Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 42: A punch with speed, a strike with power.

bite----

The sound of the coin falling to the ground echoed in the backstreet, reaching the ears of the people present.

Even though the battle had already begun, neither Mikami Hibiki nor Charlotte made any move, instead standing still and cautiously observing their opponent.

"What if we don't attack?"

"Are you the one who's being modest, deferring to me, the 'High Priest' who lacks offensive skills?"

As we all know, the initiative in a battle is of paramount importance. Whoever seizes the initiative can lead the course of the battle and has a much higher chance of winning. But strangely, neither of them made any rash moves.

Mikami Hibiki raised the demonic sword and held it horizontally above her brow, her back ramrod straight and her feet wide apart. Her posture hinted at the art of swordsmanship, suggesting she had trained before her reincarnation.

At the same time, the method of response was also correct. It seemed that he intended to make good use of the strength of his arms and swing his sword downwards when Charlotte charged forward, choosing the tactic of striking first after being caught off guard.

As the third-ranked adventurer on the leaderboard, he certainly has some strength.

However, Charlotte had no intention of yielding.

He has already begun to take action.

To avoid being seen by Hibiki, he concealed his left foot, slowly moving forward, waiting for the right moment to reverse his grip on the dagger. Though simple, it was an unconventional tactic that could mislead the opponent.

Keep your upper body still and slowly inch your feet forward.

This creates a visual discrepancy.

This little trick was learned from Dust, and the tuition was a full five cups of sparkling wine. Before the lucky bag craze, Dust was quite keen on exchanging combat skills for drinks, and he taught Charlotte quite a few useful dirty tricks.

almost.

The instant that Yujian Xiangye closed his eyes, Xia Luo tossed the dagger in his hand slightly into the air, and at the same time pretended to lose his balance and fall forward.

Then, find the right moment, push off the ground, and charge forward.

With attacks coming from both above and below, the blade thrown into the air is clearly more likely to attract attention.

Mikami Hibiki instinctively raised his demonic sword to parry, but overlooked the person attacking from below. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late to stop them, and he could only raise his leg to try and force the enemy back.

However, Charlotte pressed down on his knee with her left hand first, using the force to turn her body around and then kick Mikasa Hibiki in the abdomen, causing him to fall to the ground backward in a "sand-sand-goose" style.

Then, Charlotte raised her hand above her head and caught the dagger that fell from the sky, the whole process was incredibly smooth and fluid.

"Let's get this straight, my technique is A."

"...Ahem, what do you mean?"

"It's nothing, I just said it offhand."

Mikami coughed and struggled to his feet amidst the anxious shouts of the two girls, regaining his grip on the demonic sword.

Charlotte thought to herself, "It was too light."

He didn't hold back with that kick.

However, the "Sword Master" class has strong defense, and since they were also wearing armor, they didn't suffer any serious injuries.

It seems we need to adjust our tactics.

Charlotte's speed wasn't actually that fast; she only managed to hit him by using the visual effect of a near-sneak attack. But it has to be said that this tactic was very effective.

In addition, the positions of both sides at this time were also carefully chosen.

He was standing with his back to the sunlight.

Mikadoki Hibiki, on the other hand, faces the sunlight.

Strong light makes people squint involuntarily, so Charlotte would always take advantage of the brief moments when Charlotte had to close his eyes to launch a sneak attack, and it always worked.

"You're a despicable bastard!"

"That's outrageous! Using such a cheap trick!"

The two girls acting as the atmosphere-setter weren't idiots either; they quickly realized something was wrong and, just like before, loudly condemned Charlotte.

Who cares about you guys!

Since we're going to fight, we must be ruthless and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. That's Charlotte's code of conduct... cough cough, combat principle!

Dealing with fools who underestimate themselves is easy. Letting anger take over will only make your attacks monotonous. Even with the most powerful artifacts and techniques, anger will erode the sharp blade and break it. So all you need to do is keep provoking your opponent.

...That's how it should be.

But Mikami Hibiki was unusually resilient, constantly falling down and getting back up, making one wonder if his profession was actually "Cross Knight" rather than "Sword Master".

"call……"

Charlotte shook her slightly sore wrist and said, "I acknowledge you. This fight ends here. How about a draw?"

"Waaaaah!!!"

"Um...sorry, I don't understand."

Seeing the bruised and swollen face of Mikami Hibiki, Charlotte was a bit annoyed by his stammering answer and helplessly looked to the two people next to her for a translation.

no way.

Hitting the armored area would only cause my fist to get hurt, so I could only hit his face.

It was precisely because Hibiki Yoru's handsome face was nearing disfigurement that Charlotte, venting her dissatisfaction, suggested a temporary truce.

only--

"Hibikiya said, 'Don't stop!'"

"You have to win, Hibiki!"

Mikami Hibiki seemed to disagree with the call to arms, and proceeded to assume a fighting stance on his own.

He's surprisingly stubborn.

Is it because of self-esteem?

He was a master swordsman and the third-ranked adventurer in the kingdom, possessing a powerful artifact, yet he was beaten so badly by Charlotte that he couldn't fight back. He felt ashamed.

No, not that one.

Charlotte saw the earnest look in Mikami Hibiki's eyes, as if he were speaking of his own convictions. And for such convictions, he naturally chose to give it his all to show respect.

"This is a move I recently came to understand; you're the first person to see it."

“Wuwu!”

"Oh, really? Well then... be careful."

Although his speech was unclear, Charlotte still understood what he meant. She stood a little distance away from Mikami Hibiki and then threw a punch—

"Euro!"

"puff!"

Miken Hibiki took a solid punch.

"...Eh!?"

"You're lying!"

The two women watching the fight gaped, completely bewildered as to how Yūken Hibiki had been beaten, as was Yūken Hibiki himself.

As the saying goes, "A punch with speed is a punch with power," Charlotte endured the pain with a frown while continuously punching Mitsuki Hibiki, and as the pain intensified, the speed of her punches increased.

Gradually, the long, blue whips became clearer and came into view of the two women watching the battle.

"Th-what is that...?"

"How disgusting!!"

The two women looked like they couldn't stand it.

Charlotte's arms struck the target at an extremely strange angle and with an unnatural range of attack. Even though Hibiki Hibiki hid his face behind the demon sword, it was to no avail, and he could only take the beating for nothing.

"Ora ora ora!!"

As his fists swung faster and faster, leaving afterimages, Miken Hibiki gradually lost his strength, eventually collapsing to the ground unconscious.

"Hibiki, Hibiki!!!?" X2

The two girls watching screamed.

Charlotte was the ultimate winner, but how should I put it... she wasn't as happy as she had imagined; she just vented her frustration at being underestimated.

He walked toward the fallen Mikage Hibiki.

"Wait, wait a minute!"

"What do you want to do!?"

They quickly stood in front of Yujian Xiangye, spreading their arms like a mother hen protecting her chicks, preventing Xia Luo from passing.

"Get out of the way."

Charlotte waved her arms in the air, and the eerie blue whip seemed to be constantly licking her entire body, making the two women pale with fright and tremble with fear as they huddled together.

Even so, they did not back down.

Charlotte sighed and explained, "I just want to treat Yu Jian; I can't let him stay unconscious like this, can I?"

"real?"

"You won't take this opportunity to do something bad?"

"If I wanted to, do you think you could stop me?"

He waved his arms a few more times.

That's how they were persuaded so easily.