Aider swung his hand from top to bottom outside the arena.
"The opening game, begins now~!"
Ding-!
Woaaaaah-!
The starting bell, along with the deafening cheers from the audience.
My main party and the opposing party - 'The Uncles' - rushed out from either side of the arena towards the center at the same time.
'The Uncles' were a party seasoned in real combat, forming a precise formation.
Torkel at the very front. Zenis and Nobody side by side behind him. Chain next, and Dearmudin at the very back.
'Pure tanker, damage tanker with healing skills & close-range dealer with one-shot capability, a black mage with high utility and a pure damage mage...'
Their lineup is seriously impressive, truly luxurious!
Our formation had Lucas and Evangeline forming a dual vanguard. Me and Damien in the middle. Junior in the rear.
It might be said our vanguard was a bit thicker, but we were outmatched in terms of breakthrough capability.
Our party advanced slowly towards the center of the arena, but 'The Uncles' immediately charged at us from the start, aiming to suppress us before hitting the Fake Dragon to score points.
'That's a sharp judgment!'
Damien was on our side.
Considering the victory condition of this martial tournament was to score points by hitting the Fake Dragon's weak spots, neutralizing the opposing sniper was crucial for a chance at victory.
The Uncles' full-on charge was tactically sound.
The Uncles swiftly crossed the arena's center into our formation.
"Let's see the power of the Lord's direct party, shall we?! Let's show them the mature charm the young bloods don't have... Argh?!"
That's when it happened.
Thwack-!
Nobody suddenly got hit by water spewed from the dragon's mouth and rolled to the side.
The rest of The Uncles gasped in surprise.
"Water cannon?!"
"Why is there a water cannon here?!"
I smirked.
"Don't you remember from the training camp? You should dodge it on your own!"
The Fake Dragon was wrapped all over with artifacts.
Not just for scoring sensors or its own defense barrier, but also equipped with various attack methods reproducing the dragon species' area attacks.
Instead of breath attacks, a water cannon, and instead of a magic carpet bomb, a whip chain...
It's only because it's a Fake Dragon that you're not dead, Nobody. If this was real combat, you'd have been instant-killed!
Beep!
At the same time, points were etched onto The Uncles' side magic panel.
[-100 points]
"What's with the deduction?!"
"If you get hit by the water cannon, it's a 100 point deduction!"
"Your Majesty, you didn't mention anything about this?!"
"I didn't say it wasn't there either!"
I'll say it again, even if it's a light-hearted setting, this is a tactical assessment.
How skilled an individual warrior is. How well a party coordinates.
And most importantly, whether they have the aptitude suitable for a dragon raid. Can they dodge all of the Fake Dragon's patterns even amidst the chaotic melee?
I'm watching everything. Everyone, focus!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Squuueaaaak!
The Fake Dragon's mouth continuously shot out water cannons, and the whip chain installed on its forelimb swept across the ground, rushing forward.
The Uncles, who were flustered by the surprise attack, barely managed to dodge it, but our main party was calm. Did you think we trained for nothing?
"Guys!"
"Yes!"
At my signal, those of us approaching the dragon simultaneously jumped up-
Swoosh-!
And easily dodged the whip chain.
There was a peculiar pleasure in performing the same movement simultaneously through training. I burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! How about that! This is the result of training, the power of friendship... Ugh!"
Just as I was exclaiming joyfully, a water cannon blasted in my face.
Spluttering and wiping my face, I saw Lilly, who was operating the Fake Dragon, covering her mouth and laughing heartily.
"Your Majesty, you need to stay sharp!"
"Cough! Cough! Hey, Lilly, is this fair?!"
"I'm just following the rules. The Fake Dragon sprays a water cannon equally at everyone within a certain range~"
Lilly laughed ominously as she operated the Fake Dragon to spray water in all directions. She seemed to be having the most fun in this martial tournament!
