"If you don't want to get bossed around or mocked by the people around you… you just o bee stronger."— Garō, One Punch Man

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  A fiery bst erupted from Nidhogg's maw, iing the ground and creating a t inferno.

  Roy, however, casually summoned a thin ice wall that effortlessly blocked the attack.

  Through the translut ice, he could see Leonora's silhouette.

  "I'll handle Leonora. Cire, you and the others deal with the other three," Roy instructed.

  "Got it!" Cire and the others nodded.

  They charged towards the remaining members of the Dragon Knights.

  There were only four members oeam this time.

  Besides Leonora, there was a Wyveralist, a Samander Elementalist, and a Drake Elementalist.

  "I'm surprised that the honorable Dragon Knights would resort to a night attack," Cire ented with a smirk.

  "Our mission takes priority over knightly honor," a girl with short hair replied, wielding a halberd-shaped Elemental Waffe. "We're simply employing the most effit tactics t victory and glory to our nation."

  "To show you some respect, I'll introduce myself. I am Yuri El Cid, vice-captain of the Dragon Knights."

  "I'm Cire Rouge, leader of Team Scarlet."

  Cire summoned her Fme Whip, and the two girls cshed.

  ????

  Meanwhile, Roy faced Leonora.

  The ground was littered with craters, and fmes licked at the sky, threatening to e the night.

  Nidhogg, the ferocious dragon spirit, roared, its anger shaking the air.

  It was furious that its fmes couldn't pee Roy's ice wall.

  Leonora, bathed in the pale moonlight, approached Roy.

  With a gesture, she transformed Nidhogg into a dark, shadowy form.

  The materialized darkness coiled around her hand, taking the shape of a massive sword.

  "This is my Dragon Syer sword, the Elemental Waffe of my dragon spirit, Nidhogg. Roy, bey sacrifice!" Leonora decred, raising the sword high.

  "A Dragon Syer sword, huh? Not bad. But it's nothing pared to my Est," Roy retorted with a smirk.

  He summo, the Demon Sying Sword.

  "Is that your sword spirit? An impressive bde. This is the battle I've been waiting for," Leonora said, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she charged towards Roy.

  She closed the distaween them in an instant and swung her sword with a powerful downward strike.

  Roy effortlessly blocked the attack.

  G!!!

  "Blocked?" Leonora's red eyes widened in surprise.

  "Impressive! As expected of my chosen oppo. Then take this!"

  She unleashed another ferocious attack.

  g! g! g! g!

  Their swords cshed repeatedly.

  "Not enough, not enough, not enough! e on, make my blood boil, Roy!" Leonora roared, her attacks growing more and more frenzied.

  But no matter how she attacked, Roy effortlessly parried every strike.

  Leonora's aura surged with power.

  Seeing that her attacks were iive, she unleashed her trump card.

  "on, heed my blood's call and tear everything asunder! Dragon King's Roar!"

  This was one of the Draia sword teiques. Leonora eled a massive amount of divine power into her sword, raising it high before bringing it down with devastating force.

  It was an attack that couldn't be deflected. Even if blocked, the sheer force of the impact would crush the oppo.

  pared to elegant and refined sword teiques, this one was brutal and straightforward.

  But its power was undeniable.

  BOOM!

  The ground shook, and a cloud of dust erupted.

  A gust of wind cleared the dust.

  The ground where Roy stood was cracked and riddled with craters.

  He had eled the force of Leonora's attato the earth.

  "W-What?! He blocked it?" Leasped, her breath ragged as she stared at Roy in disbelief.

  He had effortlessly blocked her stro attack.

  Roy appeared before her in a fsh.

  He gazed into her beautiful face, his expression unreadable.

  "The games are over, Leonora."

  He gently pced his hand on her head.

  "Your little tricks are useless against my overwhelming power..."

  Leonora's aura surged, but then it subsided just as quickly.

  Roy's magic had calmed her raging Dragon Blood.

  "...Ugh?!" Her crimson eyes returo their normal bck color.

  Her Dragon Blood had been suppressed.

  She swayed and would have fallen if not for Roy catg her.

  "Leonora, are you alright?" Roy asked gently.

  "I-I'm sorry. It was my Dragon Blood... I acted impulsively," Leonora apologized, her face flushing as she was held in Roy's arms. She closed her eyes, embarrassed.

  "It's okay," Roy chuckled.

  "Why aren't you taking my Magic Stone?" Leonora asked, opening her eyes and looking at him curiously.

  "Eliminating one of the stroeams right here wouldn't be very fun, would it?" Roy replied with a shrug.

  "Hmph! I won't lose to you ime... Roy," Leonora decred with a smile, then vanished in a burst of fmes.

  ...

  Meanwhile, Cire and the others were battling the remaining members of the Dragon Knights.

  Suddenly, Yuri, the vice-captain, leaped back, dodging an attack.

  "Abort the mission! Everyone, retreat!" she ordered.

  "Yuri-sama?!"

  "Lady Leonora has beeed."

  "What?!"

  The Dragon Knights were shocked, but they were a disciplieam.

  They quickly retreated under Yuri's and.

  "Don't run! O fangs of ice, pierce my enemy! Ice Shot!" Ri fired an arrow.

  But it missed, hitting a tree instead.

  The girls looked towards Roy, but Leonora was gone.

  "Roy, are you alright?"

  "Are you hurt?"

  "Where's Leonora?"

  "Did you defeat her, Roy?"

  ...

  The girls bombarded him with questions.

  "Yes, I defeated Leonora," Roy firmed.

