632 Episode 0632.



'Now it's the next game. ... You all remember, right? You're looking forward to it, right? Because the next game will be his turn to play crimson, who is counted as one of the favorites to win. Manipulating a huge sickle freely, he is good at the magic of fire. Now, what kind of fight will you show me to-day?'

 The voices of the actual situation echo through the stadium.
 The fiery voices galvanize the excited spectators at the game that had just been played.
 The previous game was also suitable for the main competition, but the next one was also more exciting.
 It's a crimson match in which an adventurer belonging to the Kingdom of Milliana, a longtime enemy of the Empire of Bestia, has become an outstanding enemy of the Spring War.
 However, the cheers spreading throughout the stadium are hardly negative.
 That's because Ray has fought a lot of flashy and spectacular battles in all along.
 Of course, that doesn't mean that every audience member has lost their grip on Ray. If one's relatives were killed, that wouldn't be forgivable.
 But... still, most of the cheers in the stadium today were in expectation of Ray's match.
 Then Ray emerges from the player's entrance, guided by cheers.
 Wearing a dragon robe as usual, the hand holds a scythe over two meters long.
 He glances around him and goes up to the stage with a small smile at the fact that there are more cheers than boos.

And the crimson opponent is Rodos, another adventurer from the Kingdom of Milliana. I have already introduced him several times, but he is the son of the god of thunder's axe and a party member. The strength is undoubtedly first‐class. It's the adventurer Rodos, who has a good reputation especially for sharp thrusts!"

 Appearing with the voice is Rodos, who has a light tension but a spirited look.
 Wearing leather armour and long sword, he is dressed in his usual equipment.
 Ray and Rodos face each other on the stage.

"I've been waiting for the time to come." I didn't think I'd be able to make it this far in the competition."
"Really? If you're not good at it, you might not have won the final, and I think the third round was much faster."
"...I'll beat you,"

 With determined eyes, Rodos holds the long sword out of the sheath, and Ray opens his mouth, holding the death size he was also holding.

"I don't mean to lose so easily, but I'll take it to my heart's content."

 Surprised by Rodos' combative looks at him, Ray is also ready to react to whatever moves he makes, and silence fills the stage.
 And they probably thought they had enough of each other's advances. The referee's voice echoes off the stage.

"The game begins!"

 With the signal, Ray waits for Rodos to set up.

(I couldn't use the counter after all yesterday.) Let me try it.)

 He muttered inwardly, and took a death-size approach to the other person's behavior. ... Rodos only watched Ray's behavior, and showed no sign of taking any particular action.
 A few minutes to stop and face each other with their own weapons in hand. Eventually Ray opens his mouth provokingly.

"Why don't you attack me? It's a great stage, and I'll give you the first move."
"... I see. Then... let me go!"

 Rodos kicks the stage with the words to shorten his distance with Ray.
 First of all, he throws out a thrust as if it were a substitute for greeting.
 a series of thrusts that Rodos is good at It's a technique that has been delivered to Ray many times.  
 But it's all in practice, starting with mock battles. It was also the first time I had been so genuinely released with all my might.
 The speed in itself is the same as in practice. The energy contained in it is no different from that of practice.
 Nevertheless, the difference between actual fighting and practice, or rather, the continuous thrusts with the spirit, were even more powerful than those of mock fighting.
 Rodos' thrust was undoubtedly a first‐rate thrust. But...

"Wow!"

 It wasn't Ray who screamed in pain and blew it away, but Rodos, who set it up earlier.
 Rodos's blown leather armour bears a number of bruises.
 It was no wonder Ray did it.
 When the audience looked at Ray, he saw Ray with a death-size stonemate thrust forward.

"d*mn it, you're still acting like a monster,"
"Is that so? It's not that unusual."

 Rodos rises from his fall, muttering vexingly.
 Many in the audience couldn't understand what Ray had done, but Rodos said the answer.

"Do you say that while imitating me putting out all my thrusts at the counter? Oh, surely the technique itself is not uncommon." But I don't care if Ray tells me that."

 Rodos's words buzz the audience.
 It was not close, and Rodos' continuous thrusts were sharp in the audience.
 In response, Ray's behavior of putting everything in the counter was not even visible to most people.
 But Ray also opens his mouth to Rodos, who is checking his leather armor.

"If I were to say that, I think it's a good idea to accept all of them in armour, judging that they couldn't avoid the counter."
"Well, if you had used death-size properly, it would have been a pointless defense. I've seen you fighting in a competition for a while. Aren't you serious about fighting? ... No, exactly, are you fighting with limits on yourself?"
"Well, I don't know,"

 Rey shrugs at Rodos's words, holding her back to death.
 It was no surprise or surprise that Rodos could see through it, as his opponents had seen through it.
 But...

"Well, that's all right, then," I just have to beat Ray. I don't mean that we have to beat Ray's best."

 When Rodos tells him so, Ray is small and surprised.
 It was because I always thought that I should be told to my heart's content.
 But soon he quenched his smile and resized his death size.

