episode_0055

Before Gilbert and Serafina play the event match.

The moment he defeated Ian and confirmed his victory in the first-year competition, Gilbert suddenly felt a sense of emptiness.

Although it is said to have become a reality, is it because the main character of the game that has been played for a long time does not live up to expectations?

Gilbert shook his head.

It didn’t feel that way.

I enjoyed Tactical Combat deeply, but I didn’t enjoy it because I was too immersed in it. Because I accepted the game as a game, I was not deeply assimilated into the main character, Ian.

If I had to guess, it was just a pity.

So why do I have this feeling of emptiness?

If I had to look for a reason, I didn’t even know it was because of the upcoming Academy attack incident.

It occurred to me that if Ian had been the hero he seemed to be in the story, I probably wouldn’t have felt this way.

If I really had to ask, would it be a bit disappointing?

When I thought about it like that, I nodded my head. If Ian was the hero that Gilbert thought he was, he might have reduced the damage from the attack.

However, if he was the vain Ian we saw in this final, there was a higher possibility that he would mess things up. Gongmyeongsim can sometimes cloud a person’s eyes. That’s because the desire for fame can bring people down to the bottom.

He took a deep breath and thought about the awards ceremony and the upcoming events. As expected, it was Seraphina who won as the second grade representative. The third grade winner was also a recognized named NPC in the game, but his attention was focused on Serafina.

In this world that has become reality, what level of skill does Serafina have? Expectations for her grew as she roamed the battlefield even before becoming an adult.

It felt like the disappointment in Ian had been replaced by Seraphina’s expectations, as if it were something in return.

“Congratulations on winning. Priest.”

When the giant soldiers were put away and the winners arrived at the waiting area, Seraphina, who was already there, greeted him warmly. I was able to confirm that there was not an inch of disarray, and that Yannick was next to him, assisting him as always.

Gilbert just lowered his head.

“Congratulations on your win. Sarah…”

“Big.”

“Sister’s residence.”

“This is it. It feels like she has a younger sibling who is not cute.”

Gilbert burst into laughter at that sight. Seeing him grunting made me feel like my complicated thoughts were being sorted out. This sense of leisure was like Serafina’s trademark.

It was great to see him personally putting into practice the fact that the position of a monarch should not be easily shaken.

“I’ve always thought about this… The priest has a knack for surprising women.”

“A talent to surprise… you mean?”

“That’s right. I felt it before the entrance exam, but the priest’s skill in manipulating the giant god soldiers was nothing short of amazing. The more I look at it, the more I am impressed.”

I felt embarrassed by Seraphina’s praise. In fact, Gilbert was in a situation that was no different from the second time in his life.

The skill of manipulating a giant god soldier was something he had developed through thousands of deaths in the game, and the experience of actually standing on a battlefield where his life was at stake only made him look like an outstanding genius.

Thanks to the given environment and talent, Gilbert was able to become what he is today.

So what about Serafina?

Even in the game, if you take the route that confronts Serafina, the difficulty of the game rises exponentially.

Even more so now that it has become a reality, she was a person of great standing who led the Giant God Army and established a major career at such a young age.

Isn’t she really a genius?

Gilbert truly couldn’t help but think that way. Although she opened her eyes in this world and risked her life to move the giant god soldier, it was nothing compared to Seraphina, who actually stood on the battlefield.

He was an ace in the previous world, and he could tell. How big the difference is.

“Anyway. I’m really looking forward to the event match against such a priest.”

“Do you mean the event match?”

“That’s right. How can you not look forward to leisure? It has been a long time since it was said that she had no rival among her peers. In the midst of all this, I am very satisfied with the fact that the only priest was following her down to the neck.”

Seraphina’s red eyes sparkled.

Maybe it’s the loneliness that geniuses have?

Gilbert suddenly wondered where the woman with noble blood and genius was looking.

“I am concerned that excessive expectations may have been planted.”

“Hehe. For something like that, your eyes are fierce. Priest.”

Seraphina smiled cheerfully, as if she had met someone of her kind.

As Gilbert, I also wanted to compete with Seraphina in the real world.

It was a confrontation with Seraphina, one of the strongest fighters in Tactical Combat, which I was so obsessed with. My heart started pounding.

“In that sense. Priests. They have no intention of looking at you, so hit them with all your might.”

“Is this your name as a sister-in-law?”

“Well. Wouldn’t it be more fun not to say anything?”

Seraphina and Gilbert’s eyes met.

The desire to win began to bloom in the eyes of the two people.

***

After exchanging friendly glances, Gilbert got to the event game. The audience thought it would be almost like a map sparring, but they were looking forward to the match between Gilbert, who had created a sensation in the first-year competitive match, and Serafina, who did not hesitate to select him as the strongest cadet.

The heated discussion about what kind of game the two would play together continued until the game started. And as if to meet their expectations, the match between the two was fierce. It was so agile that it was hard to believe that it was fighting on such a large giant soldier.

