———-

　――Behind a series of bookshelves, on top of a fallen pile of decaying wood and paper, there she was.

“（That is……!）“

　Despite being in a state of possession, I could clearly hear Angolmois. I wonder why he was surprised, even some horror was transmitted to me.

　Not too big, not too small, a completely black wolf. That was her appearance. The exact same figure as the one that remained in my memories.

That beautiful fur swaying like a flack flame. Those black eyes as if I was staring into the abyss. Those eyes that I can't tell where they're looking or what they are thinking. Claws and fangs not too long, but not too short either. At a simple glance, it's just a black wolf.

“（Without a doubt, the current you can't win against this opponent!　My Second, leave this place!）“

　Angolmois said such a thing. Indeed, a magnificent observation. As one would expect from the Spirit King, truly a proper evaluation. It's true that with my current status, I'm not an opponent for this monstrous Darkness Wolf. It's almost like comparing a child to an adult.

　……It's just that, this is just a game, right?

“（Just shut up and watch.）“

　I set up the Great Bonfire about 15 centimeters above the pile of fallen books, 2 meters to the left from the fourth bookshelf from the entrance.  Then, while keeping my eyes on the Darkness Wolf, I ran sideways.

　The Darkness Wolf was currently in her “Wolf-form”. For this form, the first attack is always a “Rush”.

　I greeted the rus.h.i.+ng Darkness Wolf with a Rook Lightning shot. Firing like a laser, the red and blue lightning streaks twisted and turned as they left a tail-like trail, attacking the Darkness Wolf. Since physical attacks don't work at all when she is in wolf-form, you should attack by 《Combine》 using 【Magic Archery】 or 【Magic Swordsmans.h.i.+p】. By the way, I naturally aimed at the feet. That is to acc.u.mulate damage to get her into a “down” state.

　Thus, the behavior following the rush breaks into 4 different patterns. This time, since the front left leg was pressed down hard, it seems it will be Body Slam. That being the case, avoiding it is the best choice. At the last moment of the rush, I jumped to the side.

　When the Body Slam or Claw attack fails, the Darkness Wolf will certainly follow with Darkness Transfer→Darkness s.h.i.+ft→Darkness Summon.

　I watched as it moved, during Darkness Transfer, to a small mountain of books located one bookshelf away, then I also positioned myself facing the Darkness Wolf.

　Just like the pattern, Darkness s.h.i.+ft also happened. After casually jumping on the spot, the Darkness Wolf's body got wrapped completely in black flames, and the figure changed into its human-like form.

———–

　――Long jet-black hair and wolf ears. Her eyes were gently closed, and on her face I could see a mole above her slightly smiling lips. Those bewitching limbs couldn't be concealed behind the coat of darkness that covered her body, and her height sort of balanced her voluptuous proportions.

　To be able to see this figure again after all this time. She, my “Anko”, had the exact same figure in this world.

　……Oops, this isn't the time to immerse myself in my emotions.

　After using Darkness s.h.i.+ft to change into human-form, next is sure to be Darkness Summon.

　I looked at her shadow, while at the same time, preparing to use 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》. Good, there is a shadow. She's not in 《False Shadow》 state.

“Fuu……! “

　I calculated the moment to match the activation of Darkness Summon after Anko finished her Darkness s.h.i.+ft, and by moving up three steps, I unleashed the 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》. At moments like this, it's quite late to start preparing after the transformation has ended. As for the timing, you should start preparing 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》 in the 0.2 seconds while the black flame of the transformation is settling and the moment she lands, and if you take three steps afterwards, you can activate it immediately. By the way, you can't move while 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》 is being prepared. For Grade 6, the preparation time is about 4 seconds. It is a very risky skill.

“――! “

　The shockwave, along with the flashy effect, was released forwards and Anko was directly hit, causing her to become stunned. 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》 is a very powerful skill, however, it has a long preparation time, making it somewhat dangerous to use. And one of the reasons for that high power is the stun effect. That's right, if it's applied it becomes quite strong. But only if it's applied.

　Well then, this part is where criticals are important. During this period when Anko is stunned, you can shoot two 《Rook Archery》 shots. If both hits are critical it goes into ‘down' state, but if only one shot is critical, or if none at all are, she will continue to stand. If that happens, then one or two more shots of 《Rook Archery》 are needed to down her. Between the former and the latter, there's a world of difference in safety.

“Hmm…… mmm…… Nice!”

　Alright, this time both of them were critical hits.

　Then, what happens when you bring her down after Darkness Summon? That is, Darkness s.h.i.+ft and a Rush again. In other words, we're back at square one as far as strategy is concerned.

　Since Anko transformed into a human but wasn't able to do anything, she will once again use Darkness s.h.i.+ft to transform into the Darkness Wolf form and use Rush again.

　During that transformation period, I took enough distance from her and moved back to the fourth bookshelf from the entrance,while opening with a Rook Lightning attack again. So, what will you bring out next?

　Ohh, she lowered her head. Then it's a “Bite route” rush. Placing the Mithril Longbow in my inventory, I focused on avoiding using my full speed.

　After Bite comes a Darkness Howl. Avoiding that is easy since it has a preparation time of two seconds. Incidentally, 99% of the time, if you just avoid the Bite at the last second, you can't escape the howl.

　After rus.h.i.+ng across, Anko used Darkness Howl then returned to the book's mound using Darkness Transfer. Following Darkness Howl comes a Rush or Darkness s.h.i.+ft. This time it seems to be s.h.i.+ft.

　I already moved to the previous bookshelf. I then prepared 《Dragon King Swordsmans.h.i.+p》 with the timing just like before, and after carefully checking for 《False Shadow》 after transforming, I moved forward three steps. In the case of the Biting route, Anko will use Darkness Magic here, but it's possible to crush her without allowing her to move unless she's in 《False Shadow》 state.

　And so, she was stunned. Then damaged by 《Rook Archery》. Unfortunately, only one was a critical.

　Immediately after the stun wore off, Anko moved using Darkness Transfer, then she activated Darkness Summon. Well then, which one will it be……?  This time it was 『Shadow Cane』. Good, good.

　As a result of the Darkness Summon, she entered Jojutsu mode. However, that doesn't really matter. Since the damage has acc.u.mulated from the previous two shots, she will go “down” with one more 《Rook Archery》 shot at her feet. I took her down while she was preparing to begin her Jojutsu mode a.s.sault with that 《Rook Archery》 shot.

　While dealing some extra damage with the combination of 《Knight Archery》 and 《Silver Archery》, I moved back to the bookshelf from before and started running sideways again.

　What's next after going down from Darkness Summon?　That's right, Darkness s.h.i.+ft into wolf form and Rush again.

　While I prepared to release a Rook Lightning shot, this was all that occupied my mind.

　Ahh…… how fun.

Thank you for reading.

＜Status Details＞

Named after shogi pieces (The word in bold is the one being used in this translation). From easier to acquire to harder.

Swordsmans.h.i.+p

s.h.i.+eldmans.h.i.+p

Archery

They use the “Form” or “step” system of martial arts. From lower to higher.

From lower to higher, then it changes to the “Dan” system of martial arts, which means Grade.