Chapter 192 :

Episode 37 : Quarterfinals (5)

I watched and I judged.

There's nothing more than that. All I have to do is give advice and opinions about the contestants' abilities.

Swoosh!!

Arrows and petals flew out of the place, piercing and damaging the surroundings quite a lot.

With ruination like this, it's clear that the match should be stopped, but the reason why both my comrades and I haven't spoken a word, is because we want to witness the strength of Mya.

As I had taught Mya, Noel and Noelle about the powers within their amulet and bow(accessory), I was really hoping to see Mya use it.

But to think she was able to fight without resorting to that power, I am impressed a little.

Crystal should be strong on her own even as she closed off most of her ice abilities and balanced her strength on the same scale with Mya's.

It's unlikely for a familiar who hasn't fought that much to be able to balance her power in a way that matches that of Mya.

‘That's what I want.’ I smirked.

As a result, Crystal is secretly having a disadvantage against herself and Mya although it's not much of a difference considering Mya's skills are sometimes too amazing.

Besides, there isn't anyone with that much skills within my guild except my comrades and I, so Mya has great potential.

Out of the blue, Mirai leaned over to speak with me. "Captain~ Who are you going to vote for?"

"I can't give away my choice, can I? You might repeat after me." I said with a smile as I patted Mirai's head.

"Fufufu~ How did you know I was going to do that?"

"Thousands of years of experience."

Right after I finished talking, Frostina informed me. "My liege, I sensed a presence in the sea."

"I can already tell who that presence might be." I spoke, remembering a certain mermaid.

"Should we apprehend her?

"No need, I want her to observe until I have a need for her in the near future."

"Is it for tomorrow?"

"Yes, we lack contestants after all."

In the end, Mirai tilted her head as she held my hand that was caressing her head. "Captain, we don't lack people."

"It is true that we don't lack contestants at all, however, I never want my comrades to overwork themselves."

"I'm not tired though~!"

"Yes, yes." I ruffled Mirai's hair. "You worked hard, so it's my duty to give you a break. As for Frostina, I can't have her fighting Noel and Noelle since that would defeat the purpose of the matches."

BANGG!!

Our conversation was cut short when a sudden burst of might resonated between the clashes of Crystal and Mya.

Their ice and nature skills countered each other as well as inflicting dreadful wounds to their weakened bodies.

Mya without her arrows had to keep a distance away from Crystal, but Crystal knew that and that was why she rushed to slam her ice into Mya's thorny wall.

"Sensei, we should stop the match quickly." Raiden asked me as he was looking at the spectators.

I, on the other hand, wanted the fight to continue. However, Raiden has a point in wanting to prevent the match from going any further from here.

Even I can understand the demolition caused to the island with Mya's and Crystal's battle.

BOOM!!

Add another round of piercing petals and ice diamonds to the devastation, and we have an island that was filled to the brim with those, excluding the brute force damage done to the island.

"If we don't stop them now, the others might not like it as much, Sensei." Raiden said considerately.

I nodded to his suggestion. "Alright, do what you want."

"Hai, Sensei!" 

Clattering! Clattering!!

When Raiden's words ended, ice in the form of needles and ballistic stems were bashing together, scattering a large chunk of stems on the sand and needles that were naked to the eyes.

Fwoosh…

Before long, I noticed Crystal was too in the zone that she managed to forget the rule of not using her full power.

How could I tell? It was the fact that a ball of light was building up from the paw of Crystal when in actuality, the ball of light is snow mists condensed to the point where one can only see a ball.

It takes full concentration and a lot of mana to boot, but the power it emits is worth it.

However..

If that attack lands on Mya, then I'm not certain if Mirai's aid can assist Mya.

"Frostina." I called out to her.

Shaa..

Once called, the condensed snow mist within the grasp of Crystal was canceled in a mere second, alerting Crystal in the process.

In a flash, Raiden came charging in to grab Crystal, removing her from the battle by tossing her inside an electrical box that Raiden made.

Confused, Mya looked. "Eh..?"

