Two lines crossed in the snow.
The surrounding buildings had been destroyed and were now being tossed around by the two lines. Fragments of the buildings went flying, were used as steps, then tossed back up by the two lines.
One of the lines started from a fight involving Border's #6 Attacker and Hikigane Squad's Attacker. The second line...
"This thing is so annoying!"
A white light beam moved across the area, sometimes colliding with the sword slash and sometimes barely missing it. The heated noise it gave off was drowned out by the destroyed building fragments being tossed around.
Repeated gunshots were also drowned out by all of the noise, but the bullets never hit their mark. The white light beam and the destroyed building fragments all seemed to get in the way of the bullets before they could land.
The one firing these bullets was the Yuba Squad Captain.
He moved along the wreckage of the buildings and through the snowy veil surrounding them all right now.
The two long-length attacks coming from different sides made it hard to move, and touching the ground would mean a loss. This left him with everything that was being thrown back into the air as steps to move around on.
"Why does your squad always go over the top!?"
"Do we? I think we're pretty tame, all things considered."
"That's worse!"
He had been learning a lot of things in this match that he could have gone without knowing at all.
Damn it! I'm running out of time here!
The assault on the area had proven to him that Hikigane would be moving quickly now. That alone was enough reason to rush in scoring points. It was only made more difficult once he had found out that Tonooka had been taken out after the assault.
Now he had to fight against the Laser-Shooter while keeping a distance from Ikoma's Senkū.
It was a bad time overall.
And why am I fighting a Kotowari Squad member again!?
Compared to Awdry, Kotowari was far easier to handle, but the environment was currently working against him. Any gap between the two of them was being covered by that simple fact.
There was little space to move around.
Fine! It's not like I can't handle some bad terrain either!
Fights like these required a constant observation of the surrounding area and and awareness of where to step. Performing a sliding turn would take too much, so he made immediate shifts in direction and kept basic movements to the sides, forward, or backwards.
Doing this gave him space to move around the white light beam and the occasional sword slash.
At the same time, he repeatedly fired bullets when the white light beam stopped for a moment. Each bullet was well aimed and timed, yet...
"Tch!"
None of them hit.
Even if it was not Kotowari doing it himself, it was amazing to watch his bullets stopped in one way or another.
When he fired, a sword slash came from somewhere and took the bullets with it.
When he fried, pieces of debris were thrown up and took the bullets with them.
When he fired, Kotowari would suddenly lose his footing and miss his chance.
When he fired, trion bullets would come from somewhere and crash into his own.
What the hell is going on!?
There had been some bullets that got through, but none of them had been fatal.
Polished Place: "Fujimaru, where are the others right now!?"
Gudako: "Just sent it to you!"
At least that was going well.
The only ones visible to him were Kotowari in front of him and the two Attackers a distance away.
So Mizukami is using Bagworm too.
That explained why it was hard to judge where the outside tiron bullets were coming from.
But it also meant that Mizukami was refraining from entering the area and was having a hard time properly aiming at them. Each shot felt like it was a shot in the dark, this was likely the reason for that.
That settles one thing. But now there's something else I need to figure out.
The white light beam.
This sucks, Mizukami thought.
He was firing into the white veil that had appeared after the explosions. It should have settled by now, but the continuous sword slashes and white light beam continued to toss everything around. That included the snow.
Within the white veil was his captain and three opponents. They had seemed to gotten divided by the explosion and now had two one-on-one fights.
Seriously, that makes it pretty annoying.
One side has his captain and the other had two opponents.
Shōgi Boy: "Hey Iko-san, couldja move to the other fight? I'll be able to support ya better that way."
Iko: "..."
Shōgi Boy: "Hello? Helloooo~? Am I coming through?"
Iko: "..."
Shōgi Boy: "Somebody wanna tell me what's goin' on with Iko-san?"
Okay: "Looks like he's havin' a good time fightin'."
That sounded both terrible and interesting at the same time.
