Round one of the tournament, which was taking place only one match at a time, had just finished. The next round will take place in two different arenas, and two matches will be conducted at a time.
The first round was solely for the purpose of judging each team. The rounds following, people will get to decided what match they want to watch.
Naturally, that means more work for me. Help.
With no one to lend me a hand, I carry on my battle of solitude.
The only fuel that gets me going is watching Team Char’s glorious fights. One after another, her team crushes it. And one after another, the battle arenas are filled with massive craters, which I patch up.
After this ’n that, Char’s team and my team make it to the final round. I demolished Laius’s team on the way up.
“And now for the finaaals… Let’s begiiinnn?!”
Fake Shiva is so amped up, he’s starting to sound a bit weird.
In fact, everyone is getting weird. My team included.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment!” belts Number 4. “Bring it on, freshie─no, Irisphilia. Let’s pick up where we left off at the Olympius Ruins!”
Number 12 titters, “Heh, hehehehe… Our last match was cut short due to interference. But this time, I’ll take you down, baby girl… Hehehehe…”
“I get it now, Lord Lucifyra!” Vari exclaims. “My master has granted me a second chance through this game. A chance for me to decimate that little girl with my own hands. I knew there was a good reason for wearing this humiliating outfit!”
I can’t overlook that last sentence, but it’s hard to watch Vari’s eyes swirl around as she lets her drool dribble down her chin. I decide to let it go for now.
“Hey! Haruto Zenfis! Don’t go easy just because the opponent is your sister, ya hear?” says Number 4.
“Yeah, I hear you’re a real softie when it comes to that little sister of yours,” chimes in Number 12.
Now who the hell would say that?
“I’m not a softie. I just cherish my little sister, so there’s no way I’m gonna put any effort into this match.”
““That’s exactly what we’re talking about!””
Meanwhile, Vari’s really starting to lose it.
“There’s no way we’re gonna wait around for the opponent to make the first move. I’m going all out from the beginning─no, I’ll just ambush that little runt before the game even begins and slash her─”
She’s hopeless. Gotta take care of her.
“Pygyaw?!”
“Hm? Did you hear something? It sounded like a small animal being smushed,” says Number 4.
Number 12─full name Adelle Zonne─asks Vari, “H-Hey! Are you all right?”
Klonk, thp.
Vari nods silently and gives a thumbs-up.
Adelle doesn’t look quite convinced, but she doesn’t pry any further.
That’s one concern crossed off the list.
I knocked Vari unconscious. I need her to stay asleep until the end.
Although, I’d still have to maneuver her like a string puppet during the game, so that’s more trouble for me. Oh well.
Cheers roar from the public screening venue in the distance.
Team Char has just stepped onto the field.
“Brother Haruto, I shall pour every skill passed down from your gallant hands to mine,” Char whispers with resolve.
My hands aren’t that gallant, I don’t think.
Obligatory transformation scene. I bask in her adorableness.
Adorbs, I sigh.
And finally!
“Now begins the final round of the tournament! Ready-y-y-y Go-oh-oh-wow!”
I don’t think Fake Shiva even knows or cares what’s coming out of his mouth at this point.
The audience doesn’t seem to care about his silly announcement either.
“Hi-yah!”
The first person to bolt into the battle is Baulde Gettel AKA Number 4. He’s jumping straight toward Iris.
“Haaah!”
Iris dashes to face him as if she’d been anticipating his strike.
Klaaang!
A metallic clash resounds as their fists collide.
K-K-K-K-Kla-Klang!
They exchange punches so fast that the naked eye can’t capture them.
“I see you’ve made some progress, commoner!”
“Social rank is irrelevant when it comes to hard work.”
It’s true─Iris has shown significant growth since the standoff against him in the Olympius Ruins. She surpassed him in speed that time, but struggled in power, so she was mostly on the defensive.
Today, she’s overpowering him.
Under normal circumstances, I should be assisting Baulde-senpai, but I decide to stay out of it.
Instead, I turn my focus to Uranis, who just launched a barrier-like attack on me.
Shwiiiiing!
I shoot one back and destroy his shot.
“Ah─!”
I prop up Vari’s arms to make it look like she was the one who cast the attack.
Uhhh, why’s he glaring at me?
The back and forth between Iris and Baulde is growing more relentless.
At the same time, my and Uranis’s attacks are heating up.
“Hya-hahahaha!”
Meanwhile, Adelle is keeping her distance as she swings her whip around. She’s having way too much fun.
“Whoa! Hah! Whee! Oop!”
Her opponent is the mysterious exchange student Yulia. She nimbly swats away the thorny-tipped lash with a series of punches and kicks.
“Quite impressive of you to counter my whipping with your bare hands.”
“Well, I’ve gotta hype up the crowd, right?”
Yulia glances at me mid-combat.
What? Why me?
“I take it you’re not going to help…” she mutters.
Is she talking about me? It’s not like she has Uranis’s help either.
“I’m not really pleased with that…” she continues. “Oh well. I’m not the headliner today. I’ll just focus on stalling the show,” she mumbles to herself.
