The Strongest Eriri in History

Elaina raised her magic staff horizontally with both hands and quickly cast a magical shield in front of her.

Ais's sword struck fiercely against the hastily conjured shield, producing a crisp, clear sound.

The tremendous impact sent Elaina flying back several dozen meters, shattering the magic shield in front of her.

Ais didn't waste the opportunity to press her advantage. Surrounded by gusts of wind, her speed outpaced Elaina's retreat.

However, just as Ais closed in, a volley of magical beams shot toward her from Elaina's direction.

Facing the sudden attack, Ais's expression remained calm, but her pursuit was effectively halted.

Ais swung her sword repeatedly, slicing through each of the incoming magical beams, but this delay cost her the chance to maintain her offensive momentum.

"Phew... that was close. I almost lost," Elaina exhaled softly, relieved. If her defensive magic had been a second slower, she would have likely been gravely injured by Ais.

After steadying herself, Elaina didn't hesitate. Her staff began to glow with a searing red light, and a blazing column of fire, sharp and concentrated like a laser, surged toward Ais.

This was no time for carelessness—any lapse in judgment could lead to defeat.

Their fierce exchange of attacks threw the battle into a deadlock.

The sounds of explosions and crackling energy echoed across the martial stage, with elemental blasts darting back and forth before dissipating upon hitting the protective barrier surrounding the stage.

The audience in the spectator stands watched the battle with rapt attention. Those from everyday worlds, in particular, were awestruck, their mouths agape as they took in the dazzling spectacle.

Compared to Ruri Gokou and Chika Fujiwara's one-sided match, Elaina and Ais's fight was a truly evenly matched duel.

Thanks to the buff that Eriri had applied to everyone beforehand, ordinary people and lower-level supernatural beings could clearly see the battle on the stage. Without it, they wouldn't have been able to follow the combatants' rapid movements—possibly not even catching a glimpse of their silhouettes.

The battle lasted for over an hour. Eventually, Elaina made a slight mistake, creating an opening. Ais seized the opportunity, landing a decisive blow that left Elaina heavily injured. With her opponent weakened, Ais gradually gained the upper hand and secured the victory.

"Clearly, my combat experience still doesn't match yours," Elaina said with a wry smile, reflecting on her performance as she stood fully restored.

Not only was Elaina's body completely healed, but the damage to her clothing from Ais's [Desperate] sword had also vanished. She looked exactly as she had when she stepped onto the stage over an hour ago.

"You were amazing too. I only won by a narrow margin," Ais replied earnestly, meeting Elaina's gaze.

Ais wasn't offering hollow compliments. Her sincerity was evident. By the time the match ended, her own energy was more than halfway depleted. If the fight had dragged on any longer, it might have been her who lost.

For a mage to hold her ground against a warrior like her to this extent was truly commendable. Of course, much of Elaina's success stemmed from her ability to cast magic instantaneously without chanting.

If Elaina had needed lengthy incantations like Riveria, Ais would have defeated her in an instant at the start of the match.

Following a 30-minute intermission, the third match officially began.

This match was between Erica Blandelli and Arche Eeb Rile Furt, and unsurprisingly, Arche was defeated within just a few minutes.

Unlike the first two matches, Erica's battle experience far surpassed Arche's. It could be said that Erica was among the top three in terms of combat skills in the chat group. Her time spent training in the chat group's arena over the past few days was far from wasted.

The martial arts tournament began at 9 a.m., and after three matches, the time had already reached 11 a.m.

Since Aoi Kujo and the others had prepared three meals for the day in advance, there was no need to take time to cook lunch. Before eating, they could fit in one more match.

Thirty minutes later, as the figures of Erina Nakiri and Asuna Yuuki appeared above the stage, the fourth match of the day officially began.

Although both hailed from everyday worlds, Asuna's combat talent was exceptional. In her original story, she rose to become the deputy leader of Knights of the Blood, the strongest guild in Sword Art Online, and earned the nickname "The Flash."

On the other hand, Erina focused more on honing her culinary skills rather than her combat abilities.

As a result, the outcome was clear: Asuna easily claimed victory. Her mastery of swordsmanship was far beyond Erina's capabilities.

Compared to previous meals, lunchtime that day was particularly lively.

The morning's four matches were the hot topic of conversation. From Ruri Gokou's "Fallen Angel Demon Eye" to the intense battle of strength between Ais and Elaina, everyone had plenty to discuss.

Lunch lasted about an hour. By the time everyone returned to the spectator stands, it was already 1 p.m., and the afternoon matches began.

As the matches progressed, the first round of the tournament finally concluded by around 6 p.m.

Match 5: Kiss-Shot vs. Kanae Kocho – Kanae Kocho won.

Match 6: Lala Satalin Deviluke vs. Fumino Furuhashi – Lala Satalin Deviluke won.

Match 7: Jibril vs. Arifureta – Jibril won.

Match 8: Luo Cuilian vs. Rin Tohsaka – Luo Cuilian won.

Match 9: Kaguya Shinomiya vs. Fubuki – Fubuki won.

Match 10: Rias Gremory vs. Milim Nava – Milim Nava won.

Match 11: Tina Sprout vs. Mine– Tina Sprout won.

Together with Sakura Matou, who advanced by default, and the four victors from the morning matches—Ruri Gokou, Ais Wallenstein, Erica Blandelli, and Asuna Yuuki—these twelve contestants successfully advanced to the second round.

Most of the afternoon matches, except for the final two, were one-sided. There were no highly anticipated matchups between the strongest contestants in the first round.

