"Mm..."
(ー`′ー)
"Tibbers, tell me, do you think there's any chance one or two of these bad guys might survive in the end and get a reward?"
(??ˇ?ˇ??)
Watching the group on the holographic screen follow some green-skinned Goblin step by step toward the Gurubashi Arena, and seeing them whisper among themselves in the language of Earthlings, seemingly exchanging something while avoiding the little Goblin up ahead, Annie—who hadn't even thought to eavesdrop—turned to ask Little Bear beside her.
(My humble self doesn't know, my dear little mistress... But I think they might all die?)
(￢д￢.)
Even if these Earthlings had gained various powers and combat skills, to some extent, a group with no combat "experience" couldn't develop the courage to fight to the death overnight. So Tibbers wasn't optimistic about those foolish humans from Earth, whose levels might vary, but whose actual combat experience was practically nonexistent—and who had never faced a life-or-death trial.
"Yeah..."
(?~?)
"Could it be that, once again, the difficulty's too high, and we're just gonna watch them get chopped up by their opponents one by one?"
ε=(′ο｀*))) Sigh
Annie suddenly felt that perhaps she hadn't made the best arrangements this time. Maybe in a few days, she should pick out some more people and toss them into other, more entertaining worlds—somewhere they'd at least have a chance of passing the trial?
"Ah!"
!(;?o?)o
"Is it about to start?"
(??????)????
"Eh? Something's not right, Tibbers. What are they doing?!"
━(?Δ?∥)━ Ngh
Just then, Annie saw the people on the holographic screen—the ones left among the eleven she had selected—draw their weapons in unison and begin preparing their spells.
If they were getting ready for a dueling match, then they should obviously have gone up one by one. But instead, every last one of them had