The fine autumn weather that had been present for the past few days continued and the sun shone down on the ground today as well.

Not only was the sun shining brightly, there wasn’t a cloud in sight either.

It was as if the sun had claimed the sky as its domain, sitting on a throne.

It almost felt like it was summer as the light beat down mercilessly on the queuing spectators.

「Phew……why is the weather like this today? It’s still early in the morning.」

「That’s for sure. It looks like we’ll be sweating a lot by the time we get into the stadium.」

The audience muttered and murmured, but it was only natural as the temperature was close to 30C, even though it was just before 9am.

Considering it was autumn, it really was unusual weather.

「Maybe it’s because Immovable will be fighting Crimson?」

「That’s impossible……is what I’d like to say, but considering it’s a fight between those two, it wouldn’t be a surprise.」

As the spectators talked while waiting, some saw the heat as a business opportunity. A vendor passed by with a box filled with fruit juice.

The vendor was immediately flooded with orders and the fruit juice sold out in an instant.

The fruit juice itself was warm since there was no magic item to keep it cool, but those who bought it still quenched their thirst happily.

……In fact, the vendor was a member of the management committee, but few people knew that.

「Anyhow, today is the last day of the fighting tournament.」

「Yeah. This year’s tournament has been exciting in many ways. I never expected that Crimson would be participating.」

「That’s right. I’m sure many people have their own thoughts, but when you see his strength.」

A man murmured while moistening his throat.

The festivities were coming to an end. With that in mind, he turned their gaze towards the spectators lining up towards the stadium, looking somewhat forlorn.

Even though there was still an hour before the stadium opened, the line was already quite long.

The people in line, he included, trembled with excitement as they thought of the last and greatest match of the tournament that they had come to watch.

「I don’t know who will win, but it will definitely be exciting.」

As the man muttered out loud, the person he had been speaking with earlier nodded in agreement……

「Hmph, I wonder if Crimson will be able to defeat Immovable. He’s an S rank, right? Crimson is only B rank……he should know his place.」

Another man spat in disgust.

Seeing that, the other two were able to make a general assumption. Perhaps someone the person had known had died during the Spring War.

Although they thought that, they didn’t object.

Fortunately, none of their acquaintances had taken part in the Spring War, but they still understood there was no point in pushing the matter further.

(Maybe they just came to see Rei lose very badly.)

Muttering to himself, the man patiently waited for the stadium to open while enduring the sun’s rays.

 

 

It might have been as hot as midsummer outside, but inside the stadium……especially in the participant waiting rooms, magic items kept it cool and comfortable.

Of course, if it had been the waiting room for the qualifying rounds, it would have been as comfortable, packed with so many people. However, Rei’s waiting room was currently as well equipped as the inn rooms in the Eternal Sky Pavilion.

……That said, in Rei’s case, with his Dragon Robe, that automatically adjusted the temperature around him, it didn’t make much of a difference to his comfort.

There was even a very expensive magic item in the room that had the functionality of a refrigerator, there was even ice in it.

The treatment was unbelievably good compared to when he had participated in the qualifying rounds, but that was probably because it was now the finals.

「……About an hour left, huh.」

Looking at the clock in the room, Rei closed his eyes.

As he searched for signs of people around him, he was able to detect several presences centered around his room.

There were members of the tournament management committee, escorts of the many royalty and nobles who had come to watch the finals and, above all, there were those who seemed like thieves or assassins.

(Are they still planning to mess with me afterwards? Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about the current situation.)

There were many skilled soldiers stationed inside the stadium right now as bodyguards to protect the royal family and nobles, so if any assassins took action now, there would definitely be a commotion.

They would also have had to deal with many people other than Rei.

Even though Rei might have a hard time on his own, if things turned out like that, there was no chance of a successful assassination.

(I guess that’s why things won’t be able to stop once it gets that intense.)

Collecting his thoughts, he opened his eyes as he stood up.

Just like that, he spread his legs wide and placed a hand on the ground. Next, he leaned back and began flexibility exercises to loosen up his body.

1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes……as Rei continued to do his flexibility excersises, his movements gradually became smoother.

That said, althought his movements did become smoother, it was only slightly.

However, Rei understood that even the slightest difference was enough to determine victory or defeat in the moment. In addition, today, he would be fighting against a more capable person than himself. It was only natural to want to take on the challenge in as good a condition as possible.

Perhaps believing his body had warmed up after excersising for a while, Rei began to check the magic items he had on him.

The Shoes of Sleipnir, Misty Ring, Bracelet of Magic Absorption, Dragon Robe, Mithril Knife, and Nebula’s Eye, which he had just bought the day before.

Confirming that all his magic items were in good condition……Nebula’s Eye in particular, he started to pour magic power into it to create arrowheads.

He continued to play with the arrowhead in his palm before it disappeared like mist 30 seconds later.

Once again, he poured magic power to create an arrowhead and, with a flick of his wrist, threw it towards the roughly human shaped target dummy in the room.

With a slicing sound as he cut through the air, the arrowhead pierced the head of the target dummy.

Originally, it was a target meant for punching and kicking. However, an arrowhead now sat in its head.

Then, about 30 seconds later, it disappeared like mist, just as before.

「No issues, huh.」

Rei muttered to himself as he checked his own condition, but by then, he had run out of things to do.

「……Should I do some image training?」

Murmuring to himself, Rei sat down on a sofa in the room and closed his eyes.

