Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

10 seconds before the beginning of the match.

We bowed at one another.

I lowered my hips and got ready.

I gripped my staff.

My Summon Monsters already had rough instructions on what to do.

I guess I just had to execute the plan.

3 seconds before the start of the match.

Rig sat at my feet.

I was already used to seeing Rig on Senki"s shoulder from the beginning of the match, so it felt a bit strange.

The match began.

「Practiced Spirit!」「Meditate!」「Bless!」

「Practiced Spirit!」

「Meditate!」「Bless!」

「Meditate!」「Bless!」

Everyone started by using some martial art skills.

After that, everyone started moving.

Rig crawled onto my back while I used my next martial art skill.

Jericho did the same to Senki.

Goki held his sword and hatchet in his hands and ran to the front.

Volff was already there.

He immediately started pressuring the front line.

Was he trying to break through?

I did tell him not to bother trying to get into the enemy lines…

My aim from the beginning was to surprise and disorganise.

In other words, my aim was the same as usual.

I could see that the two sorcerers in the back were trying to cast spells.

The Treasure Hunter pulled out his sword and was acting as their guard.

Oh.

I see…

The Fighter with two swords was there to halt Volff.

The other two fighters ran at me.

Yep.

They were looking for a messy fight too.

「Physical Enchant: Wind!」

I raised Senki"s AGI stat.

I immediately prepared to cast my next spell.

But the grappling fighter suddenly appeared in front of me.

His fists flew at me.

A beautiful one-two.

But I didn"t have the time to focus on him.

I ducked to dodge and then wrapped around his side before running towards the Sorcerers in the back.

I felt like a kick was headed for me, but I ignored it.

Rig took the attack for me, and I got away from the Fighter unscratched.

『Stone Wall!』

「Gah!」

A wall of earth suddenly appeared in front of Senki.

Senki cleanly collided into the wall.

In a rage, Senki started punching the wall.

He was able to break it down in no time.

『Fire Wall!』

「Tsk!」

A wall of flame?!

It was hot.

But nothing unbearable.

Rig was guarding my upper body.

The spell didn"t do that much damage.

I was grateful for【Fire Resistance】.

What was beyond the wall?

The Treasure Hunter.

「Gravity Bullet!」

A direct hit from close range.

But right before that, a throwing knife was sucked into my shoulder.

The pain was next to none.

Rig was doing an amazing job, moving around on my body to absorb all the attacks headed my way.

I love you.

I understood why Senki could focus so much on attacking.

The Treasure Hunter wasn"t going to let me past him.

I liked his sprit.

His defence was tight too, staff attacks wouldn"t be enough.

I heard the Sorcerers casting spells.

More spells, huh?

A spell was coming.

I had to predict their timing…

And match it!

『Confuse Blast!』

『Fire Storm!』

「Dimension Mirror!」

I reflected their spells.

And immediately prepared to cast my next spell.

The Treasure Hunter gave me an opportunity, and I delivered a strong attack to his right arm.

I succeeded in making him drop his sword.

Volff took the opportunity to jump on a sorcerer.

Great.

Focus on the back players.

I just needed a little more.

I saw Senki approaching to join us.

Looked like he was able to break through the front lines.

What about Jericho?

He had already defeated the dual-wielding fighter and was throwing him on the ground.

He was already done for.

He was definitely finished.

The other Fighter was fighting Goki.

All Goki had to do was keep him busy.

As long as he could keep him away, that would be alright.

The staff flew out of my hand.

I took a kick to the back.

That grappler, huh?

「Enemy Burn!」

I shot a spell at the Treasure Hunter approaching me.

It took a large part out of the Treasure Hunter"s HP bar.

After one more attack, he was finished.

Next.

I faced the Fighter.

Both of us, barehanded.

Both of us, grapplers.

Rig crawled down my back and onto the ground.

I wasn"t trying to weaken my defence on purpose.

I was just interested.

