Black Iron Magician

Chapter 231 Ten Minutes of Mental Preparation

On the day of the decisive battle, 30 minutes remained until the designated time. Haruna and the other heroes, as well as the Crocus army led by Clarius, have set up camp near the cape where the battle would take place.

The heroes of each country will fight one of the Great Eight Demons and his aides. As the time approaches, the tension in their bodies grows stronger. Some of them aren’t nervous at all, but most of them seem restless.

「It’s almost time, huh.」

「I-I’m a little nervous….」

「Oda-sama, are you okay!? I’ll bring a doctor right away!」

「Ah, I’m fine! I’m fine!」

「You sure are putting on airs, Oda. Why don’t you get married when this battle is over?」

「Fuchi-kun, that’s what you call a flag….」

「You are looking pretty good today, Asebi. You normally get a stomachache or feel like going to throw up.」

「Well, it’s not like we are going to deal with the Red Devil of Adelheit after all. I’m strangely calm right now. Yeah, I’m really glad that Adelheit is on our side.」

「Ah, I see….」

「I said, I don’t want to make a pose like that! Why do I have to make a pose if we win!?」

「「「What are you talking about, Hero Udberg!? This is the victory pose that we’ve thought about all night long!」」」

―――― It seems that each of them is using various means to relieve their tension. In the meantime, Haruna’s group is looking at the cape.

「The cape is quite vast when you look at it like this, huh.」

「The letter said that the starting point is on the land at the center of the cape. It’s unknown whether they are that confident or just trying to lure use….」

「The stage is 1000 meters square from there, and other than the representatives are forbidden to get in, was it? It seems that they want a clean and fair fight.」

「Therese-san, don’t let your guard down…. The opponent is one of the Great Eight Demons, the pinnacle of the demon king….」

「That’s right, we shouldn’t let our guard down! A fight without rules is an exchange that takes advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses!」

「Haruna, there are the rules, so don’t deviate from them, okay?」

「I-I know~」

As Chinatsu says, there are some rules for this battle.

First is the range of the battlefield that was mentioned in the previous conversation. There’s a large rock in the middle of the cape, and it was stated that this would be the center of the battlefield. The field is 1000 meters square around the large rock at the center of the cape with the sea at both ends. To measure it simply, the land and sea would be about 50-50. In addition, those who are not going to fight are prohibited to go in. If any of these rules are intentionally broken, the agreement will be broken at that point and it will become a genuine war.

Secondly, the method of determining the winner. While there are three representatives on Hund’s side, the number of representatives on the hero side hasn’t been decided yet at the time the letter of challenge was sent out. It could be the same number, or it could be ten, or even a hundred of heroes.

Nevertheless, Hund’s letter stated that the battle would be decided by the total annihilation of the enemy army. Dead or alive doesn’t matter, but it’s forbidden to attack those who surrender. It’s disadvantageous for Hund’s side, which has a small number of people. ‘After all, maybe they are planning something,’ this is the reason why the hero side was racking their brains.

Actually, there are still more rules and regulations that are quite long if you include the details. Excessive environmental destruction is prohibited, if the battle lasts for a long time, there would be a break time every hour, go to the toilet in the meantime, etc. ‘Are they for real? Are they so meticulous and serious, or are they purposely doing this to hide a trap?’ In the end, they didn’t get the answer and they decided to deal with it while adapting to the situation.

「Now, let’s continue with the warming-up.」

「It’s no use worrying about it now. Let’s do what we can do now.」

「That’s right desuwa!」

「Let’s show… the power of Adelheit…!」

Then, 10 minutes before the start time, their enemies appeared. A horde of monsters emerged from the ocean. Although they are not the ones who will be fighting, seeing this scene, the soldiers of Crocus start to ring their weapons and fire themselves up.

「Let’s do this!」

「Salt damage is nothing to us!」

Let’s say it once again, they are not going to fight.

「… There!」

While the soldiers were making noise in the camp, Haruna found those who gave a remarkable pressure in the horde. The other heroes also turned their attention to those with different presence.

One of them is a strange creature with a white body that looks like a mushroom or a jellyfish that has many thin arms, and it has no face that could be seen. The many arms are holding a total of eight staves, and from the quality of their magic power, it could be understood that those are meant to enhance water magic.

「Uwaah, that monster is too unorthodox. How sly!」

「Haha, that said, you are burning with rivalry, right, Popura?」

「As if!」

「It’s okay. Compared to the bright red flame at that time, it’s water this time. In case of emergency, we can just swim.」

「What time are you talking about!? My flames are the worst match for it!」

And the monster that stands on the other is a shark no matter how you look at it. However, the size is huge like the stone giant that Haruna and the others fought before. At a glance, it could be mistaken for a whale, but the peculiar dorsal fin and the vicious and sharp teeth are that of a shark.

「S-So big….」

「What? It just means that the target is big too. We can hit it all we want. However, it seems that normal arrows are not going to be effective, huh…. Gonzales, Big, Johnny! Don’t forget to smear your arrows with poison!」

「「「Yeah!」」」

「… Is it okay to use poison?」

「According to the rules, yes. More importantly, Oda, can you stop that thing?」

「What do you think I have been catching Clarius’s rush for? Yeah, I can do it!」

「I’ll support you. L-Let’s do our best!」

And finally, the center of the horde. There, a large blue figure is standing while folding his arms that are as thick as a large tree. Most of the lower part of his body is hidden under the seawater, but it can be seen that he has two legs instead of a merman-like tail. He has fin-like ears, a sharp narwhal horn, and a face full of bravery befitting a Demon King. And above all, the enormous energy overflowing from his body tells that he’s the Great Eight Demons.

「Wow, he’s the Great Eight Demons Hund Lind, right!?」

「I-I can feel his spirit even from this distance desuwa…!」

「I-I’m going to the toilet while I can now….」

「………」

Chinatsu was staring at Hund. She felt the strength of the pressure released by Hund, and fully used the Danger Detection Skill. She was trying to estimate his strength while imagining the powerful enemies she had met so far, such as her master Nell, Deris, and Aralkar, the 『Pandemonium Mother』 that she fought in the basement of the mansion. As a result, Chinatsu was able to roughly grasp his strength.

「――Level 7.」