Arena Challenge

Gaya gaya… zawa zawa…

Apparently the town of Garzas was home to one of the world's four great arenas.

To me, knowing nothing about arenas, being told it was one of the "four greats" didn't quite click.

Well, I'd used arenas a few times for things like the Stein match and B-Class Master challenges, so it wasn't as if I knew nothing about them at all.

A venue with spectator seats surrounding the battlefield, set up so that Garumon Battles were easy to watch.

That was the extent of my understanding.

When I passed through the gate and arrived at the town…

A massive stadium sat enthroned in the town's center.

The atmosphere was that of an ancient Roman colosseum.

Then again, I'd heard that the actual colosseum back in its day wasn't all that large, but this thing was huge, like a soccer stadium.

At this size, the arena was probably about 100m square.

A Garumon Battle's battlefield was at most a cylinder roughly 20m in diameter and 20m tall, so that much was plenty…

Then there was the building itself, which looked brand new, as if it had only just been built.

… That was natural, I guess. It was a facility in regular use, after all.

When it grew old or broken, it would be repaired, and as needed rebuilt anew.

"Naoto, this way."

"Yeah, Griera."

I let Griera lead me by the hand and entered the arena in a date-like mood.

Kanan and Irana were with us too, but calling it a four-person date wasn't a problem at all.

"The Garzas Arena is a great arena 100m square. Normally, though, it's partitioned into 50m squares as Arenas 1-4, with four matches running simultaneously. When there's a large-scale event, the great arena gets used."

"Heeh… I see."

"The matches held in the arena vary. Generally, it's duels between Masters. That's possible here in Garzas too."

"Ah, that one I know about, since I've used it a few times."

"That's the arena's original purpose, but even so, duels between Masters that warrant using an arena don't happen all that often.

"And that being so, it'd be a waste to leave such a fine facility sitting idle every day…

"So the arena side started hosting Garumon Battle exhibitions of its own.

"Most common are wager matches.

"They propose a match between two evenly matched Masters, let the spectators bet on the outcome, take an admission fee, and skim a cut off the top of the wagers. Masters to compete in those wager matches are always being recruited.

"Once you register to compete, they'll arrange wager matches for you against opponents deemed roughly equivalent in skill.

"… Well, don't get your hopes up too much."

"You mean it ends up an unbalanced matching?"

"No, I mean the quality of the entrants.

"… Well, at your level, Naoto, 99% of opponents will be unworthy small fry.

"Occasionally, C-Class Masters of so-called near-S-Class, the same as me, will enter, and there are non-zero cases where Sub-Masters of S-, A-, B-Class show up too.

"Pretty rare, though."

"I see…"

"Since matchmaking doesn't pan out very well like that, training mainly through the arena can't be called efficient. So that's where mercenary work comes in.

"As a mercenary, you fight opponents you can't beat without relying on me. The opposition's tougher that way.

"Just, this approach isn't available to you, Naoto, since you're a proper A-Class Master."

"Because even if it's only temporary, you'd become the opposing party's Garumon or Sub-Master, huh…"

"Yeah, the contracts lock things down tight, but even so, plenty of Masters tried to make stupid moves on me… Geez, the only man allowed to touch me is Naoto."

"You can't take mercenary work anymore, okay?"

"Yeah. Of course. I… am Naoto's knight, after all."

To the arena's reception desk.

"Oh… it's Griera."

"Hoh, Griera's competing today, huh. Then bets are a no-brainer, all on Griera."

"At 1.01x odds? Let's go for the dark horse. Even Griera's not perfect."

"With all the fights she's had at the arena and only one loss, the legendary mercenary, you know? No way she loses…"

Such gossip drifted to my ears.

"You're famous, huh."

"Well, if you compete often, it comes naturally… Incidentally, that one loss was to a fellow C-Class, a near-S-Class Master.

"There are roughly twenty C-Class Masters called near-S-Class, it seems… but the ones stronger than me, or thought to be, are called the Four Heavenly Kings.

"The one I lost to was a guy called Necromancer Melvis.

"One of the strongest of the bunch.

"If he were here, he'd be one to watch out for, but… too bad. He's not the sort to show up easily.

"… A girl-form, erotic and cute, just our type, by the way."

