CH 38

9: info about Amane’s title <Heroine of the 100 empires> the heroine there can also mean amazon, and her body is quite similiar to that.

Xant: I totally forgot to credit Creed from re:translations for his help with ch37. FORGIVE ME!

RAW:

9: damn author!! decide already Sky crown or Star Crown and then Rupee or Ruby!!! *rages*

Xant: Just one more reason as to why I hate the author~

neo: I think that the author is making a very nerdy Zelda reference

Blood and gore warning

Therefore, we arrive at the second match. A woman was standing before me. She had no weapons, but her body seems really sturdy. Her exposed, dark skin tightened as it was bathed in the sunlight. It seemed like her body was shining. I had seen her body swell in the waiting room before, perhaps she’ll get like that again when she fights.

“2nd Match, Ryua vs. Amane! Shitakka-san, what are your thoughts on this fight?”

“Let me see…if I were to make a comparison it would be between an ant and…no, more like a fight between a dragon and a <Cave Rabbit>. The handle of that young girl’s sword is practically spotless, and that lack of use leads me to believe she has little combat experience.”

“I recall you saying something similar before, but thank you for your analysis!”

So, a dragon and a rabbit…do I really look that frail? Roel, who’s in the spectator seats, knows differently right? But if I don’t win this fight, then I won’t be able to fight Hekaton.

“Are you going to draw the blade burdening your shoulder? If you are worried about me, you are being unnecessarily kind. I hate being looked down upon, just so you’re aware. A person that doesn’t honor their opponent in battle is an unsightly bastard.”

Her brow wrinkled, and her muscles had already expanded. She seemed quite mad. She shifted her body into a half-rising stance; she seemed perfectly prepared for this. Looking down…I never realized it. I never meant to look down on any of my opponents…I don’t intend to do that to her. I drew my sword in an attempt to satisfy her. It seemed to have worked because she didn’t have that angry expression on her face anymore.

“It seems the contestants are almost ready! First Main Fight Card! She has driven many male opponents into a corner, and leaving them unable to recover she has finally reached the finals! <Heroine of the 100 Empires>, Amane! In this corner is her opponent, having easily defeated the 98th A-rank Benkei, 57th A-rank Baste, as well as the 97th A-rank Griiman for her representative match, our dark horse of this tournament! C-rank <Surprising Girl> Ryua! The match between these two will be starting now!”

“Whether man or woman, I will be merciless to my opponent in combat!”

“Well then, Battle Start!”

Would it be fine for me to fight her seriously? My brute strength alone punched through Griiman’s armor… Ever since leaving the <Caves of Hell>, I haven’t been in any danger. After giving it some thought, I realized I came out of it way stronger than I could have ever dreamed of being. If there was someone stronger than the <King of Destruction> Vanda Lucia…what would I do? However there’s no point thinking about that right now since nobody here was as strong as him. Oh…maybe Tifelia-san? I haven’t tried fighting her yet, but out of all the people I have met since leaving the caves, she was the only one to give me this strange feeling… I want to try…fighting that person.

Amane charged at me with her swollen body, and her fist flew right into my sword. I didn’t find her strength to be difficult to handle whatsoever, but there was still more force than I expected. Her merciless fists came flying at me in rapid succession. I blocked them all with my sword, but there was no time to try to find an opening in her rain of blows.

“So it’s a defensive battle you want, huh? Or have you not shown your hand yet? Well then, <Hundred Water Break Palm Bullets>!” (TL: if someone had a better name for it then tell us 百掌防波弾)

Her attacks became twice as heavy when she said that. It wasn’t like any of her hundred punches from before; I could hear the insides of my Mithril sword breaking. Amane-san has quite a bit of power behind her; this kind of attack is something you couldn’t just forget about. I wonder how much she trained to achieve this level of strength? If she entered the <Caves of Hell>, she may have reached the bottom faster than me. Well, I didn’t enter the caves knowingly; I just wandered inside. Any strong person could have cleared it. Unpleasant thoughts like that began to pop up in my mind as the sound of my breaking sword became clearer.

