Pimpington wastes no time in proving my worst fears true. Sam rushes towards him with her sword, ready to attack with her full power. Whatever damage he sustained from Zutiria’s attack isn’t bothering him anymore. Instead, he stares at the oncoming great blader in silence before calmly taking a single step forward.

“Ya know, maybe that Feint of yours would’ve worked if ya could do somethin’ a lil’ like this,” He raises his rapier and sidesteps to the left- no, the right- no, that’s not right either... shit. Using nothing but his own Arts skill, Pimpington overwhelms Sam with phantom attacks appearing in just about twenty directions simultaneously.

“GAH! Niki’s never used so many at the same time before!” The Princess’s green eyes dart from feint to feint, trying in desperation to discern the actual attack amidst all the fakes. But the thing is even MY eyes are barely able to keep up with this non-existent onslaught, and if I can’t do it, then...

“Sam! He’s right in front of you!” I grit my teeth, watching as the real Pimpington walks towards Sam at a leisurely pace.

Sam shuts her eyes, deciding to block off all the potential distractions. She grunts, slashing with her weapon side to side and putting all her power to work. Pimpington’s blade shines in response and rushes out to meet Sam’s. Unlike before where the Princess brutally overwhelmed him, this time he has the foresight to ready a defensive Art.

“Master, y’all ain’t the only one who can play mind games,” Pimpington warns me as his blade curves around Sam’s sword like a snake, “This pimp knew you’d tell her to move on in, ya dig? Only eyes like yours could see on through that many feints.” In one fell motion, the Fencer redirects Sam’s attack. He forces the massive blade’s arc down to the ground where it clangs against the golden bricks.

“What the heck?!” Sam shouts as her eyes open wide. “How many Arts does this jerk even kno-”

Pimpington stabs Sam in the chest three times. Each attack pokes out the other side of her armor and sends out a stream of blood like she were a popped balloon. Snow gasps, Peri is at a loss for words, and Cherry begins to tear up as the powerful Princess stumbles backward.

Sam coughs up a bit of blood, a flash of anger filling her eyes even despite the spell tampering with her mood. “D... Dad...dy...?” The Princess clutches her breastplate, and I struggle with the reality of what just happened.

‘SAMMY!’ Zutiria begins to panic. The hands holding her staff begin to tremble as she tries to think of some creative way to intervene but to no avail.

“This is all yo’ fault,” Pimpington tells me as he prepares a dramatic fourth strike aimed straight at Sam’s heart.

“Call her back, Myaster!” Snow looks me in the eyes. “You’ve done enough!”

I don’t even hesitate. “MERI, USE A RETURNER ON SAM, NOW!”

What happens next is almost a blur. Meri was already running towards Sam in order to intervene, “Get away from my friend, y-you ASSHOLE!” The timid adventurer shouts as she fires off a Kite Rail missile. 

Zutiria slams the butt of her staff onto the floor, shouting, “CYCLOTEX! BURNHIT!” The Mage falls down onto her knees and clutches her throat, but the duo of spells is cast. Behind Meri’s missile manifests the same tornado that Zutiria summoned a few hours ago, only now the wind is wrapped in intense flames.

Pimpington’s fatal blow on Sam is postponed as he jumps backward to put distance between himself and the spiraling, drill-like missile encased in fire. Without even so much as a taunt, the Fencer leaps into the air and uses the same Art he just used on Sam. With the power of his Riposte, he redirects the magically-powered Kite Rail straight back at Meri.

She switches back to tower shield, no doubt thinking she’d be able to Reflect the massive impact right back at him. I almost celebrate this fortunate mistake on his part before noticing something that makes my heart drop. 

Pimpington made a clone, and no one noticed it. Not even me. The pimp-clone leaps out of the rose bushes covered in tons of little scratches and cuts. He’s had it hiding in there ever since he was last sent flying, hasn’t he? Damn it! Why didn’t I consider that?!

“MERI, YOUR FLANK!” I shout so loud that all three Catfolk have to cover their ears.

“W-What?! No way!” Meri gasps in shock as she looks to the side and witnesses the oncoming threat. The Shield Maiden is just barely able to jump backward out of the way of both the clone’s rapier and the Riposte-ed projectile... but Pimpington counted on that, too.

Setting aside the damaged Princess for the moment, the pimp performs a spiral motion with his sword. “I told y’all this pimp was gettin’ tired of that Reflect shit, did ya really think I was just gonna let ya fire off another one?” The Piercing Point at the tip of the rapier begins spiraling like it were a high-powered, arcane tech drill. 

Pimpington then takes a single step forward. Just like with Leaping Lunge before, he flies across the room at break-neck speed. Spiral-shaped energy trails behind him and the sharp petals of his sword begin storming around his sword with unrestrained violence.

“MERI!!”