But it left him with doing something about the situation before him.
There was only one problem with that.
Take-chan and Suzume-chan sure are being weird right now.
The first thing was the white light beam. It could be seen coming out from the white veil at times. But that was the problem.
There was only one.
Takeshi had been known to use multiple beams at once to overpower his opponents. For him to use only one here meant that there was something else happening.
That was the second reason.
Suzume had not been found, but she was not actively doing anything, like he was. There was no sign of action from her, even while her captain fought by himself.
He didn't know what to make of it.
But that's not even the biggest problem here.
That third problem was currently making his way over to them.
Hikigane Squad's captain, Hikigane Sekai.
Sekai was using Bagworm and moving towards them.
This really sucks.
Debris was thrown into the air, pushed down, then thrown back into the air.
That was the tempo of the fight between the two Attackers.
Ikoma continued to release one Senkū after another while Daigo jumped across the thrown debris.
"Hey, how're you still jumpin' 'round like that?"
"Tsukiko-senpai might get mad if I tell you."
"That guy owes me one anyway!"
"Please take that up with him then."
The fight continued on like this without problem.
Sometimes a white light beam would come over to them, but they both did they had could to deal with it. Sometimes it would be cut, other times it would simply miss because of a well-timed jump.
"Hey, hey, you aren't waiting for your captain to get here, are ya?"
"I don't think I should be answering that."
"Why not!?"
"Because we are fighting."
And yet they continued to speak with each other.
Ikoma spoke while trying to moved closer.
Daigo spoke while keeping a distance.
"Then why aren't ya trying to attack me?"
"I do not think getting within your range is a good idea."
"Did you just switch how you speak o the fly?"
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"There it was again! And what's with all the 'I don't'?"
"That is a good question."
Neither one gave a beat as they continued their strange tempo fight.
But as they kept this up, everything around was changing.
Each time a Senkū was released or a white light beam was fired, everything around them became smaller. The debris was blow away and the snow was beginning to dissipate.
Taking the place of all that were the shots sent in from somewhere outside of the fight.
So...
"Ikoma-san, wouldn't you think it is fine to let the other two join us?"
"Huh? You wanna have fun with the other two? Hm... That sounds fine, but they're pretty stiff when it comes to these things."
"Yes, but would it not be cool for you to take on three opponents at once?"
The reaction was instantaneous.
.
Daigo was fully aware of what he had done.
Even as Ikoma released a Senkū that cut through the piled up wreckage around them, he knew that he had made the right choice.
Something had not felt right the entire time they had been fighting since his captain made his assault. There was nothing obviously out of place, but it was at times like those his Side Effect took full action.
This was one of those times.
So, the moment he saw Ikoma going for Kōgetsu again, he activated one of his Triggers to react.
Idāten.
The sparks were quick to appear around his body. The next thing he knew he was behind Ikoma, getting a full view of the Ikoma Senkū he had heard about before.
The damage it had done was an amazing sight, but one that made him realize just how fortunate he was to have been able to get away from it the way he did.
I would have been taken out in an instant if I hadn't been prepared for it. But...
Beyond the newly cut wreckage, he could see their two other opponents. Both of them wore surprised expressions while Ikoma only stared forward.
...Would this be considered too much?
He could ask Hisato and Hanzaki later, so it didn't matter right now.
Life: "Hey, am I going crazy or did Dai-chan just manipulate Iko-san into doing what he wanted?"
Cloudy River: "It...looks to be that way. Yes."
Life: "Okay. Just making sure."
WorTri: "What the hell are you people doing?"
Simple Boy: "I am just trying to do what I can while I wait for my captain to make a guest appearance."
WorTri: "Keep being cheeky like that and you'll be the first one I take out."
He really had been getting out of hand lately.
But that was fine. There were at least two people who would still continue to be with him, no matter how out of hand he got.
.
Takeshi could only stare in shock as the debris around him was cut in an instant.
