The Masters stood on the platform above the water, gazing at the changing arena around them in a daze. They didn't have to wonder for long before Nero continued her explanation.
"The first event, the Master Ranking Match, is, as you can see, an obstacle race."
"The seven Master contestants will start from the platform at their feet, pass through the fifty checkpoints ahead, circle the field, and return to the starting platform. The ranking will be determined by the order of arrival."
"It should be noted that the levels are all located above water. If you lose your footing and fall, your current progress will be invalid, and you must return to the starting point to begin again."
"However, there is no limit to the number of attempts. The game is not over until the top six are determined."
"Last but not least, because many of the players are capable of flight magic, for the sake of fairness, flying is prohibited in this game. Similarly, using the perimeter fence, the underwater area, or off-site objects as leverage is also prohibited. The results of offenders will be invalidated."
Isn't this just a massive variety show obstacle course?
Takumi's expression became subtle after hearing the rules. This competition was almost identical to those TV shows broadcast every summer vacation—carved from the same mold. Water traps, breaking through obstacles, falling into the water... Hiss! The dead memories suddenly rose up to attack him.
The only difference was the number of participants, the extraordinary strength of the players, and the fact that they were allowed to attack each other.
The seven Masters on the field did not share Takumi's nostalgia; they were busy digesting the rules. Even Alice Nakiri was no exception. Although she participated in the production, for the sake of fairness, Nero had not told her the specific content of the competition.
The rules were simple: pass the levels honestly. But the real difficulty lay in being wary of the others' conspiracies while navigating the obstacles. Thinking of this, the seven contestants immediately looked at one another with vigilance. Everyone began to calculate how to defend themselves or how to put the others in physical trouble.
"Hmm, it seems that everyone understands the rules. Please go to the starting line and take your places." Seeing this, Nero nodded with satisfaction and continued to host.
Upon hearing her words, the seven obediently lined up in the middle of the platform, keeping their distance and remaining alert. Seeing this, the Heroic Spirits retreated sensibly. They either waited aside or stayed near their Masters in spirit form to prevent accidents.
Of course, there were those who were conscientious, and those who were more casual. For example, Iskandar simply retreated to the auditorium to become a spectator.
Seeing the seven people in place, Nero shouted: "Ready... Start!"
The next moment, a petite figure rushed out. It was Megumin!
However, the remaining six people seemed to have no reaction. No one moved; they remained standing. Megumin noticed something strange. Why wasn't anyone catching up? She wasn't running that fast, was she? She looked back and saw everyone else still at the starting line, causing question marks to pop up in her mind.
But soon, Megumin's expression turned to fright. She saw that, except for Asuna Yuuki, who lacked long-range attack methods, the remaining five stepped forward and attacked her simultaneously.
Alice Nakiri smiled evilly and used magic to conjure several water balls, throwing them at Megumin. Flora constructed several bats formed from magical energy and directed them to swarm her. Kenneth deployed his Volumen Hydrargyrum, the mercury demon puppet splitting into several long dragons to strike. Kiritsugu Emiya took out a submachine gun loaded with rubber bullets and aimed. Even Waver fired a Gandr spell, albeit somewhat slowly.
Their idea was simple: use Megumin as a test subject to get familiar with the combat style of this race. Of course, there were other meanings. Alice and Flora were mostly teasing Megumin and playing with their companion, so they weren't serious; they just wanted to scare her. Kenneth and the others, however, were seriously testing her strength.
"Hey! No! Wait!" Megumin panicked and quickly deployed a magical round shield behind her.
After the update to the Divine Path System, even if Megumin didn't want to learn new spells, she had mastered some defensive magic. The shield blocked the fastest bullets, and Megumin began to change her pace, dodging left and right to avoid the remaining attacks in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
Although she remained unharmed under the first wave of concentrated fire, the situation was not optimistic. She had reached the end of the platform, and the first level was right in front of her. It consisted of two rows of columns arranged alternately, their tops tilted toward the middle, moving up and down rapidly and irregularly.
Passing this level would be impossible for an ordinary person, but Megumin's physical attributes were hundreds of times greater, so it should have been easy. The problem was the concentrated fire behind her, making it difficult to focus.
With the arrow already on the string, Megumin had no choice but to jump. Sure enough, just as she jumped and couldn't adjust her momentum, an attack from behind gave her an unwanted boost. Her calculated landing point was pushed forward.
"Hey! Hey! Wait!"
Megumin stepped on empty air and waved her limbs in panic. Prohibited from using levitation magic, she was helpless. With a plop, she became the first person to fall into the water.
"Oh, we can see that contestant Megumin has fallen into the water. This is the first elimination of the game. It seems Megumin has not adapted to the rhythm yet. She was attacked but did not fight back, absorbing all the interference, which eventually led to her slipping. I hope she won't be discouraged; after all, this is just the beginning, and she can restart immediately."
Nero's commentary made Megumin, who was swimming in the water, react. Right, why did she forget to fight back? Megumin regretted it instantly, secretly cursing herself for being stupid. She vowed to pay attention next time.
At the same time, the six people on the platform heard the commentary and noted that it was best to interfere with the people behind them to avoid being targeted themselves.
Suddenly, a figure jumped out. With a few quick leaps, they cleared the first level. It was Asuna Yuuki. She had taken advantage of everyone's focus on Megumin to set off quietly.
Seeing someone seize the opportunity, the five remaining attackers immediately started running, not wanting to lag behind. They did not forget to interfere with Asuna, letting her experience what Megumin had just gone through.
