“Hey, wasn’t there something about a prize for those who arrived first?” the horned boy from earlier said.
“Yeah, I said I’d give you powers. But do you really want to talk about what powers I’ll give you where everyone can hear?”
“I don’t need any powers. I want something else.”
“Oh, really? If it sounds interesting, I’ll hear you out.”
“One of your friends is that guy with glasses, right?” the boy asked. “I need to kill that guy. Tell me where he is.”
“The guy with glasses? I suppose that would be Shirou. He’s in the management area of the game, so players can’t get to him.” Mitsuki thought for a moment. “So let’s do this. Let’s have all of the Sages involved with Cavern Quest join the tournament!”
“What?!” Van jumped like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him.
“Works for me,” the horned boy replied. “As long as I keep winning, I’ll get to him eventually. And if I get to kill you too, all the better,” he finished, glaring at Van. He still seemed to hold a grudge against Van for implanting the Philosopher’s Stone in him.
“You’re not busy with anything else, are you?” Mitsuki asked.
“Well...I guess there’s no point worrying about running the game anymore,” Van conceded.
“Even if you lose and die somehow, the world is going to be reset anyway, so you’ll be fine,” Mitsuki said nonchalantly. It seemed he was operating under the assumption that another reset was guaranteed. Whatever happened, Yogiri would die in the end and the world would be returned to the way it was before.
“You say that as if there’s no danger at all...but hey, if it’ll help you enjoy the game, then sure.” Though he was quite shocked, it didn’t seem Van was terribly bothered by the idea.
“Hey, can I say something too?” a young man in a full bodysuit asked. His clothing was clearly made from a smooth material that didn’t exist in this world, and it had solid chunks of armor placed around it. To Hanakawa, it looked like sci-fi battle gear.
“Sure. But I’m guessing this isn’t about the powers either?”
“Not really. My power is too big in scope. If I use it normally, it’ll destroy the planet. It’s not really going to work for one-on-one matches. I want to make sure it’s okay if I kill everyone else at once.”
“I see. Putting aside whether you’re actually capable of doing that, that would make the round system irrelevant. How about instead we set it up so that you fight in partitioned-off spaces, so you can’t affect the other matches going on? Is that possible?” Mitsuki asked, turning to Van.
“Sure. Cavern Quest is already set up with channels. So...I’ll make it so that when the parties are within ten meters of each other, the match will start, I guess,” Van answered.
“In that case,” Hanakawa interrupted, “what would happen if more than two parties came within ten meters of each other at once?”
“Working out every small detail now would take forever,” Van replied. “I’ll just deal with the fringe cases as they come up.”
Content with the conversation ending there, the Sage headed for the black gate, passing through and disappearing. In short order, the other adventurers began passing through the gate as well. In hopes of securing any tiny advantage they could, they wanted to get in early and see as much of the battle area as possible before the fighting started. But none of them seemed especially hurried. They were happy to patiently wait in line. It seemed they were all fully confident in their own abilities. They all thought they had a way to deal with Yogiri’s powers and defeat him.
All we hoped for was to reunite with Sir Takatou. How did we end up embroiled in this whole affair?
Had they made a mistake somewhere? Looking back, Hanakawa had plenty of regrets about his past actions, but for now it seemed his only option was to go with the flow. Passing through the gate, he emerged in a forest.
“He said we’d be up in the clouds, but this hardly looks like that kind of fantasy realm, does it?” Carol said.
“I don’t see the others who entered before us,” Ryouko commented as she looked around.
“Be that as it may...why exactly is the Great Sage with us?”
Hanakawa, Carol, and Ryouko had appeared beside each other, meaning they had probably been brought through as a party. However, in addition to those three, Mitsuki was also standing alongside them.
“I said I’d give you guys powers, right? It’s not really a conversation you’ll want to have in front of the others, so I decided to come to you personally.”
“Aha, I am more than happy to receive them, but did you not say the prize was for the first ten to arrive? I believe we arrived rather late, did we not?” By the time Hanakawa’s group had made it to the rooftop, most of the other adventurers had already gathered. The only ones who had arrived after them were Luu’s group.
