Taku, Haruyuki, and Kuroyukihime were teleported to the "Territory Battle".
"This place is...?"
"Desert Stage..."
Haruyuki had a depressed expression since it was the stage where he had lost against Ocean Stingray.
In front of them, they could only see sand and dunes in the surrounding areas. There was also an abandoned building in some places, but some of them had been buried by sand. The wind was so strong that it disturbed their vision, but even if their vision was disturbed, it didn't mean that it would cause their battle efficiency to be lowered since the sun was so bright that it made them able to see. Behind them, there was a stronghold which they needed to protect and hundreds of meters away from their spot, they could see a foothold which they could use to recharge their Special Gauge.
Haruyuki could see that at this stage, it would be hard to search for his opponents since the wind was very fast. "How are we going to do this, Senpai?"
"Open your map first," Kuroyukihime said.
"Map?"
"There's a map feature on the "Territory Battle". You can see the map for this battle along with your opponents name."
Haruyuki nodded and opened the map feature. His expression changed when he saw the name of his opponent.
"Ocean Stingray!"
Haruyuki remembered something which happened in the past.
"Ocean Stingray is the leader of the "Pets", but who is Sky Raker?" Taku had never heard this name before.
"Sky Raker. She's an ex-member of my Legion," Kuroyukihime said.
"What?!" 2x
Kuroyukihime didn't blame their reaction since she also felt the same. She didn't expect her friend would come to the "Territory Battle" to fight her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but smile. She looked at Taku and Haruyuki and knew very well that both of them couldn't handle Fuuko.
"You two handle Ocean Stingray, I'll handle Sky Raker."
"Senpai, you don't need to worry. They only have two players and we have three players," Haruyuki said. Even though he had lost to Ocean Stingray in the past, this time, his friend would help him. He also had trained very hard and this time he wouldn't lose against Ocean Stingray!
Taku nodded and agreed with Haruyuki's words since their opponents were only two players. He didn't think that they needed to worry about them.
"Don't underestimate them, and it seems that they have started the first move..."
*Rumble!* *Rumble!*
The cloud gathered together before turning dark and the thunder kept rumbling loudly intimidating some people with weak nerves, especially Haruyuki who had been struck down by the thunder before. This dark cloud also affected their vision since it made it hard for them to see the surrounding area in darkness.
"This power is....?" Taku was in shock since he didn't think that someone was able to affect the weather.
"This is Ocean Stingray's power. Thunder manipulation." Haruyuki had a serious expression on his face since he knew how powerful this power was.
"C'mon, be serious. Both of them are coming toward us now."
Kuroyukihime readied her blades.
Taku and Haruyuki turned and saw a shadow of two people walking toward the top of the sand dunes. In that very moment, they could see clearly the figure of Ocean Stingray and Sky Raker who were ready for their first confrontation.
---
Haru and Fuuko who were teleported to the "Territory Battle" also saw the Desert Stage.
"Well, Desert Stage?"
Haru felt that the coincidence was so big since this stage was the last stage where he faced the Silver Crow. He hadn't met with the Silver Crow for a while and he also didn't challenge him, but from what he knew, the Silver Crow should reach Level 2 or more. He had been focussed on leveling up that he didn't check on Silver Crow's information. From the beginning of his teleportation to this world until now, he had become Level 8.
Haru understood why only some people could reach Level 9 since it was difficult to level up to Level 9 and the number of points which were needed to become Level 9 was more than 300 points. It meant more points were needed to level up from the previous level, which made him sigh.
Staying in this world, he had learned a lot of things from virtual reality, energy, entertainment, and a lot of more. His gain was rich and he was sure when he came back, he didn't even need to worry about money again. The only thing which made him frustrated was that he hadn't been able to have sexual intercourse. He needed to praise his persistence to defend himself from the temptation of a lot of beautiful girls.
Haru ended his thought since he knew that it wasn't a time to think about such a thing since there was something which needed to be done first. He looked at Fuuko who seemed to be blank for some reason. In that very moment, he held her hand which startled her.
"W, what?"
"You've been daydreaming for a while, what's wrong? Nervous?"
"Nervous? That might be so... I've thought about joining this "Battle Tournament" since I want to meet my previous King, but when I've thought about it again. I feel that it might be a little too much."
Fuuko wasn't sure what kind of expression she should show to Black Lotus when she met her on the battlefield.
"Then, I'll take her."
"You?"
Fuuko was surprised. Even though she knew that Haru was strong, she knew that Black Lotus might be stronger.
"Can you handle both Cyan Pile and Silver Crow?"
Fuuko looked at Haru for a while before nodded. "Yes." Looking at him, she was wondering why she thought so much. In the end, she was happy that Black Lotus had returned to the game and everything had gone well. Her first intention to join this "Battle Territory" was to startle Black Lotus and she was sure that Black Lotus would be startled by this surprise.
"Good. Then I need to break the wings of their little crow first."
Haru raised his sword and made the sky turn cloudy. Before long it started to rumble with thunder. He looked at Fuuko and said, "Let's go."
Fuuko nodded then looked at her hand which was being held by him. She didn't say anything and blushed, but at the same time, she was happy with it.
---
Haruyuki, who saw two players right in front of him, thought that he could use this chance to steal their stronghold. After being told by both Taku and Kuroyukihime, one of their strategies to win was to use his mobility to capture the opponent's stronghold. He knew that they couldn't catch him when he was in the sky and he used that very moment to do that.
"Senpai, Taku, I'll catch their Stronghold!"
Haruyuki released his wings then he started to fly to the sky.
Taku and Kuroyukihime didn't stop Haruyuki since if they could win faster then it would be better.
But it seemed that their thought of mind was more naive then they had thought since their opponent wouldn't let them do that easily!
*BOOOOM!!!*
Suddenly thunder struck Haruyuki!
"AAAAHHH!!!"
Haruyuki fell on the desert from his head. His body was paralyzed because of the thunder earlier and he couldn't move for a few seconds.
"Haru!"
"Sky Ranker! Ocean Stingray!"
Kuroyukihime focussed her attention on both of them since the two of them walked slowly toward them.
Ocean Stingray calmly pushed Sky Raker's wheelchair.
"Let's play on the ground, alright? Let's make this game more interesting."
In that very moment, Taku, Haruyuki, and Kuroyukihime felt that Ocean Stingray might be very difficult opponents.