For example, while Shinobu Oshino is incredibly strong in her original story, boasting planetary-level power at her peak, the Shinobu here was still a novice vampire, having only transformed a few years ago.

Moreover, during those years, Shinobu spent most of her time confined to her castle, struggling to resist her hunger and avoid feeding on humans. It wasn't until she joined the chat group and used points to resolve her bloodlust that her condition improved.

So, her combat ability wasn't particularly strong, making it natural for her to lose to Kanae Kocho, who had already become the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps at a young age.

When it came to Lala and Fumino Furuhashi, the outcome was equally inevitable. Despite Lala rarely showing off her combat skills, except for a single overpowering display during her fight with the leader of the villain chat group, her abilities were undeniably formidable. As the first princess of the Deviluke royal family, rulers of the galaxy, it was only natural that her combat training would be top-notch.

As for Jibril versus Arifureta, there wasn't much to elaborate on. If Arifureta had somehow defeated Jibril, that would've been the real surprise.

Similarly, Luo Cuilian versus Rin Tohsaka was no contest.

Though neither Rin nor Arifureta were completely helpless like Chika Fujiwara, they still didn't last long. Rin was defeated by Luo Cuilian within ten moves, while Arifureta only managed to hold out for just over a minute against Jibril.

The match between Kaguya Shinomiya and Fubuki lasted a bit longer, but it was essentially a battle of mediocrity. Neither Kaguya nor Fubuki had particularly impressive combat abilities.

The fight between Rias Gremory and Milim Nava lasted the longest, but that was only because Milim was toying with Rias. With thousands of years of combat experience, Milim could have ended the battle effortlessly if she had wanted to. However, her playful attitude made the match far more entertaining.

Finally, the duel between Tina Sprout and Mine was the most visually captivating. Both used long-range weapons, turning the match into a dazzling display of energy cannon fire.

Tina's owl-based abilities had been upgraded to an epic level, allowing her to control over a dozen iron spheres that unleashed powerful energy blasts with pinpoint precision.

The resulting spectacle was stunning, as energy beams filled the entire arena.

While their raw power might have been closer, Tina's experience as an assassin gave her a clear edge over Mine in terms of combat skill.

After dinner, it was time for free activities, and this world offered no shortage of ways to pass the time.

At this moment, Eriri, Nodoka Haramura, Saki Miyanaga, and Akino were seated around a mahjong table, their game reaching its final, decisive moments. While Akino appeared cautious, it seemed like anyone else could win at any moment.

They were in a large, luxurious mahjong room, one of several recreational spaces in the world. Apart from the four players, there were over ten others in the room.

The room housed three mahjong tables, a massive television, a well-stocked bookshelf, and even a kitchen and dining area. Upstairs was a fully furnished resting area, as luxurious as the first floor.

At the last mahjong table sat Chika Fujiwara, Kaguya Shinomiya, Yuuki Kataoka, and Hisa Takei.

Because Eriri had prohibited the use of any supernatural abilities during mahjong games in the room, everyone relied purely on their skill and luck to compete.

This naturally led to some existential questioning from Saki Miyanaga, as her legendary Rinshan Kaihou technique had become entirely ineffective.

Similarly, Yuuki Kataoka had lost her edge with East Wind advantage, and Hisa Takei found her hell waits strategies harder to secure victories.

However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for them. This kind of practice helped them hone their skills and made their game sense even sharper.

Even without "supernatural" powers, their mahjong abilities were still extraordinary. When it came to mahjong, if there were no "cheating" involved, even Eriri wasn't their match.

At that moment, as Akino discarded the six of bamboo, the winner at Eriri's mahjong table was finally decided.

"Ron. Tanyao, Pinfu, with two Dora tiles. That's 11,600 points," Saki Miyanaga said with a gentle smile, pushing her winning tiles forward. Since she was the dealer, her win immediately plunged Akino's remaining points into the negatives.

"Why is it always me in last place..." Akino groaned weakly, slumping face-first onto the table.

Watching Akino in this state, Saki offered an apologetic yet polite smile.

From the start until now, they had played three rounds, and Akino had finished last every single time.

"Another round?" Eriri asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling at Akino, who sat directly across from her.

Akino fell silent for two seconds before suddenly straightening her posture.

"Yes! Let's go again! There's no way I'll finish last this time!" She gently slapped her cheeks to energize herself, her fighting spirit reignited.

And so, a new round began.

"By the way, Nodoka, when does the National High School Mahjong Tournament start?" Eriri asked Nodoka Haramura, who was seated to her left, as she organized her hand.

"The preliminaries are in less than half a month," Nodoka replied softly, then picked up a tile from her hand and placed it face-up on the discard pile. "One dot."

After discarding her tile, Nodoka looked up with an expectant expression toward Eriri and asked, "Eriri, will you come and watch?"

Hearing Nodoka's question, Saki's curiosity was piqued as she glanced at Eriri.

Saki didn't know much about Eriri. When she first saw her yesterday, she had been struck by her extraordinary beauty.

Later, she learned from Nodoka that Eriri was not only the organizer of the martial arts tournament but also the creator of this incredible world.

This revelation had utterly shocked Saki and the other three members of the Mahjong Club.

Such a god-like power was comparable to the creation myths of deities!

Yet this "creator-level" being showed no hint of arrogance. Now, she was casually playing mahjong with an ordinary mortal like Saki, which only deepened Saki's impression of her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon: 

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven