章 195: Boss Battle: Sir Pimpington, Disgraced Lord of Regret and Roses

Faster than anyone could have predicted, Sir Pimpington goes on the assault. Only a scant few feet from the warrior Princess, a faint blue outline of the agile Fencer's silhouette shimmers into being.

The sapphire ring flashes, and with it the Pimp disappears from his position on the other end. of the room only to reappear exactly where his ghost-like echo was projected. This process only took a few seconds, tops.

Sam is taken by surprise- even if she can't show it too well. "The fuck?! That's cool as shit!" She says, complimenting the enemy.

I switch my voice projection feature off so that Pimpington can no longer hear our upcoming strategies, "SAM, MOVE!"

The Princess tries to backstep but he closes in, his rapier glowing with the telltale aura of Arts usage. Pimpington performs a singular poke that Sam blocks with the broadside of her sword. Just as soon as the piercing strike hits the opposing metal, he reels his weapon back and unleashes another, and another and another.

His speed is astonishing, and try as she might, Sam can't hope to keep up.

One of the attacks slips past her guard and the tip of Pimpington's sword radiates with shining energy. It heads straight towards her vitals- but the Princess's reaction time is impressive and saves her from certain death.

"HECK NO-" She yells in defiance, twisting her body so that the oncoming tip hits her right shoulder's pauldron. It pokes a hole clean through as if it were paper, but it doesn't pierce the Princess's gambeson at least.

Pimpington pulls back and swipes his sword out of the shoulder armor. In an impressive display of fancy footwork, he dances several paces backward.

He's not even showing off, either.

The experienced Fencer's form is like a gentle breeze sweeping across the room, yet his aggressive stance betrays the serenity. It implies that at any second, the man could transform from a breeze into an unrelenting maelstrom. "Hm, impressive. Though I suppose y'all would actually have to have a bit of skill if ya made it this far," He pauses for a moment to twirl both his mustache and his entire body in a graceful pirouette.

"My friend made me this armor!" Sam performs a short leap backward to put some distance between them. "You're lucky I can't get mad right now, you prissy red flower man!"

I use the pimp's brief bewilderment at Sam's bizarre outburst to get off a message of warning. "I was right, he's a Fencer. His Arts confirmed it. The attack just now was Multi Thrust, and if you look at the tip of his sword you'll see it's glowing. That's Piercing Point, a passive Art that pokes straight through most metal. Be careful."

Other classes have similar Arts, but Fencers have just about the best version of a physical, piercing melee skill there is. A good way to deal with an enemy using this is to move in and don't give them enough distance to use their thrusting attack, but... a Black Mage, a Great Blader, and a Shield Maiden are not equipped to fight at that sort of distance.

We'd need someone even faster than a Fencer, like a Monk, or a Rogue. Gods, this match-up is troubling.

If that wasn't enough, on top of his incredible experience as an adventurer knight Pimpington has those ten rings of his which, assuming they're all magic, provide ten random abilities unrelated to his class.

"Zutiria, help get them an opening."

'I'll try something light that won't fire off a projectile that he can deflect, maybe grab his ankle with Darkreach,' Zutiria signals her intent to me and raises her staff. Darkness begins swirling around her magical weapon, but a glimmer appears in Pimpington's eye.

"Naw, we ain't gonna be having any of those pesky support spells, ya feel me?" The villain pulls his left hand from behind his back and points the index finger at Zutiria. The jewel, a magnificent topaz, glares as he commands it to his whims. A sparkling beam of magical energy fires off like an arrow at the defenseless Sorceress, and in her panic, she cancels the oncoming spell.

Peri gasps at the magnificent-looking attack, "NYAA!? THE PIMP HAS A LASER BEAM!"

I adjust my glasses and study the screen. "Meri,"

"ON IT!" The Shield Maiden leaps in front of the beam, and her glorious shield tanks the arcane projectile like it were nothing. The magic doesn't do so much as singe the point of impact. Using this burst of momentum, Meri begins advancing as she transforms her shield into its buckler form, withdrawing the blade.

'Damn it... I'll just look for chances to support for now. I can't make myself a target, and I can't use anything that he could reflect with that amethyst barrier of his...' The Mage frowns at her limitations, clenching her staff tight.

"Good plan, stay in the back row."