And then, as The Uncles managed to approach us by dodging the water cannon and whip chain, the match quickly descended into a melee.
"Shield-!"
"Great Shield-!"
Exchanging some sort of shield technique, Evangeline and Torkel collided with their shields at the forefront,
"Come on, Captain Lucas! Come at me! I'm quite confident in holding my ground...!"
"Ugh-?!"
Zenis, donned in holy armor, marked Lucas.
Even for the renowned Lucas, shaking off an SSR-grade priest capable of self-healing wasn't easy.
Thus, while neutralizing our two vanguards, Chain and Nobody finally made their way into our middle ranks.
"If we just neutralize the sniper boy..."
"The momentum will shift to our side!"
As they attempted to break through, I suddenly glanced towards the center of the arena.
Gooo...!
Dearmudin was gathering magical power. Unknowingly, I clapped my hands.
"Indeed! So that's the strategy!"
While the rest of The Uncles were engaging us to buy time,
Dearmudin, capable of area attacks, was casting magic on the Fake Dragon to score points.
"Heh, my vision's gotten worse, can't really see where the dragon's weak points are attached, but..."
Even with a magic-dampening bracelet limiting his magical power, Dearmudin smirked, unleashing a formidable amount of magic.
"Just bombard it, and it'll hit somewhere...!"
I was about to order Damien to snipe Dearmudin, but Chain and Nobody had already closed in on him.
"Whoa!"
Damien panicked, unable to shoot in time.
One of Damien's few weaknesses, given his near-perfect character, was his tender heart.
He wasn't cold-hearted enough to launch an attack at an ally hero in a tournament akin to an evaluation match, not to mention he wasn't armed with his main weapon, a magic gun, but only a short bow equipped with rubber-tipped arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Though he fired arrows belatedly,
"Too obvious, too obvious!"
Chain swept them away with an arm made of dark magic. Nobody then prepared to strike Damien with a swift attack.
As Damien was being double-teamed, Junior had no choice but to rush forward, and Chain and Junior entangled their magic in a clash.
'Tch!'
I turned my gaze back to the center of the arena once again.
Dearmudin was currently unmarked. If left alone, he might really end up scoring all the points by himself and finishing the game.
I had to disrupt his magic casting before it was too late...!
"I'll stop Dearmudin!"
Leaving Damien and Junior behind, I ran forward.
"You guys break through the guard and attack the Fake Dragon!"
"What?!"
"Prince Ash, wait a moment! Prince Ash!"
Despite Damien and Junior calling out to me with dismayed expressions, I didn't look back and kept running.
Tactically speaking, it might have been better for me to join the fray against Chain and Nobody and then start sniping with Damien.
But this kind of melee training is necessary too. You have to know how to shake off an enemy's vanguard sticking to you like a leech on your own.
After all, these are the very situations we'll actually face in the Black Dragon Subjugation...!
'I believe you guys can overcome this!'
No, we must overcome it! For the battles ahead!
Thud!
I planted the flag into the ground.
Then, grey castle walls sprouted from the ground like petals, and I slid across the floor towards Dearmudin as if riding a sled.
And- right as Dearmudin was about to complete his spell, I gave him a full swing with the flag right into his side.
"Ey-!"
"Whoa?! Are you trying to kill me, Prince Ash?!"
Startled, Dearmudin had no choice but to stop casting, and he blocked my flag with his magic-wrapped staff. I didn't stop and kept swinging the flag.
"Stop casting! Ya! Ya!"
"Ah! Ah! Wait, my back's going to give out! Hold on!"
While the mage and a so-called mage (who's terrible at close combat) were bickering,
Swoooosh!
A water cannon poured out from the Fake Dragon's mouth towards us...
"Arghhh."
"Yaaah."
Dearmudin and I both tumbled across the ground.
The direction of the match was spiraling into a labyrinth.
***
"Now, sniper boy. Everyone on our front fears and reveres your eye... but I'm different."
