With that, the prince climbed the dohyō. So did Arima, with lumbering steps. As the prince still had room to grow, the difference between them was like the difference between an adult and a child. Arima had a thin layer of fat on his body, while the prince, as a major character in an otome game, was destined to never gain any at all. Through his training, however, Prince Richie had managed to gain a well-defined musculature. His cat ears still adorned his head.
The two threw salt over the ring and performed shiko—in both wrestlers’ cases, their movements were heavy and composed. The recent journey had made the prince grow a great deal as a rikishi. He had lost to the hellfire troll Aikio, won against the alraune Uta, and had a close bout with Kukuri, losing by a narrow margin. This time, his opponent would be Arima, a wrestler who outranked him. Good luck. Win if you can, and propose to me when the bout is over. Help him, O god of sumo. Dosukoi dosukoi!
The prince and Arima stared at each other from across the lines in the ground. They say in seven out of ten cases the outcome of a sumo bout is decided at the initial charge, which was why both wrestlers were radiating fighting spirit. All the commoners who had come to see the tournament watched with bated breath as the prince and Arima got psyched for the bout. I liked these moments, as both the wrestlers and the audience grew tenser by the second—it felt like the real thrill of sumo.
The two wrestlers psyched themselves to the fullest, synchronized their breathing, touched the ground with their fists, got up, and crashed into each other. The big difference in their weights would normally have led to the prince getting pushed back, but he relied on technique to deflect the impact. His body hadn’t fully grown yet, but his technique kept on improving.
The prince’s movements were diverse and agile. Arima’s, on the other hand, were simple, as he relied on his high level of skill. He appeared to be moving slowly when compared to the twitchy prince, but it was simply that, possessing the skill to afford moving at such a pace, he wasn’t wasting any energy.
The prince grabbed the left side of the demon’s mawashi. He attempted to grab the right side next, but Arima avoided this and released his own grip on the prince. Watch out!
“Blinding Head Chop Down...”
Prince Richie ducked to avoid it. Nice one! You could dodge a magic-imbued skill if you knew about it ahead of time. The prince proceeded to pull on the left side of his opponent’s mawashi and go for a hip throw. Arima endured, looking sure-footed. Such strength of the legs and the lower back... The prince would have to find a really good window of opportunity to stand any chance of upsetting Arima’s balance.
The demon spread himself wide, preparing some sort of move. A flame appeared on each of his arms.
“Fiery Two-Handed Head Twist Down...”
He attempted to catch the prince’s head between his burning palms.
“Air Sumo Form!”
The manifested wind armor scattered the fire while the prince slipped between and away from Arima’s burning arms. The rear propulsion granted by the wind pretty much doubled Prince Richie’s speed, allowing him to practically slide around the ring.
Apparently Arima’s specialty was fire, just as his red body suggested. Plus, his sumo spirit was a halo of lava.
“Zoom Body Drop Throw!”
The prince’s leg grew slightly longer, or so it appeared. The extension was made out of pure spirit, but was real enough to make it easier to trip the opponent. It was good at breaking their balance too, and sustaining an attack on both legs made Arima unsteady on his feet. All right!
To my disappointment, Arima simply flapped his wings to regain his balance. I had forgotten he had them. All these little things made it difficult to fight nonhumans.
“Kgh!”
“Ngghh!”
The two became locked up once more. Respect for his opponent appeared in the prince’s eyes, and in Arima’s, admiration. They had acknowledged each other’s skill. Seeing the prince fight that mighty Arima on equal footing made me once again realize how strong he had become. No longer was he the adorable little kitten-like prince I had once fallen in love with—in front of my eyes was a young, stalwart warrior. How stirring he was! A stunning rikishi I wanted to root for with all my heart! He had become strong, and was getting ever stronger.
In the ring, the two wrestlers moved around in intricate ways as they made frantic efforts to push or pull each other, as well as use techniques and dodge them. The footprints they left looked like some kind of magic circle. The only voice coming from the ring was that of the referee repeating “still in, still in” as the elves earnestly observed the close bout.
The prince pushed Arima. Behind him immediately appeared a set of gears which began a rapid rotation. The same went for the circle of lava which had just appeared behind Arima. This was nice—that is, the fact that they were fighting under the same conditions. There was no such a thing as an easy win. Neither wrestler was about to give up on the feelings he had poured into this. Buffs were met with buffs, debuffs were met with debuffs. In the corner of my vision, I noticed Adela offering a prayer.
Clank! A small gear with a flowery pattern connected itself to the prince’s sumo spirit! It was the level 2 sumo spirit I had enjoyed the support of during my bout with the Demon Lord! The prince’s strength grew by an order of magnitude, allowing him to push Arima with much more success. The demon looked in pain as he struggled to resist it. But the prince’s power was too great, and Arima soon found himself at the edge of the ring. In that area was the black tail of the yin-yang symbol, and as Arima placed himself on it, it seemed as if his weight had increased sharply, allowing him to hold his ground. I realized it would be difficult to simply push him out because of this ring’s form.
After Arima inhaled deeply, flames appeared all over his body, and he once again firmly grappled with the prince.