Chapter 177: The Unrestrained Persona User
The moment Human Asura appeared and blocked the space between Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna, Asuna instinctively halted her charge. The crystal rapier in her hand shone brilliantly, and a sharp gleam flashed in her eyes.
"Sword Skill, Stardust Splash!"
Yuuki Asuna knew full well how strong Asagiri was. Since this was a practical training match, and because she was extremely competitive by nature, she had no intention of losing. The moment Human Asura stood in front of her, she immediately used the strongest offensive sword skill she currently possessed besides [Flash Thrust].
Cling!
In an instant, the rapier [Gleaming Light] thrust forward eight consecutive times, every strike aimed at Human Asura's chest.
But what Yuuki Asuna had not expected was that although [Stardust Splash], a move she used at the risk of straining her wrist, did inflict damage on Human Asura, it did not pierce through its body. It only left behind eight holes a few centimeters deep.
Standing off to the side, Ashikaga Miwa, who had a clear view of the battlefield, pushed up her gold rimmed glasses and murmured thoughtfully,
"It seems Asuna still hasn't fully integrated the passive effect of [Flash Blade] into her combat style yet…"
As a tactical expert, Ashikaga Miwa spotted Yuuki Asuna's mistake immediately.
The issue was simple.
Yuuki Asuna should not have stopped moving.
Because of the special class passive of [Flash Blade], when Yuuki Asuna remained in a state of high speed movement, her Strength, Defense, Stamina, and other physical attributes were all enhanced accordingly.
But just now, faced with the suddenly summoned Human Asura, she had been forced to stop. That caused the destructive power of [Stardust Splash] to drop sharply, to the point that it could only barely pierce Human Asura's outer defense.
"This is bad."
At that moment, Yuuki Asuna saw Human Asura swing one palm toward her. Having just used [Stardust Splash] and not yet fully recovered from the motion, she had no time to dodge.
Just then, a wave of black particles, like drifting sand, swept in front of her and rapidly condensed.
Bang!
Yuuki Asuna was sent flying several meters back. She almost lost her footing when she landed, but because the black particles had blocked part of the force from Human Asura's attack, she was not seriously injured.
"Thanks, Necro."
"It was nothing."
Iwanaga Kotoko responded smugly. Raising her left hand, she manipulated the wave of black particles. Her dark purple eyes flickered faintly as the particles rapidly condensed into a humanoid figure. At the same time, she raised her right hand, pointed toward Human Asura, and softly said,
"Netherworld Grip."
A giant pale ghost hand emerged from the void, mirroring the motion of Iwanaga Kotoko's right hand. Its five fingers quickly clenched around Human Asura, trying to crush it in one grasp.
The next second, however, Human Asura vanished from where it stood.
What followed was the crisp ring of metal striking metal.
Clang!
Kato Megumi used the deep purple dagger in her hand to block the [Rope Dart] Asagiri had thrown at Iwanaga Kotoko, positioning herself directly between Asagiri and Kotoko.
Of the four team members, Iwanaga Kotoko was the weakest in close quarters combat, even weaker than an ordinary Player. As a Warlock, she naturally needed teammates to cover for her in situations like this. Kato Megumi knew it, and she also knew Asagiri knew it, so she had already been prepared.
Asagiri, now fully in combat mode, locked eyes with Kato Megumi. Without wasting a single word, he crushed a phantom Tarot card.
"Persona, Meta."
"Clang clang. Hat makes her appearance."
The moment Hat Mita appeared, she swung the oversized inflatable hammer in her hand and directly sent Yuuki Asuna, who had been trying to rush over to support, flying backward. But because of the recoil from the impact, Hat Mita herself was also knocked back.
"Switch."
Asagiri did not hesitate in the slightest. Before the [Rope Dart] in his hand could properly clash against Kato Megumi's dagger, he canceled Hat Mita's summon. The next Persona to appear was Prototype Mita. Its puppetlike head suddenly extended and lunged toward Iwanaga Kotoko to bite her.
Bang!
A split second before Prototype Mita could sink its teeth into Iwanaga Kotoko, the dark green ring on her finger flashed with an eerie light, and a dark green shield materialized in front of her, blocking the attack.
Only then did Yuuki Asuna finally regain her rhythm. She ignored everything else and thrust from a distance at Asagiri, who was standing there.
"Sword Skill, Stinger!"
The instant [Stinger] activated, Prototype Mita disappeared. Asagiri switched back to Human Asura, sidestepped the sharp ray extending from Yuuki Asuna's sword tip, and widened the distance between himself and Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko to nearly ten meters.