Deploying magical weapons was handled with caution, like playing chess, and repeated firing was done from a blind spot where the opponent could never avoid.

When Serafina’s magic armament spewed fire, Gilbert’s giant soldier swung his huge iron sword around to cast a parry. Conversely, when Gilbert’s magic armament was deployed, Serafina’s giant soldier held up an iron sword and cast parrying as if dancing.

The two clashed like wild beasts within the gap between each other, as if they could not tolerate even a single error.

Gilbert held the control stick tightly as he watched Seraphina’s giant soldier not stopping its wave after wave of attacks. Of course, this was the first time I felt this nervous since I opened my eyes to the game world.

Even when I first met alone with Count Liuania, I did not feel this sense of urgency. At least the intimidation I felt from the Count was not life-threatening.

Even in a life-threatening battle with a giant god soldier, he had defeated the enemy without difficulty, but this felt fundamentally different.

I have faced Serafina countless times in the game, but when it came to actual combat, the feeling was quite different. Even when I installed the vicious Tactical Combat mode, I didn’t feel this way at all. No matter how vicious the game became, the enemies you faced had a certain pattern.

There were cases where the pattern was a random pattern, but it was possible to predict that the random pattern would emerge anyway.

However, the Seraphina I was actually dealing with was different.

First of all, her fundamentals were very solid. There was no unnecessary clutter in the movement, and in particular, the ability to determine the gap between giant god soldiers was excellent. No matter how much assistance was received from the artificial spirit, in order to show this level of proficiency, the underlying fundamentals had to be strong.

Also, it was truly impressive to see him learn and use the stagnant water technique he enjoys using. There was no particular reason why Brianna, who had never thought of having a disciple in her life, suddenly took her as her disciple.

Even Gilbert was surprised by his ability to use techniques he had only seen in passing, as well as to use them at the right time. I knew that competing against her at the event wouldn’t be easy, but the pressure I felt when I actually faced her was more than I expected.

but.

“Phew…”

He took a long breath and relaxed his tense body. I didn’t think I would win this game anyway. No matter how much he flew and crawled in Tactical Combat, this was not a place where things ran according to a set system like a game.

I didn’t know what variables there would be, and I was fully aware that there could be a superior Giant God Knight. Winning was always possible only in games.

He steeled himself and pulled the control stick.

Aiming for a split second, multiple fireballs flew towards Serafina’s giant god soldier.

Winter Sword – Japanese Wind

I swung my sword, but all the multiple fireballs disappeared due to parrying. It wasn’t a fireball fired with the intention of making a big profit anyway. By piercing a momentary gap, Seraphina had no choice but to parry.

The stiffness of the attack caused by a momentary gap and parrying.

Seeing that Seraphina was moving as expected, he quickly approached her with a high-speed maneuver and slammed into the Giant God Soldier’s shoulder armor like a water buffalo.

“…!”

However, Sera Pina dodged the attack by lightly back-tumbling with a flowing movement, as if mocking the turning blow. It was identical to the three-dimensional maneuver that Gilbert did during the entrance mock battle.

When Gilbert’s shoulder slap failed, he immediately put his iron sword aside.

The risk of failing to perform a large shoulder slap was obvious.

bang!

As expected, Serafina’s iron sword struck Gilbert’s iron sword. The power of the red-colored iron sword was beyond imagination. His mana value was already far higher than that of Gilbert, so even though he defended himself with an iron sword, the shock did not go away easily.

Moreover, it was painful to lose the initiative due to an unexpected counterattack. Seraphina, as if she had no intention of letting go of the victory she had once achieved, persistently aimed for the opportunity to stab him with her iron sword, and Gilbert had no choice but to take a defensive stance.

There is no other way…!

Breaking through a tight situation was, of course, Goinmul’s skill.

Gilbert also swung his iron sword, aiming for the moment when Seraphina’s fierce attack arrived. It was perfect timing that cannot be explained to anyone. No matter how much this place became reality, he was being assisted by the game system to some extent.

Meanwhile, Seraphina, who was surprised by the thought that Gilbert’s piloting skills were better than she had expected, suddenly felt puzzled when she saw Gilbert in a large horizontal slash motion. This was because it was an attitude that did not suit Gilbert, who coolly used the Giant God Soldier.

Has your judgment been clouded by being on the defensive?

Seraphina shook her head. I was confident that the Gilbert I had seen so far would not make such a mistake. If so, it would mean that there is a trick to overcome this situation.

She stepped into his attack range, fully prepared.

Without missing a single moment of the Giant God Soldier’s movements, I checked his horizontal slash point and raised my sword.

“What..!”

Seraphina witnessed the strange phenomenon of Gilbert’s horizontal slash suddenly stopping, and unknowingly made a sound out of her mouth. Something happened that she couldn’t understand with her common sense.