He had been keeping track of where each slash was coming from, only moving once he figured out where the next one would likely come from.
Then one he had not expected came.
This one was clearly meant to reach them, but take them out.
It had been followed by multiple shots from an unknown location and sudden gunfire from his main opponent.
I let myself get distracted!
There was no time to react to both attacks, meaning he had to pick which one he wanted to get hit by.
Honest Sister: "Deal with Yuba-san!"
He did just so.
Holding out a hand, he fired Laser-Shooter at the gunfire that came from Yuba.
At the same time, a sturdy shield appeared where the sudden shots were fired.
The two attacks clashed with Takeshi's overtaking Yuba's. The shield held strong against the bullets and blocked them all.
After those attacks there was no breathing room as another Senkū came.
"That was a big rude, Ikoma-san."
Takeshi felt what could only be described as a body blow hit him.
He was sent flying as a streak of light reached his eyes.
Another attack from Yuba seemed to be coming, so he reacted midair. Laser-Shooter moved in front of him and fired a white light beam.
With the snow already dissipating it was much more visible than before, but...
That's fine.
It worked well enough while unseen or seen.
The laser-like beam tore through the air and crashed into the concentrated shield Yuba brought up.
It stopped a moment later when Yuba performed a sliding turn to move away from it.
Once his feet touched the ground again he checked over himself.
...No damage?
There were no new damaged areas after the last Senkū.
He looked to where he had been and saw Girikage already moving away from where he had thrown him.
It was strange for him to do so, but Suzume had told him that they were pretty similar, so he ignored that for now.
I need to focus on fighting here. And setting up-
His thoughts were interrupted by another sound of repeated gunshots.
This time they were meant for Girikage.
...We make it a point to repay out debts.
That may have been why Girikage saved him a moment ago.
But that was fine.
He would still fire.
A white light beam was fired at Yuba.
A slash from the side came.
He used another Trigger.
Everything in front of him changed.
He was no longer looking at where he was firing and there was no slash coming.
His jacket could be seen falling where he had once been, but that was to be expected.
The prototype Trigger Zanzō required something else to take the hit while he teleported.
There was only one thing left to do.
Fire.
A new orb of trion formed in front of him before firing a white light beam.
.
The white light beam gave a heated noise that alerted everyone on the battlefield of what was coming. The firepower in it was a constant attack, meaning defense would be pointless here.
So they moved.
Yuba, Ikoma, and Girikage moved all at once as the white light beam was fired.
Takeshi saw these movements and knew that his attack would fail.
But...
"Fire upwards."
He stopped the white light beam the instant they moved.
Bright lights filled the ground underneath the debris and snow.
They were white in color.
Sparks of white filled the ground that would have otherwise been unnoticeable if not for the snow being covered by debris.
In a burst of light, each one of the sparks glowed a brilliant light before flying upwards.
A streak of light flashed across the battlefield, gunfire repeatedly sounded out, and an extended slash was unleashed.
But none of them could hit what was below them.
The trion bullets were raised up from the ground. Some managed to catch the other three in the arms or legs, but most moved into the sky.
"That was nice, Kotowari-kun," he heard Girikage say.
Ikoma looked like he wanted to say more, but Takeshi stopped him by lifting his scarf to cover his mouth.
The next action was just as fast as the previous one.
The trion bullets that had flown into the air curved before coming back down.
The rain of trion came down on the three who were already moving.
"This guy...!"
"Oh, Take-chan did something cool! Nice!"
He didn't dwell on what was wrong with these people. After all, there had been someone who escaped the attack.
"Chance."
Girikage had used Idāten to get behind him.
Honest Sister: "On it."
A sniper shot came between the two of them, piercing Girikage's arm and forcing him back.
Another set of trion bullets came from somewhere else.
Takeshi used Laser-Shooter to strike them all down.
.
This is getting intense.
Daigo continued his own tempo as he moved around the battlefield.
