I managed to recover from being stuffed and just barely made it to the exhibition match.
The First-Class VIP area had noticeably more empty seats than yesterday.
The witch was at work. Munieka was at Tassan's estate.
I hadn't seen Chive since that morning incident.
Oh, there were Celeste and the "Sword of Swords."
Celeste saw me, then looked at both my shoulders and was startled.
Pretty much the same reaction as everyone who'd seen us on the way here — I gave a wry smile.
That's because Rel and Mineha were sitting on my shoulders.
Flowers on both shoulders instead of flowers in both hands.
Was it really that unusual?
Even Fairial, the receptionist I'd happened to run into in the guest seats and who'd helped me before, was surprised too.
The "Sword of Swords" was, for once, actually sitting in her seat, and she glanced at me.
A greatsword was resting beside her seat. Anyway, I greeted Celeste, who was sitting in the adjacent seat.
"Hi there, Celeste."
"Y-yes. Um, well…"
"You look well, Celeste."
"It's—it's been a while, Rel. Um…"
"My, how unusual — to see you here, 'Sword of Swords.'"
Celeste, who looked like she wanted to say something, had been cut off twice and seemed to have given up.
She said with a sigh.
"That's because Axe is participating. Axe studied sword under the Master."
So they called her "Master." As a disciple, that was natural enough, but I wondered — didn't she have a name?
"Well, as always, she's soft on her disciples. And if you bring that up, Ensu's the same."
Ah, right. So it was going to be a master-disciple showdown.
"…She really is a dog, huh…"
Mineha murmured softly. I leaned in and whispered.
"According to the Witch, she's apparently the oldest First Class on record."
"Huh? That means—"
Her true form was something that took the shape of a dog.
Unlike with former humans, there was no surprise twist — it had supposedly been proven that she was a genuine dog.
How they went about proving that, I had no idea.
"Ruriha. Mineha."
It was Emmy who called out to the two of them.
Mineha immediately looked awkward.
"Emmy. It's been a while."
"Yes — how many years has it been?"
I turned toward Emmy.
She gestured to the seat beside her, so I sat down.
When Ruriha saw Emmy, her gaze dropped slightly.
I let out a long sigh.
"You know. I heard from Mineha, honestly, I'm just baffled."
"I've already heard that from quite a few people… but it can't be helped, can it? If Ruriha's husband really did come back… I understand how she feels."
"There is something to be said for that, isn't there."
"Mother!?"
She exists after all. Well, I'm absolutely not going to bring it up.
Emmy glances over at me.
"Even so, you sitting on someone's shoulder. That's unusual."
"It's comfortable, you know. And Mineha took a liking to it, so I just sort of went along with it. Turns out it's even cozier than I expected — now it's become my absolute favorite."
"Mother?"
"It's fine, isn't it? Ruriha. You're still young."
"Huh?"
"Oh, Wof. Something the matter?"
"N-no, it's nothing."
Ruriha. She was smiling, but she wasn't smiling.
Also, her face is right there, and it's terrifying.
"No, no. You really need to nod when someone says something like that."
Emmy giggles softly.
"S-sorry."
"Oh my, and what exactly are you apologizing for?"
"Um, so..."
Why is she placing her hand on my chin? Is she petting me?
And why is she blushing and looking so blissful about it?
"Mother. Please stop. Poor Wof."
"Oh my, I'm sorry."
Honestly...
"You all look like you're having fun."
Emmy says something like that.
I wouldn't say I'm having fun — though I guess it is kind of nice when Mineha uses polite speech for a change.
Plus, having Ruriha sitting nearby makes me feel inexplicably at ease.
While I'm mulling over all that, it finally begins.
Axe and Ensu face off in the center of the arena.
Come to think of it, Rel and Hoss aren't in the VIP area.
They should be somewhere in the arena, though.
"Axe, you've grown so much. You look just like Ensu."
"Now that I think of it, Ruriha, you met her when she was little, didn't you?"
