On the other side of the arena, nine groups of pixels were beginning to form. And, once again, they were taking on the form of the Swarmers.
Tsukuru let out a sigh.
He stabbed the Paleneedle Rapier into the arena floor once again. Then, he retrieved a Stick Grenade from his System's Equipment Tab in each hand.
The pixels began to appear in both open palms, before then clustering together into the long shape of the iron rod with the cylinder attached.
The glowing light of the pixels died down, revealing the form of a stick grenade in each of Tsukuru's hands.
It was around that time that the nine flashes of light occurred, the Swarmers fully manifesting.
Tsukuru threw both of the stick grenades, one after the other.
The both detonated on impact, creating two large explosions.
The nine Swarmers all exploded into pixels as they died, causing a System message to appear in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed 9 Swarmers.]
Seeing the Swarmers disappear, Tsukuru didn't have a look of triumph on his face. Rather, he had a look of anxiety.
Because he knew thatnow, he had to fight the real challenge. The "Gate Keeper" as it were.
Tsukuru retrieved his Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade from his System's Equipment Tab.
Once more, pixels began to appear in his right hand. The pixels clustered together into the shape of the revolver.
A moment later, the glow of the pixels died down, revealing the weapon.
Tsukuru gripped his hand around it.
The sound of electronic interference filled the arena.
However, instead of seeing the massive body of the Minotaurbeginning to form, he saw instead seven groups of pixels beginning to form.
Each of the groups of pixels clustered together into the shape of the Swarmers.
A look of confusion came across Tsukuru's face.
"Wait, what the hell?!" he replied. "Where's the bloody Minotaur?!"
He then heard Reiju's voice in his head.
"Yeah, about that," she replied. "I moved it to another wave. In retrospect, putting it in such an early wave might have been a poor decision."
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, considering that she beat my ass for almost a week straight, I tend to agree," he replied.
Then, he paused for a moment.
It was as if something had just clicked in his mind.
"Hold on," he replied. "Did you just call the Minotaur an 'it'?" he asked.
"Yes, I did," Reiju replied. "Originally, all of the bonus Summonsfound in the Battle Arena were all male. The Hobgoblin, the Dark Elf, the Minotaur, the Gargoyle…"
Tsukuru's eyes widened.
"The what now?" he asked.
Immediately, the voice of Reiju's digital copy became dead silent.
And she remained quiet for a moment.
It was almost as she realized that she had said something that she shouldn't have.
"...shit," she finally said.
Tsukuru chose to ignore that last part for the time being.
"Alright, so if they were initially male when you designed them, then what the hell happened?" he asked.
"My best guess?" Reiju asked. "You getting the System. It must have altered them to match your quite noticeable preferred style for your Summons."
Tsukuru felt as if a phantom arrow had just been shot into his head.
'How many times do I have to keep telling people that I'm not consciously making them look like that?!' Tsukuru thought in dismay.
Tsukuru was then broken out of his musings, as he saw the flashing lights of the seven Swarmers manifesting, and heard them all let out their battle cries.
Tsukuru looked down at the Scodana Gunblade that was still in his hand.
'Well, I doubt I'm going to need this to deal with them,' he thought.
But at the same time, he didn't want to just it back into his System's Equipment Tab.
Since retrieving objects from his System used the same process as creating things with his Ability, that meant that there was a delay before he could use it, as he had to wait for it to form.
In the end, Tsukuru pressed the release button on the back of the gun, returning the weapon back to its Dagger Form.
He then used it to cleave through the Swarmers as they leaped at him.
As each Swarmer was sliced in half, the two segmented halves would explode into pixels, and a System message would appear in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Swarmer.]
Tsukuru hacked and slashedhis way through the Swarmers, looking like some kind of adventurer hacking his way through a jungle with a machete.
Eventually, he was alone once again on the concrete platform.
There was a short pause, then Tsukuru heard the sound of electronic interference again.
On the far side of the room, Tsukuru saw three groups of pixels began to form.
But instead of clustering into the shape of the Swarmers, they instead took on a humanoid shape.
There were three successive flashes of light, and three Dark Elves appeared.
Tsukuru and the Dark Elves stared at each other for a moment.
Then, as the Dark Elves all reached back to grab an arrow from their quivers, Tsukuru pressed the button on the top of the Gunblade's handle.
Almost immediately, the weapon shifted back from Dagger Mode to Gun Mode.
Tsukuru aimed the barrel of the gun at the heart of the furthest Dark Elf, and fired.
The sound of a gunshot rang out, and a Paleneedle Bullet pierced through the Dark Elf's chest.
Wide-eyed, her whole body stiffened.
She fell backwards onto the ground, exploding into pixels like a glass statue on impact.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Dark Elf. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1145/8000]
He then pointed the gun at the next Dark Elf, and systematically wiped out the last two Dark Elves.
Just like with the first, their bodies froze once they were shot, and they fell backwards onto the ground. Only to explode into pixels on contact.
Two moreSystem messages appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Dark Elf. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1205/8000]
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Dark Elf. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1265/8000]
Tsukuru stared at the dead bodies of the Dark Elves as they died.
'Should I be concerned that I don't feel anything when I kill them?' he thought. 'They are still my Summons.'
Reiju's voice then piped up in his head.
"Not really," she replied. "These are just auto-generated NPCs created by the System. Their entire purpose is to die, and they know it. Unless it's taking up space in your Video Arsenal, it's not one of your Summons."
Tsukuru glanced back.
'I don't know,' he thought. 'They all seem pretty talkative. And they do call me 'My Liege' like the rest of my Summons.'
Tsukuru then heard the sound of electronic interference again, indicating the start of the next group.
Looking over, Tsukuru saw five new groups of pixels beginning to form. And just like in the previous group, they all took on a humanoid figure.
There were five successive flashes of light.
Afterwards, there was a group of three Hobgoblins, and a pair of two Dark Elvesopposing Tsukuru on the far side of the arena.
Like with the last group of Dark Elves, Tsukuru quickly dispatched the two Dark Elves with two shots from the Scordana Handgun.
As they fell to the ground, they exploded into pixels, causing two more System screens to pop up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Dark Elf. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1325/8000]
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Dark Elf. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1385/8000]
Tsukuru then aimed the barrel of the gun towards the middle Hobgoblin.
He fired his last bullet.
The sound of the gunshot rang out.
But as the two Hobgoblins on either side of the third one prepared to defend, it was already too late,
The Hobgoblin between them then fell backwards.
As they heard the sound of the crash, they both looked back at their downed comrade.
A moment later, she exploded into pixels.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Hobgoblin. Video Emperor's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 1445/8000]
With his gun now out of bullets, Tsukuru pressed the release button on the back of the gun, causing it to change back into its Dagger Mode.
He then charged at the Hobgoblins.