"Look. Even the headquarters was swallowed up."
The three of them arrived at the headquarters of Ferris Gallo. The door with the tiger insignia had collapsed miserably, and the windows were all broken. Even the luxurious paint on the outer wall had corroded and fallen off.
"Garde is on the second floor. You can go in."
As expected, the interior was also in a miserable state. The extremely luxurious furniture had been torn apart and fell messily to the ground.
Looking at the scene inside, the three of them began to question the stage at the same time.
"This strange forest stage…was it really made by him?”
"…I'm not sure. The organizers have limited the production to only Garde. If we ask the agent to do the production-"
"But we didn't encounter a single trap even if we asked for an agent?”Yao asked in confusion.
"The forest is the tiger's territory. He had prepared such a stage that was advantageous to him for a sneak attack…but that was not the case. Because if it was because of this, there was no point in hiding in the headquarters. No, it should be said that there is no need to destroy the headquarters."
This was the biggest question. This luxurious headquarters was built by Garde to show himself. It could be said to be a symbol of his ambition. Would he destroy the headquarters so miserably for no reason?
The three of them were not as nervous as before and began to search around. However, even after searching through every corner, he still could not find any hints or weapons.
It might just be a needle, or it might be an iron block that could not be picked up at all. They were currently competing under such unfavorable conditions. Even if there was a sense of incongruity that had nothing to do with winning or losing, he still had to think of a way to resolve it.
"It's time to go to the second floor. Renjun, please wait here."
"W-why? I also have a gift, so I won't be a burden."
"I didn't mean that. However, he did not know what would happen up there. Therefore, they had to split up. We'll go look for hints to break through the game. I hope you can guard your retreat here."
This was true, but Ren was unwilling. However, he also knew the importance of guarding his retreat route. Ren, who was in a difficult position, could only helplessly agree to stand guard at the bottom of the stairs.
Asuka and Yao lowered their voices as much as they could and slowly walked up the stairs that were blocked by tree roots. The two of them stood on both sides of the last door at the top of the stairs, waiting for an opportunity. They nodded at each other and quickly rushed in.
"Yi…"
“------………GEEEEEEYAAAAAaaaaaaa！！！”
In the room, a tiger monster that couldn't speak stood guard in front of a pure silver crossguard sword.
The wild beast's roar reached the ears of Black Rabbit and Sixteen Nights, who were waiting at the door.
The wild birds hiding in the forest scattered and fled in an instant.
"Just, just now, that fierce cry was…?”
"Yes, I'm sure. It's the Kasuga tribe that used the gift of the tiger."
"Ah, I see. Eh, that's impossible! No matter what, this was too rude!”
The black rabbit with its rabbit ears standing up said angrily.
Sixteen Nights, who wasn't serious in the first place, shrugged and changed her words.
"That must be Young Master Ren."
"It's reasonable to take out the bag!!!”
Black Rabbit took out a paper fan and smashed it on Sixteen Nights 'head. They seemed to be too free.
Sixteen Nights broke off the wonderful tree branch that stretched out of the door and smiled.
"Whether it was the roar just now or this stage, it was much more interesting than your previous evaluation. Aren't you going in to take a look?"
"Although it's fine, don't you think it's dangerous?”
"What? How boring. Would I be afraid?"
"Sixteen Nights, you better obediently stay by my side!”
"…You're still pretending to be a noble rabbit. How boring."
"If you want to say this, at least don't let others hear it! I will really beat you up!"
The black rabbit cried out and slapped Sixteen Nights with its paper fan.
However, Black Rabbit, who understood the situation inside, could only pray uneasily for the safety of the three people.
"This ghostly plant…must be related to her. Then there should be a hint in the fair rules of the competition. Everyone must be safe!"
Yao immediately protected the flying bird and blocked the attack that the tiger could not see clearly.
Yao, who was trying to avoid Garde's attack, shouted at the bird that he had knocked down the stairs.
"Run!"
The two of them had no time to say anything else. Garde no longer looked like the human-tiger from a few days ago. Instead, he had transformed into a ferocious tiger monster with red eyes and a strange light, waiting for the three. Ren, who was standing guard at the bottom of the stairs, understood what had happened to him as soon as he saw Garde's expression.
"It's a ghost, and a vampire! Is it really her?"
"Cut the crap and run!"
Flying Bird grabbed Ren by the collar and rushed down the stairs.
Gaard, whose target was Asuka and Ren, jumped down from the stairs and stood in front of them.
“GEEEEEEYAAAAaaa！！”
"Please, please wait! Miss Yao is still up there!"
"Don't worry about it and run!"
Under Asuka's command, Ren's consciousness was cut off as if he was swept into a tsunami.
The feeling of having to save someone was pushed to a corner, and all his attention was focused on escaping from here.
"Escape in one breath!"
"Eh?"
Ren grabbed Asuka's hand and hugged her by the waist. He kicked through the wall and rushed outside. With the bird in his arms, he ran like a wild beast through the street where there was almost no place to land.
Perhaps it was because he couldn't leave the headquarters, Garde only watched Ren and the others run away before returning inside.
"Wait, wait!"
Ren led her through the dense forest under Asuka's orders. This wasn't a big deal, but staying away from the headquarters was beyond his calculations. Therefore, Flying Bird quickly emphasized,
"Enough, enough! Stop immediately!"
"Yes……Aiya?"
Ren, who had regained his senses, stopped in his tracks. He couldn't figure out why he, who had been at the headquarters, would suddenly run into the forest. He was even more shocked that he was carrying a flying bird.
"Wow, wow!"
"Ahhh!"
Ren suddenly fell to the ground as if he had lost all his strength. The bird that had lost its support also fell down with him. Asuka, who had her whole body on Ren, puffed up her cheeks unhappily.
"Hey, aren't you being too rude? If I fall like this, others will think that I'm too heavy."
"No, no, no, no! I just felt a power that I couldn't believe…Isn't this the gift of the bird?”
Flying Bird, who was at a loss for words, let go of Ren's cheek. Flying Bird put this aside and told Ren what she had seen upstairs.
"Garde protected Silver's cross sword…Silver and the cross. Garde who had turned into a vampire. It couldn't be wrong. The designated weapon should be that crossguard sword."
"Vampires?"
"Yes, I am. Garde had originally obtained the spiritual personality of a human, a tiger, and a benefactor demon. With these three gifts, he had transformed into a human tiger. However, it should be because vampires have changed from humans to ghosts now."
It was also because of this that Garde turned back into a tiger. It was because he had become a vampire that he could not transform into a human. This was because the gift of transforming into a human had completely transformed into a ghost.
"Could it be that the person who prepared this stage was not him, but that vampire?”
"It's still not certain whether he's a vampire or not. Vampires were a rare race in the east. However, the possibility of him being the mastermind behind the scenes was quite high. After all, it's impossible for the irrational Garde to prepare such a stage."
"Is that so…Although I don't know who it is, this is really despicable."
Flying Bird turned around unhappily. He was probably angry that the competition he had started had been interfered with by outsiders. At this moment, the bushes beside the two of them suddenly shook.
"Who is it?"
"…It's me."
Yao, who was covered in blood, came out of the bushes.
When the two of them saw Yao's bleeding right arm, they could not help but scream.
"Spring, Spring Festival! Are you alright?"
"I can't say…I'm fine. It hurt. Maybe I'm really going to cry."
Yao collapsed on the ground. In his right hand was a silver crossguard sword.
"Could it be that you only relied on yourself to bring the sword here?”
I was going to defeat him…I'm sorry."
Flying Bird didn't know why she was apologizing. However, as soon as he finished speaking, Yao completely lost consciousness.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。