WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 44

My opponent for the semi-finals was Catalyna Kriger, the woman who had defeated Fay. She and I stood with a ten meter distance separating us. Rainer stood between us but several meters away so he wouldn’t get caught up in our attacks if we started using Spiritual Techniques right off the bat. I stared at the woman. My frown must have sparked her interest.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, smiling.

My frown grew. “You said something to Fay, didn’t you?”

“What makes you say that?” She feigned innocence.

“Call it a hunch.”

Fay’s words after she woke up echoed inside of my mind. While nothing she said had been false, her words weren’t something I could imagine her saying either. This was the girl who had told me that she wasn’t going to give up on me despite already knowing of my love for Kari. A girl like that would not give up so easily. Something had to have happened that made her confidence shatter, and I was positive that something was staring me right in the face.

Catalyna placed a finger against her plump lower lip as her smile widened. “I might have said something, though I didn’t think she’d take my words so seriously.”

I clenched my hands into fists as my arms shook, but then I took several deep breaths and relaxed. Catalyna studied my actions with that curious smile of hers. The look on her face, when combined with her appearance, could probably bring ruin to a nation.

“Are you angry with me?” she asked.

“No.” The tension eased from my shoulders. “Of course not. It was a battle. You are supposed to use every means at your disposal to win.”

Catalyna’s eyes held a mischievous glimmer. “That’s too bad. I was wondering what you would do if you were angry.”

Rainer coughed into his hand as the two of us traded banter. “Can I take your conversation to mean the both of you are ready?”

“I have been ready for awhile now,” I said.

“You know I’m ready,” Catalyna added.

“In that case, this battle is officially underway.” Rainer chopped his hand down. “Fight!”

I wasted no time. The moment the battle had commenced, I used the Flash Step with the intention of appearing right in front of this woman and swatting her with my Dragon Tail Ruler, but she must have expected that. Catalyna spun around in a circle. Lightning shot from her sword and into the ground. When my foot touched the surface, it created a short jolt that traveled into my foot and disrupted my Spiritual Power.

Catalyna wasn’t done.

Immediately after disrupting my Flash Step, Catalyna shifted on her feet and thrust her sword out several times. Six balls of crackling lightning appeared in the air before her. As soon as they formed, she smacked them again with her sword, causing them to turn into powerful bolts of lightning.

Narrowing my eyes, I spread my feet apart, removed the ruler from my shoulder, and danced. I shuffled along the ground, spinning around in circles as I swung the ruler. Lightning flowed through my arm and into my weapon. The segments suddenly unlatched from each other and flew through the air, acting like a dragon’s tail as they smacked into each bolt of lightning, negating them with an even more powerful lightning current.

I retracted my sword and then thrust it forward. It flew toward Catalyna, who merely grinned as she stepped left, and then smashed her jagged blade against one of the segments. Lightning surged from her sword. Arcs of electricity flew off her blade as she gritted her teeth and released a horse cry. My ruler was finally knocked off course. Clicking my tongue, I retracted it, the segments locking back into place.

Wearing a wide grin, she twirled around like a dance, swinging her sword in complex patterns. Each time she did, it formed a line of crackling Spiritual Power in the air. One line became two, two became four, and four became sixteen. Once the number of lines reached sixteen, the crackling power within them was unleashed.

It burst forward like a tempest, a giant wave of pale lightning that suddenly shifted, transforming into a pack of ravenous wolves. They stamped along the ground, lightning exploding from their feet, burning the arena floor.

It was the same attack that defeated Fay. Seeing it again made me see red. I think that was why I responded the way I did.

Lifting my ruler above my head, I channeled water through the weapon this time instead of lightning. My Spiritual Power surged as I created water from my own energy and pulled water from the molecules in the air. Water swirled around the ruler like a whirlpool before agglomerating on the segmented weapon. It hardened, condensed, and then lengthened into a 12 meter long blade that was tall enough to be level with the second tier stands.

“RRRRAAAAA!!!”

