92-Chapter 5-15 Solomon First Team

At that moment, time in the hall certainly stopped.

What we (Oration) did was just enter the venue normally, without any performance. Still, it was enough to take the audience's breath away and keep them glued to their seats.

The order of entry was Shiroumaru with Slarin on his back, followed by Namitaro sliding on the ground behind him, and finally Solomon, the star of the show.

There were loud cheers for me and Slarin and Shiroumaru, who had advanced to the finals in the individual competition, as well as for Slarin and Shiroumaru, who had shown their strength in the preliminaries, and screams and boos from some in the audience for Namitaro, who had pulled a prank in the finals of the preliminaries.

Then the crowd stopped cheering at the sight of Solomon.

With the collar removed, Solomon's size was quite rapid, growing to about 3 meters in length and a wingspan of about 4 meters. Anyone could tell that it was a dragon species.

''Curolololoo~~!

Solomon climbed up on the fighting table and howled in a voice that was not exactly powerful.

At that moment, time begins to flow in the hall. There are screams from some of the crowd, a goofy voice from some of them, as if they can't keep up with the situation, and loud cheers from the majority.

A quick look around the hall reveals that some of the crowd is trying to flee the venue, but only a few of them are. Nearly all of the crowd was focused on Solomon.

Now, most of the audience may have forgotten that there was anyone other than Solomon.

The evidence of this is that the members of the dragon squad are looking at Solomon with their mouths open, and even the referees have stopped moving, but no one can be heard to blame them for it.

Solomon is surprised by the reaction of those around him, and he leans closer to Shiroumaru, but it seems to have been received by the crowd, and the cheers are even louder.

The cheering didn't stop for a while, and the judges didn't want to move, so I had no choice but to use my magic to create a light explosion towards the sky near the center of the fighting table.

The sudden explosion caused a temporary hush in the hall.

When I looked at the referees, they realized the significance of my action and ran to the center of the room and called both teams to the starting line.

''We will now begin the fifth game of the first round, the match between 'Oration' and 'The Dragon Shooter'. Let the match begin!

The judges ran and evacuated from the center of the fighting table from the center of the arena almost as soon as they were declared to start.

At this time, there was an unspoken agreement that they would not move until the judges were some distance away from each other, so Oration and the dragon squadron did not move, as they had learned to do so.

The moment the judges moved away from us and stopped moving, the dragon squadron began to form up.

All the members of the dragon squad are warriors, and of them, three of them, all of them are heavily armed and have large shields, and the two behind them are holding a large sword and a halberd, respectively.

There is a moderate amount of space between these five men and they are running in a straight line with their eyes on me.

They seem to be wary of Solomon and his men, but if I am disqualified from combat, my family members will be disqualified, and that's what they are aiming for. (When a member of the team is unable to fight another battle, the demon soldiers will lose.

However, this was the first time they had participated in the match, and Solomon, who was quite spirited, blocked the dragon squad's path.

Solomon glides low and closes in on the dragon squad, and then goes straight for a body hit.

When I say body slamming, it was like he landed on the two men at both ends of the vanguard, stomping on them and crushing the man in the middle with his body.

Even so, the dragon, though small in stature, was bigger and heavier than a man and came crashing down on him with a lot of momentum.

As a result, it seemed to have managed to do quite a bit of damage.

I look at it and move to encircle the dragon strike force, giving them instructions to jump out at any time and provide a check on them.

The formation of the dragon strike team was broken by Solomon's body strike, and for a moment it looked like the game was decided, but the opponent was also only a team competing in the main competition, and only one of the vanguard was completely silent.

The remaining two shield-holding vanguards tried to push in with their shields, trying to stop Solomon's movements.

''Kyuoooooooooooo!''

Solomon twisted around to shake off the two men who were clinging to him, but before he could do so, the two men behind the large shield bearers cut at Solomon's eyes.　

'GANG!'

