Twenty-Eighth Chapter
Magical Martial Arts Demonstration
The next day, the fourth and fifth matches were concluded, and the Second Magical Institute secured three slots for the main tournament. Things were proceeding almost entirely according to plan.
At first, they had been on guard against the Iblis contestants, but their earlier successes appeared to have been just due to luck. Following the third match, Iblis had lost most of its contestants.
Right now, Alpha’s Second Magical Institute was in second place with its points. But the gap between them and Rusalca’s First Magical Institute was considerable. The reason for that was Alpha’s catastrophic defeat in the third-year division.
Moreover, Felinella and her assistant leader, a female second-year student named Illumina, had advanced to the main tournament.
The third-years had been unceremoniously wiped out, but aside from them, the first-year and second-year students weren’t as shaken as they had been at first. The results of the first-year division had been remarkable, but the high morale was also thanks to Felinella’s astuteness.
All of the matches were over for the day, but it didn’t look like things were settling down. The tournament’s second event, the magical martial arts demonstration, was about to begin.
This was just a sideshow with no competition over points. The contestants gathered in their designated spectator seats to get a close look at the high quality spells the active duty Magicmasters would be using.
The excitement and expectation that filled the stadium appeared to take a solemn turn when the special stage for the demonstration was revealed. With it being a demonstration, there would be no victors or losers, but those watching understood that this was a demonstration of national strength, which made it an event with political meaning.
In the section of seats reserved for Alpha, Tesfia suddenly noticed something and looked around her.
Eventually she turned to the silver-haired girl sitting next to her with a puzzled expression. “Hey, Loki. I don’t see Alus anywhere... he didn’t get lost, did he?”
“Si—Al is out on business. He said he wanted to personally investigate the other nations’ contestants in preparation for the main tournament.” Loki knew the true reason for his absence and had thought up some other adequate reason to explain it.
Alus participating in the demonstration as a student was a secret order from the ruler. Not only was he meant to hide his identity, but the Friendship Magical Tournament was intended for the students to be the stars of the show, and during that time they were asked to refrain from making political statements or actions. Moreover, only active duty Magicmasters were supposed to participate in the demonstration.
“Hmm, it sounds like he’s surprisingly into it... well, I bet the demonstration wouldn’t interest Al anyways. He’d probably just say it was a show for children.” Tesfia even went out of her way to imitate Alus’ voice and delivery, but actually, she was a little upset.
“Oh, that’s a shame... I thought I could get him to explain things for us. But if he has other business then that can’t be helped.”
“Ms. Alice, if you don’t mind, I can explain things in his stead.”
“Really?! Please do, Loki dear.”
Loki nodded at the smiling Alice.
At that moment, the demonstration participants began to appear, and were introduced by the announcer.
There were some regulars among the chosen Magicmasters, but most of them changed every year. That was because, as they borrowed this stage for the magical martial arts demonstration from the novice Magicmasters, they wanted to show not just their national pride, but also the abundance of talented Magicmasters they had.
Loki, as well as Tesfia and Alice, could tell that they were all powerful Magicmasters that had faced death in the past. As each one was introduced, shouting and cheers could be heard from the designated audience seats for their nation.
They hadn’t heard much about the Magicmasters of other nations, but looking at them gathered as a group, they got goosebumps.
“The participant from Iblis this year is an expert on summoning magic. The Magicmaster from Halcapdia is one of the subleaders of their Single’s—Galgnis’—unit.”
Suddenly, a voice explaining things came from behind them. When the three turned around, they saw Felinella smiling at them.
“You’re absolutely right. But the problem is...” Loki trailed off, and Felinella agreed with a hesitant nod.
It was the name announced after Clevideet’s Rowan Welts. The reason for their feeling of discomfort was the female Magicmaster the announcer had introduced as Hydrange’s Dakia Agnois.
Dakia had a different aura to her, compared to the others around her. It wasn’t the aura of someone strong. If anything, she was less like a soldier and more like your average village girl. She very clearly stuck out.
To Loki and Felinella who had seen a lot of Magicmasters, coupled with their experiences in the Outer World, her presence was exceedingly odd.
The audience seemed to pick up on it as well... but the bizarre appearance of the man who appeared after her made them forget about Dakia.
