Chapter 99
“Contestant Lux, contestant Hibiki please enter the arena . ” (clerk)
Instead of following the clerk’s instructions, I was treating the injuries of Ms . Amazoness .
Since she was a slave, it would be hard for her to acquire permission from her master to get some treatment .
But in any case, since I didn’t want to be conspicuous, I just let her drink some potions .
Apparently her master didn’t want to pay for the treatment cost, so he insisted to check with me before giving her treatment .
“Gina!! Is Gina still alive!!” (master)
‘Gina’ is the name of Ms . Amazoness .
The one shouting her name was probably her master .
“She’s still a top 8 contestant!! Losing her now will be a huge loss!!” (master)
Gina’s master who went to the waiting room was blocked by the tournament staff .
Just when I felt relieved after checking Gina’s condition, this scene angered me .
“You s.h.i.+thead!! I told you to ask for my permission first before treating her!! I won’t pay the treatment cost!!” (master)
Somehow, once he knew that Gina was safe, he was already concerned with money again .
He was worried about Gina because she was his biggest source of money this time .
After checking his status, I found out that he was merchant . He was just a merchant no matter how I want to say it .
“What treatment are you talking about? I just let her drink a potion . ” (Hibiki)
When the man saw it, his nose flared up .
“Whatever you do, I won’t pay for the potion . ” (master)
By the way, the amount of potion I used on Gina was actually earnable by even a small household .
Only a really crooked ‘merchant’ could be stingy to even little things as that .
Without a doubt, our hero of justice exploded when he saw this talentless merchant .
Gina seemed to be recovering just fine, so I dragged him along to the arena albeit in a bit of a forceful manner .
“Hibiki!! Why did you get in my way!!” (Lux)
“Hey you, what do you think will happen if a contestant was caught making trouble before the match? Moreover, you and Gina will be the one who receives the blame instead of that guy . ” (Hibiki)
Hearing that, Lux became quiet .
“Sorry, Hibiki . I’ve brought trouble again for you . ” (Lux)
“No worries . After this match, the loser will get to handle that uncle’s complaining . ” (Hibiki)
We talked while we headed to the arena .
=====
[The contestants have entered the arena . It seems the two of them entered at the same time . ] (Commentator)
Two people entered the arena, and faced each other .
“Let’s have a good match . Hibiki . ” (Lux)
“Yeah, don’t you dare die on me . ” (Hibiki)
After b.u.mping our fists lightly and greeting each other, the referee announced that the match had begun .
[We are here at last at the semifinals, the first match . The two contestants are facing each other . ] (Commentator)
As they were speaking the play-by-play, I was watching how Lux would act .
However, Lux was merely gathering his power for the incoming attack . He seemed to be only standing there, but I could see power coursing to his arms and legs .
“Here I come, Hibiki!!” (Lux)
Lux’s body disappeared . And he did so with such speed .
“Kuh!?” (Hibiki)
I quickly twisted my body to evade Lux’s attack .
If 【Insight】 didn’t catch the timing of that attack, the match would’ve ended right there .
“As expected of Hibiki . ” (Lux)
Lux launched a pursuit while laughing happily .
As for me, I avoided two more attacks by making a back step .
After a.n.a.lyzing his battle style the [Fierce Blade], I’ve deemed his attacks as something that was ‘impossible to guard against’ .
Neither a defensive item nor deflection from martial arts would work . It was truly proof of his ‘strong character’ .
Against that [Fierce Blade], the only measure left available was to evade it .
And more importantly…
Lux’s [Fierce Blade] wasn’t actually a sword skill .
That’s how it was .
Of course, it was not limited to the sword .
In other words…
“[Fierce Blade], can work with regular punches or kicks . ” (Hibiki)
I don’t know if there was a [Punch] or [Kick] skill out there, but one can still do punches and kicks without using a skill .
That being said, I didn’t know the underlying method behind it yet, but Lux’s [Fierce Blade] covered the whole range of human motion .
In that case…
“How about this?” (Hibiki)
I released a fire bullet at Lux .
Lux calmly deflected the fire bullet with his [Fierce Blade] .
