“Middle Round battle—, match begin!!”
“–KYEAAAAUUU!!!!!!!!”
Immediately after the match start declaration, Seesaket quickly inhaled to expand his lungs to maximum capacity, strengthened his respiratory muscles and vocal cords, then expelled his voice at full power.
“……!! — !!”
The gust of wind ruffled Eliza’s combat outfit and hair from thirty meters away, and a crackling explosive sound like tearing air assaulted Eliza.
It was truly a surprise attack, a perfect ambush.
From his light equipment, Eliza had guessed he was the type to fight using speed as a weapon, and had been carefully watching his movements from the start to respond to swift attacks.
However, even such an Eliza couldn’t prevent Seesaket’s surprise attack. And for good reason—the time required from the start signal to the launch of Seesaket’s ‘voice’ was merely 0.4 seconds. It was virtually impossible to respond after seeing Seesaket’s movement.
“—!! –~~!!”
While the sound of large thunder is said to be audible from about ten kilometers away, at this moment Seesaket released a voice loud enough to definitely reach over forty kilometers away.
It was a volume that would rupture an ordinary person’s eardrums without question within fifteen meters. Though the volume decreased over the thirty-meter distance to a level that wouldn’t rupture eardrums, it was still more than loud enough for Eliza’s brain to sense danger.
Unconsciously, reflexively, she crouched her upper body while covering both ears with her hands, completely losing sight of Seesaket for just a moment. And immediately after that–.
“……i!!”
CLANG! A high-speed flying object struck her face.
It was the circular shield that Seesaket had been holding at the match’s start. He had dashed toward Eliza immediately after his vocalization and hurled that shield at her with force.
Though the barrier’s effect minimized physical damage, the shield that hit sent Eliza’s face snapping upward.
The time she completely lost sight of Seesaket was about three seconds.
Just three seconds, but that was more than enough time for Seesaket to run and cover the thirty-meter distance.
And then—.
“………guh, ah!!”
THUD! Seesaket mercilessly struck his one-handed axe into Eliza’s defenseless left side.
Then, toward Eliza’s torso as she remained off-balance, a second, third, fourth strike—the axe was rapidly driven in.
The crystal attached to Eliza’s combat outfit changed from green to orange, steadily approaching red.
Having brought the fight to this close range, the knight side was completely advantageous. Against Seesaket using body enhancement, it was virtually impossible for a magic user in her natural state to keep up with his movements. As Seesaket raised his axe for the fifth strike, he was certain of victory.
Likewise, everyone watching in the venue was convinced that Eliza’s defeat was unshakeable.
However, just as Seesaket was about to swing through with that fifth strike–.
–[No matter how beaten down you are, no matter how much the difference in ability is thrust at you, no matter how desperate the situation becomes……. –as long as you don’t give up, it’s not a defeat]
“Raging Gale ‘Jet-Air Reject’–!!”
“–!?”
When Eliza released a powerful gust backward from the magic circle deployed on the back of her right hand, using it as propulsion, her body moved at a speed faster than Seesaket’s for just an instant.
–Exploding Flame Sphere ‘Burst Flare’.
As Eliza struck Seesaket’s face with her palm where a flame sphere was floating while maintaining that momentum, BOOM!! an explosion occurred at Seesaket’s face.
“Guh……!!”
Hit by the perfect counter, Seesaket’s body wavered as his axe grazed shallowly across Eliza’s side.
In that opening, Eliza pointed both hands toward Seesaket and quickly deployed a magic circle.
“–Annihilating Piercing Scorching Barrage ‘Windeich Sturm-Lanze’!!”
Even while taking a counterattack swing from Seesaket during the magic circle deployment, Eliza put everything into unleashing her strongest magic technique.
“HAAAAAAAA!!”
“Guh……!? GUAAAAAAAA!!”
Seesaket tried to escape from the attack’s trajectory but couldn’t make it in time, and was engulfed by the countless flaming arrows released from Eliza’s magic circle.
The barrage of flame, each shot capable of pulverizing flesh, blew Seesaket all the way to the barrier forty meters behind. And during that journey, the durability of Seesaket’s armor was instantly exhausted.
“……Haa! Haa……!”
Eliza, having expended her magic at full power, gasped for breath with one hand still pointed at her opponent, while on the opposite side Seesaket lay crumpled against the wall.
An announcement flowed over the field where these two combatants stood.
“Match over–! Middle Round battle winner……Knight Academy!”
【WINNER Seesaket-Rodriguez】
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
Simultaneously with the announcement, the match result was displayed prominently on the board.
……Seesaket’s sixth strike, which hit just before Eliza unleashed “Vindehih-Shutorumu-Lanze.” The moment that blow landed, all durability of Eliza’s combat suit was lost. At that point, the outcome of this match had already been decided.
“……Damn.”
Eliza clenched her fist tightly while grinding her teeth in frustration on the spot…….
–This brought Crawford Magic Academy to two victories, Alvarez Knight Academy to one victory.
The Magic Academy side had failed to secure victory in the Middle Round battle they had wagered their greatest chance on, and the academy competition’s resolution was carried over to the vice-general battle–.
After the Middle Round battle ended, Eliza was receiving a medical check in the infirmary to see if any external injuries remained.
……If Eliza had unleashed her final magic technique even just a moment earlier, the result would have been reversed.
If she had lost completely due to a difference in ability, that would be one thing, but to suffer an unexpected surprise attack from an opponent with inferior combat ability and lose in a situation where she might have won. And the reality of losing in front of all the school’s students while bearing the academy’s representation. The emotion of frustration naturally existed within Eliza.
However, surprisingly, Eliza was calm, and Eliza herself was a little surprised by this.
What existed within Eliza besides frustration was a definite sense of response.
When she had completely lost her judgment due to the continuous surprise attacks, Eliza had been able to turn to counterattack almost reflexively.
“Raging Gale ‘Jet-Air Reject'” which affected her own body with wind, and “Exploding Flame Sphere ‘Burst Flare'” which exploded upon impact.
The attack method combining these two magic techniques was something she had repeatedly trained in special practice so she could fight at close range even against opponents using body enhancement magic.
For when she would have a rematch with that man she had a grudge against, so that even if it became close combat distance again, she could win this time.
So that no matter how disadvantageous the situation became, she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by it and could fight without giving up until the end.
Her magic’s power had increased, and her tactical range had expanded. But more than that, there was a definite realization within Eliza that she had grown stronger in a more fundamental way–.
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