Chapter 76 - Darkness and Sword King Festival [7] (1/2)

76. Darkness and Sword King Festival [7]

After winning the first battle safely, I returned to the president and senpais who were watching me from the stage wing.

And then,

「As expected, Allen-kun! You were splendid!」

「It was a wonderful front kick! I was completely enthralled!」

「Well done though…」

They were quite happy with my victory.

「Thank you very much.」

After replying with a smile, I sent a glance towards the audience, and my gaze met Ria’s.

When I waved over to Ria, who had been cheering for me all the while, a big smile bloomed on her face.

When I was doing so, the commentator’s voice resounded loudly.

「Who on earth expected such a result! Allen Rodore, perhaps he is going to be the『Dark Horse』of this tournament! Now, let’s continue. We will start the『Second battle』!」

The Second of Thousand Blade Academy is Lilim Tsuorine-senpai.

「I’m rooting for you, Lilim-senpai!」

「Take advantage of Allen-kun’s momentum, Lilim!」

「Do your best though…」

「Fufufu, leave it to me!」

Saying that, she went up to the stage triumphantly.

■

After that, Lilim-senpai displayed an offense which almost seemed like a raging fire, and won the Second battle.

And the Center match continued, where Ferris-senpai managed to win safely despite struggling a little.

When we won all three battles – the Vanguard battle, the Second battle, and the Center battle,

「Sword King Festival Qualifiers A Group – The winner of the commemorative first match is one of the Five Academy, Thousand Blade Academy! Congratulations!」

We were able to safely win the first match against the famous, veteran Werewolf Academy.

And then,

「Way to go! Each one was a good match!」

「Hey, is this finally the year of resurgence of the『Invincible』Thousand Blade Academy!?」

The audience sent a voice of blessing and a crackling applause.

「Now then, we will continue with the second match, Twilight Academy vs Mist Academy! For everyone at Thousand Blade Academy and Werewolf Academy, please go down to the contestants’ waiting room!」

Then we went to the contestants’ waiting room as the commentary progressed.

Walking down the long corridor, the moment I opened the door of the waiting room.

「……」

Almost every swordsman in the waiting room stared at me.

A person who peeped at me with a sidelong glance.

A person who turned an evaluating glance towards me.

A person staring straight from the front, without hiding it.

(It’s not my imagination, right…)

As I felt uncomfortable with the strange situation,

「Fufu, everyone is very interested in Allen-kun, aren’t they?」

「Because he had a brilliant “Sword King Festival debut!” Kuh, how I envy you!」

「No, it’s troublesome as usual though…」

The president and senpais said so and laughed it off lightly.

「We don’t need to care about their glances. Let’s take it easy and prepare for the next match. 」

「Yes, that’s right.」

Then I waited for the start of our second match, talking happily with my senpais as usual.

■

After that, we continued to win with unstoppable momentum.

Most of the matches were three straight wins – Vanguard, Second, and Center.

There were rare matches where Lilim-senpai or Ferris-senpai were defeated, but…

The president, who was waiting in the Vice General battle, firmly secured a win. And we finally advanced to the final match of the A-Group qualifiers.

「Now, let’s start the final match of today. Thousand Blade Academy vs. Astrology Academy!」

The commentator declared with the loudest voice by far today.

「At the Sword King Festival, the top two academies in each group will advance to the main rounds, which means, both of these academies have already advanced to the main rounds. But will they break through in first place or in second place? Due to that, it is basically heaven and hell beyond this point!」

She took a breath and continued commentating.

「In the matching of the main rounds, the academy that broke through in the first place will be matched against the second place of another group! The second place will clash with the first place of another group! In other words, both Thousand Blade Academy and Astrology Academy will want to break through the first place at all costs!」

When I heard the matching of the Sword King Festival main rounds for the first time,

(Well, we can’t lose here!)

I was firmly made aware of the『weight』of this final round.

There is no doubt that the first place of each group will be the『Five Academy』including the Ice King Academy.

If we continue winning in order, we will eventually clash with other Five Academy.

But it’s better to be as『late』as possible.

(In the main rounds, we will have to fight four matches, excluding the finals.)

The last four matches will be the best 16, best 8, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

Of course, every single match will be a deadly match, and the physical exhaustion will be tremendous.

(We have to win『consecutive battles』in the form of a『tournament』. Which means, in the sense of avoiding unnecessary exhaustion and injury, it is advantageous to clash with a Five Academy as『late』as possible.)

When I was thinking about that,

「Now, let’s quickly introduce the contestants!」

The commentator moved on to the customary introduction of the contestants.

「First of all, Vanguard of Thousand Blade Academy – Allen Rodore! What a total victory of all the battles so far! Moreover, he is the dark horse of this tournament that achieved the feat of『all wins unscathed』without receiving a single sword wound!」