"Barely anything's happened yet and this is already way more intense than anything so far, nyaa...!" Cherry stands up, her stool falling to the floor from hastiness. She and Peri both jump up onto opposite sides of the large office desk so that they can watch the battle unfold, instead of having to peek over my shoulder.

Snow isn't saying a word. While she's mostly over her comical exasperation, it's been replaced with a grim and concerned expression. She clutches her paws to her chest and watches with bated breath.

While Sam strafes around the room looking for an in, Meri draws closer to the enemy Fencer. As he stares down the approaching adventurer, Pimpington smirks and raises an eyebrow. "Aw, damn! Ain't this just the cutest thing? Y'all are workin' together 'n shit. No 'I' in teamwork, amiright? Not gonna be enough to take this pimp down, though..."

From behind the rose-shaped knuckle guard of his sword, the ruby ring on his thumb glows. Before I can even put in a word of warning, a second Pimpington somehow splits off from the original and he dashes towards Meri from her right side.

"The fuck is this shit?!" Sam gapes at the reveal of yet another of the pimp's magic rings.

"It's ok, I got this!" Meri plants her feet into the golden floor beneath her, switching back to tower shield now that the buckler served its purpose.

As the second Fencer steps into the right distance for a lunge, Pimpington smirks. Something isn't right- and there's only seconds for us to react. "MERI, GET OUT OF THERE!"

"HUH?!"

Snow gasps and the maids watch with bulging eyes. The enemy phases straight through Meri's shield and fizzles harmlessly out of existence.

The problem?

Meri turned away from the real pimp to deal with this Feint-like after image. Rose-red-colored energy swirls around his rapier as he draws it back, and when he thrusts it forward it shoots a spiraling drill-like projectile right at Meri's exposed flank.

As the attack spins out towards the helpless adventurer, ephemeral rose petals from the sword itself wilt off and join the attack. If it weren't heading directly towards someone I love with all my heart, I would almost certainly be marveling at the beauty of this attack.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Gritting her teeth, Meri twists her torso to the side and soaks up a portion of the attack with her tower shield in the nick of time.

The rest of the Art hits the left side of her armor. Since it wasn't a direct attack with the tip of his sword it doesn't pierce, thank the Gods, but it still bangs up her arm's plating a bit. Interestingly, the many petals that split from the roses on his rapier made little scratch marks on Meri's armor wherever they touched.

I was wondering about the wilting petals on his sword. It figures that they were too inconspicuous to just have been an aesthetic effect. They must come out on command and add themselves to any long-distance attacks that stem from his sword.

I have the reference book from earlier still on my desk and it's flipped to the corresponding pages for reading up on Fencers. There are a lot of Arts listed, and I identify the last attack as Thrust Wave... a very, very high-level Fencer Art.

"W-What the heck was that?!" Meri clenches her left fist tight, ignoring the pain of the surprise attack as best she can.

"Was that a Feint?!" Sam's eyes glimmer with recognition.

"Naw, naw, naw. Feint ain't the same as a full-on after image, ya feel me?" Pimpington corrects the Princess and advances towards the girls, making my dread heighten with every inch.

"That makes sense... this didn't feel like when Nikita used Feint during our training... this felt like it was actually there- until it wasn't," Meri says softly while glaring down Pimpington, not dropping her guard against the foe for a second. "What do we do...?!"

I take a deep breath and calm my thoughts as best I can. There aren't a whole lot of options I can think of that lead to the girls gaining an upper hand... perhaps this is one of those dreadful situations where I need to push forward despite knowing that there's a risk of damage? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Over the course of tonight, I've come to realize just how taxing a power like Taskmaster can be. I spent ages wanting a way to help provide feedback for Sam on the field, but now that I can actually take command, I realize the heavy burden comes along with such a blessing.

Whatever happens, all responsibility falls on my shoulders.

...I won't make a mistake. I'm going to get my girls home, and they're coming home victorious.

"Sam, Meri. Get in closer, you need to not give him the range to perform his thrusts if you can help it."

"AW YEAH-" Sam rushes in, smiling.

Meri is more subtle about it, merely nodding her head and running forward.

As Zutiria watches from the back row, Pimpington smirks and twirls about in place, shedding his over the top, fluffy pimp coat to increase his maneuverability. "That how we doin' this? C'mon, then. Show this pimp what ya got!"