SIDE ???
“HEE HEE HEE. The festival is about to begin…and how are preparations on your end?”
“Our targets are Dias the guildmaster, Widget Aurel, beastmen representative, former A-Rank adventurer Phelms, and S-Rank adventurer Dimitris. These four…”
“But?”
“We’ve narrowed it down to Aurel and Dimitris. We’ll focus on these two.”
“Well, well! You would actually attempt to lay hands on the S Rank!”
“Yes. They both have grandchildren.”
“And so you’ll take them hostage.”
“That’s right. Aurel will be useful both for his strength and knowledge. Meanwhile, Dimitris can destroy an entire country by himself.”
“You did your homework. But they’ll both have bodyguards attached to them. Dimitris’s grandchild is protected by one of his stronger disciples.”
“I know.”
“By the way, I’ll be busy helping the Chalusians, so I won’t be able to help on that front.”
“Al Azif will make quick work of any security detail.”
“Oh? But I don’t see him with you.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’ll be back before the operation begins…”
“Y-you don’t sound too sure.”
“It will be fine!”
“Besides, I have requested support from my master. I have forces already installed in this town. We will use them.”
“And what kind of support might that be?”
“First are the undead soldiers created from those adventurers. Your potion made quick work of them.”
“Aah, yes. I was wondering why you put in a request for undead potions… You really turned them undead while they were still alive?”
“The ritual was quite simple… Though they are quite a bit weaker compared to when they were alive.”
“Good enough for cannon fodder.”
“Indeed. I have also seen people who should not be here in this town.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Red Knights. Thinking of themselves as Raydoss’s guardians, they never leave our country. And yet here they are. While we don’t get along, they are still Raydossians. I should be able to rely on them to help us. With their help, we can take the city head on.”
“Now that is quite interesting. Raydoss’s secret fighting force! But are you sure we can depend on them when the time comes? Even you sound doubtful about that.”
“I know. I’ve prepared a main force of ghouls who used to be C-Rank adventurers. While they have lost the use of reason, they are quite powerful since they were created by the master.”
“Hee hee hee. Very interesting. I never realized how strange it is that we’re even having this conversation. Here you are an undead, and yet you have retained your reason.”
“A gift from my master and the Blessed Mother. Once Dimitris and Aurel become undead, they will be as loyal as I.”
“Hee hee hee hee! An S-Rank undead adventurer is bound to be powerful! I can’t wait!”
“We shall carry out our plan the day after tomorrow when Aurel and Dimitris are gathered in the same place.”
“All right. I guess I’ll adjust the dosage for the Chalusians…”
“Don’t forget that we still have a use for them. For now, we are only using them to stir trouble.”
“I know. Chalus is conveniently located for you people. It allows you to invade Granzell from the north and south if it comes to it. It would be a waste to cast them aside now.”
“That’s right. Their king will do anything his close advisors tell him to do. He would even become allies with his long-standing enemies if they told him to. Though our double agents have failed in Phyllius, they continue to do their work in Chalus. They will have to do.”
“There are objectors among the Chalusian nobility, though. There are even those who are skeptical of the king’s aides among our current party.”
“Dealing with them is your job.”
“Very well.”
“You are to prepare everything for the day of the operation.”
“I have so many poisons I want to try out. I can’t decide.”
“And don’t forget to use the Chalusians as a distraction.”
“Yes, I know. But Dimitris and Aurel! I am quite interested in seeing how this will all turn out… Hee hee hee!”
* * *
“Dias.”
“Hello, Fran.”
Dias smiled as he greeted Fran. He was already awake. He didn’t look like he was hiding anything, but who knew when it came to this man?
“How are your wounds doing?”
“Hm. They’re better.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
Dias, the loser, seemed worried about the winner. It was a strange sight, but not uncommon in a tournament where the Cradle of Time completely healed the loser.
Fran’s wounds were completely healed as well. The effects of Dias’s regeneration disruption wore off after a few minutes, and she started healing soon after the match ended.
Seeing her nose get better was a relief. I would need to figure out a way to deal with these healing blockers in the future.
According to P.A., Life Magic had a spell to counter those effects if I put more levels into it. It sounded like a good investment.
There was one other thing that was on my mind…
When your attack went through Dimension Shift…was that because of a manatek? You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, of course.
“It’s all right, Teacher. That was one of my Skills.”
A skill?
I didn’t remember Dias having a timespace Skill on him.
“Identify me.”
O-okay.
