Chapter 181 - Only Once (5)
I looked out through the broken window of the abandoned store.
At a dark and dim intersection nearby, shadows clumsily moved.
It was one of the survivor groups from this preliminary round. Comprising two men and one woman, the group crossed the crosswalk armed with a bow, a spear, and a shield, respectively.
[Number of Survivors - 6]
White letters blinked in the upper right corner of my field of vision.
The number of remaining survivors in the field. 14 out of 20 have died.
It was the result after an hour since the start.
'It's been quite a while.'
The map was larger than expected.
I ended up wasting more time than planned looking for those guys.
If the field had been half as small, I would have already gone to see the individual preliminary competition.
They were passing right below me.
I carried an iron pipe with nails hanging from my belt.
Then, I slid down the drainage pipe on the building wall.
"Ah!"
I made eye contact with a man.
I immediately pulled out a small crossbow and pulled the trigger.
Ping! With a sharp sound, the bolt pierced the man's neck.
"Ugh!"
[11 Kills!]
"E, enemy...!"
Ping! Ping! Ping!
The two dodged the three consecutive shots by leaping into the air.
Even the less skilled one was a 4-star. They had basic physical abilities. I ran down into the alley and stepped hard on the ground with the iron pipe in hand.
"Wait! It doesn't have to come to this...!"
Pum!
The man defended himself with a rudimentary wooden shield.
The iron pipe pierced through the wooden shield and halfway through. After making the hesitant man stumble, I grabbed his head and slammed it onto the asphalt.
[12 Kills!]
"Aaah!"
The woman, perhaps a Rogue, like a squirrel, jumped onto the roof of a second-floor building and began to flee.
I followed her, scaling the wall, and continued the chase, dodging several arrows she shot as she fled.
"Why can't I hit him!"
"......"
"Don't follow me! Monster, monster!"
Thump.
Soon, the woman, caught by the neck, was stabbed in the back of the head with a dagger and died instantly.
[13 Kills!]
'Why couldn't I hit him?'
These arrows are child's play compared to Jenna's.
I kicked the scattered body of the woman. The woman's corpse turned into light and slowly disappeared.
'Two left.'
I searched the entire field for 30 minutes, eliminating the survivors.
I made no alliances. I had already determined the strength of everyone in Preliminary Group 18 to which I belong.
Using the Mental Eye skill to check strength, there was no one to worry about.
That is, there was no need to waste time. Although I'll need to be cautious in the final with the last 100, it wasn't necessary here.
I picked up items left by randomly slain heroes and headed towards the center of the field.
In the center of the field, the last survivors of this preliminary round had gathered in a half-built abandoned building.
'What a bother.'
There were barricades at the entrance of the building.
Through the cracks, the scope of a crossbow pointed towards here.
"Hey, you. Who exactly are you? You've been sweeping away all participants on your own. Are you really a 4-star hero like us?"
'You are the weak ones. How did you become 4-star heroes without mastering a single technique?'
Most of these 'heroes' had incompetent Masters. Of course, even if their skills had been higher, the outcome would have been the same.
"You won't even be able to get through this barricade!"
The entrance of the building was blocked with a solid steel plate.
Through a small crack, numerous spear tips gleamed. It seemed they had invested quite an effort into it.
And in the window of the second floor of the building, there was a familiar object installed.
It was a ballista.
'So this also showed up.'
All I had was an iron pipe, a crossbow, and some daggers.
"Die quietly!"
Thwack!
The ballista shot a large arrow.
The place where I was standing sank deeply, and fragments of asphalt flew in all directions. At that moment, a crossbow bolt aimed at a gap in my movement flew towards me. I twisted my body to dodge the bolt.
"......"
What a bother.
I walked straight towards the barricade.
The reload of the ballista had begun.
Hmm.
Seems a bit difficult to break through this solid barricade with just an iron pipe.
I grabbed a fallen lamppost beside the road. The broken center of the lamppost seemed to serve as a handle.
'...Hup!'
With all my strength, I lifted the lamppost.
Kwoong. The several hundred kilogram lamppost was dragged into the air.
"This guy...!"
"Hurry, shoot him and kill him!"
Thwack!
The ballista's second shot.
I ducked and then swung the lamppost.
The ballista's arrow that hit the side of the lamppost shattered into pieces.
'As expected.'
This lamppost is treated as a Greatsword and receives a skill correction.
So it'll be easy.
I immediately lunged towards the barricade.
Bang!
I destroyed the barricade in one blow.
After tossing aside the lamppost, I entered with an iron pipe in hand.
From there, everything flowed smoothly.
[14 Kills!]
[15 Kills!]
[#1/20]
[You have won the preliminary round!]
[Wait for the first main round which will be played tomorrow!]
Suddenly.
Light enveloped me, and before I knew it, I had returned to the stadium.
From entry to victory, exactly 90 minutes had passed. A stunned employee approached.
"Uh... Congratulations on passing the preliminary round."
"Can I go now?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Come back tomorrow at 8 a.m."
"Understood."
"It's incredible! It's the fastest pass!"
I collected my gear from the counter and left.
Inside the gym, there were clustered heroes who had been eliminated from the event.
Among them were the ones I had personally hunted down.
"He's the mad dog of the Battle Royale!"
Mad dog?
I looked towards the source of the sound.
The heroes whispered and cast furtive glances at me.
"They say he killed one by nailing him in the forehead..."
"He tore apart a hero who surrendered..."
