The official broadcast screen switches from the arena to the commentary booth.
Surprised or in awe, and with expressions full of confidence as if saying they saw it coming.
Then, we see the audience enthusiastically waving their hands and cheering.
“The first round of the mock siege war has ended! Wow, the winner of this round was really unexpected, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right! As everyone anticipated, the situation for Leo’s team was very favorable, and their growth was overwhelming. This happened because the Lily team and Chuka Chip team clashed with each other.”
The screen transitions.
Players rushing towards both teams from the start.
The crossing scenes on both sides are a rare spectacle even when looking back at the history of mock siege wars.
“Since they attacked each other, Leo’s team was able to grow without any hindrance. There was no reason for Leo’s team to get involved in their fight.”
At Lacl’s words, Luna nodded her head.
“Exactly. Leo was already on his way to hunt Raizaka. In that situation, rather than participating in the fight with a few people and giving an advantage to their allies, remaining a bystander was the best choice for Leo’s team.”
“That’s right. It seemed like Leo’s team was heading towards victory, but….”
In the end, Lily’s team took a slight hit but managed to subdue Chuka Chip’s team.
Yet, Leo’s team had become stronger than anyone imagined.
It seemed nearly impossible to bridge this gap.
But.
“Lily’s power was beyond that.”
With the blessing of the Extreme Dragon, Leo had grown nearly to his maximum.
Although many questioned the fact that Leo chose a defensive battle, it soon became clear.
“It made sense.”
If Lily had been guarding the castle, there would have been little chance at all.
[Lily is a god for real?]
[Lily! Lily! Lily! Lily! Lily!]
[Is this really Lily? Haha, is this really Lily? Haha, is this really Lily? Haha.]
[What was that at the end, really?]
[Yeah, no way, lol.]
[You think this can win?]
[This can defeat a centipede? Hahaha.]
[Leo must feel really wronged; he gave it his all but still lost, lol.]
[Does pure and noble Lily look like a joke?]
[Ah, haha, a virgin Lily can’t win, lol.]
[Was it Black’s ability?]
[Hahahahahaha.]
[It’s dizzying.]
Luna nodded in satisfaction.
“I didn’t expect Lily to be this strong… but she exceeded expectations. Is there any player who can stop Lily?”
“Lily is indeed several levels stronger than the other players. But does that mean it’s impossible to win? I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Is that possible? I don’t think so.”
“Oh! Why is that? Lady Lily seems invincible!”
Just then, the scene of Lily battling Leo played back.
Lacl responded in a serious tone.
“First of all, Lady Lily fights using a spear and a hammer, or some other special something. In that process, she takes quite a few wounds, big and small. Especially.”
Crunch!
The scene of Lily’s hand flying away due to the Light Sword.
Lily’s eyes, which had been pushing forward until now, widened.
“Her hand was actually cut off by Leo’s Light Sword. Just looking at that means she’s definitely not invincible.”
“That’s true. If a hand gets cut off, that’s quite a significant injury.”
“Exactly. For a fighter who primarily uses weapons like that, losing a limb results in a huge power loss. No matter how much they try to regenerate.”
Strong but not invincible, almost perfect.
It seems like they’ve grasped all reason, but there’s a limit.
If that were the case, they wouldn’t have let it get tangled up like this.
…Though it’s probably because Lily had a few tricks left up her sleeve, which made her more at ease.
People were just thinking she “made a mistake.”
[No way? Lily is totally invincible!]
[Lily is pretty OP, lol]
[Seriously, this centipede and… lol]
[That therapist went too far, haha]
[Feeling like there’s no hope when it comes to regrowing hands]
[Leo seems to be in deep trouble]
[But seriously, cutting it off doesn’t matter if she just regenerates it, lol]
“Truthfully, I’d find it a bit difficult to say that the main cause of winning or losing this match was Lady Lily’s skill compared to the other contestants! The one who blocked was not Lady Lily, but the Cloud of Darkness.”
The Cloud of Darkness that blocked the opponents instead of Lily or Black.
I thought it might be Black’s ability, but I couldn’t be sure.
That cloud subdued Iron, Freytion, and all the summons, indicating a power level above Grand General.
“I don’t know whose it is, but it’s a boon for Lily’s team. Could it be Black’s ability?”
“Who knows… I guess we won’t know until it’s over.”
“That’s right! Now then, before we proceed to the next round, let’s watch the highlight reel of this match…”
■
“Ugh… I’m dying.”