"That's a shame, I would've liked to meet her."

I peeked at one of the arena matches a little.

It seemed that without properly paying the spectator fee, you could only catch a distant glimpse.

Even so, it looked like a pretty heated bout was going on.

"Oh my, Griera-san. Will you be entering today?"

A man with glasses, rubbing his hands together, addressed Griera.

"This guy, despite appearances, is the manager of this arena. An NPC named Reynall.

"As you can see, he's a shady fellow."

Griera whispered that into my ear for me.

"No, I'm just here as an attendant today… This person here is the one considering entering."

"… Hm?"

The man eyed me with a shady look, then operated the system, and…

"A-Class rank 34 Master, Naoto Akai-sama!"

He immediately bowed in deepest deference. What a mercenary fellow.

Zawa…

"Naoto Akai? That's the guy…?"

"A Master from another world. Said to have won duel after duel…"

"That's him… my first time seeing him."

A commotion brewed. I'd certainly become famous, hadn't I. Mostly thanks to Patty.

"Well, well…! If His Eminence Naoto Akai-sama deigns to compete, then today we must prepare a warrior worthy of our arena's pride!"

Reynall offered up that suggestion. That was appreciated. Becoming famous wasn't a bad thing.

People meeting me for the first time would sometimes be kind to me as if we were already acquainted.

Of course, it could also draw strange envy or resentment, so it cut both ways.

This proposal of his might be half jealousy too, meant to humiliate me.

But, well, what was going on inside Reynall's head didn't matter. As long as I got to fight a strong opponent, that was best.

"… Yo, isn't that Griera?"

Hm…

At that moment, a man called out to Griera in an overly familiar way.

"… Lios."

Apparently they were acquainted. Looks-wise he was reasonably good-looking, a tall blond, blue-eyed white man.

"Who's that?"

"A guy I've fought a few times at the arena. Reasonably tough, one of the C-Class Masters called near-S-Class."

"Cold as ever… to your future master-candidate."

He smirked as he said it.

"Hah? When did that come up? Talk smart with me and I'll shoot you dead."

Griera leveled her gun at him.

It seemed Lios was the one making one-sided advances.

"Oops… combat in town is forbidden, you know."

"Among you mercenaries, is there a law that says you don't have to kill the bastard who talks back to you?"

"Don't be like that, Griera. Mercenary, of all things. I go by 'Free Knight,' you see. Flitting from this flower to that flower…

"To the necessary place at the necessary time. A Free Knight who loves freedom and reveres freedom."

So saying, Lios spread both arms wide… He seemed a somewhat amusing guy.

"… Well, that's fine, Griera. If he's even a little tough, that works out perfectly.

"How about a match with me?"

I made the offer.

"… Who the hell are you… A-Class rank 34, Naoto Akai… You?"

Lios eyed me up and down rudely.

"Ohh, Lios-san, perfect timing. Naoto-sama here is looking for a sparring opponent.

"You'd be more than suitable. Won't you accept?"

The proposal came from Reynall too.

"Hmph… and what merit is there for me in accepting?"

"Well, Griera is my knight, so it'd be inconvenient if you went around talking to her freely from now on.

"If you want to get close to her, beat me first. That's what I'd like to say."

"What…!?"

He checked his status panel and…

"Griera as a knight… seriously. I see, so currently she's employed by this man. If she's on the job, then pardon me."

"No, I quit being a mercenary. I'm officially Naoto's now."

"… What?"

Twitch… A vein bulged at the temple of the previously refreshing Lios.

A very easy-to-read expression of anger.

"Absurd. Among us mercenaries, second only to the Four Heavenly Kings in strength, the Lone Princess Griera… employed, you say…?

"Just how much did he pay!?"

He was assuming it was money.

"You're annoying, Lios. If you've got a problem, Naoto says he'll be your opponent. Just have your match."

"… Ahh! Very well! Griera, I'll save you from this man's pathetic clutches!"

"… Very well. But in exchange, if you lose, you'll atone for the sin of insulting Naoto.

"Let's see. How about you become like me in body?

"You wanted to flaunt your fearlessness to those around by talking to me, right?

"One eye, one arm. Take an honorable wound or two, and even a pretty boy like you wouldn't get looked down on, would he?"

