Alveld's golden hair had grown long, shifting black as if painted over.
Her eyes, conversely, blazed with golden light.
Her glossy, shimmering black hair looked like a pattern of the cosmos.
A black line ran from the center of those golden eyes, down her cheeks, past her neck.
Did that black tear-streak reach all the way down to her torso?
Just being there put her on an entirely different level.
Her presence hammered into my skin, unmistakably different from anything ordinary.
Just being there, she overwhelmed every being in the vicinity.
If I were normal, I'd have passed out long ago.
When you activate a pseudo-divine transformation, a thing called divine energy manifests.
But the gap between her and me was enormous.
So this was Alveld von Lutvelt's pseudo-divine Relic — Thousand Kill Arcos.
I'd only learned yesterday that Alveld von Lutvelt possessed a pseudo-divine Relic.
Narcissus had mentioned it in passing.
But I'd assumed he already had one.
It would be strange for Alveld von Lutvelt to not possess one.
With this level of power — there was no way he didn't have one.
It was a completely reckless line of reasoning, but with him, it was convincing enough.
"Pseudo-divine Relic — Generous."
I chant it too. My hair and eyes both shift to a faintly shimmering deep purple.
Had the Sacred Stillness Gauntlets been equipped, they would have spread across both arms.
Alveld extends the hand laced with black lines toward me.
"Then here I go. Thousand Crush!"
What the— Black semi-transparent spheres blanket the area.
Thousand. Could there really be a thousand of them?
"Wha—!? Phantasmagoria!"
Phantasmagoria and Thousand Crush collide.
But I don't have a thousand. The remaining Thousand Crushes bear down on me.
I—
Void
Arm.
…
Activate!
My dominant arm transforms into the cosmos. Together with Agaro's Modified Knife, I just might scrape through.
Because I've become Generous, my Relic resets.
Knife Magic, and Rev Move, too... Rev... it's not Move?
[Rev Form: Can assume one's true form, as seen even in dreams.]
[Time limit: 1 minute. Cooldown: 7 days.]
True form...? Huh? What's that supposed to mean? One minute and then a one-week cooldown!?
Not just fuel-inefficient. I can't afford to use it carelessly.
"Thousand Impact!"
The arena shook violently. A shockwave surged forward like a tidal wave.
"Phantasmagoria!"
I'll handle this, then counterattack.
Barely riding over the massive shockwave, I hurled my Magic Knife at Alverld.
After watching him catch it effortlessly with two fingers, my figure vanished — and I appeared right in front of him.
Changing. Swapping places with the Magic Knife.
"Ooooooooh!!!"
I struck with the
Cosmic
Arm
, but Alverld's sword was already in motion.
His slash passed clean through the
Cosmic
Arm
. Damn. A second strike was coming.
"Banish!"
It was almost entirely by accident.
Arverld's sword met my Banish. His sword vanished.
I felt relief for just an instant.
"Brechen!"
The arena's battle stage was destroyed. I evacuated with Changing.
Good thing I'd placed Magic Knives on the ground beforehand.
Even so, isn't this a foul? It's cheating. There's no way I can win this... No. I will win.
This is my own selfishness, my ego. There are plenty of people stronger than me.
That's fine. Isn't that just fine?
But the fact that it wasn't fine — that's exactly why I'm fighting.
What an arrogant person I am.
And yet, there are people who lent their strength to someone like me.
People who believe someone like me can beat him.
"Sombre Gladius!"
A sword appeared in Arverld's hand.
The pommel
was round, the crossguard short and square. A truly rugged build.
The blade was pitch-black, thick and broad. It came to a sharp angle at the tip.
The blade didn't just have four spiral patterns carved into it — four actual whirlpools were swirling within it.
What an eerie sword.
Before I could even fully process the distance, Arveld closed the gap in an instant. He was seriously fast.
Having a single step as his constant speed was just cheating.
Once in range, he swung the Sombre Gladius with casual ease — uncharacteristically sloppy of him.
The slash was black and swirling.
I blocked it with Agaro's Knife Modified. The blade vanished in a clean cut.
"—Huh?"
The tip had been erased in a perfect arc.
The second black vortex slash cost me the knife I'd just bought.
The third swirling sword strike wiped out my silver cross-shaped knife.
The fourth was a Knife Magic change — and now every last knife was gone.
That was all of them.
Well, I might have had one more somewhere — couldn't be sure.
I was completely out of moves. My remaining active time was dropping at a cruel rate.
All that was left was Reave Form. There was nothing else.
I stepped back, took a deep breath, and let it out.
Alright.
"—Reave Form—"
Saying it aloud, I couldn't help but smirk at myself. The incantation was starting to become a habit.
So what would the original form actually look like? This was truly the last stand.
Then a strange pain spread from my forehead across my entire face.
"G-G-Gaaaaah—!"
But that only lasted an instant.
Arveld lunged with the Sombre Gladius.
I slowly raised my head and pinched the black blade between my fingers, stopping it.
"Hm...!?"
"Huh. I caught it."
"Your face—your forehead—"
"My face?"
What was going on?
Something felt... off. Something was weird.
If I had to describe the change—it was like that. Like *that*.
"Yeah, I'm not losing anymore. Not to this."
I applied pressure to my fingers, and a crack spread across the blade of the Sombre Gladius.
Whoops—a little more and it would've shattered.
Arveld asked, a trace of surprise in his voice.
"...What are you?"
"I'd feel bad if I actually broke it."
It was such a lovely sword, after all.
It'd probably sell for a good price.
The arena.
VIP Area.
That moment, Narshes suddenly stood up.
"Divine King Seal!? No way. There's no way—
G
e
n
e
r
o
u
s—the King...!?"
Narshes's words sent the VIP Area into an uproar.
