“Haaaaa! Down Break!”
He made a great vertical leap and brought his sword down, his own weight amplified by the force of gravity. His attack was much more refined than it’d been in the dungeon at Alessa.
“Haaa!”
“Too slow,” said Fran.
“Gah!”
She saw through his attack and parried it, then followed up with a counter to his sword arm. If she could disable him, that would net her the win. There were too many holes in Cruise’s offense. Frenzy prevented him from properly dodging. He twisted his body, letting his left arm take the hit. Fran cut it off right below the elbow, but Cruise only smiled triumphantly.
“Do you give up?” she asked.
“Hee hee. Of course not. I’m not even left-handed.”
“I thought so.”
It was Fran’s turn now.
“Urk!”
I had to applaud him for dodging two of Fran’s attacks, but his missing arm shifted his center of gravity. Her third strike cut deep into his side. She carried on her assault, knowing that Cruise was still fully conscious. She twisted me up, going for his sword arm again, but he managed to activate his skill faster than she could cut.
“Last Stand!”
His body glowed. I checked out his stats and found they were all dramatically increased, but his life force was reduced to a critical state. He’d also acquired Pain Immunity. This was a high-risk skill he could only use at the brink of death!
“Aaaaaargh!”
“Hm!”
Cruise blocked Fran’s attack with what remained of his left arm, and immediately went after her. I felt my blade cut through his bones and nerve endings. The pain would’ve been excruciating without Pain Immunity, but Cruise only let out a menacing roar.
His Bracelet of Sacrifice ensured him a second chance, allowing him to counter his enemy’s offense even when he was at death’s door. Cruise’s strategy involved letting his enemies tear him apart, only to beat them with his exposed bones. It was a good strategy in a tournament, since there was no real threat of dying. Free of that risk, he could punch an entire weight class higher.
“Gah!”
“Too slow.”
Unfortunately, Fran saw through it. She redirected his attack by deflecting the flat of his sword with the back of her hand. Cruise certainly had grown stronger, and had developed a new fighting style to prove it. But Fran hadn’t been slacking off, either. She wasn’t going to pull her punches just because Cruise was willing to put his life on the line. She threw him completely off balance, taking away his only chance at avoiding her kick.
“Hngh!”
Fran’s high kick took the wind out of him and sent him flying. He was still in the arena when he landed, but he wasn’t getting back up. Even if he couldn’t feel pain, he was out cold.
“And it’s over! Fran the Swordceress takes the win and remains the true dark horse of the tournament!”
Cruise had been the favorite to win the match—he was the senior C-Rank, after all. He had beaten Radule, too.
“That’s the second time Cruise put his life on the line, but it didn’t work this time!”
After fighting Cruise, we got seats to watch the rest of the fights.
This is the last time we can watch Colbert fight before facing him. I hope whoever he’s fighting can last a few minutes.
“Hm.”
People around us were staring at Fran, even though she had pulled down her hood. Still, no one dared to talk to her.
“Woof.”
If nothing else, Jet was at her feet, glaring at everyone around us. I had given him specific instructions to be our guard dog today, and he was doing a great job of it.
“We now come to the fourth match of the second round! The eldest son of Baron Stoneriver, he learned the way of the lance from his father and is no stranger to the battlefield: Hilden Stoneriver!”
Colbert’s opponent wasn’t an adventurer, but he sounded like a famous knight. A figure walked out, spear in hand, looking very much like a knight from the Middle Ages. His armor certainly had an aristocratic look to it, but underneath was a thickly muscled body decorated with scars. Hilden Stoneriver looked more bandit than noble. His eyes had the look of a predator who had just spotted its prey.
Apparently, he was twenty-three years old. That couldn’t be right. He had to be in his late thirties, at least. He exuded an air of confidence which bordered on arrogance. He had probably never lost a battle in his life. Hilden eyed Colbert, measuring him up and looking down on him at the same time.
“So you’re the famous adventurer?”
“Our commentator seems to think so.”
“I don’t remember giving you permission to speak, low rank.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think to ask.”
“This is the problem with you damn adventurers…”
Hilden was an arrogant aristocrat through and through. Colbert impressed me by not snapping back. No wonder he made it to B-Rank.
“I’ll beat you today, and I’ll show everyone that an adventurer is nothing more than an amateur in the face of a real knight!”
Colbert kept his peace, but raised his eyebrows at the challenge. He was the clear winner when it came to stat sheets, but did Hilden have an ace hidden up his sleeve? I hoped this would be an interesting match.
“Taste the steel of my lance!” Hilden spun his spear. His heavy weapon could be used both to pierce and to slice. It was really quite intimidating. “Raaargh!”
He opened the match by dashing towards Colbert. He wanted to bring the fight to a close with a single stab. His weapon gave him better reach compared to the bare-handed fighter, who didn’t even have anything to block with. He was confident that