The large sword and halberd strike hit Solomon just near both of his shoulders, causing Solomon to scream, but he was unable to cut through Solomon's body.

Apparently it was because the scales covering Solomon's body were hard, and the distance between Solomon and the two men behind him was so close that the hit point of their attacks was slightly off.

However, it seems that no damage was done, no matter how much it didn't hurt.

At any rate, even though it was incomplete, it was like being hit by a heavy weapon. I'm not sure that even the inside of a dragon is as strong as its scales.

The beaten Solomon's eyes are moistened with pain.

But that's only the extent of it. Immediately, Solomon began to fight back.

First, Solomon targeted those who had attacked him.

With his neck stretched out as far as it would go, Solomon bit his opponent's shoulder with his greatsword and smashed it into the halberd man beside him.

As expected, even Solomon wasn't able to completely blow the two men, who were nearly two meters apart, but they still managed to get out of their stance and knee-to-knee with each other.

Solomon tried to catch up with them, but the two vanguards who were holding on to Solomon stepped on him while shouting loudly, stopping Solomon's movement.

The two who had been knee-deep in the meantime also managed to regain their stance and raise their weapons, aiming to do some damage this time, but they were blown backwards just as they were about to swing their weapons.

It was Shiroumaru and Namitaro who blew him away.

As expected, Solomon was in danger at that point, so he gave a signal to the two animals that were ready to jump out at any time.

Although the members of the dragon fighting squad were also alert and attentive to us, it seems that the speed of the two animals was far beyond their expectations.

The two arrows, Shiroumaru and Namitaro, became two arrows, running past Solomon's side and hitting his opponent's torso.

The two men, who were hit by the nearly empty torso, collided with each other in the air, blowing backwards, and then stopped moving. Their bodies were twitching slightly, so they didn't seem to be dead.

With two of them covering him, Solomon now targeted the remaining two who had stuck to him and got in his way.

However, Solomon, who had never experienced fighting a closely-held opponent before, didn't know how to attack, and could only think of ways to flail around on the spot.

Solomon flails his arms, flaps his wings, and swings his tail, but he's not able to do much damage to the men, who are in close quarters and use their shields well to defend themselves.

Still, the opponents accumulate a little more damage each time Solomon rampages.

The members of the shield-holding dragon squad are also not just getting hit, they see an opening and counterattack, but they still don't seem to be able to attack beyond Solomon's defensive capabilities.

The offensive and defense continued for a while, and eventually one of the members of the dragon squad moved away from Solomon's body slightly and was blown away by a blow to his tail.

The only man left was desperately trying to stay close to Solomon, while he steadily and steadily fought back.

However, that didn't last long, as the man was hit by Solomon's attack on the back of his head and was stuck in a hug.

At this point, there was no one moving in the dragon strike force.

The referees came closer to confirm this, but that didn't stop Solomon from moving.

As expected, the opponent is in danger any further.

Sensing this, I took out the collar from my bag.

"Solomon! Stop!

I hurriedly approached Solomon, jumped on his back and hugged him by the neck.

Then I put the collar on as it was.

'Cuh?'

It was only then that Solomon seemed to realize that his opponent was unconscious, and he quickly became quiet.

Apparently, this was his first time fighting against someone else and he didn't have time to look around.

A quick check of Solomon's condition showed that the area near where the last one had hugged him had turned red.

It seems that the last one, while being swung around by Solomon, had fought back and done some damage with his bare hands, albeit only slightly.

Even though it was a minor injury, it was still a minor injury, so I cast a recovery spell to heal it, and Solomon came clinging to me as it was.

''Winner, 'Oration'!

At the same time as the referee's words, the attendants came running in with five stretchers in their arms.

And a roaring cheer.

Even though the dragon had only gone wild, the audience was happy to see a dragon they had never had the chance to see in their lives.

Some of them even shouted Solomon's name.

Luna seems to be the one who is the most excited in the crowd, again. Tida, who is struggling to hold on to Luna behind her so that she doesn't fall off, looks like she's having a hard time.

