「The title of Crimson wasn’t just for show. ……I’ll say that much.」

After the end of the match, Digma sheathed his magic sword and called out to Rei.

At those words, Rei shrugged his shoulders and extinguished the phoenix with the Death Scythe as he replied.

「This time, it was advantageous for me.」

Glancing around, he could see a large amount of water spread all over the arena.

Right now, members of the management committee were desperately trying to clean it up.

It was only natural as there was still another semi-finals match after this.

No, in fact, it could be said that it was the next match that the audience was looking forward to.

A match with the S rank adventurer, Noiz.

「I certainly wasn’t able to give it my all. I’ll admit that.」

Rei agreed in his mind as he thought about how Digma’s demeanour didn’t change even after losing.

In the first place, the water dragon that Digma had created was only a water dragon in name. After all, it only had its head.

Normally, as his title suggested, he would create an entire dragon from water.

Since Rei himself had used wide area annihilation magic before, it was immediately clear that Digma wouldn’t be able to show his true strength on an arena of this size.

「But……」

As if to interrupt Rei’s thoughts, Digma continued to speak.

「You had the same struggle with the size of the arena, right? In the first place, you couldn’t use your fire tornado either, your specialty.」

「Oh, no well, yeah.」

Rei sidled around Digma’s words.

Although it had been the fire tornado that had led to Rei earning the title of Crimson, it needed Set’s cooperation to create it. So, even if this had been a large plain and not an arena, he still wouldn’t have been able to create it.

(In that sense, it’s not wrong to say the Set and I together were given the title of Crimson.)

Rei thought to himself as he stored the Death Scythe into the Misty Ring.

From the outside, Set was a griffon tamed by Rei, but he knew that Set was created using the Magic Beast Art, which was natural as Rei had been the one to use it. So, to Rei, the two of them made up the titular Crimson.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

Digma asked Rei, as he questioning his behaviour, but Rei quickly shook his head to indicate it was nothing.

「Just a little thought……well, it’s about how to fight Noiz in the match in two days.」

「I see. Well, there’s a slight possibility that Noiz will lose the next match, but the chances……」

「No, that won’t happen.」

Rei swiftly rejected Digma’s thoughts.

For Rei, it was already a certainty that he would fight Noiz in the finals, nothing would change that.

Digma’s eyes widened slightly at Rei’s response, but the next moment, a smile appeared on his lips as he nodded back.

「It’s true that it’s highly unlikely for Immovable to lose in the semi-finals, right? But going by that logic, I think it’s equally unlikely that he would lose in the finals, don’t you think?」

「Normally, that would be the case. However, since I knew I would be fighting Noiz if I made it to the finals, I’ve been preparing for it accordingly.」

「……Is it, wind magic?」

At Digma’s question, Rei shrugged his shoulders.

Rei knew that people assumed he could only use fire magic because of his title and the fire whirl he had created during the Spring War. Not to mention Rei had used the rumors to his advantage.

In fact, it was true that Rei could really only use fire magic.

The difference was that the Death Scythe had skills as well.

Through the Death Scythe, it was possible to use wind and earth magic.

Rei guessed that Digma was talking about the flying slashes and magic shield. He sighed internally as he tried to brush it off on the surface.

Since the Death Scythe’s skills hadn’t been known by others, it could have been his trump card in the fight against Noiz.

However, since he had used those skills……or more accurately, since he had been forced to a point that he had to use them, he had to keep them face up.

(Not watching this match……is impossible, I guess.)

Rei looked towards the room from which the Emperor would watch and saw both the Emperor and Noiz there.

They seemed to be talking about something, but since Noiz was there, there was no way he wouldn’t have seen the match.

「As for the cards in my hand, that’s something to look forward to in two days.」

「Hm? Well, if you say so, I’ll look forward to it. It seems like you have a lot up your sleeves besides wind magic. ……Anyway, that shield was amazing. I never thought it would be able to block the attack of the water dragon.」

「……I guess so.」

Even though Rei replied as such, he was slightly anxious internally.

(It was considered a single attack before it tried to break through the shield by biting it continuously. Considering how the magic shield worked, if it had tried to bite it once and then given up, that would have been considered the single attack and the magic shield would have disappeared after.)

As Rei was thinking about that, the referee, who was watching the two of them, called out fearfully.

「Uh, so, I’m sorry, but we have to prepare for the next match, so it would be a great help if you two could give us some space.」

The reason for his polite tone seemed to be because he was talking to Digma, who was well known within the Bestir Empire. If it had just been Rei, he would have spoken in his usual tone.

「Ahh, I’m sorry……I know I’m the one who created this situation, but I went a little too far. ……Right, give me a moment.」

「Huh? Oh yes, it’s fine.」

Nodding at the referee’s words, Digma took a step forward and spoke out.

『Spirit of water, gather below me.』

With that short incantation, his spirit magic was activated. The water that was still on the arena rose into the air and gathered in front of Digma.

The match was well over, but the still excited audience watched on with various emotions of amazement, admiration, shock, and joy as a large ball of water formed.

As he glanced at the audience, Digma turned to look back at the ball of water again.

A considerable amount of water had been vapourised by Rei’s phoenix. However, there was still enough left over to fill a small pond.

(A phoenix was able to break through this water, huh? He’s extraordinary in many ways.)

Digma glanced at Rei for a moment, the corners of his lips curling upwards as he spoke another incantation.

『Spirit of water, fly into the sky and show your beauty to everyone.』

As the spirit magic was activated, the huge ball of water floating around Digma flew into the sky before instantly turning into mist.

