The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 171

For example, let’s say they’re selecting a 3-tier member. A 3-tier member can bring in someone with a Platinum rank, so naturally, they’d want to recruit someone who has reached Platinum 1.

In fact, Barubara, a 3-tier member from Leviathan, was Platinum 1.

But Gryphon’s 3-tier member is Platinum 3.

Instead, their subscriber count is the highest among the Fantasy League participants.

‘But is it that this type of team is needed?’

The Fantasy League broadcasts have viewer numbers in the tens of thousands for each match. This is because popular VTubers are participating in the tournament.

From Deadlaus’s perspective, it’s great because they can promote Labyrinthos to so many viewers.

The VTuber fans watching the Fantasy League are also showing interest in professional gaming, which is good for the professional gamer industry.

Sponsors of the Fantasy League benefit from advertising their products to these massive audiences.

In other words, this overwhelming viewership is the driving force behind the Fantasy League.

“…What a boring team.”

A team formed solely for the sake of event popularity, gathering popular VTubers only.

It was clearly a weak team.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m planning to let my guard down.

In the sports industry, there is a term called "sprinkling chili powder."

This refers to when the team in first place unexpectedly loses to the team in last place, dropping to second place.

Gryphon is a weak team, but they are not a team without potential.

Especially Son Narim.

He’s the player to watch out for on Gryphon.

Ding

Ayano Kouji Sora [Owner of the Team] [We’ll be in soon.]

As Gaho analyzed Gryphon while watching the video, a message sound from Discord rang out.

Choi Gaho immediately replied.

Choi Gaho

[Got it.]

[I’ll log in right away.]

Choi Gaho stood up and entered the VR device.

The situation was urgent.

The expression "fire at my feet" doesn’t quite fit here.

It’s true, our Leviathan team had been practicing regularly, so this was nothing new.

But now, with the Gryphon match just around the corner, the pressure was on.

Match 5: Leviathan vs Gryphon

Match 6: Leviathan vs Cerberus

Moreover, Leviathan was scheduled to play for two consecutive weeks.

Compared to Behemoth, who had three weeks of consecutive matches, this was relatively easy.

With such a situation, it was only natural that there would be a stronger drive to do better.

Thus, our Leviathan team had increased their practice intensity more than usual.

Barubara and Kirin had cleared their schedules for this week and next.

Louis, too, had cleared his schedule, aside from an unavoidable external event, to focus entirely on Labyrinthos practice.

Mero also canceled all his part-time work and other commitments to join us.

Sora had always been receiving one-on-one training from Choi Gaho.

Even Choi Gaho, who had once kept his distance from us, had been showing his face more frequently lately.

For these reasons,

I was now in the middle of a duel with Sora.

Fwoosh!

A burst of light erupted before my eyes.

The overwhelming brightness briefly obscured my vision.

Taking advantage of the gap, a throwing dagger flew at me from the left.

Ting!

I swung my sword to deflect the dagger.

I got lucky.

Since the moment the duel started, I had been playing with one eye closed.

This was because Sora, who had been playing the most combat priest role, often used skills that would release bursts of light.

I had prepared for her using flash-type attacks to ambush me.

But that wasn’t the case.

I looked at Sora as I thought.

She was wearing a white hood. Her build wasn’t particularly small, nor was she huge.

She was holding one dagger in each hand, and her robe had a strong religious motif.

On her left shoulder was a cross emblem representing the Holy Church, and on the opposite shoulder was a white raven emblem.

This was a new character added to Labyrinthos recently.

A holy rogue.

"..."

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Sora’s eyes beneath the hood were sharp, yet cold.

Without a word, she started swinging both of her daggers at me.

The rogue’s fighting style lies in not allowing the opponent a turn.

Assassination—killing the enemy before they can act.

Hit and run—using speed to attack quickly and retreat.

If we compare it to a card game, it’s a strategy where the opponent doesn’t get a turn and I’m the only one who keeps taking turns.

Holy rogue, though it has ‘holy’ in the name, still shares the rogue’s unique battle style of not allowing the opponent any turns.

Swoosh!Swoosh!Whoosh!

Sora’s twin daggers continued to fly towards me.

The holy rogue doesn’t have the same burst damage as an assassin.

Instead, the twin daggers she wields are surprisingly effective at pushing the opponent back.

For example, dual-wielding isn’t the most agile fighting style because the swords tend to hinder each other.

In that respect, daggers have short blades.

Unlike dual-wielding, where the weapons can get in each other's way, daggers can keep attacking continuously if handled skillfully.

And the gap between us was so close.

Even if I tried to swing my sword, there was simply no space. In close-range combat, short daggers naturally have the advantage, which meant Sora had the upper hand.

She would continue to press the attack.

‘She’s getting better.’

Perhaps it was thanks to her one-on-one training with Choi Gaho. Sora’s skills had noticeably improved.

It looked like she was just recklessly attacking, but each swing of her daggers had meaning.

She clearly understood that if she prevented me from swinging my sword, she could keep attacking without giving me a turn.

I guess it’s time to take a risk.

If there are no openings, I’ll just create one myself.

Whoosh!

I attempted a low kick.

But Sora dodged it easily.

Choi Gaho must have trained her to be cautious against low attacks.

Of course, I anticipated this,

"<Wall of Wailing>."

Boom!

A wall suddenly rose beneath Sora’s feet, who had stepped back slightly to avoid my kick.

“Eek?!”

Maybe she didn’t expect this attack.

Sora’s body was sent flying into the air by the rising wall.

She crashed onto the ground.

I immediately aimed my sword at her.

“Ugh... I lost.”

Sora admitted her defeat.

At that moment, Choi Gaho’s voice echoed from the air.

[That was good, you were aware of the low kick.]

[But it would have been better if you also considered the Wall of Wailing.]

That’s what he said.

This was how I’ve been practicing duels with Sora lately.

As I’ve mentioned before,

There are two main ways to win a match. One is to block your opponent’s strengths, and the other is to exploit their weaknesses.

From the opposing team’s perspective, it’s much easier to target Sora and Mero, who are considered weaknesses, rather than trying to block me, who is their strength.

That’s why the need for Sora to grow has been emphasized, and we’ve been working on improving her in this way.

Meanwhile, I was also assessing Sora’s abilities.

Choi Gaho said that in the match against Gryphon, Sora and I would need to combine our strengths.

So, he instructed me to figure out what Sora is good at and what she struggles with by practicing these duels.

This duel wasn’t just for Sora,

It was also for me.

[And Sora,]

[Instead of backing up to avoid the kick, it would have been better to charge forward.]

[If you close the distance, Laura wouldn’t be able to use the Wall of Wailing recklessly. It would blow her back as well.]

“How would closing the distance help...? How?”

“For example, like this. Let me show you.”

I stood Sora up.

Then I jumped forward and wrapped my legs around her waist.

“Wah?! What... what are you doing...!”

“I’m talking about the situation just now. When you were trying to avoid my kick earlier, you could have jumped forward like this.”

I tightened my grip around Sora’s waist.

“Then you could keep stabbing with the daggers. It would have been much harder for me to respond.”

“I... I get it, but... can you let go now...?”

“One more thing. You need to push your center of gravity forward in this position.”

I pressed my body against Sora’s while speaking. The posture became a bit like a hug.

This was important.

If I pulled my body back, Sora would fall forward.

If she falls forward, I’ll end up on the floor with my back against the ground, and I’d quickly be pinned.

Being pinned is always disadvantageous in a fight. It’s a position where the opponent can mount you.

So, I pushed my center of gravity forward, and Sora ended up falling backward.

With me on top.

That means I had the mount position now.

“This is how you knock down your opponent and keep the pressure going.”

“I understand! Now get off me! This is embarrassing...”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I said.

“In a life-or-death battle, worrying about appearances is nonsense. Winning is what matters, even if you have to use underhanded tactics. Throw sand in their eyes, or kick them in the groin.”

[Even if you lose in Labyrinthos, you won’t lose your life...]

[And hitting the groin in Labyrinthos doesn’t really mean much. Thanks to the sensory correction system, it doesn’t hurt as much as you’d think.]

That sounded like someone who’d been kicked there before.

Well, being a professional gamer, I guess they’ve experienced a lot of things.

“So, when are you going to get off? Are you just going to stay like this?”

Sora looked up at me with a bewildered expression.