vs Sword Saint Gromond
“Uu……?”
After I returned to where Lucy-chan and others were after defeating Straizo, my body felt overbearingly heavy.
Rather, my body has a dull pain?
Kuu, what is it?
“Kyuー?”
“What’s the matter, Shino”
“Why, my body somewhat hurts……”
“Were you wounded in the match just now?”
Wounded? It should’ve been a shut-out victory though…….
I guess I’ll have Mayria take a look. That very Mayria is having her erogenous zones teased and letting out feverish sighs inside the tent.
“……kyuー”
“Haa, haa……”
“Shino, come on……”
Perhaps they guessed Mayria’s body’s condition from her mannerisms, Lucy-chan and Yuri looked over at me with taken-aback eyes.
Whatー.
It’s a training that’s necessary for the Holy Sword’s strengthening, you know!
I’m currently, doing whatever I can do!
……a decent Hero who acquired this 【Holy Sword Of Rebellion】, would surely search for evildoers and defeat them though.
“Shinta-san is clad in miasma?”
“Miasma? Me? Why?”
“I do not know……”
Ehー…….
“Do you have any idea where you caught a curse?”
“I don’t……”
I was cursed in the fight with Straizo? Nn? Curse?
“……I triggered 【Karmic Curse】?”
“Aah, that huh”
Kuh!?
Nothing happened even when I had matches with 【Shining Sword】, and yet why did I trigger it this time?
“Is it a state that’s like, the me when Lucy transforms?”
“Kyuー?”
“Yeah. It is weaker than that, and……I guess it is mild since it is the extent that even Shinta-san can endure it though”
Does it mean it’s ruled as ‘I overdid? it in the fight with Straizo’?
I thought it’s not like I gave payback for their misdeeds since it’s a competition format…….
I wonder if it’s because it was a shape where, I was trampling on the opponent because the skills’ abilities were overly compatible?
He is no misdeed holder, nor did he cheat in particular.
Rather than having won with the fruits of my more-or-less effort with 【Leveling】, I won with the compatibility of the skills I got out of luck. I may have only sent him flying in order for an out-of-bounds ruling, but the deciding blow was a direct attack with the equipment’s ability.
……I somewhat have the feeling that I poured his hard work down the drain.
Did that, more or less, trigger the curse or something?
If it’s a problem of my psyche, an interpretation like that is possible…….
“Will I, be in this state forever?”
“No, it does not feel that powerful”
“……I see. That’s a saving grace at least”
It’ll be strange to go and apologise as well after all, seeing that it’s a tournament.
I don’t know how to dispel a curse.
In the first place, it’s also unclear whether this condition is because I went against the skill’s rules…….
“……I wonder if it’s in such a shape, because it’s plain damage”
It’s a skill system where I do the things I have done to me back, and I can’t be doing things that haven’t been done to me by anybody back?
“My skills, they sure have shitty mechanics huh”
Is it the Princess’ fault? Let’s make it the Princess’ fault.
You just watch, Princess Alicia! I will, definitely, win!
“Kyuー……”
Lucy-chan, was looking at me with taken-aback eyes for some reason.
I mean, it’s my motivation to win the tournament though……?
◇◆◇
“We will be holding the semifinal!”
It’s the fourth match. Honestly, I’m doing better than I anticipated.
I suppose it’s not like, ‘the people of this world are scrubs’, either.
Thanks to my 【Leveling】 and how Princess Alicia set up the tournament, I’ve managed to climb all the way here.
I guess the impression on the opposite side of the tournament is that it’s riddled with beasts.
With that said, it’s a competition progression where the opponent’s strength is gradually increasing without skewing too much.
I’m able to break protective gears with Critical, and I have the Counter ability after all.
Stamina-wise, I’m getting thoroughly healed with magic after every match after all, and there are many things that I can prepare.
The 1vs1 competition format, is quite compatible with me.
The crowd can also see close matches and get riled up.
Entertainment-wise, I guess nothing beats it not turning into boring battles.
“……your strength, it ain’t no ‘Hero’ sort of overwhelming huhh, oi”
“It’s because I’m in the middle of growing”
It’s troubling even if you provoke me.
Are you going to go and subjugate the Demon Lord for me if you win against me?
……I guess I’ll just be disposed by the Princess.
I’ll lose my means of returning.
