Chapter 133: Conclusion

Shortly after the battle began on the right wing, both teams clashed in the center.

“Fireball!”

“Water Ball!”

Marcella scattered Fireball, increasing their numbers while restraining their power, and the opponent’s rearguard intercepted them with Water Balls, increasing their numbers similarly.

“Darn it, how can you maintain that number while moving!?”

The opponent’s rearguard managed to intercept somehow, but unable to cast the same number of spells while on the move, they had to stop, complaining.

“Hehe, I’ve been playing tag with Orihime-sensei every day!”

Marcella boasted proudly while continuing to move without letting her guard down.

“Good job, Marcella! Keep them occupied like that!”

Felix, noticing this, dashed towards the opponent’s frontline.

“Stone Hail!”

Facing Felix’s approach, the opponent’s vanguard unleashed their magic. The spell had a low trajectory, spreading stone debris over a wide area, aiming to halt Felix’s movement.

As expected of a selected member of the Erikson family, their proficiency in magic was evident even in the frontline.

“Blast Edge!”

Like Liddell on the right wing, Felix defended against the stone debris with Blast Edge. Observing their battles, the Erikson mercenaries hardly used ineffective fire or wind-based magic, so they focused on wind or earth-based magic for defense.

“Tch!!”

The opponent’s vanguard moved to flank, avoiding Felix’s defense. Then, Stone Hail came flying again. Felix intercepted it with wind magic.

After repeating this exchange about five times, the opponent stopped.

“The game of tag is over…!? Hehehe, so that’s how it is.”

Felix, noticing the opponent’s halt, prepared to attack.

“So you’ve figured it out. Surprising that you noticed even in your tired state…”

The opponent’s vanguard said with a tired expression.

At first glance, the back-and-forth seemed like the opponent was evading while casting spells to create openings, but there was a clear intention behind it.

Around Felix, there were numerous small and large stones scattered, surrounding him. Needless to say, these were remnants of Stone Hail after being blocked by Blast Edge, covering the area like a minefield.

With so many stones scattered, it was impossible to run through them. Without thick rubber soles or leather shoes, one could easily trip and suffer severe injuries. Even if one was lucky enough not to trip, they wouldn’t be able to move quickly as usual, putting them at a significant disadvantage.

Although it was possible to blow away the stones with wind magic, doing so would prevent them from using their magic to defend against the opponent’s magic. Using fire or wind-based magic would allow them to defend with a cloak, but since they hadn’t used any magic of those attributes so far, the chances were slim.

“However, I don’t think you’ll be able to launch an effective attack either.”

Felix’s words were reasonable.

The situation required long-distance magic exchanges, but although the opponent’s frontline could use magic, they were still rearguards, not as proficient as Felix in magic.

“That’s fine. After all, I never intended to take you down alone.”

However, the opponent’s vanguard said casually.

“You’re the most skilled one. Holding me back even a little is good enough. While you’re doing that, our captain over there will finish up quickly and come to help.”

Glancing in that direction, on the left wing, Mizeroi and Ulysses were struggling.

“Guh, ugh…”

With his shield raised, Mizeroi groaned with a stern expression.

The man in front of him, Gascoin, had been attacking relentlessly since earlier, leaving Mizeroi in a defensive position.

Mizeroi was the third strongest in the Klaufeldt family. Yet, even with multiple magic tools, he was still only defending against Gascoin, who was so strong. 

(As expected of the captain of the mercenary group… He’s stronger than our captain…)

“You’re doing well! Mizeroi, was it? No one in our group can block my attacks like you!”

Gascoin smirked, continuing his relentless assault.

Although Mizeroi attempted to counter with lightning strikes, he could only defend against Gascoin’s precise and rapid slashes with his shield, unable to launch any effective attacks.

The shield, which had a physical defense effect, had been shining almost continuously since the battle began.

Meanwhile, Ulysses, paired with Mizeroi, was struggling to deal with sporadic magic attacks from the opponent’s rearguard, unable to provide support to Mizeroi.