His opponents were three squad captains and two supports from outside of his range. Compared to everyone else, he had the biggest disadvantage here.
But he was surviving.
Due to knowing Suzume well enough, he understood that Kotowari Squad paid back their debts when it mattered.
So he used that to his advantage.
Now that I think about it, that is the second time I had used someone here for something.
Others might call him out on that, but there would be there to defend him.
The difference between how he had been used and how he was using others was clear.
Yes. Others have apparently been using me since they are see it as no problem. I personally don't mind, but others have gotten mad at them, so I'll stay with them instead. But the way I have used Ikoma-san and Kotowari-kun here is also a benefit for them.
He had no real feelings about situations of "being used" and "using others", he would leave those sorts of things with the people who are on his side.
But...
That just means I understand that I can leave it with others now. Yay. A point for me. It might be fun to talk about this match with everyone else, once it is over that is.
"Yes. Let's all enjoy ourselves once this match is over."
Everything came to a stop all at once.
The noise that filled the battlefield stopped and Daigo looked around at everyone.
After a moment he tilted his head.
"Oh. I said that out loud."
Everything began once more.
He could feel how many things were wrong all at once and tried to figure out what was happening.
The strong feeling of unease had turned out to be Kotowari's attack against them. The feeling from that had left and now he was clear on what was all happening around him.
And the things he noticed the most were each one of his opponents going for their weapons.
The next thing he noticed was everything being pushed.
.
Daigo watched as three shields moved through the snow and debris lingering in the air.
Each one of the shields crashed into the squad captains, sending them far back into the wreckage all around them.
He didn't question what was going on or address the one who had just attacked.
All he did was move.
He moved with the purpose to attack and cut down one of his opponents.
Along with his movement was the air being pushed aside as his captain rushed at one of their opponents as well.
Trion bullets and a sniper shot came from two different locations, but all of that was stopped by the a shield from his captain or one of his Escudos.
"He's finally here," the squad captains said.
None of them hesitated in their actions.
Daigo appreciated that they viewed his captain as someone who they should be wary of right away.
But that left him to back that up with his own actions.
More than one white light beam moved through the air while Ikoma and Yuba moved back and attacked their own ways.
Kotowari was faster to attack because of this, but he was unable to put any distance between himself and everyone else.
Daigo was able to reach him in only a few strides.
A white light beam came in from the side. He responded by bringing up Escudo.
The white light beam began to tear into the wall and Kotowari was moving back.
"—"
He activated his Trigger.
Daigo felt himself move as the lighting crackled around his body.
The distance was short, but it meant that Kotowari had no way of moving away from it.
So he attacked.
Once he was behind Kotowari he made a quick leap and turned. A white light beam tore through the space he had been in. Under it, Kotowari's arm could be seen in the air.
He moved higher into the air using some of the debris that was thrown into the air by his captain's previous attack.
Now on a higher position, he could see the battlefield in full.
He had taken an arm from Kotowari, but...
"Captain-san is doing much more than I am."
.
It was clear why Daigo had said something like that when viewed from that standpoint.
While he fought against Takeshi and could shift over to the other fight, there was no reason to do so.
"Kh! This guy is still terrible!"
"It's a first to fight Hiki-san like this!"
Sekai ignored Ikoma and Yuba's words a she continually covered the distance between the two of them.
Three shields lingered around him, rotating as if orbiting him.
The moment Ikoma tried to use Senkū, one of the shields would move to try and crash into him.
He would dodge in some way but find himself attacked by trion bullets.
Yuba's firing rate was always high, but Sekai continued to find the right timing to throw one of the shields at him before he could fire.
If he could get any shot fired at all then they would be blocked by the debris that would sometimes be tossed up. This left him open for a single moment that Sekai would use with his third shield.
The trion bullets from somewhere else also come at regular intervals, but he only swatted them away with his sheathed Kōgetsu or moved away from them.
None of them had managed to properly attack him yet.
