A while back, when Selena thought of using『Atos』against Seiya.

Yua and Lily were engaged in the fierce fight. Mona was manipulating the wind to launch her knives and Yua was striking them down.

Aishi aimed at the opening when she struck down another knife and released an arrow from her ice bow, but Lily blocked it with her water.

「Big sister!」
「Leave it to me」

Yua let go of the Yuriel and, at the same time, created Yurial and released a light arrow at Aishi.

Since Aishi just released an arrow, she still didn’t create another.

Yua released a single arrow. The light arrow flew at Aishi in a straight line.

Convinced that a single arrow won’t hit her, Aishi jumped sideways. However, in the next moment, she lost her words.

The reason is, it was supposed to be only one arrow, but there was an uncountable number of arrows in her line of sight.

And all those arrows were flying at Aishi.

「Why」

Thought Aishi, while still in mid-air. There was supposed to be only one arrow. That arrow didn’t show any signs of splitting or multiplying upon its release.

That was Aishi’s miscalculation.

The arrow was indeed one, it didn’t split or multiply. However, when the arrow flew through the air, it dropped off mana particles due to air resistance.

Yua used those particles to create more arrows, but since they were just particles, she couldn’t make them change their direction and attack her from all sides.

There, Yua took advantage of the wind.

To manipulate her knives, Mona constantly generated chaotic streams of wind.

She used the wind to move those particles into the various parts of the stadium. In that way, she was able to make it look like the arrows were shot from all sides of the stadium.

However, Aishi, who wasn’t aware of that, lost her calm demeanor. Even is they are the strongest student council, they didn’t have that many chances to fight truly strong opponents.

And right now, an uncountable number of light arrows flew her way.

「This is the end…….」

Yua was convinced of her victory. The chaotic flows of wind suddenly stopped and Yua and Lily felt as if the gravity became stronger. And the light arrows hit the ground right before reaching Aishi.

The cause was, of course, Mona.

「『Heavy Winds』. I won’t let you take out Aishi so easily」
「Thank you very much, Mona-senpai.」
「It’s fine, don’t worry」

That being said, Mona had no way to affect the gravity. She forced the wind to blow perpendicularly towards the ground, thus creating the pseudo-gravity pressure

「More than that, Aishi, please help Selena. She seems to be struggling quite a bit」
「All right」

Mora witnessed Selena’s strongest spell being broken. Considering her possible mental state, she sent Aishi to reinforce her. [¹]

However, that wasn’t her only reason. She was personally anxious.

Mona remembered her baseless wariness towards him when she met him for the first time. She didn’t feel any ill intent, but her intuition told her to stay cautious.

As if there was something mysterious inside of him.

That’s why she thought of Seiya as a target of highest priority in this final match. I can stop Lily and Yua for a while by myself. In that time, I want you to defeat Seiya, or so she hoped.

「Is it fine…..letting her go?…..」
「It will work out. If it is for a little while, I can fight with you by myself. Besides, I’m an older sister here」
「I was underestimated…….」
「Horrible! 」
「Ufufu」

At that time, Mona made two mistakes.

First, putting too much attention to Seiya and underestimating Lily and Yua. Second, the fact that she told them about it.

She unintentionally motivated them with her remarks.

「Lily…Let’s go….」
「Un! 」

Yua created the Yuriel again and enveloped it in the light-attributed mana. Lily created even more water, agglomerating it in a sphere twice the size of the previous one.

Looking at the two, Mona changed her expression. Compared to before, they were dead serious.

「『Hurricane』」

Mona moved first. She channeled her mana into the cane and activated a spell. However, it wasn’t different from before, it created the same chaotic wind again.

Just as before, the knives were spinning behind her.

「I will push, so I will count on your assistance……..」
「All right!」

While on her guard, she buffed her legs and increased her speed. And just like that, she aimed to pierce through Mona. [²]

「I won’t let you」

However, Mona wasn’t about to ignore it. She launched the knives rotating behind her at Yua.

But Yua had already seen through her knife attack. While easily avoiding the knives, she approached Mona. However, when there was a meter between them, she suddenly felt the pain.

「??」

Yua stopped accelerating and fell on the spot. Not willing to let go of this opening, she used all of her knives to attempt to stab her.

But the knives collided with a water wall and never reached Yua.

After deflecting the knives, the water wall enveloped Yua and carried her to Lily, who was behind.

「Big sister?」
「I’m fine….Thanks, Lily….」

Flustered Lily pulled her out of the water and called her. Fortunately, the wounds weren’t fatal, so she won’t retire prematurely.

However, the fact that she didn’t retire hadn’t solved the problem.

The knives that only attacked her from the front before, somehow, ended up behind her back. Without knowing the reason, she won’t be able to engage in the close combat.

「Just how did she….」

Unexpectedly, Mona answered her mutterings.

「I will let you hear about『Hurricane』’s power. What I used before was『Tempest』, basically, storm. It is stronger than an ordinary wind, but it could only move straight. It was enough before this match, but it won’t work with you. That’s why, I took a liberty to use『Hurricane』, or tornado. Do you know the difference between a storm and a tornado? 」

Listening up to this point, Yua already understood.

「Direction of the wind…….」
「Correct. A storm only blows in one direction in a large area. However, although a tornado is smaller, it rotates. In short, you can make wind blow from all directions simultaneously. Until now, I wasn’t able to immediately use the deflected knives again, but with this, I do not need to bother with it anymore」

Mona declared that she had no openings, and it was true from a certain standpoint.

When you try to approach her, the knives will fly your way. Even if you avoid them, they would attack from behind.

In other words, the closer you are to Mona, the more knives would be behind your back.

(With this, I should hold for a while. My friends, please defeat that man swiftly)

Mona showed a relaxed expression, but inwardly, she was very nervous.

『Hurricane』is more advanced than『Tempest』and consumes much more mana. That’s why the longer the battle will last, the harder it will be for her to maintain it.

Mona tried to maintain a stalemate as long as she could. Plus, she also had a trump card.

「Lily」

Yua whispered to Lily.

「All right!」
「I wonder what it is? Do you have a plan? 」
「If it is a plan, we have one……We will defeat you….」
「I see」

You could see the confidence on Yua’s face.

The chant, that she didn’t dare to finish before, came out smoothly.

Selena activated the spell.

She channeled the mana in the magic guns, pointed at Seiya and pulled the trigger. This time, it wasn’t a single bullet. A red laser came out.

Immediately after, it split apart and spread in a zigzag pattern.

All of those lasers suddenly twisted and flew towards Seiya. They numbered roughly twenty thousand.

Twenty thousand lasers further split and poured on Seiya like rain. Each and every laser carried the incredible heat with it.

「Really?……..」

Once he saw this spell, even Seiya became speechless. At this time, there were multiple ways to deal with those lasers, but most of them included the dark element and were rejected.

That’s why he chose the best possible solution from the options that were left.

「I didn’t want to rely on it too much, but it can’t be helped.『Mantle of Light』」

His whole body was permeated by the light mana, but it wasn’t the end.

「Limit Break」

In the next moment, the color vanished from his eyes. In the monochrome world, Seiya gazed at the lasers.

He faced the multitude of lasers. Seiya enveloped the Hollins in the water mana and touched a laser.

Once he calmed a laser that was about to hit him, he breathed out a sigh of relief. With this, he can successfully deflect『Atos』, at least he thought so.

However, once that laser touched the ground, it bent at a weird angle and came straight at Seiya.

「Oioi, is this the tracking type?……」

As he said, the laser was of the tracking type.

He was tempted to cast『Dark Wave』 but didn’t do it in the end. Seiya kept hitting the lasers and calming them down.

Three seconds didn’t pass, but Seiya felt as if he did it for 10 minutes.

Once he completely calmed all of the lasers, he dispelled『Mantle of Light』and the world returned to its original speed. There was no one in the audience who was able to perceive what had happened.

「Wha…..what just happened?….」

Nils was petrified, the same was true for the audience.

That wasn’t surprising, first, they saw the lasers closing in on Seiya and, in the next moment, they vanished together with Seiya.

Seiya appeared several meters away from his previous position with the scorched lines all around him.

「What on earth did you do?」

Selena asked in a stunned voice. The spell that she just cast was moving at incredible speed, there should have been no way for him to dodge it.

However, she couldn’t comprehend how he was able to remain unscathed.

「Don’t you think that twenty thousand was a bit too much?」

On the other hand, Seiya complained about the number of the lasers.

「Waha, awawawawawaawawa」

Hearing his words, Selena laughed as if she broke.

He didn’t just destroy her strongest spell, he even complained about the number of the lasers. Even Selena herself only approximately knew the number.

She could only laugh in the face of Seiya’s abnormal actions.

「It seems it’s my win」

Seiya tried to finish Selena off but at this time,

「It’s not over yet」

Suddenly, a girl with the short blue hair appeared in front of him, it was Aishi. She had the twin swords in her hands.

「Is it all right to leave Yua?」
「No problem. Mona-senpai will take care of her」

When he looked in Mona’s direction, he saw Lily and Yua fighting together against her.

「I understand. So that’s what happened」
「Yes. That’s why your opponent is me」
「I see」

Seiya decided to disregard Selena for a moment and engaged Aishi.

Aishi pierced at Seiya’s face with the sword in her right hand, but he strongly deflected in with the Hollins.

While taking a step back, she changed the sword in her left hand into a scythe and tried to hit Seiya’s neck.

「I’m aware」

As if he knew about the scythe beforehand, he easily evaded it by falling back. At the same time, he threw the Hollins in his right hand at her face.

However, an ice wall blocked the Hollins.

Once it happened, he created another one in his right hand. At this point, the audience believed that it was the summoning magic. But Bagil wasn’t sure.

After blocking the Hollins, she made the twin swords once again and pierced at his abdomen.

「『Wall of Light』」

However, Seiya prevented her attack by『Wall of Light』. And once the ice twin swords hit『Wall of Light』, they broke.

「You are wide open」
「Damn….」

While falling, he put his left hand on the ground and used it as a leverage point to kick at Aishi’s left side.

Aishi, who received the kick, was blown away and fell on the ground.

「Nice technique, but naive」
「You are wrong」
「What?」

Aishi laughed as if convinced of something.

「Don’t move」

He heard a dignified voice from behind. Behind him, Selena, who was spacing out just a moment ago, pointed the magic gun at his head.

「Were you acting before?」

Seiya knew that it wasn’t an act, but decided to confirm.

「Wrong」
「Ho, then how did you recover?」
「I remembered」
「Remembered?」

Seiya had no clue.

「Yes, we are the strongest when together. Even if I can’t win alone, there are others. Aishi reminded me of that」
「I see」

She was certainly spacing out, but once she saw her junior coming to her rescue, she remembered.

They are a team, they are the strongest.

And she sought to take advantage of the situation where he completely forgot about her.

「All right, then why am I still alive?」

Seiya was perplexed. The people aren’t able to die inside of the barrier, there was no need to hesitate.

「Because I want to hear something from you」
「Something you want to hear?」

Selena wanted to learn the secret on his strength.

「Who on earth are you? What was that power? 」
「That power?」
「Yes. That technique that was akin to instantaneous movement.  I didn’t see or hear about such magic」
「It’s not like you know everything」
「That’s not the problem. That thing was closer to a technique than to a magic. It was close to the body arts. With your ability, you should have been an apostle long ago. However, you are a student. Why the hell someone like you is a student? Who on earth are you? 」

Selena gave in to curiosity and asked. Because if she knew his secret, there was a chance for her to become stronger.

「I’m also interested」

Before he knew, Aishi pointed the ice blade at him. Aishi too wanted to know his secrets.

From the side, it looked like they were in a position to finish Seiya off, but were hesitating.

Normally, the audience would have booed already.

However, the audience was long ago rendered speechless by the high-level fight, they couldn’t utter a word. That’s why everyone held their breath and watched the match.

Some were able to voice their thought, but there were no jeers and hate. On the other hand, Bagil was just quietly watching.

「Who knows, I have no idea what you are talking about.」
「Stop playing dumb! If you won’t answer, I will shoot! 」

Selena rushed him for an answer and pressed the magic gun on his head. Aishi too was ready to pierce with her blade when the moment arises.

「This is the final warning. Answer」
「Did you think that I will be defeated that easily? 」
「Eh………」

Seiya glared at Selena. His eyes contained an incredible killing intent and Selena faltered for a moment. She didn’t falter only because of the killing intent, but also because of his pressure.

