(EP-358.1) #3
358 – Protagonist #3
At the comntator’s loud cry, my number and na echoed high above everyone’s heads. Participant number 1432—Angmar. That was my na now.
━His na’s Angmar?
━Is that an alias? So patriotic nut naming himself after a country?
━No way, only the old royal family can use the na Angmar. Who in their right mind would dare use it in this age of Tarantera? And in a festival this big?
━Maybe…
I could clearly hear the murmuring ripple through the crowd. They were confused about the aning behind my na.
It was a na I had chosen after much deliberation.
An alias—but also the na that should’ve originally belonged to this body.
A lie, and yet the truth.
Was there any word that could represent more perfectly than this? As I reached that thought, I felt a surge of what could only be called an incredibly full emotion welling up within .
“Fall!”
I used that rising emotion as fuel and commanded the thunderclouds that filled the arena. Once again, a rciless thunderbolt from the heavens struck down with an intense roar.
KRRAAA-KRAAAANG! FLASH!
━Shít, what the hell is this?!
━Is this even possible!
━Attack the caster! If we take him down, maybe the lightning will stop!
The impact of my magic must have been intense. Even though I didn’t have a flag, people started charging at . They were trying to take down and stop this calamity caused by great magic.
A sound strategy. If they actually took down, the thunderclouds would lose their mana and dissipate, returning the clear sunlight to the people.
But.
Sorry, participants—but now that I’d revealed my hand, I couldn’t just stand around. I couldn’t let myself be dragged down by anyone. After all, I was not aiming for just a flag or a spot in the final 16.
I was aiming for the top.
Today, I would stand at the summit.
Above all these people who’d lived their lives as protagonists of this world.
I’d stand at the very peak—and take everything I’d ever desired.
Suk-.
I lifted my head and looked toward Aira, seated in the best throne among the spectator seats.
She was so far away that her face looked no bigger than a dot, yet I was certain—those dark eyes were watching .
Even if I wore a mask or changed my appearance, you would still recognize . And I too, no matter what form you took in this world, would know you in an instant.
Trk.
Right then, sothing intense brushed past the back of my neck. When I turned my head, I saw sothing like a rock flying straight at my mask.
━Kreung…!
Before I could react, Bael was faster—casting defensive magic instantly. A mana shield ford in front of in the blink of an eye.
Flying towards it was soone’s fist. A relatively small but heavy and solid-looking fist flew towards my face and shattered the mana shield.
Crackle—! Clang—!
“What!?”
It was hastily casted, but ten layers should’ve been enough to block cannon fire.
To shatter all of that with a single small fist, I couldn’t help but be surprised. Not only that, but the shockwave from the punch even blew my body away.
“… Ugh!”
Whoosh. Thudududud.
My body, flung into the air, tumbled across the ground. Was this what it felt like to be a rock rolling down a slope?
Amidst the pain of the hard ground hitting my body from all sides, the rolling technique Elga had taught flashed through my mind.
Tuck your chin and protect your head, right? Who would've thought that rolling on the floor with Elga would end up helping . Thanks to that, I sohow managed to avoid getting seriously injured.
“Huuu…”
So who the hell just punched ?
As I got back on my feet, I scanned the surroundings and spotted soone standing motionless like a stake amid the chaos and lightning.
“Nymph…?”
With red hair fluttering behind her, the one standing there was a nymph, just about chest-high to . But the spirit, the aura, that she possessed was different from the nymphs I knew.
“I punched you with the intent to kill… but you held up well!”
Tattered black clothes, bare feet, and a relaxed expression.
She looked less like a nymph and more like that ancient dragon I’d seen earlier from the Draco family. Like a seasoned beast of war, forged through countless battles.
“So you’re Yujinoi.”
“You know of ?”
“I’ve heard that sowhere in Angmar, there’s the strongest nymph.”
* * *
Yujinoi, the strongest nymph.
I’d heard of the rumors about her, but this was my first ti facing her in person. And now that I stood before her, I could tell. All those rumors about her were true, without a single lie.
“I am Yujinoi. I seek only pure combat…! Mage, I very much look forward to seeing if you can give that gift…!”
“You’re choosing to fight instead of competing?”
“To a nymph like , the world is as sweet as honey…! And among them, the most delicious one is you, Mage…!”
I didn’t know what she ant, but it seed she had chosen to fight instead of going for a flag or the main tournant. She was completely crazy. Was she a battle maniac? What’s her main weapon? What’s her fighting style?
As I was asuring her ttle.
“Here I co, Mage!”
Pop-. Yujinoi kicked off the ground and shot straight towards like an arrow loosed from a bowstring. Or rather, she didn’t just fly—she tore through the air.
“Fist!”
Clang—!
Without Bael, I wouldn’t have been able to cast my shield in ti, and my face would have been smashed.
“To think you’ve blocked not one, but two of my attacks. For a mage, that’s quite impressive…!”
Swish, swish swish swish.
Her fists kept coming at . It was a barrage of attacks at an incredibly fast speed, but its destructive power was as heavy as the finishing blow of many. Thanks to that, my mana shield got shattered to bits.
Crackle—!
When the last petal of the shield broke apart, I caught a glimpse of a sharp-toothed grin gleaming through the flying fragnts.
“Now, your little shield has been torn to shreds…!”
“Damn it.”
To be honest, I had underestimated her, thinking she was just a nymph, but she was stronger than I had expected. She felt stronger than any formidable opponent I had ever t. And for her to show up out of nowhere like this…
First, let’s blast her away and find an opening.
I spread my hand and unleashed magic at her.
“Heaven-Splitting Palm!”
A wind strong enough to blow away a whole brick house appeared.
WHOOOOOSH—!
It surged from my fingertips. Of course, I didn’t actually expect it to take Yujinoi down.
Still, by the laws of physics, her body should be light. If I could just catch her in the wind and send her flying, that’d be enough. I was about to amp up the output when—
“Tricks like that are for the weak…!”
Edit by: faker
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