“That’s true, but a lot of people said they didn’t want anything.”
“Then I want one! I absolutely want one!”
“Anyway, going down the list, I made it to you guys,” the Great Sage said. “There are two prizes left. So going by the order you made it to the rooftop...that would be you two.”
Either he remembered offhand or had access to that information, because after thinking for a brief moment, Mitsuki pointed to Carol and Hanakawa. If they were going by the order they stepped onto the rooftop, that would have been correct. Carol had used her grappling hooks to get there first, and the first one Celestina had carried onto the roof was Hanakawa.
“So, what kind of power would you like?”
“Hmm...” Carol sank into thought. Being suddenly presented with the offer, it was only natural she’d need some time to think about it.
“Could you make up your mind in five minutes? The fighting is supposed to start, so I don’t want to hold things up too much.”
“Wait! Is that five minutes for both of us combined?!” Hanakawa exclaimed.
“You can think at the same time, can’t you?”
“I suppose, but—”
“We can ask for any power we like, right?” Carol asked.
“Sure, but remember the whole point is to come up with something that will help you defeat Yogiri Takatou. If it’s totally unrelated to that, I’m not sure I’m willing to do it.”
“So, for example, if I were to ask to become the most dashing individual in the universe and for the world to be restructured such that there is no greater joy for others than to perform adult acts with me, you would refuse?” Hanakawa asked.
“I’m really starting to think we should have killed this guy a lot earlier...” Ryouko muttered, looking down at Hanakawa with disgust.
“All right, I’ve made up my mind!” said Carol. “I want to be able to nullify others’ powers! I want it to work on anything, even on powers granted by you!”
“Done.” Mitsuki nodded.
“That will allow me to nullify any power this piece of garbage...ahem, that Hanakawa chooses, right?”
“I guess so. That’s how the rules work. Here, you can read this to see the details.” Mitsuki passed Carol a small slip of paper.
“Wh-What is this?! How am I supposed to select an ability to get revenge for the oppression I have suffered at your hands up until now?!”
“I had a bad feeling about it, so I’m really glad I decided to make it to the rooftop before you,” Carol replied.
“Then what am I supposed to pick?!”
“Hmm...looking at this, it seems there are quite a few restrictions on my power, so you better think carefully about what you want. But if you try to use it on us, I’ll just disable it anyway!”
“Limits?! I thought we were permitted any power we wished! Adding limits to it afterwards is hardly fair!” Hanakawa protested.
“That’s easy to say, but I can’t give you powers that are logically impossible, and I can’t supply you unlimited energy forever, right?”
So, what am I to do? I have never thought seriously about this issue. Should I think of a power to kill Yogiri? If I succeed, surely the Great Sage will reward me afterwards. But no matter what kind of combat power I think of, it will only lead to Takatou killing me in retaliation! I need something more clever to deal with him.
Ah, perhaps I should not think too deeply on it. Maybe an ability that allows me to avoid attacking him at all is preferable. In that case, a multipurpose ability of some sort would be preferred. That would be more effective, would it not? However, a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. I fear that might lead to unexpected pitfalls somewhere.
And there are limits that will be placed on the power as well! And it will take some sort of resource to use? How am I supposed to make a decision with that in mind? Ahhhh! I need more time to think!
Anyway! Whether Takatou returns home or dies, what is important for me is what comes after! I need something that will help me survive this coming conflict and everything that comes after! But what kind of power would that be?!
“Time’s up.” Mitsuki interrupted Hanakawa’s train of thought.
“Uh...huh?”
“I don’t want to make the others wait any longer, and I’m already bored.”
“No! What will happen to my new power, then?!” Hanakawa cried.
“Giving you nothing at all would be too depressing, so I just picked something at random for you. Here, this will tell you how to use it.” Mitsuki handed him a slip of paper. The moment Hanakawa took it, Mitsuki vanished.
“Last Boss Quest, Final Stage, Round One: Start!”
A message appeared in the air above them as an announcement played, signaling the start of the tournament.