The entrance made by Adrias was truly remarkable.
It left the audience and the emcee in awe. However, a cough from someone in the audience snapped the moderator out of his daze and he resumed speaking.
"Yes, sir, I've got your entry, and now the first match of the round of 32! Let's begin with the battle of Dierne Alben versus Adrias Cromwell!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as the proper start was finally announced.
Those who were worried that they wouldn't be able to see the spectacular baptism of fire that was Dierne Alben were delighted to see Adrias appear.
Not a single one of them predicted victory for Adrias.
They just hoped she would hold out as long as possible and give them something to watch.
As Adriàs made his way to the center of the field, Diane saw him and asked.
"What have you been up to?"
"Something happened."
Adrias said nonchalantly and drew his sword from his waistband.
Watching him, Diane shook her head.
"I'll give you some time. It's not in my nature to attack an unprepared opponent."
"You're afraid."
"What?"
"I'm always ready. Why don't you come on in, without further ado?"
At Adrias's provocative words, a light bulb went off in Diane's eyes.
He'd said he cared about her, and then he took it like that!
"Sure. If you don't need it...."
Mana gathered around her.
Her talent with mana was beyond that of a criminal, and the process of preparing the magic itself was not ordinary.
"I'll take it."
A giant fireball rose up, threatening to block out the sun.
The problem was that there were not one or two such fireballs, but a whopping five.
Everyone from the referee of the match to the professors acting as arbitrators tensed up at the sight.
"Me too, this time."
Adrias, standing in contrast, relaxed, his sword dangling to the ground, lowered his stance as if he were about to leap straight out.
"I won't take no for an answer, I'll give it my all."
Bang!
Toward Adrias, who jumped out with unexpected speed, Diane unknowingly threw the magic she hadn't prepared.
Boom.
A scorching fireball came hurtling towards him with incredible intensity as if it were a manifestation of the underworld's wrath.
Adrias skillfully evaded the fourth fireball using his physical prowess and then counterattacked by swinging his sword at the fifth and final one. With a sharp whooshing sound, the sword issued a gust of dark mana that sliced through the blazing orbs. Amidst the fragments of the disintegrating fireballs, I could see Adrias grinning with excitement, his eyes wide open. He looked like a fierce beast relishing in the thrill of the battle.
"What the hell...!
Diane tried to remain calm as she stared at the incomprehensible phenomenon before her.
She put aside her thoughts on how Adrias handled the knight's mana and whether he was really Adrias and prepared for the next spell.
Once again, Adrias exploded to get near Diane.
But her next spell wasn't an attack.
Swing.
Adrias swung his sword and laughed again as he saw the untouched air.
He hadn't expected her to be able to use spatial magic already.
In an instant, he had closed the distance with spatial magic, and Diene's nerves were on high alert.
Right now, Adrias was supposed to be a knight.
But judging from the state of his opponent's body, he wouldn't be at 100%.
He could still win.
"Blitz Magic.
I prepared a great knight magic.
If it's spread out over a wide area, it won't be possible to dodge or parry it.
Support!
Seeing the lightning mana dancing in Diene's eyes, Adrias rushed towards her without hesitation.
But Diene's magic was one step ahead of him.
"Thunder Cobra.
A tremendous current of electricity flowed from Diane and crawled across the floor.
She raised her body as if to engulf the charging Adrias.
Kwazizik-!
Adrias nonchalantly erected a wall of rocks as he watched the enormous current try to engulf him.
Crackle.
Diane's Cobra Thunder was a mid-level magic, but due to its nature, it was unable to penetrate the earth magic and dissipated.
Normally, she wouldn't have made such a mistake, but in her panic, she'd forgotten for a moment that Adrias was using earth-based magic.
'Lost....'
Having already used up her turn, Diene could only stare at Adrias, who was approaching her with the Earth Shield she had erected.
"You gave up."
Adrias' words stung her pride for a moment.
I, a descendant of the House of Albenga, had lost to a mere mortal?
It was unacceptable.
Woof.
The resonance of mana echoed through the stadium.
The people sitting in the honorary seats, many of whom belonged to the Axis of Power, were astonished by the change.
"Incredible mana resonance!"
Diane's heart was pounding.
She had used a technique that she hadn't been able to reproduce even if she had deliberately tried.
'Flame Spear with Explosion and....'
A spear of flames was summoned in front of her and shot straight at Adrias.
However, Adrias simply dodged the flame spear as if it were nothing, and continued to advance.
...tried to advance.
Qua-ang!
With a huge explosion, Adrias was engulfed in flames and black smoke billowed from his body.
He had shielded himself with mana, so he didn't take the full brunt of the impact, but it was a significant attack.
Diane's magic wasn't just a single flame spear.