However, before his sword touched the fire bullet, the bullet burst into enveloping flames .
With that, I confirmed that [Fierce Blade] only worked against something that he could directly touch .
Lux immediately emerged from the flames, and resumed his a.s.sault .
Thanks to the silver armor of light, there seemed to be barely any damage .
Next up, the application of 【Fire Magic】 .
I collected magic power on the tip of my finger and produced fire, and then let it spread black smokes .
Lux was vigilant about the smoke, thus stopped his steps . He took some distance, while applying [Fierce Blade] to check whether there was a trap in the smoke .
Of course, it was a trap . The smoke was meant to find out the duration of the [Fierce Blade] .
If [Fierce Blade] had a lingering effect, the smoke would keep disappearing on the path that it had traversed .
But the smoke only disappeared on the single point where it touched the smoke .
I didn’t know for certain whether it was consciously or unconsciously, but [Fierce Blade] does need to be activated first .
And of course one cannot instantaneously activate it, it required focus .
Nonetheless it does not require the user to wield a sword .
“I guess this means I’ve achieved a small victory?” (Hibiki)
After he was sure that there was no trap inside, Lux came closer . I manipulated the wind to clad myself with the smoke to hide myself .
And then, I applied some water magic to his feet .
“Hm? What is this!?” (Lux)
Lux was taken by surprise with the mucus on his feet . However, it did little to hamper his movement .
Making use of that opening, I shot several wind bullets from various directions .
Lux, detecting a small change in the smoke, immediately scattered the bullet that came from his front with [Fierce Blade] .
However, the other bullets. .h.i.t him from various directions, aiming to off balance him .
“Kuh!!” (Lux)
Lux avoided some of the invisible wind bullets with his amazing physical capability .
But he couldn’t keep it up forever and the rest of the bullets managed to break his posture .
“Thi-this is, [Gale Hero]’s!?” (Lux)
Yes, that was the attack of the [Gale Hero] who got defeated in the first round . I didn’t regret practising this in secret .
Lux suddenly took the hit and was blown away to the edge of the arena .
I didn’t think it would defeat Lux, but at least I dealt some damage to him .
“Eee, ahahahahahah~” (Lux)
Lux laughed while falling down . I wonder if I hit his head too hard .
“Awesome, as expected of Hibiki!!” (Lux)
Apparently, he received barely any damage . He seemed pleased instead .
He got up and lay down an a.s.sault once more .
Although it was faster than I expected, I would just counter him once more . The wind bullets flew toward Lux’s path once again .
Lux swung his sword . I also brought a sword myself, but I didn’t feel like using it .
I couldn’t have my beloved sword broken .
“[Fierce Blade]!!”
Swinging his sword, Lux shouted the name of his technique .
The next moment, the wind bullet hit Lux’s body and sent him to the edge of the arena .
Or at least it was supposed to be that way .
“Wha-what!?” (Hibiki)
The sword reversed rotation with Lux as the axis with a great momentum right in front of my eyes .
I was taken by surprise and unable to respond in time .
When I realized it, Lux’s sword was already very close to hitting me .
“[Fierce Blade]!!” (Lux)
After hearing for the second time the technique’s name being shouted, I was the one being blown to the edge of the arena this time .
“Guh, uuuuuu” (Hibiki)
Pain ran through my whole body . I was close to losing my consciousness but I still managed to stand back up .
After a short while, the pain diminished . Thanks to 【Self Regeneration】 .
I managed to force my seriously injured body to get up .
“You are really amazing, Hibiki . To receive that attack and still be able to stand up . ” (Lux)
Right then, he entered the posture of [Fierce Blade] .
a.s.saulting the enemy with a very obvious attack, only to reverse direction at the critical point on top of adding another layer of [Fierce Blade] right before hitting me .
Is this, the power of a ‘Hero candidate’?
I checked the state of my body .
Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg . All of them hurt but they still moved as desired .
“Until now, I didn’t feel like doing this . ” (Hibiki)
Fight properly, only then can I appropriately lose .
But…
“In any case, it’s not funny if I simply surrender . ” (Hibiki)
One shot . I didn’t feel like backing down now .
I’ll try it out one last time!!