I swung the weapon down, slicing through the Lightning Wolves Asunder Technique like it was made of parchment. Catalyna was quick to jump out of the way. However, even if she avoided my initial attack, which had been long enough to reach her, she couldn’t avoid the water wave that was created when I channeled even more Spiritual Power through the blade. The massive wave slammed into her, sending her tumbling across the ground before rolling to a stop. She luckily didn’t take any damage thanks to her Spiritual Aura. Even so, as she looked up at me, her face finally displayed something other than arrogance.

Shock.

I was in no mood to deal with her.

Letting go of the water element, I channeled lightning into my fist, and then slammed it into the ground. A powerful ripple spread across the surface. It didn’t do any damage, but it did negate Catalyna’s first lightning technique, which stopped me from using the Flash Step.

Catalyna was just standing up when I appeared in front of her. She was lucky enough to have kept a firm grip on her weapon, which allowed her to block my first swing. Sparks flew as I slammed my blade against hers. The strength of my swing was enough to make her stumble backwards. I took another step forward and swung from her side, but Catalyna didn’t allow it to hit her. She had realized from my first attack what would happen and backpedaled instead.

I stomped my foot on the ground.

Several spears made of water shot from the ground and tried to impale her, with the first one actually breaking through her Spiritual Aura. Sadly, her reflexes were quite impressive. Even though she was surprised by the sudden attack, she increased the speed of her backpedaling and twirled around to avoid them.

Clicking my tongue as the distance between us increased, I tossed my ruler in the air, caught it by one of the segmented ends, and then threw it at her. I didn’t think Catalyna’s eyes could get that wide as I chucked my weapon at her. She avoided it by twisting her body violently to the left. My weapon struck the ground behind her, piercing it and sinking into the hard surface with a loud cracking sound.

And then I used the Flash Step again.

This time, I was right behind her. I reached out with my hand and summoned lightning to my fingertips. The ruler shook a little before it flew out of the ground and toward me. I caught it by the hilt and, keeping a firm grip on it, I swung the ruler at Catalyna with nothing but brute strength.

My attack struck true this time, and as Catalyna opened her mouth in a silent scream, I felt a moment of satisfaction. The moment passed as the woman was sent rocketing across the arena floor. She slammed face first into the ground, and then tumbled head over heels. I could almost hear the sound of her bones being jostled as she struck her head against the ground several times before stopping.

Her Spiritual Aura was already gone, having been destroyed when I struck it with my ruler. I was sure she could make it again, though. She was still conscious.

Catalyna pushed herself onto her hands and knees. She winced several times as she turned over and sat on her backside. I finally got a good look at her face, which was covered in bruises, dirt, and bleeding from the nose. She reached out to touch her nose and didn’t flinch when she cracked it into place. Even though I didn’t want to, I felt my respect rise for her a little. I hadn’t held back that much when I attacked her.

“You really don’t know how to hold back.” She winced.

“I apologize. I lied back when I told you I wasn’t upset.” I smiled at her. “I am angry at you. Very angry.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Catalyna giggled like a girl in love, which caused me to frown. “Well, this is what I asked for, so I can’t complain. Anyway, I forfeit. I realized after fighting against you these last few minutes that I don’t stand a chance if you decide to get serious. This fight is yours.”

Despite the fact that she had just surrendered the match, Catalyna didn’t seem very depressed. Her cheeks were a tad flushed, an enchanting smile lit up her face, and there was a glazed over look in her eyes. It was a dangerous expression. Warning bells were going off in my mind.

“The winner of the first semi-finals match is Eryk Veiger!” Rainer announced.

The crowd cheered and screamed out my name, clapping and stomping their feet, but I could hardly be bothered to pay attention. My mind was still reeling from everything. Fay’s words back in that room, Kari’s tale and desire to have her best friend back… all of it weighed heavily on my mind like an anvil.

Catalyna stood up and limped toward the entrance. One of my attacks must have damaged her left leg.