“What is that?” Tesfia said, pointing at the man wearing a robe and whose face was half-covered with a strange mask. He dressed as if he was shouting out that he was someone suspicious.
“Alpha’s representative... Ulhava.”
The Magicmaster appearing as Alpha’s representative was nothing short of outlandish.
“H-Have you heard about him, Alice...?”
“I don’t think so. What about you, Felinella?”
“... I’m not so sure.”
Everyone in the stadium felt the same way the girls did. The audience fell silent for a moment, before someone let out a snicker. That gradually spread around, creating an odd mood in the audience.
Most of the Second Magical Institute’s contestants were stunned. Some wondered what the hell the nation was thinking, choosing someone in a strange costume to represent them. The more gossipy of them were giving up on the demonstration with exasperated expressions.
“W-Will he be okay?” Alice whispered to Tesfia.
“He’ll be fine. He’s the Magicmaster chosen by Alpha, so he’ll give a good show... right?” Tesfia said, directing the last bit to Loki.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Loki declared, staring at the masked man with absolute trust.
As for Alus... “Well, of course this would happen,” he muttered to himself.
His introduction using some weird alias was fine. But he could clearly tell that a strange mood dominated the audience. Well, he wouldn’t mind much once he got into his work.
There were also scrutinizing stares coming from the VIP rooms that held the rulers of the various nations. In fact, Alus’ face and a degree of his abilities had already been displayed during the rulers conference, so he didn’t think there was much point in the disguise. At best it was meant as a measure to keep his identity hidden from the audience and the contestants watching on.
Cicelnia’s will was yet another factor. She probably didn’t make him participate in the demonstration just to give the spectators a taste of Alpha’s power. She’d likely done it to show Alus loyally following her orders to stop the other nations from trying to recruit him. It felt a little off, but it could certainly help keep the other nations in check.
She’s shrewd, but whatever. I only have to do what’s needed of me... that said, it’s not my fault if I end up attracting more attention from the other nations instead. Even if her plan backfired, Alus committed to acting like it didn’t concern him.
Thus, the seven Magicmasters from the seven nations stood together on the demonstration stage.
Looking at the massive sphere floating above the stage, Alus was both interested and excited. The AWR that made use of the supposed oldest of meteor metals floated above their heads in the center of the stage.
So that’s Minerva, the almighty relic.
The sphere was covered in black armor, and could calculate and process multiple formulas of different attributes in parallel. Minerva could take in all of the spell constructions around the stage at the same time and process them in place of the Magicmasters. That was why none of the participants carried their AWRs. They simply needed to unleash their spells, and Minerva would do the construction process for them.
The end result would be that the stage was about to be filled with all kinds of spells, like a colorful fireworks show.
Incidentally, the demonstration also had a contest-like aspect to it, in the sense that Minerva had a processing priority order. More specifically, it could read multiple spells at the same time, but the spells manifested in a certain order.
Because of that, by completing your spell construction first and maintaining a stable flow of mana, it was possible to occupy Minerva’s function and make only your spell manifest above the stage. One could also interrupt another’s spell in the process of manifesting by presenting a more stable construction.
So in a sense, the magical martial arts demonstration was a form of King of the Hill, where the player maintained their own spell for as long as possible against the others.
It’s going to be interesting to see Minerva’s ability to handle all the attributes in action, Alus thought, as he readied himself. The other Magicmasters did the same. As this was a demonstration, there was no starting signal. Alus felt a sense of shared expectation alongside the other Magicmasters.
The demonstration began. To the audience it seemed sudden, but to the Magicmasters on the stage it was very natural.
First, water started to spout around Minerva like a fountain. It was a water spell cast by the Magicmaster opposite of Alus, who was able to tell from the mana light pouring through the geometric patterned gaps in Minerva’s exterior armor.
Before long, large quantities of water appeared above the stage and began to spread, forming what looked like the surface of a lake.
However, in the next moment, the surface froze over. The flowing water also stopped in place, making it look like a flower of ice. This was an ice spell a different Magicmaster had cast.
