Lord Summoner's Freedom Philosophy: Grimoire of Love

"Huh? Of course. Did you forget? Your match will be starting very soon," (Auretta)

"I see, the very first match then, huh... Huh? Wait, so soon?" (Lyan)

"Of course. Such tournament takes a great cost to maintain, so we need to be as efficient and on schedule as we could. Now come on, there's no time to spare," (Auretta)

*************************************************************

"I see... So that's why the match started right at the beginning, huh..." Lyan uttered as he stared at the scene before him.

After going downstairs with Auretta, they went to the participant waiting room at the underground, but not long after, Lyan is immediately told to take a weapon and follow a staff from the tournament to get ready at the arena's gate.

"So it's a battle royale... I guess it's fortunate to know that I didn't get the very first match because of my very bad luck," (Lyan)

Yes, the first round is not a one vs one battle, but it's a battle royale that acts as an elimination round.

Just like in a game, the description of the event that had just occurred appeared in front of his sight.

[Event: The Great Martial Tournament of Arzentine Kingdom

Difficulty Rank: A

Rewards: The rarity of the reward will go according to the host's rank in the tournament]

[First round of the great martial tournament, the battle royale.

Remove your opponents until there are only 50 people left above the arena. Leaving the area of the arena and losing consciousness or the ability to fight will be considered as 'lost'. Using poisons, unlicensed drug buffs, and killing your opponents are unallowed. Any deliberate violation of the rule will end up in immediate disqualification, and another punishment will be given for tainting the tournament graced by the royal family.

Reward for clearing the great martial tournament: Golds, weapons, and +Characters' affection]

(I see... So I just have to make sure that I survive until there are only 50 people left in the arena, huh...) (Lyan)

"Now, let the first round of the tournament, Let the battle royale begin!" The elegant and refined voice of the queen mode Lilith resounded throughout the arena, bringing thunderous cheers from the audience, and a powerful roar from the participants.

The gate in front of Lyan immediately opened, and he could see countless small gates also got opened from the other sides of the arena.

"Now go. Make sure to make me proud," (Auretta)

"I'll try my best," Lyan grips the blunt sword in his hand and takes a single step outside the gate, and at that exact moment-

*Whoosh!*

"Eh?" Lyan exclaimed in surprise.

The scenery changed.

When he thought he had just taken a single step outside the gate, he felt a strange sensation on his whole body, and he suddenly find out that he was already in the middle of the arena.

(That's... Warp magic? Just how) (Lyan)

!?

*Tch!*

Feeling a sudden sense of bloodlust, Lyan jumped forward and dodged a powerful surprise blow from behind.

"Hmph! So you dodged it. Not bad, castle guard," The man snorted as he pulled his war hammer from the ground.

(So they know my identity as a castle guard here, huh... No, this is not the time to get occupied in my thoughts) (Lyan)

"How about this!!" The man suddenly swings his body powerfully, but he didn't move a single inch from his place. Even his aim felt off. Rather than aiming for Lyan, he went for a straight swing, aiming his hammer at the ground.

"Whoa! This guy..." (Lyan)

Lyan jumped as he sensed something approaching him from below, and right after his jump, a huge pillar of stone appeared from the place he was standing before.

"Earth element mana user, huh? Now that's rare- Oops!" Lyan dodged another strike from another person before countering with a single punch, sending the man straight outside the arena.

"Now that I look again, there are plenty of gems participating in the competition. But the real direction of threats I'm sensing is coming from..." Lyan shifted his gaze in the direction of the upper platform. In each section, there seem to be different factions.

(So the powerful ones are acting as supervisors and judges, huh? I guess it's also a great opportunity to search for any hidden gems from the commoners and mercenaries participating-) (Lyan)

!?!?

Lyan shifted his gaze and pretended he didn't peek at the audience platform after meeting the gaze of Auretta.

(S-She's staring hard...) (Lyan)

Rather than giving a look of 'Do your best there' She's giving a vibe of saying 'What are you doing? Do more!' from her gaze.

"Guh... This is annoying. I can't really summon my summoned creatures here either, can I...?" Lyan uttered to himself bitterly. He did his complaint at the same time as he dodge a slash from another participant in a hair's breadth.

"Eh? You dodged it?"

"Yeah, I did. Sorry," Lyan grabbed the man's collar firmly before throwing him outside the arena.

(From his attire, it seems like he's a commoner searching for opportunities of luck in this tournament, huh? Sorry, young man. Maybe try again next time) (Lyan)

"You... Stop getting distracted!!"

*Boom!!!*

Another powerful blow destroyed a small part of the arena. It's the war hammer-user from before. For some reason, he's staring at Lyan with a gaze filled with murderous intent.

(Hm... Do I have some set backstory with him according to my character? Or did he just have a certain grudge against the castle guards? Either way, he's annoying. Let's throw him out of the arena) (Lyan)

"You aimed at me first. Blame yourself for that," Lyan dashed to the man without using any mana strengthening to increase his speed.

"Hmph! Not so easy!!"

The moment the war hammer user was about to move his body, Lyan noticed the movement of his mana. There is a great amount of mana he's trying to gather on his arms, considering his current speed and their distance, the mana will be gathered at the right amount right at the moment Lyan is about to shorten their distance.

(He's aiming for making a smokescreen from another ground-shattering strike, I see. But thinking that this is my fastest speed is a mistake) (Lyan)

*Whoosh!*

"Eh?" The man that is holding his war hammer in an overhead stance widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Lyan disappear from his sight.

"Your plan is too simple in the first place. Sorry but, I'll be borrowing your war hammer as you take some rest," (Lyan)

"Eh? Argh!!!"

Lyan hit the name of the man with the end of his hilt, and took the war hammer after throwing the guy outside the arena.

"Now, how many are left here?" Lyan scanned his surroundings.

The arena space is huge. The original number of participants exceeds 300 people, but there is still some space for people to have a rather spacious duel with each other.

"Only about 200 left, huh? That's quite fast. But my duration inside this memories of world is very limited, to begin with. I can't waste even a single second here. I guess it's also a perfect chance to give a test of my newly trained body," (Lyan)

Lyan holds his blunt sword in his left hand while holding the war hammer in his right hand. The war hammer is heavy enough that normal people would only be able to wield it using two hands. But for Lyan-

"This is the perfect weight to get wild," (Lyan)

As he gripped the war hammer tightly, the muscles on his right arm flexed, and his eyes changed into the face of a beast looking for prey.

"Sorry but, I'm going to win this round!" A man wearing a knight attire approached Lyan and was about to strike Lyan. His form is decent, and he attempted for a preemptive strike that is difficult to dodge for a normal person.

"I got you!"

That is, if the opponent is a normal person.

"Wha- Argh!!!!!" Right as he was anticipating his strike to meet Lyan's body, he felt a powerful crushing force on his body, sending his body far to the outside part of the arena.

"Ah. Looks like I got too excited. I guess that amount of strength is forbidden as well. Let's reduce the amount of force, it might be bad if I got disqualified because of killing someone unwillingly here, after all," Lyan readjust his grip on the war hammer as he cracked his neck.

"I'm ready to get wild now," (Lyan)

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,298,721,000 Elnes / 3298 gold 72 big silver 1 silver

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army