{1}

"There's ninety eight partic.i.p.ants, which totals up to forty-nine teams. That's slightly less than the original numbers, but since it will be easier for me to organize everything, I am mighty fine with it."

The suited female instructor stopped her fiddling of a tread-like tobacco, and loudly said,

"Just like what I said, you guys are gonna do team battles in a pair. I've already randomly decided on your opponents, and have already sent the details to your badges. Hurry up and head towards the combat area after you are done confirming your opponents."

"That's it. Hurry, Sheltis, hurry...... let me take a look at your badge, or else I'll hack into it."

"Ah— man, what's with the hurry?"

The badge of Tenketsu Palace

 functions as an ident.i.ty card and a communicator at the same time. Aside from controlling the locks of their room, one can receive instructions and commands via the simple messages sent to their badge.

"Eh? That's strange."

He could find no information about their opponents on the screen behind the card.

A malfunction? Or perhaps the instructor got it wrong or something?

"It's the same for me too. There's no records about our upcoming opponent."

Monica finished meddling around with the screen, and looked downwards with a confused expression on her face.

There were a total of forty-nine teams partic.i.p.ating. As each team will only be facing another pair, there will be a single team left after dividing the teams into twenty four different battles. Due to their late registration, they could be the team that was left out of the battles.

"Oh, I've finally found you. Sheltis, and this is Monica, right? What are you guys hanging around here for?"

The female instructor pried open the surrounding crowd and walked towards them.

"We aren't hanging around. It seems like our opponents haven't been registered into the systems yet......"

"Your opponents are over there. I told you, I've already decided on your opponents."

She pointed the smoking cigarette in a certain direction — it was a dome made of translucent reinforced gla.s.s, used specially for major fights with spectators involved.

"There?"

"Yeah. Your opponents inside should be about done as well."

One could clearly see the clouds of dust inside the dome through the gla.s.s walls.

— That's?

An occasional streak of metallic grey light flashed from within the dirty-yellow and brown clouds of dust. There were also countless lead-colored impacts bouncing off the gla.s.s walls randomly, as though they were trying to destroy the dome.

"Seems like they are done. They will be your opponents. Oi, Jin and I'sa!"

The instructor yelled out as she lit up yet another cigarette.

The dust inside the dome gradually cleared away. With the dust clearing up, they could gradually see the two people inside.

A pet.i.te girl with her golden hair tied in twintails. There were several huge metal b.a.l.l.s floating by her side.

A tall and stout bald male dual gunner, with a pair of heavy pistols in his hands.

Both of them were wearing the ceremonial clothing of the Tenketsu Palace

. However, there was an obviously different air around them as compared to the cadet-guards nearby.

"The dual gunner guy in the half-coat is Jin, while the girl wearing the skirt is Issha. Hurry up and enter. Don't make them wait."

"Instructor, this......? What's going on here?"

Monica turned around to question the Instructor with a soft voice. What she was looking at were the badges located on their left arms.

— The badges of a regular guard.

"I have a faint impression of that puppeteer and the dual gunner. They are the real deal, the regular guards."

Having heard Monica's words, Sheltis directed his sight back to the dome.

There was no need for him to look at the badges on their left arms. The intimidating presence of the two people were more than enough proof that they really were the regular guards of Tenketsu Palace

.

"You scared?"

"N-Nothing like that......! It's just that the difference in strength is too overwhelming."

"It's fine. Let's go."

He gave a pat on Monica's shoulders, before turning around to face the dome.

"Don't worry. Since I was the one who invited you to be on the team, I'll think up of something."

"Do we....... have a chance of winning?"

"Well, the probability's not zero. Moreover, we will have to face them sooner or later anyway, should we want to become a regular guard or even higher. Isn't that right?"

If the aim is to become the guard of the highest rank, the 'Sennens.h.i.+'.

There is no longer any no room for retreat. That was the resolve he had since returning to Tenketsu Palace

.

"That's right, just go in and fight. The results will be for later."

As the happy voice of the instructor rang from behind them, the two of them walked towards the battlefield made of gla.s.s.

The dome has a circ.u.mference of about thirty meters wide. The internal terrain is a replica of the mountainous areas made up of sand and jutting rocks.

"A signal will be fired three minutes later. The battle shall start with the sound of the gun."

The instructor's voice blared through the speakers on the ceiling.

...... Right, what's next?

There was a distance of at least twenty meters between them and the two regular guards. Their opponents seemed to be discussing something as they looked towards them, but it was impossible to hear them from such a far distance.

"Monica's weapon is that pair of crossed rods

 right? Can you use any long-ranged weapons?"

"Sorry, I only know how to use this. What about you aside from your dual swords?"

"It's the same for me too."

"It will be a real headache for you two to face the dual gunner, since the both of you are close-ranged fighters. Not only does he have quick reflexes, due to him being a regular guard, his typical training consists of him accurately shooting down cherries that are a distance of fifty meters away. In a caged dome arena like this, there is probably no place where you two can escape."

As such, they would have to force the battle into a close-ranged one. However, there was an obstacle to that.

A regular-guard who is a s.h.i.+nryoku-pract.i.tioner — the female 'puppeteer' standing next to the dual gunner.

They are guards who do not rely on martial arts for combat. Different from the s.h.i.+nryoku arts of the Priestesses and apprentice-Priestesses, they utilize s.h.i.+nryoku arts that have been specially modified for combat. One of the many forms of a s.h.i.+nryoku-pract.i.tioner is a puppeteer.

"I think you should know already. Puppets are objects that have received s.h.i.+nryoku from their hosts, who will then fight by remotely controlling the puppets. She may look small, but we cannot allow ourselves to drop our guard."

Monica lifted her crossed rods

 calmly.

"Her puppets are the four spheres on the ground. It's size is about the size of a child's hugs, but their weight should be at around fifty kilograms each. If she is controlling them via s.h.i.+nryoku, then the range of control...... should be about twenty meters."

"Prior to getting close to the far-ranged dual gunner, we'll have to deal with the puppeteer who is in control of the mid-range...... Speaking of which, you know quite a lot about these things."

"That puppeteer named Issha is a well known s.h.i.+nryoku-pract.i.tioner among the regular guards."

She shrugged her shoulders as a matter of factly.

"So? Do we focus on her first?"

"That's about the only thing we can do. However, we will be easy targets for the dual gunner if we are to move together. The opponents will probably expect us to do the same as well."

Sheltis s.h.i.+fted his sight to the dual gunner for a brief moment, before focusing on onto the puppeteer girl again.

"So we might as well go for a one-on-one tactic. I'll try to finish the girl, and then we'll both gang up on the dual gunner."

"...... You want to take on the puppeteer, who is a regular guard, alone?"

"Mmm. As for Monica, try your best to divert the attention of the dual gunner— here we go!"

*Boom!*

The signal shook the gla.s.s. At the same time, Sheltis and Monica leaped off in two different directions.

{2}

Leon replied before h