The audience stirred. Then the ice began melting into water and seemed to boil before immediately evaporating, turning into steam. This was due to intense heat, and the robed man who’d originated the spell quietly muttered, “‹‹Incineration››”
So they’ll even bring out advanced magic. Still, talk about energetic, Alus thought to himself, having decided to observe it first. This was, of course, an event meant as an enhancement to the tournament, so using advanced spells made sense, but Alus was more interested in watching Minerva work up close. I see, so it can process multiple spells at the same time and rewrite the spell that’s being manifested.
Alus realized this was less a game of King of the Hill and more a sort of literary relay. The spells that the Magicmasters were using could be considered texts of a sort. The story began from one person’s text, then someone else followed up on it, adding onto it.
It expressed something different from powerful spells used only to slay Fiends. It had an almost poetic beauty to it.
This isn’t all that bad, Alus thought.
He’d considered it a mission forced upon him by the selfish princess, but it was surprisingly interesting. Of course, this was only the opening phase.
Eventually the air began feeling sultry as the heat spread out. The intense steam covered even the sphere floating in the center. It appeared that the problem of multiple spells clashing with each other was resolved by having them be processed by a single AWR.
The steam filling the air was swept up by a whirlwind of magic that appeared next. Soon, large serpents made of steam were created on all sides of the stage.
But the rampaging serpents were struck down by lightning that drilled holes in the ground, and the serpents as well as the ground itself were scorched by a sweeping heat wave.
However—a small bud sprouted up at the scene of devastation, before growing into a huge tree in the blink of an eye. It was a beautiful scene seemingly telling a story of a desolate end followed by a bright rebirth.
The story had been told in a hectic and dizzying fashion. As the Magicmasters cast their vivid spells, Alus thrust one of his hands towards the tree.
His powerful movements made everyone in the stadium sit on the edge of their seats, wondering what kind of fantastical scene would play out now.
And in the next moment—
A tremendous blast blew out from the trunk of the big tree, blowing it and its tender green leaves away.
Black smoke rose up from the remains in the center of the stage. The pieces of the tree had been blown all over the arena and dispersed back into mana. Eventually the remains would meet the same fate.
If the scene were to be considered the end to the story, perhaps it was expressing the rejection of the circle of life, choosing the destruction of everything and leaving a void in its wake instead. Though it was rather doubtful that that had been Alus’ intention.
The scene left the audience silent.
Tesfia froze in place with her jaw dropped.
Alice was equally lost for words with her eyes wide open.
Even Felinella’s smile twitched, and she pressed her fingers against her temples as if to alleviate a headache.
Only Loki gazed at the spectacle with sparkling eyes.
Meanwhile, inside a special room above the spectator seats...
Governor-General Berwick had a dry look on his face, as Alpha’s beautiful ruler was regretting her mistake with a glum expression. Lettie was laughing her head off next to Cicelnia, but nobody showed any signs of stopping her.
It was a mistake to demand artistic beauty from Alus in the first place. He’d been raised in an environment without any education in aesthetic sensibilities, after all. Having only used magic for battle and eliminating the enemy, his creative sense was quite literally destructive. The characteristics of his unique sensibilities far surpassed those of an ordinary person.
Alus hadn’t realized what sort of magic was expected from him until he felt the stunned atmosphere that filled the stadium. There was probably an unspoken rule that everyone took turns to display a spell in the early stage. He’d picked up on that, which was why he’d tried to go for an explosive finish to get the audience excited. His choice should have met the intent of the demonstration perfectly.
I guess this was seen as distasteful...
It was already too late to try to gloss things over. The black smoke rising up from the debris was so thick it might even stain the walls with soot.
However, the Magicmasters gathered here were formidable. Using their quick wits, they were already at work constructing new spells.
In a brief moment the demonstration began again, and unlike before, it was a true competition of magic.
All kinds of spells were spun by the now serious Magicmasters, ranging from the beautiful and elegant to the brutal ones used against Fiends in the Outer World. Pillars of ice appeared, only for them to be shattered when used as targets by the next spell. The scale of the spells gradually increased, with their constructions being more strongly defined and with more mana being poured into them.
Oh, things are turning out pretty good now! So this is the magical martial arts demonstration. Even Alus found himself impressed. You didn’t often get to see spells of this caliber flying about and negating one another like this. And Minerva’s ability to process all of those spells on its own was nothing short of amazing.
