The vast arena stretched endlessly, and four men and women stood upon it.
A woman with sky-blue hair, wearing a mask and carrying a massive sniper rifle—Alice.
A brown-haired man, close to two meters tall, casually twirling a lance with one hand—Setanda.
A blonde woman kneeling as if in a sacred ritual, her longsword plunged into the ground—Hilde.
A black-haired woman with a fierce smile, stepping lightly with silver knuckles on both hands—Meirin.
Woom, woom…
At the signal of the grand bell, they began to move simultaneously.
It didn’t take long for Setanda and Hilde to clash.
In just a split second.
A triple thrust attack, so fast that there was scarcely time to blink, pierced towards Hilde.
Yet, Hilde, facing this, swung her sword effortlessly and deflected Setanda’s lance.
The rebound caused Setanda to lose his stance, and at that moment, Meirin‘s fist pierced his flank like a viper’s fang.
In that momentary strike that reverberated through his bones, Setanda’s expression twisted.
“…”
Yet for some reason, he smiled.
And at the same moment, a tremendous sound resounded, shattering even the barriers of air.
A killer bullet that could be likened to a flash of light.
The targets were Hilde and Meirin, and the unpleasant sound that burrowed deep into their flesh pierced through both of them.
Thanks to the arena’s rules, no wounds or blood were shed, but the shock undoubtedly rattled Hilde and Meirin to their cores.
A moment’s hesitation born from pain.
Even such a slight opening was enough for Setanda to sweep his lance horizontally, pushing both away.
It was an unbelievable speed for someone who had just allowed a blow to his side.
And with that, the match was over.
In one word: overwhelming.
It was a slaughter so one-sided it couldn’t even be called a battle or duel.
The only successful attacks Hilde and Meirin made was the one that pierced Setanda‘s side right at the start.
Thus, a new myth was born.
★
[Star Flow Phantasm Chronicle Tournament Nanais Team! Our goal is victory! WOOO!!! #KainohIzumi#NatsuneNanase#StarsFlow]
“…”
Before the astonishing scene unfolding before me, I found myself speechless, even though I had expected it.
[The favored third team! Rinze and Suzuha were overwhelmingly defeated by Nekoto and Hikaring?!]
[Wow…. Isn’t Hikaring‘s Alice and Nekoto‘s Setanda way too strong? They won without giving away a single round?!]
[That combo has never been mentioned on air, has it?]
[Right. It feels like they might have secretly prepared this to take down the favored third team. Earlier, when they fought the first team, they only used Yasaka and Kiana, which were practiced on broadcast.]
7 to 0.
As Senior Namikawa and Mizuki said, it was a perfect triumph.
– An unexpected hidden boss has appeared! （・ｗ・）
– It’s showcasing the true power of Ponko Young Lady!
– The combination of Master and Young Lady is stronger than expected!
Rinze’s team wasn’t weak at all.
Rinze’s third team also took down Ichika’s fourth team 7 to 0.
It was merely that Aki’s second team was too strong.
Kaguya’s first team was defeated using the combo they practiced on broadcast, while the favored third team was overwhelmed using their hidden combo.
[Good job, second team….]
“That, that’s true…”
Tension naturally crept into the voices of me and Natsune.
Senior Kurokami and Aki.
Those two were the opponents we had to defeat to secure our victory.
[Now, shall we have a brief chat with both teams?]
At those words, the ding sound of Mist Code resonated continuously.
[Hahaha…. We’ve lost….]
[Sorry, Suzuha. I should have done better.]
[Oh ho ho! You two don’t need to be too disheartened! The opponent is none other than me, Hikari Kurokami!]
[…Hikaring was no distraction. Nekoto did too well.]
[What?!]
[It’s okay, Hikaring. Nekoto appreciates how well you did….]
[That’s not the problem! It’s that Rinze won’t accept her defeat gracefully!]
[Hmph…. It’s Hikaring’s fault for being careless first.]
Senior Namikawa stopped the quarrel between Senior Kurokami and Senior Rinze, while Mizuki resumed the conversation with both teams.
[Losing to Hikaring is so frustrating…. And I’m sorry, Suzuha.]
[What?! Rinze, what are you talking about…?!]
[No, it should have been better if I had done a little more….]
[Both of you, listen to me!]
– She was the same as usual when back on air.
– Familiarity is the best.
[So, winning second team! Nekoto and Hikaring, who do you think you will face in the finals?]
At Mizuki’s last question, Senior Kurokami and Aki answered without hesitation.
[Definitely Izumi’s team…. We’ll be waiting in the finals.]
[It has to be team six. Hinami’s connection says so.]
[Eh? Does that mean team six will throw the match against Hikaring because they’re close?]
[Absolutely not! What do you take me for, Tsubaki? Just because we’re close doesn’t mean we’ll let our guard down and go easy in the finals. That’s what make a top-tier villain! Oh ho ho!]
– The expectations are high for Mei.
– That was undoubtedly a confident provocation.
– It’ll be a chaotic defeat in the finals!
“Yeah. We’ll, we’ll defeat them in the finals.”
And I, too, declared confidently to the Izutomo.
[Yeah! Let’s show them the strongest is us by winning!]
Right. It doesn’t matter how strong the second team is.
After all, what Natsune and I are aiming for is victory.
Tsurusaki’s fifth team, Akabane‘s seventh team.
Even Aki’s second team— we just need to defeat them all.
[Now, the next match is between Tsukachi and Ayaka‘s fifth team. Then Izumi and Natsune‘s sixth team!]
[Will the sixth team, as the second team said, defeat both the fifth and seventh teams to reach the finals?]
And finally, our turn was approaching.
★
The first match was against Utsumi and Tsurusaki’s fifth team.
And the combination the fifth team used in the broadcast was Bastet and Mitra.
Of course, they may have their hidden combination saved for this day, like Aki’s second team, but… even if they did, they wouldn’t show it right from the start.
Before the game started, we had a brief conversation with the opposing team.
[Hmm. While it’s a tournament, how about a small bet where the losing team grants a wish to the winning team for this match?]
“C-casual bet…?”
Suddenly, Tsurusaki blurted that out.
[Yes. I’m sure that would make it more exciting. Is that alright, Senior Tsubaki, Shoko?]
[Well, we don’t mind… but… ]
[We don’t have authority to intervene that far.]
“Uhh… wh-what would be the content of this ‘casual bet’…?”
[For example, if we win… Senior Izumi could give Natsune and me a back hug just like you did last time. Hehe….]
[…I’m all for it! Teacher must make this bet happen!]
“I’m not going to do that…!”
[Then, if we win, Izumi will give me a back hug like last time!]
“Even Natsune?!”
[No, Natsune. If we lose, we’ll give Izumi a back hug instead….]
[Teacher thinks that’s right!]
This bet ultimately brings me no benefit at all?!
– Is Mei a dakimakura girl?
– A woman of charm…
– Should we rename the tournament to Mei‘s Battle Royale?
[Wow. The nerves are already running high.]
[Indeed. The atmosphere is heating up….]
[But can we get a little of that prize too?]
As the host, they really should devote some time to intervene!
★
And so, the game against the fifth team began.
The fifth team revealed Bastet and Mitra, just as expected.
Their intent to strongly pressure me in close combat was clearly visible.
The characters that Natsune and I picked were Kagami and Satori.
If the attacks were concentrated on my character Kagami, Natsune could retaliate with Satori’s area stun; if they targeted Satori first, I would take them out one by one.
Normally, in Phantasm Chronicle ranked matches, the winner is the first to win a total of 12 rounds, but due to time constraints today, the one who wins 7 rounds first will claim victory.
Thus, the unique resources earned each round are higher than usual, and you can buy exclusive items around 5 rounds in.
Once we purchase exclusive items, the performance of the opposing characters will likely overpower ours, so we need to score as much as possible before that.
With that settled, the first round began.
[Haaap!]
With the battle cry, Utsumi‘s Mitra approached me.
Using her R skill, Whirlwind, she quickly closed the distance, and I immediately engaged in a mind game.
Kagami‘s D skill Windmill.
Within one second of being attacked in the area, I can counter and move behind the opponent, while if I’m not attacked, I can retreat significantly.
Here, Utsumi had three choices.
First. Deliberately attacks me to pull my character into enemy territory.
Second. Attacks Satori to push me back and isolate Natsune.
Third. Does not attack at all.
Utsumi chose the first one.
With a crack, Mitra’s great sword came crashing down on Kagami‘s head.
Then Kagami slipped away with her katana and moved like the wind behind Mitra.
“I- I’ll continue!”
[Okay!]
The technique I used next was the E skill Heavenly Flip.
With my sword, I aimed to slice through the surroundings and draw the enemies toward Kagami.
But just before Heavenly Flip activated, a silver light glimmered from Mitra’s body.
The system skill Cleansing, which removes all debuffs and pushes back nearby enemies while stunning them.
My Heavenly Flip was canceled, and Kagami was stunned and pushed back.
And where she landed, Tsurusaki’s character, Bastet, was standing, emitting blue flames from her hands.
If I didn’t use cleansing here, there was no doubt Bastet would begin a combo with her Q skill Demon’s Grab.
…And that was the scenario I had been hoping for.
As anticipated, Bastet‘s blue flames gripped Kagami‘s neck, pulling her in.
Utsumi‘s Mitra also charged in for the cooperative attack on the stunned Kagami.
And there,
[Sorry, but I’ve read all of you!]
Satori‘s R skill Third Eye was unleashed.
Its effect is to stun all heroes within the area for 1.5 seconds, including allies.
After that, the game became straightforward.
Utsumi‘s Mitra, having already used Cleansing, was ruthlessly attacked by me and Natsune.
Tsurusaki‘s Bastet had cleansing available, but she couldn’t easily approach due to the fear of being caught in Satori’s area stun.
She could only rely on long-range skills like Sky Strike or D skill Dark Bake for suppression.
Thus, the established picture was one of individual destruction.
It was a complete victory.