“The last match of the semi-finals is between Kell Kriger and Torgny Leucht,” Rainer stated. “Will the two of them enter the arena?”

I walked out of the arena and down the hall. Two people passed me while I was on my way to the waiting room.

The first person was Torgny, who merely snorted at me as he walked by. The second was Kell.

Kell was not a very large man. In fact, he was quite thin. He had a feminine face and a lithe, graceful figure that made him seem a little womanly. Add in his long hair and it was easy to mistake him for a woman if you didn’t notice his Adam’s apple. He wore armor similar to his sister. The gleaming breastplate on his chest looked freshly polished. Shoulder pauldrons fit snugly together against the segmented armor that ran down his arms. Unlike Catalyna, who used a sword, he had no weapon. Several plates jutted from his knuckles.

“That was a good fight you had with my sister,” the man complimented as he walked by. “Wait for me in the finals. I’d love to have at it with you.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I realized the entire Kriger Family was full of nothing but battle maniacs. Silently making my way back to the waiting room, I entered and looked at the people inside. Most of the people who’d lost were still around. Only a few seemed to be missing probably due to their injuries. These Spiritualists who’d proven themselves to be among the elite were not so thin-skinned that a loss would keep them from watching the rest of the battles. After all, there was no telling what you could learn simply by observing how others fight.

Dante was standing by the place that Fay and I had been using to observe the battles.

“You really don’t hold back even against women, do you?” he said as I walked up to the window and leaned against it. Torgney and Kell were already in the arena.

“Would you hold back against Empress Hilda if she asked you for a spar?” I asked.

“Good point.” Dante chuckled as a slight blush crossed his face. “That woman would never forgive me if I took it easy on her—not that I can actually afford to take it easy on her. Even when I go all out, I can never win a single match.”

“How strong is Empress Hilda?” I asked.

Just as I asked that question, Rainer shouted the word “Fight!” and the battle began. Neither Torgny or Kell wasted any time. Their Spiritual Auras appeared, a brilliant red and yellow respectively. Crackling lightning slammed against exploding fire in a battle for dominance. The two opponents were clearly sizing each other up.

“That’s a good question.” Dante crossed his arms and hummed as he looked out the window. “To be honest, I don’t think I could give you an accurate estimation of her strength. That said, I can tell you that she can defeat any one of us in a one-on-one or two-on-one match. The only time my fellow husbands and me have ever won against her was when all three of us teamed up together. Even then, she gave us a run for our valis.”

I nodded while watching the battle as it commenced. The pair retracted their aura, encasing themselves in it like an extra set of armor. Torgny slammed his battle ax into the ground, splitting it up and causing several fire pythons to burst out and slither toward Kell, who moved his hands in circular patterns. I was not surprised when several orbs of lightning appeared around him and shot forward, striking each of the pythons and blasting them apart.

“That explains why Kari is so strong,” I said.

Dante looked at me like I had said something weird, but he didn’t contest my words, instead turning to the battle and watching it in silence.

Kell raced forward and closed the distance between him and Torgny. Lightning coated his fists and legs as he launched a series of rapidfire kicks at his opponent, who used his ax to block them. That was not the best idea. That ax was made of steel, which conducted electricity. However, it seemed Torgny had accounted for that. The lightning traveled down his blade, but it dissipated near the hilt.

“I thought the hilt of his ax was wrapped in leather, but it appears to be an insulation material that negates lightning,” I muttered. “I wonder if he came knowing he’d be fighting Spiritualists with a lightning affinity, or if he was just prepared for any eventuality.”

Dante shrugged. “I couldn’t say, though I’m impressed you noticed how he negated that lightning right away.”

Torgny pushed Kell back, but all that did was cause the nimble young man to launch himself into a series of back handsprings. What was more, each time he flipped back, he released lightning from his legs, which shot at his foe like a lance. Torgny managed to prove his metal by blocking each attack. Even though his hilt was wrapped in insulated material, he was still pushed back.

