When Tatsuro touched the stone tablet, the mysterious voice prompted him to recite a spell.
[Now then, challenger, please repeat after — I am the challenger]
"I am the challenger"(Tatsuro)
[Oh magical being who seeks battle, respond to my challenge]
"Oh magical being who seeks battle, respond to my challenge" (Tatsuro)
As soon as he finished chanting, a black vortex appeared. Tatsuro glanced at it while sprinting at full speed back to where Ai and the others were. He stood in front of Ai, readied his staff, and quietly waited for the opponent to materialize while making other preparations.
Finally, the monster fully appeared.
It was a humanoid creature with a very slim yet toned build and a crocodile-like face, resembling a relative of a lizard-man.
Although it looked lanky at first glance, its leg muscles were as sleek as a cheetah's, suggesting it was confident in its speed.
The monster visually locked onto Tatsuro and tensed its legs, about to pounce. However, Tatsuro didn't bother observing the monster's appearance. Without letting his guard down or underestimating it, he imdiately moved to the strategy he had been considering.
"Garbage!" (Tatsuro)
As Tatsuro shouted this, he released a flood of unnecessary monster corpses and trash he had collected on his way here from his [Infinite Item Field], burying the monster along with everything else.
This thod didn't require ti to compose an image, so despite covering a wide area, it was faster than magic.
The monster was buried under the sudden avalanche of garbage, struggling as it was pressed against the ground.
However, it would likely be able to escape in a few seconds. After all, the monster itself was unhard and unaffected by the weight.
But Tatsuro had no intention of waiting for it to escape.
"Take this too!" (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro used a combination of fire, earth, and wind magic to create semi-molten earth clumps and propel them with wind power, firing them like bullets towards where the monster was.
Wary of this, the monster delayed its escape from the garbage pile.
During this ti, Tatsuro further refined his magic.
This ti, it was a combination of fire, lightning, earth, wind, light, and dark magic.
He created a massive five-ter earthen mass above him, hardened to the extre with dark magic. He then wrapped it in fire and lightning, boosted by light magic, and propelled it with a highly compressed gale, also enhanced by light magic, towards the location where his detection magic had precisely located the monster.
"Eat this!!!" (Tatsuro)
It was like a teor, burning and flashing with lightning, spinning as it was propelled by an impossibly strong wind, striking directly at the monster's location.
To protect Ai and the others, Tatsuro instantly erected a wall hardened with dark magic and deflected the aftershock with a wind barrier. However, with a thunderous roar, the entire church shook violently, causing Tatsuro to drop to one knee as he waited for it to subside.
|You have reached "Level: 53".|
After confirming the monster's death and everyone's safety, Tatsuro dispelled the iron wall and wind barrier in front of him.
What he saw was a crater in what was once the spacious interior of the church, with nearly half of it damaged by the aftereffects of Tatsuro's magic.
The area where the monster had been was particularly severe, with a huge hole gouged out, and the surrounding floor and ground beneath it still bubbling and molten.
"Ah... I might have overdone it. I thought I wouldn't have ti to use [Level Eater], so I went all out with sothing that could finish it in one hit... but I didn't expect this much damage." (Tatsuro)
"That was instant death indeed! You were so cool, Tatsuro!" (Ai)
Unlike the others who were dumbfounded, Ai was simply happy that it ended safely and hugged Tatsuro from behind.
This finally brought everyone else back to their senses.
[I've been watching duels here for many years, but this is the first ti I've seen soone use garbage to slow down their opponent~]
"I didn't jump the gun, so it's within the rules, right?" (Tatsuro)
[That's right~ There have been people in the past who used obstacles from their item boxes. Well, not to the extent of filling up the entire church, though~]
"Well then, I'll help clean up a bit." (Tatsuro)
Saying this, Tatsuro stored the garbage and rubble in his [Infinite Item Field] for later use.
Thanks to the expansion feature, he could store just about anything for potential future use.