The atmosphere around him changed to that of the violence. The two were frightened by his sudden change.

And Seiya wasn’t in a mood to let go of this opportunity.

Seiya used his right elbow to knock away the magic gun and the Hollins in his left hand to shatter the ice blade.

The two, who lost their weapons, glared at Seiya. However, the two’s attention was quickly attracted to something else.

「Kiyaaaaaaaaaaa」

The appearance of Mona being blown away reflected in their sights. Selena and Aishi immediately rushed to catch her, but before they were able to, she crashed into the stadium wall.

「Mona?」
「Mona-senpai」

The two approached her.

「It’s all right. I was just too complacent」

On another side, there was Yua with a big white hammer and the adult version of Lily wearing a bewitching smile.

Selena moved first. Selena took out two guns from the holsters on her legs and pulled the triggers. A bullet flew out, it was a mana bullet, not a material one.

Unlike ordinary handguns, hers had a rectangular red barrel and a red magic stone embedded in the muzzle. The magic stone was the source of the bullets.

This gun is called『Magic-powered Handgun』or『Magic Gun』, a weapon that shoots mana bullets. Thinking about it, everyone should use this convenient weapon, but, regretfully, it has a drawback. Mana efficiency.

To use it, you need to channel your mana into the magic stone, where it will transform the mana into the mana bullet and shoot it out. The consumption of mana during this process is big and almost no one uses it.

Seeing her with two guns from the start, you could speculate about her enormous mana pool.

In response, Seiya summoned the Hollins and struck the bullets down.

「O, such high-level moves right from the start! This is the final battle. Bagil-san, what do you think about this match? 」
「Let’s see. The weapon of participant Selena is quite a rare article. Moreover, she seems to have a talent in dual wielding them. There is an apostle that wields two guns too, but she is not much inferior」
「Who knew! Participant Selena’s skill isn’t inferior to an apostle. How are the opponents going to deal with it? 」

Without paying attention to the commentators, Selena continued to fire rapidly without any mercy. However, Seiya struck them down as if they were nothing at all.

「You aren’t bad」
「Well, thanks. But you aren’t done with just this, right? 」
「Right. Aishi! 」
「Roger」

When Selena called the expressionless girl in the back, she lifted her left hand forward.

「『Iced Archer』」

In the next moment, in Aishi’s left hand, an ice bow appeared. She loaded an ice arrow and shot it at Seiya.

Once Selena confirmed the launch of an arrow, she resumed the rapid-fire. But even with an arrow closing in on him, Seiya was repelling the bullets just as he was before.

Disregarding the arrow, he concentrated on the mana bullets.

Seiya grinned and the light arrow that came from behind shot down the ice arrow.

Of course, it was an arrow shot by Yua. There was the Yurial in her hand.

「Such a development! Participant Yua shot down the ice arrow by an arrow of her own! 」

The commentator Nils and the audience were surprised by her display of skills, but the six in the arena weren’t surprised in the slightest.

After shooting down the ice arrow, Yua created Yuriel and tried to attack Aishi, but her path was barred by Mona.

With her swaying green hair and a cane in her hand, she said.

「『Tempest』」

Right after that, strong winds assaulted Yua. The winds broke her balance for a moment, but she quickly recovered and tried to attack Aishi, who was behind Mona, again.

However, she instinctively felt danger and dodged backwards. Following that, she found multiple knives struck in the spot she was before.

「This is……」

When she looked at Mona, Mona directed a smile at her. However, instead of Mona’s smile, a myriad of knives spinning in the air clockwise was reflected in her eyes.

They were just quietly spinning in the air but were incredibly intimidating.

Yua faced Mona with the Yuriel and the wind blew again, but this time, it was a gentle wind.

The wind picked up the knives stuck in the ground and brought them behind Mona, where they mixed with the rest.

「I won’t let you reach Aishi」

Mona gazed at Yua with a smile, and Yua frustratingly glared back.

「Big sis, leave it to me!」

The voice came from behind. It was Lily. Lily created a multitude of water spheres around her, jumped, molded them into a myriad of water bullets and released them towards Mona.

「Mizuchi!」
「Arara」

Mona lifted her big cane above her head and activated a spell.

「Tempest」

The moment she said that the multitude of knives behind her flew in the air, collided with the water bullets and fell on the ground.

While she was at it, Lily cast another spell.

「Water Cannon!」

The water closed in on her from above. However, Mona, without getting flustered, pointed her cane at the water cannon and muttered again.

「Tempest」

Once she muttered that the water cannon weirdly turned and fell right beside Mona.

「I won’t go down so easily. I remembered this attack from the first round. That being said, attacking from above and adding the force of gravity to your attack is quite impressive」

As Mona said, although she revealed an opening by jumping that high, she used the gravity to add the power to her attack.

That was Seiya’s proposal, even if she blocked it, she won’t be able to remain unscathed. Mona noticed it and chose to avert the attack instead of blocking it.

「But big sister slipped through!」
「You are right. However, those are things that couldn’t be helped. We decided since the beginning that I would be your opponent」

As she said, they preemptively decided who would be responsible for who. And Mona’s opponent was Lily.

While Mona was facing Lily, Yua arrived at Aishi with the Yuriel in hand. Aishi tried to release an ice arrow at Yua, but she dodged and successfully closed in on her.

And the moment Yua arrived up close and tried to strike her, Aishi grinned.

「『Iced Hunter』」

In the next moment, her bow transformed into a scythe. She swung that scythe at Yua’s neck.

「『Single Light』」

Confirming that the bow changed into the scythe, she channeled the light-attributed mana into her legs, accelerated and evaded the blow.

「『Iced Night』」
「……….」

When she said it, this time, it changed into an ice blade. Aishi held the ice blade and attacked Yua.

Yua blocked with the Yuriel, but in the next moment, she received a big surprise.

The moment they touched each other, the Yuriel froze.

「Yuriel」

She released the frozen Yuriel and created another one. This time, she enveloped the Yuriel in the light-attributed mana, so it won’t freeze upon contact.

They collided once again, and this time, the ice blade broke.

She discarded the broken blade and activated the spell in her hand.

「『Iced Night』」

Immediately after, an ice blade of the same size appeared in her right hand.

「What is happening…….In this match, no one is chanting yet………..」

The always-energetic Nils became quiet since a while ago. The audience was like that too. Currently, no one was able to comprehend this match.

In this world, where chantless is rare, you can’t see such a fight easily. It was even more unexpected to witness it in the student’s tournament.

「Being surprised is understandable. But if you look at them one by one, you won’t find it that weird. Participant Selena’s guns are based on『Transformation』spell, participant Mona has a green magic stone with『Wind Way』stored inside of it, embedded in her cane. Participant Aishi’s blue necklace is made from magic stones. Most likely it stores something like『Ice Make 』inside of it. Those are common spells, and depending on the usage, they can greatly influence the fight」[¹]

The audience didn’t seem convinced by Bagil’s explanation.

What Bagil said was possible, but the magic guns required a tremendous quantity of mana to be used repeatedly. Mona’s『Wind Way』creates a wind way, as you can guess from the name, but the number of ways is abnormal.

Aishi’s『Ice Make 』is able to create ice, but the magic stone should have been already used up. However, Aishi used it thrice.

This situation was clearly abnormal. Last year, the student council didn’t use any of it and the students were able to comprehend what they saw.

The problem was with the trio who opposed them. They were able to chantlessy compete against the student council.

They were able to hold their ground against the student council, which is rumored to have the power to compete against a special magician. The audience wasn’t able to piece things together.

This wasn’t anything but an abnormality. If they knew that it wasn’t their full power, they would have fainted already.

「Thank you for your explanation. Then, can you please provide an explanation about the other team? 」

At Nils comment, Bagil broke in a sweat. Bagil didn’t know all of their secrets, but he knew a part of them. It was enough to make him hesitate with a response.

「Eh, participant Seiya most likely uses the『Summon』type magic to summon his twin swords. I think his swordsmanship deserves the attention too. I’m speculating that participant Yua has multiple 『Summon』magic stones hidden on her. Participant Lily’s water spheres are quite noteworthy, they might be created through the use of something like participant Mona’s『Wind Way』」
「The meaning is, the three are hiding the magic stones somewhere on their body? 」
「That is what it appears to be」

OF course, that was a lie. He didn’t know about Yua, but he could guess about Seiya and Lily to a certain extent. However, saying this will bring the panic.

The student council team though that Bagil was lying. They didn’t know Seiya’s secret, but their observation and intuition told them as such.

There was no presence of magic stones in Seiya’s magic. They felt that Yua’s magic wasn’t of the『Summon』type in the first place. And they felt only the water attribute from Lily’s spells, no『Wind Way』was present.

An apostle should be aware of all those things even without fighting directly. Yet Bagil said a wrong thing.

Selena thought of that as strange, and at the same time, her interest in Seiya increased.

She wanted to become stronger, yet, there was no one in the academy who could compete with her. With that as a reason, she wasn’t able to improve any further.

That’s why Selena was delighted to meet the opponent she could fight seriously.

Selena thought. Thought about her strongest magic. Thought that her opponent’s level was different from the ones before.

She also thought that she wouldn’t be able to best Seiya with her usual way of fighting. With that as it is, she needs a new strategy, a new kind of attack.

「If it is now…..」

Theoretically, this spell was completed. She was almost able to cast it hundreds, no, thousands of times. However, she didn’t succeed even once. She was afraid.

The spell she was about to activate was difficult to control, even for her. In a case of this spell going out of control, there might be victims.

Even if they were inside of the barrier, there was a chance that the barrier won’t be able to persist. [²]

She was uneasy even thinking about activating it. Selena didn’t have the courage to use it up until now.

She tried it once before and wasn’t able to finish it. The fear stopped her. At that time, she swore.

If there is the next opportunity, I won’t have any regrets.

「Abyss of the fire maiden, appear before me『Atos』」 [³]

Selena chanted in a powerful voice.

「At last, it is time for the final round!」

The lively girl’s voice resounded across the stadium.

After the unforgettable match against the Aruna’s team, they successfully reached the final round.

「The live commentary is provided by me, Nils. Also, today, an unexpected person will join me! The Holy Church’s apostle, number eight, Bagil Eight-san! 」
「Best regards」

Uoooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The students in the stadium cheered. That was understandable. After all, an apostle came to provide a commentary.

The thirteen apostles are famous existences that you can’t easily see. Besides, Bagil himself was quite handsome, he was popular like an idol.

「Bagil-sama, I heard from the principal that you graduated from this academy」
「It is indeed so. Can you please drop this 「-sama」 of yours? I just can’t get used to it」
「Bu-but」

Nils was confused by his words.

「Rather than an apostle, I’m here as an OB from this academy」 [¹] 「S-so it was like that. Then, Bagil-san」
「Yes」

Feeling rather nervous, she called him with「-san」. Hearing her, Bagil nodded with a smile.

Facing this smile, not just Nils, but the whole audience cheered. [²]

Bagil was here today not just because he was an OB. He is here to prevent the principal from messing with the tournament like in the first match.

Originally, Bagil wanted to become a commentator starting from the second match, but Leonardo didn’t let him.

Bagil was convinced that Leonardo was investigating Seiya. He didn’t have any evidence, but he could see that Leonardo was interested in Seiya.

Besides, Seiya is accompanied by some kind of spirit. Leonardo was probably interested in that too.

Even Bagil was surprised when he saw Lily for the first time. After all, you can’t see fairies and spirits around the city, even more, she was participating in a tournament.

If Bagil wasn’t aware of his secret, he would have already reported to the Holy Church. However, Bagil knew about their complete contract. That being said, he never expected to see her attending the school.

But Leonardo didn’t know about his secret. Because of that, there was a high possibility that Leonardo would come up with something to reveal this secret.

「The teams are appearing on the stage! First, the team that appeared like a comet and defeated their opponents one after another! Team 86! 」

Uoooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The audience cheered once again.

It was true that they appeared like a comet and defeated their opponents one after another, but the cheers were mostly directed at Yua and Lily. That’s how it should be. There were two absolutely beautiful girls present. It wasn’t surprising to see the male part of the audience scream.

But they weren’t everyone, the girls also cheered. They cheered for Seiya.