“How annoying…”

Ulysses muttered as he dodged Rock Fist, targeting vital points, and quickly chanted a spell.

“Wind Cutter!”

Due to lack of time to refine his magic power, he couldn’t use powerful magic.

The opponent faced the same problem, but since all they had to do was hold Ulysses back, they were at a significant disadvantage.

(There’s no helping it. I’ll push myself a bit…)

Thinking so in his mind, Ulysses began to move to break the deadlock.

“Flame Shield!”

Creating a flame wall about two meters high and short in width, Ulysses quickly placed it in front of himself and the opponent, blocking their line of sight.

“Hmm?”

The movement of the opponent’s rear guard stopped for a moment as a wall-type magic that had not been used before was used.

“Take this!”

In that moment, Ulysses threw the lightning sword he held towards the opponent.

“What!?”

Due to being obstructed by the flame wall, the opponent only noticed the sword when it pierced through the flames. 

He didn’t expect Ulysses to throw a lightning sword, a valuable magic tool, and he jumped back in surprise.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ulysses accelerated and dashed towards Mizeroi.

“Mizeroi-san! Buy me 10 seconds, no, 5 seconds!!!”

Without waiting for a response, Ulysses stopped a few meters behind Mizeroi and began to gather magic power.

“…Understood.”

Mizeroi, who had been asked without even knowing the reason, agreed without question.

But now, it was essentially two against one. If they weren’t careful, they could be overwhelmed.

“What are you planning? Do you think you can handle a two-on-one situation after barely managing a one-on-one?”

Gascoin, not letting up for a moment, continued his assault.

“Stone Hail!”

As the opponent’s rearguard, freed from Ulysses’s pressure, cast a spell, Mizeroi, who momentarily glanced in that direction, threw the lightning sword towards one of the projectiles aimed at his head.

Crash!

It successfully hit and shattered the stone, but the lightning sword also broke.

And then, several more stone projectiles hit Mizeroi.

“Guh…”

Although Mizeroi was wearing a metal armor, being hit by several fist-sized stones was not okay.

He let out a muffled voice with an expression of agony on his face.

“Here’s the finishing blow!”

Then, Gascoin, who had stepped back to avoid friendly fire, charged in.

This time, Mizeroi threw his shield like a frisbee towards Gascoin.

“Huh!? Waaah!!!”

Gascoin, taken aback by the unexpected move of throwing even the shield, hurriedly dodged.

Taking advantage of this moment, Mizeroi quickly drew the hammer he carried on his back.

It was the Felis Type 5, a variable-weight hammer.

“Think you can dodge something that heavy?”

Gascoin, who quickly regained his posture, closed the distance and launched a swift attack.

Giiin, Ging, Ging!!

“Nu…”

By holding the handle and the part near the head of the hammer, Mizeroi managed to avoid fatal wounds from Gascoin’s swift slashes, but his injuries gradually increased.

“Rockfall!”

Again, magic flew from the opponent’s rearguard. Several rocks larger than basketballs fell from above Mizeroi’s head.

To avoid being caught in the attack, Gascoin distanced himself once again.

“Nuuaaaaah!!!”

Mizeroi roared.

Swinging the hammer aiming at the falling rocks, Mizeroi activated the weight increase function.

Dogaah!

With a loud noise, the rocks on the trajectory of the hammer were shattered, showering the area.

Continuing with the momentum, Mizeroi swung the hammer around himself while rotating.

“What!?”

Gascoin, who was about to approach again to deliver the finishing blow, was about to be hit by the hammer and stopped abruptly.

Surprised, he carefully watched the situation without letting his guard down.

“Gu…”

Mizeroi rotated once more, but finally fell to his knees.

“…Impressive.”

Seeing that, Gascoin muttered quietly and raised his sword.

“Full Body Enhancement!!”

There, Ulysses’s booming chant echoed.

“Hmm?”

