The second match of the round of sixteen followed.
“The second participant who will keep this heated atmosphere going—Shaura, the human swordsman who seized victory with his outstanding swordsmanship!”
At the host’s signal, the player Shaura, who had the appearance of an Indian man, appeared in the arena.
With grim resolve etched on his face, he stepped into the arena.
“And his opponent is… Ian, the human swordswoman who shattered the shield of the defense captain in a single blow!”
Soon after, Ian appeared from the opposite side.
She gazed at Shaura with a far more relaxed expression.
“You must be pretty nervous. Your face looks awfully fierce.”
“I apologize if it seems that way. But I absolutely must defeat you.”
“Why? Is there some reason?”
It had been the same yesterday, but Ian couldn’t understand why he was so fixated on his match against her.
Seeing her expression, Shaura closed his eyes and continued.
“What do you think of the current state of our progress?”
“Huh? Well… it’s hard, but I’d say it’s about right?”
“I think it’s too fast.”
Shaura opened his eyes again and glared at Ian.
A firm will shone in them.
“Think back to Zone 1. The boss back then wasn’t much different from us.”
At the time, Ian had been the lowest-leveled among them at level 8.
Everyone had participated in the raid after reaching level 9 or 10.
But the more they accelerated their progress, the more the players’ levels naturally began to lag behind the bosses.
The biggest reason was the level gap between the zone monsters and the bosses, but it was also true that there simply wasn’t enough physical time.
Of course, even if they matched levels, boss raids still carried great danger.
In fact, the zone with the most casualties so far had been Zone 1.
Even so.
“This is a death game. A death game where if you die in the game, you die in reality as well. Clearing it is important, but should we not ensure that as many people as possible survive and log out?”
Shaura firmly believed it.
If they took enough time and devoted themselves to the攻略, many people would be able to escape this place.
That this kind of hasty progress would one day bring disaster.
“That is why I will defeat you, the strongest among the players, and prove it. I must show everyone that if we proceed step by step, we can one day clear this game.”
That was the reason Shaura had to defeat Ian.
He had to convey his conviction to the players living in Arcadia.
The first step was to defeat Ian, who was regarded as the strongest among the players.
Shing.
Shaura pointed his sword at Ian.
“Do not think this will be an easy victory.”
Ian drew her sword as well.
“I’ve never thought that.”
Though he had not participated in the previous raid, he was still a player who always fought on the front lines.
Ian did not let her guard down as she lowered her sword.
Amid the chilling tension, the host’s voice rang out.
“The second match of the round of sixteen will now… begin!”
At the signal, Ian and Shaura kicked off the ground almost simultaneously.
Kaaang!
Fierce sparks flew from their swords.
The corner of Ian’s eye twitched.
‘As expected, he’s stronger than me.’
Her wrist tingled.
In terms of pure level, Ian was about three levels higher, but because she had needed to raise her Magic stat, her Strength stat was lower than Shaura’s.
Continuing a contest of strength like this would be the fastest path to defeat.
In that case.
Ian twisted her wrist.
Accepting Shaura’s force, she stepped forward.
It was a natural, penetrating movement.
Her sword slid along the flat of Shaura’s blade and drew a horizontal line.
Riding the momentum of his strength, Shaura chose to advance.
Avoiding Ian’s sword, he passed by her side and thrust out his foot.
“Ugh.”
It dealt almost no damage, but it was enough of a check to widen the distance.
Looking at Ian, who had been forced back, Shaura raised his sword above his head.
“You certainly used magic even while wielding a sword.”
A blue light settled over his blade.
“That will be the reason you lose this time.”
Then Shaura brought his sword straight down.
It was the skill unlocked when one’s swordsmanship proficiency reached 400.
Basic Swordsmanship Skill, Seventh Form.
A mid-range slashing technique.
“Shooting Blade!”
Shaura’s blue sword energy surged toward Ian.
Ian rolled across the ground to avoid the sword energy, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
‘The seventh skill?’
In Arcadia, weapon proficiency rose extremely slowly.
Even among those who did not use two weapons like Ian, only a handful of people had reached 400 proficiency.
Because of that, she had not thought Shaura would be one of them.
After all, he had fallen behind in the previous zone.
But there was no time to be flustered.
Because in the meantime, she had to move her legs to dodge yet another sword energy flying toward her.
‘Still, I’m faster.’
Yes, it was only one additional skill. In any case, it was a skill he couldn’t use if she got close.
Clearing away her stray thoughts, Ian turned her body and changed direction toward Shaura.
Sword energy shot forth.
Ian naturally slipped between the attacks and avoided them.
Shaura’s brow furrowed.
“As expected, you are strong.”
Though his voice did not reach Ian, Shaura meant it sincerely.
At this point, there was likely no player other than her who could dodge every one of those densely fired sword energies.
Even so, he had no intention of admitting defeat.
“Sword Enchant!”
Ian had already approached right in front of him.
Shaura’s mana-infused sword slashed diagonally toward her.
And a blue light formed on Ian’s sword as well.
“Slash!”
Her sword, combining mana and skill, collided with his along the opposite trajectory.
The two swords continued to dance.
Shaura’s sword swept horizontally.
Ian’s sword followed and struck down vertically.