Although it was autumn, the audience, who were all riled up from the match between Rei and Digma, only felt a pleasant coolness rather than coldness.

As the autumn sunlight poured through the mist, more than 20 rainbows could be seen, delighting the eyes of the audience.

「Heh……」

Even Rei, who was close by to Digma, was captivated by the sight.

(Maybe……really, just maybe, there might be a reversal.)

Turning to look at Rei, who was admiring the rainbows, Digma muttered to himself as he thought back to the details of their match before heading back to his waiting room, judging that it wouldn’t be good to dally any longer on the arena.

Seeing that, Rei tried to call out to him, but noticing that, Digma just lightly waved his hands to say goodbye.

In the end, it was only after the rainbows faded that the audience……and the referee, realised that Digma had left.

Quickly recollecting himself, Rei also left the arena, which was being prepared for the next semi-final, Noiz’s match.

Of course, he wasn’t going straight back to the inn. Since today was the last match before he would fight Noiz, he wanted to watch it and analyse his strengths, even if only a little more.

(In the fight with Digma, I ended up showing my Flying Slash and Magic Shield. If possible, I’d like him to reveal something similar, but……well, who knows.)

Rei arrived back at the guest seats as he thought to himself.

Up until now, Rei had mostly watched matches from the general audience seating, but this time, he wanted to watch the fight slowly and carefully, so he wanted to avoid noisy surroundings.

「Hey, Rei. You won beautifully. Here.」

Naturally, it was Elk who called out to Rei as he entered the guest room, throwing a cloth pouch over to him.

Rei confirmed that the pouch was definitely heavier than when he had left it.

(My opponent was a titled A rank adventurer, so even though I also had a title, there were many people who didn’t think a B rank like me could win……or so I guess.)

As he thought to himself, Rei thanked Elk and stored the pouch into the Misty Ring.

He was certainly happy to have made more money, but right now Noiz’s match was more important.

Seeing Rei like that, Elk shrugged his shoulders slightly before speaking.

「Don’t worry. The match has yet to start.」

As Elk said, Noiz and his opponent were still facing each other on the arena.

Rei was a little disappointed that Noiz’s opponent had already been introduced, but Min, who had been watching, spoke up on behalf of Elk.

Right now, Daska, who the two of them were guarding, was surrounded by nobles from countries close to and far away from the Bestir Empire.

Many people had come to watch the fighting tournament, but for the nobles, it was more of a place to socialise.

Additionally, since Daska was someone who had played a huge role in the Spring War, there were many people who wanted to keep in touch with him if possible.

Rei had a smile on his face as he saw Daska, who seemed tired from having the same conversations over and over again, realising that being a noble was also a difficult job.

「Noiz’s opponent is a B rank adventurer who is well known for his magic spear.」

「A magic spear, huh.」

When he heard the words ‘magic spear’, he recalled the face of a sarcastic man who had also used a magic spear, but he quickly shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

What he needed to focus on now was not the past, but the future.

Thinking that in his mind, he once again turned his eyes to the arena.

Then, as if waiting for Rei, the referee announced the start of the match.

The first to move was the man with the magic spear.

He must have judged that he stood no chance of winning if he stayed on the back foot against Noiz. Dashing forwards loudly, he thrust his magic spear towards the waiting Noiz.

However, Rei thought that the man should have been able to make the first move without being in such a rush.

Having seen Noiz fight several times before, each time, Noiz had let his opponent make the first move, instead opting for the counter.

It was the same this time as well as sharp and quick thrusts shot out towards him.

「Is his magic spear wrapped in wind?」

「That’s right. The wind wrapped around it allows him to make wider and more irregular attacks.」

Min replied to Rei’s murmurs as the proof unfolded before Rei’s eyes.

Even though the tip of the spear clearly didn’t reach him, Noiz still swung his sword.

This was followed by an explosive sound.

「I see, that’s it.」

「Yes. It’s possible to extend the attack from the spear tip, or by spreading the wind out from the sides. However, I can only say that his opponent this time is a bad match up.」

Normally, there would be some confusion when dealing with a spear wrapped in wind.

Even if you knew it from watching previous matches, corrections would need to be made after experiencing it for the first time.

However, Noiz was able to respond from the start.

It wasn’t just one time either. In the subsequent exchanges, all attacks were deflected in the same manner.

「It’s true that his opponent is just too bad of a match up. If it had been someone ordinary, he wouldn’t have had this much trouble.」

As Rei muttered, the man with the magic spear was frantically attacking Noiz.

When the main tournament had started and Noiz’s participation was announced, there were surprisingly few people who wanted to defeat Noiz. But, for those who had made it this far, it was only natural that they wanted to find an opportunity to try to win.

In fact, someone without that mindset wouldn’t have made it this far to begin with.

In any case, the man with the magic spear challenged Noiz with all the techniques he knew.

「He’s strong. ……Are you sure you’ll be fine, Rei?」

Rei shrugged his shoulders at Elk’s worried voice.

What Elk meant was that there was no need to fight and win against Noiz, he just needed to draw the attention of the Bestir Empire’s upper echelons.

Rei knew that, but he still shook his head.

「If I’m going to try, I’m going to try to win.」

There was no way for Noiz to hear that.

However, it was true that at that exact moment, Noiz, who had been fighting his opponent on the arena, turned to look at Rei.

His lips curved upwards into a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Either way, as Rei saw Noiz’s smile……the next moment, Noiz’s long sword was wrapped in ice, instantly freezing the arm that his opponent was using to wield the magic spear.

Right after……the longs sword was wrapped in flames as it swung down towards its target.

「The winner is, Noiz!」

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