Once it was clean, the mysterious voice repaired the interior of the building.
Perhaps due to the excessive damage, it seed to take a little ti to fix everything.
[Phew. Finally finished all the repairs~ By the way, I was surprised to see so many different attributes mixed together, and all at such a high level~ With that, most monsters would be killed instantly.]
"But well, considering the damage, I should be more careful about where I use it." (Tatsuro)
[Indeed~ Well then, shall we proceed with the draw?]
"...Yeah, please." (Tatsuro)
It's not sothing to brag about, but Tatsuro doesn't have the sa luck with draws as Ai does.
In the type of lottery where you turn a drum, like those at large shopping malls, he always gets the participation prize.
He's sent in postcards for prize draws several tis, but always ca up empty-handed.
Even for New Year's fortune slips, he can't rember ever drawing "Great Fortune."
However, the man himself doesn't usually mind much, as he positively interprets it as having used up all his luck in eting Ai.
[Alright then, here we go! Draw ti. Rattle rattle rattle rattle—]
(I don't expect to win the grand prize. And I'm not even saying first prize. So please, at least give second prize!!) Tatsuro Thought
If Ai had heard this, she might have fallen over, but he was earnestly wishing for it when—
[And... here it is! Second prize~]
"Yesss!!!" (Tatsuro)
"'Yesss'? But that's the lowest so far..." (Athena)
While Cardina and the others tilted their heads at the sight of Tatsuro pumping his fist and cheering as if he had won the grand prize, Ai, knowing Tatsuro's poor luck with draws from long ago, could only give a wry smile.
[Um, clearing it alone and getting second prize is actually considered rather unlucky... But, well, I'm glad you're happy. Here's your prize~]
Even the mysterious voice sounded a bit perplexed as it said this, and a silver box about one-ter square rose up from the floor.
Amidst all this, only Tatsuro was in high spirits as he approached the treasure chest and opened the lid.
Inside was a single card, red and thin enough to see through, asuring 20 cm vertically and 10 cm horizontally.
"The color is different from Leah's, but it looks similar." (Tatsuro)
"Does that an it's a skill card?" (Ai)
"Let's check the instruction manual!" (Nana)
"That's a good idea. Let's see... Ah, yes, it seems this is indeed a skill card." (Tatsuro)
"For second prize, what kind of skill is it?" (Leah)
Since it was the sa type of skill card as her own, Leah was suddenly very interested. To answer her, Tatsuro read further into the instruction manual.
"Skill: [Explosion Magic]. Sounds like a dangerous skill. Let's see... It's a skill that allows you to create non-elental magic bombs by converting mana into explosive attributes. The power depends on the amount of mana used at the ti... Wait, isn't this amazing? Is it okay to give sothing like this for second prize?" (Tatsuro)
[Prizes second place and above are set to give what the person desires~ However, since you can do most things with magic already, the selection seems to have been quite limited~ So, it appears you've received one of the rarest skill cards among the second-place prizes~]
"Ah, I see. Well then, since I have it, I might as well install it." (Tatsuro)
"Explosion magic, huh? Sounds interesting." (Athena)
Nodding at Athena's words, Tatsuro held the card in his hand and spoke the words to grant the skill.
"Install." (Tatsuro)
|Skill: [Explosion Magic] has been acquired.|
"And there we have it." (Tatsuro)
"Hey, hey, try it out a little!" (Ai)
"Alright. Then, please stand back." (Tatsuro)
While asking Ai and the others to step back, he also created a wind barrier in front of himself for protection. Although he intended to control the power, it was just a precaution.
After taking these safety asures, he tried to use the explosion magic as per the skill's instructions.
He could see, with his mana vision, the mana forming a sphere at the tip of his staff.
Eventually, it beca complete, forming a white, misty ball about the size of a baseball.
When he analyzed it, he confird that it indeed had the explosive attribute, so he raised his staff to throw it far away and swung it down.
