*Sigh…* Apparently I’m fighting the king of Ebrilyon. What a twist.

  It’s my first time seeing him, and facing him really puts this country into perspective. The king doesn’t govern. He’s the head of the army and its strongest sword. I can understand why.

  He’s already getting up there in age. Gray hair with a magnificent beard. Even so, he’s fucking huge… Really buff, with a tall and wide frame, and a stern-looking face. The man is wearing high-quality armor from the neck down, with every single inch etched for decoration. He has a red cape fluttering behind and a huge greatsword lifted with a single hand. What an very imposing figure…

  This is gonna suck! His sword is bordering on slab-of-metal territory… Only difference is that it has a design fitting for a king. Can I ever block that?

  “Come…”

  The king raised the sword he was pointing at me over his shoulder and gestured with his other hand. Is he telling me to attack? Man of few words, huh?

  “Are we seriously doing this? What kind of tournament is this? This makes no sense…”

  I tried to talk my way out of this ridiculous situation somehow. The king didn’t reply, and the audience laughed at me… Dammit! No way out, huh? Enjoy your laughs then. I’m not gonna bother anymore.

  “I better not be executed for this…” Same strategy as last time. I leaned forward. Speed to probe him a little and go from there. Agility Burst!

  The gap disappeared. He immediately reacted with a step back, bringing his sword to the front. Slash Flurry!

  *Ping ping ping ping!* My katana bounced numerous times off the ridiculous lump of metal. Can he keep up if I switch the angle quickly? *Ping ping ping!* He can… For how unwieldy his sword looks, he sure is quick with it… As expected of Ebrilyon’s number one.

  “Slash Flurry!” He stomped the ground, taking one step forward. Sl- Slash Flurry? That wasn’t me!

  The big lump of metal started cutting through the air quicker than the eye can see! I can’t match that! His sword was much heavier than mine. Every time they clashed, my sword would bounce, almost flying off my hand. Dodge! I gotta get away!

  But retreating during the flurry was impossible. I had to focus on avoiding the sword. Every step I managed to take back, he’d immediately close in while keeping up the pressure.

  Fine… Time to burn some MP! Slash Flurry! Butterfly’s Wings! Parrying Strike!

  *Pipiping pipiping pipiping pipiping pipiping!* Our swords started clashing at a much faster rate. My little sword may not be as heavy, but I can attack a lot more times… A flurry faster than his, two slashes with every swing, everything enhanced specifically to stop his sword. Can you handle all this? Ahahahahahaha! Can you handle all this, huh?!?!

  His sword slowed down. The resistance my attacks posed made it hard for his swings to finish cleanly, and the recoil hurt his ability to chain between swings.

  “Crushing Blade!” And at that point, his only logical move was to unleash a stronger attack. I blocked, and we both went sliding backward.

  “Wh- what was that? I- I don’t think I can believe my eyes… Is it just me, or did this girl just have an even exchange with the king?” The whole arena pretty much stopped breathing during our exchange. Even the announcer was left stuttering. “Ahahaha… Ladies and gentleman… Stone me if I’m wrong, but I think this day isn’t out of surprises just yet!”

  A loud cheer roared through the arena. Are you on my side now? After laughing at me before? Keep laughing! I don’t need your support! Hehehe… Okay, I’m lying. It’s actually pretty nice. Wait… Don’t lose focus now! What the hell am I thinking about?

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Slash Flurry, huh…

  I wasn’t expecting him to be able to use that… Not with a sword that big… I should ask someone for a big lump of metal like his to see if I can also do it. Slash Flurry is a common skill, so I’m not surprised that a strong swordsman can use it. It combined with his sword is probably enough to put him above the vast majority of people, but he has another skill. Other than Galene, I haven’t seen many people who can use multiple skills. It’s not that common.

  His Slash Flurry isn’t even bad… It was not endless, so it’s not level 10, but it was probably level 8 or 9… How many swings were there per activation? 5?

  Either way, I know what to do now. Can’t linger too long, or he’ll unleash another Slash Flurry. Heart Piercer’s the answer, but can I do it against a king? That really seems like it’s going to get me in trouble.

  Heart Piercer! I closed the gap and thrust into his sword. There was a bit of impact but probably didn’t make it all the way through.

  Burst Dash! Instantly jumped to his back, out of reach of his sword. Another thrust now! He swung his sword while turning, just in for a block. Then, I shot behind him again. Now I have the upper hand… He can fend me off, but if I keep this going, he’ll break eventually… And I probably won’t kill him and be branded a criminal… That also helps.

  What if I used my gun? I could, but… Feels like admitting defeat when he’s just using a sword.

