“Naiarotop, I know you’ve got no future! Come down here so we can finish this off neatly!”
Naiarotop didn’t immediately understand what Kanata was saying. “…What is he going on about?”
“Let’s fight this out, one on one, with Locklore’s fate decided by the winner!” shouted Kanata as he thrust his sword toward the sky.
A tremor ran down Naiarotop’s back. “He wants me to go down to a lowly world like Locklore to fight a human to settle this…?”
The shudder he felt was from rage, anger that he would be placed on the same playing field as a human. It was also joy, a tremble of excitement that he would get the opportunity to end Kanata himself and wipe the slate clean of all his failures.
Divinitter was exploding over Kanata’s declaration.
Whoooooa he’s calling out Naia specifically!
ew. gross how full of himself he’s gotten thinking he can actually beat a higher being
he’s super serious, this is no joke.
There’s no way he can win…
Naia, don’t run away from the human, all right? lol
The messages came like a storm. Naiarotop glanced sideways at them and gave a snort of laughter. “Idiots…he’s barely even level 5000. There’s no way he could win against me. Kanata, you can’t take back your challenge now.” Naiarotop’s lips curled up in a grin.
“It seems they are desperate to prevent Locklore’s destruction,” said Naiarotop’s master. “But it appears they have misjudged your level. My only fear now is that he will change his mind and complain. Go now, my servant, and finish off Kanata Kanbara.”
“Yes, Master. As you command!”
-3-
“LET’S FIGHT THIS OUT, one-on-one, with Locklore’s fate decided by the winner!” I declared, pointing my sword to the sky.
Naiarotop was completely stuck and had no options left. I was betting that he’d take advantage of me saying I wanted to settle this with a one-on-one fight. The proposal probably looked like a lifeline to the higher beings.
Standing in a row behind me were all the people who had been in the anti-Higher Beings meeting earlier.
“Do…do you really think…the higher beings are going to respond?” said Pomera, looking uneasy. “I mean…you’ve told me everything about them, and they sent people to attack, so it’s not like I doubt you, but… It’s just… I still have a hard time believing there are people who made this world just to play with it!”
“They’ll come. I’m sure of it,” I said.
I imagined they were all watching me, after all. There was no way my message wasn’t going to get to Naiarotop.
“If he does come…can you really win?” asked Lunaère, with concern in her voice. “From what I’ve heard, he can easily cast spells that connect worlds… That one spell is far above what I or even Zoras is capable of.”
“I’ll win. If I don’t, then Locklore…then we don’t have a future. Please trust me,” I said.
She still looked worried.
It was normal to be anxious at a time like this. Naiarotop was, at a minimum, far more powerful than Zoras. I only beat Zoras because his time limit made him rush…and I got lucky. I honestly didn’t think I had a real chance of winning in a fight against Naiarotop.
But I had a plan. I didn’t know if the conditions would line up so that I could put the plan into action, and I didn’t know if it would really work, but there was no way for me to ask everyone else for their input, since our enemies were listening to everything we said.
I knew this was a gamble and that the odds weren’t in my favor. But I could only assume that Zoras had been referring to that. If I trusted him, that is.
“I really think you should let me fight with you!” said Lunaère, and that’s when it happened.
A magic circle appeared in front of us.
“I can’t remain silent…while beings of a lowly dimension insult me.”
I recognized that voice. It appeared along with a person—a young man in black formal wear. His green hair had a slight curl to it, and his blue eyes were filled with the dull gleam of hatred, despite the gentle crinkling around them.
The sky began to warp when he appeared. Clouds twisted and the light from the sun faded as deep-blue darkness filled the sky. Within that darkness were what looked like large, strange masks.
“Now, Higher Gods of distinguished taste!” said Naiarotop. “I have been singled out by this courageous young man, Kanata Kanbara, and in response I have come down to this lower plane of existence. This is not your everyday occurrence! I do feel the difference in power between the two of us is too great, but…he wishes for true freedom for Locklore! That difference in strength is a small price to pay for such a valuable prize. Most importantly, this is a rare proposal by our very own Kanata Kanbara, a popular star in the Upper Realm. So we, the management of Locklore, have answered his courageous plea and arranged for this event!”
Naiarotop wore a polite smile as he gave his speech with exaggerated gestures, then bowed low to the sky.
Tension ran through the higher beings who responded to the call, as well as the group around me.
“Wh-what in the world…are those things in the sky? A-are they all…Higher Beings? What the…” Pomera shifted uneasily back and forth.
Physical distance probably wasn’t a big deal to the higher beings. I mean, they created a world just for fun. Our normal, everyday laws of physics weren’t going to apply to them.
“It’s been a while…Naiarotop,” I said, pointing my sword at him.
He turned to me. “You have gotten full of yourself. You used to be such a timid little human. I’ve had to look at your face so much it disgusts me. But that ends today.”
His eyes opened wide as he glared at me, and I couldn’t help feeling incredibly overwhelmed. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the higher beings in the sky. The crowd of disturbing faces was staring at me with excitement. Some of them were even laughing.
I was facing off against Naiarotop while the eyes of the higher beings were on us, and it was getting uncomfortable. But there was no way Naiarotop could go back on an agreement made here, under these conditions.
Naiarotop and the other higher beings were insistent about formality and appearance, after all. They couldn’t break their word. Zoras had even said they valued contracts and reputation.
Naiarotop pointed at me. “Kanata Kanbara…we’ll keep this simple. If I win this fight, I end the world. If you win the fight, Locklore’s continued survival will be guaranteed, and I swear to not interfere with it again in the future. Does that sound good?”
“Actually…I’m betting the world on this fight. I can’t have you using nitpicky rules to complain and cancel the whole deal out,” I said.
“What?” He looked at me in disgust.
“I want us to clearly define ‘winning.’ It’s also important we hammer out what ‘one-on-one’ means. There’s a chance you’ll run away if you find yourself at a disadvantage and try to brush the whole thing off. I’m also worried someone on this side won’t be able to stop themselves from interfering, and then I’ll lose for violating the rules.”
“This is such a nuisance!” He was blatantly annoyed.
“I’m sorry, I am the one that called you here, but I won’t accept the fight if I don’t think the conditions are good. This fight will determine the fate of the world, and the odds aren’t in my favor. I don’t want to lose it all because of nitpicking over some loophole.”
A vein throbbed in Naiarotop’s temple. “Are you trying to pull out favorable conditions for yourself after having learned our weakness? Check your inflated ego, lowly human.” The anger came off him in waves, buffeting me. Sweat ran down my forehead.
It’s okay, I told myself. It’s not like he’s going to lose his cool and let his anger ruin this situation.
“I’ll say it again: all I want is a fair fight,” I said. “No matter what I do, your side still has the authority here. That’s why we need to decide on the rules beforehand.”