Chapter 715

Hilt and Fran's gazes collide.

Even though they were far away from each other, they can feel each other's fighting spirit. Hilt didn't smile and just left without a second glance.

「……Fun.」

『But first, you have someone you have to beat, right?』

「I know.」

We don't even know if Hilt will even make it to the finals in the first place. It's still only the quarterfinals next.

『Next up, Klikka versus Babaros.』

I've never heard of either of them. Klikka was a mercenary and Babaros was an adventurer.

When the match started, Fran raised her voice in surprise, which was rare.

「Huh, she can see that?」

『Probably. Is it the effect of her perception skills or……?』

The woman, Klikka, used a mysterious fighting technique. She was a specialist in detection, or should I say sensing?

She perfectly dodged her opponent's attacks and hit him in his vitals with her bow and rapier. That's what it looked like.

Babaros, in contrast to the harshness of his name, was in fact a thin magic warrior. He had a lot of moves and his combined use of wind magic and short spear was quite sharp.

Fran would've been able to evade him. However, it was bizarre that Klikka, someone nowhere near Fran's level of physical ability, was able to evade all the attacks.

The audience may think that she was just fast, but it's more like she had eyes on the back of her head. Her ability to predict moves was also amazing and would not have been able to move like that if she didn't have perfect knowledge of her surroundings.

She didn't take a single hit the entire fight.

For a scout, that's a hell of an ability.

And we weren't only interested in her because of her interesting combat style.

（I'd expect that from Sibylla's friends.）

『Yeah. Urushi, are you sure it's her?』

（Woof!）

Urushi told me that Klikka was one of Sibylla's comrades.

At Sibylla's and Klikka's level, it's likely that they're aware that they are being watched. They must already know that their identities are exposed, right?

Still, they act publicly because they don't want to reveal that awareness? If so, they may have already made plans to escape……

『Well, I'm sure the law enforcement will take them into custody.』

How could Diaz not already be aware of what I knew? I don't want to stick our noses in and interfere with the guild's operations.

『Looking at it this way, the knights of Raydoss are probably very specialized…』

（I see.）

Biscot specializes in tanking, Klikka in scouting, and Sibylla in destruction… well, Sibylla is good at defense too, but she seems to be better at offense.

Though there are many flaws in them as individuals, they'd be very reliable when considered as a party or a unit.

In this sense, their true value may lie not in duels, but in group battles.

「Neidhart is here.」

『And Elsa.』

Next up is a battle of acquaintances.

Neidhart, the mantis, and Elsa, the beauty queen.

Elsa offers his hand, and Neidhart shakes it without hesitation. A handshake before a match is rare in this tournament. It's probably because Elsa is a people person and Neidhart seems to just be a nice guy.

「Oh my! You're quite a hunk!」

「……?」

「What's wrong?」

「Nothing, I'm just a little surprised, since that didn't seem to be a mere pleasantry.」

「Ufufu… You have just a cool voice. I wish I could give you a loving hug.」

「Ha… Haha. Please be gentle.」

Neidhart, who's supposed to be an experienced fighter, was already at a loss before the match even started. That's Elsa for you.

Moreover, Elsa called the mantis-headed Neidhart a hunk. Isn't his strike zone a bit too wide?

I'm not discriminating against bugs, but there's a limit don't you think?

After the awkwardly long handshake before the match, the fight finally began.

「Let's go!」

Elsa was armed with a mace and Neidhart with twin swords.

Elsa's not only sturdy, but also had a propensity to enjoy pain and even possessed a skill in this area. I was expecting to see how Neidhart would ovecome that but…

「Oorgh! Spiral thrust!」

「Ehh…」

Immediately after the match started. All it took was a single blow.

Neidhart's sword, which had closed the distance in an instant, pierced through Elsa's stomach, and a large amount of blood spurted out from his back.

「Aha…… You, put a big one in me……」

What's with your eyes tearing up and tone of voice?! Soon after, Elsa collapsed and was no longer moving.

「Did you see it?」

『Barely. If I was in Elsa's place, I might have gotten hit too.』

「Nn……」

Maybe Neidhart did some research on Elsa's fighting techniques and capabilities beforehand. As a result, he chose to throw an attack at max power. Well, it seemed like he was lacking information on Elsa's personality though.

『I think that was the effect of his unique skill, Skanda, but he was terrifyingly fast……』

He may even exceed Fran's speed in Brilliant Lightning Rush. It was that fast. Not even Elsa's defenses could've prevented that super-speed thrust combined with the strength of an insect-kin focused all onto a single point.

Elsa stood back up after being healed and approached Neidhart, but he briskly walked off stage, showing not the slightest presence of his immense power.

However, he was undoubtedly one of the best fighters in this year's tournament.

（……I'd like to fight him.）

『I thought you would say that, but we'll see what happens.』

Hilt is on the other side of the block, and there's still another match today.

Neidhart, who just won, will be fight whoever wins the last match today. And just as we predicted, Felmus won the last match without a hitch.

「Neidhart and Felmus!」

『I seriously don't know who's going to be winning this.』

Fran's eyes sparkled as she imagined what the matchup between these two would be like. She would like to fight them herself, but she was also looking forward to watching a match between the best of the best. I feel the exact same way, so I can understand.

Next up are the quarterfinals. The cradle of time, donated by the Beast King, will make its appearance again where dead contestants will be resurrected, and ring out will no longer result in a loss. In a sense, this was the beginning of the real fights.

『We'll have to beat Sibylla first to enjoy the battle between those two.』

「Nn!」