  "Then why didn't you take her Magic Stone?" Cire pressed.

  "Well, wouldn't it be b to elimihem so early in the game?" Roy replied with a shrug.

  The girls were speechless.

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  ????

  The chirping of birds echoed through the forest, and the crisp m air sent a chill down Roy's spine.

  He felt a soft sensation against his cheek, pulling him from his slumber.

  He opened his eyes to the dim light filtering through the tent.

  Roy stretched zily.

  "...Hmm?"

  Somethi strange.

  As he tried to sit up, he realized his arm was being held by a small, cold hand.

  "Est?!" His heart skipped a beat as he saw the silver-haired girl sleeping soundly beside him.

  She was curled up uhe b, her adorable face like that of a little angel.

  And on his other side, ging to his arm, was Ren Ashdoll.

  Her soft bck hair shimmered in the dim light, framing her delicate features.

  She was so cute, it made his heart melt.

  "Roy, you're awake!" Cire ehe tent, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance as she saw Est and Ren.

  She had e to wake him up.

  "Cire, you're up early," Roy ehen turo the two spirits, who had also woken up. "You sleep a bit longer if you want."

  "Okay, Roy," Est and Ren replied obediently, snuggling bato the bs and falling asleep.

  Roy gently tucked the b arou, then snapped his fingers, ging into his clothes with a subtle use of magic.

  He stepped out of the tent, taking a deep breath of the fresh m air.

  "Try some of the fruits I gathered," Cire said, gesturing towards a wooden table den with various fruits.

  Roy picked one up and took a bite. It was surprisingly sweet and delicious.

  By the stream, Ri hummed a cheerful tune as she stirred a pot of soup.

  "Roy, you're awake! Breakfast will be ready soon," she said, turning around with a bright smile.

  She wore a cooking apron over her uniform and held a bowl and spoon in her hands.

  Her attire didn't quite suit her noble dy image, but the trast somehow made her even more adorable.

  "Haha, there's no rush," Roy replied with a chuckle. "Where are Fianna and Ellis?"

  "Fianna is setting up the barrier," Cire answered, taking a bite of a fruit. "And Ellis is probably practig her swordsmanship by the river."

  It seemed Fianna had already set up their base. She was quite diligent.

  For aalist, setting up multiple barriers was like building an imperable fortress.

  Not only would their divine power be amplified by the earth's blessings, but the flow of the earth veins could also provide various beneficial effects, such as fatigue redu.

  Soon, Ellis and Fianurned.

  Ri's breakfast was also ready.

  There was toasted bread, grilled fish skewers seasoned with salt, a wild herb sad, pan-fried mushrooms with butter, and a delicious chi soup with ginger and spices, a Laurenfrost family recipe.

  Everything looked delicious.

  "Everyone, dig in. These are all my specialties," Ri decred proudly.

  They eheir breakfast as the sun rose, casting its warm glow na Ys.

  ...

  After breakfast, they gathered to discuss their strategy for the Bde Dance.

  They sipped the tea Ri had prepared while studying a map spread out oable.

  This map was based on information gathered by ah spirit that had scouted the surrounding area.

  Cire, who seemed to have a talent for drawing, had created the map.

  However, apart from the area around their protected base, most of the map was bnk.

  They didn't even know the full extent of the arena.

  "Let's summarize the information we have," Cire said, setting doweacup and beginning their strategy meeting.

  There were a total of twenty-four teams participating in the Bde Dance.

  Acc to their wind spirit scouts, some teams had already been eliminated on the first day.

  And the stroeams, like the Quina Empire's "Fods" and the Holy Kingdom of Lugia's "Holy Spirit Knights," had mostly established their bases.

  ...

  The girls discussed the information they had gathered.

  "Roy, what do you think of our pn?" Cire suddenly asked.

  The firls looked at him expetly.

  Roy, however, hadn't been paying attention to their discussion.

  In his opinion, any pn was fihey could just steamroll the petition.

  "Your pn is excellent. Let's proceed as you've discussed," Roy replied with a serious nod.

  "My suggestion is to take the initiative," Cire decred.

  "There's a limited number of Magic Stones. If we don't actively seek them out, we won't be able to win."

  Currently, Team Scarlet only had the fic Stohey had taken from the Baluster team.

  Seg a certain number of stones early in the game would give them a signifit advantage.

  They could then defend their base and wait for the other teams to weaken each other before swooping in to collect the remaining stones.

  But that was just a theory.

  Attag a well-defended base was like ying siege to a castle with a small force. It was foolish.

  "In other words, we should take advantage of the fact that the other teams haven't fully established their bases yet and catch them off guard," Cire cluded.

  Just then...

  "Something has entered our barrier!" Fianna suddenly excimed.

  The girls tensed up.

  "Look, what's that?" Cire poiowards the sky.

  Roy also noticed it.

  A winged rabbit was flying through the trees.

  It was clearly a spirit, not an ordinary animal.

  "Is that a scout from aeam?"

  "Hmph, I'll shoot it down!" Ri decred, ting the intation to summon her Ice Bow.

  "Wait, stop!"

  Bonk!

  Cire whacked Ri on the head with a spoon.

  "Ow! That hurt! What was that for?" Ri yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

  "That's for being so reckless," Cire retorted.

  "Look closely. It's a messenger," she said.

  The spirit circled above them, then dropped something from its mouth.

  It was a letter.

  Cire cautiously checked for traps before opening it.

  "What does it say?"

  "It's an invitation to form an alliance."

  "An alliahe girls exged surprised gnces.

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