Following the previous day’s cloudy weather, it was raining today. However, not just the arena, the entire stadium was covered in some sort of field that prevented even a single drop of rain from getting in.

In the arena, Rei was facing down Gander.

Gander was clad in metal half plate and held a halberd in his hands, the same equipment he had used to fight Vacyul. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit as he stared at Rei.

In this situation, he didn’t have the same composure as he did when he was dealing with Vaycul.

He must have been aware that the person standing before him was an extraordinary opponent.

『Now then, it’s the fourth round of the fighting tournament, the next match will be between Rei and Gander. The highlight of this match is that both sides use long handled weapons. We are looking forward to a heated battle that will blow the clouds away from the excitement. Rei has an unorthodox, free spirited, fighting style while Gander has been trained on the methods of combat for many years. Personally, I’m paying attention to Gander’s ferocious fighting style.』

The voice of the commentator stirred up excitement in the audience, which rapidly grew, following from the excitement of the previous match.

「I see. Facing you like this now, I can see that you’re strong.」

Gander spoke as he held his halberd and Rei replied as he held the Death Scythe in return.

「It’s an honour. However, my current strength is not enough. If possible, please fight for as long as you can.」

「Hah-! I never thought you’d say something so arrogant to me. That’s funny.」

Gander looked at Rei with a ferocious smile, as if radiating pressure.

「I do know that you’re strong. But that doesn’t mean I’m weaker than you. You might have the title of Crimson, but……I will defeat you here today!」

With those words, Gander swung his halberd in a bold manner.

The signal for the start of the match had yet to be given, but perhaps because it was part of a performance, there was no warning given by the referee.

As if to counter Gander, Rei also swung his Death Scythe around with such force that it seemed to cut through the very air.

Seeing that the referee judged it would be better to start the match early. He announced the start of the match in a voice that could be heard throughout the stadium.

「Match, start!」

『WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!』

With the cheers of the audience behind them, Rei and Gander both stepped forward.

As they closed in on each other, they swung both their weapons against each other.

The sound of metal colliding echoed out as both Rei and Gander distanced themselves from each other at the same time.

As they both readied their weapons and looked for an opening, a puzzle expression appeared on Gander’s face for some reason.

However, he didn’t voice his question as they clashed again.

Both weapons made wide swings, attacking their opponent from up, down, left, and right.

Both sides blocked, repelled, and evaded attacks and the battle unfolded center stage with neither party taking a step back.

Meanwhile, Gander’s expression became more grim with each exchange.

But, regardless of what he thought in his heart, his halberd’s movements didn’t slow down as he slammed it towards Rei.

Sweeping up, Rei deflected the attack that was slamming in from his side and used that moment to spin the Death Scythe in his hand, the huge blade threatening to pierce Gander’s body from below.

「Tch-!」

Gander blocked the attack by moving his halberd close to him. The reason he was able to determine the attack could be blocked was due to his experience from repeated battles over the years.

It wasn’t the wrong decision to make. No, it was the best choice given the situation. ……Except that Gander’s opponent was Rei.

「NUOOOOOOOH-!?」

The scooping attack lifted Gander’s body and halberd 3m into the air.

Although Gander wasn’t a giant……he was still considerably bigger than Rei at a height of nearly 2m. As could be seen from the way he freely manipulated his halberd, with his muscular body and armour, his total weight had to be well over 200kg.

The fact that Rei was able to send him 3m into the air with just one swing showed how physically strong Rei was.

However, as a strong fight with a history of victories, Gander righted himself in the air and landed on both his feet.

The fact that he had been thrown into the air and that Rei didn’t chase after him meant that he luckily put some distance between them.

However, Gander’s expression wasn’t one that was happy at his fortune. Rather, if anything, he looked quite moody.

「……What are you trying to do?」

While readying his halberd, Gander spoke to Rei with a deep growl.

In response Rei spoke with barely a change in his expression.

「What do you mean?」

「That’s right. ……That scythe is a magic weapon, right? But it doesn’t seem to be empowered by magic. Or is its ridiculous weight its effect as a magic weapon?」

Rei was a little surprised by Gander’s words.

Indeed, as he had said, Rei hadn’t been putting any magic power into the Death Scythe. That was why Gander’s halberd, which wasn’t a magic weapon, had been able to properly clash against the Death Scythe.

「Well, who knows. However, if you want the answer, you’ll need to push me further. Then, you might just find out.」

Those words clearly showed that Rei wasn’t taking this seriously.

This time, the restriction Rei had set on himself was to 『Defeat Gander without putting any magic power into the Death Scythe』. That was the reason for how he was fighting.

Rei had given himself this restriction as Gander was using a similarly long handled weapon.

「Fine. If you’re going to do that, then let’s bring out the depths of your strength!」

Turning his anger into strength, Gander gave a shout as he dashed forward, even faster than before, closing the distance to Rei.

Then, a series of attacks with his halberd began.

Rei used the Death Scythe to block, deflect, and parry the attacks, which came in faster, sharper, and stronger than any of the previous attacks.

Even as the blood rushed to his head, Gander didn’t make any forced movements as he knew the limits of his own strength. At the same time, he also knew that it was dangerous to let his anger get the better of him in a fight.

「Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on? Are you just going to defend?」

The halberd flew in towards Rei’s side. As Rei deflected it with the Death Scythe, Gander used the momentum to spin around on the spot as he released a thrust.

Rei caught the thrust with the shaft of the Death Scythe and parried it as he swung the scythe back at Gander, who momentarily lost his balance.

Gander dodged that attack, which would have easily sliced either or both of his arms if it had hit him, by crouching down to an almost sitting position.

Then, he fired an attack towards Rei’s feet.

「Naive!」

Rei method of defense against this was to thrust the shaft of the Death Scythe into the ground.

At that moment, a high pitched metallic sound rang out as the halberd and the Death Scythe collided……

「U……ryah-!」

As if to return the halberd attack he had just received, Rei used his strength to forcibly retaliate.

After taking the attack, Gander felt his body floating in the air for a moment. However, he immediately swung his halberd, causing him to land back onto the arena.

「As I thought earlier, you can easily send me flying with that small body of yours. Maybe that’s the effect of that scythe?」

「Who knows. Let’s just say……you’re not too far off the mark.」

It was an attack made with the combination of Rei’s physical strength and the weight of the Death Scythe. Although the Death Scythe’s weight wasn’t due to magic power, it couldn’t be denied that it was a characteristic of the Death Scythe.

「Hmph, well, that’s fine. Either way, I’ll still win by bringing out your power.」

「When you sleep talk, you do that after falling asleep, right? No, even if you are asleep, it’s still annoying to hear.」

「I’ll show you whether I’m talking in my sleep or not. With my power.」

Even as they taunted each other, they held their weapons at the ready, waiting for an opening.

As Gander lowered the tip of his halberd, almost to the point of touching the stage, Rei took a high stance, waiting for the moment to swing the Death Scythe down.

Seeing that, Gander prepared to strike with the tip of his halberd and Rei brought the Death Scythe down so he could strike it away.

While engaging in such exchanges, they intentionally created openings to invite each other to attack, using it as a decoy and a trap.

Such exchanges continued for a few minutes. From an outsider’s perspective, it was only a few minutes, but for the people involved, the mental strain was huge.

It was particularly tough on Gander. Even though he was barely moving, sweat was beginning to form on his face.

(This kid……he’s not just talk. With this level of skill, he deserves his title. ……It’s hard. He doesn’t seem to be tired at all in this situation. Mentally……am I the one who is cornered?)

Seeing Rei barely show any signs of fatigue, Gander clicked his tongue as he braced himself and took a deep breath.

Even then, he didn’t let Rei see it. This was because if he was attacked while taking a breath, his reaction would be delayed for a moment.

It would have been fine if his opponent had been some small fry, but even a momentary gap could prove fatal in the face of the monster in front of him.

(Phew……alright. I’m going to be at a disadvantage if I take my time. I’ll just ride the momentum and push through. I hate to admit it, but he’s simply better than me in terms of skill.)

Gander, who had made up his mind, took a deep breath while making sure Rei couldn’t see him……and then dashed forward, closing the distance to Rei.

「UOOOOOOOOOH-!」

The attack with his halberd, which was swung with a roar, approached Rei with such force that it was clear it wasn’t an ordinary attack.

Rei used the Death Scythe to counter the attack.

A high pitched metallic sound echoed out, but it was nothing but the herald of the battle that was about to begin.

Kin- Kin- Kin- Kin- Kin- Kiiin- Continuous metallic clashes rang out.

Slashes, thrusts, up, down, left, and right. Rei’s Death Sctyhe deflected all the halberd attacks that came towards him from every direction, even using the gaps in between to unleash counter attacks that cleanly cut through Gander’s armour.

Even without magic power, the Death Scythe’s sharpness was astonishing.

As a result, Gander’s continued attacked did nothing to Rei while Rei’s attacks accumulated damage onto Gander.

Even so, Gander continued to attack without rest, aiming for a reversal against Rei.

Gander thrust out with the spear tip and swept in with the axe head as he used the shaft to swing his body around. However, Rei avoided all the attacks as he continued to counter.

Each time Gander attacked, he would amass more injuries while Rei remained unhurt.

Seeing that, Gander gradually grew impatient.

「UOOOOOOOOOOH-!」

As if to get rid of his impatience, he started to swing his halberd harder, faster, and sharper.

However, all those attacks were in vain as Rei swung the Death Scythe, adding several more injuries to Gander’s hands and feet.

「It’s about time I end this!」

As if to put an end to the dance between halberd and Death Scythe, Rei shouted as he swung the Death Scythe wildly.

Gander was sent flying like a rock due to the sudden increase in power behind Rei’s attack.

Although it was only a single strike, Gander’s limbs were already at their limit as they trembled slightly. He was also exhausted to the point where he couldn’t rely on spirit alone to keep him going.

Despite all that, he was able to block Rei’s attack due to his many years of experience.

That was all true. That was why he was still standing on the arena……but in return, the halberd in Gander’s hand was severely bent at the shaft. It was like a candy bar that had been partially melted.

The moment he turned to look at his weapon, he let out a gasp. His astonishment created an opening he hadn’t shown up until now and with a slight impact to his neck, his consciousness was swallowed up by darkness.

「The winner is, Rei!」

The referee’s voice sounded out.

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