High School Hack and Slash Chapter 136 Part 1
Glory of the Goddess
―― the peripheral world 『BIBLIOTHECA』, the glazed myth 『＊＊＊＊』――
――『Poem of Champion Reaching the Realm of God』, 『Stands』 domain ――
「Good morning, everyone! As it was yesterday, for today’s live coverage, too, I, Resu, and…」
「Yes. I, Kome, from the academy newspaper’s announcement department, will serve as your host.」
On the live broadcast seats set up on the stands, the two girls were bowing to the camera set up there.
Wireless communication was not available in the academy, but electronic devices could work normally.
Today, too, members of the newspaper club with digital cameras in their hands had been deployed to all over the audience seats.
「Well then, the second day of the inter-club tournament is about to begin, isn’t it? Kome-san.」
「Yes, Resu-san. I guess it can be said that the real main tournament is finally about to begin.」
The lower-ranked clubs that had managed to secure a place in the main tournament thanks to the benefit of the special rules adopted in the qualifying round were weeded out on the first day.
The clubs that won through the first day could be said to be the powerhouse factions even among the dungeon groups.
「Now then, we have some time before the start of the ceremony, so I would like to review the rules for this time’s main tournament.」
As a prerequisite for recording video, it was necessary to explain the rules to the target audience.
Even if it was a faux media that was treated as a nutcase, the people in question worked on gossip with sincerity.
「The base style is『party vs. party』 match, and the victory condition is the『annihilation』 of the party members.」
「Yeah, yes. I guess it can be said to be a PvP match with the simplest rules. Though, reflecting on the rules of PvP matches that have been adopted in the past tournaments, there are also other rules such as『base matches』, in which players defend the flag on their camp, and『escort matches』, in which the victory is decided when the Taishou is defeated.」
「The stage decorations are also set on default setting, so as expected, does that mean they’re putting emphasis on time-saving?」
「Yeah, talk about shoddy, is it not? If they had set it as an urban battle or a forest battle, that would have be a little more pleasing to the eyes, but—.」
As it was a facility that made use of ruins of a raid, doing environment setting on the stage field was not impossible.
There was a need to inject a proportional amount of crystals, but they would be able to build a studio set at will.
Currently, the stages arranged on the arena field were four in number.
On the cobblestone paved stage, there were no human figures yet.
In the audience seats surrounding the circular field, there were the figures of students that numbered more than the day before.
Today’s matches that would decide the『A』 ranks, and tomorrow’s『S』 rank decisive matches would be a supernatural battle worth watching.
For many students, it was a perfect event to kill time.
Fireworks were shot into the sky from the outer edge of the Colosseum.
*Boom boom boom* The sound cannon of white smoke was echoing in the blue sky.
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―― the peripheral world 『BIBLIOTHECA』, the glazed myth 『＊＊＊＊』――
――『Poem of Champion Reaching the Realm of God』, 『Livestock Stable of the Foolish King』 domain ――
「Touma, sa… Touma-san Touma-san Touma-san Touma-san….」
「Please calm down. Shizu-nee-sama, it’s all right. It’s going to be alright, okay.」
Saki, hugging the shivering and trembling Shizuka, patted her on the back as if she were soothing a child.
The moment they took a step into the other world (raid) domain, the room they were transported to was a prison in the name of『waiting room』.
A trap that every dungeon attacker would have experienced at least once.
It was a gimmick of『Teleporter』, a forced space transfer.
The players, who had gotten into the waiting room they had walked on their own yesterday, were also slightly surprised by the surprise, but felt no sense of discomfort.
They only thought it as a matter of increasing the amount of crystals that were thrown into the arena and increasing the strength of the gimmick.
Many of the students selected as players were cripples who had gotten that much familiar with the absurdity known as dungeons.
「Wait a minute, what happened, or rather, what is going on? Where is Seiichi? Hey, hey?」
「Y, you too, Mai-chan, calm down. I, I haven’t the faintest idea either, though.」
「Deep breath! Let’s take a deep breath. Alright, suu haa, suu haa….」
Shizuka was not the only one distraught.
As Mai and Otoha fell into a state of confusion, Mikan, with her hand on her chest, was breathing deeply to put it in order.
The ones that were present in the same chamber domain as yesterday were only the five of Shizuka, Saki, Mai, Mikan and Otoha.
The figures of Touma and Seiichi were nowhere to be seen.
「There must be a reason. Let’s properly think about the cause, alright? It’s exactly at a time like this that we have to stay calm, after all.」
「Y, you’re right… To fall into panic so unseemly, it was so unlike me, an adult woman, wasn’t it?」
「Err… Y, yes. You’re right, Otoha-chan.」
As Otoha sagely nodded her head, Mikan gave her a gentle smile.
Presently, it was not like anything had happened or anything.
It was simply that their comrades had ended up being separated.
「It’s all right. Danna-sama and Seiichi-san should be together.」
「How can you be so sure about that, Sacchin?!」
「Because this is a raid quest, and such are the rules, that’s all I know.」
As Mai snapped at her, Saki made a slightly troubled face but harbored no ill will.