As he finished his last back handspring, Kell slammed his hand on the ground. A wave of lightning rose into the air. It was at least two meters tall, which I suppose was fairly impressive for a C-rank Spiritual Technique that hadn’t been mastered. The wave rushed toward Torgny. 

While it looked like the other man was in dire straits, the Leucht Family’s greatest Spiritualist of the younger generation grabbed his ax by the center and began spinning it. As he did, fire erupted from both ends. It formed a pinwheel shape, which then extended even further, creating a wall of rotating flames. The lightning slammed into the rotating fires. Angry noises appeared to erupt from the lightning as it ground against the fire, as though it was upset at not being able to pierce the flames, but then Torgny let out a roar and his Spiritual Power erupted. The intensity of the flames increased before the lightning attack exploded and vanished.

“That boy has quite a bit of power,” Dante said. “I think among the younger generation, he is the one who has the most Spiritual Power.”

“No.” I shook my head. “He might have a lot, but Fay and Kari have more than him. Finn also has more Spiritual Power than Torgny, but he doesn’t have the benefit of belonging to a noble family like the Leucht’s.”

“You think Kari has more Spiritual Power than Torgny Leucht?” Dante looked like I’d knocked him for a loop.

“She has two times more Spiritual Power than that ape does.” I gave the man a look as though daring him to contest me on this.

“Now don’t give me that ‘I’m gonna kill you for insulting my girlfriend’ look.” Dante raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I mean, you’re right. I was just shocked that you were able to notice.”

“Hmph.” I tugged at my bangs. “Kari is the woman I’m hoping to eventually marry. Why wouldn’t I know something like that?”

“Hoo boy. You’re already thinking of marriage, huh? I had no idea you were that serious about her.” Dante rubbed the back of his neck, appearing distinctly uncomfortable by my words.

I shrugged. “Kari is the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with.”

“I am amazed you can say something like that with such a straight face.”

The battle in the arena was heating up even more. Torgny swung his ax again and a wave of fire erupted and slammed into Kell, but it was blocked by a barrier that had been erected at the last moment. Kell had formed the barrier by using clockwise and counterclockwise rotations with his hands. It was an impressive oval shaped barrier, but it only covered the front. It could not protect his sides.

The heat from Torgny’s technique must have been exceptionally impressive since it caused Kell’s clothing to burn. When his clothes burst into flames, Kell’s attention was torn from maintaining the barrier, which caused it to flicker. Torgny rushed forward in that moment. While Kell did try to resurrect the barrier, I already knew it would do no good. The ax sliced through the yellow barrier and crashed into the ground, but then Torgny swung the ax upward from the ground without pause and it slammed into Kell, lifting the man off his feet. It was a good thing the man had armor, or that attack would have hurt even more.

“The winner of this match is Torgny Leucht, who will be going on to the final round of the Spiritualist Grand Tournament!” Rainer announced to the cheers of the crowd. “We will now be going into a short, half an hour remission so our Spiritualists can repair the damage done to the arena. Please use this opportunity to stretch your legs.”

With nothing left to see, I sat down, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. I might as well meditate for the next 30 minutes.

***

“It seems that young man of yours is still hiding a lot of his strength.”

Kari glanced at her mother. The battle between Torgny Leucht and Kell Kriger had ended, and there was a 30 minute intermission while the damage done to the arena was being repaired. Several Spiritualists who specialized in the earth element were fixing the holes and cracks on the walls and floor.

“What makes you say that?” asked Kari.

“I noticed it before but didn’t think much of it at first.” Her mother paused and narrowed her eyes. “However, after every battle he’s been in, Eryk Veiger has not been out of breath or even so much as broken into a sweat once. None of these battles have caused him to really exert any effort. Even that last one against Catalyna seemed more like him venting his frustrations than him trying hard.”

Kari had noticed that as well, though she hadn’t said anything. She was not surprised her mother had also noticed. Empress Hilda had gone from being a commoner to the empress because of her incredible powers as a Spiritualists and her martial abilities.

“Do you know how he became that strong?” her mother asked.

“I do not, but…”

“But?”

