Chapter 56 – End of Preliminary Round - Strawberry Lilies

「「「……………」」」

The 3 of us stared at each other as we hid behind rocks and trees, one with a sword, another with a bow, and the last one with some kind of suspicious potion.

「Haha! ! Take my poisonnnn!」

「I can’t reach it!」

――Hyun…

――Byu!

――Parīn! !

A crystal flask filled with green liquid hovers in the air. The archer, who was glancing at it from a tree, shoots out an arrow and the liquid splashes between the two of them.

――Mowaawaan

Then a thick green poisonous gas was produced, which made them invisible to each other.

Then, inevitably, they have to be wary of one another…

─────

「Those people are amazing….」

I don’t know who they were, but one produced a gas that would definitely kill you if you inhaled it, and the another shot a flask about 20cm away from him…

――Parin!

――Juwaa……

I heard something melting from a tree directly behind me. It must be the potion guy.

And the other enemy who had just shot at me didn’t make a move, maybe hoping that me and the potion guy would crush each other.

While I was thinking about this, the tree behind me started to look unreliable. Let’s move on to the next tree.

「Fu…… 3.2.1… GO… !」

――Da!

――Shun! ! Gaki! … Shun! Gyiin! … Shun! ! Kin!

「《Water Blade》 《Water Blade》 《Water Blade》 《Water Blade》 《――」

――Parin! Parin! ! Parin. Parin! !

They were close… Maa, still 20 meters away, but… As soon as I started running into the trees, I was under heavy fire.

I repelled all the arrows that tried to shoot accurately at my vital points while shooting deviously, and avoided the flasks that were thrown just to interfere with my path by turning around and hitting them from a distance with my 《Water Blade》.

「…… Haa, haa, ha………. Aren’t those 2 guys too good… ?」

Finally reaching the next tree, I whined as I caught my breath.

The space between the 3 of us was filled with the poison gas that that poison guy had been throwing in large quantities.

「… !」

I put Mizuzanmaru in my inventory and pulled out my other sword, Homurakazezanmaru, from its sheath.

「《Wind Blade》 《Wind Blade》 《Flame Blade》」

First, use 《Wind Blade》 to carry the poison gas in the direction of the enemy by wind, and then use 《Flame Wind Blade》 to ignite the poison gas…

――Dogoooooooon! ! !

The poisonous gas in the area exploded due to the induced explosion from the ignition point. Even the poison gas that had been carried to the opponent caused a huge explosion.

This killed the archer, and the poison guy had somehow escaped somewhere and did not die.

I stare at the ground, which is now completely battered, and look for the poison guy.

I moved from tree to tree, keeping my guard up.

And then…

「――Found him 《Wind Blade》」

――Byuooo! ! … Supan! !

It flew straight at him and cut off the head of the poison guy who was crouched down and looking in the wrong direction.

『Server 18: Ayane-sama, you placed 1/1002. Congratulations』

「Yay!」

The end was kind of dull, but I’m glad I won. Suzu will probably make it through the preliminary round, too. That makes me even happier.

The moment these letters disappear from my sight, my eyes go blank.

Ah, I’m going back…

──────

───

――Shuuuun…

「… This… is the square――」

「Ayaaaaaaa! ! !」

「! ?」

――Dosu! !

「Gofu~u…」

「Aya! I saw you! You were so cool! ! I won too, but I’m happier that Aya won! !」

「……」

「No. The guy at the end was awesome, but for me, it was Yoichimaru-san who you fought in the middle! I think that man is the strongest Aya has ever fought! !」

「……」

「Hmm? Aya… ? Are you listening… ? Eh? Aya! ? Hey! ! No way! ? Ayaaaa! !」

In my foggy consciousness, I thought of only one thing.

How did you know that… ?

○Today’s Skills○

Today, we’ll be looking at two, 《Wind Blade》 and 《Flame Blade》.

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【Name】 Weapon Skill: 《Wind Blade》 MP consumption: 40

【Effect ① (LV. 1)】 You can make the wind blow around your sword. In addition, you can release it. The power is proportional to the materials used for the weapon and the skill level.

【Effect ② (LV. 5)】 The more MP you consume, the more powerful it becomes.

【Effect ③ (LV. ☆)】 You will be able to send winds flying up to 5 times in a row.

LV.1: AGI＋20

■■■■■■■■■■

【Name】 Weapon Skill: 《Flame Blade》 MP consumption: 40

【Effect ① (LV. 1)】 You can make flames surround your sword. In addition, you can release it. The power is proportional to the materials used for the weapon and the skill level.

【Effect ② (LV. 5)】 The more MP you consume, the more powerful it becomes.

【Effect ③ (LV. ☆)】 You will be able to send flames flying up to 5 times in a row.

LV.1: STR＋20