"These damn Hikigane Shields!"
"Who even gave it those names?"
"No sigh to go with that? Are you really Hiki-san?"
"Does this feel like my attack?"
His words were followed by a bombardment of trion bullets, a shield, and a rush attack.
Ikoma could only take the more minor hits from the bullets and dodge the shield. The rush attack came at him head-on, putting a great pressure on him that stopped him form moving.
"Ya sure this is where ya wanna be?"
"Of course I have my bases covered."
The repeated sounds of gunfire were heard from behind Sekai, but...
"Huh?"
Nothing hit either one of them.
Daigo had rushed in from the side with Idāten and struck Yuba before he could fire.
Yuba's arm was in the air a moment later, but his second arm was already poised to fire.
A white light beam tore through the gap between the two of them, forcing them to separate.
The next set of gunfire was heard.
At the same time a shot from somewhere else came in. It struck the ground in front of Yuba.
Yuba was quick to react by firing in the direction of the shot.
Multiple shots moved through the last bits of snow and covered a great range.
One of the white light beams tried to reach them.
Ikoma made a quick turn and used Senkū.
The trion orb firing the white light beam was cut clean in half.
"Sorry, Take-chan," he said.
Besides the trion orb, he had also taken out Takeshi's legs.
Sekai moved upon seeing that, turned one of his shields to crush the falling Takeshi.
More gunshots were heard while a streak of light cut through the air above them all.
Some trion bullets had begun to rain down. Above them, they could all see a separate light fly into the air and away from their fight.
.
Damn it.
That was the only thing Takeshi could think as he saw all fo the attacks moving on the battlefield.
Trion bullets from Yuba were moving towards him at the same time one of Sekai's shields rushed him. The trion bullets that Mizukami had fired were dealt with by an Idāten strike from Girikage.
From his spot on the ground he observed where everyone was and made a choice.
If losing was his only option, he would make it difficult for everyone else.
...That's something Toby would think to do. Well, Senpai probably would too. But she just Bailed Out, so she can't say anything.
So that was what he did.
Multiple trion orbs appeared around him and glowed a brilliant white light.
A large amount of white light beams filled the air. The heated noise was all that could be heard in the area.
Even the cracking from his body was nothing but a shallow noise compared to it all.
And yet...
"Senkū."
It amounted to nothing here.
An extended slash came from Ikoma and cut through the trion orbs.
The follow explosion sent him back and into the air.
The second slash came immediately after.
"One more before I go."
It was small and only fired a thin beam. The direction it went was directly towards Ikoma.
He moved in time to only take the hit to his side.
I'll say this is some form of payback for this.
It would be fine if others hated that excuse. He had made the decision the previous day that he only needed some people to accept him.
The image of his opponent yesterday sparked in his mind and he gave a bitter sigh.
...It's too bad that I couldn't do anything to show off to her a bit.
But that was fine.
The feedback from his attack came at the same time the second slash cut him in half.
He hit the one who had been behind Ikoma the entire time.
"Take that, Ikoma Squad."
.
"..."
Ikoma took a second to watch his attack hit before turning back around and blocking another attack from Sekai.
Then he opened his mouth.
"That was pretty damn cool!"
Sekai didn't roll his eyes or sigh. That was fine.
Takeshi had done a lot of things in this match that had made him look cool.
Job well done! I'm gonna steal that guy so he can go with me and Chisato to eat after this.
All that was left to do was finish this fight.
So he pulled back from his defense against Sekai.
He had fought this guy enough times to know that pushing forward would be an instant loss.
Shōgi Boy: "Damn. Looks like Take-chan got me with that. Didn't expect him to notice that I was behind you."
Iko: "I'm stealing him from Kiy- Yuki. He's Yuki now, right?"
Okay: "Yup. And no stealing other people."
It was too late. He would steal Takeshi once the match was over, punch Musashi in the face, then take him and Chisato to go eat.
