“Huh?” The moron woman shifted her attention from us and put her hand to her ear. “Well, well, well, so they’ve taken back the hunting tool. That ends our fun! Oh, and the hourglass has been captured too? So much for the former musical instrument hero and his pathetic country,” the woman said. Who was she communicating with? It sounded like she was talking about the activities of Glass and L’Arc—and it sounded like things had worked out with them. “This feels like a good time to get out of here. The musical instrument has been stolen, and the mirror and book have shown up too. Things are no longer in our favor. I thought this might all work out, but look where we’re at now. I’m leaving!”

“You think we’ll allow that?” I said. But before she even heard my reply, the moron woman had already turned to face Itsuki, Rishia, and Armor.

“All false heroes will face the hammer of justice!” Armor roared. “Any who flee are evil!” He was busy attacking Itsuki and Rishia and hadn’t heard anything anyone else had said.

“Mald. I’ll give you what little respect you deserve,” Itsuki said. “I’ll fight you myself.”

“You arrogant fake!” Armor shouted but then gasped as he noticed notes that Itsuki launched all around him. I’d thought Itsuki and Filo had just continued to play Hero’s Melody, but at some point, they had switched to this instead. “The attacks of one as evil as you cannot harm me!” Armor used his axe to smash the notes out of the air, but Itsuki didn’t miss that opening.

“Music Strike!” Itsuki muttered. Something—basically an arrow—was fired from his violin and struck the accessory with deadly aim. His Accuracy ability was at work again.

Armor grunted at the notes, then started to strike him, sending him staggering. He’d woven in some life force, meaning Armor’s high stats were now working against him. He spat up some blood.

“I’m not finished yet!” Armor raged. “The attacks of evil cannot defeat true justice!” He was doing better than I expected—but Itsuki continued to play.

“Imposter! I know your weakness! You can’t handle close combat!” Armor dashed in close to Itsuki and swung his axe, but in that same moment, Itsuki turned the musical instrument into a large bell and swung it to the side. It made a pleasant ringing sound. Itsuki proceeded to fall back, the bell ringing out each time he did so, and he played more music simply by moving around. Armor shouted in rage and frustration.

“Unfortunately for you, having trained with Rishia, I’m no longer vulnerable to close-distance attacks,” Itsuki informed him.

“Owww! Curse you!” Armor exclaimed. I was pretty impressed. Itsuki was developing too, being able to cover close range as well now. “Stop moving around!” What did Armor expect, honestly? For Itsuki to just stand still?