A question appeared in Albert’s mind as he faced Figaro in this five-on-one battle.
Time was on his side, but as it flowed by, he couldn’t help but wonder why Figaro wasn’t doing anything.
The Over Gladiator must’ve been aware of the debuffs draining his HP, MP, and SP. Death drew closer every moment, and more and more of his skills became unusable.
Why, then, was Figaro maintaining this deadlock?
Albert had a guess, of course.
He knew that Figaro’s equipment enhancement became more efficient as more time passed.
However, Figaro was barely going to last even a few more minutes. Just how great of an improvement could he expect in this short amount of time? And even if he was greatly empowered, what would be the point of it if he couldn’t even use his skills?
Because of this, inaction had to be the wrong decision. Figaro had to defeat Albert while he still had the power to do so.
Figaro must’ve understood this—and yet he wasn’t doing anything. Albert couldn’t help but wonder why.
“...Phew.” Breathing raggedly, Figaro seemed to be observing the Alberts surrounding him.
Was he preparing to respond in case they took action? Or was he searching for a path to victory?
The champion slowly looked around as if trying to sense something.
I can’t see it. I can’t feel it. It really doesn’t seem like there’s anything there. But...
Figaro was lost in thought. Defeat was drawing closer by the second, and he was searching for a way to repel it.
I couldn’t see the moment he split into seven. I didn’t even realize he was doing that. I didn’t look away from the seventh for even a moment...but next thing I knew, I was surrounded.
Figaro was thinking as hard as he could. He replayed the flow of events that had led to this situation in his mind and let intuition do its job.
He firmly believed that that was where he would find his chance at victory.
Right. The very first attack. He was turning the flamethrowers.
When using Firelyx, Albert had turned the fires to target Figaro, licking the entire stage with its tongues of flame. Figaro had managed to evade them, but it was still an area attack that was blasted in every direction indiscriminately.
I didn’t see anything strange about the shape of the fire. There was nothing in its way. That means...
Figaro finally reached an answer.
“I see how it is.”
His sudden words caused a stir in the five remaining Alberts...
“I finally see the last part of your trick.”
...and the word “trick” caused a murmur to ripple through the audience.
If this was about Albert’s healing and buff skill, then its workings had been clear for a while now.
If it was about him splitting into seven parts, then that was an ult—hardly a “trick.”
What was Figaro referring to, then?
“Anyway... It’s time to end this.”
And then, the Over Gladiator took action.
The time that had passed, though, had ravaged Figaro’s body. He could no longer use his devastating Overdrive.
Instead, the move he chose to make was...
“Liferend Shield Formation.”
...another skill from Rendshield Cloak, Closer.
It was the ultimate move of the UBM it came from, and it created countless shield blades that both protected its wielder and sliced anything that came too close.
However, using it in this situation seemed like an awful idea. While it wasn’t as costly as Overdrive, using this rendered Figaro unable to use any other skills. It also wasn’t enough to block the Albert duplicates’ immensely powerful attacks, nor did it have enough offensive power to destroy them.
No matter how it was used, the skill would not be enough. It didn’t make sense.
“HIII-YAH!” Figaro swung his arm, sending the countless blades flying like a winter hailstorm.
They ricocheted within the arena, dealing damage to the five Alberts.
But just as he and everyone else expected, the firepower just wasn’t enough.
Though frail as far as SJs went, Albert was still a combat-focused Superior Job. The blades did little if Albert just assumed a defensive stance, and each duplicate had high enough HP that most of this damage was irrelevant.
Most importantly, the attacks simply weren’t concentrated enough. Split between the five Alberts, the blades simply weren’t able to deal enough damage to end this.
In fact, despite all the Alberts being on the ground, some of the blades had been launched into the air.
The audience tilted their heads in confusion, the hardened fighters watched in disbelief...and Albert changed his expression for the first time.
Figaro’s seemingly meaningless area attack made all five Alberts open their eyes wide.
They prepared to shift from defense to attack in order to stop Figaro’s blades...when a light thud could be heard amid the chaos. One of the airborne blades had struck something.
“Oh. Guess I was right.” And with that, Figaro instantly leaped into the sky.
This was something he’d done in his fight against Gloria.
Using the shield-blades as platforms, he rushed upward.