Name: Dias
Age: 71
Race: Human
Class: Phantasmist
Level: 76/99
Life: 239, Magic: 670, Strength: 122, Agility: 290
Skills: Sensitive Sole 4, Intimidate 4, Conceal 7, Stealth 8, Disassemble 8, Martial Arts 4, Sense Disruption 7, Fade 7, Sleight of Hand 8, Reveal Weakness 4, Royal Etiquette 6, Presence Sense 8, Conceal Presence 7, Illusion Magic 10, Phantasm Magic 6, Reveal Vulnerability 10, Hush 3, Abnormal Status Resistance 5, Dagger Arts 7, Dagger Mastery 7, Earth Magic 3, Magic Tricks 10,
Throw 7, Poison Magic 4, Fire Magic 3, Mana Drain 2, Magic Resistance 3, Mana Sense 6, Charm Resistance 4, Carpentry 4, Play 7, Disarm Trap 7, Trap Sense 8, Lay Trap 7, Spirit Manipulation, Dull Pain, Fortitude, Split Thinking, Mana Manipulation.
Unique Skill: Skill Amnesia 7
Class Skill: Mental Suggestion 8, Visual Suggestion 8
Titles: Illusionist, Trickster, Surpasser of Human Limits
Equipment: Dragonfang Dagger, Dragonscale Suit, Fleetfoot Boots, Bracelet of Sacrifice, Phantasmist Ring
I Identified Dias again, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Are you hiding it with Identify Disruption?
“No, no. It’s the one called Sleight of Hand.”
“Sleight of Hand?”
“Yeah. A touch of timespace is added to it with enough levels. It doesn’t really do much. At most it just allows me to warp things from one hand to another, make some parts of my body invisible, stuff like that.”
Wow. And here I’d thought it was just an advanced form of Magic Trick, using mana to put on an actual magic show. But Dias had used Sleight of Hand to imbue his attacks with timespace.
Fran remained quiet as Dias and I carried on our conversation. She listened to us, casting her gaze on the floor.
When the conversation was over, she lifted her head and looked Dias in the eye.
“…Are you mad at me?”
Kiara, the woman Dias had been searching for all his life. Theraclede, her murderer and his nemesis.
Fran knew of Theraclede’s whereabouts but had refused to tell him.
They ended up making a bet on the tournament. Now that Fran had won, she didn’t have to tell Dias about Theraclede…
Fran wasn’t completely satisfied.
But despite having lost, Dias looked completely satisfied.
“Ha ha. Not in the slightest. It’s strange, but I feel quite good.”
“…Oh.”
Dias smiled and sat up on his bed. He had a peaceful look on his face.
“You won our bet. I won’t go after Theraclede.” He then bowed his head deeply as if apologizing to Fran. “Fran, thank you for beating me.”
When he lifted his face a few seconds later, a brilliant smile graced his lips.
“I went all out. Held nothing back. And lost.”
“Hm.”
I could tell. Dias had not been holding back in the slightest.
“Maybe I should be more frustrated. But for some reason, I just can’t find it in me…”
“Why?”
“Why indeed… I don’t really know, either. I just feel like I’ve been…set free.”
Dias had carried his hatred for the Beast King and regret for not being able to protect Kiara for years…decades. And now that burden had been lifted. No wonder he felt free. It must have been as if a great millstone was taken off his back.
“The Kiara in my memories always has a scowl on her face. She was always fighting, after all. But I feel like she’s smiling now. A gentle one,” Dias said, a similar smile rising on his own face.
“Now, you get going. The next round is about to start and it’s going to determine who you’re up against. You can’t miss that.”
“Hm. All right. But what about you? You’ll have to fight the loser of that for third place.”
“I’ll be fine. I have my job as a guildmaster to go back to.”
Dias sent Fran away with a smile. He couldn’t afford to sit in the infirmary considering how short-handed Ulmutt was at the moment.
As we were walking to our seats, Fran muttered, “Dias was smiling.”
He was.
“That’s good.”
It is.
Fran was relieved about many things. That Dias didn’t hate her. That he was freed. That she won their bet. That he was smiling.
I was just happy that nothing bad came out of it for her.
Let’s hurry back to our seats. We can’t miss this next match.
“Hm.”
I just hope there’s still seats left…
Hilt versus Knighthart. If Dias and Fran weren’t around, this could’ve been the grand finale match by itself.
As we were looking for an empty seat, we felt eyes focus in on us. They weren’t hostile; more curious. Fran did just beat the guildmaster of Ulmutt, after all. In a way, she was the lady of the hour.
Seemingly keeping each other in check, none of them approached. They knew that Fran was here to observe her competition. These were experienced spectators, seasoned by years of watching the Ulmutt tournament.
Finally, a hero called out from among them.
“Over here, Miss Fran!”
“Kaitley.”
Kaitley had saved a seat just for her. The servant sitting next to her stood up to give her the seat. This was much appreciated. A seat was not guaranteed even if Fran had asked nicely.
The match had yet to begin, earth mages still fixing the arena from our fight. Then Hilt entered the coliseum. Right on time.
It’s starting soon.
“Hm!”
Fran hurried to her seat, and as she sat down, the commentator’s voice rang out.
“Hiltoria of the Piercing Fist, successor of the Dimitris School, enters the arena! We know she has a lot left in the tank! Let’s see if we can see some Dimitris ultimate techniques this year!”