The mental image of himself was his strongest self. He was the one who could compete against the Immovable and even defeat him.

With that image in mind, he looked back to all of Noiz’s matches he had seen, to see how the fight would proceed.

Time passed and he was eventually brought back to his senses by the sound of knock on the door.

「Pardon me. Rei-sama, it’s almost time. Are you ready?」

The voice of a member from the tournament management committee could be heard with a different tone than usual, one of respect.

Considering the events of the Spring War, it was an ubelievable attitude.

After all, there were many members who had lost acquaintances and relatives, killed by Rei.

But still……they couldn’t help but respect the fact that Rei had made it to the finals of the fighting tournament, the biggest event to determine the strongest person in the Bestir Empire. Such was his feat.

「Yeah, I’m ready as always.」

Rei replied as he stood up from the sofa he was sitting on.

His expression was already no longer as calm as it was when he was doing image training just a few minutes ago.

No, you wouldn’t notice it if you just glanced over. In fact, the management committee member didn’t notice anything strange about Rei’s behaviour.

However, a ferocious fighting spirit as he prepared to fight the wall or mountain before him was definitely present in his expression.

It was quiet because the fight had yet to start, but when it did, it was sure to explode out.

「……Let’s go then.」

Before leaving the room, he turned around and poured magic power into Nebula’s Eye to create an arrowhead.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw it……and the next moment, it pierced the dummy’s head……and shattered it.

Seeing that, he gave a small nod towards the management committee member, who had a shocked expression on their face, before passing them by as he went towards the arena stage.

 

 

『Alright everyone. This is the final match in this long running tournament. This is trully the battle to decide the strongest in the Bestir Empire……and by being the strongest in the Bestir Empire, the strongest in the world.』

If people from other countries were to hear those words, they would surely object.

In fact, there were quite a few guests from other countries in the stadium’s guest seating that looked uncomfortable when they heard the commentator’s words.

However, as this was the Bestir Empire, the logic of the commentator couldn’t be faulted.

『The fighting tournament has been held over 100 times, but even so, it has probably never been as exciting as this year.』

Normally, the commentator would stir up the audience the audience would get excited.

But today was different.

The audience seating was packed to the limmit and even the VIP seating for the Bestir Empire nobles and nobles from other countries were filled to capacity.

Many members of royalty had come to watch the match along with the Emperor, so there were a large number of people there as well.

Despite this, no one was shouting in excitement in the stadium and although there was some commotion, it was still quiet.

They all understood. The kind of fight that would take place.

It was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it.

As if to break the silence, the voice of the commentator echoed through the arena once again.

『I don’t think I need to give any more detailed explanations. First of all……enter the B rank adventurer, Crimson, Rei.』

Along side the commentator’s voice, multiple balls of light danced around the player entrances.

The production was the same as in the semi-finals, but the design had been changed to be more luxurious, flashy, and eye catching.

Rei appeared from within the countless balls of light as not just 7 but more than 20 colours danced around.

The sight of him holding the Death Scythe in his hand and wearing the Dragon Robe was already something the tournament spectators had seen many times before.

『With that scythe that cuts through everything and fire magic that gave him the title of Crimson, his ability to get this far is real. In the semi-finals, he defeated the Water Dragon, Digma, to advance to the finals. I’m sure many people were expecting this scene from the moment they heard he would be participating in the tournament.』

As Rei listened to the commentator, he lightly jumped onto the arena.

He carried the Death Scythe on his shoulder and his gaze was directed straight toward the entrance opposite the one he had come out from, as if the match would start at any moment.

『As for the one facing Crimson. Since he entered the tournament, it is safe to say it was decided that he would make it this far, even more so than Crimson. With his overwhelming power, he has made it to the finals……the hero of the Bestir Empire, the S rank adventurer, the Immovable Noiz.』

With those words, balls of light in countless colours, similar to when Rei entered the arena……no, even more flashily, danced around.

Then, what emerged from from the dancing balls of light was Noiz, who walked forward calmly without and expression of surprise.

However, his appearance was completely differen from the one he had in the semi-finals.

Visually, he looked the same, with leather armour made from monster skin and a sheathed long sword at his waist. However, the equipment itself was different.

Everything was clearly a few levels better than the equipment he had worn in the semi-finals.

It seemed like others had begun to notice as well. Some members of the audience broke the silence as faint murmurs spread out.

Ignoring the noises around him as if they didn’t exist, he continued moving forward, making a soft leap and landing on the arena.

Just by seeing that movement, Rei understood.

He thought that it would be difficult for him to defeat Noiz, the man standing before him.

However, difficult didn’t mean impossible. Rei had told himself if he made the most of his own advantages, the chances of him winning were slim but not zero.

As Rei was thinking of that, Noiz stopped on the arena.

The two fo the faced each other center stage.

「You’ve come this far after all. I expected this from the moment we met on the street.」

There wasn’t much change in his expression, but he had a slight smile on his lips as he pulled out his magic sword he had used in the semi-finals from the sheath at his waist.

「Should I say I’m happy to hear that?」

Although Rei responded as such, he was aware of the sweat in the palm of his hands as he held the Death Scythe, built up from the tension and pressure from the person in front of him.

Noiz didn’t reply to Rei’s words.

『Let the best man win. Match, start!』

With a short voice from the Emperor, the finals of the fighting tournament began.

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