Chisato would approve of this, so he only thought it was a good idea.
"—"
He only had to win first.
.
Yuba continued to fire while performing turning slides to the best of his ability.
Ikoma Squad was down to just their captain and Kotowari Squad was completely taken out at this point.
His immediate opponent was Hikigane Squad's Attacker, but their captain was what he was focusing more of his attention on.
That man knows how to use everything to his advantage! If I lose him for even a moment...
The thought didn't need to be finished.
They all understood what it meant for the Hikigane Squad Captain to be here and fighting.
I need to deal with this brat here though!
If it wasn't the use of Idāten to move then it was those crazy leaps that Girikage continued to use.
His turning slide needed enough room to start the action but didn't require any ending position. So long as he could start the action, he could finish it.
This was different.
Girikage started his leaps in any position he was in and it would accelerate as he continued. The ending was only where he wanted it to be, and he didn't even need to end it.
This is like Tsukiko. It's less refined, but the basis for it is the same. As long as there is a footing for them to stand on, they can use it and never falter.
It was something he could understand as a basic movement, but the practice of it was not something he could pull off.
Now that he knew exactly what was happening he could only regret not getting a better understanding of it in full.
But there's no time to worry about that!
His opponent was still moving and he only had one arm left. The time left in the match was more than enough for someone to finish this and he worried that it would be the Hikigane Squad Captain.
So before that...
I'll take out one other person!
He fired once more on Girikage. This time he made sure to already begin his turning slide.
Girikage took another leap to get away from the trion bullets.
With his position now switched to face the Hikigane Squad Captain and Ikoma he moved for another attack.
Forging power, he used Viper to attack. The attacks were rapid and left little room to move.
Ikoma was the first to notice the attack, being the one facing Yuba. He moved back while creating a shield.
The Hikigane Squad Captain, though...
"That doesn't scare me."
He turned and rushed through the bullets.
Yuba was caught off guard by this and could only move a step back before the Hikigane Squad Captain covered the distance.
I was right!
None of the bullets had hit in the rush. That was to be expected from someone like this man.
But that was how he would gain a point here.
.
Daigo saw the bullets leave the gun and his captain turn to rush Yuba. None of the bullets hit him, meaning they would go after Ikoma instead.
His captain always seemed to cover distances quickly and in ways he could hardly keep up with. This was one of those times.
So from his position in the air, he prepared to attack Ikoma in case he survived the attack and went for another Senkū.
But...
"...Oh?"
The bullets made a quick turn and were thrown into the air.
Into the space he was now reaching.
He had just made a leap and there was nothing under him to use as a step.
"I suppose I'm the one who messed up here."
The barrage of bullets pierced him, throwing him even higher into the air and filling him full of holes.
Cracks began forming all along his body as trion leaked from every hole in his body.
"A parting gift. Please enjoy."
As a last ditch effort, he threw Kōgetsu downwards like a spear.
The moment he did...
Bail Out.
.
Sekai felt nothing as he heard the distinct noise of Bail Out.
He hadn't told the brat about what he knew of the attack and left him to it. If he got taken out because of that then it meant he still had to learn how to deal with attacks like that.
All he focused on was taking out the enemies before him.
That included the one who had fired that attack.
He had covered the distance in an instant and was already in the motion of attack.
With a single swinging motion, he took off Yuba's remaining arm.
Then it hit him.
A single thought.
Why?
He felt his body begin to feel a bit heavier.
Why should I bother with this fight?
His movement began to slow down.
I did more than enough here. Yasuko-ane got to see me actually fight. That should be enough, right?
His eyelids were lowering and his stance was crumbling.
I don't even have a reason to actually fight here. I could care less about going back to A-Rank.
All motivation was draining from him.
Even as Yuba was helpless in front of him, he made no solid movement to strike him down.
I only didn't want to get below top tier again.
He could hear the feint sound of a sword begging to be drawn behind him.
It struck something else, but he didn't care.