Like the commentator said, Hilt had yet to use most of her Dimitris moves. Only Mana Thruster had been observed so far.
Keep them as close to your chest as you want, you still had to play your trump cards at some point if you wanted to have a chance at winning this tournament. I was really excited to see what she had.
As always, Hilt’s gaze was pointed at us.
She’s definitely glaring at you.
“Hm.”
But an A Rank’s anger was more like a reward for Fran than anything else. She happily returned Hilt’s glare.
Hilt wasn’t guaranteed to be her next opponent, however.
“I’m jealous that you’re looking at someone else before our fun little match.”
Knighthart appeared. His words were oddly polite as usual, but you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him. How did he do it with his mantis head?
Hilt turned her sharp gaze toward him. As strong as she was, beating him wasn’t going to be easy. An upset wouldn’t be surprising.
“I hate bugs…and I hate creeps, too.”
“Aah, forgive me. But I am truly interested in you. I wish to see how strong the heir to the strongest is…”
“Uh-huh.” Hilt’s attention was now focused on Knighthart. Now that he was standing before her, she had a better picture of how strong he was.
The electricity present in the air during Knighthart and Phelms’s match returned.
“And now Flash Blade Knighthart has entered the arena! Let’s see if those blades are still sharp after cutting down a former A Rank the other day!”
Knighthart had been nicknamed Flash Blade. Not surprising considering how he had done so far in the tournament.
But something else caught my eye.
His armor’s different.
Knighthart wasn’t wearing the armor he wore yesterday—the light orihalcon armor with an emblem of his mercenary band emblazoned on it.
Now he was wearing unadorned adamantine gear. It wasn’t as good as his other set, but I guess his previous armor was beyond fixing.
The Cradle of Time only reverted time for the loser, not the winner. It was common for the winner’s gear to be left broken beyond use at the end of the match. In fact, Amanda had had to swap to her backup whip after breaking her Sky Dragon’s Beard fighting Fran.
“You won’t think this match is any fun soon enough.”
“Hah. I’m still looking forward to it.”
“Hmph.”
Hilt and Knighthart took their places before the round began. They knew they would need all the preparation they could get.
Hilt put her left hand in front of her, her right hand close to her body. The stance of an outboxer.
Knighthart drew his dual blades, crossing them in front of his eyes. An uncommon ready stance…but there must have been a reason behind it. Maybe he was drawing Hilt into a false sense of security before attacking her.
As fireworks went off between the two contestants, Fran and Jet watched from their seats. Fran clenched her fist.
“Hilt’s going to win.”
“Woof!” Jet curled his wrists in a familiar mantis pose.
Fran and Jet were having a second round of bets: Fran on Hilt and Jet on Knighthart. I wondered how it was going to work out.
“Electricity is mounting inside the arena, so let’s not waste any more time! Let the second round of semifinals… Begin!”
CLANG!
A loud noise rang throughout the arena as soon as the round started.
The combatants’ weapons clashed in the middle of the ring, the impact sending shockwaves that fluttered their hair and clothes.
“You’re pretty strong…!”
“You too…!”
Hilt’s knuckle duster ground against Knighthart’s dual blades, neither party giving an inch. They looked evenly matched, but already the stalemate was being broken as Hilt pushed Knighthart back.
Hilt was smaller with lower stats. The difference in race could not be overcome. But she had the advantage in Skills.
Not only was her Brute Force well leveled, she’d increased her strength by wrapping her fists in spirit.
After a brief clash, the two jumped back, putting distance between them.
“You have the upper hand in strength.”
“You seem calm enough. Not that I can tell what an insect is feeling.”
“I am…frustrated. But strength isn’t the only thing you need to win.”
“That so?”
“Yes. There are other things that are just as important…like speed!”
Knighthart disappeared.
He moved so quickly that we would’ve lost track of him if we weren’t paying attention. It was as if he’d teleported. Yet Hilt wasn’t easily outrun.
CLANG!
“Very good! I didn’t think you’d strike with your fists head on!”
“You’re pretty fast, too! Not as fast as I was expecting, though!”
Knighthart’s instantaneous acceleration was just as impressive as Hilt’s ability to react to it.
Fran was so excited that she even forgot about the skewer in her hands. She leaned forward, intent on taking it all in.
They’re both very strong.
“Hm!”
Hilt and Knighthart’s match went from a test of strength into a high-speed battle in the blink of an eye.
“Shaaa!”
“Too slow!”
“Speak for yourself!”
Knighthart was moving too fast for the average spectator to see, but his mobility remained intact. He made impossible turns, attacking Hilt from impossible angles. After attacking her from the front, he immediately reappeared behind her.
He continued peppering Hilt from all directions, but Hilt wasn’t just taking his attacks sitting down. Though slower than Knighthart, she was still moving at incredible speeds, blocking his attacks with Dimitris style and countering them.
Some of her counterattacks even landed; and when they did, a loud sound would ring out as the two sturdy objects rammed into each other.
