Chapter 53

In the previous section, the explanation of the addition and multiplication of buffs was somewhat unclear, so I have revised it to make it easier to understand.

"Let's refrain from me attacking for the first five minutes."

It's neither a red wolf nor a true dragon.

The fact that we are both Oni.

Because we are so close, it is clear.

The absolute difference in status between me and Kohaku.

The difference in experience we have accumulated.

The pressure I feel is like a massive mountain.

"Go ahead and attack as you like. Feel free to use your skills and arts."

"…Okay!"

Thanks to Kohaku's gentle words, I managed to gain a bit of composure and charged in without selecting any skills or arts. Although we are supposed to fight unarmed, my fists are equipped with heavy weapons, but it is still a combat based on physical prowess. Given the height difference, I have a shorter reach.

Then, I'll try to get close to her.

What I prioritize is the number of strikes and speed. It's clear that I am inferior in all stats, but since her stats are specialized in strength, the smallest gap is in agility. Also, thanks to my named equipment, my SP is effectively doubled. I have no choice but to push forward, bracing myself for exhaustion.

"Here I go!"

"Hehehe"

She must have intentionally let me get close. Although it was surprisingly easy to get into close combat, Kohaku calmly deflected my barrage of attacks.

Knowing that she won't counterattack, I focused on a combination of powerful strikes, unlike when I fought Rō. Even though she is deflecting them, not all of my attacks miss. I should be landing some quick jabs, but Kohaku's HP didn't budge at all.

The reason is simple. My attacks are not strong enough to break through her durability and defense.

Oni, by virtue of being Oni, have robust physical stats. Even if they specialize in one stat, once they level up, they can achieve physical stats far superior to other races. I don't know Kohaku's level, but if I convert the impression I get from facing her directly into levels, it would be at least three digits, and possibly over 200. Compared to me, it's not just double, but a difference of six or seven times.

Moreover, Kohaku's fighting style is slightly incompatible with mine. Unlike me, who combines agility, dynamic vision, reflexes, and SP to focus on evasion and counterattacks, she doesn't hesitate to take hits. She carefully deflects only the heavier attacks she can see and doesn't mind taking the rest. She probably could deflect more, but she prefers to use her high stats to take the hits.

It feels like hitting a mountain, an overwhelmingly large power gap. At this point, it seems futile to think about holding back or observing. After about two minutes of testing her strength, I judged it and took a step back to create some distance.

Since she has decided not to attack, Kohaku naturally doesn't pursue me. I stepped forward with my left foot and clapped my hands in front of my chest.

☆

The Oni Dance doesn't have specific motions or activation phrases like "Garei" for each art. Instead, users need to register their own activation motions. The form is up to the user, but in the Oni village, it is customary to inherit the form from one's teacher. I decided to humbly inherit Kohaku's form after she showed it to me.

Kohaku's Oni Dance has a "clap" as the base motion for all activation sequences. She manages five different forms of the dance by varying the stance of her feet, the angle of her hands, and other body positions. Yesterday, I spent a considerable amount of time learning these five forms because once a form is set, it must be precisely replicated to activate the art.

The transformation of the Oni Dance from a purely ceremonial skill to a more practical and flexible form is attributed to Shuten. However, some restrictions remain due to the skill's high effectiveness. Originally, these restrictions were negligible in one-on-one combat.

I activated the "Second Form: Dance of Many Blades." The surge in strength and agility gives me a sense of exhilaration, but at the same time, I feel a chill as all my defenses are stripped away. In front of me is undoubtedly a being with the "strongest" power. Thanks to the effect of the Dance of Many Blades, I have lost not only my durability but also the defense provided by my armor. Kohaku's resistance will only last for about three more minutes. It's time to end the observation, and I launched a powerful punch with explosive force.

As Kohaku tried to block it with her palm, I opened my hand just before impact and entangled her fingers. This is different from having the impact absorbed. Using the hand I grabbed as a pivot, I stepped forward and delivered a palm strike, pulling our bodies closer.

"Ah!"

Kohaku's reaction was one of mild surprise, but the clean hit, thanks to the buff's effect, finally managed to chip away at her HP. The damage was minimal, but it confirmed that with a strength of over 300 and equipped weapons, I can penetrate her defense.

As I tried to follow up with another strike, the hand I had grabbed was firmly held by Kohaku.

"Ugh... Fuhnuwa!?"

When I tried to pull it out, she let go, and I barely managed to avoid sitting down with a strange sound. The brief moment of pause gave Kohaku the opportunity to speak.

"The Dance of Many Blades is hard to control when used for the first time... Oh, right, you have another similar skill, don't you?"

Seeing Kohaku's genuinely surprised reaction, I realized she had figured it out.

I hadn't been hiding it, but when I learned the skill yesterday, Kohaku must have known I had another buff skill. In fact, she had seen my battles with Rō and Apocalypsis, so I think she knew I had some skill by the day before yesterday.

While responding, I moved forward again, desperately moving my limbs to make the most of the time.

"I used it yesterday, so I can't use it today!"

"Skills with daily limits are rare. It didn't seem that powerful to me..."

While defending my attacks more seriously than before, Kohaku said this with a calm expression. Yeah, me too. When I learned the Dance of Many Blades yesterday, I thought the same thing for a moment. In the end, discovering a new effect of Garei made it not entirely useless. The order and method of applying buffs are important factors that will continue to be relevant.

Even while talking, I didn't stop my hands. I shamelessly used dirty tactics, taking advantage of any opportunity to attack. Unfortunately, most of the surprise attacks lacked power due to awkward stances, and Kohaku didn't even bother to dodge them.

"You really have hands coming from everywhere."

"That's my strong point! That's why!"

I hate the brute force of stats. My strength is supposed to be doubled, but no matter how many times I hit her, she doesn't budge.

"Look, look, two more minutes."

"Raaaaah!!!"

Encouraged by Kohaku's taunting announcement of the time, I continued my desperate assault. Watching the archive of my stream later, the scene looked like a bullfight, thanks to the appearance of the mini arena.

Incidentally, while deflecting my attacks, Kohaku had a constant smile on her face, seemingly enjoying herself. Damn her!

Bonus: Buff Notation in WLO

In WLO, buffs are generally expressed in percentages. There is a base stat of 100%, and the actual multiplier is calculated by adding the percentage increase. For example, a 50% increase results in 150%, or 1.5 times the base. A 100% increase results in 200%, or 2 times the base. Most normal skills and arts add their buffs, so if they add up to 150%, the total multiplier is 2.5 times the base. This applies to the Oni Dance as well; if both the Rāsya Dance and the Dance of Many Blades are activated simultaneously, the strength multiplier is 2.2 times.

However, Garei increases the stats by 50% of the final value after all other buffs are applied. In a simple mathematical formula, it would be (1 + buff + buff + buff + buff) × 1.5. The buffs are almost collapsing under the weight of the formula. The more buffs stack, the more powerful Garei becomes. Which way will Garei's future go...?

Incidentally, the reason for adopting the percentage system is said to be due to a named boss monster set by the developers.

In summary, Garei is a skill that adds up all the buffs and then multiplies the final result by 1.5.