As soon as I returned to the waiting room, I saw the exhausted Devil and Redberry sprawled out.
Though their physical conditions must have fully recovered, they looked mentally drained.
I approached them.
“You all did great.”
“Lilyyyyy… I seriously thought I was done for…”
“What’s that? He was just swallowing everything on his own and winning!”
The two jumped up in surprise, looking at the Spirit of Darkness that had subdued their opponent.
The Spirit of Darkness is at least a World Boss-level entity.
Though it’s being absorbed and controlled through underhanded means, making its power much weaker than its true form.
But still, a well-grown Grand General is useful in a mock siege war.
‘It’s similar to or even better than a unicorn without penalties. There’s no way you could win unless you’re a Grand General.’
I don’t know the intention, but it’s definitely helpful right now.
I glanced down at my hand.
A hand that had been severed but was fully restored.
As sharp and strong as Leo is, he wouldn’t have thought to sever my body that had regained its holiness.
This isn’t just about being sharp and strong.
‘The body of a Celestial Race is beyond ‘logic’.
Two races, the Celestial and Demon Races, that reject the obvious truths rooted in the world.
They defy logic merely by existing, scattering their own sets of logic throughout the world.
Among them, while the Celestial’s body can be wounded, it cannot be severed or cut away.
Those who could do so would only be other beings that also exist outside of logic, like the Celestials.
‘Severing… No, it wouldn’t be that. Could it be the Light Spirit’s power that did this? But no matter how much of a spirit it is, it shouldn’t be able to escape logic.’
Creeeak…
Just as I fell into thought, the door opened, and Black stepped inside.
He must have encountered something outside because, even though he left before me, he was the last to enter the waiting room.
He was holding a bunch of papers.
As soon as he noticed my gaze on the papers, he quickly stuffed them into Space.
“It’s nothing much. I just have something to talk about for a bit.”
“Something to talk about?”
“Um…”
Black looked like he was pondering for a moment.
I encouraged him to go ahead, and he scratched his head before responding.
“I think there might be an issue with the balance adjustment system for the mock siege war.”
The balance adjustment system.
No matter how strong the players are, this device allows them to fight in similar conditions to lower-ranked players.
It’s mainly used in Deoen’s professional tournament, DCK, and is frequently used in arenas, private tournaments, and official competitions as well.
For example, let’s say there’s a user ranked 1000 and another ranked in the top 10.
The difference between them is like heaven and earth. Perhaps even more than that.
No matter how hard they try, the level of disparity is unattainable…
It’s an unreachable level, but…
When this system activates, the difference between the two becomes something that could be touched if one reached out from the sky to the ground.
“But right now, the gap between a ‘Grand General’ level user and a ‘General’ level user is too severe. This isn’t just Lady Lily’s problem; it’s true for all the other players too.”
No matter how much buff or growth difference there is, they can’t defeat users within the top 10.
One could say it’s only natural, but Black thought differently when planning the first mock siege war.
“If the growth difference is severe, at the very least, we should be able to ‘interfere’ a little.”
It seemed like a relative success, but that interference was so feeble it was almost meaningless.
Redberry coughed! as she stood up with her staff.
“Indeed, Laguiel, who hasn’t grown as much as Iron or Freytion is actually stronger. I really thought he was a Grand General.”
“Hmph! Iron was nothing special! If it had been one-on-one, I would have won!”
“Others probably feel the same way.”
“So, was there something unusual about it?”
Was there really something off that caused the adjustments to fail?
But there were definitely serious restrictions in place.
Black shook his head.
“No. Upon checking, there was nothing unusual. It wasn’t significantly different from last year’s mock siege war.”
“Then… why?”
“Simply put.”
Simply put?
“Everyone has just become too strong compared to that time. The previous standards don’t hold anymore.”
Compared to a year ago, Black, Leo, and Chuka Chip had all become tremendously strong.
The level difference could be considered as if they were completely different people.
Especially Leo, who could be seen as at least ten times stronger than back then.
However, the biggest reason Black and the relevant parties thought wasn’t that.
Black drew out his greatsword.
The flow of mana moving as he willed it, unlike before.
Having received a brief lecture from Lily less than two weeks ago, Black spoke with a voice filled with conviction.
“It must be because of Lady Lily’s lecture. Or rather, it could be thanks to her.”
“Me?”
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