  I managed to keep it up for a while, but then he used the strong attack again and managed to get away. Dammit… I feel like I was close to tiring him out too… Well, time to do it again…

  Or not…

  I was getting ready to approach when he raised his sword like he was charging something. Is something gonna come flying? Is he waiting for me to get close? What do I do…?

  “Screw it…”

  Better to go in and face whatever he’s planning than let him charge something even stronger! Agility Bu-

  *Woosh…* A huge shadow passed through the arena, like something massive just passed by overhead. It’s cloudy now… It was sunny earlier, wasn’t it? Did I underestimate him? Just what is he charging over there? Is it strong enough to change the weather?!

  “Huh?” He stopped charging and glanced up. It wasn’t him? What was that shadow then?

  “Gryaaaaaah!” *Crash!*

  The moment we looked to the sky, a big blur dove from the sky with a shriek, crashing straight into the king. The impact raised a huge cloud of dust from which the king flew out, slamming into the nearest wall. Is he okay? What just happened? This can’t be good…

  “Woah! Was that an explosion? Just what are our contestants up to…” The excitement in the announcer’s voice died midway through. “Wait… Is that… A dragooooon!?

  “Groaaaah!” With a roar and the flap of the wings, the cloud of dust disappeared. No way… It actually is a dragon! Purple and pale scales, he stood on two legs but had an appearance different from the standard dragon. His torso, limbs, and even the neck were thinner and longer than I expected. Lanky, with two protruding fangs at the front of his mouth and particularly large claws. Barely fit inside the arena, with his wings spanning over the stands. Reminds me of something…

  Screams were heard from everywhere in the stands, and the people there pushed each other to run away and escape the coliseum.

  Probably a wise choice…

  Moments later, every soldier in the area poured into the coliseum and split into one of two groups. Some ran to the stands to evacuate the people in the audience while the rest ran into the arena to rescue the king and face the dragon. In a matter of seconds, the fun tournament turned into a huge crisis. The mood from before was completely drowned in panicked screams.

  The noise coming from every direction left the dragon a little distracted, sluggishly looking from side to side. There was prey everywhere, so he first focused on the soldiers right in front of him. And me…

  “Watch out!” His right arm swiped down at the nearest group of guards. They can’t handle that! Parrying Strike!

  I blocked the claw with my sword, but the impact was enough to push the guards back. “Give it up!” I deflected by pushing up against the claw with my sword. It was working, so the dragon gave up and just smashed the ground. What a powerful gust!

  “Stay back…” I said to the guards behind. “Leave this to…” Me…? No… I can’t handle this on my own… Not only is he strong, but the smell…

  This is an undead dragon, isn’t it?

  There’s an undead dragon with this exact appearance that makes an appearance in game, and it’s not a minor one. He… he’s the first major boss! He’s the enemy that Galene is supposed to fight after exploring all the human territory of the western continent.

  But this makes no sense…

  It’s too early for him to show up!

  I’m pretty sure Galene is nowhere near done exploring the human territory! What is he doing here? Why is he here now? Something changed… My actions changed something again. If he’s an undead, his appearance is probably connected with the other undead we’ve had to fight before… It’s all connected…

  The dragon rampaged in place, sending strong currents of wind in every direction. The guards that came down to the arena could barely stand, and even I was struggling to stay in place. At the least the coliseum was rapidly getting quieter. The evacuation succeeded in getting almost everyone out, opening up our options.

  “Oh no… He actually sent the dragon here alone… What is he thinking? I need to do something, but… There’s no way someone as pathetic as me can fight that…”

  Up on the very top edge of the coliseum, a trembling figure showed up behind the dragon. A girl…?

  Her hand extended towards the dragon with a faint glow. Is she the one behind this?! “Ehehehe… It’s hopeless… I’m hopeless… My worthless life is going to end long before I can take control… I’ll just hold him there…”

  The next moment, the dragon stopped moving. As if held by some invisible chains, the dragon struggled in vain, unable to move. Then, the girl jumped down, disappearing into the stands.

  Huh… Is she not the one responsible…? This is a good opportunity, though. Should I attack?

  I can’t… Attacking might make the dragon able to move again or something… There’s too much I don’t know… I need to come up with a plan. And I need to check up with my girls… Together, we might be able to come up with something.

  Yeah, I could just jump to the stands, but I stopped by a group of soldiers first. I should bring the king with me. Whatever crimes I commit or have committed today might be forgiven if I can save him.

  “You guys get out of here. I’ll take him to safety.” The guards were confused. Should they let me help? Was it a good idea? Before they could say anything, I wrapped him arm around my shoulder, and…

  Agility Burst, Burst Dash. Well, bye bye. I jumped up to the stands in the blink of an eye.

  Now… Where are the others?