Chapter 319: Effort
"Talk about an explosive finish to the first round of today’s competition~" hummed Tiamat, landing near where Sunraku and Itadori had exploded and sweeping the area clean with a wave of her left hand.
"But as both of our contestants were eliminated, how shall we proceed~?" asked Tiamat, directing the question and her smiling gaze to the main VIP booth...
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"Mmn...if we gave the win to Sunraku, it might incentivise others to use a similar strategy..." muttered Vahn, caressing Ravel’s right thigh as she sat atop his left knee.
"While that’s true..." affirmed Rias, standing near the window with her arms crossed as she contended, "We never expressly forbade the use of such tactics. That said, it would be a problem if everyone began blowing themselves up..."
"We should interpret the action for what it is..." stated Venelana, drawing everyone’s gaze as she reasoned, "Blowing oneself up is ultimately an act of forfeiture for most Ascendees. It’s accepting that you’re no longer in a position to win and forfeiting your life in the pursuit of mutual destruction. It would be one thing if Sunraku-kun possessed an item that allowed him to survive blowing himself up, but that would most certainly be above D-Rank."
"And if we permit any Rank of item to be used, it defeats the purpose of restricting brackets..." appended Ravel, crossing her left arm under her round and pillowy breasts and thoughtfully cupping her chin with her right index finger and thumb.
"Then it’s settled..." asserted Vahn, offering a curt nod before deciding, "I don’t want to see this turn into a competition between who has the better equipment and backing, so we’ll limit participants to equipment and items of the same Rank and prohibit the use of sacrificial totems and automatic revival items."
"And for the sake of fairness..." chimed Raval, drawing everyone’s gazes as she submitted, "I propose that restrictions be placed on the ability to regenerate or resurrect naturally. That should prevent any accusations of foul play if someone like myself were to participate."
"A very forward-thinking suggestion," affirmed Misla, nodding approvingly from where she sat, combing her fingers through Lastia’s hair as the latter napped using her left thigh as a pillow. Lastia’s excitement for the Festival had caused her to stay up late the previous night, and after exploring with Lupheria and Rihoko for most of the day, she was completely tuckered out with a happy smile adorning her sleeping face...