“Don’t rely on weapons! Your body is the only thing you need! Do you understand? If you rely on a weapon, you become a weak woman the moment you don’t have it! Training your fists makes those beast-like men worthless opponents! Rely on your body! Not those useless and fickle weapons!”

“Amane-san…sorry…”

“No matter how many times you apologize, you won’t earn victory!”

I’ve been half-hearted towards my opponents until now… After conquering the <Caves of Hell>, it’s highly unlikely that I will lose anymore. I never thought about the effort that others have put in to become strong… That’s why I apologized. That’s why this time, I will answer properly– with this one punch.

“Amane-san, here I come!”

Up until now, I haven’t ever used this much strength in one go. Amane-san’s flesh was torn off and blood spewed out. A fissure appeared on the platform as if my fist never stopped. Amane couldn’t process what just happened, she was unable to guard the punch and fell on the ground. There was a huge amount of blood…did I overdo it? I ran over to her as the referee declared the match over.

“Vi-victor, Ryua!”

The surrounding healers were casting <Heal> while soldiers carried Amane out on a stretcher. Her muscles had been expanded up to this point, but underneath those bulging and shiny muscles was a beautiful woman.

“Did you…just see that?”

“It was like ham being sliced…Amane-chan’s body was…was…was…my bride was-!”

“Are they going to use that platform for the next match?”

Cheers could be heard from the spectator stand, and I noticed Tifelia was looking at me. She had a satisfied smile on her face, I wonder what she was thinking? Hekaton had his arms crossed with an expressionless face.

“Is that, by chance, a natural star?…That kind of diamond in the rough isn’t just a genius. That was definitely the star of the match…”

I have no idea what Rupee is saying. Kweed was standing behind him, I don’t think he even watched my match. He was caressing his scabbard. Creepy.

///

“Do a thorough investigation of that C-rank. I can’t even imagine leaving such a thing alone.”

“No, that girl should join my guild, the <Royal Knights>. I won’t let her wander into a guild with no order or pride.”

“And a representative of your <Royal Knights> guild was defeated in the 3rd round of the preliminaries, no?”

“It couldn’t be helped because the opponent was the <Master Knight>.”

“So the one that gave up was the 3rd rate guild.”

“I’ll take that insult as a challenge.”

The spectator seats were abuzz with reactions to my match. There were those who recognized my strength, some thought it was a fluke. Some fights even broke out…

“I wonder why Ryua-chan did that? I’ve never seen her serious before…”

“That Amane-chan is lower ranked than me, but if we just look at her strength, even a superior A-rank would succumb to her. Did you unconsciously come to the conclusion that she was weaker than me just because she is a lower rank than me?”

///

Roel was watching over Ryua as she left the match grounds. The seats in front of her had the other participants sitting in a line. Among them, there was one wearing a black robe. As soon as she made eye contact, she let out a shriek. The black-robed person was staring at Roel from a distance. He never even looked at the fight. His eyes kept their focused gaze on Roel, constantly tracking her, even though she was just one girl in a sea of spectators.

“Roel, is something wrong?”

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

“Is that so?”

“If you aren’t feeling well, why not go rest for a bit? Ryua-chan won’t be having a match for a while anyways.”

“I-I’m fine.”

The black-robed person did not move an inch.

///

“It ended in an instant, the outcome was totally unexpected…the biggest uproar of this tournament so far! Now onto the next card! <Sky Crown> Rupee vs. Kweed!”

Kweed was caressing his scabbard, but when his match was about to begin, his mouth turned upwards into a wide grin as he left for the field. His grin looked disgusting. The fight isn’t for enjoyment. It’s almost as he was pleased about something else. Rupee stood up from his seat and stopped moving. I wonder what he’s going to do?