Though Hilt was getting hit more overall, every counterattack which landed on Knighthart’s body did considerable damage. They were about even as far as damage was concerned.
But Knighthart’s insectoid biology gave him more health. At this rate, Hilt was at a disadvantage.
…And she was just as aware of this as we were.
Suddenly, Hilt’s movements changed. She abandoned her defensive stance, leaned in, and rushed forward.
Was she prepared to take a hit? Knighthart seemed to have the same idea I did. He slashed his dual blades across Hilt’s defenseless face as she approached him.
But he missed!
“What?”
He adjusted his attack’s trajectory after it cut nothing but air, but he still couldn’t catch Hilt. Thrown off balance, Knighthart now leaned forward slightly, and Hilt wasn’t one to let this chance go to waste.
“Haaa!”
With a powerful shout, she pulled both arms close to her body. Knighthart immediately switched over to defense and took evasive action, but he couldn’t jump back for some reason.
“Ugh…!”
His arms were locked by an invisible…something. They hung in the air, not moving.
“Sei! Sei! Seryaaa!”
“Eegh!”
Knighthart’s body jerked slightly as Hilt landed blow after blow on him. A shrill noise came from his mantis head, as if two hard objects were grinding against each other. It might have come from the teeth in his mouth.
“Gah…!”
The adventurers in the crowd murmured with confusion as they watched what was happening to Knighthart. But we had seen this technique before.
It’s the same thing Colbert used last year. Asura, if I remember correctly.
That was really strong.
Hilt’s wind-up and follow-up were perfect, too.
Asura was a move which created four extra arms using mana. It also increased the user’s physical abilities.
Colbert’s mana arms were visible…but Hilt’s were invisible to the naked eye, making her technique difficult to discern. And while Colbert had needed to charge up to use Asura, Hilt’s activation was much faster. Her flow of mana was unreadable up to the point of activation. She fooled both my and Knighthart’s Mana Sense, and we remained oblivious to it until it was too late.
You could probably be prepared for it if you concentrated hard enough, but focusing on detection in the heat of battle was easier said than done.
We’ll have to watch out for that.
Hm.
Now, let’s see how Knighthart handles it.
We would probably just teleport out of it.
As we continued watching the match, Knighthart did something unexpected—he let go of his dual blades. As he continued taking Hilt’s hits, he focused his mana into his arms and broke through Asura by sheer strength.
Even Hilt’s expert mana hands were helpless against the mantis man’s brute force.
Knighthart took a step back as he coughed blue-green blood out of his mouth.
“Gaah…!”
His insides must have been crushed from the pressure of his high-speed maneuvers. He used the floor as a brake, skidding across it until he reached its edge.
Hilt did not pursue. A Skanda-enhanced Knighthart was far too fast for her, even if he was injured. His escape speed was a threat all by itself.
She remained calm and focused her spirit, preparing herself for her next move.
“You feel different from before. Are your organs different from a normal human’s?”
“Well… That is a question of great interest.”
And that was the reason why Hilt didn’t give chase. Knighthart had, at some point, activated Insect Form, changing the makeup of his body. His blue-green blood was one sign; his blood had been red before.
Hilt’s attacks, fatal to a human, were now greatly reduced.
“Fine. I’ll just beat you to a pulp. Doesn’t make a difference.”
Hilt stretched out her hand. Her knuckle duster changed shape, turning into something like a hand wrap.
Now free, she spread open her five fingers…
“Air Crush.”
…And squeezed them.
“Urk!”
Knighthart was immediately thrown to the side, barely managing to avoid Hilt’s attack.
Was that Hilt? Her mana felt a bit weird.
It’s probably a variant of Asura. She created a mana arm in the distance and attacked with it.
Going by its name, Air Crush was probably an attack which used the mana arms to crush things from afar. Its force was considerable, and it restricted the opponent’s movements.
This might have been the origin of Dimitris’s nickname, the Unmoving. He would annihilate his enemies with an attack like Air Crush without taking a single step.
Now, Hilt was using both hands to launch one Air Crush after another.
Knighthart did his best to deal with her attacks, dodging and deflecting them with his own hands. He had a knack for sensing where the Air Crushes were going to be.
It would be difficult for Fran and I to detect her flow of mana unless we concentrated. You needed unbelievable senses to be able to detect them while in the heat of battle.
Were Knighthart’s senses heightened because he had used Insect Form? It seemed likely.
“You are very good!”
“I can say the same for you for being able to dodge my attacks!”
The roles had been flipped. Knighthart had started the match on the offensive, and now he was trying to survive against Hilt’s relentless attacks.
I doubted things would end this way. Who would make their move next?
“Hrm.”
Knighthart’s focusing mana into his arms!
And he was doing it all while evading these invisible attacks.
“Shaaa!” Knighthart shouted and his arms changed shape.
Giant mantis scythes came out of his elbows, long enough to scrape the ground if he relaxed his arms. Unlike a regular mantis, his scythes were covered in short, thick thorns, and the scythes themselves terminated in incredibly sharp blades. They looked like they were covered in sharp knives.
