Well, that type of story often arose out of jealousy and envy. Sighing privately over this foolishness, Jade suddenly realized that they were only up against three people.
“Hey, you have no frontline attacker. I thought the match chart said you were a full party…”
Voices of dissatisfaction also started coming up from the audience, who had been holding their breath just moments ago.
“Hey, what are their competitors doing?” “I thought I’d get the chance to see the Executioner fighting, but a loss by default?” “Well, considering who they’re up against, there’s no helping that”—this kind of chatter grew louder, until finally, the time when the opposing team would be disqualified arrived. After examining the situation, the judge came onstage.
“For the first match, due to the absence of a competitor, Silver Sword is considered the winner by—”
Just as the judge was about to declare Silver Sword the winner, a lone figure finally appeared at the entrance gates.
“So it’s finally my turn.” Muttering that remark, a large-framed attacker in iron heavy armor slowly came up onstage, completely ignoring the urgency of the situation.
“—Ahhh, who could have guessed that fate had this in store?” the man said sonorously as he took step after firm step toward them. They couldn’t see his face, covered in armor as he was, but on his back was a black battle-ax that reflected the light of the sun.
“When I saw your strength once before, my spirit was broken. My confidence, my pride—everything was torn to shreds…”
With a start, Jade widened his eyes upon hearing that familiar voice. Lululee and Lowe were similarly taken aback. Only Alina was tilting her head in confusion. The enemy’s tank grinned as if he were satisfied by their reactions.
“Heh, you should be surprised, Silver Sword… I’ve lined up a very special party to crush you today.”
The judge decided that the match would commence and backed down from the stage. The armored man who had boldly arrived late, as if he were playing the leading role for the day, continued to speak.
“I resigned from the adventurer elite like I was running away. I thought I would lay down my weapon and retire from adventuring… But I did not give up!”
His words gradually grew heated, until finally he stood before them and yelled, “I went out to train! Hammered by rain and blasted by the wind—and then I recovered! So I could one day cross that great wall! I never thought the opportunity would visit me so soon!”
With a rattle, he released the clasps of his iron helmet and tossed it aside. The man had deep-set features and a heavy beard.
“Now is the time when I will tell you with pride! Yes! My name is Ganz the Raging Bla—!”
That instant, Alina summoned her silver war hammer and slammed it into the armored man’s face, which was wide open after he’d thrown away his helmet.
“Ahhh!”
The armored man let out a weak yelp as he flew in a perfect arc in the sky, after which he slammed into the ground far, far away with a ridiculously loud rattle-rattle-CRASH.
Things went quiet in a split second, and after that, the man didn’t so much as twitch.
““““…””””
That merciless strike had caused not just Silver Sword but also the enemy part and the audience to fall quiet.
“H-hey. Executioner…”
Jade tried to choose his words carefully and come up with the best thing to say in this situation, but scarcely a sound left his lips.
That armored man who had been sent flying within seconds of opening had probably been Ganz. It had to have been Ganz.
Once, he had been Silver Sword’s frontline attacker. But his spirit broke when he saw the Executioner’s strength firsthand, and he withdrew from Silver Sword.
For whatever unlucky reason, they wound up meeting again like this—and Ganz ended up falling to the Executioner once again.
However, Alina’s concern seemed to be purely on winning the fighting tournament. “What? The bell rang, so the match should have started.”
“Ahhh, it’s fine, that’s not a problem, but that was just Ganz—”
“Ganz? Who’s that?”
“…”
Praying that Ganz wasn’t still conscious to hear this exchange, Jade cleared his throat and raised his shield. “Th-then let’s collect ourselves and fight,” he said, trying to restart the battle as if nothing had happened.
“J-Jade, that was Ganz, just now,” Lululee remarked in concern.
“Lululee.” Lowe placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Let’s not wound the man’s pride any further… Sometimes, it’s kinder not to notice someone.”
“Y-you bastards…!”
After watching Ganz get sent flying halfway through his opening remarks, the enemy tank went red in the face and yelled, “So the great Silver Sword would launch a surprise attack against a regular adventurer?! Do you not have the noble spirit to fight fair and square?! Huh?!”
“Noble spirit to fight fair and square?” Alina took a step forward and snorted at the man’s remark. “The moment we stepped into the ring, it was kill or be killed…”
“Executioner, just so you know, killing is against the rules and will disqualify us instantly,” Jade reminded her.
“…”
“I—I know that,” Alina argued back quietly, then faced the enemy once again.
“D-dammit, let’s go! Ranged attacker!”
The tank must not have been able to stand Alina’s quiet aura of bloodlust, as he hastily raised the round shield he had equipped on his arm. Since he’d instructed the ranged attacker to strike, it was apparent that he was about to activate some skill himself… But Alina recklessly started winding up for a swing.
“For my victory prize—!”
“S-Skill Activate: Sigurth May—!”
“Diiiiiiiiiiiie—!!!!”
The enemy tank could not activate his skill in time.
Destroying the relic-embedded floor with her every step, Alina charged straight for the tank. She raised her hammer overhead, then slammed it down on the tank’s round shield.
Apparently, killing would get you instantly disqualified for rule-breaking, so she held back just a tad.
But that didn’t stop the round shield from getting pulverized with a babam! The war hammer went straight into the tank’s stomach, and the tank was flung away in a clean and straight line. Plunging into the floor of the stage with a grrrrrk! he bounced and spun yet still didn’t slow down, ultimately crashing dramatically into the wall of the stands before finally coming to a stop.
The arena went dead quiet.
Upon witnessing the brutally destructive power that the Executioner had dished out, the enemy ranged attacker, who had been preparing to strike, and the healer, who had been readying a heal in preparation for getting hit, stopped what they were doing and froze.
“…I-is he alive…?”
The judge quickly ran up to them and confirmed that the tank, who had two or three broken teeth, was breathing.
“The match continues!” the judge announced, snapping up a hand, but the healer and ranged attacker just froze where they were standing, stunned. Naturally, their frightened gazes were directed at the Executioner.
“What?” Alina shouldered her war hammer again. That gesture alone was enough to send a jolt through her opponents, and the two of them yelled out at the same time, ““I…I surrender!””