No matter how much the Giant God Soldier, which was said to be a product of magical engineering, was able to move like limbs, it was fundamentally difficult to suddenly stop the movement of the giant God Soldier. Moreover, it was safe to say that it was close to impossible with such a general-purpose giant god weapon.

However, Gilbert pulled off the strange phenomenon without difficulty. Even though he was already swinging his sword, it just stopped as if he had used magic.

Do priests also have characteristic skills?

It was a reasonable inference. No matter how good the piloting skills were, there was a limit to the output that a general-purpose aircraft could produce.

Seraphina smiled fiercely as she looked at Gilbert, who had surprised her once again. He was truly a man who never gave you time to get tired of him.

But there was no time to leisurely admire it. Now it was Seraphina who opened the gap due to the movement she made to block the horizontal slash. Although I was analyzing it in that short period of time, Gilbert’s attack, which had twisted its direction, was becoming more and more fierce.

There was no time to let down his guard, perhaps due to his high level of skill with the winter sword he had learned from Brianna.

Gilbert, who had just seen the attack cancellation against Seraphina unfold as expected, realized that he was receiving a lot of backup from the system. This was a phenomenon that occurred when a second attack was made while the first attack was being made using a technique that used the delay that occurred while controlling the giant soldier through an artificial spirit.

Although it is easy to say, it cannot be activated unless an accurate image is drawn, so although it is a useful technique, it is treated as an old technique that few people can use properly.

And one of those few people was Gilbert.

But I accepted it too easily.

He pushed to the end and while swinging his sword, he deployed a mixture of lightning bolts and magic missiles, but they were all blocked by parrying.

To make matters worse, Gilbert’s mana level, which was the lowest among his abilities, was finally starting to hold him back. It was neither high nor low compared to her peers, but given that the opponent was Seraphina, it could be evaluated as infinitely low.

Every time I blocked the auror, which was made up of incredible magic power, it felt like my mana was being cut down to pieces. It was no joke that with a general-purpose aircraft, the remaining horsepower battery would immediately drop to 0 after being hit by a few hits.

In the end, I decided that I had no choice but to bet on the final game in one moment.

Gilbert, who was raging like a storm, stopped the giant soldier for an instant. There was a lull for the first time since the game started.

– Tirik

A request for personal communication magic has arrived from Serafina. Gilbert accepted the communication spell without delay.

[It’s pretty good. Priests.]

“That’s too much praise.”

[There is no such thing as humility. It is only the priest who surprises Yeo so many times. So, you can open your chest.]

Seraphina’s expression, seen on the connected screen, was filled with admiration as she said. His face seemed slightly flushed with joy, perhaps because it was his first time meeting a peer of the same age who pushed him this hard.

[The reason the priest suddenly widened his distance was probably because he was trying to up the ante, right?]

“That’s right.”

Gilbert, knowing that hiding it was useless, nodded obediently.

[The priest pursues romance differently than he seems.]

“It’s not romantic. Because I just do the best I can.”

[In the world, that kind of thing is called romance. A game with no odds. The final sword that marks the end.]

“Sister, your words are truly romantic.”

[Hehe. Even if it seems like this, I also liked the stories of knights in fairy tales when I was young.]

Seraphina, filled with sentimentality, immediately looked at Gilbert’s expression, his mouth tightly closed. I really liked the unwavering expression on his face.

[Priests.]

“Please tell me.”

[Do your best.]

“I will keep this in mind.”

With those words, communication was cut off.

Gilbert caught his breath and gathered all his remaining magical power. To be honest, with his current magical power, there were only a few winter swords he could use.

The winter sword blades, which belong to the highest level of swordsmanship, were all like monsters that ate magical power.

Still, it was enough to swing a single sword.

All of Gilbert’s magic was concentrated on the iron sword, and the same was true for Seraphina.

The moment when magic power gathers and becomes compressed.

The two rushed towards each other without even saying who would go first.

***

event match.

victor

Serafina Rector Infractus

***

Serafina, who had finished the long competition, was looking at the moon outside the window in her slip.

But the moon was not visible in her eyes. Instead of the moon, I was thinking of Gilbert, the one and only priest who had competed in today’s event.

Even in her short life, Gilbert was a quite interesting type of person.

There was nothing interesting about her, from her reputation for being the worst, to her not being intimidated in front of her as the princess, to her mysterious piloting skills.

Even she, who prided herself on being gifted with the eye for seeing people, was unable to understand everything about the man in front of her who called her a priest. I was interested because the behavior was so contradictory to the collected information.

Could it be that what she is seeing now is a decoration to cover up her worst reputation?

If not, is what it looks like now?

In fact, it didn’t matter to Seraphina what Gilbert looked like.

There is only one thing that matters to her.

Does Gilbert’s true self pose a danger to the empire?

That was all.

And if Gilbert threatens the safety of the empire, then she will deal with him mercilessly with her own hands.

Seraphina’s eyes turned sharp as she looked at the moon.

The most important thing to her was nothing else but the peace of the empire.