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Chapter 114: The Divine Hand of Uchimura

"Miyuki-chan?"

My mind blanked out, and cold sweat trickled down my spine.

What's going on? Wait, did I leave her at the spot where I was raising Bahamut earlier? No, that can't be. I distinctly remember holding her until I joined the queue.

And then, I ascended to the battle zone, and next... what comes next!?

Suddenly, my fingertips went cold, and I felt a numbness as if blood wasn't flowing.

"Can't find her. Miyuki-chan is gone."

Frantically, I scanned the queue area, but there was no sign of the shopping bag.

In the midst of frustration, my eyes welled up with tears.

Even a slight blink might unleash a waterfall of tears.

Probably, I should check inside the shop, I thought, about to approach the staff.

"Just now, challenger Toshiyuki-kun has completed the monster battle!!"

Damn it! The final match is about to start, and I can't stop here. This is maddening.

Since realizing Miyuki-chan's disappearance, my thoughts have been in disarray.

I should focus on the game, but my eyes keep wandering towards the queue.

"This time, Uchimura-san is taking time with monster deployment. Is he feeling the tension for the last defense battle?"

"Huh?"

Turning my head to the gaming screen after the announcer's words, they were already indicating each other's monsters and deciding the deployment order.

Damn it. With my mind all over the place, I couldn't grasp what monster he sent out!

Calm down, Uchimura. First, concentrate on the tournament.

Win just one more time, and I'll get a prize of 20,000 yen. Then I can buy another figure.

I have 2,200 yen left, and with the 20,000 yen prize, I'll have a total of 4,800 yen in my pocket.

... The calculations seem off, but anyway, it's a gain of 2,200 yen compared to the beginning!

The problem is not knowing what monster he will summon. In this situation, it's best to face it with a standard strategy, right?

Place high-damage monsters in front and quickly end the battle, then check inside the store. Maybe I left it on the bench where I was raising Bahamut.

Phew! As soon as my self-proclaimed swordsman appeared on the screen, the opponent's monster showed up.

"Royal Guard!?"

Damn it. The matchup is not favorable. The Royal Guard, the final evolution of the shield infantry, boasted formidable defense with full-body armor.

Kang! As expected, my swordsman's sword couldn't pierce through.

The opponent blocked my swordsman's Iaido with a huge shield, countering with a shield bash skill that both defended and dealt damage at the same time.

This guy's weakness is ranged magic attacks like the flames of Faya or the lightning attack of Pikachu, but my swordsman didn't have such special techniques.

I tried to use my ultimate skill, Cross Slash, as a last resort, but the Royal Guard completely nullified the damage with its absolute defense skill, pushing my swordsman further into a corner.

In the end, the first round against him was my perfect defeat.

"He's strong. This guy... is on a different level than the kids I've been fighting so far. He's a guy who knows tactics."

It felt like falling from heaven to hell in an instant. But I still had four monsters left.

Pang! Moving on to the second round, the monster I summoned was the water-type Kobugi.

Despite its cute turtle appearance, it could deliver a powerful blow with the water cannon mounted on its shell. However, a serious problem emerged.

That problem was the monster he summoned on the other side, the Thunder God 'Odin'...

Among the summon-type monsters, Odin boasted the top class after Bahamut, the Thunder God.

My Kobugi's water cannon couldn't deal any damage to the Thunder God.

And perfectly read, I had to kneel before his lightning strike in the second battle as well.

A swift 2-loss, it was a painful blow.

"I have nowhere else to retreat. If I lose even once more, it's my defeat."

"Ah~!! Toshiyuki-kun. Did you use some cunning tactic? How can you consecutively bring out monsters that ruthlessly exploit the opponent's weaknesses!!"

The announcer, getting excited, gradually raised his voice, setting the atmosphere in the arena.

The kids watching the battle began cheering for Toshiyuki, probably portraying me as the ultimate villain who easily defeated the kids so far.

However, for me, Toshiyuki was a presence more wicked than a demon.

"Just one more time... Just win one more time, and I can get the prize money!!"