Kari bit her lip as she wondered what she should say. Would it be appropriate to let her mother know about the alchemy pills that Eryk had refined for her? He had never specifically mentioned that she should keep it a secret, but at the same time, she felt like telling her mother about them would be a betrayal of Eryk’s trust.

However, she couldn’t keep this a secret forever. Even she knew that much.

“But Eryk is a talented alchemist,” she said at last. “He has been making alchemy pills for me that have helped increase my training. One of the pills he made for me was able to widen and strengthen my Spiritual Pathways, while the other helped make my body stronger and more durable.”

If her mother was surprised, she did not show it. The woman nodded once.

“So I see. I have heard that there was a talented alchemist who suddenly showed up at the Alchemist Association recently. This person brought several new pill recipes that are able to heal a variety of injuries and even temporarily boost a Spiritualist’s power.” She nodded again. “I can only assume that Eryk and this alchemist are the same person. However…” She cupped her chin. “… there are no pills currently on the market that can do what you’ve described. I suppose that means he is keeping those pills for himself and only giving them to you and perhaps Fay Valstine as well.”

Kari gave the woman a nervous stare as she saw the disapproval in her mother’s eyes. She knew that look. This was the look she wore as an empress.

“I shall have to speak with him about keeping such pills to himself when I get the chance,” she said at last.

Kari didn’t say anything, but she prayed that Eryk wouldn’t suddenly find himself in her mother’s grip. No good would come from that.

***

Standing on the arena floor, I reviewed what I knew of Torgny Leucht. He was ranked as one of the top Spiritualists of the younger generation, he wielded a large battle ax like it was an extension of his body, and he had a fire elemental affinity that was fairly strong. In terms of pure power, he was probably the strongest opponent I would face in this tournament.

Torgny was quite a bit taller than myself. I’d say he stood a head and shoulders above me, which was something of a surprise, considering my own not-inconsiderable height. While it wasn’t something to brag about, I was generally one of the taller people among those I met.

He was also a lot more muscular than I was, with broad shoulders, a thick chest, and arms bigger than my head. He looked like someone who spent all his time training and eating raw eggs for nutrients. While he was wearing shoulder pauldrons, his arms were laid completely bare, allowing me to see their veiny exterior.

“You are an incredibly troublesome person,” Torgny said to me before the battle had begun.

“Is that so?” I frowned. It sounded like there was a double meaning in his words, but I couldn’t figure out what. I didn’t think he was talking about how I’d stopped Grant Leucht from continuing to seek Kari’s and Fay’s hands in marriage. “Well, I think you’re pretty annoying as well.”

“Hmph.”

“I’m guessing you two are ready?” Rainer asked, his voice just a touch dry. Neither of us said anything, but we did nod to signify our readiness. “In that case, the final battle of the Spiritualist Grand Tournament has now commenced. And… FIGHT!”

I had already decided not to hold back too much in this battle. While I did want to keep some abilities secret in case things went south for me later on, I had no intention of letting this battle get dragged out.

As my opening act, I raised my left hand and pointed my index and middle finger at Torgny. There was no warning as a beam of condensed lightning and water burst from my fingertips. It sped toward Torgny, whose eyes bulged from their sockets as he leapt out of the way. I clicked my tongue and moved my fingers, willing the beam to curve around and attack again.

I had to give Torgny some credit. He had great instinct. He turned around the moment my beam curved back toward him. Shuffling his feet, he raised his ax above his head and brought it down, his blade igniting in a blazing fire. My beam was split in half. With a frown, I dismissed the condensed beam of energy.

Then I used the Flash Step.

Appearing in Torgny’s blind spot, I swung my ruler at the man’s side, but the Leucht family member responded to my sudden appearance as though he’d known what I would do. He spun around and swung his ax at my head. His body was already engulfed in a fiery aura. However, rather than slicing my head open like a watermelon, his ax flew right through my body, which caused him to stumble forward.

And into my waiting kick.