Whereas Mya was left without her opponent, standing amidst the chao that the battle had done as she finally had the time to witness the vicinity around her.

Just in case, I warned Mya. "Careful, Mya. There may be ice needles in the sand, so watch your steps." 

"O-Oh, yes." Mya paused herself from moving.

All of the sudden, I heard the shout of a concerned Noel before I shifted my glance to where he was. "Sis! Sis! Are you okay?!" 

‘I'll announce that Mya won because Crystal broke the rule, but not now it seems.’ I thought.

From what I see, I spot Noelle leaning onto the ice box as she is clutching onto her chest. 

In no time, I told Frostina, staring at Mya for a second. "I'll leave the rest to you, Frostina." 

Frostina nodded.

Swoosh..

‘..As I expected, the mana Crystal used must have drained Noelle.’ I thought, walking toward the twin after getting up from my seat.

Naturally, ice platforms had conveniently emerged before me to let me go over to the ice box where the Absolute twins stayed.

I grinned. ‘I should thank Frostina for this.’

Eventually, I reached the ice box, entering it as I carried Noelle like a princess, telling Noel. "Come with me, Noel."

"Yes, father! But will Noelle be alright?!"

"She will be fine. She's just not used to depleting all this mana to Crystal."

"Is this Cryo's fault then?! I don't get it, father! Elle always had Crystal by her side, something like this never happened before!"

"Have you ever come across a horde of mobs?"

"Well! Uh, not much since we lived in a cave all this time."

"Exactly. It's like how you got too excited by this island because you were always residing in the ‘Arctic’ World for all your life. It's your first time seeing greenery like this, except the Garden of Eden. And the same goes for overuses of mana points."

"But Cryo wouldn't use that much mana for a fight like this?!"

"Crystal was using compressed snow mist. You know that attack, don't you? She also secretly embodied herself with transparent frost armor."

"..! Oh!!! Those take a lot of mana! Even Noelle forbade her from using those!"

"This is what happens when someone is in the zone of doing something they like. Cryo must have enjoyed the match a bit too much."

"I will absolutely scold Cryo for this!!"

While I was talking to Noel this whole time, he and I had reached the desk where the judges were.

As gently as possible, I rested Noelle on the desk, asking Mirai to do something for Noelle as I let Mirai take over from there.

While softly holding Noelle's hand, I gave Noelle a kiss on her hand. "Get better quickly, my daughter."

‘You have a match to do after all. So rest up and regain your power.’ I sneered.

———

After a short break to prepare for the final match for the quarterfinals, the judges' seats, which should have had five people sitting there..

The commentator who should be there standing with a big grin and an ear-splitting voice, was nowhere to be seen in those seats.

Where could he be? One might ask?

ZAP!!

"Let's have a nice match! I won't go easy on you two, okay?" Raiden with a gleeful smile stretched his arms to ready himself.

At the moment, Noel and Noelle standing side by side held each other's hand tightly as they firmly stared at Raiden. 

In any case, Noel exclaimed. "Yeah?! I won't let you go easy even if you didn't say that!" 

"Haha, I like your spirit!"

Whoosh~!

At this point, the match is about to start, but without Raiden as the commentator, who will take up that challenge?

"Ahem~! Testing, testing~!" A cute voice resounded.

"Oh!" Raiden's eyes sparked.

The one who has the commentator's role for now, is Mirai. "I'll be taking Rai's role for this round~!" 

"As you can see, the match has Noel Absolute and Noelle Absolute fighting against Raiden Takumi!"

"No one is going to complain about the two vs one match? Got it?" Mirai said it in a tone where nobody would refute.

‘Cuteness is deadly.’ Noel gulped.

"Now, now~! Since Rai is quite strong even if his power is limited and locked, I already put a restriction on his legs~!"

"I wrapped my threads on his legs to prevent him from moving, because Rai specialized in speed, this will restrict him a lot~!"

"Now that's done! I don't have to explain the rules again, do I? Okay? Let's begin this match without a hitch~!

Hands on his waist, Raiden gazed at his two opponents as he planned to allow the twins to strike first.

