“Well, it's about to begin.”
“Does it seem like the entire hall is on edge?”
"I'm sure they are. This is the highlight of the team competition. I'm sure everyone is paying attention to this match."
On one side, a trio claiming to be “Guardian” in the kingdom.
On the other hand, the three are renowned A-rank adventurers.
Both have been active as a trio for some time, and the people are wondering whether they are adventurers or knights.
Of course I want Red Line to win, but I also hope they don't do anything too reckless.
I'm not a warrior, so my first priority is to be safe, but I sincerely hope everyone comes home safely.
“What do you think, Shiro?”
“Well, I don't know because I don't have a good gauge of what they are capable of."
Such was the case with Shiro, who was eating fried Moi in a cup with exquisite balance, but keeping a firm position to see the ring.
She seemed to be interested in the match itself.
Naturally, I also kept a good view of the ring so that I wouldn't miss anything.
Everyone was quiet as if they were holding their breaths as the vice captain stepped into the ring and inhaled.
'Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen! We will now begin the semi-finals! First up is an A-rank adventurer who is based in Einsheil, but has made a name for themselves in Royal City as well! It's not just appearance that's good! The Red Line is here!'
'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! ！！！！'
'Continue on! The strongest shield in the kingdom! The name of the guardian is more than justified! Let the Lord leave you to us! Here comes the Guardian!'
'Whoa!!!'
Three of the Guardian receive loud cheers and respond to them by raising their hands as they make their entrance.
Their faces show something like a sense of composure, and in contrast, they look relaxed.
“......, they are used to being on the spot.”
“Sounds like it. I hope it doesn't put too much pressure on Solte and the others."
"Don't worry. The three of them are not frightened by that much."
Shiro unusually defended the three.
The three of them are not afraid of this cheer when I look at their faces, and they seem to be staring straight at their opponents.
The shield-bearer and mage stop in the midway, and only the man with the mace walks to the center.
In response, Aina walked to the center and shook hands with him as requested.
"Nice to meet you, members of Red Line. We have heard much about you in Royal City."
“We, too, have heard of the valor of the Guardian even in Einsheil.”
"That is a great honor. Let us have a good match."
"Yes, but we will win. "
“We, too, claim to be the guardians of the capital, so we cannot afford to lose. We will give it our all."
Aina and the other guy with the mace talked lightly and then both turned their backs to each other and walked to their respective starting positions.
"Oh my, it's so far back.”
The position of “Guardian” was organized in a small group at the corner of the ring.
In contrast, the “Red Front” was positioned in the center of the ring, ready to charge at any time with full motivation.
"As long as the starting position is divided in the center, it doesn't matter where it is. That's a strategy, too."
"If they are halfway to the front, the mage will be the first to be hit. So, I think the defensive strategy is to reduce the number of places they can go around to some extent."
"But doesn't that increase the possibility of a ring-out?"
"Because they are guardians, they must have a lot of confidence in their ability to defend themselves. In fact, they use the narrow paths as a barrier to let their allies escape."
"I see. ...... because they are the guardians. The man with the mace, does he have anything in his right hand this time?"
“A short spear and a mace, both in his right hand. Maybe he's going to let the vanguard protect him and then attack when there's an opening."
I see...so he builds a barrier with a shield guy, and in between, he stabs from behind.
If so, where would he use the mace?
'I'm sure both of them are ready! Let the match begin!'
'whoa--'
"wow--！！！！！”
A loud shout rises from the ring, as if to drown out the cheers of the crowd.
The shield man shouts up to the sky, and the mace-carrying man and the mage seem to have already covered their ears.
"What the hell?"
“[Heavy Knight's Roar [Heavy Howling]] ...... is an essential technique for shields that focuses the target on themselves, though it can't be used in person if the level is too low."
"Well, he must be at a high level."
When I look at it, Solte and Aina, who were about to charge from both sides, stop and run towards the shield man.
"Tsk, then I'll smack you upside the head!"
“Yes! I'll take first on spear!"
As Renge ran toward the front, Shield Man raised one foot and stomped on the ground as if stepping on a four-legged stool.
Then, I felt as if not only the ring but even the spectator seats were shaking, and I felt my body get unsteady.
"He's trying to kill momentum with the [Collapse leg [Heavy Stomp]], but...”
“I can tell by his motion!”
