Chapter 614

Chapter 614

Aider swung his hand from top to bottom outside the arena.

"The opening game, begins now~!"

Ding-!

Woaaaaah-!

The starting bell, along with the deafening cheers from the audience.

My main party and the opposing party - 'The Uncles' - rushed out from either side of the arena towards the center at the same time.

'The Uncles' were a party seasoned in real combat, forming a precise formation.

Torkel at the very front. Zenis and Nobody side by side behind him. Chain next, and Dearmudin at the very back.

'Pure tanker, damage tanker with healing skills & close-range dealer with one-shot capability, a black mage with high utility and a pure damage mage...'

Their lineup is seriously impressive, truly luxurious!

Our formation had Lucas and Evangeline forming a dual vanguard. Me and Damien in the middle. Junior in the rear.

It might be said our vanguard was a bit thicker, but we were outmatched in terms of breakthrough capability.

Our party advanced slowly towards the center of the arena, but 'The Uncles' immediately charged at us from the start, aiming to suppress us before hitting the Fake Dragon to score points.

'That's a sharp judgment!'

Damien was on our side.

Considering the victory condition of this martial tournament was to score points by hitting the Fake Dragon's weak spots, neutralizing the opposing sniper was crucial for a chance at victory.

The Uncles' full-on charge was tactically sound.

The Uncles swiftly crossed the arena's center into our formation.

"Let's see the power of the Lord's direct party, shall we?! Let's show them the mature charm the young bloods don't have... Argh?!"

That's when it happened.

Thwack-!

Nobody suddenly got hit by water spewed from the dragon's mouth and rolled to the side.

The rest of The Uncles gasped in surprise.

"Water cannon?!"

"Why is there a water cannon here?!"

I smirked.

"Don't you remember from the training camp? You should dodge it on your own!"

The Fake Dragon was wrapped all over with artifacts.

Not just for scoring sensors or its own defense barrier, but also equipped with various attack methods reproducing the dragon species' area attacks.

Instead of breath attacks, a water cannon, and instead of a magic carpet bomb, a whip chain...

It's only because it's a Fake Dragon that you're not dead, Nobody. If this was real combat, you'd have been instant-killed!

Beep!

At the same time, points were etched onto The Uncles' side magic panel.

[-100 points]

"What's with the deduction?!"

"If you get hit by the water cannon, it's a 100 point deduction!"

"Your Majesty, you didn't mention anything about this?!"

"I didn't say it wasn't there either!"

I'll say it again, even if it's a light-hearted setting, this is a tactical assessment.

How skilled an individual warrior is. How well a party coordinates.

And most importantly, whether they have the aptitude suitable for a dragon raid. Can they dodge all of the Fake Dragon's patterns even amidst the chaotic melee?

I'm watching everything. Everyone, focus!

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Squuueaaaak!

The Fake Dragon's mouth continuously shot out water cannons, and the whip chain installed on its forelimb swept across the ground, rushing forward.

The Uncles, who were flustered by the surprise attack, barely managed to dodge it, but our main party was calm. Did you think we trained for nothing?

"Guys!"

"Yes!"

At my signal, those of us approaching the dragon simultaneously jumped up-

Swoosh-!

And easily dodged the whip chain.

There was a peculiar pleasure in performing the same movement simultaneously through training. I burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! How about that! This is the result of training, the power of friendship... Ugh!"

Just as I was exclaiming joyfully, a water cannon blasted in my face.

Spluttering and wiping my face, I saw Lilly, who was operating the Fake Dragon, covering her mouth and laughing heartily.

"Your Majesty, you need to stay sharp!"

"Cough! Cough! Hey, Lilly, is this fair?!"

"I'm just following the rules. The Fake Dragon sprays a water cannon equally at everyone within a certain range~"

Lilly laughed ominously as she operated the Fake Dragon to spray water in all directions. She seemed to be having the most fun in this martial tournament!

And then, as The Uncles managed to approach us by dodging the water cannon and whip chain, the match quickly descended into a melee.

"Shield-!"

"Great Shield-!"

Exchanging some sort of shield technique, Evangeline and Torkel collided with their shields at the forefront,

"Come on, Captain Lucas! Come at me! I'm quite confident in holding my ground...!"

The lifeline of a ranged attacker is 'distance.'

Maintaining distance, or failing to. That's where battles are won or lost, and life and death are decided.

If you can't take out the enemy before they close in, if you allow them to approach, defeat is inevitable.

Similarly, the lifeline of a melee attacker is also 'distance.'

Within a short reach where their attack can hit, they exhibit overwhelming power, but if they can't close in to that distance, they die instead.

They must burrow into their advantageous distance for the path to victory to open.

Thus, the battle between attackers is a fight for who can control their favorable distance.

And in this duel, Nobody had an overwhelming advantage.

The swordsman had broken through to the archer.

How could he possibly lose!

Click-!

Nobody's sword cut through the air with ferocity. Damien, with his naturally overwhelming eyesight, read its trajectory and twisted his body to dodge.

Or so he thought he had...

Squeeeak!

The path of the blade strangely curved, flying towards Damien's held short bow.

"?!"

Startled, Damien managed to contort his body awkwardly to dodge the attack. Nobody bared his chilling teeth, grinning wickedly.

Being blind, the direction of his gaze meant nothing.

His movements were different from those of typical swordsmen.

Having been blind from birth, without the concept of 'seeing,' the preparatory motions for striking, swinging, and retrieving his weapon lacked the preliminary action of 'looking.'

This slight difference created a bizarre dissonance, and Damien, who had less experience in close combat and had understood movements based on other swordsmen he had seen, was further cornered.

His excessively good eyesight ironically put him at a greater disadvantage.

"Got you-!"

It was the moment Nobody shouted, swinging down his sword.

"The one caught... is on your side!"

Thwack!

Suddenly, Damien shot an arrow in a completely different direction.

Until now, he had always aimed precisely at Nobody's vulnerabilities to neutralize him, but this arrow was off in a totally different direction.

'Did he miss because he was flustered?'

As Nobody laughed, intending to overpower Damien-

He felt a chill on his shoulder.

The direction Damien suddenly shot towards was where the Fake Dragon was. If that's the case, could it be...

'Did he spot the dragon's weak point?!'

In a flash, Nobody's mind whirled. If that arrow truly found and hit the weak point, then this match could end right there.

'No, no! It's a fake! He's trying to deceive me!'

But.

An arrow shot at the cost of one's own life, in a situation where the swordsman had closed in, about to overpower him.

It couldn't be anything but a finishing blow...!

'Damn, I need to block that arrow!'

Nobody, straining his senses to find the off-course arrow, contorted his body unnaturally to swing his sword- and knocked it away.

Thwack!

The arrow exploded in mid-air, and the next moment, Nobody realized.

"Sorry."

The boy in front wasn't just good with his eyes...

"It's a fake."

He was also bold.

In that moment, Damien had completely given up the distance to the swordsman in front of him, betting on a psychological battle, and Nobody was the one who lost.

"Sigh..."

Nobody mumbled, feeling foolish.

"Ate my sword for nothing. Damn."

As Nobody, whose posture was completely broken from awkwardly twisting his body, was still reeling,

Thump! Thump!

Two rubber-tipped arrows hit in quick succession.

Nobody was knocked back.

"Sigh."

Loading the next arrow, Damien looked towards the Fake Dragon and then smiled leisurely.

And, drawing the bowstring leisurely... he shot.

Towards the weak point he had discovered.

Squeeeak-

The arrow traced a clean trajectory through the air...

Woaaaaah!

And then, cheers filled the arena.

--TL Notes--

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