Knighthart’s green carapace glistened under the sun, giving his scythes a metallic sheen. They probably had metallic sturdiness, as well.
His body wasn’t the only thing that Insect Form changed. Knighthart imbued his scythes with mana and started swinging. At first sight, it seemed that he was flailing randomly, but that was not the case. He somehow knew where Hilt’s Air Crushes were and eliminated them before they could strike. His defensive measures linked seamlessly into his offense, firing a blade of mana at Hilt as he swung.
“Tsk.”
Hilt sidestepped, forced to move to evade Knighthart’s slashes. But as she did, she kept pressuring him with Air Crush.
Both combatants sped around the arena, attacking each other from a distance with both hands.
It looked like Knighthart was the only one attacking due to the invisible nature of Air Crush, but everyone could tell that neither fighter was giving an inch.
Knighthart leaned to avoid Air Crush while several locks of Hilt’s hair were shorn away by his magic blades. A few inches were all that stood between them staying in the fight and getting knocked out.
After a few minutes of ranged attacks, the two came to a ceasefire. They knew that their attacks were not going to finish each other off.
They stared at each other from opposite corners of the arena. After a moment’s silence, the announcer’s voice erupted from the stands.
“Spectacular speed! I have no idea what just happened, but I know that it must have been intense! A-Rank adventurer and Dimitris successor Hilt seemed to have the upper hand in that exchange, but mercenary captain Knighthart isn’t that far behind, either!”
Knighthart smirked after hearing the commentary.
“I’m not captain anymore, you know.”
“Really? Did you get fired?”
“Ha ha ha. I stepped down of my own will. I wanted to quit before entering the tournament, but everyone was opposed to it. I filed for my retirement regardless. I got word yesterday that they finally agreed. I’m a freelancer now.”
The audience’s applause drowned out Knighthart’s voice. I could only pick it up because of my special abilities.
He wasn’t a mercenary captain anymore?
Knighthart said he quit being captain.
Why?
I don’t know.
Hmm.
Hilt seemed to be thinking the same thing as we were.
“Why? I don’t think you need to retire to participate in this tournament.”
“I’m getting old. It was time I passed on the torch.”
“How considerate of you,” Hilt muttered, a pained expression on her face. Having trained as Dimitris’s successor, Knighthart’s words hit close to home.
It looked like they were taking a breather and having a nice chat, but both were charging their energy, looking for an opening to exploit.
“I didn’t want to use this because of how awful it would make me look…but I suppose I have no choice.”
Knighthart made the first move. Something started growing out of his back until it broke through his clothes. They were half-moon in shape, green like his head, and sprouted beautiful translucent parts that spread underneath.
The wings of a mantis.
The opening in the back of his armor was to facilitate the expansion of his wings. His previous orihalcon armor had had the same feature, as well.
A green carapace was also growing beneath the gaps of his armor. His lower body expanded, turning his loose pants into a tight fit. He still looked somewhat humanoid, but he was much bigger.
But the biggest change was to his aura. He didn’t just look more intimidating. Monstrous bloodlust now emanated from him, and his eyes looked like those of a beast which had spotted its prey.
“Giii… Shaaa!”
“Ah!”
He roared like a mindless monster, startling Hilt. It looked as if the humanity of the gentlemanly Knighthart had been overwhelmed by his insect side.
The audience also gasped at his transformation.
In the silence that fell over the coliseum, Hilt was knocked to the side of the barrier. Knighthart had charged, attacking her with his scythes. He was so fast that it looked like teleportation. He was on one edge of the arena one moment and reached the other side the next.
Knighthart’s insect speed went beyond what Fran and I could observe.
“Gah…”
Hilt’s severed left hand flew to the sky. It looked like Knighthart’s attack had landed. But perhaps not completely… If it had, he would’ve sliced his defenseless opponent in two. The fact that Hilt only lost her left hand meant that she had succeeded in reacting to his attack, if only barely.
Instead of being surprised, Knighthart was on the move again. He reappeared right in front of Hilt as if teleporting and brought his arms together down on her.
Hilt didn’t move.
Was this the end?
No. There was no way she couldn’t react to this.
“Gishiii!”
Knighthart was knocked back. Hilt had managed to land a spirit counterattack despite his otherworldly speed. She’d probably anticipated his movement.
But she wasn’t able to completely mitigate his attack. Blood flowed out of her shoulders where the tips of his scythes had grazed her skin.
Meanwhile, Knighthart used his wings to leap at her again.
“Gigi… Giiiaaa!”
He roared furiously, glaring at Hilt with his compound eyes. A deep hole had been gouged in his chest, piercing his adamantine armor, shattering the carapace beneath. But it didn’t seem to slow him down.
“Do bugs not feel pain? Well, I’ll just have to squash you until you stop moving.”