If I got into the mid tier then I'd have a chance to fight her.
The second sound of the sword being drawn was accompanied by Yuba's body moving back.
He saw this and made a leisure movement.
A shield appeared behind Yuba, keeping him form moving.
"Do you want that guy to take me out too!?"
"Haaah. I really don't care anymore."
It didn't matter if he won or not.
If he could lessen the chance to fight her then it didn't matter.
I really don't want to fight you...Akane.
From behind he could hear only a single word.
"Senkū."
.
The extended slash cut cleanly through everything in its path.
At the end of that path were the captains of Hikigane Squad and Yuba Squad respectively.
And once it made it to them...
"Hah. So irritating."
They were cut through.
Bail Out.
Bail Out.
.
Ikoma watched the two lights move through the air while removing his goggles.
A lackluster feeling formed in him as he watched them go.
His squad would be getting points for surviving the match, but...
"...That wasn't cool at all."
GM Aide: "...And with that, the match is over. The final score, after adding in survival points is Ikoma Squad with 6 points, Hikigane Squad with 4 points, Yuba Squad with 2 points, and Kotowari Squad with 3 points."
Gambler: "Tch. That guy..."
Deer Prince: "Minus one point, all of them were acquired due to the captain of each squad taking out their opponents."
Sawmaura nodded as he looked over at the two sitting next to her.
Minoru's expression remained the same, in not a bit down.
As for Denji...
"I'm going to need you to stop me from doing something, Michelle..."
The girl in his lap took a hold of his arms and seemed to give them a small squeeze.
GM Aide: "As a short recap: this match was placed in cityscape D, and the setting was snow and overcast. The ones to pick the map and setting was Kotowari Squad."
Deer Prince: "We got to see exactly why they chose that too. Turning Takeshi's Laser-Shooter to the snow's white helped them out a lot in this match. It meant he could hide attacks within the snow. If you weren't paying enough attention, you would never know what attack did you in."
GM Aide: "That trick had worked out a lot in this match, but the ones more attuned with their surroundings were able to survive attacks from that."
Deer Prince: "He probably wanted to set some things up while his teammates took the shrine. I don't know if he would have been the one firing form the shrine, but he at least ended up with back-up for dealing with everyone else."
Gambler: "He wasn't going for the shrine to fire. They were going to have Misasuzu fire from there. He might have planned for himself to be taken out before they could get the shrine, but that changed when Sekai beat his teammates at the shrine. Knowing him, he probably told them to leave him alone and they stayed to fight him. That's probably what got him going in the first place."
Deer Prince: "Yeah... That sounds like him."
It did and it was the worst.
He meant no harm, likely wanting to be left alone, but ended up having to fight since his opponents knew what kind of threat he was.
GM Aide: "From there is was only a race against the clock for everyone. At the same time, they all seemed to be holding off from doing anything much. Everyone wanted to confirm what Captain Hikigane would be doing and how he would react before doing anything too rash. The only one who was fine was Agent Girikage, for obvious reasons."
Deer Prince: "With Jinsei taken out so early, he must have wanted to cover for that by getting some points. He ended up not being able to get any, but he played the field pretty well for being by himself. Give him a few more things to work with and I'm sure he can make a great addition."
GM Aide: "Speaking of that fight... Captains Ikoma and Yuba had fought against Hikigane Squad a fair amount of times by this point, yet neither one of them seemed to properly know what to do against Captain Hikigane."
Deer Prince: "Ah, that's probably because he's never gone all out like this."
The hall was quiet while they spoke.
The shock from knowing that these two commentators had been on a team with Sekai came back in full force.
Deer Prince: "The ones who have seen him before Hikigane Squad was made will know what I'm talking about. He was always the type to cover every base that needed it. Admittedly, the rest of us had out strong suits, but there were areas where we were lacking. He covered all of those areas and left little room for others to get in. That was on full display here when he launched that assault using a double-stage Meteora attack. He might have done it without paying too much attention, but the fact remains that he knew exactly where to place those bombs. Even if it was just his instincts. ...He was pretty much the scary of on our squad because of how much he could actually do."