Adelle probably can’t hear her.
Wait, is she talking to me?
Yulia continues to close in on and step back from Adelle, who’s using her whip to keep her at bay.
The exchange student girl uses a different maneuver each time. She’d try to go around from the right, from the left. Sometimes she’d stumble and barely escape by a hair.
“Very nice! Not bad! But in the end, I will be the winner. I! Will! Defeat! You!”
Adelle’s motivation is skyrocketing. If Yulia’s purposely provoking her, she’s doing a great job.
Wouldn’t wanna mess with her.
I decide to let them do their thing.
And now…
“…” Char faces me with determination in her eyes.
Her serious face is adorbs, too.
But her glaring at me is making me uneasy.
“As always, Brother Haruto… Not an inch unguarded…”
That’s odd. I’m completely unguarded, ready to face her marvelous magic attacks whenever she wants.
“However!” she declares.
The Magical Girl of Justice Immortal Char raises her magic wand in the air.
“It would be discourteous of me to cower in fear forever. Here I go! If you don’t mind!”
She focuses all her energy into one shot.
The magic wand flashes.
“Emotional Death Shower!”
She yells a slightly unsettling attack name.
A band of rainbow-colored beams scatter out of the gem-like thing on the wand. If you look carefully, you can see that the beams are made of tiny mists of light that fall like rain, as the name suggests.
Oh, I remember this now. She’d asked me to create this effect a while ago. Unfortunately, it’s nothing more than a shower of light. It hardly has any damage capabil─
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!
Um, the flecks of light are exploding as they hit the ground?
“I modded it! Secretly!” Char says.
Aww, shucks. She modded it. I should talk to her about its lethality at some point, but I doubt she’ll use it to actually hurt anyone. It’s Char, after all.
Wait, she just used it on me. And I’m her big brother…
I let myself get glum for a second, but now’s not the time.
Explosions are going off around me nonstop. Is this how I die?
That said, I prioritize myself before anything. My defensive barriers are not double- or triple-layered; they’re in the double digits. There’s no wear or tear on my shirt.
Anyone else would be in smithereens.
I know I’m safe, but my heart is racing. However, I’m not about to get worked up. Not in front of Char.
The explosions eventually cease. I conjure a soft wind and let it sweep away the cloud and smoke.
“Amazing as always, Brother Haruto. The obstacle towering before me is much taller than I imagined… But!” Char looks up intensely.
“Yulia! Miss Iris!”
What? Are they about to start something? I look around, feeling puzzled as Iris answers her solemnly.
“Char… Are we doing the thing…?! Right here, right now?!”
She says it as if she’s about to betray someone she considered a friend.
“Come forth! Pile Catastrophe!” shouts Iris.
Who’s coming? Or what’s coming?
Iris raises one arm high in the air. And behold! Sparkles of light appear all around her and envelope her arm.
Shweeeng!
She’s wearing a really cool-looking weapon?!
Oh, now I remember.
It’s that thing. The fake sublime weapon I forged for the ruins expedition assignment. Come to think of it, I gave it to Iris. And I tweaked it to materialize on voice-command.
Yulia takes flight and heads to where Char is. She looks down toward Iris and says, “Iris, I’m leaving you with those two.”
Adelle-senpai, who’s been scuffling with Yulia until just a moment ago, stays frozen in place as she glares beady-eyed at Iris’s bizarre outfit.
Baulde-senpai, too, is vigilantly looking out for Iris’s next move.
Which is why Yulia is easily able to escape the battle and line up with Char.
“We’re here to protect the weak and crush the hostile.”
“When our two hearts overlap…”
The crowd in the viewing stand goes wild when they see and hear the two pretty girls stand back-to-back, delivering their lines.
I hear ya, we’ve all been waiting for this momen─no! This is bad!
This is bad, bad, bad, extremely bad.
The force of their magic powers combined is enormous. I could use my cheat card “hurl it into mystery space-time” to defend myself, but what would happen if I did that?
‘Huh? That was lame.’
‘We wanna see some dramatic clashing of forces.’
‘He split? What a coward…’
Frankly, I don’t care what the public thinks of me. I really don’t. But!
‘Brother Haruto… I see. So we’re not worthy of your best efforts…’
No. No, no no. I absolutely can’t let that happen. I don’t wanna see a sad Char!
Still, though.
Every time I saw those two do their combo magic, they seemed to be getting stronger. Would I be able to block it now?
Even if I could, wouldn’t that leave Char and her friends discouraged?
A dozen worries wash over me all at once. Just as I’m about to give in and accept my fate─
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP─an alarm sounds. How convenient for me.
Fake Shiva shouts from overhead, “What in the world! A giant hybrid beast is heading for the capital?!”
A big screen appears in the air and displays a massive beast that looks like a mix of creatures─the Devil Lord’s creation─slowly making its way.
Boom, boom, its footsteps shake the ground.
It’ll be a matter of minutes before it reaches the defensive walls that protect the capital.