His body spun fiercely.
Her body rotated in the opposite direction and neutralized Shaura’s attack.
Shaura’s sword stabbed straight toward Ian.
As it grazed past her cheek, Ian struck it away with all her might.
Not missing that opening, Ian’s sword fell from above.
Shaura rolled across the ground and widened the distance between them.
He raised his sword high.
Sword energy was fired once more.
But from the moment he rolled, Ian had stamped the ground, and her body was already right in front of him.
The charging skill, Sword Rush.
Her sword shattered the sword energy as it rushed toward Shaura.
Shaura barely avoided the blade by jerking his head back.
In exchange, a large section of his hair was cut away, obscuring his vision.
Ignoring the severed locks, Shaura used the recoil to draw a wide arc.
Right now, he had to shake Ian off and buy time.
‘I need to recover my mana.’
The mana on his sword, which he was barely maintaining, was now at its limit.
Because he had fired off sword energy repeatedly, his mana had drained faster than usual.
But Ian’s sword pursued Shaura relentlessly.
She, too, was a swordswoman.
She could estimate about how much mana he had used so far.
“You’re starting to run low on mana, aren’t you?”
“Nonsense. I still have plenty to spare.”
Mana increased little by little with level, but the amount was extremely minimal.
Therefore, the best way to increase the amount of mana one possessed was to invest in the Magic stat.
However, most players aside from mages did not put points into Magic.
Shaura was the same.
On top of that, since he was a man, he had less mana than female swordswomen.
Because of that, Ian saw through Shaura’s bluff and did not stop her offensive.
Unlike Shaura, Ian still had mana to spare, and her sword was still imbued with dense mana.
Their swords collided.
Craack!
Shaura’s sword screamed.
Though his Strength stat was high, he was overwhelmed in power now that his mana and skill had vanished.
‘I have to evade and aim for an opening.’
But perfectly dodging every sword strike coming at him was close to impossible.
At last, Ian’s sword once again carved a trajectory toward Shaura’s blade.
The basic slashing skill, Slash.
Chaeng!
Under Ian’s blue sword strike, Shaura’s blade snapped and flew through the air.
Shaura stared blankly at his broken sword.
“So this is how it ends after all….”
But soon, accepting the result, he let out a hollow laugh.
It had been a match where he had thrown everything he had against her.
Though the result was regrettable, he had no regrets about the process.
Shaura extended his hand to Ian.
“Please, make sure you win.”
She took Shaura’s hand.
“Of course.”
***
After Ian’s match ended, the Birth Festival’s round of sixteen continued.
In the third match, the battle between Guard Captain Sankaka and a dark elf guard from the same unit ended as expected with Sankaka’s victory, and the fourth match, a battle between the players Aslan and Yuki, went to the gauntlet user Aslan.
The fifth match was a confrontation between Emily and a dark elf of the royal guard.
Her steadfast shield endured every attack from her opponent and ultimately seized victory.
Rohan was the same.
As the contender in the sixth match, he too displayed excellent skill and confirmed his match against Emily.
And with the seventh match over, the final match of the day finally arrived.
The match of the Zone 4 boss, Royal Guard Captain Ravana.
All the players participating in the festival came out to watch his match.
Of course, no one doubted his victory.
Even so, the reason they were here was to find even the smallest clue for攻略 Ravana.
Because of that, the players all cheered for his opponent to put up a good fight.
In order to uncover any hidden cards he still had left, they needed to drive Ravana into a corner.
However.
“Didn’t that end way too easily?”
“Seriously. How do you fail to last even ten seconds?”
Instead of the fierce battle everyone had hoped for, what unfolded before them was Ravana’s empty victory.
Looking at the dark elf who had fallen in just three exchanges, the people clicked their tongues.
“If it ends up like this, then….”
And everyone’s gazes turned toward Emily and Rohan.
Because the winner of their match tomorrow would face Ravana in the semifinals.
The only thing they could hope for was a strong showing from one of the two.
At that moment, Naira’s voice rang out amid the heavy atmosphere.
“Instead of standing around like this, why don’t we go have a drink? We should at least enjoy the festival a little, shouldn’t we?”
“Naira, even in this situation, all you can think about is having fun…”
“It’s because we’re in this situation that we need to have even more fun. What good does staying tense do? You have to loosen up properly every now and then.”
Even under Emily’s scolding voice, Naira tempted the others.
And though they did not say it aloud, the others also wanted to catch their breath, if only for a little while.
“She’s right. Why don’t we rest for today?”
In the end, Emily sighed.
“Fine. Let’s each have a drink today. But not too much.”
“Don’t worry about that. Come on, everyone, let’s go!”
Watching them head off toward the festival streets, Emily smiled bitterly.
Because that sight was probably what they had expected when they first came to this world.
And the fact that they were gradually growing closer to that scene left a bitter taste in her mouth.
She was worried that those who had grown accustomed to this world might give up on clearing it.
She was afraid that such a future might come.
‘Honestly, what am I even worrying about?’
Emily shook her head vigorously to clear away her stray thoughts.
Instead, she cast her gaze toward Ian, who had been beside her until just now.
But.
“Now then, Ian, you should come have a drink too… Hm? Where did she go?”
Ian was nowhere to be seen.