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Last Embryo Volume 7 Chapter 2 Part 4

With these words, Ayato finally understood what he meant. However, what he was proposing was utterly unacceptable for Ayato.

But regardless of that, she still continued to hunt her enemy down using Serpens Scorpius Sword Flash.

They young man, who has seemingly given up on trying to convince Ayato to get rid of her weapon, focused his next action on the tip of the segmented swords that was relentlessly chasing after him without changing direction. He then grabbed his turban and unfurled it from his head…and stopped Ayato’s sword’s advance by coiling it around one of the sword’s joint sections.

(…. !? He grabbed the joint section of my sword and stopped it?!)

And he really did that simply by wrapping a piece of cloth around it without getting it destroyed.

The young man cast a stern look at Ayato while he pulled on the cloth of his turban.

「Weakness number three: your segmented sword’s greatest threat and advantage is that it is extremely sharp and constantly moving around your enemy. But once you take that mobility away from it, then it is not going to be a threat anymore. This time I used my turban for the purpose of demonstration, the very same thing can basically be done with a whip.」

Everyone gathered at the training ground was amazed at how easily the young man managed to catch Ayato’s weapon and rob it of its mobility. But although what he said was easy to say, in practice it was not that simple. The truly frightening thing here was not that he managed to catch it, but that he was able to completely stop its acceleration.

Originally, whenever the sword was hit by something, the force of the blow was supposed to be transmitted and the segments of the sword would bend, continuing the attack from a different angle.

Attacking the blade was supposed to only add to its acceleration, but this young man was able to stop it completely by hitting the tip of the blade at exactly the same angle from which the tip came towards him, thus going against the wave of power that flowed through the hilt to the segmented sword.

「…. Strong.」

The twin spear-wielding boy and Alma muttered at the same time.

Such a feat would be impossible without the ability to not only read the movements and thoughts of the enemy, but also to understand and embody all the principles of power. A feat that goes beyond the Divine territory that could only be achieved by those who have stepped into the abyss.

Even in Little Garden, there are probably less than five people who can boast that they embody it.

「And weakness number four. This is your most fatal weakness… Up until now, when you’ve fought enemies so hard that your blade can’t cut into them, you’ve been cornered regardless of the difference in your skills, am I right?」

「…. Khh…!!!」

「The giants of the Atlantis continent are strong. They move quickly and their bodies are covered with hard skin. With your segmented sword, there is no way to defeat them other than aiming at the carotid artery no matter how hard you might try other things.」

Ayato gritted her teeth in regret.

His point was something Alma was also worried about. The giants this time are incomparable to their previous enemies. Even Izayoi would have difficulties fighting them.

They are going to face an army of enemies whom they need to defeat no matter what, but even if Ayato is a martial artist of Divine level, she would still do poorly against them. And If the core of the segmented sword that controls the distance between them stops functioning, the strength of both her spear and the bow will be halved.

「No matter how much skill you put into it, there is a limit to weapons that don’t have any Gifts in them. They will always have weaknesses. You should be able to understand it better than anyone. If this sword was not a segmented one but made out of stretchable iron instead, then it wouldn’t get caught so easily, right?」
「…………..」

「for a warrior like you, even the God of Blacksmiths and famous craftsmen wouldn’t have spared their efforts to make you a fitting weapon. But if there is a reason why you must continue to use this sword, I will hear you out.」

Both of them glared at each other while drawing their weapons.

However, once they get into a stalemate, Ayato will never be able to overcome the disadvantages of her weapon right now. Letting a sigh as if she had given up, she lowered her arm and announced her surrender.

「I give up. I admit my loss. A complete and utter one.」

「No, there really wasn’t that big a difference between us. When I was your age, my teacher, Doushi, made me cry all the time during training, so there is a good chance that in time you will definitely surpass me.」

A young man in a turban muttered deeply while touching his chin.

The Players gathered at the training ground took note of the fact that since he called his teacher Doushi, then this means that he may have come from a place influenced by Indian Mythology.
In this Game where there are many people who participated by falsifying their physical age, it is not possible to tell their age from their appearance alone.

However, from the accomplished atmosphere around him, they could feel something like the weight of a long study and a harsh life.

「… The greatest advantage of my segmented sword is that it is sharp and constantly con the move, huh? That’s exactly right.」

「Well, with your amount of skill, not many will be able to stop it, and you won’t make a mistake that’ll result in you getting caught. This time it was just a matter of the years of experience. Also, you still haven’t shown me everything you’ve got, right?」

「Of course. That’s why, could I ask you for one more…」

「Whoa there, now wait just a minute, you guys!」

Suddenly, the boy who was watching from the sidelines jumped into the training ground. Ayato jumped back in surprise, but the young man in the turban looked at him as if he was waiting for him.

The woman who called herself Misha was holding her head and muttering, 「He’s done it again…」. He apparently jumped in on his own rather than on her orders.

The boy who landed with a cloud of dust gave a provocative laugh.

「Excuse me for being so sudden. Actually, I was just going to watch, but I couldn’t stand still any longer. Those martial arts seemed like the ones of a renowned hero, so I had to step in.」

「Haha, you’re embarrassing me. I’ve been feeling a fresh fighting spirit from a while ago, but it was you after all.」

「I feel like you’re a mature fellow, but I don’t care about your age. I was told it was a top-tier Game, but the other Players were cowardly looking for ways to avoid fighting so I had too much time on my hands. By the way… well, so does my buddy.」

「I can hear you!」 shouted the voice behind him, but the boy with the double spears ignored it and and glared at the young man.

「Besides… a fellow student of mine just lost to you, so that makes you my enemy.」

「Eh?」

Everyone became surprised at these words, because they were not directed at the man… but at Ayato.

Now that she had a closer look at the boy’s spears, she felt that their shape was somewhat familiar… because the two spears that Ayato possesses should also be of the same design.

「You are… no way…」

「Now then, I don’t mind if you ask me for my name. I’ll even introduce myself first. I’m Connla, the disciple of Scathach, Queen of the Land of Shadows.」

「Nice to meet you, Connla. Thank you for the polite greeting. Hmm, you seem to be as strong as this young lady… and is this your actual age?」

When the young man in the turban asks, the boy who calls himself Connla gave him a fearless smile.

「Who knows? In this Gift Game being of your actual age is not really a benefit. I might even be older than you.」

「Haha, that’s good to hear. Allow me to introduce myself next. I was dispatched by the 『Heavenly Army』…」

「I’m sorry, but that’s the end of the training time. I’d like to start the strategy meeting soon.」

A voice echoed from the entrance of the training ground. With that declaration, the atmosphere in the training ground changed completely.

The man who stepped into the training ground… 『Uroboros’』Game Maker James said that as he looked at all of the Players in the room.

「Both of you had a great fight. I feel truly encouraged having people like you on our side, and I want to thank you for boosting the morale of the other Players as well.」

Ayato glared at James with her wariness increased.

Walking behind James, Heracles, Asterios, Lalah and Akasha also appeared. Izayoi looks around the training grounds and then glared at James.

「Oh, so all the Players are gathered here now? That’s great, because there’s something that I want to talk about here and now.」
(Something he wants to talk about?)

Puzzled, Ayato tilted her head.

「It can’t be helped. You are a valuable addition to our fighting force, so if that is going to be enough for you to cooperate with us, I will be more than happy to oblige.」

James bowed his head and said that jokingly, after which he announced the following to all the Players gathered here right now:

「Alright then everyone, from now on, allow me, the winner of the first round of The 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority, 『Lost Atlantis』Gift Game, to show you how to use 「The Chief God’s Declaration」.」