The venue for the fighting tournament had been built on a vast wasteland far away from Iffole.
Of course, it would take weeks to get there if you were traveling by physical methods. Crystal gates were used for transportation, with many abundantly installed at the venue.
The fighting arena represented the peak of present-day technology and had been built with the goal of “making something close to the dungeons left by the ancients.” Appropriately, it was ridiculously large.
Once you passed through the large arcade, you would come out into a wide lobby, and when you crossed the great-roofed corridor that extended from there, you entered the venue where matches were held.
“Agh, in the end, I never did activate a composite skill with you, leader.”
Jade was by the side of the competitors’ entrance at the venue for matches, waiting for the starting bell. Next to him, Lowe sighed, grumbling as he sat there. Cheers could already be heard from outside, and they were just a step away from the fighting state.
Even after coming this far, in the end, he hadn’t managed to successfully pull off a composite skill with Lowe even once. But as was characteristic of Lowe, he didn’t seem terribly upset about it.
Jade gave him an easy smile anyway. “Well, there’s no helping that we couldn’t do it. That happens sometimes.”
“This is because you won’t drink my special medicine. It’s incredibly effective. Probably.” Lululee scolded him with her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed in a pout.
“You mean that stuff that isn’t fit for human consumption?” Lowe shot back.
“How rude. Humans can drink that! Probably.”
Just then, Lululee looked furtively around the arena. “Anyway, when is Alina showing up? I thought for sure she would come with you, Jade… Our match is about to start.”
The plan this time was for the “Executioner,” aka Alina, to join their matches as Silver Sword’s frontline attacker.
Of course, the registered participants all had to be there for the start of the match, or they would be disqualified on the spot.
Seeing Lululee’s concern, Jade pointed to the stage and said, “Oh, if you’re worried about Alina, she’s already here. Look, over there.”
“Huh?”
The place where Jade was pointing—the stage where they would be fighting—was laid out in a circular shape. It was large enough to easily surpass the scale of the coliseum in town. Its sturdy walls and floor were made from relic shards melted together, and it was surrounded by spectator seats that resembled stairs. There was no ceiling, so the sun would shine down on it from first thing in the morning.
It was still early for the matches to start, and there was obviously nobody onstage—or at least there shouldn’t have been. There was, in fact, one person already there.
It was the Executioner, standing there silent and imposing, a mask on their face, a hood over their head, and a cloak covering their body.
“……………”
Lululee’s jaw dropped as she lay eyes on the figure, who was filled with quiet resolve.
“Alina…what are you doing…?”
“She said she’d get in trouble on the off chance she was disqualified for being late, so she’s been waiting there the whole time,” said Jade.
“…”
Everyone was already in a frenzy, knowing that the Executioner was going to show up for the fighting tournament, but seeing that rare individual arrive earlier to the stage than anyone else, the audience couldn’t hide their confusion.
“Hey, that’s the Executioner, right…? He’s been standing there for over half an hour since starting time…”
“I-it just feels like he’s ready to kill…!”
“Nah, that’s not it, he’s just the type to be on time!”
Hearing the commotion from the audience, Lowe laughed, saying, “That’s no surprise.”
And then Lululee caught sight of something odd in the stands. “J-Jade, what’s that…?!”
A strange group filled a section of the stands that surrounded the whole stage.
Though most of the audience was in awe of the Executioner’s quiet air of intimidation, the Executioner’s aura seemed to bounce off that one section in particular, which was emanating a bizarre sort of enthusiasm. While the audience there was more or less taking care not to cause trouble to the other audience members, they were holding up various banners and flying a giant flag.
The hanging banners featured some passionate and superbly nostalgic cheer slogans, such as ENCHANT THEM! EXECUTIONER SPIRIT!; SPIRIT IN THE KILL!; ABSOLUTE VICTORY! UNDEFEATED LEGEND; and on the big flag fluttering in the wind, the word EXECUTIONER and a hammer symbol they’d come up with.
It was the Executioner fan group that had gathered from somewhere or other.
The group consisted mostly of young women, but their eyes emitted a sharp light. While it wasn’t necessarily all of them, they did not have the cute air of young girls yelling out to competitors that they liked. They had the eyes of warriors waiting for battle, as though they were standing on the same stage as the Executioner.
“Whoa, man! The Executioner cheer squad is here. They’re staying totally quiet, though.” Lowe held his stomach and laughed.
Jade shrugged at him. “They said that they can’t be making a fuss when the Executioner is staying silent.”
The one to have said this was, of course, Laila.
“…But, Jade, why is Alina so into this…? This is different from how she is usually…,” Lululee asked Jade in a whisper, overwhelmed by Alina and the cheer squad’s bizarre aura.
“Apparently, Alina really wants the prize for this competition.”
“That weird figure…?!” Lululee furrowed her brow, unable to understand why.
Jade felt the same way, but it would be tactless to criticize someone else’s tastes. Lululee glanced over at Alina, standing there in silence, and gulped at Alina’s abnormally heightened focus.
“And she looked so motivated…! She must really want that weird figure—I mean, the tournament prize…”
With an “okay, then,” Lululee clenched her fists and seemed to calm herself. “Alina has always helped us out. So then this time, we’ll lead her to victory with the strength of Silver Sword!”
“Yeah, of course.” Jade nodded.
“…Well, she might not need our support, though,” Lowe muttered, and then the starting bell rang. As the audience cheered for the moment they’d been waiting for, Jade and company stepped out.
“We—we really have to face the goddamn Executioner…”
One of their opponents, who had also come up onstage at the same time as the bell, looked at the Executioner and gulped. “When I heard the rumors, I thought it was some kinda joke…”
“You could just surrender,” Lowe told him.
“Surrender? You gotta be joking.” The enemy ranged attacker laughed off Lowe’s remark with confidence. “If we can kick the Executioner’s ass here, then we’ll be famous! There’s so many people watching that he’ll have no excuse if he loses.”
The tank curled his lips in a smirk. “Did you know? Some people have doubts about the guy they call the Executioner.”
“…Doubts?”
“They say the Executioner is just a load of hot air and that his reputation comes from rumors sparking more rumors! It’s a pretty common story for a guy you hear is strong to turn out to be not that big a deal when you actually fight him.”