''Uhhhh....　

Before the attendant arrived, one of the dragonslayers, who had fallen at my feet, woke up. It was the man who had held on to Solomon until the end. When I looked closely at him, I saw that he was the man who had participated in the lottery as a representative of the dragon strike team.

''Itai........an? You lost.....

Apparently, this man is more sturdy than he looks, and he has no particular injuries that seem to be injuries. What there is is only an abrasion, and it's hard to believe that he was exposed to Solomon's attack for the longest time.

''Ahh........what kind of a laughing matter is it that a dragon strike team is repulsed by a dragon.......should we change the name of the team, for that matter?''

The man was sitting on his haunches, scratching his head and mumbling. The hand must have been the one that struck Solomon, the skin on his hand was peeled off and soaked in blood.

'I don't need a stretcher. I can walk on my own. More importantly, the dragon is very strong indeed. I hear you, who are following it, are strong too.

After refusing the attendant a stretcher, the man stood up, turned to me and asked me to shake his hand.

When I squeezed his hand back, he suddenly squeezed my hand with such a grip that my bones creaked, I thought my hand was going to be crushed.

"Hahahaha. Well, at least you can forgive me for this.

The bald man laughed briskly at me, such as. Then he turned on his heel faster than I could think of anything to do to get back at him and left with his friends on a stretcher.

''Itai ... remember that bald guy,''

As I returned to Slarin and the others with my clasped hands plastered and complaining, Namitaro, who had heard me complain, approached me.

'Temma that's a line from Mishita, getting hit and running back.

I felt the same way when he said it, but I didn't want to affirm it, so I pretended I didn't hear Namitaro's words.

On my way back to the waiting room with Solomon in my arms, I passed the runner-up team from the previous two rounds that would be playing in the next game.

It's not that I called out to him, but he stopped and looked at me with a glare, so we naturally ended up glaring at each other.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them. The female archer's ears were a bit pointed, so maybe she has elven blood in her ears.

''Leave it alone. Let's go.

Someone who looked like a wizard shouted out, and at his words, the other members of the group started to walk away from me.

The voice sounds like a man, but that guy seems to be the leader.

I was going to give the guy an evaluation, but an attendant came between me and him, so I decided to head quietly to the waiting room. Apparently, the attendant thought that they and I might get into a brawl, and as I started walking in the opposite direction, he let out a small voice, 'Thank God.

If it's as the underdogs say, that team should come up, so I decided to think about how to fight a bit with Slarin and the others.

First, the three vanguards. These three didn't have shields, and the two men who had axes and spears were probably warriors, more like power fighters.

The remaining one had a one-handed sword tucked into his left and right hip, so he was probably a swordsman, and judging from his equipment, he seemed to be focused on speed.

I had a feeling that I had seen these men somewhere, but I decided not to think about them, concluding that it wasn't something to be particularly concerned about.

As for the archers, the short bows they carried on their backs seemed to be the main thing, and two other daggers, which seemed to be for close quarters, were attached to their waists.

I couldn't judge how good the wizard was, but from that demeanor, he was probably the leader of the team and not just a weak one.

I don't know if there's an alternate member of the team, but if they don't change members in the second round, then I'll be in charge of the wizard.

Well, I don't think I'm stronger than my grandfather, so I don't think I'll lose. However, it's a hassle to have a series of widespread magic attacks, so it's better to defeat them quickly.

The three vanguard players are Slarin, Shiroumaru, and Namitaro.

If you have Shiroumaru and Namitaro as your main attackers, and Slarin as your follow-up, you'll be able to make change... or rather, I feel that these three animals are more than enough to fight the other team on an even playing field.

The last female archer, this one is Solomon's responsibility.

To be honest, this archer seems to be the least compatible with our team. Of all of them, it's probably the worst with Solomon.