"At the moment of asking to team up, he crushed another's head..."
"He's a damn bloodthirsty lunatic!"
Seems like they've given me a strange nickname.
Doesn't matter. I decided to ignore the losers' barking.
Everything will calm down tomorrow.
I opened the informational booklet.
The booklet contained a map of the bus routes spanning the entire city and the schedules. The bus to the location of the individual tournament preliminaries... arrives in 5 minutes. Seems like I won't be late.
In less than 10 minutes, I arrived at the location of the individual tournament preliminaries.
The venue for the individual tournament was also a dome-shaped sports stadium. I underwent identity control at the entrance and entered. Inside, there were eight square playing fields where the preliminaries were taking place.
I saw Belkist sitting in a chair in a corner of the stadium.
"Hey!"
"Ugh! What?"
Belkist turned towards me.
"Major? How did you get here? Weren't you in the preliminaries?"
"I'm done already, man. How's everything going?"
"I finished my shift. I'm watching."
"And the results?"
"Do I need to say it?" Belkist smiled smugly.
Well, I guess so. I sat on a metal chair next to Belkist.
"Is there anyone worth it?"
"More or less." Belkist's gaze scanned the field where the battle was in full swing.
Most of them were fights that I wouldn't even consider worth watching, but there were some that stood out.
"That Major seems to have grown." Belkist crossed his arms.
His gaze was fixed on the field in the left corner.
There he was...
‘Aaron.’
Aaron, dressed in Niflheim's uniform, was pressing his opponent.
Every time he launched a precise attack with his spear, his opponent staggered back.
"His growth is excessive for his talent. It's surprising."
"No wonder he went to Niflheim."
"He surely pushed himself to the point of vomiting blood. Maybe even more than me. But that's it." Belkist dismissed a former rival as 'that's it' and shifted his gaze to the next field.
‘…’
It seems his standards have risen too.
He spent every day fighting against me, and after Kishasha joined, he had another opponent. His own skill is not even comparable to back then.
Belkist, who had awakened his own fighting style using Ferocity, just like me with Exceed and Jenna with Sidewinder, had exceptional talent.
And as he dedicated almost all his time outside of missions to training, his progress was somewhat expected.
‘Aaron.’
Aaron helped up his fallen opponent, bowed, and left the field. As Belkist said, Aaron, who had barely reached levels 3-4 of skill with the spear, seemed to have reached the intermediate level.
But that was it for now.
Maybe I can find out more by watching.
He might face Belkist in the final.
I directed my gaze to where Belkist was looking.
The central field. Another Niflheim participant was there.
"Yaaaah!"
The Rogue's twin daggers attacked chaotically.
He received each attack with only a small dagger in his hand, deflecting them smoothly.
Every time his wrist moved mysteriously, the force behind the twin daggers was easily dispersed.
"Are you underestimating me?"
The Rogue shouted as if possessed.
"No, I'm just facing you with a suitable weapon."
The youth responded with a neutral expression as he spun his dagger.
There was no disdain in his eyes, he simply sincerely believed that. The Rogue's face turned pale as he realized.
‘That boy is…’
The emblem of a white cross was drawn on the chest of his uniform.
It was the badge of a principal instructor in the academy.
"Haha... interesting, very interesting." Belkist's smile curved.
"You know? That boy used different weapons in each of the four preliminary rounds. The first was a spear, the second an axe, the third a bow, and the last a dagger." Belkist's eyes lit up.
That was the look he used to reserve for when he fought against me.
.
It seems his competitive spirit was fully ignited.
‘Hmm.’
Of course, he was an unfamiliar face.
He must have been summoned while I was away.
‘He used different weapons.’
From Belkist's expression, it seems he was extremely proficient with all of them.
"So there are monsters like that in Niflheim?"
People nearby murmured about that boy.
"I heard he's the principal instructor of Niflheim."
"That would be the least worrying! Do you know what his nickname is? The reincarnation of the Demonic Swordsman!"
"Demonic Swordsman? If he's the Demonic Swordsman, then…"
"Yes. Loki's left arm. The strongest swordsman in Mobius."
Demonic Swordsman was the nickname of Lidigyon.
He seemed to have a general idea. Both the concept of that boy and the reason why Belkist was so excited.
‘A prodigy more talented than Jenna.’
Capable of handling most weapons at an expert level.
His main weapon, the sword, would naturally be above that.
‘Already at the upper level?’
If that boy had learned it...
No one here, including me, could face him alone with skill. Advanced weapon techniques are usually learned towards the end of level 5.
If the rumors are true, it would be a great find.
I wanted to ask Yurnet, but I suppressed my curiosity. Anyway, it will be revealed.
The result was decided.
The boy passed by the bewildered Rogue and left the field. Aaron was waiting for him.
"Your skill is amazing. I learned a lot watching you..."
The boy passed by Aaron, who was trying to speak to him with a smile, and left the stadium.
"..."
Aaron, astonished, shrugged and followed the boy.
Belkist let out a cold laugh: "Looks like they don't get along as well as I thought."
"So it seems."
Aaron used to say he was a 'parachutist.'
There seems to be a complicated situation involved.
‘The return of the Demonic Swordsman.’
I was itching to go.
If it weren't for the Advent Stone and the ticket, I would have smashed everything and participated in this individual tournament.
I don't understand why Muden sent Aaron here.
It didn't seem like the right time to come out.
‘We'll see what happens.’
No matter who comes.
The championship will be for Taonier.