"Wh-what did you say… Idiotic! I can't accept on those terms!"

It seemed Lios was reasonably cautious. He wasn't underestimating me, and properly accounted for the possibility of losing.

"Well, fine. If I win, money's good enough. For a duel between A-Class Masters, what's the going rate?"

"Between A-Class, huh… around 30 to 50 million."

"Then 30 million will do. If you win, 30 million G plus permission to talk with Griera.

"If I win, 30 million G plus you never approach Griera familiarly again."

"… V-very well."

And so the match was set.

"… Geez. Since it's a fight you're going to win, you should've squeezed him harder."

"Nah. It's not like I was that angry.

"As long as he bows in deepest deference and stares at the ground, he can talk to her."

"Hehe…

"Naoto, do you want info on him?"

"No, not necessary. There's no point in winning when you don't know the info… ah, conversely, hearing the info and then fighting at an attribute disadvantage might be a card worth playing."

"… In that case, I'll keep quiet. Well, fighting him normally, you're not gonna lose, Naoto, but… still, be careful."

"Yeah, got it. Thanks."

I turned back to my companions.

"… In order to keep that guy away from Griera, losing's not an option.

"So, Colette, you sit this one out.

"But Luna and Patty, you're entering."

"Yes, understood."

"Roger thaaat."

"And so, the 1st party is Luna and Patty. In case of an attribute disadvantage, Haru."

"Mn…!"

"The 2nd party is…"

Yumi was looking at me. She'd already begun monster subjugation and training since joining, but hadn't appeared in a proper Garumon Battle yet.

"Then, let's give it a try, Yumi.

"Since the Spirit Garb prep isn't ready yet, I'll leave Quagmire of Binding out.

"Other than that, we'll go with Kanan and Maika."

Let's try the Japanese-team lineup.

"Now then, today's main event. Recently a hot topic, A-Class rank 34 Master Naoto Akai has come to this Garzas Arena!

"Awaiting him is the No. 4 of this arena! Free Knight Lios!"

"Lios, huh. An average A-Class Master wouldn't be Lios's match."

"But if Naoto Akai's really a Master who can aim for S-Class, he'd be stronger than Lios."

"He's a rookie who debuted this May, right? You don't need an S-Class-aiming roster until the latter half of March, do you?"

"He's a Master that Garumon Weekly is pushing this hard? Of course he's strong."

"No way a rookie's that strong."

"Plenty of those rookies are coming out, though, aren't they?"

"He's got a rather unimpressive face."

"The S-Class number 1 Satoru's the one with the most unimpressive face, doesn't he?"

The debate was heating up. Rather, what did it say that such debates carried into the arena?

"Now then, the odds are… bam! Naoto 2.8x, Lios 1.6x!

"Audience evaluation seems to lean slightly in Lios's favor! Although Akai Naoto is a hot-topic active A-Class Master, he's a rookie who debuted this year! Many see him as no match for Lios! However, the gap in odds is narrow. Plenty of romantics seem to be betting on the possibility!"

Oh, the odds gap was smaller than I expected. An unknown rookie Master would normally be evaluated low…

I supposed there were that many people who trusted Garumon Battle Weekly Report and Communications.

Then I couldn't betray those expectations.

Time to bring the spirit.

Hm, a Dragon-formation.

Luna's God-element, in attribute terms, was actually at a disadvantage. Even with Dragon-Slaying Balmung, taking 2x damage was painful.

But… with Haru here, it was actually advantageous.

"Luna, deploy Angel Halo at the front line! Haru, Green Wall, Patty, go all-out. Demonize!"

"Yes!"

"Onward, all of you! Dragonic Aura!"

"""Yes!"""

Gou, gou, gou…!

Whoa, Dragonic Aura…!

A powerful Dragonkin reinforcement skill that even Saria Naga possessed. Its effect: all stats UP 100%. Essentially the Dragonkin version of Angel Halo.

However, while Angels had somewhat lower stats on the premise of Angel Halo (Seraphs excluded), in the case of Dragonkin, whose stats were already high, it became an even greater threat than Angels.

… Or so I'd heard. Well, all the Angels close to me were Seraphs, so the stats-related point didn't really apply to us.

Even so, all three with stats UP 100% was pretty audacious.

As expected of a Master called near-S-Class.

