“From here on, if we defeat the final boss-level opponents, we can turn the tide.”
At the gate of the 12th circle, the knights of Benio clenched their teeth. The victory was taken for granted. They thought they would enjoy the cheers, only to face such humiliation.
“Everyone, snap out of it!” With the captain’s shout, the door to the 12th circle finally opened.
“Damn it…”
However, as the fog cleared, the sight that unfolded made them gasp in disbelief.
“It seems the Department of Magic has decided to make a mockery of us. Damn those b*stards.”
Even though they clearly knew it was being broadcast live, the knights of Benio ended up swearing. Their pride could not be shattered any further.
“Uurgh!”
“Kikikikik!”
In the meantime, a monster suddenly struck the knights on the back of their heads and passed by.
“What?” But when they turned around, they saw nothing.
“Sigh, Captain. The problem isn’t the score; in this state, we can’t even tell where Ataensik is.”
Indeed. The 12th circle was a maze of intertwined walls. With the view blocked, the difficulty could only increase.
“Eek! Where are these crazy things coming from!”
“Kyu! Kyu!” Monsters popped out and hid again throughout the maze.
“Kieekieek!”
Even in the sky, Blawing was flying. Blawing, a boss-level monster of the 4th circle, was now playing the role of a nuisance here.
“Oh gosh, look, Ataensik is right there in the center. Just look.”
“It must be boring to be doing that.”
However, from the spectator seats, the interior of the maze was fully visible. Ataensik, the final boss of the 12th circle, was flicking its tail and frolicking. Under normal circumstances, there would have been no time to watch a monster’s antics from the beginning of the game…
“Kieeek! Kieeeek!”
“Aargh!”
“Oh my, is it wagging its tail?”
This time, the spectators had the leisure to watch the monster’s antics.
“Ah, this won’t do.”
The knights of Benio decided to advance by defeating the monsters in front of them first.
“We should kill that Blawing b*stard first.”
“Hiik, hiik!”
“Don’t you remember during the fourth circle? Even all of us together couldn’t beat that one. How could we, aagh!”
However, Blawing flapped its wings in the air, leaving them completely trapped.
“What do we do! We can’t move a step because of that b*stard!”
The audience murmured as they watched the stalemate.
“This time, the knights of Felicite might have a hard time too, given how complicated the maze is.” “
Right. There’s nowhere to step.”
But then.
“Kiiiik!”
The Blawing, which was flying so ridiculously fast, flapped.
“Kkik, Kkik!”
It flapped its wings violently as if trying to drop something.
“What’s happening?”
“Oh my, look over there!”
At that moment, people’s eyes landed on Blawing’s shoulder.
“…My goodness.”
Instead of cheers, admiration burst from the spectator stands. There was a man with red hair riding on it.
“Kiiiik!”
Blawing seemed to scream as if to say, ‘How dare a human ride on me’.
“…”
But the man looked down without a hint of shaking.
“This… is this really not staged?”
“Did the Felicite ducal family decide to build a new building for the Department of Magic?”
The knights of Benio, having lost their fighting spirit at the sight before them, gaped in astonishment.
“Ah.” But then, the man who had discovered something smiled slightly. His red lips under the mask drew an arc.
Bang, bang!
“Kwaaaak!”
Ataensik flinched from the sudden attack. Flames burst from its tail, hissing as it demolished the maze walls.
“Uaargh!”
The knights couldn’t even approach the heat and covered their faces.
“Waaaaah!” Cheers erupted every time the man on Blawing pulled the trigger. So now…
“Is this even possible?”
The knights of Felicite seemed to be playing with the monster rather than hunting it.
“Long live the Felicite family!”
The spectators cheered at the bizarre scene. But the other knights and magicians could only be perplexed.
“Isn’t riding on its back cheating?”
“It’s not cheating. Well, as long as you capture a high-level monster by any means.”
The judges, having no need to distribute points, put down their pens.
“This is really maddening.”
