"You useless bastard!"
A huge, bear of a man spat out the curse as he slashed at Kai Heinemann, only to be effortlessly deflected. A swift strike from a wooden sword sent him tumbling across the ground and tumbling straight out of the ring.
"S-Surround him!"
An order rang out in a cracking, desperate voice, and several combatants moved to box him in. But the moment Kai took a single step forward, they collapsed face-first onto the stone, one after another.
"B-Be careful! He's using magic or something!"
Magic? No, it wasn't. His movements were so terrifyingly natural that their eyes simply failed to register them, making it look like sorcery to those green fighters. In truth, Bly could barely track the monstrous path of that blade himself.
All that remained were ranged attacks, but... Bly glanced sideways at Sigma, who, dripping with cold sweat, held his guard and merely glared at Kai. It seemed he intended to observe for now, with no intention of making a move.
"Fireball!"
A man in a navy robe who appeared to be a mage hurled a blazing sphere of flames. Without even bothering to dodge, Kai slowly swept his wooden sword toward the incoming fireball. The wooden blade caught the sphere, redirected its momentum, and hurled it right back at the caster. As if time itself were flowing backward, the fireball flew straight into him. Taking the full brunt of his own spell, the mage was knocked cold and collapsed onto his back.
"M-Monsteeer!"
It was the first time Bly had ever seen a swordsman deflect magic with such sheer, absurd ease. Even Bly's master couldn't pull off a stunt like that. There was no doubt about it—the man was a master. Worse, he was a monster who surpassed even Bly's master.
Now Sigma wouldn't be able to cast magic carelessly either. Or rather, Bly didn't have a shred of confidence they could take Kai down. Just landing a graze against him would be reason enough to jump for joy. That was how vast the gulf was between that monster and Bly.
What should he do? There was no way he could win in a direct clash. Should he team up with Sigma?
No—was that really an opponent a little teamwork could overcome?
Taking even a single step forward would make him that monster's prey. It felt like standing at the edge of a bottomless pit. Gripped by that irrational terror, Bly's legs froze, stiff as stone.
Damn it...
Pathetic. He was utterly pathetic! The swordsmen and mages Bly had always looked down on as weaklings were still throwing themselves at that monster right now. Yet here Bly stood, completely paralyzed. At this rate, he was no better than that rich kid shivering in the corner.
Lately, he had rarely struggled in a fight, and somewhere along the way, he had grown drunk on his own strength.
For the first time, Kai Heinemann came to a halt. Turning toward the blonde woman who had abandoned her duties as emcee to watch in stunned silence, he spoke.
"It's over. Announce the winners."
Before Bly knew it, everyone except Kai, that kid Riku, Bly, and Sigma had either been knocked unconscious or sent flying out of the ring.
"Y-Yeth, thir! Advancing to the finals from Group D are Kai Heinemann, Riku Salvatore, Bly Stamp, and Sigma Rockwell!"
The arena fell dead silent. Without sparing Bly and the others so much as a glance, Kai Heinemann stepped down from the martial ring and vanished briskly into the stone corridor.
Faint murmurs finally rippled through the crowd, quickly swelling into a deafening uproar.
"Bly, what on earth is he...?"
Sigma asked, his face pale and drained of blood. He probably didn't actually expect an answer; he just couldn't help asking out loud.
"Who knows. For now, he's better with a sword than my master. That much is certain."
"I agree. But what should we do? Doesn't this mean we've already accomplished our objective?"
"Yeah. Either way, gathering information is essential before we make contact."
"Still, if we just sit on our hands, other organizations might—"
"It'll be fine. Nobody in this country would ever think to scout a trash Gift Holder labeled 'the world's most incompetent.' Though it's probably only a matter of time."
"True enough. For now, I will forfeit from the finals and return to report to the Tower Master. We must formulate a plan as soon as possible, after all."
"Got it. I'm going through to the finals, though. It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth to drop out just because fear froze me in place. I want to fight him properly, even if I lose."
"Haha! That sounds just like you. Well then, I shall take my leave."
Sigma raised a hand in farewell, leaped down from the martial ring, and headed toward the tents.
That was right. Even if they tried to recruit him now, he would have no interest in an organization that harbored a coward like Bly. He had to show him—the pride and sheer grit of a man named Bly Stamp!
"Just watch me! I'm going to graze his clothes, if it's the last thing I do!"
Of course, he knew full well just how impossible that sounded. Even so, he would see it through.
On his pride as a member of the World Mage Academy Babel!