“...I’ve never been so humiliated...”
Ryan fell to his knees as laughter and ridicule rained down upon him. This was all so cruel and heartless.
For some reason, Tanya had kept his poetry notebook from seventh grade, and now she was forcing him to read it aloud. Yes, that’s right—his dark past, brought to light in front of a giant crowd! Pure evil!
And the audience was loving it.
“†The Scarlet-Black Fallen Angel†...? Pick a color and stick to it!”
“Oh my god, my SIDES! Hey, ‘Ebon King of the Cursed Eye’! Can you speak up a bit? Some of us folks in the back can’t hear you!”
“Somebody get this guy a book deal!”
“The love interest has ‘thorny lips’? Sounds like she needs some chapstick!”
Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at Tanya, practically doubled over and shrieking with laughter. How could you do this to me, you monster? Behind her, the audience was radiating second-hand embarrassment. At his expense! Ugh, kill me now... Goddamn it... I need to get back at her!
He lowered his hand into his pocket—the one section of his pants that mercifully remained intact. Sure enough, he still had his trump card... Summoning his resolve, he grabbed it and pulled it out.
“Fuck it! TAKE THIS!”
“Whoa!”
It was a spherical object approximately the size of his palm. This magical artifact contained a mixture of mana and a Fire Magic spell, all carefully compressed within; in other words, it was a bomb.
And when he flung it at Tanya’s feet, it exploded with a small, rumbling BOOM.
The spectators screamed in fear and anger. These bombs were reserved for clearing passages through dungeons or in fights against large-scale monsters, like dragons. It was certainly not the sort of item a Knight was meant to smuggle into a sparring match.
“Ha... hahaha... I did it... I did it!” Ryan laughed triumphantly. This was the laugh of a man who reacted to a little roasting session by throwing a literal bomb at his own childhood friend and former teammate. “It... It was all her fault... She pushed me to it! Well, that’s what you get when you act like a bitch! Haha! Hahahaha!”
Meanwhile, the audience was in an uproar over his unfair tactics. But just as they were starting to think he’d stolen the win out from under her—
“Whoa there! Last I checked, †The Scarlet-Black Fallen Angel† was supposed to be a Knight, but here he is throwing bombs!”
“Beurk! Yikes! Cringe! Don’t be a coward, †The Scarlet-Black Fallen Angel†! Fight her fair and square!”
Once again, Nadine and Laplace had started broadcasting their commentary across the stadium. The alcohol must have kicked in, because their enthusiasm level was at an all-time high. Indeed, they didn’t even sound remotely worried.
After all, it would take more than a point-blank explosion to bring down Tanya Artemiciov, the leader of Lilium.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sure enough, as the flames crackled and the dust settled, she slowly came into view once more.
“Wow, that was rude.”
“Eeeek! Tanya?! Wha... wha...?!”
“What was that for, asshole?!”
She was completely unharmed. Not even a scratch.
“Aaaand Tanya’s okay! No damage taken, folks!”
“Heh heh heh! All thanks to her custom armor hand-made by yours truly, Stone Cold Stunner! That measly bomb could never put even a dent in it!”
“Fascinating! I doubt traditional women’s equipment could measure up to that!”
“Oui, oui! Nice and warm around the midriff, too!”
“I love it!”
“Place your orders today and you’ll receive a bonus Stone Cold Stunner mini-poster absolutely free!”
The women in the crowd began to murmur excitedly amongst themselves, while the men’s ears perked up at the prospect of a pin-up poster.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Goddamn it!” Ryan wailed, digging around in his pocket once more.
“What’s next? Gonna spam me with bombs? Not a great look.”
“Shut up! This is my last resort—a little gift from Goliath himself! And it’s totally badass, just FYI!”
“Right.”
Indeed, the bomb wasn’t his only trump card. This time he pulled out a little scrap of paper.
“Wait... That’s—!” A split second later, Tanya recognized the pattern drawn onto it. “Stop!”