At any rate, in front of Solomon's defense, an ordinary short bow would be useless, and the daggers that are supposed to be used for close quarters would not be able to do much damage to Solomon, Solomon would just have to go straight at him and just hit him with his body, which is a simple job. However, I told him to be careful not to take arrows in his eyes and mouth.

The rest of the strategy meeting ended with a tactical approach, Ganbarou........ Oration's basic strategy was originally 'be flexible', so it's like we just decided who we would be in charge of beforehand.

When the mission was over and we took a breath, it seemed that a decision had been made, and an attendant came to inform us that the opponent for the second round had been decided.

As expected, they were the runner-up from the previous two rounds.

There are no upsets in the tournament so far, and the hot teams are advancing smoothly.

However, those who are familiar with the tournament know that the next match is the one that will be the most upsetting.

The next match would be the Sword of Dawn. Normally, this team, with Jin and Garratt, who had advanced to the individual finals, would be considered a top-ranked team and would be expected to pass the first round.

However, Jin and Garratt lost to Amur in the individual tournament.

If they had only lost, there wouldn't have been so much concern, but after the loss, the news that the two men were injured, which is not a minor injury, ran through the minds of the bettors.

This was the work of the betting merchants and those who were trying to manipulate the odds.

As a result, there was almost no difference in the odds for the opposing team and the odds for the Sword of Dawn, which had been the most popular team before the tournament.

Incidentally, their opponents, a team that was making its first appearance in the tournament, had recently been on the market.

Although they are completely defeated by the Dawn Sword in terms of performance, the team itself has a lot of momentum, so many people think that the current Dawn Sword team can win.

''I'm curious, let's go and take a look.''

I checked with Slarin and the others and they all went quietly into their bags.

Namitaro was the only one who tried to go on his own, but he was going to do something unnecessary, so he forced himself to pack his bag.

Once out of the waiting room, the attendant led me to the spectator's area for the athletes, which was a private room that hit the bottom of the bleachers (the bleachers were upstairs from the second floor), and when I opened the window, I could see the fighting table from there, right in front of me.

For safety reasons, the walls are thick and the windows are small, so it's a little difficult to see the fight, but it allows you to watch the fight from an angle that no one but the fighters and officials can see.

The room is 4m long, 4m wide, and 3m high, but when we take everyone out of the bag, the room feels a bit small.

The window was about 50cm long and 1m wide, so we all had to watch the match with our faces close together. Most of all, Shiroumaru and Solomon didn't want to watch the Sword of the Dawn match, they were just interested because me and Slarin were watching, and they quickly moved away so they could afford it.　

The match seemed to have just begun.

The Sword of Dawn has Menace in the middle of the vanguard, with Jinn on the left and Garratt on the right about 5 meters apart, and Leena around 4-5 meters behind Menace.

The opposing team, two warriors, one wizard, and two archers, in that order, formed a formation like the fifth of a dice, facing the Sword of Dawn.

The first to move was the other team.

The archers shot arrows at them, and all of them began to slowly move forward to match them.

The Sword of Dawn is trying to intercept the three in front of them, fortifying their defenses while the three in front of them play their arrows and so on.

Eventually, as the distance between the two sides closed in, the wizard began to use earth magic to send stones flying.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the market.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but the moment the archer's arrows stopped, the warrior in front of him started running.

With that, the number and speed of the wizard's flying stones increased, and the archers began to leap left and right from behind the warriors, taking aim at the djinn and Garratt, respectively.

The lead warriors both headed for Menace, trying to create a two-on-one situation. The warriors were armed with one-handed axes and one-handed swords, with larger shields in their opposite hands.

The other team's plan seemed to be to use their archers to take out the wounded djinn and Garratt with the archers and the wizard Leena with the wizard, and then crush Menas and Leena, in that order, with the two warriors, before finishing off the remaining djinn and Garratt.

Defeat the healthy ones first, then the injured ones. It was an effective strategy, but there was a slight miscalculation.

