Chapter 43: Preliminary (3)
by fnovelpia
The dwarf, his beard thick and rugged, crumpled to his knees, defeated.
“Ugh! How unfortunate!”
His body refused to move any further.
He accepted his defeat.
“But you! You’re quite impressive!”
“No, I’m not.”
The man standing opposite him adjusted his glasses nonchalantly.
“I was just lucky.”
Ding!
-Defeat! You will be transported out of the arena shortly.
“If only I were ten years younger…! Well, let’s have another go sometime!”
The dwarf was enveloped in a white light and vanished.
Ding!
-Victory! You will be transported to the victor’s waiting room shortly.
5
4
“I don’t really want to meet him again.”
Watching the countdown before him, Leighton, the Republic’s Executor, straightened his attire with his gloved hand.
“Is this the last one?”
Flash!
“Congratulations on making it to the finals, Senpai!”
As soon as Leighton returned to the waiting room, his junior enforcer, Lenya, greeted him with open arms and a cheerful shout.
“It wasn’t that difficult. Didn’t you also make it to the finals, Lenya?”
Leighton picked up a water bottle from the table in the waiting room.
Although he hadn’t watched Lenya’s final match due to his own lengthy battle, seeing her already waiting in the room indicated that she had won her matches without much trouble.
Lenya was a woman with a free-spirited personality, but she wasn’t someone who would be eliminated in the preliminaries.
The preliminary rounds of the tournament had spanned an entire day.
A total of 32 players had emerged victorious from all the tournament rounds to proceed to the finals.
Leighton and Lenya, the two enforcers representing the Republic, had also secured their spots in the finals without a single loss.
“But I only faced easy opponents! The one you fought at the end was pretty strong, right?”
“……”
Leighton, drinking his water, recalled the dwarf he had just faced.
‘Do you know the sorrow of suffering from both baldness and impotence?’
He remembered the sight of the dwarf charging at him, his stout body wrapped in aura.
His magic barely affected the dwarf, who recklessly dashed forward, nearly causing Leighton to remove his gloves without realizing it.
Fortunately, the dwarf’s axes had shattered before Leighton had to use “it.”
Leighton looked down at his gloved hand for a moment.
‘That can’t happen.’
He had to save “it” for the day he faced “that guy.”
Leighton tightened his gloves once more.
“I was lucky. If the opponent’s weapon had been slightly better and not broken, I might have lost.”
“Hmm… if you say so, Senpai.”
Lenya’s voice carried a hint of skepticism.
‘Can one suffer from both baldness and impotence at the same time?’
If he were in such a dreadful state, could he even find a reason to live?
Leighton suspected the dwarf had been spouting nonsense just to distract him.
“Oh! The finals start tomorrow. The matchups have already been decided!”
“Thankfully, we have some time to rest.”
The preliminaries had been conducted with rounds starting immediately after the previous one ended, leaving participants tense and ready at all times.
“Senpai, you look like you don’t need any rest.”
Lenya looked him up and down.
Despite a day full of battles, Leighton’s attire remained impeccable, as if he had just left his house.
“Haha. I’m human too. I feel like I could collapse at any moment. Let’s check the matchups and get some rest.”
“Ah, it’s such a shame!”
With the preliminaries over and the finals yet to begin, Albus and Wald found a nearby restaurant for a meal.
“If I had just won that last one, I would have made it to the finals! I lost my grip on my sword at the crucial moment!”
Wald was lamenting his defeat.
“It was a close call.”
“Right! I’m telling you, friend! I could’ve made it to the finals!”
Wald had lost his grip on his sword by a hair’s breadth, costing him the match.
At least, that’s how it seemed.
‘That woman… she was no joke.’
Was her name Lenya Arias?
She had seemed evenly matched with Wald, but Albus had seen her level and knew she was a formidable opponent hiding her true strength.
“That woman seemed to be from the Republic, right?”
“Yes, her accent was totally from the Republic. She was about as skilled as I am and had a good style. We even chatted a bit during the duel.”
But she said I wasn’t her type.
Wald downed his drink.
“Kuh! I’ll just have to try again next time. I learned a lot from today’s matches.”
“Really?”
Albus felt a bit guilty, but he was glad Wald hadn’t made it to the finals.
Considering the state of the finalists, if Wald had made it, he would have been utterly destroyed.
‘And one of them is me.’
Albus, under the avatar ‘Jean,’ had defeated many players to reach the finals.
It was an odd situation for the organizer to take one of the finalist spots.
‘But I didn’t cheat.’
Albus had mirrored his opponents’ specs in every match, using their hard-earned aura and magic as skills to claim victory.
Believing he had won through his own skill, Albus enjoyed the spectacle and his participation in the tournament.
“I had fun too.”
Watching and participating had been entertaining.
Since creating Rudera, Albus hadn’t enjoyed himself this much.
“Really?” Wald asked.
“Weren’t you just watching from the stands? Did you have fun?”
“Well, yes.”
In truth, he had participated too, but that was a secret.
Tap
At that moment, a hand suddenly appeared on their table.
“…Perizet?”
Turning his head, Albus saw Perizet standing there with a sullen expression.
Thud
She pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Albus. Did you cheer only for Wald and not for me?”
“…Huh?”
“That’s too much. I wanted you to cheer for me.”
“No, Perizet! I mean…!”
“That’s the difference between us. Albus and I are inseparable friends. Got it?”
Whack!
“Guh!”
“Quiet, loser who didn’t even make it to the finals.”
“Cough…! Aren’t you being too harsh on me? You’re always nice to Albus…”
Perizet looked quite displeased.
“No, Perizet. I watched and cheered for you in every match.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. From your first match against another beastman to your last one against a human knight, I saw them all.”
In fact, Albus had monitored her matches while managing the tournament.
He had witnessed her use her sand abilities to defeat numerous players and advance to the finals.
“Albus…! You were cheering for me!”
Perizet’s face brightened up considerably.
“Hehe.”
More than usual.
“…Ha. Look at the favoritism. How can I not be bitter?”
Wald downed his drink again.
“Two enforcers from the Republic… a giant… the beastman king…”
The princess floated a large magical chalkboard in the air, diligently organizing information and strategies for each competitor.
Squeak, squeak
She crossed out their names one by one.
“I will defeat them all.”
They were some of the continent’s top fighters, but with the power bestowed upon her by the GM, she felt confident she could win.
She would claim victory and become the GM’s apostle.
Except for one person.
“The one in the robe.”
His abilities changed with each match.
In his first match, he had shown incredible magical power against a wave mage.
Against assassins and knights later, he had displayed swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat skills.
He wasn’t a swordsman, magician, or magic swordsman.
His abilities changed in every match.
“Who is he really? How skilled is he?”
The princess had analyzed and organized information on all the competitors, but she couldn’t decipher him.
If he continued winning, they would meet in the finals.
Even if she defeated everyone else… if she couldn’t beat him…
She shook her head.
No.
That couldn’t happen.
The GM had given her this power for a reason.
To make her his apostle.
She couldn’t afford to lose.
She couldn’t disappoint the GM.
“I will win.”
She vowed to defeat the mysterious robed figure and claim victory, dedicating her triumph to the GM.
My lord.
To become your apostle.
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