Blood gushed from the stump where her left hand used to be. But Hilt didn’t complain. In fact, she was smiling confidently. She knew her victory was assured as long as she gave it her all.
“Haaa!”
Mana quickly charged within her body. Its immense volume shocked the mages in the audience.
“Dimitris Ultimate Arts: Sky!” Hilt shouted, and an explosion of spirit engulfed her body. It was as if she had manifested spirit and was now wearing it like armor. Was this a defensive technique?
Apparently not.
“Giii!”
“Haaa!”
Hilt was now moving at a speed close to Knighthart. We couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but it seemed like the Dimitris Ultimate Art enhanced her physical capabilities by several factors.
Knighthart’s movements were already difficult for us to keep up with. He was faster than a Flashing Thunderclap-enhanced Fran. His wings also allowed him to make quick stops and accelerations. If we’d been in the arena instead of Hilt, we would’ve lost the match. We probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as she did.
Now, she was keeping up with him. She might have been behind in top speed, but her turning and agility were remarkable.
I don’t know how she did it, but she perfectly responded to Knighthart’s tricky movement. She even managed to pull off some feints of her own, slowing down and speeding up randomly.
Their exchanges intensified, moving so fast that we could barely see their shadows within the barrier. They would show up for one split second before disappearing and resuming their battle.
Hilt’s missing hand didn’t even seem to bother her; her repertoire of pointed kicks more than made up for her loss.
A loud rumble went off as the two carried on. The arena was falling apart.
The two superhumans went at it for another two minutes until the end of the battle was finally in sight.
“Ugh…!”
Hilt was the first to reach her limits. She fell on her back, having lost most of her armor. Her legs seemed to be broken, the high-speed combat and her kicks having taken their toll. She didn’t seem like she would be getting up any time soon.
Meanwhile, Knighthart also looked severely damaged. His wings were in tatters, unable to keep up with his speed. He might be down for the count if this went on for another ten seconds.
“Geergh…” Knighthart stepped in front of Hilt, scythes held high. The next moment, it felt as if the calm of the old Knighthart had returned.
Even if he looked like he had lost his mind, he was still Knighthart on the inside.
“Gisha!”
Knighthart brought down his arms for a decapitating strike. But she caught his blades with both arms.
“Huh? How?”
“W-woof!”
Fran and Jet were stunned. Hilt’s arm had suddenly grown back thanks to her Pendant of Recovery.
It had a very simple ability: recover any damage done to your limbs. But it broke once you used it, and you had to bear with the excruciating pain that came with the healing for a few minutes.
Hilt had been saving it for this moment. Neither Fran, Jet, nor Knighthart knew that there was a way to recover the loss of a limb.
Once recovered, she used both hands to defend herself from a lethal attack. She squeezed the scythes which had dug into her hands, holding them in place. Knighthart tugged to get away, but he couldn’t do it.
Bloodied as she was, Hilt had successfully restricted her opponent’s movement. A violent smile crept on her lips.
“Garuda!”
To our surprise, Hilt got up. She rose instantly despite lying flat on her back. She’d used Mana Thruster to push herself up.
Was this what Garuda did?
“Aaah! Yakshaaa!”
Hilt launched herself, bringing her head right into Knighthart’s.
The head of a human and an insect. At first glance, Hilt seemed to be at a disadvantage. But her head was wrapped with immense spirit. It was so thick that I didn’t know where she’d conjured it out from.
Was this from Yaksha, or was it some other Skill?
WHUMP!
A dull noise sounded. Hilt’s forehead was cut open, blood spraying out of it.
Knighthart’s head broke and splattered, green shell and blood pulverized like an unripe melon hit with a stick.
“I-it’s over! It’s all over! What a comeback from what we thought was an impossible situation! But Hiltoria is also down! Healers! Hurry up and get to work!”
Hilt lay motionless as blood continued to pour from her head. Several healers rushed to her side. This was a very close match.
“They were both strong.”
Definitely top of their class. We needed to be prepared to die to win this tournament, but Fran didn’t seem the least bit afraid.
You look happy.
“Hm! I get to fight Hilt next… I can’t wait.”
“Woof.” Jet looked a little bummed out that his fighter had lost the match.
But Fran was thinking about something else. “Won’t Erianthe and the others be sad that Knighthart quit?”
Probably. He said that they tried to stop him, but he insisted on quitting.
“I wanna hear his story.”
Would be nice. Though I’m not sure if he’s in any condition to…
We might not have been close enough friends to go for an uninvited visit, anyway.
We could check out the infirmary… With the way he died, I’m not sure if he wants to talk, though.
“Hm.”
Even if he fully recovered, Knighthart had died a gruesome death. He might not have been feeling very chatty.
But as we prepared to enter the infirmary, the door opened and Knighthart walked out.
“Knighthart, are you feeling better?”
“Oh, hello, Fran. Did you come all the way to see me?”
“Hm.”
“That is very kind of you. Thank you. I’m all right now.” And he sounded all right, too. His voice was the pinnacle of calm.