The figure of Seiya in the qualifiers, who didn’t let the girls fight and took on every opponent himself. The figure of Seiya in the finals, who despite facing the strong opponents was always in the front. The notion of「I want to be protected by Seiya-sama too」 begun to quietly spread across the academy.

「Their opponent is, of course, that team! The academy’s strongest team! Team student council! 」

Uoooooooooooooooooooooooooo. [³]

Seiya thought, that once they appeared, the audience will become silent, but he was wrong. Even if the student council was usually avoided, they still seemed to be popular.

「All right, both teams have appeared. Bagil-san, what do you think of the student council? It is said that the three’s teamwork could even give a special magician a headache」
「Eh, you are right. But the other team is also worthy of attention. That boy’s swordsmanship is quite a marvel to look at」
「I see」

Such words resounded from the commentator’s seats. There was only one boy in the two teams. Of course, it was Seiya. Seiya looked at Bagil and remembered the previous day.

Yesterday, after he won the second match, Raiga called him into his room.

When he arrived, he saw Raiga and Bagil discussing something with serious expressions.

Seiya sat down next to Raiga and Bagil started talking.

The talk was about the sudden change of Aruna in the first round. According to Raiga and Bagil, it was Leonardo’s own spell『Possession』.

A spell that utilizes his contracted spirit to take control of someone’s body. It seems to be Leonardo’s field of expertise.

When Seiya was still in the Senabia Magic Academy, he also read about such spells. But it was his first time seeing it.

According to Bagil, Leonardo, most likely, wanted to uncover his real identity, there was also a possibility of him trying to attempt it again.

That being said, the target needs to have a strong body and he wasn’t able to use it in the second match. The only possibilities left for him were the members of the student council.

In Bagil’s opinion, if he uses this spell on them, the result would be several times stronger that in Aruna’s case. If that happens, the existence of the dark element would be the key. In the worst case, Bagil asked to give priority to their safety, even if it requires him to use the dark attribute.

Seiya will create a barrier from the inside and Bagil from the outside, in that way, he would be able to use the dark attribute. Bagil and Raiga agreed on that, and the meeting came to an end.

When Seiya recalled that, he looked at the student council. He didn’t tell Yua and Lily about it.

Like that, they will be able to fight without any worries. As long as nothing happened, Seiya planned to do so too.

From the other side, Selena walked towards Seiya. For a greeting before a fight, her eyes were a bit too hostile.

Sure enough, nothing friendly came out of her mouth.

「I didn’t expect that you would reach the final round. Not bad for a lolicon. However, this is the end. We will defeat you」 [⁴] 「Feel free」

After this short conversation, both teams were ready for the match.

「Final match of the final block. Start」

With the judge’s announcement, the curtains of the final fight had opened.

Fire violently burned, but Aruna didn’t seem to notice.

Aruna enveloped her katana in fire, but this fire was different from the one before. It was disturbingly red.

Aruna noticed Seiya and laughed.

（Here she comes…..）

In the next moment after he thought that, Aruna was already before him.

She swung her katana with her right hand and Seiya attempted to accept the blow with the Hollins, but upon collision, the Hollins broke.

The katana continued on its way to Seiya’s neck. At that time, Seiya looked at the fire, dwelling in her left eye.

（Gedo-chan!）

Lily created a Gedo-chan (a dragon that was strengthened to the limit) and blew away Aruna, who almost cut through Seiya’s neck.

However, at the same time, Gedo-chan evaporated and disappeared.

（I was saved, Lily. Thanks）
（Un! But this is…..）
（Yeah, this is not Aruna）
（Then? ）
（She is possessed）

Seiya was convinced, once he looked in her eye.

Aruna, who was blown away, stood up and glared at Seiya. At that moment, a sound of a big explosion reverberated across the stadium.

When the two looked towards the direction of the explosion, they saw Yua in a stance that suggested that she released something from the Yurial. And Connie became a cloud of dust and retired.

Apparently, she pierced through Connie’s barrier by shooting the Yuriel from the Yurial.

Indeed, this technique was able to defeat even the strengthened lightning beast, it wasn’t surprising that it was able to deal with Connie.

「As expected of you, Yua」

Seiya was surprised at her decisiveness.

He never thought that she would use it inside the academy. By the way, once Connie retired, 『Silent World』was forcibly dispelled and the sound returned.

「Finished….only one left….」

Said Yua once she arrived at Seiya’s side. However, once she saw Aruna’s appearance, she immediately changed her expression.

「Seiya…..this is? 」
「Don’t know. But it is strong」
「No doubt……」

Yua nodded and created the Yuriel in her hand. Seiya created the Hollins too and enveloped it in the light-attributed mana.

Since this had happened, there was no need to conceal his power anymore.

As if she was waiting for them to create their weapons, Aruna attacked right after they did that.

Seiya accepted the blow with the light-clad Hollins.

「Who the hell are you?」

Asked Seiya, while blocking her blow. He never expected to hear the answer, but that “something” did answer.

「Well, who knows. By the way, aren’t you going to use your power of darkness? 」
「You, how do you……」

Seiya had no idea why it knew about the dark attribute. At present, only Yua, Lily, certain people in the Arunia family and an apostle, Bagil, knew about it.

No one should have known besides them. However, the “something” inside Aruna said.

「Heh, you can’t defeat me without your dark attribute」
「I see. So if I use it, I will be able to defeat you」
「However, once you use it, everything will be over, you know? 」
「Who cares」

Seiya separated from Aruna and cast『Flash』, but its target wasn’t Aruna, but the audience.

The audience wasn’t able to react to the sudden『Flash』and lost their sight. Utilizing this opportunity, Seiya switched the mana around the Hollins from light to dark.

The audience won’t be able to see for at most 30 seconds. Seiya used『Mantle of Light』and was prepared to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

「Apparently, you dislike towards the dark attribute wasn’t a lie」
「B̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲……」
「Yua, Lily, please restrain it. I will deal the final strike」
「Understood….」
「Un! 」

Yua poured the light-attributed mana into the Yuriel and closed in on Aruna. However, Aruna swung her katana to meet it.

「『Flame God Break』」

In the next moment, a mass of fire falls towards Yua. Yua avoided this mass and tried to cast『Holy Hammer』. However, right after, the ground below Yua ruptured.

Yua lost her balance and fell on her knee. Not willing to let go of this opening, Aruna cast『Flame God Break』again.

However, just before reaching Yua, 『Flame God Break』vanished without a trace. Of course, it was due to Seiya’s『Dark Wave』.

「You finally used it」
「Of course, it is your weakness after all」

While the audience wasn’t able to see, he could use the dark attribute to his heart’s content.

That being said, if he used some large-scale spells, there would be a risk of audience detecting it. Because of that, he could only use some simple spells. By even like that, the dark attribute wasn’t to be underestimated.

Seiya cast the『Dark Wave』at Aruna. Aruna chose to defend.

「『Dance of the Flame God』」

In the next moment. A dazzling flame vortex appeared around Aruna. It was able to defend against『Dark Wave』.

「Not strong enough, huh」
「It is fine…….」

At that time, he heard a voice from behind. There, was a figure of Yua loading the Yuriel into the Yurial. A white light was agglomerating at the Yuriel’s tip.

「Holy Law」

Yua released the bowstring. Clad in the sacred light, the spinning Yuriel flew at Aruna.

When Aruna looked at the Yuriel, she quietly murmured.

「Useless struggle.『Breath of the Fire Dragon』」

Suddenly, a wind blew in Yua’s direction. That wind was considerably hot and melted the flying Yuriel.

Next, this hot wind tried to melt Yua’s soft skin.

However, the fiancé, of course, won’t allow it.

「『Dark Wave』」

The hot air was completely disintegrated on the molecular level.

The matter disappeared from that place, and, due to the difference in pressure, the wind blew again. But this time, it was just normal wind, that being said, it was still quite strong.

Up to this point, it was about 18 seconds. Someone amongst the audience might regain his vision very soon.

Aruna didn’t react to the wind and closed her eyes. Seiya looked at such Aruna and smiled.

「Lily, now!」
「All right!『Water Barrier』! 」

Together with her scream, water gathered around Aruna and bind her.

「Useless. I can easily evaporate your water. Once it all evaporates……」

True, her previous attack didn’t stand a chance and evaporated. But Lily was perfectly aware of it herself.

「I know! But, will you be able to evaporate all of this water before being cut down by Seiya!?」
「What!?」

At this point, Aruna noticed. The surrounding ground was damp, there were water puddles all around her.

All this water was left over from her previous spells during this match.

The deflected water soaked the ground. The was also plenty of vapor in the air. Currently, the atmosphere in the stadium was quite humid.

And as Long as it is water, Lily can easily manipulate it.

Even if Aruna vaporized it, Lily could gather it again.

「Seiya!」
「Yeah, this is the end」

Seiya maximized『Mantle of Light』and the mana wrapped around the Hollins, then, he closed in on Aruna.

Like that, the Hollins penetrated her chest and erased the mysterious being inside of her.

The mysterious flame said「We will meet again」and disappeared. After she was released from the mysterious flame, Aruna collapsed on the ground, turned into dust and retired.

After Aruna’s retirement, they won the first round, but there was no announcement. Well, that was understandable.

After all, the audience had just regained the vision after『Flash』.

Just as they regained their vision, they saw that the match has ended. They couldn’t understand what happened.

「Etto….The winner of the first round of the final block is the team 86.」
「「「「「「「Uoooooooooooo」」」」」」」

The audience cheered after the late announcement.

Although they didn’t know what happened in the end, they were excited seeing this rare high-level match.

On the other hand, in the VIP section.

「Excuse me」

A silver-haired man entered the room where a man in glasses and a man with scarlet hair were.

「Isn’t it Bagil-dono. Thank you for coming」

Zadman greeted Bagil, but he ignored him and approached Leonardo.

「Leonardo-dono, what was that?」
「Are you referring to?」
「Playing dumb? It is about the possession of that girl」
「I wonder what you are talking about」
「Leonardo-dono! 」

Bagil knew. The flame that was inside of Aruna was Leonardo’s contracted spirit. However, Leonardo was pretending not to know.

There was a tense atmosphere in the VIP room.

The black smoke enveloped the area, and when it dispersed, people were able to see inside. There was a yellow dome of light in that place, together with an unharmed Seiya and Yua inside.

（Somehow, I made it in time）

Right before the explosion, he managed to deploy『Wall of Light』in the shape of a dome, around them. Like that, they weren’t harmed.

（As expected, Seiya, you are just）
（He is not going down so easily……）

The two, who were convinced that they caught him by surprise, were honestly impressed.

On the other hand, Yua became depressed and looked at Seiya’s face. She had an apologetic face, but Seiya didn’t mind. He patted her head and told her not to worry. Of course, she didn’t hear him.

Being patted by him, she narrowed her eyes in bliss. The audience jealously looked at them, who expressed their love even in the world without any sound.

Aruna and Glenn attempted to disrupt them, who created the pink space for themselves during the match. However, because of the barrier, they didn’t succeed. [¹]

Even more, because of the silent world, their complaints didn’t reach.

In the end, everyone was forced to wait until they finished expressing their love.

And once the barrier was lifted, Aruna immediately pounced at him with her katana. Seiya repelled the katana with the Hollins. But suddenly, a hurricane appeared and the wind blades slashed at him.

Seiya defended with『Wall of Light』and Aruna attacked him with 『Fire Slash』.

He deflected it with the Hollins, but at the same time, became completely unguarded for a moment.

As if aiming for that moment, Glenn struck with『Wind Fang』.

At that moment, Yua entered the fray and prevented it with the Yuriel. She was just observing him a moment before, she wasn’t spacing out.

In a world without sound, the communication through voice isn’t possible. That’s why it was dangerous to participate in the same fight.

In Seiya’s and Yua’s case, they are able to understand each other to a certain extent, but it is not perfect. In the soundless world, it might be a hindrance.

That being said, Glenn’s and Aruna’s cooperation was perfect, as if they were able to communicate with each other.

Actually, this teamwork was practiced by them with the silent world in mind during this year. Their cooperation was established after considering all kinds of possible outcomes.

Because of this reason, their cooperation was way above Seiya and Yua.

（This teamwork is troubling….）

Seiya understood how much effort they put into the practice of their teamwork.

At first, he thought that they used something like a telepathy stone, but it was prohibited in this tournament.

Then, the only remaining possibility is endless practice. In present circumstances, Seiya’s and Yua’s teamwork was greatly below theirs.

