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“Even the fireballs didn’t do much… How are we supposed to get through that?”
“With brute force alone, breaking their defense is going to be difficult. We’ll need to take a more… indirect approach.”
“I’ll follow your lead, Master.”

Hom nodded without hesitation, so I moved up alongside her, issuing instructions as we advanced in step.

“I have a plan. I’ll disrupt Gutenberg boy’s command structure. Hom, you take on Rizel.”

Among the Noble Arts trio, Gutenberg boy was the most predictable. Rizel came next. Jost was harder to read—but as a retainer, he’d prioritize Gutenberg’s movements. That much was clear.

“Alfe, I’m counting on you for support.”
“What should I do?”
“Use wind magic to confuse them. It’s fine even if it doesn’t hit—just create an opening.”
“Okay!”

Our first goal wasn’t to deal damage—it was to break the Dukes’ impenetrable formation. If we could disrupt their coordination, we could take them down one at a time.

“Neither side is moving! The standoff continues!!”

Johnny’s voice rang out, urging the match to resume. His words seemed to spur Alfe into action.

“Ahhhh! Once again, no incantation! Another chantless Wind Cutter explodes across the field!”

But against the Dukes’ heavy armor, Wind Cutter barely made a dent.

“You won’t scratch us with such low-tier magic!”
“Haaah!”

Hom followed up with a spinning kick aimed at Rizel’s unit, but Rizel caught it without trouble.

“They’re so tough…!”
“You’ll never break through our impregnable formation with attacks like that!”

Rizel boasted triumphantly—but that was exactly what I was aiming for. A coordinated formation of heavy-class mecha soldiers was a serious threat. But if we could shake their teamwork even slightly—then we’d have our opening.

“That’s right. That’s why we’re all attacking at once.”
“Hah! What can a Subordinate Unit possibly do?!”

The pages of Ars Manga flipped open, revealing a familiar, simplified formula.

This trick probably wouldn’t work on anyone but Gutenberg boy—but for someone like me, piloting Arkecius, it was the most effective strike I had.

“Create Fairy!”

As I chanted, dark clouds began to swirl high above the grand colosseum. A low, rumbling growl echoed through the arena—then, from within the shadowy clouds, the massive head of a summoned Black Dragon God emerged.

“Wha—A Fairy?!”

The dragon loomed thirteen meters long, its entire body cloaked in jet-black scales like armor. It growled deeply as it locked eyes on Gutenberg boy and his team.

“Wh-What is happening here?! The Black Dragon God?! A Fairy in the shape of the Black Dragon God has appeared!!”

Johnny’s voice rang out in disbelief from the announcer’s booth.

Rizel was stunned—but the reactions of Gutenberg boy and Jost were something else entirely.

“Uwaaahhhhhh!”
“Master Lyle! Please, stay calm!”

He remembered. Gutenberg boy remembered the fear he felt during the Fairy Battle. And I intended to make full use of that memory.

“Hah! It’s just a bluff, Lyle! A mere fairy—what can it possibly do?!”

Rizel sneered, trying to rally him, but Gutenberg boy was already breathing heavily, frozen in place.

“Let’s finish this.”

At my signal, the Fairy—bearing the form of the Black Dragon God—launched a flame pillar.

“Ah! Aaahhhhhh!!”
“Master Lyle!!”

Gutenberg boy’s unit was instantly engulfed in a pillar of flame—and fell silent.

“Wh-What just happened?! This is completely unexpected!! Lyle Gutenberg is unconscious! He is officially unable to continue!”

The actual damage was minimal—but the psychological impact on Gutenberg boy was devastating.

“You baaastaaaard!! How dare you do that to Lord Lyle!”

Jost screamed in anguish and drove his spear straight into the Black Dragon God I’d summoned.

“And it’s gooooone! With a single strike from the retainer Jost, the Black Dragon God fairy vanishes into thin aiiiiiir!!”

Johnny’s voice echoed through the arena, but was soon drowned out by a thunderous roar from the crowd.

After all, a Fairy was just an illusion, a manifestation of aether given form. When struck by a mecha soldier fueled by powerful aether, it would naturally dissipate in an instant.

But wasting a move to destroy that illusion was a fatal mistake. And Hom wasn’t the type to miss an opening like that.

“Blitzraid!”

Wreathed in golden light, Hom burst forward in a flash.

“Gh—!”

Jost tried to raise his shield to block the high-speed kick—but he was a second too late. His unit’s left arm was blown clean off.

“This ends here.”