The moment he stomps, Solte leaps into the air to evade and thrusts out her spear.
But the attack launched from an unstable position is lightly bounced by the shield.
"Sorry!"
"Don't worry about it! Keep attacking, Kya!"
"It's not all about defense!”
The shieldman twisted his body to clear a path for the spear, aiming to land, and the man with the mace thrust out his short spear to poke at Solte.
Solte jumps backward, holding her shoulder, which was hit by an attack that was almost too breathtaking, and dodges the follow-up attack.
"Are you okay?"
"It's okay! Just watch the front!"
Renge followed suit, but soon the shieldman was back on his haunches, glaring at her as if he didn't want to miss a moment.
"It's a very hard wall. But if my attack!"
“I'll hold them down.”
"What?"
A huge ice wall appears in front of Aina who was coming from behind.
It was made of thick ice to separate from Solte and Renge and to keep Aina at a standstill for a while.
"This is the kind of ice! Melt it right now!"
"No, Aina!”
Aina reacted to Solte's cry with a start and looked at Solte.
Solte nodded, turned back to the guardian, and went toward the shieldman with Renge.
As I recall, Aina is half flame people.
It is possible for her to melt down using flames, but she may have feared that the information might leak out from there. It will make sense for her to use magic, but there may be a reason for that as well.
“Kuuuh, that's a hard shield!”
"But I'm still going to break through!"
“Yes! If I can't break it, I'll blow it up!"
"I'm not backing down. Come on!"
"Don't get carried away!"
When Renge thought she launched her fist toward the shield, she killed her momentum just in time and put her palm on the shield.
Then, she dropped her back and struck a hard blow not with the strength of her arms alone, but with the twisting of her shoulders and hips.
However, the shield man changes the angle exquisitely and receives the force, and then immediately twists his body.
And there it is the mace man's short spear that is unleashed.
"Ugh! Uuugghhhh!”
Renge gets hit hard in the abdomen, and her face contorts as she takes advantage of the gap between her big move and the next one.
"While we're at it!"
The effect of “Heavy Knight's Roar [Heavy Howling]” wears off and Solte flies away over the shield man, who has not yet regrouped, and takes up a position in the air to launch her spear at the mage.
"No. Trap ......"
"Shiro?”
When Shiro mutters a little, a shadow appears in front of Solte.
"I've been waiting.”
The mace man, who should have been dealing Renge with a short spear earlier, swung his mace to intercept Solte in mid-air, jumped up and swung it down on Solte as if to hit her with all his might.
“Oh, no! ......!"
"Solte!”
With Aina's cries in vain, her body was struck with such force that it bounced off the ground and floated a little, and the mace man immediately changed his stance in mid-air and swung his mace from below as if to return the blow.
“Hmm, the second blow was blocked. ......"
“Gee ho! ah!"
Although she seems to have deflected the second blow, it was a serious wound no matter how it looked.
However, Solte's fighting spirit never wavered, and she spat out the blood that had accumulated in her mouth, wiped away the blood that was running down, and took a step forward.
But as her knees shattered, she almost fell forward, but Aina, who had broken the ice wall and appeared there, lent her a shoulder and prevented her from falling.
"Are you alright?"
"Of course I am ....... I'll be right there. ......"
"...... got it."
Leaving Solte standing with her spear as a walking stick, Aina approached Renge, who was holding the front line, and she made a single blow to the shield man, but the shield man's iron wall was no match for her.
Renge also seemed to be lacking in movement due to the blow she had just received.
“Haaaaaaah!"
“Hmph! I admire your strength, but..."
"I can still do it myself!"
"You go back to sleep!"
The man with the shield twists his body, and when the short spear is released, Renge avoids it.
“As expected, I can't hit too many times...!”
“Nnnn!”
However, when the shield man's shield is released to the side, Renge is unable to avoid it and blocks it with her arms, but she is almost blown out of the ring as it is.
"Renge! Hold on!"
"Sorry, Aina! Right guard!"
Aina reached out and grabbed her arm, barely avoiding a ring-out, and then the mace man continued to come forward and swung his mace sideways at Aina, who was facing the other way.
She reacted to the guard's call and tried to block with her sword, but being backhanded, she was unable to support herself and the mace hit her hard to the side.
"Gahaha! But!”
