Chapter "210"

After both teams finished their discussions, the dungeon announced the next match.

[Now announcing the second match. *drum roll*....... ta-da! The objective is to destroy one of your opponent's cubes. From Tatsuro's team, Cardina. From Fornacis, it's a magic battle against Ida!]

"Peewee!"

"That's me."

Both contestants called out from their waiting rooms.

Tatsuro peeked at the other side with his [Spirit Eyes] to check what skills the person who first responded had and informed Cardina.

"Looks like this Ida person has lightning and light magic skills. That might be a good matchup for you, Cardina."

"Peewee!"

"Leave it to me! she says."

"That's reassuring!"

Meanwhile, on the Fornacis side:

"Looks like it's that bird on their side, Ida."

"I thought it was someone's tamed monster or something, but I guess not."

"They might be using some skill to transform into a bird. Better be careful."

"Thanks for the warning, Hablul."

When Deina saw Cardina emerge from the door and reported to the fish-woman Ida with surprise, everyone was shocked to learn that the animal or monster was actually a party member.

Among them, the fishman Hablul warned them to be cautious, just as he did during Nana's match earlier.

Then Ida followed slightly behind Cardina, crossing the single path leading to the circular stage.

Once both stood on the circular stage, the dungeon began explaining the rules.

[Now I will make a cube appear that will follow each of you. For this match, after my starting signal, The first to destroy their opponent's cube wins. Any questions?]

"Peewee!"

"None."

Both shook their heads simultaneously.

Then cubes appeared around Cardina and Ida, slowly orbiting their owners like planets.

When Cardina and Ida tested moving around, the cubes adjusted their positions while continuing to orbit.

[Alright then, let's begin right away! 3, 2, 1... Start!]

"Peewee!"

"Haaaaah!"

They both moved at the same time.

Since Tatsuro had told Cardina that her opponent used lightning and light magic, she built up a thick defensive layer of fine water mesh to catch the lightning, with a second earth layer to ground it like a lightning rod.

At the same time, Ida shot a gleaming bolt of lightning enhanced with light magic straight at Cardina from her staff.

On one side, perfect defense anticipating the opponent's move.

On the other, a probing light-lightning attack to test the waters.

The outcome split clearly into success and failure.

Cardina easily deflected the powerful lightning attack, while her opponent was stunned for a moment realizing her hand had been completely read.

In that momentary opening, Cardina used dispel magic to locate the opponent's cube's position accurately and set up a tiny magic bullet double-coated with water and earth magic.

Then she took aim through the small water mesh and fired.

"---!"

But Ida quickly reacted by creating a lightning wall for defense against the bullet.

However, it was clear which would win between such a hastily made spell and the magic Cardina had built up as a single process.

Though losing some of its earth and water coating, the magic passed through the lightning wall and was drawn to the spot where dispel magic had detected the cube would be.

Then the bullet pierced and destroyed Ida's cube.

The match ended in less than ten seconds from the starting signal.

[Match over! Winner: Cardina! "Tatsuro Team" gains their second victory point! *clap clap, boom boom, poof poof*]

"Peewee!"

"---No way. It's already over...?"

Still unable to believe the ultra-short decisive battle she never expected, Ida stood dazed even after the ending signal.

But Cardina gracefully flew back to Tatsuro and the others.

"Eh..."

Watching that departing figure flying away, Ida stored her staff in her [Item Box] and trudged back dejectedly.

"Peewee!"

"That was a quick victory!"

"Taking them down before they can do anything was probably the safest and best approach."

Tatsuro and Ai welcomed Cardina back, petting her head affectionately, creating a really peaceful atmosphere.

In contrast, the Fornacis side had grown dark.

"It was an instant kill... Sorry, everyone."

"Well, the matchup was bad, so it couldn't be helped I suppose..."

"The fact that they could perfectly counter lightning magic from the start means what Codelros said was true - our information has leaked."

"We should act assuming they know about us beforehand."

Having already lost twice, several members started wondering if they would end without a single victory when the dungeon began announcing the next match method and opponents.

[Well then, let's move right on to the next one. Announcing the third match! *drum roll*....... ta-da! The event is a five-minute cube destruction battle! From Tatsuro's team, Jeanne. From Fornacis, it's a martial arts battle against Mickey!]

"Neigh!"

"Who is this Jeanne? Don't tell me it's that scary-looking woman... Ugh, my stomach is starting to hurt..."

Jeanne was in high spirits.

Mickey, a half-beast person of mixed human and small animal descent, started moving unsteadily while sweating nervously, remembering the terror of having his throat grabbed and being glared at.

But when he realized Jeanne wasn't Athena, he wiped his brow in relief.

Then as they faced each other on the circular stage, the dungeon began explaining the rules.

[For this event, after my starting signal, A large number of cubes will appear on this stage. The winner will be whoever destroys more within five minutes. We can judge the count accurately, so please focus on destroying them. Any questions?]