The flying Rapier skewers the Shield Maiden before she can even throw her shield up to meet it. Pimpington removes his sword out of my lover’s body with casual ease. He flicks it through the air, cleaning it and spraying Meri’s scarlet blood all over the golden bricks below.

Meri falls to the floor.

“Hah... hahaha... w-what?” The Princess in pain stares at her injured friend. Her placid, green eyes start flickering on and off with magic as she processes what’s going on. “Me... Meri...” 

“Zutiria, please, you need to do something! Get Sam and Meri out of there...!”

The Mage is on the floor, crying. ‘I... can’t... my mana... body... hurts...’ That explosive finale of hers took more out of her than just what was left of her mana.

I... don’t see a way out of this. This feels like the most terrifying situation any Guild Master could ever experience- a total party wipe.

Pimpington sighs as he looks down at the feeble Meri, “I’m really sorry about this, ya seem like a real sweetheart.” He raises his sword, and I hold back the growing urge to throw up the sandwich the kittens made me several hours back.

“Suh... screw... y-you...” Meri spits blood out towards the pimp, getting it all over the gold plating of his pointy wingtip shoes.

“Atta girl, always best to go down fighting-” Meri reaches out and grabs the bottom of Pimpington’s frilly pant-leg, interrupting him. Her frowns. “...Aw, c’mon. Now y’all are just being desperate.”

Gritting her teeth, the Shield Maiden looks up at the villain and scowls. “Desperate... gets... things... d-done...” Pimpington stabs Meri through her gauntlet and forces her to let go.

This brief distraction was all the time Sam needed.

“YOU THINK I’M JUST GONNA FUCKING LET YOU MURDER ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, YOU OVERCOMPENSATING CUCK!? WE’RE BASICALLY SISTERS!” The Princess shouts angrily as she dashes in from Pimpington’s side.

“Fo’ real?” He blinks incredulously. “Do any of y’all know when the fuck to give up?” He raises his left pointer finger and shoot off a topaz-colored laser beam straight at the charging Princess.

“I’LL GIVE UP WHEN YOU’RE A PILE OF BROKEN BONES, BITCH!” Sam blocks it with the brunt of her sword and continues moving in on him, powering up a strike with all the power her Royal Blood has to offer.

“Mistress!? She’s... she’s angry, nyaa!” Peri shouts.

“But what about the spell?!” Cherry looks me in the eyes for an answer.

“It wore off!” Snow covers her wide-open mouth with her paws.

“No... she broke it!” I stare in disbelief as Pimpington tries to Riposte Sam’s tremendous attack. It’s no use- his sword gives under her force. It deals massive damage to the Pimp once more as it strikes his entire body. His eyes almost bulge out of his head from the impact- it’s hard to watch just how much pain the Princess can inflict.

Like the persistent bastard he is, the Fencer refuses to lose his pressing advantage. He stabs his rapier into the golden ground and prevents himself from flying too far away from the action this time. Pimpington breaths heavily, and I realize now that the increased amount of Arts he’s been using must be starting to catch up with him. “Gods, that mothafuckin’ bitch-ass sword hurts-”

“Yeah? Well, we’ll see how bad it hurts when I SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!” She growls and advances towards the target of her rage.

“Sam, are you ok?!” I find it hard to hold back my joy, and excitement leaks out of my voice.

“My fucking head hurts like shit, Boss, and I’m not too thrilled about all my new holes... but I’d say I’m doing a lot fucking better!!”

‘You... broke the spell, Sammy?’ Zutiria pulls herself up off the ground and watches in amazement.

“Guess my anger is stronger than your brain magic,” Sam scoffs and raises her sword.

“Get him, Sam...!” Meri weakly rises, pride for her party member surely swelling.

“Have ya really learned nothin’? You can’t just charge in expecting brute force to work on this pimp,” Pimpington scowls as the Princess slashes horizontally towards him with all her might. His entire body begins to glow with his energy, and he dodges the attack using a devastating, high-level art- Passata Sotto.

The Fencer places his left hand on the floor, ducking under Sam’s attack with his entire body. It’s so swift and sudden that it almost seems like he contorts himself at an unnatural angle just to dodge Pimpington finishes the Art with a dramatic lunge of his blade, piercing through the Princess’s crimson armor once more and straight through her collarbone.

I wince at the sight- but Sam doesn’t. She reaches out and grabs his hand. She’s been waiting for this moment all along. Sam leans into the attack, purposefully taking the sword deeper into her body but giving him no chance to wiggle out of it. “Gotcha, bitch!”

Pimpington tries to pull away. “Fuckin’ hell you doing ya crazy-ass hoe?!” Sensing he’s not going to beat her in a battle of brute strength, the Pimp starts punching Sam in the face with his left hand. It surely has to hurt, even despite Sam’s unpracticed use of Steel Soul, but all it really seems to do is piss her off.

“I’m finishing you off,” She raises her sword in response, smiling like a demon.