Gambler: "Even if those guys knew what was coming, there was no chance they could do anything against it. It's just a matter of knowing that Sekai always has control of the battlefield when he doesn't have faith that his teammates will be enough."
GM Aide: "I see... In any case, his squad came in second due to Captain Ikoma being left to attack."
"Sekai could have gotten out of that," both of them said.
The girl in Denji's lap nodded along with them.
Deer Prince: "Ah. Sorry about that. It's just... Sekai looked like he went back to his usual habits at the end there and held Yuba in place to also take the attack. ...He probably just wanted the match to end."
Gambler: "Now he's gonna really get it for that."
GM Aide: "Well, besides the captains, all of the other agents showed what they were capable of."
Deer Prince: "The Snipers got a bit shafted her due to the setting, but that's to be expected when Kotowari Squad's Sniper is not like most. I will say, this makes things pretty difficult for me."
GM Aide: "How so?"
Deer Prince: "Well... Toby had asked me to mentor him. I haven't really had the time to do so, but watching this match made me realize that there isn't really much I can help him with. He's pretty well off without me being his mentor."
Gambler: "Your experience is different from what he can do. Shut up."
Neither one of them could help but stare wide-eyed at Denji's words.
Being the first to break out of her shock, Sawmaura coughed into her hand and muffled it so the microphone would not pick it up.
GM Aide: "Well, besides Captain Hikigane, I would say the two stars of this match were Captain Kotowari and Agent Girikage. They had been active throughout the entire match, held their own against opponents stronger than them, and managed to play the battle to their wants. What would you two say?"
Deer Prince: "The other two squad captains did a lot in showing their ranking spots, but Takeshi's use of the environment and tactics showed that he's improving when it comes to strategy. Daigo, on the other, is showing off that his general fighting skills are improving rapidly. That's likely due to his own talents, hard work, and being in the squad he's in."
Gambler: "Hm... Praise is all fine and whatever, but make sure you hit the right points too. Even if they're improving, they aren't taking everything into considerations and aren't using everything they can. Kototake started the match under the assumption that he would lose, Giridai seemed way too unfocused a lot of the time, Ikotatu and Yutaku were way more worried about Sekai and didn't take the chance to kill the opponents in front of them. Everyone else weren't really paying attention to their surroundings and got taken out because of it. It's especially pathetic for Mizusato and Misasuzu since they lasted as long as they did."
The girl in Denji's lap remained quiet as he continued.
Gambler: "The Snipers should have especially been paying attention. Both Tonokazu and Okiji were taken off guard too much by the double-stage Meteora and lost because of it. As for Minakai and Jinsei... There isn't anything to say. They were both idiots who didn't focus and lost to things they could have avoided if they were paying more attention."
That seemed to be all he had to say as he closed his eyes and took a small breath.
It was strange to see this side of Denji instead of his normal and annoying attitude.
There was nothing good about it.
So it was up to her to finish this.
GM Aide: "Before we leave here, let's take a look at the rankings after this match. With the match happening at the same time as this one having just finished, we can see where all of the squads stand. And from the look of things... With them managing to get 3 points, Kotowari Squad barely remain in the top tier while Yuba Squad goes down in ranking."
Deer Prince: "Looks like we'll see what happens with those two squads after the next round. If they aren't careful, they might both end up in mid tier by the end of this season."
GM Aide: "Right. But with that said, this ends the seventh round of the B-Rank Wars. Thank you both for joining me here."
Deer Prince: "Of course."
Gambler: "..."
Looking over at Denji, she saw him still with his eyes closed.
He only opened them when the girl in his lap pinched his arm.
Gambler: "R'ght. S'r' th'n'."
She could only sigh as he went back to his usual way of speaking.
Not everything could last with him.