"Yes, I still remember holding baby Axe."
Baby Axe, huh.
Come to think of it, the witch said she'd held her too.
"I even changed her diapers. And now she's grown up so much."
Ruriha pressed her cheek against mine, her voice thick with emotion.
"Exhibition match. 'Bottom of the Abyss' Ence Hyrant versus 'Thunder Fang' Axe. The bout begins now. Victory is determined by submission or knockout. Killing your opponent is prohibited. Understood?"
"Yeah. Oh—yes."
"Mm."
"Then—begin!"
At the signal, both fighters drew their swords.
And Axe closed the distance to Ence in a single heartbeat.
That was a One-Step! Right off the bat? But then she did something even more surprising.
Axe raised her sword in front of Ence's eyes, feigned a downward slash—and dropped it.
"!"
"Take this!"
The unexpected move created a split-second opening in Ence.
Axe didn't miss it. She decked him with everything she had.
"Oh, she did it!"
"Not bad, Axe."
"She's got fire."
"But Axe—you threw your sword away. What now?"
"She did say all she was thinking about was landing one punch."
"I know, but I really don't think it ends here."
"Yeah, probably not."
Ensu spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Nice. That stung."
Ensu grinned despite the slightly swollen cheek.
Axe said, sounding refreshed.
"A surprise attack taught by Sword Sword. He said it'd work as long as it was just punching. What do you think?"
A ploy straight from the arsenal of Sword Sword.
"Master. Did you actually teach him that?"
Even when Celeste asked, Sword Sword didn't answer.
Well, he was a dog to begin with, so he couldn't answer anyway.
Ensu gave a wry smile and picked up Axe's sword.
"Good sword. It's a Standard, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I'm fond of it."
"What a coincidence. My sword was made by the same swordsmith. Except mine's a Premium. If a Standard is a masterpiece that comes along once in a thousand, then a Premium is a masterwork that comes along once in ten thousand."
Saying that, Ensu tossed a sword over to Axe. Axe caught it and looked puzzled.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"I figured just punching you and calling it even would be a bit anticlimactic. Since we're at it, let me show you, Axe. My sword."
Ensu took a stance. A ceremonial posture with the blade held in front of the face.
Axe took a stance too. A basic posture with the sword pointed straight at the opponent.
"Here I come. Raaaagh!"
Axe charged again. Closing the distance in a single step.
Ence doesn't move. Axe swings his sword. Ence doesn't move.
He brings it down. Ence doesn't move. Yet Axe's sword bounces off.
"—!?"
"Fine swordwork."
Ence drifts away like a phantom, phasing out of reach. What kind of evasive footwork was that?
Axe stays on guard, settling his sword into a low ready stance, then closes the distance again in a single step.
"Raaaaaagh—come on!"
This time he launches an all-out assault. Ence is forced onto the defensive.
The crowd roars. A storm of powerful yet precise sword strikes. I wouldn't be able to handle any of them.
"You've gotten stronger, Axe."
Emmy murmurs.
"That guy trained in the fire dungeon specifically for this day."
"Is that so?"
"He said Hoss and Rel had a rough time of it."
I hadn't heard about that.
Seeing the results of that training firsthand, as someone experienced, it gets the blood pumping.
"GRAAAAAAAH!"
Up, down, left, right, diagonal—a relentless downpour of blade strikes from every angle with no gaps.
Ence is barely keeping up, but the struggle is obvious.
Incredible. He's pushing a First-Rank delver to the wall.
"Seriously impressive swordwork… I'm barely keeping up. Hmph!"
Ence's eyes went wide.
Can't blame him. Axe had suddenly launched that technique.
"Demon-Severing Slash!"
Ence's sword was severed, the tip spinning through the air.
It clattered to the ground, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
WHOOOOAAAAAA!
"Axe. Impressive."
"My goodness, Axe dear. You can use that technique?"
"That's Agaro's."