While keeping the sword pointed at Mizeroi, Gascoin glanced back.

“Sorry to keep you waiting~”

There was Ulysses, grinning as he said so. For a moment, it seemed like his body was bathed in a golden light.

“What… Gguuuhhh!!!”

Giiinn!!

Before Gascoin could finish his sentence, he was blown away.

In the blink of an eye, Ulysses, who had already swung his sword, stood in front of Mizeroi.

Considering the situation, it seemed that he had been knocked back while trying to block the opponent’s horizontal sword with his own, but it was mostly a coincidence that he managed to block with the sword.

“We don’t have much time, so let’s finish this quickly.”

Although he had heard that Ulysses used a bow, the opponent’s movements were not those of a typical rearguard. No, they were even more confident and powerful than himself.

Gascoin’s field of view widened, and Ulysses disappeared again.

“!!”

Kiiinn!!

Using his senses and instincts, Gascoin once again blocked the sharp upward slash.

“Monster…”

Ulysses marveled at the inhuman feat he had achieved through accumulated experience, but he didn’t let up on his assault.

Kikiiinn, Kinn!!!

“What!?!”

And with the fourth slash, Ulysses’s sword cut through the opponent’s sword.

While Ulysses had discarded the lightning sword, he had the Felis 1 Enhancement Type ready.

By repeatedly receiving the sharpened sword with Enhanced Sharpness, the opponent wouldn’t be able to hold a regular sword.

“Take this!”

“Guaaahh!!!”

Ulysses feinted with his sword before delivering a high-speed spinning kick.

Gascoin, using his incredible instincts once again, blocked it with his arm, but was still blown back several meters.

He seemed to still be conscious, as he groaned softly, but one of his arms was bent unnaturally, and he was in no condition to get up.

“Captain!!? Damn it! ‘Rock Fi…!'”

The rearguard who had been watching the whole scene and was partnered with Gascoin attempted to chant a spell with his remaining magic power, but Ulysses’s kick landed a moment earlier, sending the opponent flying in a flashy manner.

“Ahh, no good, I’m at my limit…”

However, even as he said this, Ulysses, who had used the magic power-consuming Full Body Enhancement intensively, finally collapsed in a sprawl.

“Seriously… If the captain goes down…”

The opponent’s vanguard, who had been keeping Felix in check from a distance, was shocked.

“Hehehe, what a great victory, Ulysses. I can’t let myself be outdone either.”

Felix, saying so, began to chant a spell.

“You can’t! Ughh!?”

Naturally, the opponent also began to chant a spell to prevent it, but Felix began to throw lightning swords and shields one after another.

In the moment of confusion caused by avoiding them, Felix’s magic was completed.

” Earth and Heaven Stake Grand Spike!”

With the activation of the magic, the ground beneath the opponent briefly glowed.

“Huh? Why would…?”

The vanguard, who had expressed doubt at Felix using magic to the extent of discarding important magic items, found themselves questioning the use of the Earth and Heaven Stake Grand Spike. In the next moment, however, they would come to understand the answer firsthand through their own body.

Dogaah!!

“Guhh!!!”

With a roar, numerous stone stakes shot out vigorously from the ground. To reduce lethality, their tips were flattened, making them more like cylinders.

The opponent’s vanguard, hit directly by the stakes, was sent flying diagonally backward, suspended in the air.

The true power of the Earth and Heaven Stake Grand Spike, which had been regained, was a formidable surprise for those unfamiliar with it. As it was a visible magic, there was a high chance of evasion, making it the best choice.

With a thud, the vanguard fell to the ground. Along with Marcella, who had stopped fighting and was watching the situation, the other remaining rearguard threw down his sword, raised his hands, and just as he did, the referee’s voice boomed.

“That’s it!! The winner is the Klaufeldt family!!”

“”””Woooooooohhhhh!!!!””””

At the referee’s declaration of victory, the loudest cheer of the day echoed through the arena.

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