The Twilight Spear thrust straight forward.
Exoris deflected the strike with his Magic Sword while pressing ahead.
Closing the distance while deflecting was not a particularly difficult technique.
But that was only true against an ordinary opponent.
Rei's thrust carried a sharpness that seemed to pierce not just the air, but space itself.
Sensing it at point-blank range was something that would normally be impossible.
Yet Exoris, holder of the Ice Blade alias, did exactly that.
Not with any desperate resolve, but as though it came naturally to him.
Exoris closed the distance along the shaft of the Twilight Spear, but in the next instant he caught the sound of wind cutting from his left and leapt away from Rei.
Death Scythe, swung by Rei, passed through the space where Exoris's body had been a moment before.
In the following instant, however, Death Scythe—which should have already swept past—came at Exoris again. He caught it with his Magic Sword half-reflexively, but was blown back all the same. Even so, he twisted his body midair and landed on the stage.
"Tch, how the hell can you swing that huge scythe around so easily?"
From Exoris's perspective, that great scythe was clearly not something Rei could handle casually.
He understood this precisely because he had just blocked the shaft aimed at him with his own Magic Sword.
As a weapon, it possessed an overwhelming, almost unbelievable weight.
Exoris had blocked the strike, but that only meant he prevented a direct hit—he hadn't completely nullified the power behind the blow.
He was sent nearly ten meters from the center of the stage to its edge.
Of course, it was precisely because it was Exoris that he came away no worse for wear.
If it had been any of those who had fought Rei in the mock battles so far, they would have undoubtedly been blown clear off the stage and lost.
Wielding a weapon of such weight that casually was, even in Exoris's eyes, nothing short of abnormal.
If asked whether he could wield a weapon of that weight with the same ease, Exoris would emphatically say no.
Rei received that gaze—practically calling it unreasonable—but showed no particular concern as he swung Death Scythe one-handed.
"Even if you say that, I can do it. That's all there is to say."
Strictly speaking, it was an ability of Death Scythe as a Magic Item—one that made its weight of roughly one hundred kilograms feel nearly imperceptible to Rei and Set alone. But Rei had no intention of going out of his way to explain that.
What kind of Magic Items one assembled was part of one's qualifications as an adventurer.
Of course, Death Scythe was a Magic Item that had come into this world through an unprecedented process—created by Rei together with Set using Beast Magic.
Exoris probably never imagined that Death Scythe had been born in such a manner either.
At any rate, Exoris didn't expect Rei to explain how he had actually obtained a Magic Item like Death Scythe.
What he needed now was to figure out how to attack next—and how to evade Rei's attacks.
"Is that so. Then after this mock battle is over, how about you tell me as a reward for my victory?"
"Not happening. I'm the one who's going to win."
"Oh? I think I'm the one who'll win, you know."
"I understand wanting to say that... but judging from how things are going so far, I'd say I have the advantage, wouldn't you?"
"Right now, maybe. But a match is ultimately won by the one still standing at the end...!"
As he spoke, Exoris hurled ice pillars created by his Magic Sword's ability toward Rei.
The ice pillars were faster than loosed arrows, but the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear Rei swung were faster still.
The ice shattered one after another, but for Exoris, that was all within his calculations.
Even nominally—no, in terms of actual ability—Rei possessed more than enough strength to be called an Alias Holder, so there was no way an attack of this level would be effective.
But if he could block Rei's field of vision even for an instant with the ice pillars, the attack would have served its purpose.
Thus, he hid himself behind the ice pillars as he closed the distance with Rei, then channeled his magic power once more to activate his Magic Sword.
This time, however, he wasn't going for a straightforward attack like launching multiple ice pillars.
(Take this strike. When it lands, you'll definitely be surprised.)
He would channel cold air through the opponent's weapon via the Magic Sword's strike, making them feel the chill.
If he went all out, he could unleash further ice attacks from wherever his blade cut—indeed, that was Exoris's usual tactic—but this was a mock battle, after all.
So he opted for a secondary plan: catching the opponent off guard with cold.
That said, this wasn't a tactic he was using for the first time. It was a method he was well accustomed to.
Any person, if the weapon they were gripping suddenly turned cold, would freeze for an instant—perhaps even for several seconds.
Under normal circumstances, that would be inconsequential. But a single instant in the heat of combat was enormous.
So significant that it wouldn't be strange for the entire match to be decided in that one moment.
That was why Exoris believed he could create an opening sufficient to win without inflicting a fatal wound...
"Gugah!"
The moment he thought his swung Magic Sword had been caught by Rei's Twilight Spear, a violent shock coursed through him. Before he knew it, Exoris was flying through the air.
He kept flying... and even so, the fact that he managed to land at the edge of the stage was likely because he was Exoris, holder of the Ice Blade alias.
If this had been an ordinary adventurer, they would have without a doubt failed to land and crumpled to the ground right then and there.
But even so, reaching the edge of the stage was Exoris's limit. In the next instant, his knee hit the ground, and that movement caused his body to slip slightly outside the stage.
"That's enough! Winner, Rei!"
"Wha!?"
Exoris sprang up from his fallen position in an instant, but just as he regained his stance, the Host's voice rang out, and he let out a cry of surprise.
Why? Exoris was about to shout—but then he noticed that when he dropped to his knee, his body... or more precisely, the leg he had knelt on, had gone outside the stage.
Being knocked to the ground and stepping outside the stage both meant defeat.