"Huff… huff…"
At last, Kato Megumi, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Yuuki Asuna got a brief chance to catch their breath. Looking at Asagiri, who stood there with no smile on his face, only calm eyes and steady breathing, the same thought rose in all three of their minds.
This guy…
Is he a monster?
Asagiri's exclusive talent did have an obvious weakness. Once a Persona was destroyed, he, as the user, would lose a large amount of mental and physical energy, and he could not sustain that too many times.
But the problem was…
How were they supposed to deal with him dismissing a Persona before it was destroyed and summoning a different one instead?
Yes, there was a tiny gap between canceling one Persona and summoning the next, and if they could seize that opening…
How were they supposed to seize it?
Asagiri was an unrestrained Persona user, not a true Summoner. His own close combat ability was even stronger than the Personas he summoned.
Back when he only had Alice and Human Asura, and his mastery over Persona usage had not yet reached this level, he had not been nearly this terrifying. But now, with Human Asura and Meta, two combat type Personas, switching between them at will, where was his weakness? How could they possibly destroy his Personas?
Just now, he had simply canceled Human Asura the moment he needed to, which meant that both Iwanaga Kotoko's black particle attack and [Netherworld Grip] had been completely wasted.
"Let's stop here."
Ashikaga Miwa, who had been watching the entire exchange, called a halt. While replaying the slowed footage on the camera, she said flatly,
"Yuuki, you still haven't adapted your combat style to the passive effects of [Flash Blade]. With a class passive like that, combined with your exclusive talent, your fighting style should be obvious. No matter the situation, you should not retreat, and you should not stop. It's a style built on seizing the initiative and charging forward relentlessly."
As she said this, Ashikaga Miwa looked up at Yuuki Asuna, whose right hand still trembled slightly from the recoil of [Stardust Splash], and changed her tone.
"However, the rest of your team also needs to keep up with your tempo in battle. If the coordination had been tighter just now, with you acting as the main frontal attacker and Kato supporting from the side, forcing Utsunomiya to use Human Asura to block both of you so that he couldn't switch Personas, then letting Iwanaga land her skills on him, perhaps you really would have had a chance."
Asagiri nodded slightly in full agreement.
"Ashikaga sensei is right."
"Is she really?"
Iwanaga Kotoko puffed out her cheeks and muttered unhappily,
"You can fool someone else, not me. You think I don't know? Besides bullet resistance, you also have curse resistance. All my skills deal curse type damage. Even if I landed them on you, the effect would be mediocre at best."
"Since you already know that…"
Asagiri slowly walked over to Iwanaga Kotoko, reached out, and gently stroked the top of her head. Looking at her expression, which resembled that of a sulking kitten as she adjusted her beret, he said with a smile,
"Then why didn't you think through the strategy before the fight and make Asuna or Megumi the main finisher instead? At this stage, I don't have any resistance to swords or axes."
Iwanaga Kotoko parted her lips, but for a moment, she could not think of a rebuttal.
"You still have a lot to improve."
Ashikaga Miwa, after finishing her review of the battle footage, walked over and said flatly to Yuuki Asuna,
"Yuuki, what you need most right now is to improve your control over your own speed. If I'm not mistaken, in your previous fights, you always charged at full speed and never once thought about deliberately slowing yourself down, correct?"
Yuuki Asuna answered honestly,
"Yes. I never have."
"And that is precisely the problem."
Ashikaga Miwa went on calmly,
"Because your speed is the highest among the four of you, there are times when you need to deliberately hold yourself back and wait until your teammates have created an opening before unleashing your full speed for the killing blow. Also, just now, because you were moving too fast, when Utsunomiya summoned Human Asura, you were left with no choice but to attack head on. Learning to control the pace of battle by controlling your own speed is what you need to focus on most during special training."
"As for you, Kato…"
Ashikaga Miwa turned to Kato Megumi and frowned slightly.
"You clearly predicted what Utsunomiya was going to do, so why didn't you prepare [Throw] in advance? Your judgment of the battlefield is not lacking, but what you lack is the decisiveness to trust that judgment."
"Me, me, me, Ashikaga sensei, what about me?"
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko eagerly ask her question, Ashikaga Miwa first looked at her sweet smile, then at Asagiri standing nearby, and finally sighed helplessly.
"Your abilities are too supernatural, and Utsunomiya's talent in combat is absurdly high. I can't really guide either of you. So you two can leave and go play somewhere. Stop interfering with Yuuki and Kato's special training."
"Oh?"
Iwanaga Kotoko froze for a second. After several seconds passed, realization finally dawned on her, and she blurted out an abstract line that left everyone else speechless.
"I get it now, Ashikaga sensei. So you're actually a CP fan of me and Asagiri!"
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Land, NBA, and more — all in one place.]