Apparently, having his head popped like a melon hadn’t affected him all that much. Was this not his first time? Then again, I wasn’t sure if anyone could survive that kind of hit and live to tell the tale. I guess Knighthart just had really good nerves. He might just be willing to answer Fran’s question.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“You quit being captain?”
“So, you heard…”
“Hm.”
Or rather, I was the one who heard that. But it seemed that I’d heard correctly. Knighthart’s voice lowered, but he smiled again.
“Hah hah. I just thought it was high time for me to pass the torch, you know. I’ve been slowing down lately. Getting a little older, you see.”
It sounded like a plausible explanation, but every word that came out of Knighthart’s mouth had been a lie. There was something he wasn’t telling us.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
He must have had his reasons for not wanting to talk about it. As much as we wanted to know, Fran wasn’t close enough to pry, and she was only interested in his resignation because she was worried about Erianthe and the other mercenaries.
In the end, the conversation wound down with small talk. But before Knighthart left, he gave Fran a word of encouragement.
“You’re going to have a big day, the day after tomorrow. Good luck.”
“You too.”
“Of course. Farewell.”
A big day. Was he talking about Fran’s match with Hilt? Did he know about Hilt’s feelings for Colbert and how Fran would inevitably get caught up in it?
Well, at least he wasn’t lying with his words of encouragement.
The next day.
Tomorrow was the day of the grand finals, and we were currently outside of town.
Are you sure you’re okay?
“Hm. I’m fine.”
She should have been resting today to prepare for tomorrow. Divine element and fatigue from an intense battle would take a couple of days to recover from.
But Fran had her reasons for going out. She wanted to hone her usual abilities and test out some of her new ones. Two abilities were of particular interest…
First was Physical Body Manipulation, freshly leveled up. It was an advanced Skill which combined many physical enhancement Skills into one, allowing its user to increase all of their stats.
Currently, our only real answer to Hilt’s Dimitris Ultimate Arts: Sky was Unleash Potential. Just keeping track of her movements had been difficult enough.
So, we leveled up Physical Body Manipulation. But maxing it out without knowing how to use it was useless, so we put two points in it to see how it would go.
The other ability was the grace of a god that I’d used against Sibyl. I’d managed to tap into the God of Chaos’s power, but it wasn’t perfect. To make matters worse, I still didn’t know what Wisdom God’s Grace really did.
If I learned how to use these powers, they could give us an edge in combat strength. There might also be a better way of using Sword God’s Blessing.
With that in mind, we went out to go undead hunting. They were the perfect training dummies.
“Woof, woof!”
“Do you see them, Jet?”
“Woof!”
Jet was particularly good at sniffing out the undead, particularly zombies. He was able to find them even when they were well outside our range of detection. After walking through a forest for a bit, we soon found our targets.
“There.”
There’s a lot of them, too.
“I’ll go first. That okay?”
All right. Just don’t go crazy.
“Hm.”
Fran test drove Physical Body Manipulation against the monsters, but the results were unsatisfying. They were so weak that they immediately died to her. So much for our perfect training dummies.
Her speed was definitely increased, but we couldn’t tell whether her strength and eyesight were better. The monsters fell before Fran like they were nothing but mere bowling pins. It couldn’t be helped.
“I need something tougher.”
As much as I want you to rest, this was kind of useless… Can you find us a stronger opponent, Jet?
“Woof,” Jet barked, as if saying “I can try.”
He closed his eyes to concentrate, pointed his nose to the sky, and started sniffing. A minute later, his eyes widened.
“Bark!” North, he indicated confidently. He seemed to have picked up some powerful undead.
“Good job, Jet.”
You can say that again! Lead the way, boy!
“Woof!”
He started running, and it turned out to be farther than I imagined. The journey took five whole minutes on Jet-back. We even passed over a small mountain. I was impressed that he could detect our enemies this far away.
Are we really going the right way?
“Woof!”
Where—There it is!
I finally picked up on our enemies’ presence. The mana they emitted was quite ominous.
It’s on the other side of this mountain. Let’s be careful.
“Hm.”
They were at least C Threats—a bit too strong for casual practice.
Well, if things got really hairy, I could always teleport us out if these enemies proved to be too tough customers.
Let’s see what kind of monsters we’re up against.
We concealed our presence and advanced into the mountain.
A few minutes passed. Once we were off of the mountain ridge, we finally had a visual on the undead.
In the valley over the mountains, there was a whole horde of undead.
That one in the middle. He’s pretty strong.
Hm.
That must have been the horde leader. It looked like a mummy wearing a wizard’s clothes, conducting a sinister ritual in the middle of the undead.
There was an altar in front of it. A small fat man was laid on top of it. He was no longer breathing.
He had been decapitated, and his head was placed on top of his stomach. Blood had stopped flowing out of his neck, so this hadn’t happened recently.