She had double-cast a spatial spell that would have been difficult to use on its own, and used it to transfer the spear of flame to hit Adrias, a calculation and mana arrangement that few mages would have attempted.
Adrias's grin deepened.
"That's it, Dene."
Adrias enjoyed watching her grow.
For him, the growth of a playable was as rewarding as his own.
Yay.
Diane's magic wasn't over.
As if warming up, she began casting spells in double casts.
She didn't struggle or get a nosebleed like she had before, but she was completely in control of the double casting.
Adrias's smile turned into a wry grin.
"This is going to be hard for me, too.
Combat talents could read the foreshadowing in their opponents' moves and predict their next move.
But Diane's spatial magic was unpredictable, as it transmuted space itself without foreshadowing.
Finally, with the spatial transference magic, the magic began to pour from all directions.
All Adrias could do was move his body as much as possible so that Diene couldn't follow him with her eyes.
Quang!
Kwazizik.
Diane was not a genius for nothing.
Even if she couldn't see him, her prodigious brain was working its magic, predicting and calculating Adrias's path in advance.
At best, she would close the distance between them with spatial magic.
Eventually, the damage accumulated, and Adrias suddenly froze in place.
Then, with her calculations made easier, Diane frantically poured out her magic.
"Hah."
Adrias exhaled and inhaled deeply as he swung his sword to parry or block the magic.
Extraordinary measures were needed to defeat the seemingly awakened Diane.
His mana turned dull.
He spat out the tightly packed mana into a stiffly wielded sword.
Kwaguagagagak-!
The earth cracked open.
The sword wind that Adrias unleashed mixed with sword energy, shattering the ground of the arena and shaking the ground on which Diene was standing.
Diane, who had tried to dodge by spatially shifting, lost her footing on the crumbling ground and fell.
"Ah...!
Her concentration broke, ending her double cast.
She didn't have much mana left in the first place.
Diane sensed defeat.
She had already participated in every tournament since her sophomore year and had suffered many defeats, but she thought this time would be different.
Especially in this fight, her performance was good enough to beat even last year's winner.
"And I still lost.
He was devastated, but at the same time, he was satisfied with the skills he had acquired through this fight.
I became stronger.
Even though I lost this time, next time....
"Match over!"
The referee's voice suddenly rang out, snapping Diene out of her reverie and making her look around.
What the hell, did he just end it because I didn't do anything?
But the emcee's voice, coming back in, left her dumbfounded.
"Winner! Blue Corner! Diane Alben!"
As she turned around, she saw Adrias standing before her, bleeding profusely. His sword was stuck in the ground.
Although he had been wounded since his arrival, her magic seemed to have taken him by surprise with its healing effects.
"I can't admit it."
Diane muttered to herself.
This is not my victory.
If he had been intact, it would have been he who had fallen by now.
"I don't accept it!"
She shouted, turning to approach the referee, but someone suddenly blocked her path.
In a flash, a figure appeared in front of her, and she looked at it with trembling eyes.
"Ah, father...."
"Well done, and a great battle."
"I didn't win this, I didn't mean to win this way...."
"Dene."
Diane was cut off by Bahat's soft but powerful voice.
"There are no ifs in battle. Adrias' lack of fitness is part of his skill, and the consequences are his to bear, not yours."
"It doesn't make sense to end the match like this. Look, Adrias is still standing, and he hasn't given up, so why stop the match and declare a winner!"
At her words, Bahat gently stroked his daughter's head.
Then he took her hand and walked with her to Adrias, where the referee was assessing the situation.
"Diene. Your character is truly admirable, and justice is a hard thing to come by."
Up close, Adrias was smiling.
He was grinning so wide with satisfaction that he fainted while standing.
It was amazing that a man could faint while standing, but the look on his face made me never want to fight him again.
It was a fight that was fueled by evil, and Adrias was enjoying it.
"Are you a... pervert?
Win or lose, Diane's mind was wandering.
* * *
Kwaguagagagak-!
A sword wind mixed with sword energy shattered the floor of the great arena, and Bahat involuntarily stood up from his seat.
However, the people sitting around him didn't notice either, as they were all watching the match with sweaty hands.
The sword blow fortunately only shattered the floor and did no harm to Diane.
"No. I deliberately controlled my strength.
Barhart, still standing, recognized the magic in her eyes.
That arrogant Adrias bastard had deliberately withdrawn his power for fear of hurting her.
Even so, it was surprising.
The floor of the Great Arena was no ordinary floor.
Not only was it made of the same material as the tournament, but it was also lined with magic circles designed by Bahat himself, making it hard to scratch.
Adrias had just shattered it with his power.
And that fact is probably known to everyone in this room, in the audience.
'You decided not to hide it.... 'It's about to get windy.'
And it wasn't just a breeze, it was the harbinger of a typhoon.