With an earnest shout in my heart, along with it, the third monster appeared on the screen.

The monster I summoned was a Shield Infantry. If it wasn't a long-range magic-type monster, I had some confidence in defense.

Pang! Fortunately, the monster he summoned was a Samurai.

Looking at Toshiyuki's expression, I expected Pikachu to appear, so it was unexpectedly amusing.

The 'Samurai' carries only one sword, a 'Nin-ken'.

Its attack power was comparable to the Iaido of my swordsman, but if it was a shield infantry, it was a worthy opponent. But there was one thing to be cautious about - its skill.

'Issen '.

In an instant. It's the Samurai's skill that can instantly kill the enemy with a 30% probability.

Even though it's my preemptive attack in the third battle, I commanded the Shield Infantry to defend against the potential skill.

Kang~!!

The Shield Infantry's health is 73. Due to the just-defended attack, it took 6 damage, but with the activation of the 'Shield Bash' skill, the Samurai also received 5 damage.

Despite the seemingly even exchange, given the much higher health of the Shield Infantry, tactically, it was advantageous for me.

What he's aiming for now is the skill that can overturn the outcome with a single blow, 'Issen.'

I was defensively blocking his attacks like a turtle hiding its body under its shell.

'I won't let my guard down. If I continue like this, you'll eventually lose!!'

But contrary to my expectations, the Samurai's 'Issen' didn't activate no matter how long I waited.

And in that moment, once again, my fingertip, about to press the Shield Bash button, stopped.

"Could this guy be...! Is he aiming for the Guard damage!?"

'Issen' has a 30% chance of instantly killing the enemy, but even if that's not the case, it could deal a tremendous amount of damage to the opponent.

Given the damage I've dealt so far with Shield Bash, the Samurai's health must be on the edge. The reason he insists on a normal attack to this extent is to use a skill that exceeds my remaining health.

Swiftly, I stopped my finger about to press the Shield Bash skill, changed the skill to 'Absolute Defense' with the directional keys, and cast it.

And my prediction turned out to be accurate.

-Issen-

With the full screen filled with the characters '一閃,' the Samurai's formidable skill was unleashed.

Kaaaah!!!!

"Wow~!!"

Spontaneous admiration burst from the mouths of the kids watching the screen due to the spectacular performance.

"The extraordinary skill of the Samurai!! Issen has been unleashed! How will Uchimura-san's Shield Infantry's skill fare!? Aaah!!! Absolute Defense!!!!"

"Wow~!!"

Kwaaaah!!

For a moment, as two skills flashed on the screen, my Shield Infantry, standing firm with a shield, appeared. The damage was 0 due to the effect of Absolute Defense.

Toshiyuki's face darkened.

Realizing that the Samurai's health was nearly depleted, I released the guard and focused on the attack.

As a result, I could barely win the 3rd round.

'Not over yet. It's not over yet...'

"It's truly a breathtaking offense and defense as we enter the 5th round. Now!! Uchimura-san's formidable monster, Bahamut, makes its appearance!!"

"Wow~!! This is my first time seeing Bahamut for real!!"

"Black Dragon Bahamut. Awesome, it looks amazing. That Uchimura person is going to win, right?"

The sound of the audience anticipating my victory echoed as Bahamut made its entrance.

I did it. I succeeded.

As a summon-type monster, Bahamut was close to a perfect monster with no weaknesses. The reactions of the audience foreseeing my victory were not unreasonable.

"Facing off against the ultimate summon, Toshiyuki's monster!! Huh? Pororis...?"

"Eeh!? Pororis, you say. It was doing so well, why did it deploy such a feeble monster at the end? Did he plan to keep the suspense until the 4th round?"

As Bahamut faced off against the character of a squirrel holding an acorn, the audience was shocked by the appearance of a relatively weak monster.

Of course, some might have noticed Pororis when checking each other's monster deployments, but it seemed that everyone had completely forgotten Pororis' existence during the battles.

'Luckily, things seem to be resolving easily at the end...'

With a nonchalant expression, I looked at Pororis, which was playing with the acorn, and chuckled.

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