King? What king? A king? A king! The first-class delvers buzzed.
The arena had already been rocked by the exposure of Arveld's quasi-divine Relic.
And on top of that, Wof's [Generous]—those who didn't know were dumbstruck.
Megadia even cornered the unfazed Narshes and Munieka at one point.
Kaede-Akima of "Ittoryoudansai" sat with her legs crossed, watching with an amused expression.
"Sword of Swords" sat beside her, watching.
Tuhha. Saao-in. Gymnema-Sylvestre. John. Kessai.
These ones were all making noise, but Saao-in looked disappointed.
This match is bound by a non-disclosure contract. As a bard, it's the most devastating thing imaginable.
A purple mark had appeared on Wof's forehead.
It was shaped like a pair of almond eyes.
Moreover, Wof's purple hair and eyes had taken on a lustrous shimmer, like a sea of stars.
It truly looked as though the cosmos existed within his hair and eyes.
"—A battle between quasi-deified Relics. What was it called again..."
Alhazrad-Abramilin stroked his beard and spoke.
"
Pseudo-Myth War.
"
Narsis answered. Then she continued.
"But no king has ever joined the fray before. Besides, even if it's a quasi-deified Relic, there's no way a king can exist. So that has to be some kind of mistake. Absolutely!"
Narsis was flustered. She was frightened, too.
"It's already over, but this time the unprecedented just keeps on coming."
No one even managed a wry smile at Alhazrad-Abramilin's jesting remark.
Sombre Gladius had broken.
But when Alverd gave up on it and walked away without a second thought, it vanished.
Was this the same kind of Relic product as the Magic Knife?
"Thousand Crash Impact."
A composite. So it had been hiding a card like this up its sleeve.
Crash and Impact powerful enough to shatter this arena came pouring down on me.
But I was calm.
Thanks to the Deep Still One's effect, I was remarkably composed.
Of course I was. In the end, this was nothing but child's play.
"Banish Lore."
Everything vanished.
"Thousand Brechen."
"Phantasmagoria Lore."
They cancelled each other out. No — Arveld sustained wounds all over his body.
"...I was... overpowered...?"
Oh, Dagaa's here. I could sense her. Arena VIP area. She was among the observers.
On Pakira's lap? Lucky.
Suddenly, my field of vision and thoughts expanded dramatically.
It felt as though the very rank of my existence had shifted to a different dimension.
If I reached out, I felt like I could grab the stars in the night sky right now.
Less than thirty seconds left.
Guess it's about time to wrap this up.
"Dagaa!"
When I called out, Dagaa in the VIP area shot to her feet and headed straight for me.
Sorry for scaring you, Pakira.
"Na!"
She leaped high, spun around, and became a knife. I caught her and gripped the handle — and she transformed.
A strange triangular knife with a hole in the center.
It was a slightly pointed triangle, like an arrowhead, split open down the middle like a two-pronged fork.
And right at the fork's center, a large teardrop-shaped gemstone — the True Eye — gleamed brightly.
This was just like that time with the Minos unit — I got it. I need to enchant it.
"Banish Lore."
The moment I imbued it, a white blade of annihilation extended from the center of the triangle.
"…Thousand Somber Gladius."
A black sword of swirling darkness settled into Arverld's grip.
It was a black blade, its vortex larger than before.
Ten seconds remaining — I gripped the Dagaa knife tightly with both hands and raised it overhead.
We charged almost simultaneously. Running at nearly the same speed.
Normally, I'd be a step or two behind.
We were also about a step or two behind this time… I brought the blade down, and the white and black edges collided.
Twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times. White and black blades crossed, struck, clashed, deflected, parried, and locked together.
White and black crashing into each other. Me and Arverld.
But the surrounding space was cracking and splintering everywhere — was this actually fine?
Five seconds remaining.
If I didn't settle this for real soon, the Pseudo-Deification Relic was going to hit its limit too.
Limit... reverting... three seconds remaining.
I closed the distance and unleashed a rapid flurry of slashes. Pillars of white and black light pierced through the arena.
"Wonderful. Truly wonderful, disciple of the witch."
"It's Wof. I'm Wof. Arverld."
"Wof. Don't you find it sad that this wonderfully meaningful time is coming to an end?"
"Indeed. I'm enjoying myself too."
The arena was visibly warping everywhere. The space itself here felt like it was on the verge of collapsing.
Two seconds left. White and black blades locked together. Dead even. At this rate, I couldn't win.
What do I do? There's no more time. What do I do in a moment like this... what do I do.
Wait. The way things are right now—that's it. I leaped away.
Then, in a single step, I closed the distance to right in front of Arverld and brought the white blade down.
Naturally, Arverld caught it with his black sword.
One second left.
In that instant, right before his eyes, I feigned the downward swing and dropped the dagger-knife.
"—?!"
"Take thiiiiiis!"
The sheer unexpectedness of the move created a momentary gap—a brief opening of roughly one second in Arverld's defense.
I didn't let that opening slip by. [Roar of the
Heavens
of
Arm
Destruction]— I sent him flying with everything I had.
An exhibition match. The move Axe used to punch Ex.
"Graaagh... guaaagh!"
Alveld let out a groan of agony, yet he still didn't fall.
Impressive.
As expected of a Rank 1 delver — "The Ruin Breaker." Alveld von Lutbert.
That's why I kept up the pressure. I never expected him to go down in one hit.
I wrapped Banish around my fist and struck, aiming to drive his chest straight into the ground.
"[Banish Knuckle]!!!"
"Guaaagh...!!"
Alveld cratered into the arena floor and lost consciousness.
And centered on his unconscious body, the arena's space warped and cracked.
And then — the entire arena crumbled to pieces.