"If you're going to beat me, I'll give it a try." though I can't do it so easily."

 Despite all that, Ray doesn't show any signs of his own movement.
 wait for one's opponent's movements with a sharp aim at the counter
 Rodos probably understands that in the case of the last series of thrusts. With his long sword in his hand, he moves around it as if he were looking for a gap.
 As if responding to the movement, Ray also turns around, moving only by foot in the direction Rodos moves.
 Time passes slowly without each other making flashy moves.
 Under normal circumstances, the audience would hear jeers, but now there is a strange sense of tension on the stage, which extends to the stands.
 Just go around around Ray...

"Huh!"Rodos moves, perhaps because he can't stand the strain.
 Kesagiri's sword attack is not the continuous thrust as mentioned earlier.
 But Ray took the blow at the death-size handle and passed it straight down to the stonemate. . . . .

"Huh!"
"Oops!"

 a counter that has been unleashed using the very movement that has been passed away
 Just before the death-size blade reaches Rodos' right arm, he shifts his body with a reflex movement and misses the blow.
 It was really a paper-thin move to avoid the attack, and if the response had been delayed for a moment, its right arm would have been cut off by a death-size blade.
 But... the price was also great.
 As a result of the forceful displacement, it was certainly avoided to have my right arm amputated. But as a result, his forehead was torn apart, albeit thinly.
 Compared to losing a single right arm, the damage is small because the skin and flesh are only damaged. However, blood flows from the cut forehead and blocks the vision of the right eye.

"d*mn it,"

 Rodos leaps away from Ray and wipes the blood from his eyes.
 But the wound seems to be quite deep, and the blood doesn't stop flowing at all.
 Fortunately at this time, Ray would have imposed a limitation on himself that he should fight only at the counter. That kept Ray from moving, and Rodos was able to pull the portion out of his waist pouch.
 As long as you are free to use magic items, of course you are free to use potions. But it's usually a one-on-one battle, and at the same time, no one is trying to wait for his opponent to recover, so he doesn't have the chance to use the kind of recovery items... in that sense, Ray's fighting style has helped him.
 Ray just watches Rodos treat his injury, partly because he doesn't quite fit in with the counter.
 It must have been a pretty high‐class portion. Just by opening the bottle and sprinkling a small amount of it, Rodos' forehead wound was quickly closed and naturally the blood that was running stopped.
 Of course, there was a reason why the wound itself was not so deep, but the audience was surprised at the effectiveness of the portion.

"Well..."

 Rodos breathes and bites the remaining portion in one gulp.
 At the moment, the expression turned to a visibly tragic one, which clearly showed how bad the portion was.
 Drinking potions is certainly effective. There is also the advantage of a sustained recovery in the short term. But... in return, it is horribly unsavory.
 How bad it is is, for a while after drinking the portion, my taste is completely numb and I can't understand the taste of the food.
 Still, Rodos was welcome in the sense that fighting with Ray at that level would heal some of his wounds.

`Well... here we go!'

 Suppressing nausea at the poor taste of the portion, he holds a long sword and quickly narrows his distance to Ray.
 The speed of the step was sharper than before, perhaps because some wounds had the effect of recovering automatically.

`Oh, my God!'

 The vigorously wielded long sword takes aim straight at Ray's left shoulder.

"A similar attack!"

 The blow that was thrown down from the shoulder was received by the handle of the death size, and while diverting it towards the stone butcher, it was pushed in the death size to force a distance, and at the same time, it was a horizontal naginata blow.
 It is only natural that Rodos' aggressive attack should have made his defense rough.
 A flash of death size cuts the body of the leather armour.
 The reason why it still didn't reach the skin was probably because it was better than it was.

"Oh, my God!"

 Rodos touched his abdomen for a moment, but when he realized that only leather armour was cut, he started to cut at Ray again.
 It seems like a reckless act, but as long as the difference in ability between us is so clear, we have no choice but to push ourselves here. In fact, Rodos is at a disadvantage no matter how hard he collides with each other, so he can't beat a superior opponent without a little rashness.
 Ray, who is on the receiving end of such an attack, is convinced in his heart of the attack by Rodos, taking advantage of the opportunity to open the counter.

(I see, it's certainly necessary to take risks when fighting against a superior opponent. Is it too good to beat a superior opponent without risk? ...but!)

 A large but sharp blow is played and screamed in a death-size butt.

`It can't be done so easily!'

 A blow struck by a stonemate leaves a big gap in Rodos because the blow was a powerful one.
 There's a flash in the counter that breaks the gap caused by playing in the butt.
 an even sharper blow than Rodos's
 A flash of flashlight flashed through the air, leaving Ray with a feeling of torn flesh and broken bones.
 At the same time, Rodos's left elbow flies through the air.

"Geez!"
"Go to sleep."

 Rodos, holding his left elbow with his right arm holding the long sword in his hand, broke his ribs and collapsed onto the stage with a death-size handle that had been cut sideways as if he had been caught in the gap.

"That's it! Winner, Ray!"