Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (WN) 2018

c112 - The twelfth match...... Hakurou vs Shion

It's the last match of the third dayAt the center of the Colosseum, Hakurou stands opposite to Shion.
Inside the tense atmosphere is Milim who act like usual, undisturbed,「Begin!」(Milim)

She shouted.Having become more experienced, she gives the announcement fluently.By the way, Souka doesn't take the referee role, she just does the victory proclamation.Because there is the risk that Souka will interrupt the more serious sword fights, she only gives live reports.Milim, imitating her, doesn't do anything that would disturb the match.
She is just happy that she could do something, my worry of her behaving wildly hasn't come true, I'm really thankful it hasn't.Let's pay more attention to the match.The two brandished their swords against each other with a quiet atmosphere.It is not a relentless sword clash like the fight between Benimaru and Souei, they just straightforwardly test each others' offence and defense.It's like a calm, flowing river.However, a sudden downpour made the river surge.Hakuro yelled out with fighting spirit as he slashed in Shion's direction.But, Shion isn't impatient, with a wonderful example of using just enough power to not injure the opponent, she wards off Hakurou's slash.Hakurou is still in contrast to Shion who is always in motion.They give such impression, however this battle completely turned that image around.Just like in the yesterday's battle, Shion obviously had grown. Her fighting method was not the one where she just attacks with all of her strength like she had done until recently, but she has changed into a skilled battling method that stresses the importance of rational tactics.That is combining strength with technique.This means that her power had increased by one level.If going by skill level alone, it didn't match Hakurouyet, but with both her higher physical strength and skill level supplemented by her instinct, she could fight on par with Hakurou.No, they're not equal.Shion who has a flowing sword art, incorporated her irrational herculean strength. Her technique is still immature if compared to Hakurou's.In reality, the one who is seriously fighting and was pushed out in this battle was Hakurou.It seems that Hakurou's swordsmanship was unable to ward off Shion's sword attack.「You have grown, Shion..... Never did I expect that with your sword's skill you could get this far.」(Hakurou)
「Fufufu. I won't act violently for forever you know.My wish is to reach that high place for sure.With my previous self, I could never be useful for Rimuru-sama.」(Shion)The swords intersect and repel each other. Once more they face each other by taking a distance.It's more than I thought, they began to display the aspect of an advanced swordsman's match.

Hakurou nods in satisfaction after seeing Shion's growth.

Souei was the first disciple he took under his wing.He knows his own ability and duties, while abstaining himself from overconfidence. An ideal disciple.
Compared to Souei, Benimaru and Shion were very different.No matter how he teaches, they are more about combat rather than theory, and thus, more about strength rather than skill! That was the personality that they carried into their battles.However, Benimaru as the young warrior of the Ogres[1] was a boy who had a strong sense of responsibility from the beginning.Therefore, it was good that he was aware that self-conceit could make the people he holds dear hurt.Like that, Benimaru mastered his awareness and responsibility as a general, he has grown more remarkably than what Hakurou had previously expected.For Hakurou too, it was truly a joyous thing.But, more than anything for the problem child Shion to become more mature, Hakurou although very surprised, was also delighted.For a period of time, Shion's outrage after being resurrected from the maws of death was an intolerable thing.Is her mind unstable? Has her heart gone dark[2]?It was as if her heart had been completely dyed by the violent hatred towards people except her friends.He had also inspected the situation of "Yomigaeri" special training, but they did not give out the feeling of special training but of venting their anger.Had Shion's mind gone mad because she died? So he worried.If by some chance Shion turned into someone who causes great harm, he had the resolution to personally deal with her using his sword.However, Shion showed growth.Shion changed again after being admonished by Rimuru-sama following the fight with the Holy Knights.In the end, Shion may just be afraid.Afraid of being killed.It wasn't because death is scary, but because she was afraid she would disappear without being any use.It seemed that finding herself not useful and being forgotten by Rimuru-sama is what she is afraid of, more than anything else, by Hakurou's analysis.For that reason, even for a little, she tries to stand out more than others.The cause was also because she was obsessed with foolish things like ranking order.She envied the others, she was afraid that if she was not hogging Rimuru-sama's interest and affection for herself, she would end up forgotten and left behind.The jealousy in her heart is the cause of her recklessness.However, Rimuru-sama will never forget about us, once she realizes that, the jealousy in her heart will surely disappear.In the end, the sense of being securely watched over by a parent was something that protected Shion's mind.Now, there is no doubt in Shion's swordsmanship, such a thing told more than any words.If she keeps growing at the same rate as now, the day when her ability surpasses Hakurou doesn't seem far.(If that's true, then I can give my undivided attention to the troublesome youths, such as Gobuta and Gabil.)So he thinks, while a delightful smile begins to shape.「Now, If you're able to stop this sword, I will confer to you the full mastery of my arts!」(Hakurou)