Chapter 197: [Arc 5] Chapter 1-9: Thunder Tournament: Preparation

After getting the big news from the Thunder..., excuse me. After getting the big news from the idiot Spirit Lord, Blot and I returned to the Dungeon where Ling and the other were waiting.

"...that is the Mikazuchi I remember," said Ling with a sign. You'll let your happiness escape. Not that I don't understand your feelings. 

"So she is a well-known...individual?" - Blot

"You think such a grandiose "person" could live in this region without making messes that end up being known by everyone?" - Ling

I don't think so. 

"*Sigh*..., Mikazuchi is a recently-born Spirit Lord, and..., well, she was, true to the word, born as a Spirit Lord." - Ling

"Hmm? How is that possible?" - Blot

"Something's wrong?" - Mira

"Miss Mira, you know that every creature in this world is born as a creature that is at most a racial rank E creature, correct?" - Blot

"...now that you mention it..." - Mira

There was such a rule. And probably the biggest reason why something like the "Dragon Egg" exists. They're registered as a proper species at rank E, for then hatching into the rank D Dragon Hatchling, then evolved into a proper attribute-focused dragon such as the Fire Dragon that once used to own Damavand-Volcano. 

"...huh? But aren't Spirit Lords at rank B...?" - Mira

That doesn't make sense. Even Spirits has to follow that "born at rank E"-rule, weren't we?

"It seems that you are catching onto my point. Even if she had a rapid growth and evolution to become a Spirit Lord, it would still be incorrect to define miss Mikazuchi as "being born" a Spirit Lord. Mind explaining yourself, Mr. Ling?" - Blot

"I was about to do that. But first, how much do you guys know about the Disaster of Life?" - Ling

"Just that it made a huge mess in the eastern part of this continent." - Mira

"More precisely, it's a swamp-like creature that forces evolution onto whatever it traps within itself, consumes said creature, then expands itself indefinitely." - Blot

"Yeah, that's the guy. Though some people call it a "symbiote" or stuff like that. "Parasite" feels more right to me." - Ling

"...don't tell me that Disaster..." - Mira

"Sorry, but you're right. Mikazuchi is a spirit born from being exposed to the Disaster of Life. You could call her the only successful individual to gain power from that Disaster." - Ling

"...and considering how long the Disaster has been operating, miss Mikazuchi's age is...?" - Blot

"She's 5 years old. Born on the day when the Disaster of Life was finally defeated." - Ling

"You serious!?" - Mira

That girl who looks like she could be a character in one of Ciara's "thin books" is just a kid!? Ehh, I guess some sick guys' books could have someone that young, but Ciara's taste leans more toward girls like Garami and me...

"Which means our opponent is a kid that was born with massive powers that she did not struggle to obtain, is the point you want to tell us?" - Blot

"Something like that." - Ling

No wonder she wanted a fighting tournament. I did secretly think it was a childish concept. 

"Child or not, she has been placing people in danger, and she has even proclaimed herself as a cooperative to the Demon King. Even if we treat her with silk gloves, it should only be to the extent where we are not actively trying to aim for her life." - Blot

"Yes..., you're right." - Ling

Ling doesn't look too keen on this. I can relate to him. Killing a kid, even if she's super-evolved, does give you a pause, but we don't have much leisure here. She's a bonafide Spirit Lord. A rank B spirit! It's going to take our full strength just to survive if we fought her head-on! Luckily, her childishness has given us a chance to avoid that.

"Let us return to the present. Miss Mikazuchi has given us quite the opportunity here with her little game." - Blot

"How exactly is it working?" - Ling

"Miss Mikazuchi's "thunder tournament" is designed as a team battle tournament. Each team will be divided into 5 rounds where the first team to obtain 3 victories will become the winner. To win a match, you either have to make the other side become incapacitated, with even death being allowed, or throw them outside the battle arena." - Blot

That would be the standard rules, wouldn't they? I've only heard rumors about those tournaments here on this continent. 

"In addition, each team will have to select a team leader. If the leader is defeated, that team will automatically lose." - Blot

"That makes me think of a board game little Zaria introduced to me once. I think it was called..., what was it..." - Ling

"Chess?" - Mira

"Oh, that's right. It was called "cheese"." - Ling

I think this guy's turned too senile to be of any use.

"I-in any case, as I mentioned before the tournament consists of 5 rounds. The first, second, and final round is a one-on-one competition, with the third and fourth being tag matches. Which means..." - Blot

"We need seven guys on our team." - Ling

"And hopefully, someone who can land in a miracle in the fifth round in case things gets..., dramatic." - Blot

"Why the fifth?" - Ling

"Thunder girl told us she would participate in that one. Plus, she's her team's leader." - Mira

"That's not good. Wait, we have to reveal who our leader is?" - Ling

"Not really. Miss Mikazuchi must have confidence that she would not lose even if we know." - Blot

I'm getting real tired of this girl. Even if she's sort of like my superior, considering that we're both related to spirits. 

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"We should consider that match to be lost then. I mean, she is a Spirit Lord, no matter her circumstances." - Ling

"A wise decision. Then all that remains is to gather our "champions". Who do we have on hand?" - Blot

"...me, you, and the old man..., we're in a serious need for scapegoats." - Mira

"No, shouldn't we try to find someone who can fight? Don't your guild have several Dungeons behind you? Why not take some people from there?" - Ling

"Hahahaha. As if we haven't placed all combatants on the front lines for the battles for the other Treasure Towers," I replied with dead enthusiasm. That got old man Ling to shut up. But seriously, the only noteworthy guy we could spare was Rald, and he's trapped along with Zaria. 