"Patty, Ogre's Blessing."

For now, Patty also charged up.

Now then, Dragon-element took only Demon and Ice as weaknesses. The element with the fewest weaknesses.

God had three weaknesses: Dragon, Metal, and Spirit.

Demon had four: Light, God, Thunder, and Spirit.

And it was strong against most non-weak elements. It deserved its place as one of the three strongest elements.

Spirit, said to be strong against the three strongest, was strong against God and Demon but even against Dragon.

Grass was straight-up disadvantageous, in fact.

… But the current Haru could reverse this disadvantage. Well, since it was an optional activation, no need to rush using it.

Next turn.

"Luna, Divine Art Balmung!"

Tan…!

The first to move was Luna.

The opposing formation was the standard 1-2 with Miori in the vanguard.

If we took down Miori, presumed to be the Attacker, first, we'd gain the advantage. Hopefully one hit would do it…

Luna closed in with a flowing motion, sword raised high.

From Miori's reaction at that moment… I guessed she must be carrying some kind of shield.

"Patty, Barrier Crush!"

"Yes ma'aaam!"

Patty broke into a dash.

… Well, Patty's movement, not because her breasts were too big but due to her unimpressive speed, wasn't very fast.

In the meantime, Luna waited, power held charged.

This combo was pretty difficult. A careless lapse in concentration and the attack would fizzle out into a stun.

But Luna and Patty, who'd been a duo for a long time, could pull it off.

"…! Dragonic Aura!"

But because Luna delayed her action waiting for Patty, Shami's action made it in time.

As expected, all-stats UP 100%. Miori's stats jumped.

A conditional stat-up like "Dragon-element only." Skills like that had high effect. Maybe it was attack/defense UP 100%.

"Dragon Enhance!"

Farry's action made it in time too. Furthermore, Miori got buffed. Attack UP, or maybe a re-action effect, or both.

"Haaaah! Dragon Art - Dragon Spear Draugr!"

Bo! The unleashed spear of destruction.

You could roughly tell the damage and effects from looking. Probably Dragon-element, super-large damage, piercing.

"Haru!"

"Reverse Element!"

Optional actions could be carried out by timing, ignoring speed. Haru cut in beautifully.

With this, Luna's element became strong against Dragon-element.

And then, Luna swung down her raised Balmung with perfect timing,

Kiiiin!

deflecting the spear's tip.

"!?"

Miori, having her attack parried, lost balance for a moment.

In actuality, even when an attack was deflected, the moment weapon clashed with weapon, a guaranteed minimum 1/2 damage occurred.

That was how this world differed from reality, a world bound by the game system of HP.

Well, in reality, blocking with a weapon didn't mean no damage; you'd hurt your wrist or break the weapon, so capping damage at 1/2 was a point where the HP system proved useful.

The topic drifted a bit, but since you'd take damage even when blocking with a weapon, very few Garumon bothered to block or parry with weapons.

In fact, most Garumon, since they only lost HP from taking damage and wouldn't die or be injured by it, were probably taught to keep attacking without flinching.

… However, the effect of being able to halve damage was extremely large.

Luna's damage was 18.

If we assumed Luna's defense and Miori's attack were the same, Luna had defense 240%, so… Miori's attack power was probably around 350%.

And further, deflecting on receipt let her break the opponent's balance, an even bigger plus.

"Barrier Cruuush!"

Then Patty's attack slammed in.

"Dragon Shield!"

Gashaaan!

The effect was unclear, but Patty shattered Miori's shield.

Dosa…

Miori, far from just losing her balance, fell flat.

And then…

"Divine Art - Balmung!"

Aiming at the fallen Miori, Luna's sword swung down.

Normally, following up with a sword on a fallen opponent was fairly difficult.

But in this world, there was no worry of swords breaking, nor of taking damage from anything but attacking.

Luna could just take a forward-leaning posture, like she was about to fall, and swing her sword down at the target on the ground.

A full-power slash with no concern for cutting the ground!

A full-momentum slash against an unavoidable, stationary target. With this, a critical was guaranteed…!

Zan!

She shaved roughly 80% of the gauge in one go. Balmung, regardless of attribute advantage or disadvantage, always dealt 4x damage against Dragon-element.