There was something very satisfying about feeling someone’s nose break under your foot. I wasn’t sure what it was, though it did make me worry that I might have been turning into a sadist. Torgny’s face seemed to cave in as I kicked him with my heel. Then, as if his body was a cannonball fed into a cannon loaded with gunpowder, he flew backward with a loud bang!, skidding along the ground and creating a pair of trenches as his feet dragged across the arena floor.

I was kind of surprised he hadn’t been completely blasted off his feet.

***

“It is just as I suspected,” her mother declared as the battle commenced.

“What is as you suspected?” asked Mikkel. He seemed to be the only one among her brothers who could speak. Geirolf was looking befuddled, while Earland stared at the battle with a strange gleam in his eyes.

“That young man is not using any movements to use a Spiritual Technique,” she answered. “In fact, I wouldn’t even call what he is doing a Spiritual Technique. It is more like he is directly manipulating the elements to do his bidding.”

“But… isn’t that impossible?” asked Mikkel.

“For those who haven’t reached the Third State of Spiritualism, it is most certainly impossible. At the same time, I cannot imagine that someone so young has reached the Third State.” Her mother had a curious gleam in her eyes that made Kari shudder. “This Eryk Veiger really is an interesting character. It is a good thing you befriended him when you did, Kari, otherwise we might have never found out about him.”

Kari didn’t think that was a good thing, but she didn’t say anything and settled down to watch the battle.

***

My attack hadn’t done as much damage as I thought. Torgny’s nose was definitely broken. Blood leaked down it and it was bent out of place, but that was it. Huh. I had been sure that attack would have at least given him a concussion.

While I was wondering why my attack hadn’t done anything, Torgny raised his ax above his head, swung it around in a circle that generated fire, and then slammed it into the ground. The arena floor split open. From the small chasm, which I guessed was about half a meter wide, a massive pillar of fire rose into the sky. It quickly took shape, transforming from a pillar into a gigantic snake that must have been nearly a dozen meters tall. I could feel the heat from where I stood.

This was… yes, it was definitely a B-rank Spiritual Fire Technique.

I wasn’t sure which B-rank Spiritual Technique this was, but I could tell by how much Spiritual Power had been used to form it with Spiritual Perception.

The technique seemed to have tired Torgny out. His shoulders were heaving and sweat poured down his forehead as he sucked in several deep breaths. He must have realized that he couldn’t afford to hold back against me and decided to use his most powerful technique.

“I can’t believe you actually forced me to use this technique,” he muttered, his glare hardening. “However, there is no way I can allow such a dangerous element like you to live.”

His words made me frown, but before I had time to ponder them, the massive snake lunged toward me. The heat emanating from this beast made sweat break out on my skin. It opened its mouth wide as it came closer, as though to swallow me whole. Its mouth was actually wide enough that it probably could swallow me whole if given the chance.

I clicked my tongue.

Setting my left foot forward, I bent my knees and gripped my ruler in both hands. My blade was pointed toward the ground behind me. Narrowing my eyes, I waited until the giant snake was just a meter away, and then I stepped to the left. I brought up my blade as I sidestepped the massive fire snake, swinging it and channeling the water element through the blade.

No steam was emitted from my sword this time. I had condensed the element as much as I could, creating a layer of water so dense that the flame serpent simply couldn’t evaporate it. My blade struck the creature’s open mouth, splitting it with ease. The serpent’s body was sliced in half as it continued to move forward, until at last I reached the tip of its tail, separating the entire creature into a bottom and top half.

This technique was quite powerful, as it was able to remain in this world even after I cut it in half. While the top half flew into the air and dissipated, the bottom half struck the ground and exploded in gouts of flame. The power behind the explosion was enough to make my half-skirt and long hair flap around. A searing heat enveloped the arena, forcing me to cover my body with a layer of water to avoid being burned. When the explosion used up all its remaining power and disappeared, I glanced at the damage that had been done.

There was a large crater in the arena floor. It wasn’t the biggest I’d seen created from a Spiritual Technique, but it wasn’t like this crater was small either.

