Chapter 102: Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 2

「Uehh, talk about a bad taste……」

And once the transformation was completed…… it was a thing that was closer to being described as a nailed bat rather than a sword, that’s just how many nails and thorns was on it.

「Now then, let’s get this party started, shall we!」

「…… Come right at me.」

「Then I won’t hold anything back…… “Serial Killer”, “Ridiculing Shadow”, “Enchantment: Vorpal”, “Massacre Bite”!」

Brandishing the sword that was now integrated with his right arm, Pencilgton lunges forward. He wanted to approach Saiga-0 with irregular movements and dodges, but came to a sudden halt once he saw that Saiga-0 struck her sword into the ground, and then pushed it forward, causing it to rip out a huge chunk of the ground with it.

Pencilgton tried to attack through the rubble, but his sword stopped on the black substance covering Saiga-0 armor, dealing no damage at all. At the same time Saiga-0 swung her own sword. Pencilgton tried to dodge it, but since his own weapon got entangled with the black mass of Saiga-0’s armor he was unable to escape in time.

「Kuah……!」

「Requiem for Existence.」

Because Pencilgton’s weapon was fused with his arm he was unable to escape Saiga-0’s attack and as a result his arm got cut off.

Pencilgton then jumped back in a hurry but it looked as if his movements were much more frantic than before. Surely it wasn’t the fact that his arm got cut off, it wouldn’t be the first time. So it must be something else. Maybe Saiga-0 managed to intimidate her so much?

「…… This is the end.」

「Hahaha, I knew it, the level gap really is something that cannot be closed so easily through any means…… But still, right here, in this exact place…… I cannot allow myself to look lame……!」

Falling onto the ground, Pencilgton glances at the dead cherry blossom tree. And then he grasps his severed arm-blade and swings it at Saiga-0.

「…… In that case, have it your way. We are of conflicting interests. Light and Darkness that repel each other. Clashing destinies and fates unbound. Body that is soaked in light while the soul is tainted by Darkness. Oh great Chaos, devourer of the world…… “CHAOS VOID”.」

A brief flash. That was all I was able to catch from Saiga-0’s movement as she and Pencilgton briefly passed each other. In the next moment I could see that Pencilgton’s body had been cleaved perfectly in two. The upper part quickly dissipated into red polygons, while the lower part stood there for a moment or two before eventually falling over and disappearing as well.

「………」

「Wait, what just……?」

Together with Katsu I backed away from Saiga-0 as we began to discuss something among ourselves.

(Dude, did you see that sh*t!? Pencilgton was cleaved in half as if he was a stick of butter! All that big talk and he still ends up lame as fuck!)

(Now how can we communicate with one another without Pencilgton acting as our straight man!? Our friendship might not be able to withstand it!)

(What if he comes back from the grave to haunt us!? He may be dead, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous than he was when he was alive!)

(Fuwah…… Right, I got it! It is finally time for me to show you the amazing powers of the professional gamers community!)

(Power of community?)

After our little consultation was finally over, Katsu turned towards Saiga-0, who already reverted back to her “platinum armor” mode.

「Ahh, umm…… Right. Y, you really made a short work out of Pencilgton! I was really surprised there! Is this the level of abilities of end-game players?」

「…… This is, there’s lots of unique skills out there…… Some weak, some strong…… so it really…… depends……」

「Are those skills that can be taught? Or maybe they are limited to certain players……?」

「…… That’s something that even I……」

「Ahh……」

Feeling completely defeated, Katsu returns to my side and gives me a light pat onto the shoulder.

「Sorry. It looks like my communications skills are garbage-level in the end. Maybe next time I should pick up a game that will allow me to develop some of my social skills to some decent level?」

「“Love Clock”. Highly recommend. Won’t be disappointed.」

「Isn’t that basically a sh*tty game!?」

Not really. It is pretty much grounded in reality. It basically tells you that throwing around sweet words and empty promises is easier said than done. Still, I always thought that Katsu was the one who was more communicative than I was. Since he’s a pro gamer and all that crap.

「Ahh, what the hell, umm…… Thank you very much for going along with Pencilgton’s selfish request. Just like he promised, you can have all the items that are here.」

「……………… Umm.」

「Yes, what is it?」

「CAN. I. ASK. YOU. SOMETHING?」

「Oh, yeah, sure, go right ahead.」

I listened to Saiga-0’s words as her voice suddenly became pretty much robot-like and her body became suddenly tense.

「Umm, this is…… That Pencilgton…… What kind of… relationship do you… have with him?」

「Pencilgton and I? Hmm…… Game friends, I guess?」

I honestly think that description is rather accurate. We played the game together, trained together, fought a strong enemy together and emerged victorious together. If anything, I think it is relatively safe to assume that we are gaming friends alright.

「I, I see…… Friends…… Colleagues…… Buddies……」

Maybe Saiga-0’s character was bugged or something? But I wouldn’t even dare to ask such an insensitive question. Feeling a strange kind of pressure coming from Saiga-0, one unlike even the Gravekeeper Wezaemon, I proceed to hand her the items that were scattered all over the place.

When I was about to hand AllSlot’s sword to Saiga-0, her body started to glow white. It was the same kind of light that wrapped around her when she came here in the first place, so apparently now that the threat was neutralized, she could go back to wherever she was before coming here. But if it wasn’t for her, we would be goners for sure.

「Ah…… It is, time……」

「Eh, yeah, once again, thank you for helping me out. I’ll return the favor one day.」

「Um, umm…… If the opportunity presents itself…… I’ll gladly accept……」

And just like that Saiga-0 was gone, leaving me with this weird-ass sword in my hand.

「Hey, Katsu? What do you think that is?」

「It smells bad, but I don’t think it’s ALL bad.」

「Dude, I don’t know. Maybe we should just throw this thing away? …… Or maybe not.」

It was a little bit heavy to handle with one hand, and its awkward appearance was making me reluctant to put it in my inventory.

「Right, let’s go home.」

「Sure thing. Ahh~~, I feel like I’m going to have a really good night’s sleep today.」

「Just don’t go into a coma by accident, okay?」

「Worry not.」

That being said, since I had somewhere else to stop by, we parted ways at Thirdrema.