"San!" Mirai began the countdown.

Even without Raiden thinking that, Noel and Noelle were aiming for the first strike when they drew their Chakrams out with hands firmly gripped.

"Ni!"

"Ichi!"

CRacKle!!

In a moment, lightning began to gather within Raiden's grasp, suppressing the might of his lightning bolt in the palm of his hands when he awaited for the twins to take the first strike.

"Ikuyu!"

* ( "Ikuyu" Japanese → English "Let's go" )

FWOOSH!!

At that point, Noelle's hands grasped together as she activated her skills, boosting her and Noel's ice abilities.

[Player ‘137’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ice Field’ Lv. MAX!]

[Player ‘137’ has activated the Skill, ‘Ice Fog’ Lv. MAX!]

Without any delay, the surroundings were brimming with a mist of frost everywhere Raiden looked, noticing the ground to have a layer of snow forming in the process.

Shaaa..

Snows and frost were what Raiden was aware of, not until he realized that someone had sprinted over to where he was.

As a result of the restrictions Raiden had, he must not move from his spot or else he'll be disqualified instantly, meaning he had to stand while knowing that an attack is coming his way.

"Hyup!!" 

In a blink of an eye, Raiden turned his head toward where the voice appeared, clutching Noel's Chakram which startled the latter.

Raiden grinned before he was preparing to toss Noel. "Don't give away your position, Noel!" 

[Player ‘139’ has activated the Skill, ‘Frost Flare’ Lv. 9!]

All of the sudden, Raiden witnessed a glint flashing from Noel's Chakram, surprising the former a little as he speedily threw the latter far away.

FLAREEEE!!

Just as the name of the skill suggested, an outburst of beam shooting at point blank range was greeting Raiden with a large bang!

"Eat that!" Noel exclaimed.

[Player ‘139’ has activated the Skill, ‘Frost Flare’ Lv. 9!]

[Player ‘139’ has activated the Skill, ‘Frost Flare’ Lv. 9!]

[Player ‘139’ has activated the Skill, ‘Frost Flare’ Lv. 9!]

BOOOOMM!!

Going ham with his skill, Noel was unleashing flares from all sides before stepping back to retreat to Noelle's side.

‘He won't get injured from this! I just know from the times I watched him fight.’ Noel thought while glancing at Raiden's direction.

CRACKLING!

Quite right Noel was, Noel and Noelle fazed when they spotted lightning bolts striking toward their location, prompting Noelle to shield themselves from those thunderous attacks.

The snow that was on the ground, was raised and hardened into a shield in front of Noel and Noelle, hardly defending them since the lightning bolts zapped and cracked the shield in one shot.

Because the situation seemed dire, Noel helped out Noelle with the defense before grumbling. "Grr! He's too strong! How is he this strong?!"

"Do you want me to tell you?" Raiden spoke with a thrilled tone.

"No, thanks!"

"Aw.." 

Bummed out, Raiden shrugged his shoulders before continuing on pummeling thunder bolts at the twins, not pausing for a moment when he formed a ball of electricity and threw it above Noel and Noelle.

Noticing that, Noel warned Noelle. "Noelle! Up there! Quickly!" 

BANNG!!

Within the last second, Noelle swiftly gathered all the snow to imprison the electric ball, feeling the striking electricity that was circulating from just the snow.

"Urgh..!" Noelle groaned as she felt her hands trembling from suppressing the electric ball.

"Don't forget to protect yourself!" Raiden exclaimed after spreading thunder bolts toward the twins.

Not even lending them time to fight off the ball of electricity, Raiden watched as the bombardment of lightning blasted through the twins' defense.

BANG! BANNNG!!!

"Is this my win?" Raiden tilted his head before his eyes shocked him. "..?"

FLAREEEE!!!

"Jodandeshou!?" Raiden gasped.

* ( "Jodandeshou" Japanese → English "You gotta be kidding me" )

Immediately, Raiden witnessed numerous beams of frost that carried his lightning with them, struck with an aim to injure him.

BLAST!!!