Plus 2x for critical. Even this wasn't enough to finish her off, which was as expected. What hardiness.

"You bastard…! Dragon Spear Draugr!"

Miori got up and counter-attacked…!

"Angel Wing!"

Shuba!

But Luna evaded brilliantly. Splendid.

"Gu…!"

Thrusting the spear from an inadequate stance, then having it dodged, Miori lost balance again.

"Patty!"

Patty's re-action.

"Yes ma'am! Ogre God's Great Spirit Strike!"

Ogre God's Great Spirit Strike was an all-target attack. By striking the ground, the resulting shockwave dealt damage to all enemies.

But, the way to get a critical was understood. That was…

Directly bashing the enemy and slamming them into the ground!

Dogoooooo!

"Guhah!"

Miori let out a cry unbecoming of a beautiful girl. A massive blow that left the impression of whoa, this is brutal…

Whether it was enough was admittedly iffy… or so I thought, but the damage exceeded expectations, and Miori's HP drained dry.

"… That… can't… be…"

Gaku.

Miori collapsed.

"Oh, splendid, Luna, Patty! Haru too, magnificent! Ah, Haru, with Summon Dryad."

"Mn. Come, Ameri!"

Shuba…

The moment Ameri appeared…

"Hundred-Leaf Wild Dance!"

She whittled Farry's HP down all at once. The HP already shaved by Patty's Ogre God's Great Spirit Strike was further reduced by a large amount.

Originally Grass was halved, but 1pt-consumption couldn't be reduced any further than that.

100 attacks transcended attribute disadvantage.

It seemed Farry was left at death's door.

"Absurd… a Dragon-Slaying divine sword! Damn it, to corner me, the so-called God-Slaying Lios, with God-element Garumon…!

"Damn, Griera, you told him my weakness, didn't you!"

What an unfair accusation… Well, whatever. Either way, this guy would never talk to Griera familiarly again.

Patty's damage had built up considerably.

Honestly, letting him stall turns at this point would be worse…

"Damn it, member change!"

Good. He swapped members for me. Well, continuing to fight without an Attacker was high-risk.

… Oh, nostalgic. Wasn't this the same composition as Lagas?

That said, each class seemed to have been bumped up by one tier.

The element was… judging from the gold-colored bodies, Metal-element. Yet another element God was bad against.

I see, God-Slaying. Sounded grand, but it was just lining up six in elements God was bad against.

In that case, no matter what, I wanted to wipe them out with a party including Luna…

By the way, the names of those three were confusingly similar, so I had to be careful.

The Metal-element problem was for Patty. After all, Metal-element nullified Spirit-element.

The nullification combos were only those four.

But… these too could be reversed.

The reverse of halving was doubling, but the reverse of nullification was 4x super-effective.

Naturally-existing 4x super-effectives were:

just those two.

Light had the drawback of being halved against Normal, but against its strong-against elements, it was extremely powerful.

But with Haru here, four more 4x super-effective combinations could be created.

"Luna, Balmung on Mastella! Parmera or Harumira will cut in, so aim for that one and slash firmly!

"Haru! Reverse Element on Patty.

"Patty, Ogre God's Great Spirit Strike, two in a row!"

Luna's attack.

As if to say knew it, Parmera shielded Mastella.

But…

"… Just as planned, Divine Art - Balmung!"

Zan! Drained the HP all at once.

As expected of the 2x attack from Reverse Element.

Furthermore, by taking firm aim at the cut-in opponent and slashing, she likely dealt nearly the 2x of a critical. The HP drained all at once.

… But she didn't fall. Well, knew that too.

"Curse you…! Demon Art - Lethal Deadly Drive!"

The next moment, Parmera and Harumira raged wildly.

Their mechanical arms whipped about chaotically in a high-speed continuous strike…!

"Luna! Block!"

"Yes! I won't let an attack reach those two!"

Kin, kin, kin…!

Luna swung Balmung, deflecting Parmera's arm, then Harumira's arm, then Parmera again, in a relentless string of slashes, splendidly weathering the two's wild attacks.

Luna's swordsmanship… truly improved at an astonishing rate before our eyes. They said she had a foundation in fencing, but…

A two-on-one, four-arm high-speed combo, deftly received, deflected, and parried with one sword and four wings, taking almost no real damage.

