"Impossible! Harry was…!" Harold, one of the members of Flying Leaves, stood up in surprise as soon as the demigod announced the end of the battle.
He was not the only one. Each one of the members of Flying Leaves had stood up, looking towards the stage with surprised expressions.
"Yaru, what do you think?" Anna asked the young man seated beside her.
The young man narrowed his eyes and stared at Diodora fixedly.
"… She is very strong."
Anna nodded with a grave expression.
She could see it as well. In fact, she could see it better than Yaru.
'Where did she come from? I did not know that Machine revolution had such a powerhouse.'
Harold was a peak A-Rank. He was one of the strongest members of Flying Leaves, however, he was defeated so easily that he seemed like a child facing an adult.
Moreover, the way the gray-haired girl defeated him.
'I could not see how she moved.'
Anna's expression was serious.
Actually, she was not so surprised by the fact that Harold was defeated. After all, she could defeat him as well.
However, even she could not do it so easily.
The way how Diodora defeated the peak A-Rank young man made it seem as though she was a whole level above him.
In fact, Bloed and the members of Machine Revolutio were just as surprised.
Even Eres, who normally did not put anyone in her eyes, was looking at Diodora with a stern expression.
"Brother, she is very strong."
"Stronger than you?" Bloed asked.
"… I don't know."
Bloed nodded and looked at the stage silently.
Just then, Diodora left the stage as the collapsed Harold was taken out by a pair of healing mages.
Diodora walked towards Bloed with a calm smile, as though she had simply gone out for a walk.
"Done. I did my part. Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied, of course." Bloed sighed in admiration. "I knew you were strong, but even so, I'm surprised."
Diodora shrugged calmly.
"Well, now that I have done my part, I'm leaving."
"Already? Are you not going to see the rest of the fights?"
"Unfortunately, I can't. I will be busy later."
Bloed raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but he did not ask anything else.
"Is it so? Thank you, then."
"No need for thanks. I was just doing my part of the deal."
After saying that, Diodora waved her hand and left the arena calmly.
"… What a strange woman." Liu Ying murmured, making Bloed nod.
He still remembered what Gina said the first time they met her. That she could not see anything about Diodora.
As though she did not exist.
However, now was not the time to worry about that.
Just at that moment, the demigod in charge of the challenge spoke up again.
"The two clubs, please send the next contestant."
Immediately, the girls looked at Bloed at the same time.
"Bloed, who is going next?" Princess Elwha asked with an eager expression. "Should I go?"
Bloed thought for a moment and shook his head.
"No, it's better if you don't fight in this round."
"Huh? Why?"
"Think about it. Flying Leaves lost the last round, so what do you think is their priority?"
"… Winning this time?"
"Yes." Bloed nodded. "Losing twice since the start can affect their morale greatly, so most likely, they will send one of their strongest members. What do you think we should do then?"
Princess Elwha fell silent for a moment before understanding Bloed's intention.
"Do you mean…?"
Bloed nodded. He then looked at the honey-haired girl beside him, surprising her.
"Huh? Me?"
…
One minute later, on the stage.
The demigod was looking towards the petite honey-haired girl with a strange expression.
"Are you sure you want to participate?"
Gina nodded.
"Why? Can't I?"
Looking at Gina's innocent smile, the demigod was speechless. It was not about if she could or could not.
He could see that this girl was just at the D-Rank. Moreover, it was obvious she had zero combat experience.
On the other hand, her opponent was a furious late-stage A-Rank girl.
"Are you joking with me?" The late-stage A-Rank girl gritted her teeth in anger, but Gina just tilted her head innocently.
Sighing, the demigod tilted her head and nodded.
"Very well, if both of you are ready, sta–!"
But before he could finish speaking, he saw Gina raising her hand.
"Yes?"
"Well, about that, I give up."
The demigod did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
"I knew this was coming."
He then looked at the girl of Flying Leaves with an expression of pity and spoke up.
"Well, the winner of this round is Flying Leaves."
"… I understand."
With a dark face, the girl turned around and left the stage angrily.
Meanwhile, Gina giggled and left the stage with a bright smile.
Like this, the winner of the second match was Flying Leaves.
The score was 1-1.