Vol. 15 - Ch. 26 - Second Round of the Ultimate Clan Tournament Qualifiers

The second round of the Ultimate Clan Tournament qualifiers had begun.

“The first match is mine, meow!”

“You got this, Merdie!”

Merdie, the first contestant from Halt’s clan, Familia, for this round, stepped onto the battle stage. Her opponent was a bald man with a deep scar across his face, gripping a short dagger.

“…I don’t usually like fighting women or kids unlike the others, but that doesn’t mean I plan on losing. If you don’t want to get hurt, you should forfeit now.”

This guy was no joke. He is one of the top fighters in the B-rank clan, Baizel, and a B-rank adventurer himself. Despite his rough appearance, he actually seemed like a decent person.

“Thanks for the warning, meow. But don’t worry… At your level —”

Merdie vanished.

The match had already begun.

“You won’t even be able to see my attacks, meow.”

“Wha—?!”

The man collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thud.

In an instant, Merdie had slipped behind him and knocked him out with a lightning-fast hand chop.

The first match was over in seconds, and it was Merdie’s victory.

—*** —-

Next up was Leaffa. 

The fighters were going in the order Halt signed them to participate.

“Please go easy on me.”

“Hmph! The first match ended up like that just because that guy fought a beastkin! Beastkin are strong! Losing to one isn’t surprising, it can’t be helped. But you—you're just a weak little elf, not to mention you’re just a girl! No way I’m losing to an elf girl!”

The short-haired man tried to hype himself up. 

He wasn’t the most confident guy, but he had the best magic skills in his clan.

However—

“Wind Arrow!”

“Gwaaahhh!?”

Leaffa’s wind magic sent him flying.

—*** —-

Akari was the third in line.

“Okay, here I go!”

Akari casually extended her arm, aimed with her fingers, and—

“Boom!”

“—!?”

The moment she flicked her finger, a compressed air bullet shot out, slamming into her opponent and launching him off the stage. However, she had perfected her control this time around. The man crashed to the ground, unconscious, without even touching the magic barrier Halt had set up around the stage.

“Yup, perfect.”

Satisfied, Akari hopped off the stage.

—*** —-

“Y-You gotta be kidding me! Who the hell are you people!?”

Baizel’s clan leader—who was now up as the fourth fighter—shouted at his opponent, Hakua. 

His teammates had been completely wiped out by what looked like a group of young girls, and he was losing his cool.

“Your clan is only C-rank! How is this even happening?!”

“Is being C-rank a problem? I don’t really get it, but if I win, Halt will praise me. So… sorry, but I have to do this.”

Hakua opened her mouth wide.

A beam of light shot out.

“Argh, that was close!!”

“…Huh?”

Baizel’s leader had dodged the attack, surprising Hakua.

After seeing his teammates get floored, the clan leader had already figured out that Familia was not weak. The moment Hakua opened her mouth, his instincts screamed at him to move, allowing him to dodge the attack that was powerful enough to shake Halt’s barrier.

That decision saved his life.

If he had stayed put… he would’ve been obliterated.

“Hakua! You went overboard!!”

“Aww… Halt scolded me.”

Halt warned her from outside the ring, so Hakua shrunk back, looking dejected. She had been excited to fight, but as a colored dragon—the strongest monster species in the world—holding back was incredibly difficult for her.

“…Maybe like this?”

“Gahh!”

Hakua spun in a slow circle and smacked the Baizel leader with her tail.

It was still a bit too strong for a human, but at least it wasn’t fatal.

And just like that, Hakua secured another win without accidentally killing her opponent.

For the members of Familia, going all out wasn’t the hard part. Holding back enough to leave their opponents alive, however,  posed a real challenge to them.

—*** —-

In that regard, Lilia and Sally were the best. They were former soldiers from the beastkin kingdom of Vestia and had been trained to subdue enemies without killing them.

Their opponents were both C-rank male adventurers. The moment the match started, they took them down with ease.

With six wins, Familia had secured their victory. However, the Baizel adventurers weren’t having it.

“No way we’re gonna accept this! How the heck did we lose to a bunch of kids?!”

“Hey, ref! They must’ve been using support magic or something! No way this was legit!”

The men, humiliated by their crushing defeat at the hands of an all-female clan, lashed out in frustration. They were desperate to make excuses, accusing Familia of cheating.

“They had people outside the ring boosting them!”

“They only sent in girls to make us lower our guard!”

“This is dirty fighting!!”

Familia currently has a total of 28 members. Since only a few were fighting, the rest could have supported them. That’s what Baizel’s adventurers were claiming.

Naturally, Halt’s team had done no such thing. Their sheer difference in strength made it completely unnecessary in the first place. In fact, if Luna—their support magic specialist—had actually buffed them, their opponents wouldn’t have survived.

Not that Baizel’s team cared about logic. Their anger boiled over, and they finally snapped and became violent outside the ring.

“No way we’re letting these punks humiliate us!”

One of them, wielding a broadsword, charged straight at Halt.

“Burn them to ashes! Explosion!!”

“Pierce through! Earth Spear!!”

Two mages with canes fired their spells at him.

The explosion and the spear rising from the ground rushed toward Halt and his group. However, the attack was completely absorbed by two girls.

“Phew.”

“Thanks for the meal.”

“…W-What?”

“They ate the magic?!?”

Slime girls Sui and Su possessed the “Magic Immunity” skill. To them, enemy spells were nothing more than a meal of energy that would replenish their mana.

Meanwhile, the swordsman was still charging at Halt.

“Stay away—”

“—from Halt-sama!!”

“Ugh!”

Two swords clashed, blocking the attack. Keith and Aria had stepped in. For them—warriors strong enough to slay elemental dragons—B-rank and C-rank fighters were nothing more than practice dummies.

“This battle is over.” (Keith) 

“But if you really wanna keep going –” (Aria)

“We’ll go all out.” (Keith and Aria)

“Hiiiiiiiiii!!!”

The two automatas were furious. Someone had dared to target Halt, their Grandmaster. Their intense bloodlust filled the air as they pointed their swords at the man who had tried to strike Halt. Frozen in fear, he couldn’t move a muscle.

There were still a few Baizel adventurers who were ready to pounce, but as soon as Familia’s members took their battle stances, their resolve crumbled.

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down. We already won this match.” 

Clan infighting during the Ultimate Clan Tournament was strictly forbidden, especially in front of hundreds of spectators. Since Baizel had broken this rule in plain sight, harsh penalties were inevitable. With that in mind, Halt decided to leave before things got any messier.

"Alright, time to head out!"

"Yeees!"

And just like that, Familia, led by Halt, advanced to the third round.

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