… Incredible. At this point, compared even to Suzanne, there was almost no difference.

… Well, then watching Suzanne's swordplay would still leave you thinking she's amazing.

For months on end, training under Suzanne late into the night, improving by the day.

She had grown this skilled.

Yet Suzanne, faced with Luna closing in this much, was unfailingly kind, taking joy in her growth, and properly cherishing her. Truly amazing, I thought.

Most ordinary humans would feel more anxious as someone they thought was below them caught up.

Such low-tier thinking simply didn't exist in Suzanne.

… Although, recalling Suzanne while watching Luna's brilliance was unfair to Luna.

Even setting that aside, they were both Angels with overlapping niches, and Suzanne was a level higher overall.

Normally Luna might well have soured at this.

But the purity of Luna's heart, admiring Suzanne whole-heartedly and chasing her with single-minded devotion, was equally splendid.

Truly… the two were splendid partners and the finest of rivals.

Just as the encounter with Suzanne had been splendid for Luna, surely the encounter with Luna had been splendid for Suzanne too.

Kin!

… Luna, with skill on par with Suzanne or even greater, weathered the unbelievable count of 32 consecutive strikes with only about 40 damage.

If she could pull this off once more, another turn of the same attack, she'd manage somehow.

But… that opportunity might not come.

"Heeeere I goooo!"

Doggooon!

Patty's Ogre God's Great Spirit Strike, increased 4x!

Harumira's HP was shaved away in one go and…

"One more!"

Doggooon!

Mastella's HP, no longer able to control the two of them, was shaved away in one go.

"Demon Art - Force Sacrifice!"

But, having pushed her death onto an ally, Mastella was still alive at HP 1.

"Demon Art - Lethal Deadly Drive!"

Then, counter-attacking with a re-action! On death, pushing her death onto an ally and using re-action to move the dead ally too, huh. Continuous attacks would keep coming until Force Sacrifice ran out. This might be bad.

"Ameri! Hundred-Leaf Wild Dance to finish Mastella! Luna, defend the attacks with everything!"

"Haaaaah!"

Kin kin kin kin…!

Luna's slashes continued to deflect countless attacks.

Naturally, Luna's HP kept dropping. But she also evaded in equal measure, ultimately weathering all 32 consecutive strikes again.

"Hundred-Leaf Wild Dance!"

In the meantime, 100 leaves struck Mastella.

"Guhah! Force Sacrifice! Lethal Deadly Drive!

"Force Sacrifice! Lethal Deadly Drive! Force Sacrifice! Lethal Deadly Drive!

"Aaaaah…!"

What an absolute mess…

If it hadn't been a multi-hit attack like a 100-strike combo, even Luna probably couldn't have weathered the storm of crazed combos triggered each time he pushed his death onto an ally, plus 4 uses of Force Sacrifice.

… But against a multi-hit attack, there wasn't time to activate such time-consuming skills 4 times.

Probably went to about +16 actions, around 48 consecutive strikes…

But before that, Mastella had fallen.

"Haa, haa, haa…"

Luna had barely survived, at HP 2.

"… Splendid! The finest result, Luna!"

"Naoto-kun…!"

Luna, overcome with joy, threw herself into my arms.

"Patty, you did well too. Also, the actual MVP is Haru."

I embraced the three of them and lavished them with praise.

Waaaaaaa…

"S-strong! He overwhelmed Lios, called near-S-Class, with just one party… and with members not even at LV50, only three of them! Th-this is the rumored Akai Naoto's strength! It's no longer the level of A-Class!

"A future S-Class Master!"

Waaaaaaa…!

And so, my first arena challenge ended with a splendid victory.

"… Impossible… t-to think it'd be this much…"

A skill that triggered on death, repeatable up to 4 times. Each time, that frenzied 32-consecutive strike…

No, he was undeniably strong.

That we could overwhelm him this much was… well, because all-around, things just went well.

Luna, Patty, Haru, everyone was strong, and my command had been flawless too.

In mock battles against Griera, getting all wins was naturally not a given, and at attribute disadvantage I'd sometimes get caught flat-footed, so winning this cleanly here made for a good stress release.

And then, finally…

Angel Luna's LV has gone up

It came at last! LV50.