Now then, the last spell was a bit of a blunder, so I guess it’s time I get serious too. He had gone through the trouble of putting on a mask, so there was no need to hold back.
Minerva processed one spell after another, when suddenly it gave absolute priority to an extremely stable construction. Noticing this, the other Magicmasters stared at the masked man.
“‹‹Cocytus››”
A twisted mass woven from vines of ice suddenly appeared in front of Alus. It was possible to see the small dark-red ball that served as its energy source in the gaps between the vines. The ice vines wrapped around the small ball, layer after layer. The energy source was like the seed for Cocytus.
Alus then lightly swung his hand as if to sow further seeds, causing the small ball within the vines to be pushed upward. It moved closer to Minerva, freezing the ground and the air at the same time, before coming to a complete stop in midair.
The next moment, the vines of ice stretched out radially like buds sprouting from the seed.
Once this happened, the various magic lights of the spells being cast by others that were flying toward Minerva all froze at the same time, and the lights went out.
The vines reached out and wrapped around the spells like whips of ice, freezing them along with the air itself. The constructions of the various spells were undone and engulfed by Cocytus, transforming the mana into sparkling pillars of ice. Both the mana and the pillars then dispersed.
Now then, I’ve created some openings to take advantage of. Cocytus would target and freeze whatever entered its effective range, magic constructs being no exception.
Spells were cast one after another as if to destroy the construction of Cocytus itself, but after clashing with it they ran out of power and were swallowed by the ice, turning into pillars and dispersing.
Just as Alus believed his control over Minerva was absolute “—!! So that’s how you’re coming.”
The new spell was a series of massive tornadoes that—like Cocytus—absorbed mana. It was the Tyrant Hawk.
The giant tornadoes that threatened Alus’ domination were like a three-headed dragon, whirling ominously. The winds blew so hard it was impossible to see through to the center, as the tornadoes attacked Cocytus head on. The tornadoes were so gigantic in size that they covered Cocytus’ entire effective range.
Tyrant Hawk was one of the most advanced and powerful wind spells. Even Cocytus was devoured by the three-headed monster, icy vines and core and all.
Alus turned to look at the woman who had cast it. He received a cool smile in return. Seeing that smile, he wondered if she’d really been the one to unleash that brutal spell.
There didn’t appear to be any other Magicmasters aside from this woman and Alus left who were sending new spells to Minerva. Most had lowered their arms, looking resigned.
Though there was one stubborn Magicmaster who was unable to abandon his pride. As if to retaliate for the mood dominating the arena, this one cast a spell.
The ground rumbled as the upper body of a stone giant appeared. It spread its massive arms wide as if to embrace the tornadoes. Even though the violent winds tore off some of the stone composing its body, the giant showed no signs of flinching, as it used brute strength to reject the spell from its composition.
The woman who’d cast Tyrant Hawk simply muttered “Oh my,” as if it didn’t concern her.
The imposing stone giant towered next to Minerva as if guarding it. This was a Rock Golem born from advanced summoning magic.
Talk about forcing it. What stuck out most to Alus was its size. Looking at the Magicmaster who created it, he could see a satisfied smile on the man’s lips as he desperately maintained its structure. The man didn’t appear to have fully constructed it at once, as he was adding more onto its structure and only seemed barely in control of it.
That was when—suddenly a certain sensation ran through Alus’ body.
He looked at Minerva floating above the stage, and narrowed his eyes. He then glanced at the female Magicmaster who’d unleashed Tyrant Hawk before.
She looked to be doing something, probably to deal with the golem, but Alus didn’t know what it was. But it was clear Minerva was responding to her will and construction.
An eerie light was emitted as Minerva began to quake and let out a strange growl. It was clear that something impermissible was being constructed. Before long, a suspicious mist covered the golem’s upper body that was still sticking out of the ground. The mist seemed to devour the golem while also spreading out in all directions as if to search for more prey. No, perhaps it was taking on a specific shape...
The woman who created it had a vacant expression on her face. Her eyes were distant and she didn’t even blink. Alus felt a strange atmosphere around her and an ominous power.
