The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 63

“…Hmph, as expected of someone calling themselves the Demon King, even if you’re a fake. But Hasan was originally a scout. He doesn’t specialize in close combat.”

After I tossed Hasan aside, now Nabal starts talking.

Oh, so Hasan was a scout.

I wonder if he’s good at disarming traps in dungeons?

That explains why he wasn’t so strong.

“And I, Nabal, am an A-rank adventurer and an expert in close combat… a Sword Master by profession. Don’t lump me together with the likes of Hasan.”

Saying that, Nabal uses [Storage] and starts pulling out swords one by one.

Ah.

If there are swords with special effects, I don’t want to touch them even through armor, so I’ll take out Gaga’s magic sword from my [Storage] too.

“Oh? So you use magic swords as well.”

Nabal takes them out of [Storage] and sticks them into the stage one after another.

Eh, he’s already stuck in three…

Are there still more?

And if they’re all magic swords, isn’t that equipment way too lavish?

A-rank adventurers are really something else.

They’re raking it in.

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Adjusting the power balance of magic swords.

[Yamamoto’s Magic Sword]’s performance has increased 4-fold.

Eh…?

“But it seems you don’t know my nickname.”

He takes out a new magic sword from [Storage] and thrusts it into the stage with a thud.

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Adjusting the power balance of magic swords.

[Yamamoto’s Magic Sword]’s performance has increased 5-fold.

“No, you should probably stop there…”

Every time Nabal increases the number of magic swords, my sword’s performance increases by that number!

But Nabal, perhaps thinking I was looking down on him, lets out a nihilistic smile.

“You seem to be suggesting that my collection is just this much, Demon King?”

No, I’m not saying that!

While I’m saying this, he sticks another magic sword into the stage!

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Adjusting the power balance of magic swords.

[Yamamoto’s Magic Sword]’s performance has increased 6-fold.

“My nickname is [Magic Sword Collector]! An ordinary swordsman would be fascinated by this many magic swords and rush down the path to ruin… but!”

Thud thud thud!

Magic swords from [Storage] are thrust into the stage all at once.

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Adjusting the power balance of magic swords.

[Yamamoto’s Magic Sword]’s performance has increased 10-fold.

Yeah, a total of ten magic swords have appeared.

Thanks to that, Gaga’s magic sword has become ten times more powerful!

Isn’t it going to be harder not to defeat him in this situation!?

“As a Sword Master, I can wield all of these magic swords! Behold!”

Saying that, Nabal starts equipping the magic swords, but…

Hmm.

I wonder if it’s okay to attack during this time?

I glance at Tatsu, and he’s giving me a kind look that says to wait.

I guess I have no choice…

After waiting for him to fumble around with his preparations, the result is—

“This is my true form, known as the Magic Sword Collector!”

Nabal clanks the hilts of the magic swords together and bites down on them.

Yeah.

He’s biting down on two in his mouth, holding three in each hand between his fingers, and even gripping one between each toe, for a total of ten.

But you know what?

The look is like a “My Idea of the Strongest Character!” state that an elementary school kid would come up with.

What is this?

Is he directly attacking my dark history…?

If so, that’s quite a magic sword!

I never expected to be attacked in such a place!

“——!”

He must have noticed my confusion.

Nabal moves.

But I was confused because I remembered my dark history, not because I was shaken by Nabal’s magic sword form!

Nabal approaches as if he’s skating, gliding smoothly across the ground.

That’s creepy!

Is this what they call a Sword Master, someone who moves in such a creepy way?

If so, I don’t want to become a Sword Master.

While I was thinking about that, Nabal slowly approached.

Yeah, maybe because of [Thought Acceleration], his movements look slow.

And thanks to [Prediction], I can see clearly how he’s going to move.

For now, I’ll easily dodge Nabal’s attacks.

“~~~~!”

When I kept dodging, he glared at me intensely as if saying “Don’t dodge!”…

By the way, while dodging, I checked, but there’s no magic sword with the characteristics of the sleep magic sword that Take mentioned.

I wonder if he hasn’t taken it out of [Storage] yet?

Or…

Ah.

Because I was lost in thought, the three magic swords in Nabal’s right hand clashed with Gaga’s magic sword I was holding.

Nabal grins.

His hand moves gracefully, trying to knock the magic sword out of my hand.

He probably tried to entangle my magic sword with his three, right?

Yeah.

Apart from Nabal’s three magic swords being sliced like butter and the severed blades flying far away, I think it was a good strategy.

“Three of my magic swords that I collected over fifteen years!?”

He spits out the magic swords he was biting and shouts involuntarily, seemingly shocked.

But my magic sword has the attack power of ten swords in one.

Well, it’s like taking a paper knife and swinging it at a huge chunk of iron, only for it to snap in half, right?

I can’t think of any reaction other than “of course.”

“You… you, you, you, you! How dare you! To so easily destroy three swords I obtained at the risk of my life!”

“Weren’t they just weak magic swords?”

“There’s no such thing as a weak magic sword!”

“Then that means your skill is poor, doesn’t it?”

Nabal’s words stop.

And after thinking for a bit,

“Hmph, it’s just that these magic swords were weak…!”

He puts on a brave front while trembling.

It seems Nabal has a line he won’t cross.

Well, I don’t really care either way.

“Still, you’re incredibly unlucky, Demon King. You’ve made me serious…!”