There, Seiya looked at Lily, who tried to break Connie’s barrier. Yua pulled on his clothes and nodded. Apparently, she understood what he thought.

Seiya nodded and Yua swiftly moved to Lily’s side.

Because she went to Lily, Seiya needed to face Aruna and Glenn by himself.

This time, Glenn initiated the attack with his wind-clad ax. Seiya enveloped the Hollins and himself in the light-attributed mana and stealthily activated『Mantle of Light』.

With his increased physical abilities, he deflected the ax and, at the same time, flung away Aruna with an elbow strike. Seiya accelerated and slashed at Glenn, but he somehow managed to defend himself.

While Seiya was attacking Glenn, Aruna came from the side with『Fire Slash』.

However, just before reaching him, it was extinguished by the water wall.

（Did you wait? Seiya! ）
（Ou!）

It was Lily, who was fighting Connie just a while ago, who protected Seiya. Lily said that and Seiya answered.

The two were having a conversation within the silent world, but the opponents didn’t hear their conversation.

The two used something like a telepathy. Of course, they didn’t bring a telepathy stone, since it was banned. This telepathy was a byproduct of their complete contract.

Unlike the ability to sense each other’s position, it can’t be used over long distances, but it would be fine if it was just inside the stadium. Like that, they were able to talk even in the silent world.

（Lily, I will be the opponent of these two. Assist me when you are able）
（All right! ）

Aruna and Glenn, who weren’t aware in the slightest, continued to attack Seiya and Lily.

Glenn cast 『Wind Blade』in succession. However, just before reaching Seiya, it was absorbed by Aruna’s katana.

The power of Aruna’s fire increased to an incomparable degree. With such a katana, she attacked Seiya.

Seiya intended to accept the blow with the Hollins in both of his hands, but at the same time, Glenn circled around Seiya, cast『Wind Blade』and threw his ax.

A magnificent teamwork, but it was naive in front of Seiya and Lily.

（Seiya! Squat! ）

Lily’s words arrived and he did as she told. Aruna and Glenn thought that it was strange that he chose to squat, instead of blocking or dodging, but they didn’t retreat.

（Water cannon!）

Right after that, an incredible shockwave hit them. Water cannon scored a direct hit.

The two weren’t able to react and were blown away.

Glenn tried to defend with his ax, but he was too late. Before he was able to do it, Seiya pierced his chest with the Hollins.

（This is the end, Glenn）
（So I lost….）

Glenn turned into dust and retired. Only Aruna and Connie were left.

（All right, let push forward）
（Un!）

Seiya approached Aruna at high speed with the intention to attack, but she dodged by jumping backwards.

（I won’t lose）

Aruna said inside her heart.

Seiya attacked and Aruna jumped back again, but this time, Seiya slashed at her when she was still in midair.

Having no other choice, she blocked with her katana.

（I won’t lose）

Aruna said to herself as such. However, the moment she clashed with the Hollins, a water tiger appeared on her other side. It was Lily’s water tiger.

Aruna tried to slash at it with the katana, but Seiya had no intention of letting her. Then, Aruna subconsciously glared at the water tiger with her left eye.

At the next moment, the water tiger that tried to attack her evaporated.

（What?!）

Seiya became flustered and took some distance from her.

（I definitely can’t lose）

Aruna muttered in her heart. However, Aruna’s consciousness was already distant.

（Seiya, this is?）
（Yeah, it is not normal however you look at it）

Different from her usual appearance, she had the violent aura, her hair became longer and her eyes became hollow. However, her left eye was the most unusual amongst it all.

A fire dwelled in it.

「『Silent World』」

With these words as a sign, the sound disappeared from this world.

（This is…..）
（Seiya….）

Seiya understood that there was no sound in this world. Yua understood at the same time, she tried to call Seiya but no words came out.

Not, it was not like they didn’t come out. Strictly speaking, she did say it. However, these words couldn’t reach Seiya.

The other sounds were like that too. They existed, but couldn’t spread.

This is the Aruna’s trump card, 『Silent World』. Connie was able to successfully cast it only by sacrificing his magic book.

Because of that, Connie is now unprotected.

Lily noticed it and attacked Connie.

（Water cannon!）

The water cannon, conjured by Lily, flew towards Connie. However, before it was able to hit him, it scattered midair.

It looked like there was an invisible barrier in the air.

（Water laser!）

Lily switched from the water cannon to the water laser and tried again.

By reducing its size, its penetrative power significantly increased. If this barrier’s identity is『Sound Shield』, it should be able to penetrate it.

However, the moment it hit the barrier, it scattered in the same way.

（It’s a lie…..）

Seeing her attacks vanish without any results, Lily spaced out. But the final block is not that forgiving to let her do it.

That being said, when Aruna tried to cut her with the katana, it was repelled by a small sword. Seiya’s sword.

Seeing Aruna dashing in her direction, Seiya immediately injected the light-attributed mana into his legs, accelerated and protected her.

After being deflected by Seiya, she changed her target from Lily to him. Once again, Seiya repelled her with the Hollins in his left hand.

In that moment, a big ax attacked Seiya from the side. It was Glenn’s ax.

His ax was clad in the wind and looked even sharper than before. This ax swung at his right side.

Seiya tried to parry with the Hollins in his right hand but noticed that he didn’t have one.

（Crap….I forgot to pick up the one I threw earlier）

This particular Hollins was stuck in the earth behind Aruna. Seiya thought about creating a new one, but very soon discarded this idea.

Without any other choice, he channeled the light-attributed mana into his clothes and increased their defensive power.

（Please endure）

There is no way his clothes would be able to protect him against this ax. Seiya was prepared to receive the damage. Glenn’s ax reached his uniform and was able to easily cut through it.

（Chi）

The moment before it was able to slash at his body, numerous light arrows rained from the sky. [¹]

Glenn and Aruna, in order to avoid the arrows, took their distance from Seiya.

Although the arrows were raining all around him, not a single one hit him. Seiya looked behind him and saw a figure of Yua, holding the bow, Yurial, in her hands.

They looked into each other’s eyes and he wordlessly thanked her. Seiya picked up the Hollins and took a stance.

Yua erased the Yurial and created the Yuriel once again. Then, she attacked Aruna.

Right after that, the ax clad in the wind tried to attack her from behind only to be stopped by the Hollins.

As is she completely believed that Seiya would protect her, she didn’t pay any attention to it and continued to fight Aruna.

Aruna repelled the Yuriel with her katana and activated a spell.

（『Fire Slash』）

Aruna’s katana was enveloped in fire and slashed at Yua.

（『Wall of Light』）

However, the light wall appeared and protected her from the 『Fire Slash』. Despite that, Aruna continued to repeatedly cast it.

On the other side, Glenn swung his ax and attacked Seiya with『Wind Blade』. Seiya used the Hollins to cut them apart.

Looking at this spectacle, the audience was surprised at everyone’s ability. The reason is, they were able to continuously cast spells even without the sound.

Normally, to cast a spell, a magician needs to chant. It’s not necessary to say it aloud though; you can also recite the chant in your mind complementing it with a strong mental image.

However, it is not that easy. A lot of magicians need to boost their imaginations by saying the chant out loud.

However, in a world without sound, even if you say the chant, it wouldn’t reach your ears. You won’t be able to know if it was said properly or not.

That worry may produce a fatal opening for your opponent to exploit.

Aruna’s team anticipated that and integrated the magic stones in their weapons. That’s why, when they use this spell, they would be able to trample on their opponents, who weren’t able to chant.

However, Yua didn’t look affected in the slightest. With her plans busted, Aruna changed her approach.

When Aruna looked at Glenn, he noticed it and nodded. Then he cast 『Wind Blade』again.

However, this『Wind Blade』didn’t fly towards Seiya but circled around him.

Seiya thought that it was aimed at Yua and tried to warn her, but there was no way his words would reach her. Yua didn’t notice a thing and continued to fight with Aruna.

Seiya tried to cast『Wall of Light』. However, different from his expectations, it didn’t hit Yua and flew past her.

Seiya couldn’t comprehend, but very soon found out the answer. It flew straight to Aruna.

It will be dangerous if this succeeds.

（Make it in time!）

Seiya cast a spell in a hurry.

While Aruna hit『Wind Blade』with『Fire Slash』.

In the next moment, a big explosion happened.

「This girl, she is amazing」

Said Aruna, gripping her katana with both hands.

「Well, she is our hidden card」

Seiya attacked with the Hollins again, Aruna dodged sideways and cast a spell.

「『Fire Slash』」

Aruna swung her katana that was clad in fire. Against the katana, Seiya wrapped the Hollins in mana and accepted the blow.

The Hollins was wrapped not in the light mana but in the water mana. The two weapons collided.

「Since there was no chant, does that mean that you have a support tool too?」
「Correct. In my case, it is here, on my katana」

Aruna pointed at the part of the blade. This part was red, unlike the others. It seems that she merged the katana with a magic stone.

「I see. It is different from the last year」

Seiya suddenly smiled. Aruna was surprised for a moment but quickly concentrated on the battle.

She further increased the firepower, the whole blade became red.

「Did you see the footage from the last year?」
「Kind of」

When Seiya went to Nari, he looked through the materials on the last year’s finalists.

Amongst them was Aruna’s team and her fight last year. Last year, Aruna’s team lost in the first match of the final block.

By the way, their opponent was the student council.

Last year, Aruna was a vanguard and Glenn was in the middle. This year, Aruna and Glenn are both vanguards.

Because of that, their battle style changed, Seiya had no idea about it. However, he could still plan the countermeasures against their personal fighting styles.

「Compared to the last year, Connie became much stronger, and Glenn switched to the vanguard, right?」

Towards his statement, Aruna assumed a “defeated” expression.

「That’s right. This time, we will get our revenge against the student council. Also, this year’s tournament is quite exciting」

Aruna slashed with the red katana again and again. Seiya, of course, deflects them with the Hollins, but in the next moment, something happened to the Hollins.

The mana of the water attribute, wrapped around the Hollins, disappeared every time they collided.

「Evaporation, huh」
「Correct」

As he said, by pouring fire-attributed mana into the blade and increasing the temperature to the maximum, she was able to vaporize the water-attributed mana.

Aruna looked at the mana evaporating and attacked again.

「This katana can easily melt weapons that aren’t clad in mana」

Aruna attacked repeatedly.

Seiya somehow received the attack, retaining a thin layer of mana. However, Seiya, who didn’t have an aptitude for the water attribute, was no match for Aruna, who had an aptitude for the fire attribute.

「Can’t help it」

Seiya gave up on the water attribute and used the light attribute.

「Is this the light? As I thought, Seiya-kun is not proficient with the water attribute」
「Right」
「So that means that your dash in the beginning was utilizing the light attribute」
「Who knows」

Aruna came up with a theory that could explain their acceleration in the beginning, but Seiya didn’t answer.

He slashed with the Hollins wrapped in the light attribute mana.

At this time, Seiya poured the mana of the light attribute into his arms and drastically increased their speed.

Aruna’s defense was slightly slower.

「By the way, what did you mean by “exciting”?」

Seiya, who had made a breather, asked about her previous statement. She didn’t have much leeway to answer, but to divert his attention, at least a little, she did.

「Look at the VIP area above us」

Seiya did as she said and looked up. There, the principal Leonardo and the head teacher Zadman were looking this way.

「Are you talking about the principal?」
「Wrong, to the right of him」

Seiya looked toward the room on the right side of the principal.

All this time, even while being distracted, he was attacking Aruna with the same intensity. Aruna was barely holding her ground.

「This is…..I see」
「You do not look too surprised」
「Kind of」

In the room to the right of the principal, there was a man with beautiful long silver hair. That man was always looking at Seiya through the window.

That man was Bagil Eight. Affiliated with the holy church, number eight of the thirteen apostles.

「Why is this guy here?」

Perplexed, he addressed this question to Aruna, but she had no idea.

「Seiya-kun, don’t call an apostle “this guy”…..I don’t know the reason though. We need to show our best before the apostle」
「I see. We don’t really need to appeal to him, but I won’t hand over the victory」

With a fearless smile, Seiya came at Aruna. The speed further increased, and an attack, that Aruna wasn’t able to react to, was born.

Aruna protected her vital parts and prepared to defend with the resolve to suffer some wounds.

Actually, he could guess to a certain extent about the reason Bagil came to the tournament.

Most likely, he came to confirm that Seiya wouldn’t use the dark attribute magic.

