Chapter 349 – Carina’s Final Qualifying Round

“Carina, do your best too!”

“Yes!”

Bequa and I saw Carina off. Today’s matches will determine whether Carina, Bequa, and I will make it to the main event. Bequa has already secured his spot in the main event, so it’s down to Carina and me.

“Carina has arrived.”

“Yeah.”

Carina and her opponent appeared on stage. Both of them underwent beast transformation.

“Oh!”

“…”

To my surprise, Carina’s opponent, a man, was also able to transform into a humanoid form during the beast transformation. Judging from his long ears, is he a beast of the rabbit type?

“Did you set this up, Bequa?”

“There’s no way the participants in the tournament can determine the match order. If anyone set it up, it would be my father.”

It seems that Bequa, who is participating in the tournament, has no say in determining the match order.

“Do you know this opponent?”

“I’ve been participating in the tournament every year and I’m a regular in the main event, so I know him.”

It seems that Bequa is familiar with this opponent.

“This year, with you, Zeros, the demons, and my father’s guards participating in the tournament, it was already certain that some regulars in the main event would be eliminated in the qualifiers. But why didn’t they match me against Carina or you, Zeros?”

Bequa’s opponents didn’t undergo the beast transformation in all three matches.

“What about the strength of Carina’s opponent… hmm?”

“He has lost in the first or second round even in the main event, so he’s not that strong.”

Even the king didn’t assign Carina a formidable opponent who could make it to the top 4.

Well, that’s certainly a good thing, but that’s not what I’m concerned about right now.

“By the way, do you know who my next opponent is?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You know too.”

“Huh?”

I can find out the name of my next opponent. Even if I see the name, I wouldn’t know who that person is. After all, there are only a few beastmen who I know their name, like Bequa, Carina, and Urza.

“Your next opponent is one of the guards you had a mock battle with before.”

“Huh!? Is that so?”

If he says it’s the guard I had a mock battle with before, it must be the guard who is contracted to the elephant beast.

“At that time Zeros, you also took a blow at the beginning, and then you used magic. In other words, you didn’t fight under the tournament rules at that time. It’s probably because of my father. He probably wants to assess your true abilities in the qualifying stage under the tournament rules.”

I understand the reason, but if that’s the case, he should have had us fight under the tournament rules during the mock battle.

“Well, it’s about time the opponent makes a move.”

Carina and her opponent had been locked in a stalemate for a few minutes. But now, the opponent who would lose in case of a tie due to time difference started to move.

Utilizing his natural leg strength, the opponent moved around the stage, making it difficult for Carina to anticipate his attacks.

“What would you do, Bequa?”

“I would either counter when the opponent attacks or smash the stage.”

Indeed, if he smashes the stage, it would create an opportunity to launch an attack when the opponent’s balance is disrupted. However, Carina doesn’t have the power to smash the stage. In that case, there’s only one thing she can do.

“Well, it’s not that easy to land a counterattack, huh?”

The opponent also knows that Carina is aiming for a counterattack, so she couldn’t land a successful counter and is continuously being attacked with a counter-like assault.

“Now, what should she do?”

Carina is being overwhelmed by the opponent’s pace and getting hit repeatedly. Fortunately, the power of each attack doesn’t seem to be that strong, so Carina still seems to have some energy left.

“By the way, you don’t seem to be worried about Carina at all.”

“Zeros you’re the same.”

“Well, yeah.”

Neither Bequa nor I were concerned about Carina, who was being dominated one-sidedly.

“Oh!”

“Finally!”

The reason for not worrying is that Carina has the Beast Armor. Carina finally used the Dark Armor. The development from that point was swift. The opponent momentarily stopped, seemingly not expecting Carina to have the Beast Armor. It’s just speculation, but they probably hesitated between continuing the attack or temporarily creating distance.

Carina didn’t miss that opening and launched an attack. It seems that the opponent’s defense wasn’t high, as they staggered after taking a few hits. Shortly after, realizing that there was no chance of winning, the opponent declared surrender.

“Match over! 』

Though she struggled a bit, Carina secured her spot in the main event.

“If possible, I wanted to win without using the Beast Armor…”

“That’s because it’s a matter of the difference in experience between beast transformation and combat itself. From now on, you should accumulate more experience. The matches in the main event will be a valuable experience as well.”

“Yes!”

I watched with a smile as Bequa acted like a proper older brother.

“Zeros! Hurry up and go to the waiting room!”

“Okay, okay.”

Perhaps noticing my gaze, Bequa said it roughly. I followed his advice and went quietly to the waiting room.

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