The white, misty ball rode on the air current Tatsuro had created, flew to the wall, and upon impact, made a "boom" sound, leaving a small hole in the wall.
(So that's a non-elental bomb. I wonder if I can combine it with other magic?)
Tatsuro tried to create a combination of fire and explosion magic. It required slightly more concentration and mana than other magic, but it still ford according to his intentions, creating a brightly glowing red sphere.
Feeling it might be dangerous, he carefully transported it to the wall using wind magic, more cautiously than before. Upon impact, it exploded with a bang, scattering flas around the area.
(Scary. There's no way I could use this against people. But it might be good against monsters. I can't believe sothing this powerful was included in the second prize.)
While Tatsuro found this strange, for ordinary people, this magic would be difficult to control, and even the non-elental bomb he first created would risk accidental detonation.
However, Tatsuro's level was fairly high, he had received multiple benefits from the mastery series, and he had repeatedly practiced controlling multiple types of magic.
It was only because it was Tatsuro that he could do this so easily.
In other words, this was in the second prize category because it was difficult for most people to use.
After trying out a few more spells, he re-joined the others.
"There was quite a loud bang. It seed like an amazing spell, but can you use it?" (Ai)
"Yeah. It's a bit difficult to control, but I'm relieved that I can handle it properly." (Tatsuro)
"Then, it's my turn next!" (Nana)
Nana, excited after seeing Tatsuro's new magic, eagerly advanced to where the stone tablet was, wanting to get sothing for herself quickly.
Receiving words of encouragent and concern, she activated [True Form], holding the Dragon Fang in one hand and the Frog Staff in the other, with the bracelet-type staff also equipped, ready for both physical and magical combat.
"Well then, please proceed." (Nana)
[Yes, yes~ Now then, challenger, please repeat after — I am the challenger]
"I am the challenger" (Nana)
[Oh magical being who seeks battle, respond to my challenge]
"Oh magical being who seeks battle, respond to my challenge" (Nana)
Even when the black vortex appeared, Nana remained in her normal state without taking a stance, waiting for the monster to fully materialize.
And so, the black vortex began to take shape.
It was about the size of an adult male, with jet-black bat-like wings on its back. The rest of its form was exactly like a human with brown skin, just like Nana in her [True Form], but its jaw was unusually protruding, with two 10-centiter fangs extending only from the lower part of its mouth.
It had two abnormally large green eyes and a red eye on its forehead. Its nose was flat like a pig's. Its ears were long horizontally like an elf's, but the earlobes were so long they touched the floor. Moreover, several small spines protruded from its chin like a stubbly beard.
"What an unpleasant monster. It's also irritating that it partially resembles my form." (Nana)
"Ihihihi"
"Even its laugh is creepy— What's this!?" (Nana)
Nana suddenly felt an unpleasant sensation as if strength was draining from her body. Realizing this was bad, she countered with her own [Dragon Drain].
What the opponent had used was [Demon Spirit Absorption], a skill possessed by higher-ranked celestial demons that allows them to absorb life energy without touch.
In terms of rank, [Dragon Drain] is higher, so if the skill levels were the sa, it would break through the opponent's [Demon Spirit Absorption] and absorb back.
However, this ti the opponent's skill level was higher. So, they were canceling each other out in an equal state.
"Then, curse magic!" (Nana)
"Heeeeeeeehihihihi"
"Ugh, it's being nullified. That red eye seems to hold a secret." (Nana)
She had tried to defeat it by applying a slow effect with curse magic, but when the eye on its forehead glowed and emitted strange red ripples into the air, the effect of the curse magic diminished significantly.
"Then take this— Be crushed!" (Nana)
"I-hihihihi"
She poured mana into the staff she was holding, inflating the frog on top, and slamd it against the monster. However, the monster sohow caught it with both hands, unpleasantly twisting its mouth and laughing mockingly.
"I'll kill you..." (Nana)
(T/N: I can't really say if it is Nana talking or the monster but the next chapter will tell)
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