'll be in just over an hour." Sebas let the thoughts he'd been thinking about go for now. He turned to face the Spear Hero again. "The young Miss will, of course, be having her match during that time. In the meantime, I will see to it that a spare armor set is sent here before your meeting, so I can arrange to have your current set patched up."
"Oh, you don't have to-" Motoyasu started to say.
"Sir Bubba, I mean no offense, but your armor hardly looks capable of stopping a blade of grass at the moment. Much less, an actual blade." Sebas deadpanned.
…
Motoyasu looked down at himself. Like, really looked down at himself.
Oh.
Oh…
Yeah, this set of armor had definitely seen better days. There were, of course, the grooves left behind from the Pierrot's bizarre scissor blades, as well as thin melted lines from that one burning thread attack the girl used on him. The gauntlets were bent and warped, and after looking at his helmet on the nightstand next to him, the blonde found all sorts of dents and grooves on it. And the visor…
Well, being ripped open with a blade hadn't done it any favors.
Still looked better than Naofumi's armor before he left for the Otherworld though.
"Is this even fixable?" Motoyasu sweatdropped.
"Master Hickwaal recently acquired the services of a former Lemos slave who is a very skilled blacksmith. I'll bring this set to him and see if he can restore it to its original condition or not.
"I… alright." Motoyasu could have checked to see if he had another armor set just like this one stored in his weapon. But ultimately, tiredness won out.
His weapon inventory was still a mess anyway. Better to leave sorting that for later, once he had the energy to care. Man, he hoped he found a weapon form that unlocked an auto-sorting option soon. He could really use a quality-of-life upgrade like that.
For the next hour, the Spear Hero rested while his wounds and exhaustion were treated with healing magic. He didn't speak much besides discussing his match with Amber… actually, pretty much all her questions were regarding his opponent Murder Pierrot.
Motoyasu humored Amber being unusually inquisitive to the best of his abilities. But it didn't help that he was constantly distracted by thoughts of the silver-haired girl during that time.
He should have been more curious about her ability to use life force techniques Granny had never taught him, or the fact she used such strange magic in her fight against him, but Motoyasu just couldn't think about those things at the time.
And Amber… well, she was interested in Motoyasu's opponent for a different reason entirely.
…
As the hour was almost past, Sebas reappeared with a spare armor set for Motoyasu to put on. It looked like your average plate armor, with no color variations or emblems or anything fancy.
"There, this should suffice. I shall be escorting Amber to her match now." Sebas bowed again while Motoyasu got dressed.
"And I will be escorted by... Larsa, was it?" Motoyasu scrunched his face up in thought, recalling the information from earlier this morning.
"Yes, Larsazusa. She is the undercity's chief of security. Lady Nadia seems to trust her to bring you to today's meeting place, but..." Sebas narrowed his eyes. "I advise you to be careful about what you say around her. Her title doesn't have as much influence as you might think. But it still requires her to work closely with the City Council. So where her loyalties lie is debatable."
"I see… I'll be careful then. Thank you." Motoyasu nodded grimly before putting his helmet on.
Amber and Sebas left shortly after that, leaving Motoyasu alone again to sit in the clinic's examination room.
…
After confirming that no one was watching, Motoyasu reached into his Spear's Gem and pulled a tiny object out of it. It was a small and delicately crafted sewing pin with a rounded head made from a pale white pearl that gleamed with all the colors of the rainbow as the light danced across its polished surface.
He had found it sticking out of his gambeson as he got dressed earlier but didn't bring any attention to it in fear of Amber's reaction. Now, he took a closer look at it. As simple as it was in design, it carried an air of mystery and a gentle warmth to it.
"A token..." Motoyasu muttered while another mellow smile spread across his face as he recalled his favorite Barthurian novels. Fair maidens in them would frequently offer their knights small tokens of their affection in the form of things like pressed flowers or handkerchiefs.
After reminiscing on it some more, the Spear Hero shook his head and sighed. What a silly thought. This pin had probably just gotten undone from the jester girl's hat during their fight and got caught in his clothes.
Still, he made sure to carefully insert it into the fabric of his gambeson under his chestplate. Right over where his heart was. At least he could pretend that it meant something.
...
Before long, the door opened again and a tall imposing figure of a panda therianthrope stepped inside. "Sir Bubba." The voice that spoke was feminine. Short, clipped, and to the point.
"Yes. You must be Larsauza then?" Motoyasu asked while lightly cocking his head to the side.
"That's right. Larsa, Captain of Zeltoble's Mercenary Army. As well as the Chief of Security over this hellhole." The therianthrope woman continued in her clipped tone. "I'll be taking you to Nadia."
"R… Right." Motoyasu nodded.
"Is there a problem?" Larsa asked.
The Spear Hero shook his head, focusing on her again. "No, lead on." He stood up, only slightly regretting the action as his joints ached.
Larsa gave a curt nod of her own in return, and together, the two left the room.
Hero Clips!
Filolial Dolls
Motoyasu readied his weapon, facing the portcullis before him. He was waiting for it to open and reveal his opponent, which caught him off guard when a pair of figures landed on the sand to his left and right from above, as well as a third person directly in front of him.
The other two weren't people. They towered over Motoyasu. The Spear Hero stumbled back in shock as he took the puppets in. His opponent readied herself to fight.
They weren't the real deal, which was obvious to see with their plush faces. But the feathers covering them. The scent slammed into Motoyasu's nose.
There was no mistaking it, I say!
"FILOLIAL DOLLS!"
Motoyasu tackled the one covered in white and blue feathers. His opponent took several steps back in surprise.
"YES! THESE ARE PERFECT, I SAY!" Motoyasu yelled, hearts appearing all around his helmet as he cuddled the inanimate creation.
Murder Pierrot stared in confusion but shifted her hand to make the second doll she'd made attack Motoyasu from the other side.
"OOH!" Despite the doll landing a solid kick straight to the knight's groin, he didn't falter in the slightest. In fact, he looked even more in love than before!
"IT'S JUST LIKE HOW FILO-TAN TREATS ME, I SAY! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Motoyasu grabbed the second doll around the neck, squeezing it tightly in a love-drunk haze.
...
Murder Pierrot wasn't moving anymore, too shocked by the sight before her. Yet it was almost like her dolls had a life of their own, as they desperately tried to pry themselves out of the love-struck Spear Hero's embrace.
Honestly, it might have sounded like they were crying for help too. Strange, since they were nothing more than puppets.
"Uhhhh… Sir Bubba, you have a match to fight." The Announcer man said nervously. The crowd was also staring, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Ugh… why Blondie?" Amber sighed while facepalming.
"Is there something going…" As Sebas was about to take his seat next to Amber, he spotted what was going on down below. A sweatdrop appeared on his forehead. "Ah, I guess I should have warned Sir Bubba about the dolls…"
"I don't think it would have helped." Amber pinched her nose.
The crowd uncomfortably watched as Motoyasu's love of the dolls reached further unhealthy levels. Murder Pierrot continued to stand in her spot, feeling conflicted. She was happy that someone loved what she'd created, but maybe this was a little too much.
Amber and Sebas eventually left for the girl's match. As the hour passed and the fight still hadn't finished, as Motoyasu was pleading for Murder Pierrot to teach him how to make more of these dolls.
It was going to be awkward explaining to Nadia why Sir Bubba couldn't make it to their meeting.
Till Next Time
Allen