TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 5 Part 2
“Haaaaah!”
Kuzel activated Physical Boost and instantly closed in on Fance, entering his proximity.
Then, getting in a crouching position, she swung her sword from left to right.
Immediately, the sound of something blocking the sword rang out.
“Not bad, quite a heavy blow.”
“Damn!”
Kuzel’s attack was blocked by Fance’s spear.
“Take this from me in return!”
Kuzel tried to retreat from the spot, but Fance was faster.
The tip of his spear approached Kuzel’s face.
“Ah!”
She twisted her body and just succeeded in avoiding it, but then another strike followed.
“Ugh!”
Kuzel managed to avoid the attack as well, but the spear’s tip grazed her arm, causing blood to seep out.
“You managed to avoid this one too, huh? It would have been over now if you were an ordinary person.”
“It’s just at this level, I’ve faced faster attacks. Now it’s my turn!”
Kuzel rushed out.
“It’s… interesting that you’ve decided to face me head-on!”
Fance launched his spear to meet Kuzel as she stepped forward.
However, Kuzel repelled it with her sword, and then she pushed forward even deeper.
“―Fireball!”
On her way, Kuzel fired a fireball at Fance.
“You clever little thing!”
The spear strike destroyed the fireball, and in that instant, Kuzel was gone from Fance’s sight.
“You think you’re distracting me? ―You’re being naive.”
With those words, a high-pitched click sounded behind Fance.
The hilt of his spear had blocked Kuzel’s blow.
“Naive? I’m not sure about that.”
“…What?”
For a moment, Fance could not understand the meaning of Kuzel’s words, but when he turned around and saw Kuzel’s action, he shouted in surprise.
“What!? You threw away your sword!?”
Indeed. Kuzel had given up on using her sword.
Then, she made a flame in her fist and struck Fance with it.
“―Fuck off!”
The blow, delivered with a line unsuitable for a woman to utter, landed directly on Fance’s abdomen.
“Fuggghh!”
With a heavy, dull thud, Fance was blown away.
While Fance was still in the air, Kuzel grabbed the sword that had fallen on the ground.
Fance, who had been blown away, used his spear to regain his stance and landed quietly.
“Damn, that worked pretty well. That was a good blow.”
Of course it was.
In addition to the Physical Boost, Arm Vigor, and Fighting Spirit, a skill that increased physical ability, it was a mighty blow with fire magic on her fist.
Fance readjusted his spear.
“Then let’s get serious too.”
“It would be boring if we didn’t.”
The moment Kuzel answered, pressure was released from Fance.
But even under the pressure of an S-rank adventurer, Kuzel remained unfazed.
The reason for this was simple.
Kuzel was used to receiving even more pressure when training with Zero, who was far superior to the S-rank adventurers.
The pressure was so great that Kuzel felt as if she was being physically pushed around.
On the other hand, what about Fance, the S-rank adventurer in front of her?
The pressure conveyed that he was superior in rank, but that was all. Even an S-rank adventurer was only that good in front of the strongest dragon, Zero.
(This level of pressure is not a big deal.)
Kuzel smiled and ran toward Fance.
Fance smiled and opened his mouth at Kuzel, who came towards him without flinching.
“I’ll show you why I’m called the ‘Lightning Shadow’.”
Just as Kuzel entered his range, Fance launched an attack along with his technique name.
“―Phantom Spear Lightning Strike!”
Kuzel tried to deflect the repeated attacks of the spear, but the spear vanished before her sword could touch it.
However, her body was getting more and more wounds from the spears.
Seeing this situation was disadvantageous, Kuzel distanced herself from him and tried to regain her balance.
“I won’t let you get away!”
“Ugh…!”
Fance closed the distance to Kuzel, who tried to retreat.
“Damn! I’ve no choice. I really didn’t want to use this…”
Kuzel muttered to herself and used the skill Berserk and the unique skill Trance. Both skills boosted all abilities in exchange for one’s rationality.
At that moment, Kuzel’s rationality was blown away by the effects of the skills stacking.
Fance noticed that Kuzel’s demeanor had changed, but continued to attack without caring.
Then, Kuzel suddenly lunged toward Fance, even though she had retreated earlier.
Fance could not hide his astonishment at Kuzel, who charged at him more quickly than before, even at the cost of more injuries.
Kuzel’s sword was swung at him.
“Gosh, not only the speed but also the power?!”
Fance exclaimed after blocking Kuzel’s sword.
The power of the sword was incomparable to what he had received before.
The next moment, Kuzel disappeared from Fance’s sight.
Even an S-rank adventurer could not keep up with the speed at which Kuzel was moving.
“Behind!?”
Fance used his Detect Danger skill to defend himself with his spear just in time, but he was pushed back, leaving a mark on the ground.
The wounds on his body increased as he continued to receive Kuzel’s onslaught.
“You have speed and strength… but that’s it!”
It doesn’t matter how strong you are if you don’t have rationality.
It’s just that her physical ability has improved.
Having come to that conclusion, Fance aimed his spear at Kuzel, who had already kept her distance.
His spear was not just any spear; it was a magic spear.
“Come! Let’s settle this ―Magic Spear Keravnos, release!”
In response to Fance’s words, blue-white lightning surge from the spear.
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
Saying this to Kuzel, who was rushing toward him, Fance unleashed his technique.
“―Thunderbolt!”
The strike was so fast that Kuzel was sent flying away.
She then slammed onto the arena wall and fainted.
The arena was silent.
‘‘T-The winner is Faaaaance!!’’
Nina’s victory signal echoed, and the arena was filled with thunderous applause and cheers the next moment.
In the meantime, the rescue team that immediately arrived took Kuzel to the medical room.
◇◇◇
“That was unavoidable…”
I, Haruto, muttered to myself after watching Kuzel’s match.
Then, I took everyone with me and headed to the medical room.
When we arrived at the medical room, Kuzel was awake, and her expression seemed satisfied despite her defeat.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes, as you can see.”
Kuzel wrapped her arms around him to show that she was okay.
“That’s good to know. If it still hurts, let me know. I’ll cast a recovery spell on you.”
“Haha, don’t worry. I’m fine now.”
Kuzel smiled bitterly, and after a short pause, opened her mouth.
“…I knew Fance was strong after all. I guess I was right.”
“I-I see…”
I can’t even say anything nice and reply like that.
“Kuzel-san is amazing after all. I can’t believe she could fight that hard against an S-rank adventurer.”
“That’s right. Even I can’t fight that hard. The battle was really amazing.”
“If it were me, I would surrender as soon as I knew I couldn’t win.”
The other members agreed with Finne, Iris, and Suzuno’s words.
As the three of them said, I think Kuzel was genuinely amazing for being able to fight that hard against an S-rank adventurer.
And that’s where I change the subject.
“Well, if we’re going to watch the matches until the end today… Will you come to watch the second round tomorrow and the semi-finals and finals the day after tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
Kuzel nodded cheerfully.
“Well then, it’s decided.”
And so we returned to the audience seats.
～
The third and fourth days of the tournament were also exciting.
Fance won the individual competition.
Fance, though battered and bruised, defeated Reid of the ‘Seven Royal Guard’.
The battle was intense, a clash of skills and techniques that both sides had honed.
Ultimately, Fance’s blow, which took advantage of a momentary lapse, knocked Reid’s sword away, and the battle was settled.
It was quite a spectacle.
Now, what’s left is the team competition.
I look forward to the tournament announcement tomorrow.