“Now, are our combatants ready?! Just now, Colette, the Oracle of Deramis, has cast her technique on our four great participants!” Ronove shouted.
“I believe it’s a special esoteric technique from Deramis that allows those affected to avoid death,” Dan commented. “A true miracle, to be sure, but it should exhaust the caster heavily. On top of that, she must construct the barrier around the arena to prevent damage to the surroundings. Things were pretty close during Kelvin-dono’s promotion ceremony. I wonder how it will be today.”
“Oh? Were you there, General Dan? Too bad! If I’d known, I would have had you as a guest commentator back then too!” Ronove exclaimed.
“Heh! That would have been interesting,” Dan replied.
Even while Colette was working her hardest to make the necessary preparations, the reporting and commentary didn’t stop.
Huh, so General Dan saw the promotion ceremony. Did he come to see Sylvia as a fellow general? If he’d only greeted her in person, I would have met him earlier. And then I could have fought him instead.
“I’ll...cast it on you next, Kelvin-sama,” said Colette, huffing and puffing.
Whoops. My turn came while I was stuck in my own head. And it looks like she’s already pretty spent since I’m last in line. Yeah...at least it looks like we won’t be seeing a rainbow during the celebrations. I’m sure part of the reason is that she has more maximum MP now, but she’s also more efficient with these techniques too. I can see that she’s using less on each casting.
“Yeah, okay. I’m impressed you managed to construct the barrier and do all this without needing any potions. You’ve grown a lot, Colette.”
“My apologies, Kelvin-sama, but please don’t say such joyous things to me right now,” Colette gasped. “My heart being so full will make me lose concentration. I’ll end up overflowing with faith from every hole in my body!”
“Sorry. Please, keep concentrating.”
I did my best to maintain a serious expression as Colette worked to finish the job.
“By the way, Kelvin-san. Which strategy should we go with?” Shutola asked.
“Can’t we just play it by ear? We should see what Sylvia and Ema do first.”
“Right, so we start with observation,” she replied.
“Um...are you really holding a strategy session right in front of your enemies so we can hear?” Ema retorted.
“It’s not really something we have to keep a secret, so...” Shutola answered. “And you know, we could be lying while discussing our true plans through telepathy.”
“Urk! That’s... Well, it looks like we’re being bluffed already.”
“Don’t let yourself be caught up in Shutola’s words, Ema,” Sylvia warned her. “You’ll never be able to win a verbal battle.”
Indeed. Sylvia’s right. You can’t let her blah blah blah...
“It’s done,” Colette reported. “Heh...heh heh! I did it! Ah, oh no. I can feel something bad coming up my throat, so I’ll take my leave now. I’m praying you...hawhff! Have a good maffwwhhhfff...”
Colette quickly made her exit. It seemed she was cutting it close, but she did manage to keep it in.
Good job!
“Whoa, and Colette-sama quickly leaves the arena! It seems the preparations have finished successfully!” Ronove shouted.
“That was efficient, like she was crawling along the ground with no wasted movement,” Dan commented. “It seems our esteemed Oracle wants to hurry up and watch this match too.”
“Right, then we should hurry up and start!” Ronove exclaimed. “Combatants, to your places!”
That’s not the reason. No, I shouldn’t correct them for Colette’s sake.
We followed the instructions and took our starting positions. There was a circular stage at the center of the coliseum, serving as the battlefield for this objection match. Usually, we’d be fighting on stages made by Caesar, the world-famous artisan of stages, but it seemed he was in the midst of training, so we couldn’t request his services. That being said, this stage made with Sylvia’s magic actually seemed sturdier, so I didn’t have a problem with it, but...there was a part of me that thought it was regrettable.
Am I just imagining it?
“Now then, let’s go over this one more time! The rules for this match will be the same as a promotion match! Damage your opponents and force the activation of Colette’s technique to win! Either that, or force your opponent off the stage!” Dan announced. “However, because this will be a two-on-two fight, a loss is counted if any team member is knocked out. In other words, all you have to do is knock out or ring out one of your enemies. Be careful!”
“So it tests their teamwork!” Ronove exclaimed. “By the way, General Dan, I will not be surrendering my announcer’s role!”
Dan paused for a moment, confused. “What are you talking about? Where did that come from?”
“Heh heh! I have a long track record of abandoning my role as announcer during fights between Rank S adventurers, but it wasn’t for nothing!” Ronove shouted. “I have been training my eyes relentlessly in Gaun’s arena this past year! Now, I’m able to just see even strong fighters as they do battle! This happened during Kelvin-san and Sylvia-san’s battle in the past as well!”
“Uh, really, now?” Dan asked. “Well, hrm... Then do your best during this match. I will help however I can, though it may not be much.”
“Thank you! Oh, while we were talking, both teams reached their starting positions!” Ronove exclaimed. “The excitement of the crowd is at its peak! We have no choice but to start! Is everyone ready?! I’m sure you are! Say yeeeessss!”
“Yeeeaaahhhh!” the crowd yelled in response.
They left us behind. Well, I’m fine with it, I guess.
Shutola and I had lined up at our starting positions. I held up my black staff, while she deployed her magic thread. On the opposite side of the arena, Sylvia and Ema held their weapons—a rapier and greatsword, respectively—at the ready.
This is already feeling like it’ll be a delicious battle.
“Well, then. Match...begin!” Ronove announced.
There was no missing the signal. Shutola instantly jumped back to take the rearguard, automatically making me the vanguard. Regardless of what our opponents did, this opening was not changing.
Now, they’re both magic swordsmen who can handle both close combat and magic. What will they—
“Inverse Glacial Meteor,” Sylvia incanted.
Suddenly, magic swelled in the stage under our feet—actually, even below that.
Hmm... So the first spell goes to Sylvia. She called it Inverse Glacial Meteor? Glacial Meteor makes a huge meteor of ice fall on its target, but this definitely doesn’t feel like that.
::Kelvin-san,:: Shutola said through the Network.
Yeah. Looks like they’re going all out right from the start, I replied. As expected of Sylvia and Ema. They know how to make us happy.
::Indeed. I’m glad you’re so happy, Kelvin-san. But before you get lost in your joy, we should deal with this.::
Right! Don’t get separated, Shutola! I told her.
Even as we messaged each other telepathically, the stage rose with alarming speed.
You doubt me? I’m serious! The stage is shooting up like a rocket. Where? Straight up, of course! Sylvia created a glacial meteor below us and fired it into the sky!
“Gah ha ha ha ha ha! Awesome! A start this flashy is perfect for a celebration!” I yelled.
“Mm. It’s a surprise present from me,” said Sylvia.
“I’ll have to finish handling this present before I give it over to Shutola!”
Ignoring the sudden rise of the stage, Sylvia ran across the stage while Ema used her explosive movement technique to close in on us.
Yeah, I’ll gladly take this wonderful gift on!