No, didn’t I ask you to be serious from the start?

So he wasn’t serious yet.

“I didn’t want to use this technique, but I have no choice! It’s to defeat you! —[Magic Sword Fusion]!”

In response to Nabal’s words, the equipped magic swords start floating up on their own.

Then they all gather and combine into one magic sword!

▶Copycat Animal has been activated.

Acquired [Something Like Magic Sword Fusion].

Eh, I don’t think I need this skill…

“[Magic Sword Fusion] is my unique skill! It fuses all the magic swords I possess into one! The created sword has the combined attack power and special abilities of all the fused swords! Yes, this sword is—”

Nabal grabs the hilt of the combined magic sword floating in front of him.

“The world’s strongest magic sword!”

But you only fused seven, so it’s only about seven times the attack power, right?

Or maybe some magic swords have quite a difference in attack power?

If so, it might surpass Gaga’s sword’s attack power, which would be troublesome…

▶[Balance] has been activated.

Balancing the fusion status of weapons.

▶Fusing [Failed Junk Sword] x217 into [Yamamoto’s Magic Sword].

Fusion successful.

[Yamamoto’s Magic Sword]’s Physical Attack increased by 3689.

[Balance] is raging at this situation like never before!?

What’s with this fusion status balance!?

Is it like, “If they fused, let’s fuse everything we have too”!?

It seems [Balance] really can’t stand this situation!

By the way, the [Failed Junk Sword] that was fused is the failed product from when I was constantly forging swords in Gaga’s workshop.

I was thinking of melting them down to use someday, but I never thought they’d become fusion material in a place like this!

And I’m sorry for the smug-looking Nabal, but my magic sword now has a physical attack of nearly 5000 just from a rough calculation.

Rather, if I were hit by something like this, even I might be blown away. It’s that dangerous…

And for him to get cocky just because he fused seven magic swords… It’s gone beyond comical and started to look pitiful…

“Yes, now that it’s become the strongest magic sword, my magic sword’s physical attack is over 700! There’s nothing this sword can’t cut!”

700…

700, huh…

By the way, what’s with this structure where the harder Nabal tries, the more I power up to ridiculous levels?

I don’t want to be feared as an existence that spreads death wherever I go, you know?

“Here I come! Die!”

“You can’t die in the Grand Martial Arts Festival system, you know?”

I try to refute him, but it seems I only added fuel to the fire.

With a red face, he approaches me with that skating-like movement.

His aim is not my neck… but my magic sword, it seems.

Apparently, having three of his magic swords cut was something he really couldn’t stomach.

I can clearly feel his intention to get back at me.

But I’m not sure if I should say this…

The difference in physical attack has widened even more than before.

Before, the difference was about 900, but now it’s widened to about 4300, you know?

The result is as clear as day, but…

Is this really okay…?

I involuntarily ponder with [Thought Acceleration].

The magic swords Nabal collected over fifteen years.

Surely there must be many memories attached to them.

Nabal eating meals while holding his magic swords…

Nabal carefully maintaining his magic swords…

Nabal taking walks with his magic swords…

Nabal sleeping while hugging his magic swords…

His face always looks peaceful and happy.

“That face of yours is somehow irritating.”

“Aaaaaaaah!?”

I cleanly cut through the strongest magic sword.

Don’t think you’ll be forgiven after destroying my CogTwo!

As soon as I cut it, the strongest magic sword crumbles and falls apart. As if it had been a fake from the beginning…

Yeah, it’s turned into garbage.

“You, you, do you know how much thought I put into collecting these magic swords!? Is this how you treat them knowing that!?”

“No, I don’t know.”

“You demon… no, you Demon King!”

You’re still pretty composed, aren’t you, Nabal?

While I’m distracted by Nabal, I see a shadow moving at the edge of my vision.

Ah, as I thought.

Hasan is taking out a sword from [Storage]. Its hilt has a design that looks like many isosceles triangles intertwined.

So that’s it.

That’s the magic sword that brings the sleep curse.

Well, it’s within expectations.

While dealing with Nabal who’s trying to draw my attention, I watch Hasan’s movements with [Parallel Thinking].

If you have a super-powerful sword in your [Storage] that can aim for a one-hit reversal, you might accidentally use it at some point, so to prevent that, you’d leave it with someone else if you’re cautious enough—that’s what you’d think, right?

But he’s finally understood that this isn’t the time to be hesitating to use it.

Hasan stands up and is about to throw the sleep magic sword—

“Boss! Take thi—”

—by the time he did that, I had already approached Hasan and sliced the magic sword to pieces.

“—what, huh?”

Hasan stops moving, still in the posture of trying to throw the magic sword, watching the fragments of the magic sword crumbling from his hand.

But the next moment, as if understanding the situation, he flicks out a blade from his palm and lunges at me!

“I’ll kill you!”

“No, that’s impossible.”

Because I didn’t just cut the magic sword.

The moment he moved, what was Hasan fell apart, and it immediately disappeared into light.

Don’t think I’m skilled enough to only slice the magic sword!

Of course, Hasan was sliced to pieces too.

Seeing this, Nabal—

“I’m sorry! I was out of my mind! Please, would you consider letting us win?”

When I turned around, he was in a perfect dogeza, asking for a ceasefire negotiation…

Well, even if you say that…