「As expected of Seiya」

Aruna looked at Seiya with the sweat n her forehead. Aruna’s breathing was rough and she was considerably worn out. On the other hand, Seiya’s breathing was steady and had some leeway.

Seiya removed his gaze from such Aruna and looked towards Glenn and Yua.

「It seems your comrade is at his limit too」

Seiya pointed behind Aruna’s back.

「Glenn!」

There was a figure of Glenn embedded in the stadium’s wall, after being blown away by Yua.

Even in this condition, he was launching『Wind Fang』at Yua repeatedly, but the Yuriel deflected them all.

Glenn cast it again and, using the opening when she was deflecting it, he took some distance.

Such was the situation of Glenn, Aruna before him and Connie who was defending against Lily in the back.

「Apparently, it is about to end very soon」

Said Seiya to Aruna, who had one of her knees on the ground.

However, there was no trace of defeat on her face.

「I wanted to conceal it until the final match, but it won’t be of any use if we lose here. Connie, I will leave that to you. Glenn, let’s go」

The two nodded, hearing her shout.

Glenn lifted his ax and came at Yua, but she repelled it with the Yuriel.

However, Glenn, propelled by the force, landed in front of Aruna.

「What are you planning?」
「Fufufu」
「I’m going to unleash our secret weapon」

Aruna and Glenn lifted their weapons while grinning. It was then. The wind suddenly became stronger. No, it started blowing towards Connie.

In the center of the winds, he opened the magic book. Lily tried to disrupt him, but the wind prevented her attack.

Connie’s book radiated a brilliant light.

It almost looked like some kind of a ritual. Seiya immediately understood that whatever he was trying to do, it was definitely dangerous.

Seiya threw the Hollins in his right hand at Connie.

「Damn, make it in time」

The Hollins was blown away by the wind in a different direction and didn’t reach him.

At the same time, the magic book shined white. That light released a bright flash and the book burned in the white flames.

「『Silent World』」

However, the spell itself had succeeded. Following his last words, the sound vanished from within the barrier. Audience’s voices, the sounds of the wind, everything.

「That is about everything I have on them」

There were figures of a blue-haired man in the glasses, Zadman, and a muscular red-haired man, Leonardo, in the room.

Zadman investigated Seiya under the request from Leonardo and came to report.

When Leonardo heard the report, he stood from his chair with a difficult face.

「Good work. I never expected that his status in Senabia was so low」

Leonardo narrowed his eyes and looked outside the window. On the end of his line of sight, there was Seiya’s team that was preparing for the first match.

Zadman and Leonardo were currently in the VIP seats of the stadium where the final fights will happen.

The VIP seats were arranged in a way that people could overlook the stadium. Therefore, they needed to look down to see Seiya.

「You may not believe it, but it is said, that he couldn’t even use magic properly」
「And this boy made the teachers faint upon his arrival here」

Lack of understanding was expressed on Leonardo’s face.

The same was true for Zadman. He asked Leonardo while looking through the gathered materials.

「By the way, why is he treated as a new student and not a transfer one?」

Leonardo made a troubled face at Zadman’s question. As Zadman said, when you enroll into an academy in the Leiria Kingdom, the church will issue a corresponding student record.

This record is supposed to be made only once, and when you transfer, the church will transfer the record to a new academy. However, in Seiya’s case, a new record was created.

「Regarding that, Raiga dealt with those matters, so I do not know. However, it seems that his previous record vanished at the same time as this one was made」
「Does that mean that he has connections in the church? 」

Zadman’s face changed once he thought of that.

Staff, accepted by the church, mostly thinks that working for the sake of the kingdom is a matter of course. The selection is harsh but the resulting trust is big.

It is unthinkable for them to work around the system. And Leonardo was of the same opinion. [¹]

「I don’t know. It might be his connections or Raiga’s. I just want you to be vigilant」

Leonardo looked at Seiya once again.

「Will he show his true colors in this tournament………」

Following Leonardo, Zadman looked at Seiya too. [²]

While being aware of their stares, Seiya ignored them and looked at his opponents.

In front of Seiya, there were three people who he knew well.

Orange-haired Aruna, a guy with a short black hair, Glenn, and a yellow-haired man with the glasses, Connie. Seiya’s first opponents were his three neighbors from his own class.

「Wow, for us to face Seiya-kun’s team all of a sudden」

Said Aruna with a defeated tone. Although her figure wasn’t tense in the slightest and was quite relaxed. Seiya went on guard against such Aruna.

「I’m surprised too. Never expected to bump into you in the first match」
「Totally unexpected. Amazing, right? 」

Glenn answered on Seiya’s statement while laughing.

Just as Aruna, he wasn’t nervous and was completely relaxed. However, there was a big ax in his hand, he was absolutely prepared for the battle.

As for Connie, he stood behind the two. Opposite of the two, he looked rather nervous.

Connie was wearing a robe and was hiding something inside of it, but Seiya had no idea of what it was. Seiya looked at him with vigilant eyes.

「The match is about to start. Participants are to go to the starting positions」

Following an announcement, Seiya’s team entered the stadium, the same applied to Aruna’s team.

「Are you ready? The plan stays the same」
「Un…..」
「I understand! 」

The two nodded and the announcement followed soon after.

「Start!」

Together with the announcement, Seiya and Yua dashed ahead. They aimed for a preemptive strike against Aruna and Glenn.

「Hollins」
「Yuriel」

Seiya summoned the Hollins and Yua created the Yuriel, then, they launched an assault. As soon as they rushed out, they used light mana to accelerate.

They moved at a speed beyond the reaction of a normal human. Even if the opponents could react, they won’t have any time to chant and use magic, thus, they will be forced to block with their own power.

This is a strategy that Seiya’s group came up with.

Unlike the qualifying blocks, the final block’s matches weren’t in a vast forest but in a big stadium. As such, the concepts of hiding and searching didn’t exist here. The outcome is often decided through the direct clash.

With this, it is easier for Seiya’s team to fight in the individual battles instead of the group ones. Although, if there is no one in the other team who can react to their assault, it will immediately become three on one.

「Got you」

Seiya aimed for Aruna with the Hollins and Yua aimed for Glenn with the Yuriel.

Aruna and Glenn were able to react but weren’t able to prevent it. The outcome was supposed to be decided at this moment.

「『Sound Shield』」

A shockwave ran through the hands of Seiya and Yua. The Hollins and the Yuriel didn’t reach Aruna and Glenn, they were blocked in the air by something.

Seiya and Yua tried to follow-up with an additional attack, but they suddenly felt their heads spinning and their balance broke.

At the same time, Aruna with a katana and Glenn with an ax came attacking them. The two immediately distanced themselves.

「Was this the sound? But they shouldn’t be able to chant」
「Seiya, this is…..」

Yua pointed with her finger at Connie. His robe had disappeared and there was an opened book, which looked like a dictionary, in his hand.

Seiya started sweating once he saw that book.

「Is that book a support tool?」

Support tool, full name: magic activation support tool. As its name suggests, it helps the user activate spells. This book, this support tool, could be used as a substitute for a chant.

It is made using magic stones, which can store the chant inside of them. The number of chants that the support tool is able to store depends on the quantity of the magic stones.

You can easily store the elementary spells using a small number of magic stones, but when it comes to the advanced ones, the magic stone requirements are drastically increased.

Besides that, its usage is difficult. It is still a hurdle to chantlessly activate a spell stored inside. That’s why it is not very popular.

「It seems so….but this book…..」
「Yeah, it can easily store about three intermediate spells」
「Un…..」
「Can’t help it. Lily, I will leave Connie to you」
「All right! 」

Seiya left Connie for Lily, who was in the back, to deal with. Participating in a fight for the first time, she was incredibly motivated.

「Water tiger!」

Lily created some water that transformed into the three tigers. Together with the tigers, she attacked Connie.

To protect Connie, Aruna tried to intercept one of the tigers, but Seiya launched an attack of his own and disrupted her. Yua, on the other hand, pinned down Glenn.

In such circumstances, Connie opens the next page and activates a spell.

「『Sound Bullet』」

Compressed air flew out of the magic circle like from a cannon, straight towards one of the tigers. Lily deflected it with a water laser of her own and successfully protected her tiger.

Deflected by the water laser, this bullet flew toward the audience. However, the barrier around the stadium didn’t allow that.

That’s why the guests and the audience were able to safely watch the matches.

「That girl, isn’t she amazing?」
「Such a powerful spell without any chant……」
「She is a trainee, right!?」
「But she is quite strong」

The attention was gathered around Lily, who was opposing Connie and his magic book. Usually, it was weird to see a trainee in the final block, even more, she was actually on the offensive.

「Water cannon!」

From behind, Lily shot two large water cannons. Connie turned a page and activated a defensive spell.

「『Sound Shield』」[³]

Connie tried to deal with the water cannon using the sound barrier, but the barrier started cracking without being able to stop it.

Once he noticed, although startled, he immediately played his next card.

「Damn,『Sound Shield』,『Sound Shield』,『Sound Shield』,『Sound Shield』」

Connie deployed four sound barriers one after another.

With this, the five-layered『Sound Shield』was completed. The water cannon broke through the four of them and dispersed upon hitting the fifth.

Together with the disappearance of the water cannon, the last shield crumbled.

However, Lily’s attack didn’t end with just this.

The tiger, that was summoned in the beginning, came pouncing at the defenseless Connie. Connie thought of erecting another sound barrier but didn’t think that he had enough time. He decided on using a different spell.

「『Resonance Tremor』」

In the next moment, Lily’s water tigers burst and became puddles of the ground.

The audience was silent and couldn’t figure out what happened.

Lily had no idea too, but she immediately produced the next attack. She put both of her hands on the ground and activated the magic.

「Raging wave!」

The water burst from the ground, formed a wave, and moved towards Connie.

「Why are you even here?」

Selena’s expression hardened upon seeing Seiya.

「「Why」 you are saying, because I was invited」
「Invited by whom?」
「By Nari」

The moment she heard Nari’s name, she began shaking violently.

「Y-y-you didn’t have your fill with Lily-chan and laid your hands even on her?!」
「Ha?」
「I can’t believe it. This lolicon」

Shaking Selena pointed at Seiya with her trembling finger. While Seiya was contemplating how to react, the savior appeared.

「Sister? What’s wrong? The finger you use to point at my senior is trembling」

Nari, who went to gather the materials, conveniently came back.

「Na-Nari, senior, you mean, this guy?」
「Yes. That’s right」

Selena was shaking even more than before.

「This man who, despite having a fiancée, has her sister as a lover? This lolicon? 」
「I am aware」
「Eh?」

At this moment, inside Selena’s head appeared the picture of Nari clinging to Seiya despite him having a fiancée and a lover.

「Se~nior. Even if you have a fiancée and a lover, please love me the most」
「Yeah, of course, Nari」

Just like that.

「You can’t Nari. Please come back」
「What do you mean? 」
「This man is no good」
「What was that all of the sudden?」
「I mean, if you are going to go out with someone, please choose someone normal」
「Wait, you have misunderstood. We are not in this kind of relationship」

Nari intended to solve Selena’s misunderstanding.

But because she didn’t deny the “lolicon” tag, she even said “I’m aware”, Seiya received some mental damage.

He thought that Nari who says what she really thinks is scary.

「Am I wrong?」
「Un. Senior is Yua-san’s fiancé and Lily’s lover. And Lily is my friend」
「But lover…..」
「Lily says that she is okay with that, isn’t it fine then? 」
「But….」
「What’s wrong, Selena?」

When the sister fight was about to happen, a door, leading to a different room from Nari’s, opened and two girls appeared.

One had a green hair extending all the way to her hips, radiating an adult atmosphere.
Another one was a petite expressionless girl. She had a short light blue hair and eyes of the same color.

Once Nari noticed the two, she greeted them.

「Ah, Mona-san, Aishi-san」
「Ara, hello Nari-chan」
「It’s been a while, Nari」

Seiya buried the damage to his heart and looked at the two.

「Nari」
「Ah, it is the first time for senior to see them. The girl with the green hair is Mona Tempest-san. The president of the student council in the Arsenia Magic Academy. She is one grade above you」
「Best regards」

The girl named Mona radiated an adult feeling. She had a well-sculpted face and impressive bust. Exactly how you can imagine a “big sister”.

Seiya thought that she is the president you can count on.

