Preliminary Tournament Final Day

The first and second days of the preliminaries were over in a flash, and now it was the final day of the preliminaries.

Sebas of course as well as Niku had made it through.

… As expected, Sebas had outstanding abilities among the participants in this preliminary round. His background is that he comes from a human ranch, which was designed to produce either quantity or quality for the sake of earning DP.

Sebas was one of the high-quality products, a so-called thoroughbred of humans.

He possessed an extremely high natural talent and never neglected putting in his own effort. There's no way he could be weak.

"I'm curious about this human ranch. I'd love to take a tour since I'm studying abroad."

"Although Haku-sama forbade it, would you like me to show you in secret? If you don't tell, you won't be exposed."

"Hey. No. Absolutely not, okay?"

"I understand, I'll keep it a secret from Rokuko's Master."

"That's not what I meant… Rokuko, just don't do it."

"Okay, okay, I got it."

It really is a no-go, okay?

Well, anyway, the final day began.

"I dedicate this battle to the Demon King, the Great Demon King!"

The final day started with a grandiose declaration.

By the way, I was watching from the spectator seats. I'd already won against all of the opponents in my block, so I had nothing to do. I was told to come down to the arena after everything was over.

While I was doing that, Sebas' match began. His opponent was a giant bipedal beetle, an insectoid wielding two magnificent halberds.

The head was completely that of a beetle, but it must have gained a flexible neck joint in the process of evolving to walk on two legs as it was staring straight ahead.

It had four arms in total with two on each side and with each side holding a halberd. Each arm was also similar to that of a beetle, covered in natural armor.

… Normally, a human would wield one halberd with both hands, but I see. Having multiple arms allows for this kind of ability. It's also a good reference for our multi-armed golem.

"Don't think a mere human can defeat me!"

"Hmph, despite your dull, thick shell, you dare to act so arrogant."

"What?!"

The beetle attacked Sebas with a flurry of words and slashes. On the other hand, Sebas held a simple iron sword in his left hand and faced the attack.

The beetle swung its two halberds effortlessly, stabbing, slashing, striking, hooking, and trying to catch Sebas. However, Sebas easily dodged the attacks, still keeping his right arm sealed.

"Guh, you…!"

"Hah, the breeze is so refreshing."

Sebas spoke as he slipped into the beetle's range. He then pressed his left elbow against the beetle's thin abdomen.

"Gebuh—!"

"Hah, how pathetic. Even if you wear armor on your back, it's no good with that weak abdomen!"

"Kuuh—! But—!"

The beetle still seemed to have the will to fight. It threw away its halberds and grabbed the knives it had tucked into its belt. With four knives, it slashed at Sebas, who was using only one arm.

"Too slow."

"Gah!"

However, Sebas effortlessly deflected all four knives with a single swing. He then thrust his iron sword at the beetle's throat, rendering it unable to move.

"Do you wish to continue? I haven't seen you use any techniques with those scissor-like jaws yet."

"… Geh, no. I surrender."

With the surrender, Sebas' victory was confirmed.

"The winner, number 52 from block 5!"

The referee declared and cheers erupted.

"He's just as strong as I thought."

"Well of course, he's my Master. This level of strength is to be expected."

"Certainly, Aidi's Master is strong. But Kehma in his complete form is even stronger!"

Hey Rokuko, don't try to compete with strange comparisons. And what's this complete form you're talking about? Ah, you mean when I'm equipped with the [Divine Blanket]? Let's just not…

"Hey, look, Kehma. Isn't that Uzoh?"

"Nah, can't be. Niku defeated him the day before yesterday, so that's got to be Muzoh."

"It's so confusing."

Apparently, Muzoh was in a different block from us and had managed to advance this far. Could he make it to the main tournament? His opponent seemed to be an unarmed—no, a guantlet-wielding martial artist.

"Uwoooh!"

"Secret technique, Explosive Dragon Fist!"

"Gwaaah!?"

I guess he used some kind of skill. The ground exploded and Muzoh was blown away.

"Victory for Gaigankin!"

"Ha ha ha ha! Watch out, Aljaro! You're next!"

The contestant who defeated Muzoh no longer had him in his sights. Instead, he pointed at a man carrying a large lance.

Hmm, Muzoh, that was quite the role you played as a stepping stone.

"Rokuko, Gaigankin is apparently in a rivalry with Aljaro Menowe from the same block. If things go smoothly, they'll face each other in the finals."

"Oh! That sounds interesting. What kind of lance is that?"

"It's the Demonic Lance, Prochube… Well, rather than explaining, isn't it more fun to watch the match?"

Rokuko seemed to have already lost interest in Muzoh. Well, yeah. He was carried off on a stretcher, but he didn't seem to be seriously injured. That's just how it is.

"Oh, Niku's up next! I wonder what kind of opponent she'll have."

"It's a frog beastkin. It should be an easy opponent for Niku."

Niku's turn was up next. By the way, Niku has been practically annihilating her opponents so far. A small, dark-haired, dark-eyed, brown-skinned dog-eared girl with strength that defied her petite frame. Before I knew it, she'd been given the nickname [Black Hound].

Perhaps she's the true dark horse of this tournament.

"Guaaah! Are you ready, Black Hound? My name is—!?"

"Yes, shall we continue?"

Once again, the match was decided in the middle of the opponent's introduction as Niku went straight for the throat with her knife. The opponent's name ended up sounding something like "Aaaa". Couldn't you have at least let them properly introduce themselves? Well, the [Begin!] signal had been given, so it's fine.

"It's not just Niku's lack of manners, but also the fault of the opponent for being too weak to even introduce themselves."

"Is that how it is?"

Anyway, Niku has also made it to the finals. If things continue like this, we should be able to clear the preliminaries.

"By the way, Kehma, we're making quite a profit."

"… You were betting?"

"Obviously. If I know I can win, there's no reason not to bet. I also bet on Kehma, so I won't have to worry about buying food for a while. Right, Ichika?"

"Yeah, I made a killing too! Thanks Goshujin-sama!"

Come to think of it, Ichika was a gambling enthusiast who'd fallen into slavery. There's no way she wouldn't get involved in betting, and there's no way she wouldn't invite Rokuko to as well.

"I should have bet too… like a hundred gold coins."

"Oh, Rokuko's Master. Unfortunately, participants can't bet on anyone but themselves. And when you participate, you're essentially betting on yourself, so that's where the fight money comes from."

There was also a limit to the amount of the bets. If the bets got too big, it would lead to underhanded tactics to sabotage each other, so it was best to keep the bets small enough to make a little money.

"Underhanded tactics might be fun for the contestants, but it's not fun for the audience."

… The fact that the contestants can still have fun in such a situation is a testament to the fact that this was indeed the Demonlands.