She just didn’t know what to say.
「You say raid quest, but this place is not inside the dungeon, you know?」
「No, wait a minute, Mikan-chan… Saki-chan, does that mean『Tartarus Arena』 has been resurrected?」
She slightly shook her head at Otoha’s words, whose complexion was turning pale.
「Err, you see. It’s not a quest called Tartarus Arena, but one in which a throng of quest called『Epic Poem (Epic Quest)』 was the main body, apparently.」
「Apparently, you say.」
「I didn’t really understand when I had it explained to me, but it seems that it was that type of quest. Shizu-nee-sama told me so.」
Shizuka, who was being held in Saki’s chest, stirred with a twitch.
Shizuka being distraught was not because she could not see the figure of Touma.
It was because she had felt the disconnection of her connection with him through the『essence crystal (soul device)』 that had been assimilated into Touma’s right hand.
It was the same as the disconnection she felt in the domain of the Lore raid『Moby Dick』 that they had conquered in the past.
Realizing that sensation, Shizuka slowly calmed herself down.
「… It is, all right now.」
「Nee-sama.」
「What you said that just now, I said that to you, didn’t I, Saki?」
As Shizuka looked up from her meagerly developed breasts, Saki nodded to her.
「I have had a sense of foreboding since a little while ago… No, me feeling no sense of foreboding is the sense of foreboding in and of itself. That is how it is, is it not?」
「Yes. As expected of you, Shizu-nee-sama.」
「Then, I guess it would be useless even if we were to ask about it. Saki, I believe you.」
Inside Shizuka’s arms as she embraced her back, Saki, who was about to open her mouth, gritted her teeth.
「Phew… Awright, I’ve calmed down, too. In short, something incomprehensible is happening again, right? It’s just the usual thing, then.」
「A, ahaha. I know, right?」
「Well, sure enough. If it’s the duo of Touma-kun and Seiichi-kun, I bet they’ll manage somehow or another no matter what happens anyway. On the contrary, the problem is our side, right?」
The cause of the separation was unknown, but those that were left behind were only five in number.
If the match were to start in this situation, the two reserve members would automatically become regular members.
「I mean, you see… Since the raid has been resurrected, now is not the time to do things like matches, right? Given the fact that this place is outside the dungeon, that means we didn’t go through Rashomon, after all. So in essence, you see… If you die, you’ll die as is, right?」
「Mai-chan. The arena is also equipped with an undead system, you know?」
「No, it is… already not in effect; going with such a thought is, no, yes, it is not in effect.」
Embracing each other, Saki held tight Shizuka, who shook her head.
「Given the fact that the quest has been resurrected, that means that all authorities have been reset as well, I believe.」
「Err, isn’t that really dangerous…?」
「Y, you’re right. It’s that, isn’t it? Not only among us, but we have to tell other people and the academy about it, as well.」
「Y, yes. You’re right, what to do now? What to do now?」
Mikan and Otoha started to get flustered in panic.
「Before the matches begin, there will be an opening ceremony. All clubs should be summoned to the stage, so let’s warn them then. They may not believe us, but I believe at least Doggy-senpai and the others will give an ear to what we say.」
「If things get real bad, I think it’s better to run away, but you see… This thing, it’s a forced event where you’ll get caught in it even if you run away, isn’t it? Sacchin?」
「I don’t know, but I think most likely so.」
「Okay. Then, let’s make up our minds, shall we?」
Mai, accepting it readily, smacked her cheeks with both hands.
On the contrary, it was Saki who sported a look of confusion.
「… Why, do you believe me even though I can’t even explain it to you?」
「What do you mean by why? Such a thing is just a no-brainer, duh. Right?」
「I guess so. Well, it’s too late of a matter, right?」
「Ahaha. Yes, I guess so.」
Otoha and Mikan, having the matter thrown at them by Mai, looked at each other with a wry smile on their faces.
「That’s right, we’re comrades who believe in you, Saki-chan, so we need no further reason than that. You said you couldn’t explain the reason why, but you did say you wanted to protect everyone, so, yes, I think those words alone are reason enough.」
「Senpai….」
As Mikan sported a bit of a smug face as if she had said something good, Saki hung her head, her shoulders shook.
Saki hugged Mikan, who did a one-eighty from sporting a smug face to flailing in a fluster.
「According to the schedule, it should be about time for us to be summoned for the ceremony. First of all, let us give priority to giving warnings and sharing information. There should be people in other clubs who have noticed that there is something wrong with the arena as well.」
「I guess that’ll be my role. There are top rankers with whom I’ve gotten acquainted in the dorm leaders’ meetings and the like, after all. I believe the talk will progress slightly smoother than you first years doing it.」
「Given the timing, the top ranked clubs that are prepared for a real match should be all present, so, you see… Well, I think we can manage somehow or another, don’t you?」
「Yes. Let’s try to do everything we can! That’s way, you see. Saki-chan. You don’t have to take it upon yourself alone.」
Mikan, being hugged as if settling into her arms, gently patted the back of Saki, who was letting out a faint sobbing sound.
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RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Thank you for the chapter