Chapter 262: I Have no Grudge Against You All, But I Wont Show Any Mercy (1/2)

『Now then ladies and gentlemen, the challengers seem to have completed their preparations! Just how strong is the latest chosen one of the Sacred Tree’s seed!? The bloody and flesh-rending exhibition battles shall now commence!』

What did you say was commencing just now!? I really couldn’t bring myself to get motivated about all this, but now that they’ve set it up this far, I guess I had no choice but to go all-out huh. Yeah, let’s do this. I’m gonna show those damn challengers a world of hurt just like they wanted dammit.

I pulled out the two blunt-edged swords I picked earlier from their sheaths and proceeded to the center of the combat arena with both arms lowered. The swords they prepared for the competition weighed slightly different than my own monomolecular swords, but it was manageable. Even though my opponents were seasoned elven warriors, they had unenhanced normal bodies. No matter how high their mastery with their chosen weapons was, they would probably not be any faster than the cybernetically and biologically enhanced Drawn Sword faction experts I’ve locked swords with.

“So you are the new hero chosen by the Sacred Tree seed huh.”

The one who addressed me was a male elven warrior who looked quite young, but he’s an elf, so I couldn’t be sure of what his actual age was. He wielded a sword that looked similar to a machete and scanned me from top to bottom with a judging gaze.

“Hello there, Mr. Elven Warrior. The name’s Captain Hiro.”

“Ou. I am Delsh, a warrior of one of Grado clan’s subordinate families, the Dyna house. Best regards.”

After our introductions, the elven warrior Delsh displayed a charming innocent smile.

“I’m not too keen on politics and whatnot, but I’m simply happy that I’d have the opportunity to fight the hero chosen by the Sacred Tree seed. The chosen hero of the Sacred Tree is the idol of elven warriors– no, of all elven men after all. Most elven men pretended to be the Sacred Tree’s chosen hero during playtime when they were kids. That includes me, of course.”

“I see?”

I started putting in strength onto my slackened arms so I could move at a moment’s notice and slightly lowered my stance.

“It’s like a dream to be able to cross swords with the legendary hero…… You won’t easily lose just like that, will you?”

“Don’t worry man. I’m gonna beat you all down. With utmost respect, of course.”

Delsh’s innocent smile changed into an aggressive one in an instant.

“Go ahead and try. Let’s do this.”

The elven warrior named Delsh charged at me with speed and agility akin to a wild beast’s. I see. His speed didn’t seem to be that of an ordinary unenhanced person at all. I suppose he’s powering himself up using magic.

“Guee–!?”

Delsh let out a soft cry of agony as he fell face-first and slid on the arena grounds due to the leftover momentum of his charge. I lightly parried his blow and knocked him on the back of his head in retaliation.

Yeah, it was definitely fast, but it was still no good. I mean, he just charged at me head-on after all. That’s just no good man. His sword blow was relatively powerful, sure, but I simply had to parry and redirect the force to deal with it. And besides, there’s no way his blow could compare to Mei’s.

『Whoah–!? Mr. Delsh, who’s said to be the Grado clan’s number one young warrior, was defeated in one blow!? Just what the heck happened!? Captain Hiro, the Sacred Tree seed’s new chosen hero, hasn’t even moved one step!?』

『It seems that Warrior Delsh’s blow was parried with the minimum amount of movement. And then, he got defeated by a single counter-blow. It was a terrifyingly sharp and accurate blow.』

I watched as Delsh was carried away by the match officials and then turned my attention to the next challenger. The next guy who came out was bigger than my first opponent. Even though I said he was bigger, he’s still an elf, so he wasn’t really all that bulky. He was another of those tall, lithe, but well-built types.

“Fumu, so Delsh cannot even serve as a proper opponent huh. He definitely wasn’t weak though.”

As he spoke, the man walked forward and brought up his weapon – a short spear. The spear only reached up to the height of the man’s ear. It was probably about 180 centimeters in length or so.

“However, he’s still a young Grado clan warrior after all. He might have very high potential but he still has some ways to go before reaching his peak.”

“The heck? So you’re telling me he’s the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings[1] or something like that……?”

“Four Heavenly Kings?”

“Uh, just ignore that. Enough talk. Let’s get this over with.”

“Fumu, you seem plenty confident. I am not like Delsh.”

While saying so, the short spear-wielding warrior carefully advanced forward. He’s probably gauging the distance while taking our respective reaches into account. Well, his weapon was longer, so he’d surely want to capitalize on his reach advantage. That’s just how effective weapons with long reaches are. Furthermore, a spear was basically a piercing weapon. It would be difficult to defend against a spear’s powerful and precise attacks, and depending on the wielder’s skill, they could also be blindingly fast. Besides, even if a spear is a piercing weapon, it’s not like you cannot perform any horizontal sweeps with it. If swung, its range was quite wide, and if you get hit with its hardened wooden handle or metal-reinforced tip, the force could be powerful enough to break bones.