Chapter 726

726: Initial Exchange of Blows

『The day of the semi-finals has finally arrived! We have a great lineup of contestants again this year! For the first match, both contestants are already on the stage!』

Every single seat was filled, and not just the regular seats. The special seats and the VIP seats, which used to have some empty spaces, were also packed.

That shows how much attention is audience is paying to this match.

『Here is the first seed, who conquered several hard-fought battles on her path to the top. It's Fran the Black Lightning Princess! She is here in the semi-finals for the second year in a row! Will this be the year she becomes champion!? She makes her entrance already awakened and is now clad in black lightning!』

A roar of cheers shakes the arena as the live commentary introduces her. The audience was loud enough in the previous matches, but today they were even louder.

『Against her is the adventurer guildmaster of Ulmutt and an active rank A adventurer! Diaz the 'Dragon Repeller'. Who could have expected an active guildmaster to participate in this tournament!? Will his battle-hardened experience stop the youngster's momentum? Or, will that youthful energy overcome the wisdom of age? This is one match everyone is watching!』

Fran and Diaz were even more excited than the crowd on the outside.

They exchanged sharp glances and made no attempt to hide their killing intent. If there had been no barrier, many of the spectators would have been too overcome by the deadly atmosphere to watch in peace.

「Simple is good. Whoever wins here is the winner of the bet.」

「Nn.」

Those were the only words exchanged between the two. Still, they're both going seriously for a kill straight from the start. That much was clear.

Diaz wants to win the bet and end his twisted obsession with his own hands.

Fran wants to win to protect Zelos Reed and Romeo. And to overcome the big wall that prevented us from moving forward last year.

But there was one matter of great concern.

『Fran, how are you feeling?』

（A little heavy.）

『I see……』

The wear and tear from the Sibylla battle had not healed as well as we had hoped. It seems that the divine attribute she had attained on her own had affected Fran's body more seriously than we had expected.

She was still a bit sluggish, so it was hard to say she was in top condition.

『Let's go, just like we planned.』

「Nn.」

The opponent is a skilled expert in devious techniques, and we're not in top form. That's why we were ready to put everything into this strategy.

『Now then, may the first match of the semifinals… begin!』

「Raaaaah!」

At the very moment the match began, Fran made her move.

What Fran dished out was… a serious Heavenly Judgment.

With full usage of her skills and power, she unleashes the best blow she can. She was only able to manage about 70% of her peak speed, but that alone is plenty.

Diaz is indeed strong. If we get caught by his illusion magic, the match could turn into a one-sided beatdown.

But at this moment, the beginning of the match, we could be absolutely certain of Diaz's location.

Diaz is not able to react at all. Even he could not avoid the Heavenly Judgment at this speed.

As Abarb said in the previous match, Diaz's defense is not so strong, and it would be impossible for him to take a direct hit of the Heavenly Judgment unscathed.

Then, there is a possibility that this attack will end the match――

「Ugh? Eh?」

『Fran!?』

Fran's awakening was suddenly broken. The sudden change in her physical abilities causes her to lose control of the Heavenly Judgment, and she loses her balance.

The centrifugal force almost made Fran fall down on the spot, and I hurriedly supported her with telekinesis.

『Are you okay?!』

「Nn…… But why?」

『It's Diaz's 'Skill Amnesia' skill!』

I never imagined it would work on awakening.

Skill Amnesia: The target forgets the existence of the specified skill for a certain period of time. The duration depends on the level and rarity of the skill. Maximum duration of one minute. Time before re-use depends on the level and rarity of the skill.

「When a beastman's awakening is forcibly canceled, they will lose control of their own magic power, which then turns back to damage the user. I knew you were going to try something at the start! That's why I had the source of your power sealed!」

It wasn't that Diaz didn't react; he had no need to react. He knew that this would happen if awakening was canceled in the middle of a big move.

「Guh……!」

『Fran!』

Diaz is right, the magic is out of control and is raging inside Fran. She is desperately trying to control it, but it doesn't seem to work well when Fran is in an un-awakened state.

Meanwhile, Diaz lunged at us. The smile on his face is not the usual mischievous one. It is the smile of a hunter who has trapped his prey.

「Shh!」

「Gah!」

He easily got a hit in! Immediately after she ducks the fake fist created by illusion magic, Fran's thigh is slightly slashed.

While his created illusions launch feint attacks, his main body launches the real attacks after turning invisible. This is the bread and butter strategy for illusionists, but Diaz's illusions were so elaborate that he could not be compared to the illusionists we had fought in the past.

They seem to be able to reproduce presence, sounds, and even smells. It was so real that we could not tell the difference from the real thing.

Fran jumped to distance herself from Diaz, who was trying to keep up the pressure. But then she frowned slightly.

「My leg, it's weird.」

『What?』

When I checked Fran's leg, I found that the thigh cut by Diaz had not regenerated.

《Traces of life magic discovered. Believed to have the effect of blocking regeneration for a short period of time.》

『Seriously!』

Is it a property of Diaz's weapon? I tried to confirm it, but could not. Appraisal is a skill that allows you to know information about what you see. The skill could not be activated if he had made himself invisible using illusion magic.

When I appraised it before the match started, I'm sure it was the usual dragonfang dagger. He must have secretly replaced it with a different one mid-match.

『Fran! Watch out for Diaz's weapon.』

「Nn.」

That said, we don't know the shape, the length, or the abilities of the weapon, so there's not much we can do to take care. Like I thought, Diaz's cunning is a real pain.

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