「And this blue-haired girl is Aishi Absona-san. She is one year below you and performs as the secretary」
「Best regards」

Aishi was expressionless, but you can still understand from her face that she was wary of Seiya.

「And he is Kiritsuna Seiya-san」
「So you are the person Selena calls an adulterer and lolicon」
「Woman’s enemy」

When Nari finally introduced Seiya, Mona lightly touched on the subject, but Aishi stared at him with menacing eyes.

「This is wrong. This is my sister’s」
「That’s right. You two, this man is an enemy of us, the student council, I will punish him right now」

Selena said this and begun to gather her mana.

「Sister?!」
「Hey, Selena」
「Selena-senpai」

The three wanted to stop her from gathering the mana. But she completely disregarded the two and continued to gather it.

Nari was flustered and couldn’t figure out how to react, but the two from the student council had given up on persuasion and begun to gather their own mana to counteract whatever it is she was trying to do.

「Please stop, all three of you」
「Don’t worry, Nari. I will punish this lolicon」
「Selena, calm down」
「That’s right, Selena-san」
「It’s all right」

Selena didn’t give up under the persuasion and continued.

If Selena successfully invokes her spell, this house might receive some serious damage. And if Mona and Aishi used their own spell to stop her, the house might even collapse.

However, if they do it right, the casualties will be reduced to zero. But their success rate is at 50% at best,

「Senpai….」

Nari directed her flustered eyes his way.

「It’s all right」

Seiya tried to reassure her and patted Nari on the head. [¹]

And in the next moment, he activated magic of the dark attribute without any hesitation.

Seiya muttered『Dark Wave』in his mind. Following that, the mana gathered by the three vanished without a trace.

「Eh?」
「This is?」
「?」

The three from the student council couldn’t catch up with the sudden development. That’s how it should be. After all, it was their first experience with the dark magic.

The reason why he decided to use the dark magic is that he was in the center of it and it happened because of him.

At the same time, it concerned Lily’s friend and his precious junior Nari, of course, he used it.

「Sister, senior is a good person」
「But」
「Don’t “but” me. Sister, we will talk plenty about you nearly destroying the house later」
「Uh…..sorry」

Selena’s appearance after the scolding was somewhat amusing. Looking at the two, Mona approached the laughing Seiya.

「Was it you?」
「Kind of」
「It was my first time experiencing this. How is it possible to erase the mana? 」
「It’s a secret」

There is no way Seiya would admit that it was the dark attribute.

「Fufu, you are right. Whatever it is, I appreciate your intervention, Kiritsuna Seiya-kun」
「Thanks」

When Seiya said so, she laughed and joined Nari in scolding Selena.

Aishi too came to Seiya and said「I am grateful」then walked towards Selena.

「Seiya….」
「Seiya!」

Seiya looked in the direction of the voices and found Yua and Lily exiting from Nari’s room. The two immediately asked him.

「Dark attribute, you used it……?」
「Yeah, but it’s fine」
「All right….」

Apparently, the two left the room after they felt the dark attribute. When Selena’s group noticed them, they asked Seiya.

「Could it be that your fiancé is Yua-san?」
「Yes……Seiya is my husband…..」

The question was addressed to Seiya, but Yua answered for some reason.

However, Selena didn’t mind it and was surprised at his fiancée being from the special magician’s family. The other members of the student council too looked at Seiya with stunned expressions.

「I never expected for the special fiancé to be you of all people」
「I see, with Seiya-kun’s power I am convinced」
「Rival」

The members of the student council seemed to be aware of Seiya for some reason.

「What do you mean?」

When Seiya asked, Mona was the one who answered.

「It is a hot rumor in the academy. The student council’s team and the special fiancé’s team are considered favorites in the qualifiers」
「I see. And? 」

This time, Selena answered.

「We have to win against you. This would be the best proof of our strength as the student council. Besides, I don’t feel like losing to a lolicon」

Selena unleashed her fighting intent.

「Sorry, but we will be the ones to win」
「We won’t lose to a lolicon」 [²]

Quietly said Aishi.

「Well, we will have a chance to settle it. Seiya-kun’s team will be able to meet with us only in the final round, let’s do our best, everyone」
「Yeah」

With that, the members of the student council returned to their room.

「Seiya….」
「We are going to win. Being labeled as a lolicon, I can’t just stay silent forever」
「Un……」
「Un! 」
「Then how about the strategy meeting in my room?」
「All right」

Seiya’s team returned to Nari’s room and discussed their future plans.

Nari’s house was within 20 minutes of walking from the coffee shop. Her house seemed to be the one with three stories and a gray wall surrounding it.

It is smaller than Yua’s house, but it is considered to be on the big side in the Leiria Kingdom. It radiated an easy to live atmosphere.

Nari entered from the main gate and the others followed after her. They climbed the stairs and reached a room that seemed to be the living room.

「Ara, Nari. Welcome back」
「I’m home, mama」

Upon entering the living room, they noticed the red-haired woman sitting on the sofa.

Her age was close to that of Yua’s mother, Kana. A gentle-looking woman. Apparently, it was Nari’s mother.

Certainly, her hair and eye color were the same and her atmosphere somewhat resembled Nari.

「Are they your friends?」
「Un. Seniors and friends from my academy」

Nari’s mother looked at Seiya. She didn’t just look, she gave the feeling of being able to see through you, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

「Nice to meet you. My name is Kiritsuna Seiya, Nari’s senior. I apologize for the sudden visit」
「It is fine to not be so polite. If you are Nari’s friends, you can come anytime, I do not mind」

Laughed Nari’s mother at Seiya’s formal attitude. After Seiya, Yua introduced herself next.

「Seiya’s wife, Yua Arunia」
「Yu, Yua!?」
「What?」

Seiya tried to stop her in a hurry, but she didn’t understand what was wrong with that.

「It is fiancée, not wife」
「It doesn’t matter….」
「Arara, this is youth. Arunia should be a special magician family. And you are the fiancé. So you are the rumored special fiancé, Kiritsuna Seiya-kun」
「Eh, well」

Hearing the word “special” coming out, Seiya assumed an attitude that was different from usual. Instead of his attitude in the class, he was now feeling like an actual member of the family.

「I see, I see」

Nari’s mother saw his behavior and looked convinced of something.

「Nari’s friend, Lily!」

And the tense atmosphere was blown away in a second. Lily cheerfully stated her name.

「So you are Lily-chan. I always hear about you from Nari. This girl is always talking about Lily-chan」
「Please, mama」

When she touched upon the matters at home, Nari became flustered and stopped her. Seeing Nari behaving like a young girl should, Seiya flashed a smile.

「Fufufu, take care of Nari from now on」
「Un!」

Being asked to take care of her, Lily happily answered. Seiya and Yua were laughing at the side.

「I almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Nari’s mother, Moka. Best regards」
「Mama, I will show them the information about the finalists」
「All right, Take you time, you three」

Having finished the greetings, Nari brought them in her own room.

Apparently, she didn’t want them to spend too much time with her mother

They found Nari’s room once they climbed the stairs to the third floor from the living room. There were five rooms on the third floor, her room was the closest.

「Please」

When they entered the room, they found a lot of cute and pretty things, it gave the impression of a normal girl’s room.

Nari entered the room and sat on the bed, Yua and Seiya sat close to the table, and Lily sat on the bed, next to Nari. [¹]

「I’m sorry for mother’s previous behavior」

Nari apologized with a helpless attitude.

「Don’t worry」
「Good mother……」
「That’s right!」

The three didn’t seem to be bothered and spoke to reassure her.

「Excuse me」

At this time, a girl in maid attire walked into the room.

The maid quietly placed for cups of orange juice and some sweets then left the room.

Apparently, this woman was this house’s servant. While Seiya was thinking about such things, Lily swiftly emptied her cup.

「Well then, please wait here for a moment, I will bring the data here」

To gather the materials, Nari intended to leave the room. However, Seiya stopped Nari.

「Ah, Nari. Can I use a toilet? 」
「Yes, it is on the other end of the corridor once you exit the room」
「All right」

Seiya left the room. Nari walked towards the second floor, while Seiya walked towards the toilet.

The toilet was in the opposite direction of the stairs, so Seiya proceeded to the farthest end of the corridor. Once there, he did indeed find the toilet there.

While attending to his business, he discovered a certain something. It was a picture hanging on the wall.

「Amazing」

In the painting that he was impressed with, there was a fire bird.

It was a scene of the fire bird about to take off from the ground. But although it was a painting, it gave off a feeling that it was about to move. Seiya was dazed by the fire bird that was about to come alive. [²]

Seiya admired the picture for some time but eventually headed back to Nari’s room. However, he wasn’t able to easily reach her room.

「Ah! You are….」

Suddenly, a voice appeared. Seiya immediately looked in the direction of the voice.

There was a red-haired girl with twin tails and eyes like topazes.

「O, from the student council….」

Seiya desperately tried to remember her name, but couldn’t quite recall it. When he tried to remember her name, only words like 「student council」 and 「lolicon」 appeared. It wasn’t easy.

Fortunately, the girl introduced herself again.

「Vice president of the student council, Selena Phoenix. Hello there Kiritsuna Seiya」
「Yeah, that’s what it was」

The girl before him was the Arsenia Magic Academy’s student council’s vice president, Selena Phoenix.

On the next day, every match in the C block but the last was over. The last match was scheduled after lunch.

After lunch, when they reached the arena, they could see a lot of new faces. Most likely, they came from the other blocks.

Amongst them, you could find Aruna and co.

「Try your best, Seiya-kun」
「We passed to the final block」
「Let’s meet in the finals」

It seems that Aruna, Glenn, and Connie advanced to the final block.

「Ah, I will work hard」

Seiya left these words and headed inside the barrier together with Yua and Lily.

Once inside, the three confirmed their strategy once again. The announcement followed soon after.

「It is starting」

Said Seiya, hearing the announcement.

「I’m counting on both of you」
「Un….」
「Un!」

Seiya separated from them and moved independently.

At this point, Seiya was already using『Mantle of Light』, although very weak. It was his countermeasure against their surprise attack.

Seiya moved through the treetops. It looked like he wasn’t using any magic to do that, so the participants and the bystanders were quite amazed.

While moving through the treetops, he found a figure of a person. It was the silver-haired girl, Elen.

She was holding the ice blade, Bliss, and was scanning the surroundings.

Seiya stopped and observed her. In the end, he couldn’t find anyone else around her.

However, he was able to confirm that she was the decoy very soon. If it was anyone else but Elen, he wouldn’t have been able to figure it out.

But as long as it is Elen, the story is different. Seiya already defeated her once. That’s why, if Seiya saw her, he would have relaxed his guard and attacked her.

Seiya speculated as such.

「Trying to make your opponent lower your guard, troublesome strategy」

If Seiya guessed right, Sunir came up with this plan. The plan that was built on confidence to be able to deal with Seiya.

However, he decided to thwart their plans.

Seiya jumped from the tree and landed in front of Elen.

Once she noticed him, she took a stance with the Bliss, but Seiya didn’t summon the Hollins.

「Is it okay to not summon your weapons?」
「Regretfully, I’m too afraid of the girls hiding over there」
「I do not know what you are talking about」
「I see」

Without looking at Elen, he summoned the Hollins, while watching the grass by the side.

「Hollins」

When he tried to summon the Hollins, suddenly, the brown-haired girl jumped out of the grass and fired a spell.

「Now, with my power『Arms Block』」

In the next moment, the Hollins, that was supposed to land in his hands, turned into dust.

Elen’s Bliss crumbled too, but she didn’t panic and summoned it anew.

The brown-haired girl who destroyed his weapon and Elen stood before him.

「So your countermeasure was to destroy my weapon?」
「That’s right. I had properly watched your previous fights. As the result, the theory that you can’t use any spell of the water attribute was born」 [¹] 「I see」

Seiya didn’t use any spell in the previous matches. He only used a pure mana attack in the first match and fought with the Hollins, wrapped in the water mana, the rest of the time.

In other words, they mistook Seiya for a magician that couldn’t cast spells and thought that once the Hollins was destroyed they will be able to win.

「Such an amusing fellow. Come to think, what is your name? 」[²] 「I didn’t introduce myself, isn’t it? I’m Pikarunina Edelrunanits. It might be hard to pronounce, so you can call me Pika」

The brown-haired girl said as such and smiled.

