Only two days remained in the tournament.
Today was the final major hurdle, with only the championship match left for tomorrow.
The plan was to hold the finals in the morning, then give a guided tour of the underground labyrinth starting in the afternoon.
However, despite having put real effort into making the arena as sturdy as possible, there were signs of damage in several places.
Emergency repairs were done so the matches wouldn't be affected, but to see it in this state after only a few days—the battles had been fiercer than expected.
Well, at least no damage had reached the spectator seats.
There shouldn't have been any. If there had been, it would have been a major problem, which was why the barriers had been reinforced so thoroughly.
Now, the other thing that caught me off guard was the overwhelming popularity of Soka and Milim.
Especially Milim.
Just one day of doing commentary had apparently won her a devoted following.
She had gained tremendous popularity among the nobles, adventurers, and the powerful monsters of the Great Forest of Jura.
Well, it was precisely because nobody knew her true identity that they could casually cheer things like "Milim-chan!!" or "Mi·li·m·sama~~!!" without hesitation.
What was interesting was that while everyone called Soka by her first name, nobody dared to do the same with Milim.
Was it some kind of… commanding aura that oozed from her?
Well, it was Milim, after all. It wouldn't be strange for something like that to happen.
Today there would be two matches in the morning, followed by the third-place playoff in the afternoon.
Due to fatigue, the fighter in the first match had a slight advantage, but that was hardly an excuse.
I wanted them to push themselves and fight with back-to-back matches in mind.
Alright, it was almost time for today's first match.
While Gobta was tense, Benimaru was completely composed.
Incidentally, I had told Gobta that summoning
Otherwise, Gobta would be recognized as superior to Ranga, and the match itself would lose its appeal.
This match was, above all else, about Gobta being the star.
"Begin!!"
Milim and Soka.
Their perfectly synchronized call rang out, and the first match started.
"Let's goooo, let's do thisss!"
And there was Gobta, charging in just like yesterday.
I thought it was futile, and sure enough, Benimaru dodged and kicked him.
"Mm! As expected, Gobta is no match for Benimaru!
Hurry up and
summon
Ranga! That's what you should do!"
Milim offered advice with zero tact.
"Oh! As expected, the prettier face wins every time!?
Gobta can't lay a finger on Benimaru~!"
Soka's favoritism in the commentary was heartbreaking.
Those listening with less-than-confident faces shed tears at the announcement.
"Hehe, as expected, that's how itss…
I wanted to see how far I could go with just my current abilities.
But he's not even close.
I'll use it now.
Unique Skill:
Demon Wolf Summon! And more—"
"Demon Wolf Fusion!!"
Gobta had been on the verge of death from Benimaru's kicks just moments ago, but his wounds were visibly healing.
A distortion appeared in the space, and Ranga was summoned.
And then…
Ranga and Gobta merged, with Ranga enveloping Gobta's body.
It looked as though Gobta's body had grown a size larger, transformed into a figure where Ranga covered him from head to toe like fur armor.
Should I call it a human-shaped Ranga?
If I were to give an honest impression, it was almost too cool for the likes of Gobta.
Damn it. Gobta, of all people, gets to do a transformation!?
"Wh— whoaaaa!! That's so cool!! What is that?! It's awesome!!"
Milim abandoned the commentary and started fan-girling.
Y-yes. I understood the impulse.
That little runt Gobta—somehow he'd gone and made his ability look even cooler than I'd imagined.
"Hehe, now it's my turnn!"
Gobta shouted and vanished!
No, of course I could see him. He only appeared to vanish to ordinary people.
"G-Gobta has disappeared!? Where did he—?"
Just then, BOOOM!! An explosion erupted along the wall beneath the arena's spectator seats.
Right below our VIP room, to be precise.
I could see everything clearly.
Gobta had declared his move coolly, then taken off running. But he hadn't even considered stopping and had crashed straight into the wall—all of it.
The idiot couldn't control his power or speed at all.
To put it simply: he thought about running but never thought about stopping. Based on his original baseline, Gobta's conscious effort had caused Ranga's instant speed to carry him far beyond where he should have stopped.
And what's more…
"Whoa, Gobta isn't getting up! Is he okay!?"
Just as Soka said, Gobta wasn't moving.