“I’ll win in order to take back my everyday life”
“Haa?”
“Don’t worry about it”
It’s the standard style for the semifinal.
I’ll sit on the Holy Sword. Instead, not really, but I take my basic battle stance.
A sword in my right hand, a shield in my left hand.
I’ll then catch the opponent’s attacks, and return them!
It’s precisely because the opponent is also the standard close-combat type, that I’ll have him let me accumulate experience from the very front.
“Beginn!”
“Here I come!”
“Bring it!”
Our battle has only just started! Believe that the Hero’s Counter will defeat the Sword Saint!
“Kyuー!!”
The next Demon Lord-sama is dooking, ‘it’s not the time and place to be fooling around, do it seriously!’.
“Haa!”
“Shii!”
I receive the attack with the shield, and I convert that energy!
I receive the attack again, and I Counter!
Perhaps the opponent is getting assertive precisely because I choose to attack later, he’s launching his attacks at me aggressively!
For me, I don’t mind even if the number of times I get attacked surpasses the times I attack.
Because the more damage I receive, the more the power of the retaliation accumulates as well.
I have a feeling that my defending and handling capabilities are going up!
……one way or another, I’m getting used to battles huh, me.
On top of it being some time since I was called to the Otherworld, I also experienced fights with monsters.
I have no parameters or aggregated level display, just the capability supplementing 【Leveling】 at best, but……its effect might be enormous.
Perhaps it’s because I made the defence-based battles my primary, I’m getting specialised in that front as well. ……I feel it’s easier to move than when I’m the one attacking.
“HaaAA!”
It’s precisely because I’m sitting on the Holy Sword, that I’m slow to take cover though!
“Guh……!!”
It’s equipment that excelled in anti-blades, but it slammed directly into me!
But, it’s precisely because my body hurts, that Counter shines!
Damage, damage, damage, and then!
“Counter Burst!”
“Guh!?”
I amplify the accumulated damage and send it back!
Eat it along with my agony!
“GuoOO!?”
I dealt damage to the opponent and slammed several more attacks with 【Shining Sword】 into the opponent who lost his balance.
In due time, the opponent’s armour cracked and shattered.
The sword shines!
“Guh!? M-, my armour……!? Even though it was expensive!”
“……sorry ’bout that”
Armour ain’t free either after all…….
In the end, it reaches the finale in a state where the opponent is the only one who suffered damage because of my invincibility effect.
There’s still the out-of-bounds loss, so there are still ways for me to lose though.
“That is it! Winner, Shinohara!”
“Shitt!”
I managed to squeak out the win somehow in the semifinal as well. ……fuu.
◇◆◇
“Good job, Shino”
“Aah, Yuri”
“Kyuー!”
“Lucy-chan as well, thanks for rooting for me”
“Kyu!”
I pat her head, going, ‘good girl, good girl’. I return to the waiting room and speak to the panting Mayria as well.
“Haa……. Co-, congratulations on advancing into the final, Shinta-san”
“Aah, thanks”
, I lightly kiss her.
“Hmmm……chuu……”
“Kyuー!”
Yuri carries Lucy-chan and shows her the matches, and Mayria supports me by performing Healing Magic and receiving sexual development for the Holy Sword’s strengthening. I’ve gotta reward her effort!
“Haa……Shinta-san”
“……should I do it to Yuri as well?”
“I’ll pass”
“Kyuー?”
Muー. Yuri is cold. Is it jealousy?
Even though she started becoming honest on top of the bed.
“……Shino. The match is soon, right. Properly watch, and get prepared beforehand”
“……yeah”
Heal pleーase.
◇◆◇
“Hehee…….”
Ooh!?
The semifinal Sword Saint, brought out some kind of a black sword!
How cool!
“Kyuー!”
Lucy-chan is delighted as well!
“Haa……. I wonder if it is a Demon Sword”
“Demon Sword?”
“Eeh. It is a type of magic tool. It has miasma dwelling in it huh”
Hoo.
“…………”
, the Sword Saint looks not at his opponent, but in my direction and smirks.
……the legendary Hero counter-measure, is that Demon Sword?
“Is miasma dwelling in the Sword Saint because of that sword?”
“………………maybe. The rising miasma comes off like it is linked to him”
“Hoo……”
“Kyuー……shaaa!”