「I see. Let me tell you something good. Your theory is right. Without those twin swords, forget about casting spells, I can’t even control my mana properly」

Unrestrainedly lied Seiya. Without being aware of this, Pika made an understanding face.

「So we were right. Will you retire then? 」

Pika asked Seiya as if it was natural to retire in this situation. However, he had no intention to retire.

「Why?」
「But you can’t do any…..」
「Pika!」
「Eh?」
「Sorry, that was a lie」

While Elen was screaming her name, Seiya suddenly accelerated and moved to her front. In the next moment, his hand penetrated the area around her heart. [³]

Pika became dust as she was and retired. Elen, who was left behind glared at Seiya.

「As expected you reacted to my movements. With this, your trump card should have been rendered useless, am I right? 」
「True. But I’m different from before. This time, I will definitely scatter you」
「Interesting」

The curtains were lifted for the battle of Elen and Seiya.

On the other side, Sunir stood before Yua and Lily.

「Greetings, Yua-sama. I do not want to fight Yua-sama if possible」
「Too bad……It’s impossible…..」
「I see. Tonight’s wind in my palm『Creastnuts』」[⁴]

When Sunir cast her spell, a whip appeared in her hand. With this whip, she immediately assaulted Yua and Seiya.

Yua and Lily dodged the whip by retreating backwards.

「Lily, continue to hide your power for now…..」
「All right!」

Saying so, Yua created the rapier Yuriel.

「I gathered a lot of intelligence on you, Yua-sama. Please give up」
「Impossible…..」

Sunir tried to coil the whip around her foot, but she jumped and deflected it with Yuriel. However, the whip suddenly bent and wrapped around Yua’s foot while she was still midair.

Once she caught Yua, she pulled her closer. But Yua twisted in the air and lunged at her, trying to pierce with the Yuriel.

Sunir released her foot and moved to the side to avoid the attack.

「As expected of Yua-sama, but I won’t lose」

Sunir cast a spell with her free left hand.

「Maiden of the wind, blow and dance upon this land『Wind Fang』」

The strong wind assaulted Yua, but she cut it in two and came attacking Sunir.

Sunir channeled the wind mana into her whip to harden it and accepted her strike.

And the moment they collided, she dispelled the effect and made the whip coil around the Yuriel, stealing it from Yua’s hand.

「Yua-sama, you should be aware. You have bad compatibility with me. I also know your spells and fighting style. You won’t be able to break my wind attribute with your light attribute」

Sunir told her to give up, holding the Yuriel in her left hand.

「Yuriel」

Yua created the Yuriel once again.

As she was told, Lily watched everything from far away. She didn’t even consider the possibility of Yua losing and wasn’t worried in the least.

Yua attacked with the Yuriel, but she accepted the blow with the Yuriel in her left hand. Two Yuriels scattered sparks once collided.

At the same time, as she received the blow with the Yuriel, Sunir attacked with the whip in her other hand. However, Yua successfully blocked it with『Wall of Light』.

Sunir let go of the Yuriel and leaped backwards to create some distance.

「『Triple Length』」

Towards retreating Sunir, Yua casted『Triple Length』and extended Yuriel.

And with the elongated Yuriel, she pierced Sunir’s thigh. At that moment Sunir a painful expression.

Yua dispelled『Triple Length』, put power into her legs, accelerated, and pierced Sunir’s heart.

After being pierced by the Yuriel, an astonished expression appeared on her face.

「Why? Yua-sama didn’t fight like that before」

Sunir was surprised at the fighting style she didn’t see before. Before, Yua was fighting by moving at high speed and using martial skills. But today, it was different

However, Yua saw Seiya fighting in the Great Dalis Canyon and found it suiting her.

「Thanks to the person I love…..」
「To this man?」
「Yes…..」
「Kuh」

Sunir became dust and vanished.

With the Hollins being destroyed, Seiya fought Elen, who wielded the ice blade Bliss, bare handed.

Seiya could create the Hollins any time, but he never did so. The reason is, he anticipated the final block.

If there are other people capable of building theories like Pika, it might become needlessly harder. That’s why he wanted to spread some misunderstandings around.

「Even if you do not have a weapon, are you still going to only dodge?」

Said Elen towards Seiya who was dodging all of the Bliss’ blows. Right now, Seiya didn’t have a weapon, but by using weak『Mantle of Light』he was able to cope with her movements.

But of course, you can’t win by dodging.

「All right, I’m about to fight back」
「I won’t lose」

Elen was on guard against Seiya. Still, it was meaningless.

There are differences between Seiya, who experienced the Great Dalis Canyon, and Elen, who grew up in the academy.

It is the attitude towards the battle.

Elen, who was fighting in the academy, thought that if she lost, it is fine to try harder next time.

However, Seiya, who had been through the real life and death fights, didn’t have such thoughts.

At this point, the victor was decided.

In the next moment, Seiya strengthened 『Mantle of Light』for a second and cut her neck with bare hands.

「Eh!?」

Elen wasn’t able to comprehend what happened. She was just surprised at her line of sight getting lower and scattered into dust, thus retiring.

The people outside the barrier didn’t seem to understand what happened. However, the teachers, Seran and Najenda, although weren’t able to see, still felt something.

But the looks they were giving him didn’t contain any positive emotions. It was the opposite, they were blaming him.

Seiya, who didn’t know anything, looked towards the approaching aura.

「Seiya….」
「Seiya!」

There, he found Yua and Lily.

「How was it on your end?」
「Big sister beat her!」
「I see. With this, we are in the final block」
「Un…..」

Just like that, they advanced to the final block.

「Number 86 is the winner」

Together with the announcement, Seiya, Yua, and Lily came out of the barrier. When they appeared outside, the audience was staring at them in awe.

「Did they win again?」
「They should be in the first place, together with the royal guard」
「The royal guard had three people, but the blond guy was the only one who fought from the other team」
「The other two didn’t fight even once」
「Isn’t he a bit too strong?」

The participants were slowly whispering to each other.

On the fourth day, Seiya’s team had won 14 times and lost 0 times, their winning rate is one of the highest.

There were only a few matches left. The teams that could enter the final block from the C block at this point were number 86, Seiya’s team, and number 12, Yua-sama’s royal guard’s team, only those two.

Team 86 won every single match with only Seiya taking the field.

He defeated his opponents with the Hollins, wrapped in the water mana, or by using pure martial skills, there were plenty of variations.

That’s why Yua and Lily were just waiting in the shadows. So their skills and spells are still unknown, especially Lily’s.

The reason why they continued to fight this way could be attributed to Seiya’s mistake in the first fight.

It seems that his first opponents were intermediate magicians and were considered quite strong. And Seiya, who defeated them in a moment, became the center of attention in a blink.

Therefore, Seiya used it to gather the attention only on himself and continued to fight in this way.

「It was easy….Seiya….」
「You were amazing! 」

Yua and Lily hugged his arms and praised him.

「Thanks」

Seiya thanked them and they stuck to him even closer.

Seeing the three, the male part of the audience enveloped Seiya in the jealous stares. Apparently, an appearance of the blond guy being hugged by the silver-haired and the blue-haired beauties was a sore in their eyes.

The three were looking for a place to sit when the three girls approached them.

「You are quite relaxed, Kiritsuna Seiya」

The strong-looking black-haired girl with a ponytail said to Seiya. There were the silver-haired and the chestnut-haired girls next to her.

The silver-haired girl was Elen, Seiya’s classmate. The black-haired and the chestnut-haired girls were standing there looking down on him somewhat, while Elen was awkwardly fidgeting by their side.

「Who are you anyway?」

Seiya asked the black-haired girl, disregarding the courtesy. She didn’t care too much and introduced herself. [¹]

「The captain of the royal guard, Sunir Chronicle. Yua-sama, be at ease, the royal guard will erase any man who approaches you 」

The girl named Sunir knelt like a knight pledging her loyalty, but Yua just silently hid behind Seiya’s back.

「You became quite close with Yua-sama. However, you will be defeated by me」
「We, the royal guard, are your last opponent in this block」

Following after Sunir, the brown-haired girl said to Seiya.

「I see. Sorry, but we will be the ones who will advance to the final block」

Said Seiya, as if it was a natural outcome, and Sunir said while flashing a small smile.

「Sorry to disappoint you, but we will be the winners. We are different from the teams you have been fighting until now」
「Our winning rate is the same」

The girl with the brown hair seemed convinced of their victory.

「Well then, I’m looking forward to our fight, Kiritsuna Seiya」

Sunir said so and left somewhere. The brown-haired girl and Elen followed after her, but Elen didn’t look that energetic.

However, Seiya wasn’t in a mood to care much.

「You are a source of trouble, Yua」

Said Seiya towards Yua, who was hiding behind his back.

「I’m bad around them……But with Seiya here I am fine…..」

Yua said with a relieved face while hugging him from behind.

「There is also me!」

When she energetically said so, a smile appeared on Yua’s face. After that, the trio sat on the nearest bench.

It was getting late, most likely, the current match will be the last for today.

And when that match was concluded, the teachers, Seran and Najenda came to declare the end of the matches for today. However, it didn’t end with just that.

「Eh, the next is about tomorrow. The teams, capable of getting to the final block, are only number 86 and number 12. And since the winner will be decided only after they fight it out, I want to have this fight to be the last one tomorrow」

Following the Seran’s declaration, the audience became agitated. They were hyped up for things to come.

「That is all. Dismissed」

After Najenda’s words, the students started going back.

During the qualifiers, everyone gathered in the hall instead of the class, after that, matches are being held. There is some time for a strategy meeting, but it is mostly matches all day long.

Seiya goes back with Yua and Lily.

Because of the qualifiers, they were unable to meet with Nari often, so they decided to go home as they were. After the three ate dinner, they gathered together in Seiya’s room.

Of course, it was for a strategy meeting.

「About tomorrow’s match, most likely, it will be too much for me alone」

Seiya opened the meeting.

「Judging by their words, they might have a countermeasure against me」
「Un…..」
「Seems likely. Does that mean that it is time for my debut? 」

The two agreed with his opinion.

During such strategy meetings, Lily spends her time in the adult form. Recently, she was in the adult version every night. And when the meeting ends, she assaults Seiya before Yua’s eyes as it is.

Rather than stopping her, Yua takes advantage of the situation and joins the attack. That was his current daily routine.

「That might be so. They call themselves Yua’s royal guard. It is to be expected of them to have the information about Yua. If that happens, I will either use the unknown『Mantle of Light』together with the Hollins or it will be the time for Lily’s water attribute」
「Sorry….I’m dragging you down…..」

Yua apologized for the lack of use in the qualifiers.

「Don’t dwell on it, Yua」
「That’s right, Yua-chan. You just need to do your best in the final block」
「Thank you….」

Yua thanked the two with a smile. Then after the strategy meeting and Lily’s temptations, the team was ready for a fight that will decide the C block representative in the finals.

The faces of the men entering the barrier reminded Seiya of Zach’s trio in the Senabia Magic Academy, who used to call him Unknown and bully him.

The insides of the barrier were full of giant trees, the light had a hard time to reach the ground. It was a deep forest where grass grew on the ground.

It was slightly cold inside the forest since the trees obstructed the sun, so Yua and Lily were glued even closer to him than before. However, besides the cold, there was another reason. The three people from before were just too disgusting.

Seeing their behavior, Seiya said.

「You two, can you leave this match to me?」

While they were struggling with an answer, Seiya explained the reason.

「Those three are irritating, so I want to punish them. So please watch over me from the shade of a tree」
「All right….」
「Un! 」

Yua obediently agreed. If there was killing intent in his eyes, Yua would have stopped him. However, when she looked at his face, she immediately understood.

Forget about killing them or not, he wasn’t even viewing them as his opponents. When you find a rock blocking your road, you just need to remove it.

And when the trio entered the barrier, a loud voice resounded across the forest.

「Start」

This voice was probably Seran’s. He probably used a reverberation magic to transmit his voice across the forest.

While Seiya was thinking about that, he slowly walked through the forest. There was no weapon in his hand.

In places such as this forest, it was important to locate the enemy before everything. That’s why Seiya started looking around for them.

But Seiya thought it was troublesome to search for them all by himself. Therefore, Seiya decided to walk around without any weapon to lure them out.

If an attack flew your way, there should have been an enemy on the other side.

However, maybe the enemy thought it was suspicious or they simply didn’t find him yet, there were no attacks coming his way.