For some reason, it didn't feel like Gymnema's Demon-Severing Slash.
Celeste looked impressed.
"That powerful Demon-Severing Slash. Is that the Fire Fang Style?"
"Huh? Celeste. What's the Fire Fang Style?"
"You don't know? The technique called Demon-Severing Slash exists in each of the nine schools. That's why even though it's the same technique, each version is different."
"Ohhhh."
"Still, cutting a higher-ranked Premium — that's something. Him."
Nine, huh. Fire — maybe there's a school of swordsmanship for each attribute?
In that case, Gymnema's would be the Demon-Severing Slash from the water-attribute school. But nine?
Mineha, who'd been listening, probably thought the same thing.
"Wouldn't that make it one too many?"
"There's the source stream. The one before it splits into eight."
"Ah — the original."
Or the main branch, rather.
I see.
"How about it. You'd do it too, wouldn't you? I know I would."
Axe grinned fearlessly.
Ensu's face broke into a broad smile.
"That's something else, Axe. I'm surprised... truly shocked."
"Hearing you say that's a bit embarrassing."
"Yep. Then — maybe it's alright for you to know."
"Huh?"
Ensu took stance with his chipped-tip sword.
One-handed, reverse grip at that. He raised it until his fist hid his face.
As a sword stance, it was utterly bizarre.
"Axe. Remember this well. There's a power that exists precisely because you don't have a Relic."
"What...?"
"A soul power that can't be used precisely because you have a Relic. In this world — it exists."
What the— A faint white light emanated from Ensu's body.
It gathered into the blade, and his sword blazed with a white radiance.
"So you're going to use that. Aren't you."
Emmy said, her voice tinged with worry.
Relha answered right away.
"Emmy. Axe will be fine."
"Right… after seeing that kind of technique from her."
Emmy gave a small nod.
"Mother. What exactly was that?"
"A vessel of the soul. It's said that a Relic is engraved on its surface."
"Yes. I'm aware of that."
"Then I wonder what's inside the vessel?"
"That is…"
"Soul power?"
I answered.
Relha nodded.
"That's right. Relics activate by using the power of the soul stored within them. Some Relics have what's called a cooldown period during which they can't be used, right? That's said to happen because the soul power in the vessel has been completely drained. And when the cooldown ends, the vessel of the soul is full again. That's the mechanism of Relics that's been passed down since ancient times. It was also said that without a Relic, you couldn't use soul power at all. But then — what if it's precisely because there's no Relic that one can handle soul power directly?"
"…Was that white light the power of the soul?"
"That's what they say."
Using the power of the soul directly, without a Relic to consume it.
That would be an enormous amount of energy.
Could a person even handle that? And more importantly — should they?
"What's that? Some kinda cheap trick?"
"This is the fang of the fangless sheep —
Soul Ki.
The desperate gambit of those without Relics."
"...Huh?"
"Powers like this exist in the world too, Axe."
"Had no idea about that... But that sure as hell doesn't mean I'm backing down here!!!"
Axe used One Step — and Enss appeared right in front of him.
One Step.
Before Axe could even use it, Enss had already closed the distance to zero with One Step of his own.
Even so, Axe didn't flinch. He quickly raised his sword.
"One Blade, Demon Severance!!"
"Psyche Fang."
A faint blade of white light softly pierced Axe's chest with a dull thud.
It struck like a fang, and Axe crumpled to the ground.
"That's it! The winner — Enss Hyrant, 'Abyss Bottom-Crosser'!"
The arena fell deathly silent.
The sheer anticlimax and shocking conclusion left everyone wrapped in stunned silence for a moment.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow..."
Axe slowly came to.
Well, I was stabbed in the chest, but...?
Above me, I saw Ens. And it seemed that was enough for him to understand.
"............I'll win next time."
Ens extended his hand.
"Looking forward to it."
Axe gripped Ens's hand.
The arena was wrapped in a thunderous round of applause.