Lucy-chan is showing her killing intent.
……is there the Demon Lord’s gene in that Demon Sword?
“Is the story of the Sword Saint using a Demon Sword famous?”
“No. I have not heard such stories. Perhaps he specially prepared it for the sake of this day, because it is the fighting tournament that determines Alicia-sama’s engagement?”
What a pain.
Does the Demon Sword have any special effects?
I’ll get fatally wounded if it’s ‘increased sharpness’ or something.
“Beginn!”
The opponent should be a matching powerhouse as well, but……he’s not to the extent that he rivals the Sword Saint’s strength.
I wonder how it’ll turn out.
, as I was watching over them.
“Haaaa!”
With a huge swing, the Sword Saint held his sword overhead at the opponent who was still some distance away!
Instantly after I thought, ‘don’t tell me!?’, a black mist-like clump that even I could see flew at the opponent from his sword!
“What!?”
The opponent was taken by surprise by the technique different from magic, a technique from a sword swing, and furthermore, a technique the Sword Saint had never used before, and was struck directly by the black mist!
“GuaAAA!”
The black mist’s momentum doesn’t stop, and the opponent gets blown away as is!
“That is it!”
……he actually ended up making it through the semifinal with a single strike.
“……next, it’s gonna you, oh Hero-samaa! Hahahahaa!”
The Sword Saint pointed the Demon Sword at me and declared.
It’s a flying slash! A chuunibyou techniqueee!
“Kyuuーーー!”
Lucy-chan is also incredibly excited!
The final will start, after a short break.
To show off his powers in the semifinal……is like a type of self-assertion desire huh.
Like he’s saying, ‘tremble in fear’.
◇◆◇
◇Sword Saint Specialised-Attack Accessory (Sword)
1. An accessory attached to the handle of 【Holy Sword Of Rebellion】.
2. Affixes the effect of penetrating Sword Saint Gromond’s Aura to the Holy Sword.
3. When this is equipped, I become incapable of hurting anybody aside from the Sword Saint.
4. Rank A
◇Sword Saint Resistance Accessory (Shield)
1. An accessory that reinforces the Mirror Shield.
2. Automatically tracks Sword Saint Gromond’s attacks and auto-guards them.
3. Rank A
◇Sword Saint Resistance Breastplate
1. Boasts enormous defensive power against only the Sword Saint’s attacks.
2. Shatters when it receives attacks from anybody other than the Sword Saint.
3. Rank S
……other than that, Sword Saint specialised-attack, Sword Saint, anti-Sword Saint…….
“……you are starting to get in the mood to play dirty huh”
“Kyuー……”
“Shino, come on……”
“The Sword Saint also brought out something like a Demon Sword to take on the Hero, so this much is fine, right. It’s something like break-even, like karma”
I’m fully decked out with anti-Sword Saint equipment!
I did it orthodox? all the way here.
I’m gonna defeat him with backhanded equipment like the bandit group’s leader!
Well, I don’t know if the equipment’s effect works though!
However, amongst the opponents, he’s the only misdeed-holder.
……I don’t know the details though.
I’ll show the Sword Saint, the Hero’s forte!
Just you waitt, Princess Alicia!
◇◆◇
“Before the final, a word from the King!”
Nn?
“We will be holding the final match hereafter, and……the one who wins, will be given the title and duty of my daughter, Alicia’s knight, the Princess Direct-Subordinate Bodyguard Knight(Princess Knight)!”
“””WaaAAAAA!“””
The audience seethes at the King-sama’s announcement.
The audience is probably already fully aware, but by the King going out of the way to announce it here, he solidifies what the tournament is for.
The reveal of fighters that are way stronger than monsters.
They will follow the Princess.
It might have the point of informing the citizens of the country’s peace.
Well, I guess this is also the cliché.
No, it’s not the cliché if I, the Hero, don’t win.
“Now then, you can begin the final!”
With the King-sama’s announcement and prompt, the final rile up.
“Hehe……”
The Sword Saint smirks. It’s a look that doesn’t think he’ll lose.
I haven’t hidden my own abilities up until now either after all.
I used all the powers I had and climbed all the way here.
I climbed all the way here with my capability and the tournament’s match-up!
……if I’m going to say that, then the Sword Saint on the opposite side, he has defeated powerhouses and climbed all the way up though!
