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Meanwhile at the same time, in an area outside of the market where the city was expanding… Another battle was nearing its end just where the forest was being cleared, with tree stumps still dotted around.

“Lord Shao, two of our frontliners have been taken out already!”
“The enemy Nord Glacier is heading this way!”

Hearing the reports from two of his guild members, the boy wearing Taoist robes while sitting cross-legged on top of a tree stump slowly raised his face, stopping his meditation.

He was called Shao Xinglou, and was the Guild Master of Lan Canglong, while also being rumored to be currently the best spellcaster of DUO.

The two surviving guild members that returned from the frontline gulped loudly, awaiting his reply.

“Ahahah, we’re in quite a pickle, aren’t we? I really don’t feel like a frontal attack is going to cut it anymore though.”
“…Huh?”

The two guild members were confused hearing his unbothered response.

“U-umm…Lord Shao?”
“Think about it, it’s not like we can put ourselves back together after this. And also…this entire place is going to blow up, you know?”
“…Huh?”

Hearing that, Lan Canglong’s adjutant let out a confused voice. But Shao just pointed up, indicating to look up.

“And well… I guess it’s too late to do anything else anyway.”

Up in the sky there were six glowing spots floating in the air, colored like the six elements, and they drew a large spiral coalescing into each other.

“Umm…Lord Shao? What are those..?”

The two survivors looked at it nervously, gulping loudly in dread, and one of them eventually could not handle the pressure anymore and had to ask about it.

“The ultimate spell, obtained once the necessary Skill gains 100 Points. Almost no one has gotten it so far, but I’m sure you know of it, yes?”

Somehow Shao seemed to find that extremely entertaining, going as far as to clap happily as he spoke, but the two remaining members of his guild fell on their knees in despair.

“I mean…it’s kinda impressive to learn there’s someone else who can use that already. Reinhard from Nord Glacier, was it? I’ll have to remember his name.” Shao muttered that with an entertained voice.

Reinhard’s spell, Chaos Flare, combined all elements belonging to Spiritual Magic, and it fell directly onto the Lan Canglong guild, appearing like a blinding column of light piercing through the sky that consumed everything.

Lan Canglong, another guild many thought had a chance at winning the tournament, completely vanished from the battlefield at that point.

◇◇◇

A searing light shot down from the sky, the heat of which ravaged the ground, turning what started as a lush forest into a sea of fire and exposed rock.

That was like a great calamity befalling the city, which would have been a major disaster if this was not an instanced copy of the city used only for the tournament, leaving the true city untouched.

“…That’s insane.”

Frey watched that from a distance, feeling an unnerving chill run down his spine as he watched that. That display of mass destruction showcased the terrifying power of that mage boy of Nord Glacier.

It was a mere coincidence that Frey was near that location when that happened. But it was also the perfect moment to strike if they wanted to take down Nord Glacier. After all…

“Hahh…hahh… Oh, so you’ve already gotten all the way here, Lua Cheia?”

The blonde boy looked at Frey and the rest, his face drained of all color. He had used all of his MP with that attack, leaving him running on an empty tank. He still tried to brandish his staff with confidence, until the gray haired man next to him had to support his shoulder.

“Reinhard, you should stand back here.”
“But…but…”
“You’ve already used everything fighting Shao, you should get away and rest until you’ve recovered enough MP to fight again.”

The man spoke frankly while firmly holding onto his bow.

“…Alright, I’m sorry you have to deal with this now, Cheval.”
“Don’t worry about it. I think you made the right choice, considering Shao could’ve used his own ultimate magic against us.”

After that, the blonde boy turned away and left the frontline to the archer with gray hair.

“I’m not letting him-”
“Hinagiku, wait!”

Hinagiku wanted to chase after Reinhard right away, but before she could get anywhere, a small figure jumped down from the cliff to their right and landed right in front of her.

“…Niagara Falls!!”

The figure spoke with a clear female voice. The figure that just landed also swung a weapon with a long handle…a halberd, with its blade glowing blue.

Then, just as the ability name suggested, she swung it down into the ground like a torrential waterfall. The ground shook violently and there was a thunderous sound as the cliff broke apart.

Rock fragments that came loose began to fall everywhere, forcing Hinagiku to retreat to avoid being crushed. Then another figure jumped down, which landed with a heavy thud. This time it was a tall male.

“Please excuse my rudeness. I’m Ernesta from Nord Glacier. I hope you will accompany me for this match.”