Without any other choice, Seiya leaned on the closest tree and sat down. If the enemy doesn’t want to attack, I will just sit and wait. If it fails, I will just search on foot.

Other participants, who saw this happening before their eyes, raised a startled voice. However, in the next moment, their surprise multiplied. Seiya closed his eyes and began napping.

Looking from the outside, Seiya was definitely sleeping. Of course, Seiya won’t actually sleep during their important first match.

Instead of his sight, he concentrated on his sense of smell and hearing.

For that purpose, he channeled the mana of the light attribute into his ears and concentrated on the sounds close by. His appearance somewhat resembled Kair, his former classmate.

Approximately three minutes after he focused on the surrounding sounds, he opened his eyes.

「I know you are here. Come out」

When he said that, the four-eyes and the baldy appeared from the tree shadow.

「Good job noticing. I’m surprised」

Said the four-eyes, stretching his hand towards Seiya.

「What about the other two? Did you leave them behind, since they aren’t able to become a reliable fighting force? Or did you came here to show off? 」

Following after the four-eyes, the baldy said his piece.

「Who knows, maybe you are right」

Seiya’s attitude underwent a sudden turn. The four-eyes, apparently dissatisfied with his attitude, said.

「Where is your previous respect? Were you showing off before the girls? 」

Towards the four-eyes’ statement, the baldy laughed. However, Seiya spoke his real intentions.

「You show respect towards those who you actually respect. right? Why do I need to give any face to you? The last time was only because of the teachers, I never respected you in the first place」
「You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! 」

The four-eyes raised his voice, hearing Seiya’s real intentions. At that time, a big fireball flew towards Seiya from behind.

The four-eyes and the baldy aren’t doing anything. It seems it is the brown-haired man. The big fireball flew towards him at tremendous speed.

Seiya immediately summoned the Hollins in his right hand and wrapped it in Lily’s mana of the water attribute.

And the Hollins, covered in the mana of the water attribute, easily cut the approaching fireball in two.

「So your attribute is water. Let us show you the power of the seniors」

The three men simultaneously lifted their right hands and started chanting.

Using the power of the light attribute, he could defeat them before they finish their chant, but he decided to properly wait to the end.

「「「The heart of the maiden of fire, burn in flames『Flaming  Needle』」」」

They created a myriad of needles and launched them at Seiya.

The three thousand needles, created by the trio, attacked Seiya. They probably wanted to weaken him first, only to slowly torture him later. There were no signs of them making a follow-up move.

Seiya summoned the Hollins in his left hand too and wrapped it in the mana of the water attribute. Following after that, he channeled the mana of the light attribute towards his brain and arms.

He raised the power of his arms, the nerves transmission speed, the processing speed of his brain and his vision.

After that, he spun the twin swords Hollins and calmed the needles one by one.

Seeing the figure of Seiya cutting down all those needles, you can’t think of it as humanly possible.

The three people inside and the audience outside saw an incredible sight before them. After all, Seiya erased all of the three thousand needles in just three seconds.

Seiya calmly walked towards the men.

「Damn, stay away. Monster」
「Waaaaa」

The baldy and the brown-hair tried to escape while pathetically screaming. Against the two, Seiya threw the Hollins and accurately pierced their hearts.

The stabbed people fell to the ground and became the dust particles, thus retiring.

In front of Seiya, there was the four-eyes feeling weak in his knees and sitting on the ground, Fear was painted all over his face.

「You, what are you? A human couldn’t possibly move like that」

Asked the four-eyes with as if seeing a monster, but Seiya answered unconcernedly.

「There are plenty of magicians that can do that」

Seiya answered as a matter of course. Although visually impressive, there were people that could replicate it. However, to the four-eyes, Seiya’s movements were outside of his comprehension.

「There is no way a student can do that. Even if he can, it would be a thousand at most」
「I see」

At this point, Seiya already lost interest in the four-eyes.

「What was that, what was that, what was that? I do not understand」

The man raised his voice, failing to understand a thing. Towards this man, Seiya launched the water mana at him.

「This is the end」
「Damn…..」

With just the mana of the water attribute, his heart was pierced and he vanished.

「The match is over. Number 86 is the winner」

And following their victory, Seran’s announcement resounded across the forest.

When Seiya returned home, he told Raiga about his participation in the qualifiers. There, Raiga said with a difficult face.

「Even if it’s you, you would have to struggle quite a bit without the dark attribute, right?」
「Kind of. It is troublesome to include the chant」 [¹]

As Seiya said, chanting is necessary. If he intends to discard the chant, he will immediately draw attention to himself.

If that’s how it ends, it wouldn’t be strange to attract the attention of the Holy Church.

However, those ideas were quickly discarded.

「If it is about that, then you don’t need to worry. Yua is doing it chantless too. No one will make a fuss because of it at this point」
「Really….」

Seiya was stunned by Raiga’s reasoning. He was surprised that Yua was casting chantless even in the academy, but he was even more surprised at Raiga’s casual attitude. Bagil, an apostle, was picked because of his ability to shorten the chant. In this case, chant omission, which is a notch above, should be a pretty important skill. However, Raiga didn’t even try to hide it.

Seiya couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

However, if omitting the chant was acceptable, it couldn’t be any better.

「Chant omission is all right?」
「Yeah. Also, your student council seems to be strong, be careful」
「I know」
「I see, then it’s good」

Once he finished reporting to Raiga, he left the room.

「Well then, I wonder what will the Emperor do?」

This voice resounded across the room, but only Raiga was there to hear it.

In the next morning, the blocks were announced during the homeroom. In Seiya’s class, this responsibility naturally fell on Yayuna.

「With this, the announcement about the qualifiers blocks is over. The matches will start in the afternoon, so do your best. There will be the time to discuss your strategy before each fight, use it wisely」

Just as Yayuna said that and left, the orange-haired girl next to Seiya said to him.

「Ne, ne. What is the number of your block? 」
「We are in the C block」
「I see. We are in the H block, so we might be able to fight each other in the finals」
「That’s true」
「Let’s meet in the finals, Seiya」
「Because we will do our best」

Following after her, Glenn and Connie also said such things. Apparently, Aruna, Glenn, and Connie are in the same team.

「Yeah, let’s meet in the final block」

Seiya said so and left the classroom.

And following after him, Yua left too.

After that, they met up with Lily and opened a strategy meeting on the roof, as usual. Nari was also invited to participate, but she wanted to do the self-training to become at least a little stronger, so she refused.

Therefore, there were three people on the roof today.

「First things first, all teams are divided into 8 blocks, with each block consisting roughly of 16 or 17 teams」
「We will meet them all in due time…..」
「Such a bother」
「Yeah」

As he said, there were 8 blocks, and in the C block, there were 16 teams. Thinking about that, Seiya noticed a strange thing.

「Mn?」

Seiya found the conversation turning strange, the reason is, he heard a strangely erotic voice.

Looking in the direction of the voice, he found there the bewitching adult version of Lily, instead of her usual child-like appearance.

「Why are you even here?」
「Oh, Seiya-kun is terrible~ You do not need to say such cruel things~」

Wearing the bewitching atmosphere, Lily spun around. Her two hills were about to escape their confines.

Lily’s school uniform, when she became the adult version, weirdly changed its form too.

Usually, Lily (little girl) wore her uniform according to the school regulations, but the adult version could make your heart beat fast. The combo of the black stockings and the deep cleavage was very arousing to Seiya.

However, Lily switched to the serious face and answered.

「It was a joke. It will be easier to explain the plan to me, right? I will tell her everything later in the simple terms」
「I see, this would be nice」
「Right? 」

Lily directed a lewd smile towards Seiya, as a countermeasure, Yua moved next to him and clung to his arm. Looking at Yua’s antics, Lily said「Arara」, and pressed her breasts onto his other hand.

Without minding the two, Seiya proceeded to explain the strategy.

「The qualifiers are held in the giant forest behind the academy, which is split into seven different areas, am I right?」
「Yes….」

Yua nodded to his inquiry.

The seven forest areas and the training grounds make for a total of 8 areas. The forest in quite vast.

「Does that mean that we will have to fight continuously?」
「Yes, that’s right. Apparently, if you finish you match fast, there is a possibility of the next match happening ahead of time」
「That means that the pacing is important」

While Lily and Seiya were discussing this, Yua said.

「The match is observed using the reflection magic….」
「I see. We need to think of our fighting style too」
「Isn’t it quite difficult? We will fight fifteen times, and there is also the final block」
「Of course we will be studied」

The matches can be viewed be everyone through the reflection magic of the light attribute. It will provide some information to your opponents, as well as serve as a reference to trainees.

「What should we do….Seiya….? 」
「For now, Yua will fight most of the time together with me. Lily, try to avoid the fighting, and if you can’t, just use some weak water spells and hide your power」
「All right」

Seiya wanted for Lily, who wasn’t well known in the academy to hide her power and make Yua, whose magic was already known, to engage the opponents.

「I will put power into the Hollins and become a speed type of fighter. I won’t use 『Mantle of Light』, so it will be hard. That’s why I will count on Yua for support」
「All right…」

Seiya’s strategy was to hide his power in the qualifications.

「Next is the battle arrangements. Yua, try to circle behind the opponent’s back and attack with the Yurial. With the bow, Yurial, you should be able to become a ranged attacker. If you aren’t able to defeat the opponent, I will draw their attention to create an opportunity for you to escape. Make sure to deal with at least one opponent before entering the close quarters. Lily, as mentioned before in on the standby」
「All right…」
「I got it」

Then, the three people prepared for the upcoming qualifiers, while discussing additional strategies. Three people ate early lunch and assembled in the meeting hall.

As they arrived, people were already gathered in the C block area. Amongst them, there were the figures of the royal guard.

By the way, Lily already returned to the child version. She was an adult version until the lunch, but any more than that will be troublesome.

The child version of Lily properly understood the strategy.

When the chime rang, two teachers appeared in the hall. One was a young tall man and the other was a cool woman in her twenties.

The young man stood before the students and started explaining.

「Eh, hello everyone. I will preside over the C block qualifiers this year. My name is Seran」
「Same, Najenda」

Once the introduction ended, Seran took out a small box and continued the explanation.

「There are your competition cards in this box. I, together with Najenda will draw them and the said teams will enter the barrier. Then, after I give a sign, the fight will start」

Seran demonstrated everyone the box.

「This will also test your luck. In the worst case, you will fight fifteen times consecutively. Luck is important in a fight, so do your best」
「Only the team with the highest winning percentage can participate in the finals, do your best, everyone. Well then, I will announce the first fight」

Seran put his hand into the box to draw the first cards. Once he did so, he announced the teams.

「C block, number 27 and number 86. Each team is to enter the barrier」

Seiya was surprised at the sudden development.

「Oi, oi. That happened too sudden」

While complaining, he brought Yua and Lily together with him and entered the barrier.

Their opponent was a team of men, apparently of the third year. There was a man with glasses, bald one, and a brown-haired one. They looked quite capable.

「Look, they have a trainee」

Bald man said with a loud voice.

「This would be easy」

Said the brown-haired man, following after him. And the man with glasses approached Seiya and extended his hand.

「Nice woman. Are you here to make some memories together in the tournament? Do your best and become a stepping stone for your seniors」

Once the man in the glasses said it, the royal guard released their killing intent. Towards this man, Seiya said, while shaking his hand.

「Well, kind of. Please, do not hold back and do you best」
「Fu fu, I see」

The man with glasses grinned and looked at Yua and Lily. The bald man and the brown-haired man approached him from behind.

「How about playing with us instead of this man? After this match is over, that is」
「It is better than being with this blondie」 [²]

Four-eyes and brown-hair said so towards Yua and Lily.

The baldy didn’t say anything, but his eyes were full of hidden intentions. The members of the royal guard were looking at them with the stares that could kill. At this moment, Yua and Lily answered.

「Seiya is good…..」
「Lily too!」

They said as such and hugged Seiya from behind as if trying to hide behind him. Seeing their behavior, the men stared at him.

「They seem to be greatly attached to you」

Said the four-eyes while staring at Seiya. At this time, Najenda said to the six in a strong tone.

「You guys, are you going to start or not? I will just disqualify you」

When Najenda was about to get angry, the three men moved to enter the barrier. Just before entering the barrier, they said to Seiya.

「You won’t die fast. I will make you beg for forgiveness in front of the woman. Look forward to it」

The men said so and entered the barrier. [³]