While all the other heroes were locked in an evenly matched battle.
The balance here was completely shattered.
"From the start, I don't care about such things-!"
Blind swordsman Nobody yelled fiercely, swinging his sword.
Swoosh! Swooosh!
The rubber-tipped arrows Damien desperately shot were futilely shattered in mid-air.
Grinding his teeth, Damien desperately tried to increase the distance, but Nobody, using his footwork, closed in much faster.
The lifeline of a ranged attacker is 'distance.'
Maintaining distance, or failing to. That's where battles are won or lost, and life and death are decided.
If you can't take out the enemy before they close in, if you allow them to approach, defeat is inevitable.
Similarly, the lifeline of a melee attacker is also 'distance.'
Within a short reach where their attack can hit, they exhibit overwhelming power, but if they can't close in to that distance, they die instead.
They must burrow into their advantageous distance for the path to victory to open.
Thus, the battle between attackers is a fight for who can control their favorable distance.
And in this duel, Nobody had an overwhelming advantage.
The swordsman had broken through to the archer.
How could he possibly lose!
Click-!
Nobody's sword cut through the air with ferocity. Damien, with his naturally overwhelming eyesight, read its trajectory and twisted his body to dodge.
Or so he thought he had...
Squeeeak!
The path of the blade strangely curved, flying towards Damien's held short bow.
"?!"
Startled, Damien managed to contort his body awkwardly to dodge the attack. Nobody bared his chilling teeth, grinning wickedly.
Being blind, the direction of his gaze meant nothing.
His movements were different from those of typical swordsmen.
Having been blind from birth, without the concept of 'seeing,' the preparatory motions for striking, swinging, and retrieving his weapon lacked the preliminary action of 'looking.'
This slight difference created a bizarre dissonance, and Damien, who had less experience in close combat and had understood movements based on other swordsmen he had seen, was further cornered.
His excessively good eyesight ironically put him at a greater disadvantage.
"Got you-!"
It was the moment Nobody shouted, swinging down his sword.
"The one caught... is on your side!"
Thwack!
Suddenly, Damien shot an arrow in a completely different direction.
Until now, he had always aimed precisely at Nobody's vulnerabilities to neutralize him, but this arrow was off in a totally different direction.
'Did he miss because he was flustered?'
As Nobody laughed, intending to overpower Damien-
He felt a chill on his shoulder.
The direction Damien suddenly shot towards was where the Fake Dragon was. If that's the case, could it be...
'Did he spot the dragon's weak point?!'
In a flash, Nobody's mind whirled. If that arrow truly found and hit the weak point, then this match could end right there.
'No, no! It's a fake! He's trying to deceive me!'
But.
An arrow shot at the cost of one's own life, in a situation where the swordsman had closed in, about to overpower him.
It couldn't be anything but a finishing blow...!
'Damn, I need to block that arrow!'
Nobody, straining his senses to find the off-course arrow, contorted his body unnaturally to swing his sword- and knocked it away.
Thwack!
The arrow exploded in mid-air, and the next moment, Nobody realized.
"Sorry."
The boy in front wasn't just good with his eyes...
"It's a fake."
He was also bold.
In that moment, Damien had completely given up the distance to the swordsman in front of him, betting on a psychological battle, and Nobody was the one who lost.
"Sigh..."
Nobody mumbled, feeling foolish.
"Ate my sword for nothing. Damn."
As Nobody, whose posture was completely broken from awkwardly twisting his body, was still reeling,
Thump! Thump!
Two rubber-tipped arrows hit in quick succession.
Nobody was knocked back.
"Sigh."
Loading the next arrow, Damien looked towards the Fake Dragon and then smiled leisurely.
And, drawing the bowstring leisurely... he shot.
Towards the weak point he had discovered.
Squeeeak-
The arrow traced a clean trajectory through the air...
Woaaaaah!
And then, cheers filled the arena.
--TL Notes--
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