The small girl who jumped first to interrupt Hinagiku pulled back her chainmail hood and bowed politely.

With light purple hair that reached her hips, she gave the appearance of a refined young girl. However, brandishing a halberd bigger than her own body and clad in a black breastplate and gauntlets, it was clear she was not as tender as she appeared.

Her eyes were locked on Frey and Freya, who had just stepped forward to cover Frey. Carefully holding her halberd to the side, she introduced herself

The second figure to jump down was a dragonewt, his form covered in scales with a thick reptilian tail, brandishing a large shield and a greatsword, all the while encased in heavy armor. He spoke succinctly, “I’m Lueger.” With a hint of apology, another voice added, “Please forgive him; he’s a man of few words.” Lueger himself, his voice raspy, offered a brief introduction, prompting Ernesta to intervene, helping to make his presentation slightly more refined.

Meanwhile, Hinagiku remained on high alert, her stance lowered as a single drop of sweat traced a line down her cheek.

These two are strong.

That was Hinagiku’s first impression of them.

They represented the lower echelons of Nord Glacier, with their most formidable member and leader, Sorleon, absent. The blonde mage boy had also withdrawn, tipping the scales in favor of Lua Cheia with their numerical advantage. However, this did not guarantee an easy victory by any means.

On the other hand…

“You’re not going anywhere..!?” Atop the cliff, hidden behind a rock, Lycoris trained her sight onto Reinhard who was running away, but just as she was about to pull the trigger…

“…Ah…ow..?!”

An arrow passed through Einstrasse and lodged itself into her left shoulder.

Lycoris quickly pulled out the arrow. Her species was known for having resilient bodies, so the arrow did not really cause a lot of damage, which was a lucky outcome, but…

“Woah now, I can’t let you just move however you want now. Like it or not, your opponent right now is me!”
“..?!”

Just as Lycoris was about to escape her hideout amongst the rocks, an arrow struck the rock next to her, making her recoil back.

The archer who shot those arrows was also hiding amongst rocks around two hundred meters away, and was already nocking another arrow. He was the same gray haired man who had told Reinhard to get away.

“Cheval’s the name. We’re both sharpshooters, robot lady, so why don’t we see which is superior, a bow or a gun!”
“Tsk…this isn’t the moment for that..!”

Frey noticed the situation Lycoris was in, and could not help clicking his tongue in annoyance.

Cheval seemed intent on not letting Lycoris have an easy time sniping. But on the other hand, if Lycoris kept Cheval busy, as she was also a sniper, then the load on Frey and the rest would decrease as well.

In other words, simply being alive would let her bring value to the group.

“Lycoris, don’t push yourself too hard. If you can keep him busy and distracted it’ll be enough.”
‘R-Roger that!’

Frey spoke in a lower voice to give Lycoris orders through voice chat, and she replied with a nervous and strained voice, clearly trembling from uneasiness.

After checking that Lycoris’ Magius Orb was rolling on the ground next to him, letting her see what was happening there, Frey looked at the girl who was the biggest threat in front of them, Ernesta.

I guess our advantage will run out as soon as that Reinhard mage comes back.

Frey grit his teeth in frustration, knowing they had to get rid of at least one enemy member in time, as otherwise Lua Cheia would not have the means necessary to stop Reinhard from using his ultimate magic again.

But he could not see any openings on Ernesta either.

It felt almost rude to think this, but he felt like Freya who stood in front of him was of little use. She only knew how to play from the backlines, and only happened to use a more tanky build in this game. The gap in skill between her and someone specialized in close quarters combat was too large.

Hinagiku was certainly better, but she had her hands full keeping the dragonewt Lueger at bay.

While Frey and Ernesta were still glaring at each other without starting the fight, the other two were already exchanging blows, with Lueger blocking Hinagiku’s strikes with his large shield, and swinging his greatsword in counterattack from time to time.

Hinagiku’s face as she tried to fight against that looked strained, having to use all of her concentration power to keep herself safe from those attacks.

Sadly I can’t say we have the best prospects of winning the way things are going.

Seeing the state of the fight, Frey came to that bleak conclusion.

Oh well, I guess I have no choice, I really wanted to keep this secret for longer though.

Realizing it was unlikely they could win unless he revealed the extent of his power, Frey clasped his fists firmly. He glanced at Freya, and she nodded back at him, also aware of what he was thinking.

As difficult as the situation was, Frey found himself enjoying it as well, thanks to the influence of his close friend and rival who was not present there.