He immediately picked up that it wasn’t just a problem with the power of the spell, but also with its nature. Sheesh. Who knew what kind of tragedy would happen if it affected the audience? His skin prickled.
Alus read the formula that appeared on Minerva’s surface, and got to work rewriting its structure at a blinding speed into something different from what the woman intended. Just before the golem’s massive body was completely devoured by the mist, he finally finished rewriting the spell.
“‹‹Phoenix››”
A raging fire engulfed the golem and the mist. All things magic were returned to mana, transforming into a new spell, as if something was trying to be reborn from the ashes.
The seemingly uncontrolled flames gradually took shape. A bird-like shrill voice rang out, and the flames were extinguished by a flap of wings. Appearing in their stead was a towering bird made of fire, its wings dressed in flames, creating a heat wave so hot it scorched the air.
As Alus had completely overwritten the mist spell, this bird of fire was the only thing remaining. It immediately flew up towards the barrier covering the stage. And just as it looked like it was about to pierce through it, its body made of flames burst, raining down sparks all over. The sparks gradually fell toward the ground, keeping the light of the flames until the end.
Everyone in the audience was sure this was the end of the demonstration. They’d felt vaguely worried by the mist, but convinced themselves that it had been part of the act.
For a few moments the audience looked on dumbfounded at this mysterious beautiful spectacle. Then the silence was replaced with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
In the midst of the clamor, Alus looked around and found that the female Magicmaster had disappeared.
The man who created the golem was still spacing out, but when he came to, he saw that his time on the stage was over and left.
Still, that was going too far. That took a lot of work for me to fix, but to think there was still a Magicmaster like that around... Alus hadn’t expected to get that exhausted over a mere demonstration.
After giving Minerva—still floating unchanged in the middle of the stage—a single glance, Alus turned and left as well. As he listened to the still-continuing applause, he felt he’d managed to make up for his earlier blunder.
He didn’t return to the audience. It would be unnatural if he grouped up with Tesfia and Alice now. But as he stepped out of the stadium to return to his room alone, someone tapped his shoulder. “Good work out there.”
Turning around, he saw Tesfia with a mischievous smile. Next to her was Alice who added, “It must have been hard,” as she smiled at him.
Looking at their pleased expressions, Alus knew that they meant what they said. Glancing at Loki, he saw a proud look on her face. But considering her expression, she hadn’t leaked his secret. Which meant that the mask and robe hadn’t been enough to conceal his identity.
Alus pondered this for a moment, and seeing his doubts, Loki gave him a reassuring smile and nodded as if to say that it was okay. Meaning, he’d likely only been found out by Tesfia and Alice. And while he wasn’t sure about Felinella, if these two found him out, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have done the same.
He did wonder, however, how they had found out, but as long as the other students hadn’t figured it out, that was fine. And so the lively group returned to their hotel.
* * *
After a short meeting in preparation for the main tournament tomorrow, Felinella told them to get to bed quickly.
His matches aside, Alus did feel tired after the demonstration, but the three girls gathered in his room anyway like it was natural. He’d expected this, so he wasn’t surprised, but he did find it somewhat bothersome.
Tesfia and Alice were here because of who would compete in the main tournament tomorrow. After each tried to give the slot to the other for a while, they came to Alus to have him decide.
“So we felt that we should have you decide...” Tesfia said apologetically. She didn’t have her usual unyielding spirit. Alice was the same as she nervously gazed at Alus.
In essence, they were asking him to pick who was the stronger one. They had anticipated that even Alus would struggle with that. But that appeared to be a needless worry.
“It’s not like there’s a big difference,” Alus’ answer was frank and clear. “In terms of personal circumstances it would be Fia. You still have your promise with your mother. I’m not going to say that you have to win, but if you can show your strength in the main tournament, you’ll be able to take one step forward.”
“Yes, I said that to her too...” Alice said in agreement. She had tried to give up the slot to Tesfia out of consideration.
But Tesfia remained evasive. “... That’s not... Right now I’m fighting for the Second Magical Institute. The person who has the highest chances of winning should be chosen. My personal circumstances shouldn’t be the deciding factor...”
“Well, I thought you’d say that,” Alus said.
