That person’s name is Sylvie Equus. She usually goes by Shilt, a swordsman… It’s revealed in a sub-event after she joins your party, but this person is a woman disguised as a man. She pretends to be a man so as not to be underestimated and came to Ganaize to train herself.

Contrary to her delicate appearance, her magic enhancement ability is high, and she possesses physical strength that can rival the muscles of the giant she’s currently facing… This is according to the game’s settings, but seeing how she lightly parried the giant’s attack earlier, it must be true.

And this person was called “Three Powers”… though it doesn’t mean her stats are high. If anything, her magic defense is higher compared to other warrior types, and she has enough ability to withstand magic attacks in the later stages. But that’s not the reason.

Sylvie was a character who was very systemically favored, and among them, her intermediate unique technique and advanced unique technique… these two were considered exceptionally strong, which led to her being treated as one of the “Three Powers.”

First, there’s the intermediate unique technique called “Whirlwind Sword.” It’s a skill that creates a small tornado, and honestly, its power isn’t that great, but it can completely stop a monster’s movement for about five seconds until the attack effect ends.

Five seconds in the game is an incredibly long time. During that time, you can recover your stance or string together combos, allowing you to attack unilaterally. In the game, monsters had weight settings, so its effect was weaker on large monsters, but if the conditions were met, even bosses could be completely shut down, giving it a game-breaking level of power.

And above all, the technique that made Sylvie one of the “Three Powers” was the advanced unique technique called “One Instant”—it unleashes a total of fifteen consecutive strikes at an unnoticeable speed, but the base attack power of this technique was clearly abnormal.

Normally, consecutive attack techniques have lower power than regular attacks, or if they do increase, doubling them would be the level of a final ultimate technique. But “One Instant” is different. Its attack power is an astonishing three times that of a regular attack. When enhanced to its absolute limit, it could deal enough damage to defeat even the Demon King in about three attacks.

No other flurry-type technique has this kind of power. The reason for such power is unknown as the developers never mentioned anything, but there were theories about a value being mistyped during development, and since there was never an announcement, it became considered a specification.

In Sylvie’s case, she became one of the “Three Powers” because her techniques were too powerful… but I didn’t consider her as a candidate, thinking this wouldn’t apply in reality. Among the other “Three Powers,” another also has the characteristic of powerful skills, so I also wonder if they would be strong now that it’s reality… Anyway, does encountering her here have any meaning?

If I compare the differences between reality and the game, will Sylvie, with her powerful techniques, exhibit the same power as in the game… And this betting match is completely different from the event where Sylvie joins your party. Will she join if I interfere?

Numerous questions arose in my mind. As I watched, the giant attacked. He closed the distance, swung down his longsword—and in that instant, Sylvie moved.

Her movements were graceful. To my eyes, it seemed she had read the giant’s attack from the start and moved accordingly… Sylvie advanced her foot while narrowly dodging the longsword.

She entered his range—immediately after, Sylvie’s sword strike exploded.

The unleashed technique was a powerful horizontal sweep. It had such momentum that it seemed it could even cleave the giant’s body in two… In that instant, from the magic power, I understood that the technique was the intermediate generic technique, “Belial Slash.”

A single-hit technique focused solely on power… The giant who received it wasn’t cleaved in two, as expected, but he was blown back considerably. She must have held back. Or rather, it’s better to think that the current slash used magic power to coat the blade, dulling its edge.

“The match is over.”

Sylvie said to her fallen opponent. Cheers erupted, and the prize money began to be distributed.

There’s no need to compare her abilities to the giant’s. Considering she’s mastered intermediate techniques, her level should be quite high to begin with.

From that perspective, Sylvie certainly is a candidate… but what should I do?

“Hey, isn’t there anyone else to fight next?”

When someone in the audience asked, Sylvie shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t mind. You can bring anyone you want.”

A murmur of “oohs” fills the surroundings. She has considerable confidence. Its source is clearly her skill, backed by her technique.

In terms of her stats, Sylvie was one of the stronger Swordsmen in Ganaize. In the game, her strength value was lower than the average Warrior, but perhaps because she primarily fought using flurry-type techniques, her speed was high, making her final attack power above the average of a normal Warrior. She has sufficient firepower even without the Advanced Technique, ‘One Instant.’

Speed also contributes to evasion, so her maneuverability might be flawless. And considering her ability to easily brush off a large man, her level must be high and her basic abilities considerable… Even though the game and the current situation are different, her abilities are undoubtedly appealing.

Hmm, what should I do? Of course, even if I get involved here, there’s no guarantee she’ll become an ally—

While I was deep in thought, another man stepped into the center from the crowd. This time, he was just as burly as the large man from before. But his combat weapon was a spear, not a sword.

“Next!”

“…Hmph.”

Sylvie snorts. The betting immediately begins… and overhearing the surrounding conversations, it seems Sylvie has won three consecutive matches so far.

Does she usually engage in these Betting Matches? Eventually, the battle began. However, Sylvie’s demeanor was a little different. It seems she’s gotten bored.

A spear was thrust. It was a sharp stab, but Sylvie easily dodged it, moved fluidly to approach her opponent, and struck once.

The man was sent flying. With that, he seemed to have easily lost his will to fight… it was truly an instant kill.

Cheers erupt. No more enemies appear even when called. Hmm, once things settle down, maybe I’ll try talking to her a bit.

Thinking that, I tried to exit the circle. But the people around me were buzzing, and I couldn’t move back properly.

In manga or similar stories, the pattern is usually a situation where you’re pushed into the center by the crowd… Just as I was thinking that, the crowd, with cheers, created an uncontrollable chaos. Perhaps because no next opponent appeared, even shouts of anger began to fly around for some reason.

Thinking they were quite hot-blooded, I tried to somehow back away… but the human wall couldn’t withstand the forward pressure, and I was instead flung back.

Just as I thought, “Give me a break,” I was pushed into the circle along with several other spectators… Wait, isn’t this exactly the situation I was thinking about?!

“…Oh, so you’re my opponent.”

Sylvie says in a cold voice. While other humans quickly fled, I was slow to react.

No, it was probably that I couldn’t adapt to the situation. It’s better to assume that the other spectators were used to the place and could evacuate quickly.

Anyway—it seems I’m likely to be the next opponent. I could run, but with this many people, if I run, there’s a chance I’ll be marked and won’t be able to walk around Town in the future… In fact, I’ve seen such cases when I visited for training, so it’s probably true. The betting seems to have already started. Things are getting really bad.

…Is there any meaning in encountering Sylvie like this? I thought, and ended up looking back at her, my opponent.