“Oh, star…please assure me…and then the many stars of victory…will be in my hands!”

He looked up and started talking to the sky. Geez, I’ve had enough of these people.

“Shitakka-san, I already know that Rupee uses star magic, but how does Kweed fight?”

“At first glance he looks like a gloomy guy, but he comes to life when he’s fighting. You can say that those long bangs of his can be the key to the fight.”

“Wait a minute, I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”

The 2 people standing on the platform don’t even look like they’re interested in each other. Rupee was still holding his arms out while talking and Kweed continued to caress his scabbard while muttering something to himself. Even the Referee was weirded out by it and took a step back.

“E-eh, well then. Battle Start!”

It starts. ‘I wonder how they’re going to fight’ is what I thought, but the 2 of them weren’t moving at all. It’s no good if they stay like this. ‘Are the 2 of them unwilling to fight?’ is what I started to think, but then Rupee made the first move.

“Kweed-kun, I can see an omen of the Star of Death in you.”

I can hear something get closer from the sky. Is that the sound of the air being pushed? The sound quickly passed over the spectator seats, striking fear into the hearts of the audience. With just that, I understood what was coming. Screams erupted from the stands, and someone even got up and ran away. A rock was descending from the sky. Although, calling a meteorite would be better. It’s falling towards the coliseum, so of course it would cause a panic. It was still far away, but as it got closer, I began to understand just how fast it was.

“<Star Magic: Comet>.”

The meteorite rushed towards the platform. To be precise, it’s aimed right at Kweed’s sword. It looked like Kweed raised his sword to the sky and with just that, defended himself from the meteorite. The meteorite broke apart and fell down to the ground in pieces.

“Fuhi-fuhihi, it’s going to be ok since you’ll be sucking blood soon! Hihihiihihi!”

He was so different before the match started. His eyes were bloodshot. Saliva was drooling from the corner of his mouth and he had long, disheveled hair. It was as if he was a totally different person. He was shaking his shoulders as he was laughing creepily. He hunched his back and placed his sword on it.

“Just as I thought, you’ve been corrupted. I might not be able to hold back in this situation, but I don’t want to be too flashy here. Now then, I wonder which star I should request-”

For the first time, Rupee used a normal tone.

“J-just now, that was the Star magic we’ve heard about in rumors! What scale-!”

“However, Rupee hasn’t shown his full power yet. No, he can’t show it would be more correct. His star magic has a wide area of effect with great destructive power. Like that, he won’t be able to use it here.”

Certainly, I wonder what would have happened if Kweed wasn’t able to block that meteorite. That’s dangerous. Roel and the others are here you know.

“The numerous shining stars of illusions and reality, give me the power to create…<Stardust Memory>!”

All eyes were on Rupee as something like a starry sky spread out. Something like an air bubble appeared there. The starry sky covered only the platform and, at the same time, cut it off. Kweed was looking around restlessly as he watched the surroundings change, but once he looked at his sword, his mood got restored.

“With this star, you can see all the data that has been recorded. A sword as dangerous as that, surely it’s within the memories of the stars. Anything you do now is pointless. The star is processing the sword’s origin, and it will purge you.” (TL:この星々が見てきたものはすべてデータとして記録されている。その物騒な剣も然、きっと星が記憶している。何をしても無駄だよ、データに基づいた星による粛清が行われる)

“That’s not something for yOUouu to DEcide!”

When Kweed went for the kill, one of the stars shot directly towards Kweed. It felt like even the action of killing was sealed off. Even though it only went as far as grazing his shoulder, Kweed looked like he was going to keel over. He was staggering. Not ignoring this chance, Rupee used another meteorite attack. This time there were 3 aiming at Kweed. It was even faster than before. Kweed, being unable to deal the attack, was once again grazed by the meteorites as they passed by. His shoulder, waist, and leg were only brushed by the meteors, but it seemed to have dealt considerable damage to him. Kweed screamed as the wind pressure caused him to spin around and fall over.