Tesfia was surprisingly sincere and earnest. Perhaps it was because she was nobility, but she refused to accept things that didn’t feel right, something Alus had picked up on after all this time together. That inflexibility and stubbornness was part of her charm, though.
She had worked together as a team with Felinella and her friends to get here. And she didn’t want to prioritize her own circumstances.
Alus could understand that as well. “So, did you meet with your mother then? Not that I know if she came to watch or not.”
“No, she’s a very busy person... but I’m sure she’s watching from somewhere.” The tournament was broadcast worldwide, so that possibility was high. Frose, as a former military instructor, had an interest in talented youth, so she was almost certainly watching.
“In other words, Fia, you’re putting the tournament victory ahead of your own circumstances, is that right?”
Tesfia nodded.
“Then there’s no problem. There’s no need for the person participating in the main tournament to be someone who can secure a victory. They simply need to put up a fight worthy of the tournament.”
“Huh?” Tesfia gave him a puzzled look. Alice tilted her head in confusion as well.
“You still haven’t noticed?”
The two exchanged blank looks.
This made Alus let out a sigh. “Geez, regardless of which one of you fights, you’re up against Loki. Do you think you can beat her the way you are now? She is my partner, you know.”
He then glanced at Loki. She was lying on Alus’ bed as if it was natural, rubbing her reddened cheeks against his pillow with a satisfied expression.
“...” Alus acted like he hadn’t seen anything, as he quickly turned his eyes back to the other two. “The contestant from Rusalca’s First Magical Institute is almost definitely stronger than you. They’ve kept the first-year hope in reserve in the seed slot, making sure he didn’t clash with me, and have probably made even more moves since then. If I don’t take him down in the first match, then the path to victory, points wise anyway, will be closed. In other words, if he makes it to the finals, it’s over. Conversely, if I do take him down, then we have a good chance of winning as long as the second-years advance as planned.”
“So what, even if we beat Loki, we’d have to fight you in the finals?” Tesfia asked.
“Well, we haven’t gotten a chance to fight Loki dear all out, so I think it would be a good opportunity, don’t you think, Fia?” Alice followed up, but with a wry smile.
“So you don’t really need to bother about small details like that. Why not decide it by rock paper scissors then? Also... there’s a chance that both of you will end up in the main tournament,” Alus said, muttering the last bit.
Indeed, there was a chance. That’s why Alus had asked Felinella to keep the two from clashing earlier. In other words, he’d kept them in reserve.
“What does that mean?” Tesfia said.
“... There’s no need to tell you that now. So anyways, are you going to do it or not?”
Tesfia and Alice reluctantly faced each other at Alus’ words and pulled back their arms. But there was no momentum in their movements, and they were simply doing it because Alus had told them to. With a weak call out, they threw out shapes with their hands.
In the end, Tesfia won. But she stared down at her hand with an unsatisfied expression. “Is this really okay?” she asked Alus.
In response, Alus clapped his hands. “Alright! Then it’s decided. A one-shot game without any hard feelings is really refreshing, isn’t it... Now get out!”
That reaction surprised Loki the most. Having burrowed into his bed, she was flustered for a moment before feigning that she was asleep.
“That means you too. You’ve got to get up early tomorrow,” Alus said, poking her forehead.
Giving Loki another push as she reluctantly got off the bed, he chased the three girls out of his room.
Once he was done, his shoulders slumped and he got into bed. And there, he noticed the warmth in it, like it had been warmed up by a kitten.
“...” Without a word, he turned off the light.
A few hours later in the middle of the night, Alus slightly opened his eyes.
The hotel was dead quiet, with only the sound of the ticking clock in his room.
The sensation that had woken him was the presence of someone unnaturally killing the sound of their footsteps. This presence was coming from the silent hallway, and it was approaching his room.
That was fast. Alus caught it with his detection abilities, and was able to prepare for the unusual guest coming at midnight.
Just before the visitor politely knocked, he opened the door. And standing in front of him was a slightly surprised woman. Wearing a maid outfit, looking perfectly put together with not a hair out of place, was none other than Rinne Kimmel.
After a short pause, she collected herself and spoke with her usual smile. “Sir Alus... there is work to do.”
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