Remembering that rule, he exhaled deeply as if to calm the emotions roiling within him.
"My loss... huh."
"Yeah. And my win."
"...Can I at least call it a good fight?"
At Rei's words, Exoris asked as he stood up.
Watching Exoris's demeanor, Rei gave a nod.
"Yeah. I can say for certain it was plenty enjoyable as a mock battle on my end too."
"I see... Then I'll take that as satisfactory."
Seeing Exoris say that, satisfied with Rei's words, Rei said nothing more.
(He was definitely strong. But compared to Reliu, the Gale... he's unmistakably a notch below. Then again, this is a mock battle. Since it isn't real combat, it wouldn't be strange for him to be hiding some of his strength.)
What Rei recalled was Reliu, the adventurer who held the Gale alias, with whom he had conquered a Dungeon a short while ago.
Even among Alias Holders, differences in ability inevitably emerged.
Given that, it couldn't be helped that Rei felt slightly disappointed.
Of course, in the sense that neither had shown their true abilities, the same applied to Rei.
"What a battle! What an incredible battle! The ice pillars unleashed by Exoris of the Ice Blade were nothing short of mesmerizing! And Rei, responding to those ice pillars—no, to the Magic Sword's ability—has firmly demonstrated the caliber of an Alias Holder!"
The Host's voice echoed throughout the arena, and the Audience nodded in agreement.
...Among them, the ones wearing displeased expressions were those who would fight Rei in the next mock battle.
The mock battle between Rei and Exoris had been a spectacular fight.
Naturally, they expected the next one to be just as flashy.
But the fight just now was only possible because they were Alias Holders. As C-Rank Adventurers, they couldn't possibly believe they could pull off the same kind of fight.
They felt genuine envy toward those who had fought before Exoris.
As the adventurers harbored such thoughts, Exoris—having finished his mock battle and his conversation with Rei—passed by them.
"You're next, huh... Well, your opponent is an Alias Holder. Just challenge him thinking of it as getting some training in."
Toward Exoris, who said that, the Fleeing Adventurers harbored resentment that he didn't have to put on such a flashy display, but they didn't voice it.
At the end of the day, it was their own lack of ability that had led to this situation.
"Let's go."
One adventurer muttered quietly, and the others each took up their weapons and advanced onto the stage.
As they faced Rei on the stage... strangely, they felt the anxiety that had been building within them vanish.
(Maybe Ice Blade's words earlier were anticipating exactly this.)
What the Adventurer Man—and his companions around him—felt was the realization that they could test their own abilities against an Alias Holder named Rei.
Just as Exoris had said, they could think of it as receiving training from an Alias Holder.
In fact, being able to train against an Alias Holder was incredibly fortunate, and not something one could normally obtain so easily.
If they filed something like a Nomination Request, that would be a different story—but then they would need a massive reward just to receive that training.
Thinking of it that way, this request—getting paid by nobles to hold a mock battle with an Alias Holder—had nothing but upside for them.
"Next to take the stage... oh, it's the C-Rank party Moonlight Blade, whose ability is well-recognized! This looks promising!"
Listening to the Host's words, the Adventurer Man—the man serving as the leader of Moonlight Blade—thought to himself that it was a bit of a stretch.
They didn't think their own ability was low by any means.
Their current status as a C-Rank party demonstrated that much.
But even so, if asked whether they could put on a fight on par with or exceeding Exoris's, they couldn't possibly say yes.
Thinking so, he nonetheless noticed that part of himself was looking forward to the mock battle with an Alias Holder.
He felt mild surprise at himself for holding an entirely different sentiment than moments before.
He didn't think they could beat Rei, but he had gotten into the spirit of fighting with everything he had and showing off their abilities to the fullest.
"Then, the mock battle... begin!"
With those words, the members of Moonlight Blade sprang into action.
Judging from Rei's responses so far, he often yielded the first move to his opponents.
There was a feeling of being underestimated, but considering the gap in ability between them, they quickly accepted it as only natural.
If anything, they felt that if Rei launched an all-out attack from the very start, they would undoubtedly be trampled one-sidedly without being able to do a thing.
Having partied together for several years, they each understood what they needed to do without any special instructions.
The man with the short sword and the man with the halberd stepped forward, while the remaining two drew their bows from the rear.
The arrows fired as a matter of course traced trajectories that wouldn't strike their companions.
But Rei casually slashed down the arrows with Death Scythe and turned to deal with the enemies closing the distance.
(Setting aside the bows, a spear and short sword... there was also a spear and long sword combo earlier. Is this the current trend?)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei deflected the halberd's strike with the Twilight Spear and dodged the short sword's thrust with a slight shift of his body.
That said, while the man whose halberd was deflected was one thing, the man wielding the short sword had simply had his attack evaded, so linking into his next move wasn't particularly difficult.
The man immediately flowed into his next action, attempting to launch another attack at Rei...
"Guboh!"
The instant he tried to move, Death Scythe's butt cap caught him in the torso and sent him flying.
With a return strike—technically the shaft—Rei similarly struck away the man wielding the halberd, and the two arrows fired as if to exploit that opening were both knocked down by the Twilight Spear.
They were arrows loosed almost simultaneously, but Rei, holding the Twilight Spear in his left hand, dealt with them both at virtually the same moment. Then he closed the distance with the two archers, thrust Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear at each of them, and the mock battle came to an end.