Torgny’s face had gone pale by this point, his skin an ashen color as sweat poured from his face and neck. I wasn’t sure if that was due to fear or the amount of Spiritual Power he’d used. Either way, I planned to end this.

“It’s over,” I said.

“Damn it! Damn it! Not yet!” Torgny reached into a pouch at his hip and pulled out several pills, five of them, which I recognized quite well. They were the Tender Healing Pill, Spiritual Booster Pill, Temporary Enhancement Pill, Endurance Pill, and Elemental Pill. He shoved all of them into his mouth and swallowed them.

I grimaced. Was this man an idiot, or was he just desperate?

Almost as soon as he swallowed them, power exploded from his body. The Spiritual Booster Pill had caused his Spiritual Power and Spiritual Aura to skyrocket, easily doubling what it had been before. Furthermore, the Tender Healing Pill had healed his broken nose, while the Endurance Pill had given him more physical energy.

“There is no way I will allow myself to lose to the likes of you!” Torgny shouted as bent his knees and pushed off the ground. The power behind his lunge caused the ground beneath his feet to crack. He appeared before me in the blink of an eye, so fast I doubted most people could keep up with him, his ax raised above his head and coated with intense flames. That would be the Elemental Pill at work. “It is time for you to die!”

“So stupid,” I sighed as the man swung his ax down.

I raised my hand.

And caught the ax by the blade.

“W-what?” Torgny seemed confused as he tried to bring his ax down on my head, but my hand wouldn’t budge. I was digging my fingers into his ax, using the water element to not only keep myself from being burned, but also to drill my fingers into the ax itself.

Cracks began forming on the ax’s surface, spreading out from my fingers and growing in an increasingly large and complicated pattern. I increased the pressure of my grip. This suddenly caused a loud crack! to issue from the ax before, like glass when struck with a rock, the ax shattered into fragments.

“M-my ax!!” Torgny cried in shock.

While Torgny was dealing with the shock of losing his ax, I coated the Dragon Tail Ruler gripped in my other hand with water, took a step forward, and swung. The ruler slammed into Torgny’s stomach. Bile spilled from his mouth as my attack squished his internal organs. A massive explosion of concussive energy detonated between him and the ruler, and then he was launched into the air. He flew back at a speed so fast he appeared as nothing more than a blur. It only lasted for a second, however. Then his body struck the arena wall.

I think I might have gone a little overboard with my attack. The arena actually shook as he crashed into the wall, which dented around his body. The walls of this arena were quite thick, about a quarter of a meter in total, which meant the crater formed around Torgny was probably close to breaking through the wall. My opponent was unconscious, eyes rolled up in the back of his head and mouth wide open, but because of how deep the crater was, he hadn’t fallen to the ground. He was stuck there.

A silence settled upon the Colosseum, one so profound that it seemed almost overbearing. I looked at the stunned face of the audience. Then I looked at Rainer and Valence. While Rainer was showing his shock, Valence, who had been silent for almost the entire tournament, was staring at me like he couldn’t figure out what he was looking at.

“Are you not going to call the match?” I asked Rainer.

“Wha—oh, right.” Rainer coughed into his hand several times, regaining his composure, and then made the announcement. “The winner of the final round of the Spiritualist Grand Tournament is Eryk Veiger!”

No one did anything at first, which I honestly expected, but then someone began clapping. I looked up toward the royal balcony. The person who was clapping was Kari. Another person started clapping soon after her. I recognized Feinrea, sitting in the noble section near several old people, who soon joined her in applauding me. The actions of those two soon became like a tidal wave that swept everybody along for the ride. It wasn’t long before everyone was bursting with applause and cheers.

However, I only had eyes for one person right then.

I stared at Kari. She wore a wide smile as she clapped her hands. Her cheeks were a little flushed, but that only made her all the more radiant to me.

Satisfaction permeated my body. With the conclusion of this tournament, I could finally accomplish one of my most important goals.

Granting Kari her freedom.