CH 54.1

The final tournament of the interclub tournament to determine the A and S rank clubs ended with a great bang.

It seems.

I’ve heard that there was no particular upheaval, and the results were pretty much just as predicted.

By the way, it seems that Doggy-san’s Black Honey or something also solidly maintained their A rank.

The other clubs from our classroom that advanced to the main tournament were eliminated early.

If I have to put it, it’s a fair result.

Rather, simply making it to the main tournament and obtaining a C rank seems to have been a great accomplishment.

There was a suggestion that we should watch the final tournament for future reference, but as there was the risk of getting excited and breaking into the tournament, we decided to refrain from doing so.

Good graciousness, the bloodthirstiness of Saki and Otoha-senpai sure is troubling.

In fact, through the tournament, our lack of strength became apparent.

The combat class members need to reach at least the third step class change, the others need to train in skill activations and summoning techniques, and have an upgrade in weapons and armor, as we won’t be able to compete at the top otherwise.

We should make steady progress while keeping our feet on the ground.

In other words, the basic policy is the same as before.

That is dungeon attack.

◇ ◇ ◇

――『Yomotsu Hirasaka』, a branch realm attached to the labyrinth of Perforation Realm, 『YGGDRASILL』――

――The『eight』 stratum, 『uncharted』 domain――

「… I see. For sure the raid gate has wound up disappearing, huh.」

As we do a dungeon dive for the first time in about two weeks, the Other Realm Gate (Raid Gate) has disappeared from the chamber we returned to.

Well, in any case, going in as is seems to be dangerous, so when we are set to conquer it, we need to go through the Fifth Gate of Rashomon based on the『Location』 coordinates recorded by Natsumi.

「As you go into the dungeon after a while, as expected, you get the chills, right?」

「That’s right. I was so used to it that I became numb to it, though….」

Mai and Shizuka, staff and spear in hand, are stretching their bodies to relax.

「『Search Guide (Navigate)』.」

「Summon.」

「My spirit is on fire!」

Each of us is ready to go.

This time, in order to regain our dulled dungeon sense, we’re challenging the dungeon with our usual core members.

Otoha-senpai, who had had her preparations in order and was in high spirits, ended up deflating, but I hope she could endure it until the restoration of her armor is complete.

The creation materials of the armor seem to be using armor rhinoceros, so I’d like to upgrade it with rare materials from higher-ranked monsters.

If we continue to conquer the deeper stratums as we are, we’ll most likely be able to get our hands on the third step class change before long, and there’s also the option of conquering the unknown raid quest.

It’s on the level that I’m not sure where to start working on first.

「At any rate, for today, let’s aim for the realm gate and proceed as far as we can.」

「Yeah.」

I also take out my Gaki Lord Club (Over-Greed Gear) from the beginning and carry it on my shoulder.

Looking back, I was unable to fight properly in the tournament.

The only memories I have are that of me going out of control and mowing down some hyahha bunch, me mowing down the executive committee bunch who rushed on the innocent me, and me settling scores with the bunch who bullied Mikan-senpai.

I ought to dare a great struggle of single-mindedness here.

「… The case of Touma-kun going out of control from the get go.」

「Don’t worry. I’m fully prepared.」

Shizuka-san lightly flashes her skirt at me.

◇ ◇ ◇

Even for Saki, who is in her lion-hearted peerless state, there are some monsters that she’s not very good at.

That is the troll, a giant-type monster that started appearing from this stratum onward.

Its green mossy skin is as hard as a rock, and the club strike swung downward by its huge body, which you can’t help but look up at, looks like it could turn a tank into a scrap.

Its movement appears to be slow, but it merely appears to be relatively slow due to its huge body, and is by no means dull.

「Phew…. Shaa!」

The troll’s right arm is severed by the flash that eludes its club.

The hard armor is easily sliced through, but before the arm falls off, the wound lets out a strange sizzling sound and blows bubbles, healing on its own.

It’s a regeneration ability that’s ridiculous no matter how many times I see it.

It seems to consume some SP to regenerate, but it feels like Saki’s slashing attack being too sharp is backfiring her here.

「Uuu…, that’s not fair~」

It seems that for the current Saki, the compatibility is too bad.

When it comes to the conquering method of such regenerative types, burning the wounds is the most effective of all.

Let’s use Named vessel with flame attribute or magic with flame attribute enchantment, so is said in the textbook.

Even if the two are similarly a superior class of『Arts User (Magi)』 branching, the one specialized in such attribute enhancement is『Spirit User (Shaman)』, while Mai’s『Sorcery User (Wizard)』 is specialized in attack magic only.

「Such uselessly tough guys are a pain in the ass.」

*Boom* Getting blown away by an explosive magic, the troll comes back up with smoke rising from its body.

In contrast with us who are struggling, the one being peerless by his lonesome is Seiichi.

「『Sip』, bloodshed blade.」

The『Bloodshed Goblin Sword』, which gives off an ominous red aura, is stabbed into the troll’s left chest.

The troll, perhaps harboring absolute confidence in its own regenerative abilities, makes no defensive move.

Rather, it deliberately lets him attack him, and then aims for that opening to launch a counterattack.

However, the wound opened by the awakened『Bloodshed Goblin Sword』 doesn’t close, but instead spews out ditch-colored blood as if the regenerative ability has gone out of control.

Like deflated balloons, the trolls’ corpses pile up from Seiichi’s strikes that are launched on the vitals.

「Phew… EZ.」

The smug look on his face as he strikes his signature pose with his dagger in his hand is annoying as hell.

Well, how should I put it, it’s a model-like pattern of: let’s fight while taking the compatibility between our magic weapons and the monsters into consideration, that often appears in textbooks.

Perhaps the control of the awakening is not very skillful, I skillfully and deliberately not throw in any retort about his SP plummeting rapidly.

「What an amazing Maken it is ~.」

「What a nice Maken it is.」

「What a cheating Maken!」

「What a cool, Maken.」

「What a fantastic, Maken.」

「… You girls, don’t you think there’s no harm in evaluating the wielder more?」

As I collect the drop items while giving Seiichi a sidelong glance, I get a『Troll』 card.

One way or another, as we liquidate our loot, I’d like to buy it and add it to my collection.

Natsumi and Miharu don’t seem to be fond of these kinds of monsters, so I doubt they’d say that they’d like to use it.

「By the way, Toma-kun.」

「What’s up, what happened? An enemy attack? If it’s about this troll card, there’s nothing to worry about. The thought that I should secure it safely doesn’t even cross the corner of my mind.」

「… Such a secretive act is impossible for you, Touma-san, so please give up. If you want it, I shall buy it for you.」

So Shizuka-san says, but in that case, my collector soul won’t be satisfied.