It was a summoning talisman, a magical artifact with a magic circle drawn onto it. As the name suggests, these were used to summon all manner of monsters, mythical beasts, spirits, and so on. Ordinarily, a talisman of that size could be expected to summon a familiar spirit at most, but—
“It’s so detailed!”
Indeed, this elaborate magic circle painstakingly covered every last centimeter of the scrap of paper. The most adept summoners were capable of forcibly teleporting magical beings across even time, including powerful creatures that had gone nearly extinct in recent years, such as dragons or unicorns. However, it generally required forming a contract with the beast or otherwise taming it beforehand, and as one might expect, Ryan had no such ability.
“Are you out of your mind?! Stop!”
But the hard look in his eyes told her he was going to do it anyway. Sure enough, he raised the talisman high into the air.
“Mwahahahaha! Bow before me!” He pricked his finger to produce the drop of blood necessary for the summon spell to activate. “Ouch! That really smarts! Ugh, now I’m bleeding... Gross...”
As he smeared his blood across the magic circle, a strong wind kicked up as the mana circuits within the talisman began to activate.
“Ryan! Stop!” Tanya screamed.
“Make me!”
“Stop this now, and you won’t be a villain—you’ll just be another loser. But if you go through with this, and summon a freaking dragon in a public space with thousands of innocent people present? There’ll be chaos!”
“I know—that’s why I’m doing it! I summon you, dragon! Crush this harlot who dared to make a mockery of me!”
As the summon talisman floated out of Ryan’s hand and up into the air, it spontaneously caught fire. This tiny flame grew bigger and bigger until—
“Oh god... A Red Dragon...!”
Tanya swallowed hard. Of all the breeds, he just had to summon the one with the worst temperament—and in terms of strength, it was number one with a bullet. The Red Dragon was also considered to be an endangered species, and as such, it was grossly inappropriate to summon one in a battle.
Screams broke out all across the arena. The parties here were almost all Rank C or below; they were all vastly under-equipped to handle a Red Dragon.
“What the hell?!”
“A dragon?!”
“†The Scarlet-Black Fallen Angel† summoned a damn dragon!”
“Oh god, we gotta get out of here!”
However, as the spectators started to panic, two loud (but oddly calm) voices joined the fray:
“Hey, folks? Everything’s alright! Let’s all settle down!”
“Everyone please remain calm. There’s no need to panic.”
Laplace and Nadine each spoke directly to the audience.
“You have nothing to fear! Not while Tanya’s here to protect you!”
At this, the crowd began to murmur, perplexed.
Wielding her oversized sword, Tanya held her ground, and stared directly into the dragon’s eyes. As it roared, flames burst forth from its maw—
“Gyaaah! Hot, hot, hot!” Whimpering, Ryan abandoned all pretense of composure and hastily put some distance between himself and his summon. As usual, he refuses to take responsibility for his actions...
“Oh, no... Look out!”
The stream of flames was rapidly closing in on the spectators. They wouldn’t escape in time—
Water Magic, engage!
Tanya swung her sword, firing a torrent of water that blocked the fire’s path. Someone in the audience screamed as a cloud of steam rose up with a loud hiss.
“Ugh, I’m so sorry... You poor thing. You weren’t expecting to have to do this... You must be scared to death right now,” she murmured to the dragon. She knew she could probably take it down with an Explosion, the same way she’d done with the rampaging Wyvern in the Western Wasteland. But when she thought about it, this Red Dragon was really just another of Ryan’s victims, and she couldn’t help but empathize.
Cast debuff! Water Magic, engage! Add Earth Magic support!
She quietly circulated her mana to her sword. In addition to its offensive abilities, Water Magic was known for its robust variety of buffs, debuffs, and recovery spells.
“I’m sorry about this, Big Red.”
She swung her sword in an upward motion—
“Rrrrgrrroooarrr?!”
—and a cloud of mist engulfed the mighty creature. Instantly, its eyelids drooped, and with a dull WHAM, it collapsed to the arena floor, sound asleep.