"Is it not possible to take the former boss from this Dungeon?" said Blot to Ling, since he's the former owner of this place and all that. They must be talking about that "exceptional Loong" from before. 

"Impossible. If a Dungeon monster wants to walk outside, they need to be named. Changing the Dungeon Ruler won't help, and cutting their ties with the Dungeon would result in their death." - Ling

Well, cutting the ties would be equal to either the monster dying or the Dungeon. Even if it's a one-sided deal where the Dungeon stays but the monsters don't...? Why did I get a bad feeling all of a sudden? It's as if I've forgotten, no, overlooked something damn important...

"I guess there is no other choice. I will go and recruit some of the adventurers nearby." - Blot

"There's still someone here?" - Mira

I thought they all died on their way up here.

"A few. And that is a good thing for us. Think of it as something like "natural selection"." - Blot

"Stop making bad jokes and get going!" - Mira

Blot simply shrugged and left the Dungeon. He needed to leave the place on foot before he could transfer himself, due to all Dungeons having a no-transfer rule. Except for those special Dungeon facilities, of course.

"Hmm, I shall try to find out more about why Mikazuchi is doing all this. Perhaps there is a hint on how to defeat her, or at least make her give up this whole stupidity." - Ling

And with that, Ling also left, flying through the mountains in search of clues. As for me...

---

*ZZZZZZZZAP!*

Th-th-th-th-th-this a-a-a-ain't w-w-w-w-worki-i-i-i-i-ing...

O-o-okay..., t-time for a break...

I left my weapon by one of the trees and sat down to catch my break. That was a stupid move of me there, but somebody has to try cutting apart this stupid barrier. And I'm the one with high attack power AND [Lightning Immunity] at a somewhat high level. 

But as one could have guessed, I didn't even scratch the paint. Blast that Spirit Lord. It's unfair. I want to be born with that kind of power. 

It was in the middle of my cursing session that I noticed something hiding in-between the trees. It's not giving off any bioelectricity, which I know thanks to [Electrolocation], but I still noticed it thanks to my sharpened senses due to the various sense-reinforcing type skills, spearheaded by [Wild Instinct]. 

Whatever it is, it's an enemy. It doesn't even bother to hide its hostility, which is why I noticed it in the first place. So without giving it a chance to do anything, I fired a Force Bullet at its hiding place. 

To my surprise, the spell hit...whatever this is supposed to be. Is it some kind of black slime? It got lots of skulls and other skeleton parts in it, so..., an undead slime? 

And I got no more time to be thinking about that. The necro slime (name tentative) went berserk after being forced into the opening. It launched itself toward me, so I did the obvious action: threw two [Crystal Spears] and created a [Spark Fence] between them. The necro slime got electrocuted by the fence's sudden appearance (as well as the fence itself), giving me time to take some distance from it and pick up my greatsword. 

Still, cutting this thing may not be that easy. Some slimes can dissolve anything they touch, and since I got no clue what this thing is, it possessing such an ability isn't an impossibility. So let's keep a distance for now.

The slime managed to shake off the fence (where's the physics in that? It's a fence of electricity!) and created tentacles made out of its black...rotten...smelly body. Oh, god! Instead of a necro slime, is it a stench slime!? 

Tch, I'm not interested in that kind of tentacles. While I'm SERIOUSLY against it, I enveloped my weapon with the effects of [Lightforce Edge], [Lightning Edge], and the secondary effect of Airgetlàm. It has purifying abilities, so it should work wonders if this thing really is one of the undead. 

The tentacles arrived, and they got cut. As easy as that. I did use the Vortigern-style's "Critical Counter", a battle art that improves one's reaction speed for counter-attacks, but even then...

"Hey, twerp! Sure you should try messing with those above your pay-grade?" - Mira

I taunted the weaker-than-expected slime to see if it reacted, and boy did it react. Bubbles started to appear all over its body like it was boiling (from rage?) before it produced various spikes made from bones. 

Cutting down the spikes, I noticed something strange regarding the necro slime's body. The cut marks on its body don't seem to be regenerating like what a normal slime would do.

It could be due to the effect of Airgetlàm's anti-undead properties as a Silver attribute Extra Skill, but if that was the case, wouldn't the wounds be like, I don't know, smoking or something? Like when you try making an undead do some sunbathing? 

Ah. It ran away. Coward! A fast coward, but still a coward! But despite its appearance and smell, I guess its brains aren't all mush. Maybe I should have caught it so Garami could study it? 

...and now that I think about it, wasn't that the black ooze that the goblin mentioned before? The one who attacked Zaria and the others? Did it escape the barrier, or was it thrown out of the area before the barrier got placed like that goblin grunt? 

*Snap*

Whatever the case, it seems that it wasn't the only creature in this forest who wants a fight with me today. Fine by me. I need some stress relief after all this madness lately. Come at me!

---

Kigal-Note/Attack Skills: [Vortigern-style Self-Defense]

Description:

The Vortigern-style Self-Defense arts were battle arts developed by the legendary Dark Knight, Vortigern Avalar. All arts recorded in this skill are developed by this knight, and due to this is only available to other owners of the Dark Knight class. 

While these battle arts are defensive in nature, they all provide the ability to harm the user's opponents. In layman's terms, it is a collection of counter-focused battle arts.

Various examples of these arts include Critical Counter, a stance-like battle art that improves one's reaction speed for as long as one dedicates oneself to counters and parries, Damage Guard which inflict a certain amount of the damage blocked to any physical attacker in contact with the user, and Crush Parry which destroys a long-range attack and returns the "fragments" to the attacker.

Blot's comment: My, my. To think that a lady like miss Mira would take such a violent, blood-stained skill. 

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