It wasn't physical damage preventing him. He'd scared himself into passing out.
How to put this…
He showed off that cool transformation, and immediately after, revealed the most pathetic sight imaginable. In a way, that was so very Gobta.
"Hey, you. Are you making fun of me? Let's go have a chat over there, shall we?"
Milim marched over to Gobta with sharp, deliberate steps, then picked him up with one hand.
She was smiling brightly, but her eyes weren't smiling at all.
"The winner is Benimaru. I never thought it would turn into such a pathetic match…
You owe me for all that anticipation and excitement I just had…"
She squeezed Gobta with enough force that it looked like something might crack.
With those parting words, she dragged Gobta out of the arena.
"Well, it seems the
referee
has made a call!
Self-destruction! By self-destructing, Gobta has forfeited, and Benimaru is the winner!"
"BOOOO! BOOOOO!!"
A roaring wave of boos.
Of course they'd boo. He self-destructed right out of the gate in a semifinal match.
If they'd paid money for tickets, it wouldn't be strange to demand refunds.
But looking at Gobta being hauled away by Milim, all my desire to complain evaporated.
Goodbye, Gobta. I'll never forget your valiant stand!
After going through a cool transformation, he ended up pouring even more fuel on Milim's fire.
By getting Milim's hopes up so high, the backlash of her anger was about to rain down on Gobta with even greater force.
"My lord, I have returned!"
Ranga casually came back, having completely abandoned Gobta.
Well, of course. He wouldn't want to be caught in the crossfire.
The moment they left the arena, it seemed he'd asked Milim's permission and escaped.
All that was left was to pray for Gobta's soul.
A lesson learned:
Too much luck invites a terrible backlash.
Up until yesterday, Gobta had burned through all his luck. This was the result.
From now on, I hoped he'd build up not just dumb luck but actual skill the hard way.
With that wish, I'd look forward to Gobta's future performances.
Well, assuming he survived his talk with Milim.
---
This was the match everyone was waiting for.
Milim hadn't returned—she apparently had something important to tell Gobta.
She must have been truly furious.
Gobta really had stepped on a massive landmine.
Thanks to that, Soka was handling the commentary solo.
"Begin!"
The call to start echoed, and the match began.
Between these two, who was actually stronger?
Was there no need for a warm-up? Was that the will of both combatants?
"Heaven and Earth Annihilation — Genesis!"
"World Collapse!"
They both launched their ultimate techniques simultaneously.
Shion's technique carried the power of her Unique Skill, "Chef," which allowed her to "rewrite outcomes."
Through sheer force of will, she negated the opponent's technique and achieved the result she desired—a devastating slash.
In a sense, it was an ability that manipulated fate itself.
A killing strike that could cleave through even unavoidable destiny.
Diablo, on the other hand.
An ability that brought about annihilation, infused with the power to negate everything.
His destructive force, directed at anything Diablo did not acknowledge, was nothing short of despair for those who could not resist.
Their abilities were, in a sense, polar opposites, and in the end, the outcome would be decided by a clash of pure willpower.
They intended to settle it with everything they had from the very first exchange.
Diablo's palms were compressed between waves of destructive energy, and Shion was slashing into it with her greatsword.
To an ordinary observer, it probably looked like magic clashing with a blade.
But between the two of them, through an immense concentration and fighting spirit, their wills were colliding head-on.
How much time had passed?
That period, which felt long as eternity, was in reality only a few seconds.
But in those few seconds, both Shion and Diablo were thoroughly spent.
Who was the winner?
A violent spark erupted right between Shion and Diablo.
And then the moment of resolution arrived.
Cracks ran along Shion's greatsword, and it shattered to pieces.
At the same time, Diablo caught the swirling vortex of energy at its center and crushed it in his grip. But by suppressing the full power of both their techniques' crystallized force, Diablo's left arm exploded from the hand to the shoulder.
It looked as though it had been ravaged by violent force.
"Fufufufu. A fine sword technique. You nearly had me there."
Despite losing his arm, Diablo praised Shion.
But Shion had been blown back by the aftershock of their clashing techniques and couldn't even stand.
"Wh—nearly? You still had plenty left, you…"
"Not at all. I had no such luxury remaining.
If I had, I wouldn't have made the blunder of losing a single left arm."