The undead boss raised his staff, channeling mana from his pitiful victim. Black mana spread from his staff into his minions. None of the other undead were moving. But I could tell that they were becoming much more powerful.
I don’t think we should leave this unchecked.
Hm. The undead are getting stronger.
Woof!
Yeah.
We couldn’t just turn a blind eye to this. This might have been the cause behind the recent undead outbreak, and he was probably using the sacrifice to power up his minions.
We’ll take them by surprise.
All right.
Fran, you take the boss. Jet, you deal with the minions.
Woof!
With a basic strategy established, we got to work.
Fran would teleport close to the undead boss and cut it down. Jet would use shadow warp to ambush the surrounding undead, biting their heads off.
Now that we were close enough, we could learn our enemy’s identity.
Mummy King. As its name implied, it had the power to create minions and then empower them. Even all alone it was quite powerful.
Fran managed to land a direct slash on the Mummy King’s back. But he didn’t seem the worse for wear.
“Adventurer! You won’t leave here alive now that you’ve seen us!”
It’s his Skill!
The Mummy King had a Skill called Undead Shield. It transferred the damage it took to its undead minions, functioning kind of like a Shield Art.
The Skill was passive, an advantage since you could afford to be a bit careless with it. However, it was also a weakness. If the user took too much damage, the minions would pay the price.
“Kill her!”
The undead started moving at the Mummy King’s command. These were also quite strong…E Threats, probably.
There were High Ghoul Soldiers and High Ghoul Magicians. They must have been powerful adventurers when still alive.
Each was quite dangerous, specifically due to the Skill Pollute. It probably boosted their threat level to D. Pollute spread a circle of deadly poison in the area which lingered for hours, infecting both living things and food. An elite ghoul had a Pollute diameter of over twenty meters, and they had been known to destroy entire villages just by walking through them.
Our resistances rendered us immune, but we couldn’t leave without dealing with them.
Fran struck the Mummy King again, but it didn’t seem like the ghouls around us took any of the damage. He must have had another horde of undead hidden somewhere.
But that horde wouldn’t be limitless. For Undead Shield to work, you needed to create undead and make them your minions.
The minion part was crucial. Summoning and necromancy had a capacity limit determined by the user’s strength. You could control a single strong monster or a hundred weaker ones, for example. This was why Jet was the only summon I could use—he was powerful enough that he maxed out my limit.
And what’s more: simply making more undead didn’t automatically make them your minions. You had to properly form contracts with them to do that.
Looking at the powerful ghouls, the Mummy King probably didn’t have hundreds of minions to spare.
We’ll stick to the plan. Fran, you keep attacking the boss! Jet, go after the ghouls!
Got it.
Woof!
Using an area-of-effect light spell would be more advantageous here, but Fran would use only her sword.
I’m going to try some of my blessing powers too, okay?
Okay.
The Mummy King was strong, but he didn’t have a chance against Fran one on one. Fran laid on the damage and the Mummy King called for help, but Jet was keeping his ghouls busy.
Ten minutes passed after our ambush began.
“NO! I can’t believe this is happening! Forgive me… Guaaah!”
The Mummy King ran out of minions to power Undead Shield and fell to Fran’s sword, turning into ash after being cut in half. No magicite. Judging by his last words, he might have been the product of a more powerful necromancer.
There might be others like him still lurking. Let’s look for them.
Hm.
Woof!
So how did it go?
All right, I guess?
Fran had gotten used to Physical Body Manipulation after walloping the Mummy King for a few minutes. She was at least closer to Hilt now than she’d been before.
The Mummy King was a powerful enough opponent that it took a lot of hits to take him down, even for Fran. He was a great sparring partner to train our Skills.
What about you?
I tried to be more conscious of Wisdom God’s Grace. Apparently, it increases my control over magic and Skills. It’s got a hefty mana cost, though.
I couldn’t just leave it on, but it was reassuring to know that we had a powerful blessing on our side.
I see.
Hilt’s going to fight even harder than she has been so far. Every little bit of strength counts for us.
“Hm!”
Hilt wasn’t just in this to win the tournament. She needed to win because of her love for Colbert—it was the only way to become head of the Dimitris Style so she could marry whom she chose. She would not hesitate to use everything she had at her disposal.
We carried on surveying the area, looking for signs of the Mummy King’s summoner…but we couldn’t find them. That thing was definitely the product of an evil necromancer.
Then there was the increase in the number of zombies around Ulmutt, forcing adventurers to go on extermination quests to hunt them down… It was too convenient to be a coincidence. They had to be connected somehow. It was highly likely that someone somewhere was behind all this.
Let’s report this to the guild when we get back.
Sure.
Jet, keep your nose open for any suspicious smells.
Woof, woof!
The tournament in Ulmutt was a well-known event, attracting the attention of people all over the world.
Unfortunately, it also made it the perfect chance for ne’er-do-wells to plot and plan conspiracies while the authorities were distracted.
Unluckily for them, we wanted a chance to test our strength…
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