Chapter 72
Vladimir Bazarov first encountered kendo shortly after his mother died.
At the time, known as "Killer" Vladimir, he was a well-known figure in the back alleys, constantly embroiled in trouble, and it was during one such fight that a thug with a wooden sword attacked using kendo techniques.
Vladivostok is close to Japan and is said to be the part of Russia that feels most familiar to the Japanese. Because of that, cultural exchange with Japan is active, and there are quite a few kendo dojos.
From the time of his mother's death until he enlisted in the military, Vladimir dedicated several years to kendo.
When he received an envelope from the Dungeon Foundation and became an explorer, the first skill Vladimir awakened was something born from the refinement of his kendo experience.
The requirement was just "kendo experience," fairly relaxed, but the name of that rare skill is——"Men Uchi."
"Skill activation——'Men Uchi Lv5'"
A swift slash approached.
The skill "Men Uchi" is a powerful move that, when a sword strike to the head succeeds, boosts DMG by 1.25 times.
It's an MP-consuming type that uses 100 MP per slash.
At Lv5, the multiplier increases, and a strike to the head deals 2.25 times the DMG.
Vladimir brought his strike down at an angle toward Finger Man's "neck."
That wouldn't count as a head hit. "Men Uchi Lv5" would go to waste.
Of course, he had a specific aim in choosing that target.
In fact, after years of using it, he had discovered that the upper part of the human neck, just under the jaw, was considered a head hit for "Men Uchi."
In other words, in that narrow zone, he could both land a lethal blow to a vital area and benefit from the DMG boost of the "Men Uchi" skill.
The white blade closed in on the throat.
"Got your neck!" Vladimir, a fifth-dan in kendo, was sure of it.
But Finger Man was a step ahead.
Pita——the tip of the magic sword was stopped just before impact.
Even though the thick blade was about a third buried under Finger Man's jaw, it couldn't cut any deeper.
Even trying to push with brute force didn't work. The blade just trembled.
No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't lop off Finger Man's head.
What on earth was going on?
Did he activate a defensive-type skill? While wondering that, Vladimir peered closer—and his eyes widened in shock.
Finger Man had pinched the blade and stopped it.
The magic sword's blade looked like it was fully pressed against the neck.
Upon closer inspection, it was just grazing the peach fuzz on the side of the neck.
But it still hadn't quite reached.
Just a bit more—Vladimir kept pushing.
But it still wouldn't move.
With a magic sword that vibrated at high frequency, even brushing against the body should inflict massive DMG.
And right now, the skill "Men Uchi Lv5" was still active. If he could just tear the skin under the jaw, there should be blood—yet he was still one millimeter away.
(What kind of pinching power is this......? And this near-miss defense—what kind of Dexterity and Spirit does it take......? No, no way, that's impossible!)
For a moment, Vladimir wondered if this guy had some absurdly high overall status, but quickly dismissed the foolish idea.
It just didn't make sense that, even with doping, acceleration skills, damage-up skills, and a semi-surprise attack, his pretty much all-out strike would be stopped like a soft fly ball being caught.
Vladimir's thinking was rational.
Realistically speaking, Finger Man probably used a combination of two or three skills to block Vladimir's slash. Otherwise it wouldn't be balanced.
"Haha, I see now. That was brilliant. You activated the right skill in that instant to counter my strike. From the start, you carefully chose and leveled your skills so they'd be viable in actual combat. Everything you did was textbook perfect."
"Hmph...... (What's this giant guy even talking about?)"
"But—You've already failed. A fatal failure."
"Failed...... huh. Hmph...... (Okay, but can you explain that better?)"
Unable to follow the conversation, Finger Man just kept saying "hmph" and "heh" to bluff his way through it.
From the outside, he looked extremely cool and composed.
He even gave off the aura of a seasoned warrior. Though it was just an aura.
In his head, all he was thinking was, "Do humans drop experience points when defeated? If so, I wanna kill him on top of a magic circle."
"Chii chii chii! (Translation: Turning people into experience points is morally bad chii!)"
"Gii (Translation: My lord, are you not straying into the dark side?)"
"Huh? I don't really get what you're saying, but even if I die, Shimaenaga-san's skill will bring me back to life, right? So killing's no big deal. (Total scumbag)"
"Chii, chii...... (Translation: It's already too late chii......)"
"Gii (Translation: Isn't he just a calamity now?)"
While pinching the magic sword to stop it, Finger Man continued his strange conversation with his pets.
A vein popped on Vladimir's forehead.
(You little brat... you've got some nerve, Yabonsky's punk......)
"——Hey, kid. You've pissed me off now."
"Uh-oh, looks like Finger Man made Vladimir mad..."
"Crush them!! Blow those ignorant fools away, Vladimir!!"
Shita Chichi's gallery was getting noisy.
"F-Finger Maaaan......!"
Team Finger Man's gallery was noisy too.
"Playtime's over——"
Vladimir activated the skills "Counter Slash Lv4" and "Sure Hit Lv4."
As the name suggests, "Counter Slash" is a support-type skill that makes follow-up slashes after a sword attack smoother and faster.
It only consumes 50 MP.
With this skill, your swordsmanship moves up a level.
At Lv4, "Counter Slash" requires almost no wind-up, letting the user strike back before the opponent can react. If the user's Dexterity is high enough, a successful counter grants a 1.5x DMG bonus.
"Sure Hit" is a support-type skill that dramatically increases the accuracy of the next attack.
At Lv4, a skilled sniper could hit a 100-yen coin from 1,000 meters away with 98% accuracy.
For a master swordsman with high Dexterity, it can twist causality itself, engraving the "hit" result into the opponent's fate.
That essentially makes it an unavoidable, unblockable killing blow.
Vladimir smoothly drew back his sword with "Counter Slash Lv4."
Finger Man's grip slipped, and the sword slid free—"Ah," he muttered, mouth half-open.
In the next instant, the returning magic sword slashed toward the opposite side of Finger Man's neck—as if being drawn in.
Finger Man tracked the returning blade with his eyes and went "Here," trying to pinch and stop it again.
But the result—"Vladimir Bazarov's sword reaches Finger Man's neck"—had already been engraved into Finger Man's fate by "Sure Hit Lv4."
"Hmm? (Huh, my arm won't move? Wait... am I about to get slashed?)"
Finger Man's left hand, trying to block the second strike, was pinned down by something invisible. That's the terrifying part of a power that interferes with causality and distorts reality—it's impossible for a human to resist.
"This is how vast the world truly is——Causality Magic Sword (Sudipa-Quodenents)"
The magic sword flared with intense light and slammed into Finger Man's neck.
A thunderous boom rang out. Cracks spread across the corridor, and every window in the civic hall shattered at once. It was as if an earthquake had descended upon the surface.
Dust exploded into the air, completely obscuring the surrounding view.