This guy would be mine.

I could leave the others to my Summon Monsters.

Don"t touch this one, alright?

It looked like my opponent was a pretty standard Boxer.

No, an Outlaw?

Maybe even a Counter-Puncher.

Light steps.

His arm was lightly shaking with a constant rhythm.

Jabs flew my way.

They were fast.

And accurate too.

They were clearly faster than my punches.

I continued parrying while I watched him.

What was his plan?

His plan would be to get me to fall.

No doubt about it.

His eyes were still full of fighting spirit.

I saw that the other two fighters were already taken out.

Seemed like Jericho supported Goki in getting the job done.

I was also pretty sure that the other two sorcerers were done for too.

I couldn"t hear their voices casting spells.

It was quite a refreshing thought.

Well then.

It was just the Fighter in front of me left.

『Whoosh!』

With a slight sound, a jab flew at me.

It was just a jab, but it felt very heavy.

I could parry enough attacks to stay on my feet, but I didn"t have the chance to counterattack.

I tried one sweeping kick, but he quickly dodged with a backstep.

Even so, he kept his balance perfectly.

Wow…

He was definitely an experienced boxer.

I didn"t use any martial art skills.

I was more used to my movements without any martial art skills.

Using martial art skills actually made it difficult for me to dodge at times.

Match the timings.

I moved forward right as his left arm was moving back.

Of course, with the beautiful timing of a one-two, his right arm was already headed my way.

But I wasn"t fighting a boxing match.

I moved my head to dodge his right fist, and grabbed his arm.

Followed up by an arm bend.

But he was prepared for that.

He pressed his arm against my neck, preventing me from bending it.

My feet were then swept from under me…

Or at least that was his intention. I jumped to dodge his sweeping kick in the last moment.

But my only welcome when I landed were more sweeping kicks.

More jabs and hooks flew my way as soon as I let go of his arm.

It wasn"t just boxing.

This guy…

He was good with his legs too.

It looked like he was having fun.

I kicked him again, but this time he caught my leg between his legs.

He was probably going to throw me, but I didn"t mind it.

I grabbed him and fell backwards.

He was taken along with me, and thrown onto the ground.

I was aiming for his feet.

More exactly, a heel hold.

I thought my form was perfect, but he rotated his body and escaped my heel hold.

I guess he knew how to escape…

Looked like he knew how to fight on the ground too.

I went for his neck when he showed me his back, but he gracefully rolled forwards and was back on his feet.

A jiujitsu recovery, huh.

Wow!

I thought he was just an ordinary grappler!

My opponent"s stance changed.

He broke out with his left foot forward.

His shoulders fell.

A different style?

But what came wasn"t just a simple jab.

His centre of gravity was too far in front for an easy recovery.

An invitation?

Are you inviting me?

His leg in the front.

It looked like it was asking for a tackle.

Well then, let"s go.

It might have been an invitation to a trap.

But it didn"t matter to me at that moment.

I dropped my own shoulders and approached him.

His left fist was already headed my way.

An uppercut.

It was fast.

I diverted it with my palm.

His right fist wasn"t far behind.

I couldn"t avoid it with a simple head movement.

The fist grazed me.

And his left fist…

It was already back for another go.

A follow-up punch.

I parried his fist and went for a leg sweep.

He jumped to dodge it.

He took the opportunity to throw another hook at me.

I parried it.

No, it was more of a block.

But still, he kept going as gracefully as ever.

At a short distance, all I could do to stay alive was do my best to dodge using head movements, ducking, and parrying his punches.

『Sk!』

「Ha!?」

We put some distance between each other.

His movements looked like… karate.

He was still maintaining a boxing-like defence.

Just because it"s effective against judo throws doesn"t mean that"ll save you, though.

Interesting.

It was a very interesting fight.

I changed up my own stance.

I held my hands at head height.

My centre of gravity was behind me.

Let"s go for a Muay Thai flavour.