That is, Garratt is of the beastman race and has higher recovery power than the human race, and Jin is of the human race but has the recovery power of the beastman race. As an added bonus, Temma is helping him heal his injuries. As a result of the combination of these things, the condition that an ordinary human would not be able to stand had recovered to some extent to a state where they could fight.

And by some degree of djinn's class, I mean a condition that was light enough to surpass that of an ordinary adventurer for a short period of time.

If the opponents had gone all out and tried to crush Jin and Garratt from the beginning, they could have easily crushed one of them.

However, as a result of having a decent chance of winning and having the next match in mind, it was a complete let-down, and they ended up getting attacked unexpectedly.

''Yes!''

Go!

The two warriors, who were running towards Menace, were slow to notice Jinn and Garratt, who were approaching at a faster speed than they were, and were struck by a blow from the side, throwing them off balance significantly.

As expected, since they are not in perfect physical condition, that blow was not enough to take down the two warriors, but Menace delivered a powerful blow to the opponent who was showing a large gap.

Even though Menace is a woman, she is a top-notch adventurer and warrior in her own right. It's not easy to deliver two (...) powerful blows in a row to an opponent who is showing a big gap.

And then Jin and Garratt, who were just barely conscious after falling, put a stop to it.

This reversed the superiority in numbers. In addition to that, the strength of the battlefield was also.

The rest, contrary to what happened earlier, Jin and Garratt checked the archers and began to attack the wizard with Menace and Leena.

Jin and Garratt were indeed unable to run fast due to the aftereffects of their injuries, and they couldn't run and kill the archers, but there was no problem as they could just go in slowly and not let Menas and Leena attack them, and they were able to knock down the arrows coming at them without difficulty.

The archers were also in a sort of stalemate, since it was obvious that they would be approached by Jin and Garratt if they took their eyes off of them, so they couldn't bypass changing the target of their attacks to Menace and Leena. It was a stalemate that was unlikely to last for long, but.......

The wizard, whose support from the surroundings disappeared, began to release magic while running backwards to escape. However, the magic that is released while running backwards has completely missed Menace and Leena, and it also moved in the way of their escape, and Menace, who should have been much further away, has already caught up with them.

Even if the occasional magic goes towards Menace, it is easily blocked by Leena, so there is no more to be done.

He should have offered to surrender here, but the wizard, frightened by the approaching Menace and without the help of his companions, was in a state of mild panic, and the idea of surrendering had slipped from his mind.

As a result, the wizard was sent into the air by a blow from Menace........

The wizard was crushed and the two archers, who were about to be surrounded by djinn, hastily threw their bows down and raised their hands in surrender.

''Winner, Sword of Dawn!''

We hear the referee's voice and hear half cheers and half sighs from the bleachers.

The room we are in is right under the bleachers, so it's quite noisy.

It seems that there are more people who have lost money by betting than we expected. Probably, if you exclude the spectators who did not participate in the betting, there were more people who bet on the opposing team than on the Sword of Dawn. And those who bet on the Sword of Dawn were smaller in number but had more money multiplied, or so it seemed.

So even though the multiplier on the Dawn Sword was lower, nearly half the sighs could be heard from the audience........

Whatever the case, the victory of the Sword of Dawn was just as it had been predicted, no turbulence occurred, and it was an orderly victory.

I thought about going back to the anteroom because Jin and the others' match was over and the place was noisier than I had imagined, but then I remembered that the next match was against the previous winning team, so I decided to hold back and stay here to watch.

However, I regretted my decision.

After all, the last time the team won the championship was the most dominant team in the world. They won so easily that it was almost (...) unreliable to watch.

The members of the previous winning team were two warriors, a swordsman, and two wizards, and each of them faced their opponents at the signal to start and defeated them with a single blow of magic or weaponry.

When this happens, it's hard to decide whether the previous winning team is too strong or the opposing team is too weak.

The only thing that could be gained was that there were two wizards who were capable of melee combat.