"Neigh."

"None."

Jeanne and Mickey nodded simultaneously.

Confirming this, the dungeon immediately started counting down the signal.

[Alright then, let's begin right away! 3-]

(For a moment I was worried, but they're clearly just a slow beast. No match for me! Fuhahaha!)

"Neigh..."

Mickey was a swordsman who mainly used daggers, utilizing his speed.

To his eyes, Jeanne appeared sturdy and solid but lacking in mobility.

Though he had zero confidence in cutting through Jeanne's tough skin with his sword, this time they weren't fighting to defeat each other but competing to destroy cubes.

He could win by running around and destroying them while evading.

While Mickey's face twisted into an eerie smile as his inner glee at this thought leaked out, Jeanne thought "What's with this person? So creepy."

[2, 1-- Start!]

With the starting signal, cubes spawned everywhere from the floor and sky.

Mickey took out green and blue metal daggers from his Item Box and began destroying cubes one after another by firing numerous small energy slashes while running.

"Fuhaha! How's this! Against me--"

"Neigh!"

He seemed about to say "You can't keep up with me!" but Jeanne wasn't even listening, running around at a speed that, while not matching Mickey's, was still plenty fast.

Cubes were destroyed whenever they hit any part of Jeanne's body, and she shot Horn Blade from her horn in [Adult Form] state to destroy multiple cubes at once up above.

"Ha, this must be cheating! How can you run so fast!"

"Neigh!"

Thinking "What's this person saying? So weird," Jeanne continued destroying cubes without particularly caring.

Though Mickey had the advantage in speed, he was losing in attack range. He hastily abandoned his complacency and activated his Beast Spirit technique.

"[Lion Claw Blade]!"

"Neigh?"

With those words, five red slashes flew from Mickey's daggers at once.

Looking at the daggers to see what happened, five red energy formations like lion claws had grown from their tips.

And small slashes flying from those five red claws scattered about destroying cubes.

Mickey moved his hands faster than before, beginning to move with all his strength and spirit power invested in the remaining time.

This increased his attack frequency more than fivefold.

With a number of attacks that surpassed even Jeanne's wide range, he began recovering his losing cube count.

Finding this interesting, Jeanne grinned and put more power into her legs to run even faster across the ground.

Meanwhile, during this competition.

Ai was very interested in Mickey's Beast Spirit technique.

"That person suddenly shot five slashes at once after saying 'lion-something' Maybe that's what they call a Beast Spirit technique!"

"Probably. His sword spirit was a lion, and the technique name he just shouted had 'lion' in it, so no doubt about it."

"Wow, you can do things like that. I wonder if he'll use anything else?"

"Probably not right now. He looks really desperate, probably doesn't have time for anything else."

"Aww. Well then, I'll cheer for Jeanne while studying sword Beast Spirit techniques!"

As Tatsuro and the others watched, every minute the dungeon announced how many minutes had passed and the cube count for Jeanne and Mickey.

At four minutes remaining Jeanne was winning, at three minutes she had a slight lead, at two minutes they were nearly tied, and with one minute left, she was slightly behind Mickey.

While it was fun as a competition, naturally Jeanne didn't want to lose.

If she used wind or tree magic, she could probably make a huge comeback even from here.

But doing that would mean instant defeat at that point.

If that was the case, there was no room to hold back.

With that thought, Jeanne decided to show her true form.

"Neiiiiigh!"

"Hm? What--!? That's... not fair..."

"Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!"

"Uwaaaah!"

Whether due to raising her body level or combined with her size, the intimidating presence she wore was like that of a higher dragon species.

Jeanne began moving like she was dancing on the circular stage with that huge body, fully utilizing her long thick tail to sweep the floor in 360 degrees, destroying cubes at an incomparable rate to before.

Meanwhile, Mickey now had to dodge those tail attacks, visibly reducing his attack frequency.

While a hit probably wouldn't kill him, with his small frame it could potentially cause serious injury in the worst case.

And if that wasn't enough, Mickey's now fewer spirit slashes were literally crushed when Jeanne put out her hands hardened with [Super Hardened Skin] in their path.

"Dhyaaah!"

"Neigh!"

"Uhyooo!"

"Neigh!"

It was completely one-sided now.

Jeanne rampaged around while Mickey desperately ran around below trying not to get caught up in it.

At this point, Jeanne's victory was practically decided.

But having come this far, Mickey wanted to make one last desperate attempt.

Even if he was going to lose, he wanted to get one hit in.

This man was usually the most cowardly of the members.

But when truly cornered, Mickey would step forward before anyone else to act as decoy.

And with his quick feet, he always returned safely.

That's the kind of man he was.

That's why, even facing a dragon, a naturally superior being, he felt no trembling or fear, and glared at just one cube right beside Jeanne, refusing to give up on that alone.