The Sword Saint takes his stance.
I can probably assume, that the attack he showed in the semifinal, will come attacking me right at the get-go.
“Well then, Hero Shinohara, and Sword Saint Gromond’s final match……beginn!”
The Sword Saint, while standing where he is, holds his sword overhead without closing in the distance!
“Eat thiss!”
A black mist blade releases!
A flying slash, is the promise of fantasy!
“HaaAAAA!”
Overdrive! I brace for that black blade……not with the shield, but with the 【Holy Sword Of Rebellion】.
“Guh……”
The Holy Sword, having withstood for just an instant, crumbled all too brittlely!
And then, the not-entirely-negated black blade, strikes my chest directly!
“Gah!”
I inevitably bend backwards. But, because of the various specialised-attack・resistance equipment, I held on!
Alright……!
“Hoo……? A hero on a dunghill is a hero still huh”
“I ain’t on no dunghill”
Raーther, don’t be destroying the Holy Sword that’s for the sake of killing the Demon Lord.
……I didn’t test this, but I’ve got to test it.
“──【Holy Sword Of Rebellion】”
“Ah?”
In place of? the Holy Sword that crumbled and disappeared……I, again, summon the same Holy Sword! I did it! Just like the Mirror Shield and whatnot, the Holy Sword is a sword that exists through my skill at the end of the day! Which means, the Holy Sword is not a one-and-only legendary sword!
It’s like the state of infinite item bug with the Transportation Technique!
The Holy Sword, too, seems to have the restriction of 1 at a time, but I can produce a new one again if it breaks and disappears……that is my seventh skill!
“Tch……that’s the Hero’s power huh!”
The Sword Saint, who had thought he could finish me off in one blow, gets back into it and closes in on the me who fully endured it. He’s fast……faster than anyone! But!
“Oh? ……you bastardd, you fucking held back up until now huh?”
You sure have leeway to be having a conversation huh!
In the case of fighting the Sword Saint, I’m doing everything I can to control the equipment that speeds up my movements!
“HaaA!”
In the presence of Princess Alicia, I can’t use equipment-weakening through the Transportation Technique.
In the presence of an audience, for the sake of my reputation, I can’t use 【Karmic Curse】.
“──Mirror Wall!”
“Tch! A wall of dirt huh!”
I make use of the shield I erect from the ground and obstruct the Sword Saint’s movements!
“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”
But, the Sword Saint closes in, like that obstruction is nothing.
The Mirror Shield affixed with an auto-guard ability blocks that for me!
“Huh, what’s with that movement!”
“Who knows!”
I’m on the defence one-sidedly because of the difference in movement speed! ……but, it’s already inevitable for me to be attacked a ton!
That’s my battle style!
“OraAAA!”
“UoOOOO!”
Defending through the resistance equipment! Retaliating through the specialised-attack attack!
Damage is accumulating in me one-sidedly despite so!
Despite making use of the Sword Saint-meta, I’m becoming battered.
…………but!
“……eat this, your own attack”
“Aah!?”
This is the power, of the Hero that this Otherworld called for the sake of defeating the Demon Lord.
I release the Holy Sword’s power once again. And then.
“──【Absolute Counter】”
“!?”
An energy similar to the Demon Sword’s attack that the Sword Saint released rises from the 【Holy Sword Of Rebellion】 , and it’s released at the point-blank-range Sword Saint!
“Whatt!?”
But, he’s the man called the Sword Saint. Despite being taken by surprise, he did avoid it.
“Fuu……”
“Aah!?”
Not, so easy!
◇Sword Saint Sure-Hit Ring
1. A sure-hit effect where the attack on the Sword Saint through 【Absolute Counter】, will definitely land.
2. Has the effect of definitely missing if I try to attack anybody aside from the Sword Saint
3. Rank S
……the released black blade, did an unexpected turn!
It became a bullet with homing ability and crashed into the Sword Saint!
“Guhea!”
It’s a guard-ability nullifying? sure-hit attack!
I don’t know how well it functions though!
Catching that, the Sword Saint got sent flying out of bounds!
“……that is it! Winner, Shinohara!”
“Ya-……hoooo!!”
“Kyuーーーー!!!”
I raise the Holy Sword in the air and exclaim my victory!
With this, I can go one round with Princess Aliciaaaa!