Chapter Eight: Bad Status
Both Father and Itsuki let out their battle cries as Father, raising his shield, charged at Itsuki. Itsuki responded by leaping back, activating a skill, and firing his bow. The arrow bolted toward Father, but Father held out his hands and snatched the bow out of midair.
“Impossible!” Itsuki cried in astonishment.
But it only delayed him for a moment before he shot several more arrows at Father. There were so many of them that for a second, I doubted that even Father could handle them.
“Airstrike Shield!” Father cried. The volley of arrows bounced helplessly off of Airstrike Shield.
Itsuki’s main role in battle was to attack from a distance, while Father’s was to prevent harm to his comrades. Their roles couldn’t have been more different. It seemed like Father couldn’t hurt Itsuki any more than a mosquito.
But just like the time that I had dueled Father, he had tricks up his sleeve. Father had defeated me by using balloon monsters he had hidden under his cloak. In the gaming world Father might be what you call a monster-player killer—someone seemingly powerless who is still capable of taking down powerful foes. Father had really gotten me good. His strategy had been nothing short of first-rate.
Still, this time around, as far as I knew, Father didn’t have anything hidden under his cloak. I simply could not wait to see what Father would do, I say!
“All you can do is shoot arrows at me while scurrying around?” Father called. “You camper! Maybe it would work in a mainstream console game, but you’ll see just how far it takes you, Itsuki!”
The taunt spurred a vague memory I had. Something about enjoying an online shooting game. In games like that, I had heard players were called campers when they just hid and shot at other players.
“Now you’ve done it!” seethed Itsuki. “Suck on this! Bunker Shot!” Itsuki ran closer to Father, aimed at his chest, and launched the attack.
Perhaps it was an attack that grew stronger the closer you were to the target. Just based on Itsuki’s play style, I knew Itsuki was unlikely to use an attack like that very often. It was probably an early-game type of skill—something to use in case of emergencies when the enemy gets too close. Based on what I knew, a skill like that might be pretty strong with a special status condition, but if you wanted to attack from close up, why bother with the bow class in the first place? If you were a solo player, the skill certainly wouldn’t hurt. You may as well have it at the ready. But still, it was a skill so useless that I had never heard it used even once in the first go-around.
The attack thudded against Father where Itsuki had aimed.
Father bore the brunt of the attack without flinching. “Hm,” he said. “It didn’t even hurt.”
Itsuki’s smile quickly fell apart. “Not . . . not even a scratch?”
The difference between their levels of strength was like night and day. Father had applied all of the power-up techniques I had taught him to his advantage. But even if Itsuki had also acquired the four holy power-ups, he would still be no match for Father.
“I think it’s my turn, isn’t it?” Father said.
“And just what in the world could you possibly do to me?” Itsuki sneered.
In a flash, Father grabbed Itsuki by the collar and raised his shield. Armed with the sharpened spikes on the front of his shield, he plowed his shield into Itsuki.
Itsuki grunted in pain, but they didn’t seem to pierce too deeply. I guessed it was light damage at most.
“What . . . what was . . .” Itsuki raised his hand to his head as if he was dizzy.
Father then shoved Itsuki over and grabbed him by the arms and legs so he couldn’t move. It wasn’t a particular martial arts locking technique or anything. It looked more like Father just climbed onto him. But Itsuki was completely unable to move.
Now I remembered. Father had used the same move against me. His strategy was to aim for the face and the groin. It almost looked like Father was starting to get excited, but maybe it was just my imagination.
I, Motoyasu Kitamura, burst into tears upon witnessing Father’s peerless courage.
“If you surrender now, I’ll stop,” Father warned.
“S-surrender? No chance!” Itsuki cried.
“All right then, that’s your choice.” Father looked down at Itsuki. “From here it’s simple. I’m going to hold you down until you surrender.”
“As if! I’m not going to surrender to the likes of you!”
“Let’s see just how long you keep saying that.”
Held down by Father, Itsuki kept trying to use his skills, but Father seemed to have him locked completely in place. I remembered being in Itsuki’s exact position. As much as I tried to overcome him, Father’s strength had held me locked in place, and there was nothing I could do. At this point it just seemed like Father was holding Itsuki in place and drawing out the match. But that couldn’t be all.
Every time Itsuki tried to resist, his movements just got weaker and more sluggish. Itsuki opened his mouth and started to groan out a spell, but Father grasped him by the mouth and at the same time hit him again with his shield to stop any further counterattack.
“So you can use magic, huh?” Father asked. “Not like it would have much effect anyway.”
Most likely Father had applied some sort of paralysis toxin to his shield. It looked like Itsuki was losing his ability to speak as well. The poison was sapping away Itsuki’s strength, and he gradually stopped resisting.
I was blown away. If Father had used the same poisoned shield against me in the first go-around, he would’ve won even before the Crimson Swine was able to interfere. I did have a memory of getting bit by a shield with two dog heads, but this was far more formidable.
The strength of the Shield Hero was on full display. Upon witnessing Father’s heroic deeds, I could no longer stop tears from uncontrollably pouring out of my eyes. I wept. The same ingenious nature he possessed in the first go-around was on full display!
“Spear Bro, quit crying, won’t ya?” Keel barked.
“He’s expressing the profound depth of his feeling,” Yuki said. “Naofumi’s heroic deeds have simply moved Motoyasu to tears.”
“I get that! Big Bro’s incredible!”
Then, the very moment that Itsuki could barely move and Father stood on the cusp of victory, I heard a strange sound and saw something move underneath Father’s cloak.
No, it was before Father’s cloak started moving—everyone could see that something had happened along with the strange sound. I had no doubt it was the Crimson Swine, hidden somewhere amid the spectators, who had used a spell against Father—Wing Blow.