“It was only a small impetus. She didn’t realize it, but Mizari had that light to begin with. What she needed the most to achieve her goals.”
Yuugo thought back to that day, when he asked Mizari directly what exactly she looked up to, and smiled as he remembered the answer she came up with.
She despaired at the gap between her power and her father’s, but… She realized that what she really looked up to was not that power.
“What Mizari really admired wasn’t her father beating enemies all cool. It was how he fearlessly faced his enemies to protect people who were important to him… How he was a hero.”
When they were traveling and a lot of people were attacked by monsters, Mizari’s father did not hesitate, despite this being completely unexpected.
The people running in panic, his precious family, his dear daughter… He swore to himself he would protect them all, and there was no question that he would stand in front of his enemies.
He was fighting not as a magic knight, but as Mizari’s father, as the hero that protected her.
No matter how much they suffered or how tough the fight was, when people fought for the ones they wanted to protect from the bottom of their heart, they would stand against any threat without fear.
Just like how Yuugo wanted to be like the heroes he saw on TV… Mizari admired and respected her father from the bottom of her heart.
“Mizari, you’re the great daughter of that great magic knight. You inherited from him what matters the most, and that’s why you’re fighting like that right now.”
As stated before, Mizari was using jabs and moving around to fight very close to her opponent.
It took guts to jump in so close to a human opponent using a weapon, and the thought of a painful counterattack made it hard to go up that close.
But Mizari did not waver. She got close again and again, and after dodging a sword attack, she would once again get close.
That was the most important thing in order to fight like this. Nothing was more important than her facing her opponent fearlessly. But Mizari easily fulfilled that condition, and did so calmly.
Even before Yuugo told her anything, she already had what was most important for her to become a hero like her father… The courage to face her enemies.
Yuugo watched her fight, feeling as though there was nothing to be concerned about anymore, and cheered her on quietly.
“Good luck, Mizari…! This is the time to make your dream a reality…!!”
He knew she most likely did not hear that.
Verber cowered at the sharp jabs that Mizari unleashed, as if responding to her master’s encouragement, and now that he was fully shrinking back, all he could do was try to work out a way to break through this.
(Dammit dammit dammit dammit! That left is too fast!! How many times did she hit me just there? Why did she get this strong!?)
Verber’s thoughts were in complete chaos, as he was being beaten completely by the person he looked down on.
Maybe that was why he committed too much when he saw the slightest opening in Mizari.
Mizari executed a hit and run attack, but it was just slightly late.
Verber saw a chance to turn things around, and desperately swung his straight sword.
(Nevermind the jabs! One shot! If I can hit her once, I can turn this around! I have more power, so… So…!)
He did have more raw power. And the equipment also allowed him to have more defensive power.
If Mizari was basically a glass cannon, if Verber could get one good hit on her, it might very well end here. It was too soon to give up.
It did not matter if he continued getting hit from the left. He was letting everything go, and putting it all on offense.
Verber went for an awkward counter that would hit at the same time he was hit, but… A clunking sound blew that idea away.
“Ah…?”
He felt an impact on his chin, and suddenly, he was facing up.
He instinctively faced forward, confused about what just happened, and gulped at what he saw.
(R-right…!?)
Mizari had not used her right arm that whole fight. It was covered in a gauntlet, and it was pulled back after an uppercut.
Verber remembered what Marcos said, ‘how could I not block an attack when I know it’s coming?’, and thought about the opposite… He realized that he just took an attack he did not expect at all, and his face twitched.
(This is bad! I’m wide open!!)
The right uppercut was not a finishing move, it was a setup for the real clincher… And the finishing blow soon followed.
As proof of this… Mizari pulled back her left arm, poured magic energy into her Wasp Needle, and readied herself for a special move.
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