“Gugi-gigigi-”

“If that star had hit you dead on, you would’ve lost your life. If I went serious on you, it would take one meteorite. Can you surrender already? Are you really satisfied with relying on your sword so much?”

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!…I WILL KIIIIIILL YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!”

A black fog spewed from Kweed’s body and was absorbed by his sword. A black aura started emanating from the blade. Kweed’s face didn’t even look human anymore. It reminded me more of a reptile. His eyes were protruding from his face, and his mouth was spread out much further than normal. Combine that with his long hair, he looks almost like a monster.

“Kweed’s sword transformed him!?”

“It seems like Kweed poured magical power into his blade. He’s trying to recover from this hopeless situation.”

Are you sure about that? I don’t think he has any idea what he’s talking about. I get the feeling magical power wasn’t poured into it, but rather his sword absorbed it. It seems like Kweed is having a hard time breathing as well. Without fear of meteors, Kweed sprinted at Rupee.

“You still want more…? I have no choice. This may kill you, but please don’t resent me for it. <Meteor Clutch>!”

Meteorites approached from all directions, flying at Kweed. They were moving much faster than the previous attack. He may actually kill Kweed with this. However, Kweed rotated his body just before impact. He slashed and slashed, you could hear the meteorites falling to the ground. As they hit the ground, they were absorbed by Kweed’s sword.

“Tsk! Oh, star! Don’t let this Evil approach me!”

The surrounding stars shone at the same time, and suddenly meteorites were fired. “He won’t be able to dodge this,” is what was plastered on the faces of the spectators. Some screamed, some cheered, and Rupee’s meteors barreled down to kill Kweed. …the countless stars, and even Rupee, were sliced. Rupee’s face showed he had no idea what just happened.

“W-why is it like that…? I’m not being malicious here…but please, throw that blade away…before…you…”

Rupee collapsed before he could finish talking.

Blood pooled onto the match grounds, and the referee was stunned. He was prompted urgently to continue and he declared the match over.

“Victor…Kweed!”

The end was called a little late, but the match ground was covered in cheers. Kweed’s bloodshot eyes gave the impression he could go wild at any time. “What should I do?” I thought, but he obediently descended from the platform. What kind of sword is that? It’s hard to express in words, but something about that sword seems…corrupt. It was almost like Rupee’s blood was absorbed, there was no dripping blood to be seen on Kweed’s blade. Is Rupee still unconscious? I can see him muttering something on the stretcher. If Tifelia wins her match then she will be fighting Kweed. I wonder what she thinks about that match?

My left shoulder felt somewhat heavy. I turned to look and saw Tifelia-san leaning on it, sleeping. I feel kind of awkward asking her straight out about her thoughts on the match. Her leaning on me is somewhat bothersome, so I used my arm to prop her into a sitting position. She instantly opened her eyes, and suddenly closed them and fell on my shoulder again. She knows her match is next, right…?

///

“That sword sure is dangerous.”

Seigel watched the match until the end with a serious face. Roel and Cynthia were overwhelmed by the bizarre ability Kweed used.

“Dangerous, Seigel-san?”

“Among all the weapons and armor in the world, there are certainly some very strong ones, but they have…side effects. Although, that difference in strength to the point of coming back from such a situation…I’ve never seen something like that before. Just where did he get his hands on such a thing?”

“So something like that won’t show up in a normal market?”

Roel was eating the sweets in her hand, only half were left. Cynthia was in deep thought about something. Roel’s sweet count reduced by one again. It’s not that Cynthia wasn’t interested in weapons and armor, but it wasn’t her specialty. She couldn’t answer Roel’s question with her lack of knowledge.

“A normal market, huh?”

Seigel was surveying the match grounds. His eyes were drawn to the middle of the platform. He had no basis to go on, but he had a feeling… Something was lurking there, trying to escape.

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