After kicking through Jost’s arm, Hom spun midair, using the jet propulsion from her unit’s arm-mounted vernier to smash Jost’s head unit straight off. The head went flying, crashed into Rizel’s unit, and tumbled to the colosseum floor.

“What was that…?”
“Altered… just now…”

From the moment the Black Dragon God vanished to the destruction of Jost’s unit—it had all happened in the blink of an eye. The audience murmured in shock, the tension building—and then erupted into an explosive wave of cheers that engulfed the entire arena.

“Altered! Altered!”
“Altered! Altered!!”
“It’s here—Altered’s signature technique! Blitzraid!! In a flash, the tides have turned!! Noble Arts now stands with only Rizel left!!”

Johnny, now fully swept up in the excitement, leaned out of the announcer’s booth, mic in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs.

The massive crowd, sensing our imminent victory, joined together in a roaring chorus of Altered chants.

“…You’ve got no chance left. Just give up.”
“Again… it’s you again, damn you!!”

Rizel’s voice trembled with fury as he stood alone—his formation broken, his allies defeated.

“I won’t forgive you… I’ll never forgive you, Leafa Naga Rjuna!!”

Consumed by rage, Rizel began swinging his spear wildly at Arkecius.

“You—you I’ll defeat no matter what!!”

Dodging Rizel’s reckless blows was easy with the nimble Arkecius. But with Rizel pressing in so close, Hom would probably have trouble stepping in now.

Still… Hom wasn’t the only one fighting alongside me.

I stole a glance toward Alfe’s Lemures. Her magic staff was slowly sweeping through the air in a gentle arc. Unchanted—Rizel wouldn’t notice it.

“I’ll warn you, just in case: you really shouldn’t stand there.”
“What—!?”

By the time Rizel reacted, it was already too late. The thin frost silently spreading beneath his feet had morphed into a deadly spear of ice—piercing straight through Duke’s legs.

“Wh-what’s this!? Another chantless cast! Lemures unleashes another silent spell!! Can Rizel’s unit even get back up from thiiiiis!?”
“Damn it!”

Rizel forcefully spun his unit around, using the jet thrusters to lift off and tear the frozen spear away. But as he did, Lemures quietly advanced toward him.

“What the… what the hell is that…!? That’s gotta be cheating…”

Rizel’s voice wavered in disbelief as he stared at the sight before him.

And who could blame him?

Floating in the air around Lemures were countless spears of water, formed through her Water Lance magic.

“W-wait—!”
“I’ll protect Leafa!”

Rizel raised a hand in an attempt to halt the attack—but he was too slow. Alfe had already brought her Lemures’ magic staff down.

The floating Water Lances shot forth in unison, piercing Rizel’s Duke in both arms, both legs, and the head. Every critical point—right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, and head—was obliterated in a single, overwhelming strike. The unit was utterly destroyed.

“WHAT AN ASSAULT!!! No need for a verdict—total annihilation! A complete and utter defeat!! And thus, the winner is… REINFORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCE!!!”

Johnny’s triumphant announcement boomed across the arena, nearly drowning out the sound of soft sobbing—coming from within the wreckage of the fallen Duke.

I could hear Rizel quietly weeping.

Thinking of how bitter this loss must have been for him… I felt, just for a moment, a pang of sympathy.

“…Maybe we went a little too far.”
“He tried to hurt you, Leafa. I’d say we’re even.”

Alfe’s reply to my murmured words carried a quiet strength—and in that moment, I found it reassuring.

***

#Lemures (Alfe’s Unit)#

A customized version of Lemures that Leafa modified specifically for Alfe.

Unnecessary features such as the variable armor have been omitted, and the control system has been simplified, detuning it into a more user-friendly magic unit.

Its exclusive armaments include a custom-made magic staff by Leafa and an aether-blocking robe.

#Duke#

A sixth-generation heavy mecha soldier developed by Zeonista Heavy Industries for the Arcadia Empire.

The first unit rolled out in the Holy Flower Era year 818.

It was designed to surpass the projected performance of the sixth-generation cavalry unit Jedi, developed by the Holy Kingdom in 817, based on intelligence gathered through espionage.

Due in part to this, the unit is somewhat costly—but not excessively so for a heavy mecha.

Despite being a heavy-class model, Duke boasts mobility on par with medium-class units.

It is a powerful machine with power and armor that are on par with, or even slightly superior to, standard heavy mecha.

However, it has a somewhat “peaky” output characteristic and frame balance, making it a machine that requires a skilled pilot to operate effectively.