BSO Chapter 165

[Each To Their Own]

–The war raged on.

My comrades had to give their all to withstand the relentless onslaught from the Goddess’ Side.

There were only a handful of people who could still afford to protect others.

Never mind the low-level players, even the non-combatant players were desperately fighting back against the enemy.

“Oryaaaaaaaaaaa! All of you, dieeeeeeeeeeeee!” My smol craftswoman Grimm screamed as swung around a hammer that was larger than her body, blowing away any enemy in her sight.

…From an outsider’s perspective, it might have seemed like a desperate struggle, but her unstoppable rampage attested to her terrifying power.

“After all, Grimm is actually a high-level player…”

In this game, besides hunting monsters, you could also gain exps by creating or reforging equipment.

Having messed around with so many pieces of equipment, she was among the top players in terms of levels alone.

What’s more, she had chosen the hammer-type, high Strength job ‘Hard Smasher’ as her second job, proclaiming “I want to be able to fight in case of emergency!” Those who underestimated her would be in for a rude awakening.

–But of course, combat wasn’t just about stats.

“Wa-wa-wa?!”

Her combat techniques were amateurish at best. She was carried away by the momentum of her hammer and ended up falling, arguably the biggest blunder on the battlefield.

Mercy had no place on this battlefield. Seeing Grimm vulnerable, a horde of enemies rushed toward her.

But at that moment.

“I see you could use a hand, Grimm-san.”

A magical cannon blast unleashed from a pure white umbrella blew away those lunging at her.

A young lady in a white dress swooped down in front of the startled Grimm.

“Ehehe… taking the battlefield every now and then feels nice, doesn’t it?”

Her name was Francoise, a top craftswoman and one of the few ‘beta testers’.

She was also Grimm’s rival—or at least that was how Grimm saw her.

“Grrr, Francoise…!”

“My, why are you growling at me, Grimm-san? Shouldn’t you be saying ‘thank you’ when you’ve been helped?”

“Huh?! I, uh, t-t-thank… you…!” Grimm stammered with a flushed face. Seemed Francoise really knew how to tame her.

Francoise smiled and extended her hand to Grimm. “Here, let me help you up. As craftswomen, as women of fashion, we must always maintain our elegance, even on the battlefield.”

But of course, if you wish to retire from this event, you can just stay here—At Francoise’s provocation, my personal craftswoman screamed.

“Who says I’m retiring?! I’m just getting started!” Grimm got up on her own without taking Francoise’s outstretched hand.

Hefting up her giant hammer with her little hands, she screamed in the middle of the chaotic battlefield, “My name is Grimm! The personal craftswoman of the Great Demon King Yuri! If any of you wants to die, then come at me!”

Grimm charged toward the enemies, swinging her hammer left and right.

For a moment, she glanced back and smiled provocatively at Francoise.

She seemed to be saying, “You should try chasing my back from now on.”

“Heh… despite looking very similar to my docile little sister, her personality couldn’t be more different. What a cheeky girl.”

Contrary to her words, Francoise smiled happily.

The moment she was about to chase after Grimm, she said with a smile still lingering on her lips.

“It is thanks to you that child has grown up so splendidly. Great Demon King.”

“Oh, you noticed me?”

I emerged from the smoke and explosions, heading toward her as she turned to me.

That’s Francoise for you. Even in the middle of this chaotic battlefield, she maintained a keen awareness of her surroundings.

“Right, thanks for helping Grimm. I had been kind of occupied up until ten seconds ago.”

“…I could tell, looking at the things in your hands and the trail behind you…”

Francoise’s cheeks twitched.

Looking alternately between the decapitated heads in my hands the mountains of corpses behind me, turning into particles, she sighed, “You are truly unbelievably strong. Most people would have deleted their avatar and started anew with an avatar like yours, but you really did well to have gotten to this point.”

“It was merely my stubbornness. I couldn’t even fight at first, and I encountered a lot of challenges along the way.”

I launched a sword at Francoise. Simultaneously, she also fired her magic cannon.

–Our attacks sailed past each other’s sides, pierced through the two enemies trying to lunge at us from behind.

Their blood splattered onto our clothes.

“I appreciate the dress by the way. Your dresses have always fought with me since the beginning.”

“Ahaha… that one already looks very different from when I gave it to you, though?” the craftswoman smiled wryly, gazing at my dress, which had been remodeled into Japanese style.

“It has already completely become Grimm-san’s work,” she muttered, “Yuri-san. I believe your strongest weapon is your perseverance. It’s because you always push forward with your head held high despite all the misfortunes the world throws at you that I entrusted that girl to you.”

“You’re starting to sound like her older sister. So, do you think you made the right decision?”

“…Well, I don’t know, actually. I mean, she’s become a little too ferocious~.”

Francoise glanced at Grimm.

The girl was rampaging while screaming “Uryaaaaaa!” without a care in the world.

“Haha, our protegee sure is the strongest.”

“Yes, certainly. Still, I’m worried… I’ll go after her…!”

“How overprotective.”

She really acted like her older sister.

Well, what to do in this final battle was up to each individual.

You could support your closest friend, you could target weaker enemies and play as the OP guy, or conversely, you could assassinate opponents you couldn’t defeat in a one-on-one.

It didn’t matter which stance you take. Anything was possible if you gave it your all.

“We must part here. Great Demon King, let’s survive to the end.”

“Sure.”

After a long chat, the craftswoman bid her farewell.

Bye, Francoise. You and Grimm, do your best.

Sorry, but I had no intention of supporting anyone…

“—There you are, Demon King Yuri! To all my fans: I found the enemy leader!”

Right then.

An army with countless number of troops rushed toward me led by a red-hooded, idol-like girl.

They pointed their weapons at me. Receiving so many passionate gazes, my body shivered.

I had no idea what kind of group they were, but this situation was right up my alley.

“Hehehe, I’m Akahime, the current most popular virtual idol wink☆ Today, I’m going to kill you on livestream and spread my name to even further—wait, why are you grinning?!”

“My bad. I just can’t contain my excitement…!”

I knew it, a one-vs-many situation just had its unique charm.

I loved a one-on-one against a super powerful enemy, but I also loved being outnumbered by an army with so many people that I couldn’t even remember a single one of their faces.

It was a festival of killing intent and violence. How could I not be excited?! It was practically like having a buffet in a fancy restaurant.

“Come, all of you! Try and crush my spirit! Cut off my limbs and strike me down! Push me into the pit of despair! Don’t you worry! I’ll fight back with everything I’ve got! So let’s enjoy the thrill of tearing others apart and being torn apart!”

“Eeeek, she’s the type of person who shouldn’t be on livestream?!”

I dashed toward the noisy virtual idol with all my strength.

If you weren’t not coming, then I’d just come to you. Even if hell awaited me, I wouldn’t hesitate.

“Because I love feeling despair…!”

Overcoming despair and becoming stronger from it was my style, after all…!

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