Trouble was greater for Asuna. Megumin had simply forgotten to fight back, but Asuna genuinely lacked long-range counters. However, with her flexible sword skills and some defensive props Takumi had given her, she remained uninjured.
Fortunately, the concentrated fire didn't last long. Compared to her, Kenneth and Kiritsugu were more interested in targeting the strongest competitor, Flora. The two turned their attacks toward the vampire, which stopped Flora from interfering with Asuna. Additionally, Alice Nakiri let her apprentice go, giving Asuna a chance to breathe. She passed the second level smoothly—a floating platform with mechanisms moving rapidly on both sides—and headed for the third.
As for Waver's interference? He was still fighting hard against Level 1.
Unlike the girls from Dimension City who possessed super-strong physiques, the magi of the Moonlit World were generally fragile "glass cannons." Unless they were special cases or trained extensively, their bodies were as weak as ordinary humans. Even with reinforcement magic, the effect depended on the user. A Caster like Medea could enhance a normal human to fight Servants, but a novice like Waver? The difference was vast.
Asuna and Flora passed the first level with pure physical ability. Kenneth and Kiritsugu used the Volumen Hydrargyrum and Time Alter/Reinforcement magic respectively to pass quickly. Waver, reinforcing himself, struggled through slowly.
"Boy! Can you do it? Everyone else is already at the fourth or fifth level!" Iskandar, watching from the audience, shook his head and urged loudly.
"Don't rush me! Stop bothering me right now!" Waver, sweating profusely from anxiety, grabbed a sloping platform and turned to shout at Iskandar in shame.
Suddenly, he saw Iskandar's expression change. "Get out of the way!"
"What?" Waver was confused.
Then he heard a young female voice from behind. "That's for sneaking up on me! Die!"
Before Waver could react, he was kicked down. "Ah~! Gulu Gulu..."
After kicking Waver into the water, Megumin didn't stop. She quickly passed the checkpoint and chased the leading team. She looked at the remaining four who had attacked her with a dangerous light in her eyes.
"Since I can't kill them, I'll reluctantly use other magic." She pointed her staff at Kiritsugu Emiya, who was closest to her.
Kiritsugu noticed Megumin catching up. His expression changed, and he quickly turned to shoot. However, his rubber bullets were the least threatening attacks on the field. How could they stop Megumin, who was out for revenge? Her magic shield unfolded, blocking the bullets easily.
"Chain Lightning!"
Crack! An electric snake shot out. Kiritsugu couldn't dodge lightning at the speed of light. To make matters worse, the gun in his hand acted as a conductor.
Bang!
Kiritsugu was electrocuted instantly, foaming at the mouth as he twitched and fell. His gun exploded from the overload, destroyed. Megumin took the opportunity to rush up and kick him into the water as well.
Next, she focused on Alice Nakiri in the fourth position.
"Wait! I was just kidding with you!" Alice noticed the fierce Megumin and quickly gave a French military salute, trying to surrender and clear up the misunderstanding. Although her strength wasn't bad, there was a large gap between a chef and a combat professional like Megumin.
Megumin smiled. "Don't worry, I'm just joking with you too."
Then...
"Multi-cast: Water Vortex Spear!"
Spiral water javelins as thick as buckets filled the sky, raining down on Alice.
"Are you a devil?!" Alice looked at the barrage numbly and quickly dodged. The rain of projectiles was too dense, and she was blown away by the shockwaves. Fortunately, she didn't fall into the water but was thrown onto a pendulum mechanism, barely surviving.
Seeing Alice was lucky, Megumin didn't deal a finishing blow, considering her revenge taken. She continued forward.
The person in front of her now was Kenneth, currently in third place. This guy was having the easiest time among the seven. Although flight was banned, using the space within the field for leverage wasn't. He used his Volumen Hydrargyrum to stretch out mercury tentacles, attaching them to mechanisms and platforms to carry him forward. He didn't even need to take a step.
The only reason he wasn't in first place was that Flora was acting as a gatekeeper, blocking him in various ways. Flora's behavior was truly wicked; she was practically tearing up the track. As she ran, she scattered various potions everywhere.
Some eliminated friction, preventing the mercury from gripping surfaces. Others had freezing effects, stiffening the fluid and preventing it from transforming flexibly. There were also potions that corroded the internal mana circuits of the mercury, turning parts of the Noble Phantasm into useless sludge upon contact.
Kenneth couldn't tell where the invisible potions had been sprinkled. This constrained his movement severely, forcing him to carefully test the path like a minesweeper before moving forward.
Not only Kenneth, the victim, felt that Flora was inhumane—even the audience in Dimension City and Takumi felt Flora was too brutal. She wasn't just blocking Kenneth; she was ruining the road for everyone behind, changing the track from Normal Mode to Hell Mode.
Good guy! A contestant taking on the job of the level designer? This was so inappropriate! Oh, she's a vampire, not a human? Then it's okay.
Kenneth noticed the commotion behind him and panicked. He understood Megumin's strength was significant; her initial failure was just a lack of adaptation. Now that she was serious, she was no less difficult to deal with than Flora.
Flora was just gatekeeping, but Megumin was clearly rushing to shoot him down. He was currently at the fourteenth level. If he fell and had to restart, he would suffer a huge loss. Asuna at the front was almost at the twenty-first level—one-third of the race done. If he restarted, he would lose the chance for first place, and more importantly, the chance to impress Sola-Ui.
Therefore, Kenneth did not hesitate. He chose to strike first. He controlled the Volumen Hydrargyrum, transforming it into several whips to lash out at Megumin.