Aina did not let go of Renge's hand despite being hit by a painful blow, and she used her momentum to turn Renge toward the mace man, and as she did so, Renge kicked him with a flying kick, which was blocked just in time by the shield man who appeared from the side.
"Thank you."
"What? I was just doing my job."
"Kuuuuuuh, can't you even settle that one?"
Renge returned to the ring on the rebound, but the damage looks to be significant, including to Aina.
Solte, too, has managed to freeze up and try to break through the shield man, though she may not have fully recovered yet.
However, the spear with no power was easily repelled by the shield.
"Why ...... why won't it go through ......?”
That sorrowful voice of Solte seemed to tell the current hopeless situation.
“Are you not good at interacting with people,......?”
"Yes. ......”
A small word from the man with the mace stopped Solte in her tracks.
"Excuse me. I've seen that after fighting ......, you folks seem to have a different kind of fighting quality than we do.”
"What?"
"Hey, Laurent, we're in the middle of a fight."
“Yes we are. ...... But now it's over."
“[The Frozen World [Icicle End]]”
Suddenly a white blur begins to glow as it appears between Solte and the guardians, and all the participants are enveloped in the blur.
"Please, surrender.”
"No! No!"
"I refuse! Besides, with this magic, you guys will be damaged! If we use it as a chance to win!"
"Unfortunately, we have accessories to protect us. We've got accessories that keep the heat in."
"Damn! That's what you've been aiming for all along!"
The three were already wounded to the core and had nowhere to run even if they tried to avoid it.
“Ugh, my legs!"
Their feet on the ground are gradually freezing and becoming immobile, and they seem to be unable to move.
"I'm not going to ...... give up!"
Solte tried to move her legs to resist both the ice and the cold, but they had begun to freeze so much that she could no longer move them.
This was not good.
"Solte!"
As soon as I thought that, I was screaming.
In response to my voice Solte raised her face and made eye contact with me.
Her face was contorted in sadness.
However, once she put her face down, she muttered in a small voice.
"I surrender......"
I don't know how much struggle it took just between now and then to come up with that one word.
Still, I was relieved that Solte responded.
"Rocco! Release the magic!"
"Yes!”
As soon as Solte declares her surrender, the white cold wind stops.
''[Thermal Ground [Heat Ground]]''
The ice covering the ring gradually melted as the mage cast a new spell.
Soon the ice melted away and the three of them fell down on the ring as soon as they were able to move their legs.
"Hey, you okay? Vice captain, stretcher!”
'Ah, Red Line has declared their surrender, so we have a winner, the “Guardian”! And a stretcher ASAP! Three, please!'
'oh ...... oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!'
The guardians who have been named the winners are cheering, but for me they're not important.
A stretcher passes by them and I follow it with my eyes as it carries Aina and the others on it.
"Me too ......!"
“Wait! Wait for the Lord to contact you soon. If you miss him, he won't let you in!"
"Tsk!"
Oh, shit!
Then come quickly to ......!
“Master, ......”
“Lord, Settle Down ......”
"Wendy, Shiro ......"
They both look at me with worried eyes.
I probably look terrible right now. ......
“My bad ....... Huh .......”
I exhale heavily and try to calm down.
I shouldn't be the one panicking.
"I'm sorry to interrupt! Is the master of Red Line here?"
“Yes! It's me."
As soon as I was called, I dropped Iris and Shiro off on the couch, stood up, and approached a man who appeared to be from the tournament management.
"Now I will escort you to the infirmary, if you will follow me."
"Shiro will go with you."
"Excuse me, it's not very spacious, and your companion is .......”
"Shiro is small. So I'll go."
"Shiro. Don't be so selfish."
“......, please. Please let me come."
Shiro was looking at me with straight and serious eyes.
She is usually selfish, but if I warn her, she will stop.
However, this stubborn attitude suggests that Shiro has a reason why she has to go.
"I'm sorry, please do something about it.”
“I understand ....... Then follow me."
"Master!"
"Sorry, Wendy take care of Iris!"
"I will! ...... please cheer them up for me."
“I'll do my best to cheer them up.”
I don't know if I can do it, maybe it would be counterproductive for me to go.
Still, I have to go.
I hope more than anything that the three of them are safe and sound, and suppressing my impatience, I speedily follow the back of the man who is leading me to the site.
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