"Heh. Losing one left arm to suppress that technique's energy… I concede."
Shion admitted defeat straightforwardly.
Well, naturally.
If Diablo had been even a moment slower in suppressing both their techniques, Shion wouldn't have been hit by the aftershock—she'd have taken a direct hit.
The aftershock alone had left her unable to even stand, so a direct hit might have been fatal.
The one who deserved praise was Diablo.
Though he'd lost his left arm, he acted as though nothing had happened and simply covered the wound with his robe.
Actually, just how strong was he?
I'd casually summoned a
Superior Demon General
, and the guy turned out to be quite the enigma.
Now he was a
Demon Duke
, so being stronger than
He'd also beaten Demon Lord
Maybe I should secretly ask
the Wisdom King
about it next time.
Come to think of it, quite a few of my subordinates had grown stronger than I'd imagined.
I couldn't afford to be complacent.
In any case, the victor of this bout was Diablo.
"The winner, Diablo!!"
Soka's declaration sent cheers echoing through the arena.
Now the two finalists were set.
Benimaru and Diablo.
If it was Diablo, there was no concern—he'd heal his injuries by tomorrow, no problem.
The question was Shion.
If the match was ruled a walkover, Gobta would take third place.
Well, assuming Gobta was still in one piece.
The third-place playoff would be in the afternoon: Gobta vs. Shion.
Neither of them was in great shape—would the match even happen?
Worries aside, I toasted Diablo's victory.
---
The afternoon match would apparently be held after all.
Just before lunch, the moment the Shion vs. Diablo match ended, Milim returned.
She self-reported that she had come back calm, but… apparently Gobta had gone to the medical wing to get a
Complete Recovery
.
"I might be done forr…"
That was what he'd been muttering while trembling from head to toe.
That was what the medical staff's
female
report said, but judging by appearances, there was no real problem.
Shion was in high spirits.
She was immortal, to begin with.
Her wounds had healed without fuss, and she was testing how her body felt.
The issue was her broken weapon.
But,
"A weapon is unnecessary against the likes of Gobta!
More importantly, what's going to happen to my Gorikimaru Kai?"
She was worried about her broken sword.
Well, that greatsword had withstood Shion's reckless use and was a masterpiece of the highest order.
She'd even named it and used it with obvious affection, so her concern was understandable.
But this was something only Kurobei could handle.
I could use my own abilities to restore and revive it, but in that case, all the Magicules Shion had poured into it would be wasted.
Despite having been attuned to Shion, it would revert to a brand-new state.
I had no choice but to leave it to Kurobei, a skilled craftsman.
And so, Shion would enter the match without a weapon.
Third-place playoff… Gobta vs. Shion
The match began.
Gobta started the fight already in
"Demon Wolf Fusion"
mode.
He seemed to be using it more skillfully than before.
Glancing nervously toward Milim now and then, he threw himself into an all-out brawl.
Shion, watching Gobta's wide-open defenses, seemed perfectly content to humor him.
Or rather, she intended to drag this out for thirty minutes.
She'd land a solid punch, then wait for him to recover. Rinse and repeat.
Gobta was already on the verge of tears. And yet,
"You're doing amazing, Gobta! You look totally unfazed—like it doesn't even hurt!"
That was Milim's commentary.
Her eyes said it all. Surrender was not an option!
Poor Gobta.
Those thirty minutes must have felt like a lifetime—a slow march toward death, an agonizing
torture
session.
But with Milim watching from the sidelines, there was no escape.
The real mistake had been pulling off that cool "transformation" to impress her in the first place.
Still, those thirty minutes did dramatically improve Gobta's movement.
There was no better training than real combat—that saying was absolutely true.
In the final minutes, Gobta seemed to have adapted to Ranga's speed and managed to dodge several times.
As expected, Gobta was a genius, no question.
Even so, actually winning was out of reach.
When the thirty minutes elapsed, the only one still standing was Shion.
"Shion (the contestant) wins!!"
Milim and Soka declared Shion's victory simultaneously.
The third-place finisher in the first
Monster Kingdom
Tournament had been decided: Shion.
Gobta had fought hard.
Making it this far was already a remarkable achievement.
Today, I would treat Shion and Gobta to a reward for their efforts. That was what I decided.