Nobles from various families, embarrassed by their knights being merely toyed with, started to leave one by one. However, among them…
“…”
Siani watched the hologram with her arms crossed. It was inevitable that this scene would decorate the cover of fashion magazines for a while.
* * *
Before the hunting competition began, I was indeed worried. The knights banded together because the number of bullets each person could use was limited. In other words, they planned to finish off the minor monsters with one or two shots and save the remaining bullets for the final boss. But my children… insisted on entering each circle one by one.
“If you go into a circle alone, you’ll run out of bullets by the time you face the boss.”
“Why? All we have to do is aim for the final boss of each circle, right?’
“Yes?”
That’s why I became particularly anxious as the competition approached.
“Waaaaah! Long live Felicite family!”
But is this the joy of having a genius? Although I was managing my expression, pride swelled up as I watched with my own eyes.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Waaaaah!” Once again, a huge cheer pierced the sky.
“Kweeeek!”
Vallentin, on top of Blawing, brought down Ataensik without a chance for resistance. The way he loaded the Astra was different, showing how much he had trained.
“What, is this the end? I trained like a dog only to see a monster on this level?” Vallentin’s grumbling was broadcast live through the hologram.
Hmm. It was indeed praiseworthy but slightly too honest.
“This might lead the Felicite ducal family to win with the highest score ever.”
“Ah, Minister.”
At that moment, the Minister of Magic approached me with a look of trouble. Hmm, no matter how hard I prepared, I could see both interest and desperation on his face as he muttered.
“Princess, where are those knights fro—”
“Waaaaah!”
But the Minister’s words were drowned out by a burst of huge cheers. The cheers were deafening, more so than at any other time during the game.
“Oh, it seems the final stage, the 13th circle, has opened.”
Indeed. The final gate was opening.
“Ah…”
Without realizing it, I took a step towards the hologram. As the dense fog cleared, revealing a secretive space the moment it appeared.
“If there’s a problem with your knights today,”
I clenched the ring in my hand, making a vow.
“It’s your fault, Siani.”
Ash’s words would never come true.
* * *
“Now, if we conquer the 13th circle, all the scores up to now will be overturned.”
The captain of the Benio knights growled fiercely. If the contest ended like this, the shield emblem of the Benio family on their chests would become a laughingstock. Such humiliation was absolutely, absolutely unacceptable.
“After this door opens, no matter what happens, we must charge.”
“…”
The knights once again seemed to brace themselves, staring at the door.
“Knights of Benio, valiant and brave!”
At that moment, the dense fog spread out…
“As soon as the door opens, no matter what you see, just charge.”
Creak, the door opened with a sound.
“Now, let’s all jump to attack Vishnusin… Wait, hold on.”
But the knights, who had been emitting a fierce aura, hesitated. A knight’s pride was their life. Hence, this contest was a matter of life and death, and they were prepared to face death. However,
“I have a bad feeling, Captain.”
“…This place looks just like the mansion of a fallen noble family.”
The sight of a dark, seemingly death-lurking darkness made their bodies freeze. In front of them stretched a very long and dark corridor. Unlike other circles, not a single monster appeared, and all was quiet. With no obstacles, it was the best situation for advancing. But this eerie silence strangled them stronger than any monster.
“What do we do, captain?”
“That is…”
At that moment. Bang, bang!
“Aaagh!”
“Heuuk…!”
The sound of gunfire made the knights cover their ears. Somehow, every sound seemed abnormally sharp.
“W-w-who is it!”
“…”
A half-closed door was shattered by bullets and broke apart. They looked at a man entering from the starting point. Even in the darkness, his blue eyes felt chilling.
“Move aside. Don’t get in the way.”
Ah, the last was a man with silver hair.
This is my favorite novel! Please stay well . I dont want you to overwork yourself translating but this read ahead function is wonderful ❤️ Thank you for updating often
Oh my, thank you for your sweet words, Baby Girl ★~(◠ω◕✿). Hope you stay well too~