“Shutola-sama was such a tomboy back then. She loved to play pranks only to get scolded by King Zel. She often came crying to Azgrad and me afterward,” Dan commented.
“Really?! So even Shutola, someone so famous for being wise, was like that once upon a time! That’s surprising!” Ronove exclaimed.
The pair were immersed in their conversation, reminiscing about memories of Shutola. The stage had been launched to quite a height at this point, and it was impossible to see what was going on from the ground. While the sight had been unusual and interesting at first, the novelty had quickly faded since all they had to see was a hunk of ice. Boredom suffused the crowd, so Ronove and Dan had to keep the energy up with their conversation.
However, Dan only talked about his memories from when Shutola was a child, so the subject stayed stagnant. Still, demand for it was high, so everyone listened anyway. At this point, no one was looking up at the hunk of ice.
“What I remember most fondly is the plushie version of me as a super general that Shutola-sama made for my birthday—” Dan continued.
“Whoooaaa!” Ronove interrupted him. “Look up, General Dan! It seems something’s changed up there! Will my improved announcing ability finally come into play?!”
Everyone responded to him, turning to the sky once again to find that the ice had been split in two. Given its height, they still couldn’t see the top of the stage, but still, it was a clear change, which was good news for the audience.
“Mm, indeed,” Dan agreed reluctantly. “It’s been split.” His expression was somewhat sad.
“Do your best, Kelvin! Shutola! We won’t forgive you if you lose the very first match!” Sera shouted.
“Hah! What is that redhead spouting? She has no clue how much stronger Sylvia’s gotten this past year!” someone yelled at her in response.
“Huuhhh?! Wait, I recognize you, wolf guy!” Sera yelled back. “But you’re the one who doesn’t know anything, so shut up with the nonsense!”
“What?! It’s not nonsense! Sylvia really has gotten a lot stronger, dammit!”
“Hey, Nagua, don’t pick a fight here of all places!” one of Nagua’s party members reprimanded him.
“That redhead’s the one picking a fight!” Nagua shouted back.
“You should calm down too, Sera-san. There’s no point in getting into an argument here.”
“But this idiot is—” Sera tried to argue back.
“Aha ha, you two never change, do you?” Rion cut her off. “Wait, hm? Hey, something’s off. The ice isn’t dropping.”
“What?” both Sera and Nagua responded.
Despite an argument kicking off between some overly energetic parties, they noticed something strange about the battle. Rion pointing out the incongruity stopped the argument from coming to blows as the pair looked up.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once again, everyone’s attention was on the sky. The four-person battle was getting even more heated. The stage and ice under it that had split in two now split even more, into such small pieces that it was basically crushed ice. But still, it didn’t fall—every piece remained in the air, unmoving. Sylvia had talked about it like it would plummet now that it was no longer being launched upward, so what was going on?
“Mm, you stopped all my ice. What are those threads?” she asked.
“I’m not completely sure myself, but it looks like she can impart a variety of effects on those threads by passing it through the spiders,” Ema replied. “I’d wager that whatever is happening now has something to do with strengthening the threads.”
The reason it looked like the ice was stuck in the air was that Shutola’s golems had fixed them all in place. Ema was right: These threads had a property that allowed them to bear the weight of the aggregate mass of everything. They were attached to Colette’s barrier, which was outside the arena, making everything look like a gigantic spider’s nest. During the second round, Kelvin had diced the ice hunk and stage even more finely while Shutola tied it all up with thread, creating a new battlefield together.
“So you’ve already seen through it,” Shutola remarked. “I’d expect nothing less from your keen eye, Ema.”
“You say that, but I can’t even reach the ground where you stand in that regard, Shutola,” said Ema.
“Mm, and your observational ability isn’t all,” Sylvia added. “You’ve become truly strong, Shutola. You’re honestly on the same level as Kelvin.”
“R-Really? Well, that... Hee hee! That makes me happy,” said Shutola. She broke into a smile, which was rare during battle. She’d always wanted to stand beside Kelvin as his equal in battle, which had driven her to improve greatly. That was also why she was so genuinely happy to hear Sylvia say as much.
“Whoa there, now that’s a smile. Nice, Sylvia,” said Kelvin.
“I did nothing that needs praise,” Sylvia replied.
“Really? Would you praise us on creating this battlefield instead, then?” Kelvin asked. “I think we did a pretty great job with it, don’t you agree?”
“I don’t really know, so I can’t really say.”
“Oh... I see...”
While the new battlefield was being completed, the stage did fall somewhat. And so, they were now closer to the audience and able to see down below thanks to the ice being in so many pieces. So from the spectators’ perspective, this was a very considerate redesign. Secretly, Kelvin wanted to argue that such regard for those aspects should be praised alongside pure functionality.
I understand why Kelvin-san is so proud of this. But in truth, this new arena is going to be trouble, Ema thought. She had immediately given high marks to the new battlefield, having understood his intent—not that she said any of it out loud.
There were far more than only two or three threads connecting the smaller ice blocks that served as their footing. Even now, the golems could still move freely in this arena and were continuing to expand the web. They moved super fast, using the magic threads as pathways, and it would be difficult in the extreme to catch up to them while either dodging the threads or destroying them. On top of that, Kelvin and Shutola were still in the fight, so neither Sylvia nor Ema would have the time to do so.
Those were among the multitude of observations Ema made as she gave the new arena a once-over. So, should they ignore the golems to focus on defeating either Kelvin or Shutola? That strategy had its flaws too, but continuing to ponder endlessly while even more magic threads were being produced would eventually drive them into a corner. While Sylvia was in a different boat since she could nullify magic, this situation, where magic threads were popping up everywhere with who knew what effects on them, did not bode well for Sylvia and Ema. While Ema had the ability to fix someone’s status in place, knowing Shutola, she would find a weakness in that ability to strike at. And so, to her, touching the threads carelessly was out of the question.
While I’m struggling to attack, Shutola and Kelvin are using the threads as footholds. Grrr! We planned to control this battle starting with the battlefield, but they’ve totally turned our strategy back on us. And it looks like Kelvin-san now has full access to his Green Magic repertoire too, thought Ema.
She was looking at the three large, jet-black blades that had been deployed around Kelvin. He had been using Green Magic all over the place since earlier, as if he no longer had to hide it.
Ema sighed. “I’m tired of this! Volcannon Wall!”
“I don’t know if we have a foot to stand on when we ambushed them,” Sylvia responded. “Ferruginous Spring.”
Ema had cast a super wide-area, super offensive spell, wanting to just get rid of it all: the countless magic threads, the annoying golems, and her opponents Kelvin and Shutola as well.
::An incoming wall of flames and a boiling red torrent! Both the Red Magic and Blue Magic here are Rank S! Do you think you can stop all that with your magic threads, Shutola?!:: Kelvin asked telepathically.
::While my threads may survive, all that fire and water would easily pass through the gaps in the strings. Also, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed, Kelvin-san, they’re hiding behind these spells and plotting their next move,:: Shutola responded.
::I figured. In this situation, Sylvia and Ema only grow more disadvantaged the more time they take. So they’ll be trying for a full reversal. It makes sense. Yeah, it definitely does, but...I wanted to fight a little more...:: Kelvin lamented.
::Save your disappointment for after we win. So, what do we do?:: Shutola asked.
::Do you even need to ask? Our final task as a team in this battle!:: Kelvin replied.