Mightiest Melee Magician

Altein Stadium.

It became deathly silent, as if it wasn’t filled to the brim with thousands of spectators.

The artifact ‘Mirror of Malleroc’ could be used to show what someone was seeing to others.

Through this artifact stationed in the middle of the stadium, everyone watched the end game of ‘Battle Survival’ with bated breaths and in silence.

There was only one place that held their attention.

It was the fight between Ruin Ardell and Doom Prime.

From the start, this fight grabbed a lot of people’s attention.

There were two main reasons for this.

“Even though they could’ve fought him three vs one, he’s going out of his way to fight it one on one?”

“I think he’s underestimating Doom too much.”

First, even though they were in a three vs one situation, he forced it to be a one vs one.

And second,

“No. Didn’t you see him before? Ruin Ardell is strong enough.”

“That’s true. He completely and perfectly destroyed that 15-person group.”

“Let’s wait and see what happens.”

It was because of the fact that, even though he was up against Doom Prime, Ruin Ardell had shown something extraordinary, and this was heightened by this event being his first public appearance.

Even with just these two factors, there was no denying that this was probably the ‘Big Match’ of this event.

However, this was Altein, the small nation within the Rynac Imperial Federation.

This was practically no different to Doom’s home ground.

“It’s natural. There’s no way that some no-name could be Doom’s match!”

“Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!”

As the direction of the match shifted towards Doom, the stadium was also filled with chants of ‘Doom!’.

Looking at this, Ignit Magic Academy student Jason could only grind his teeth.

“Damn! It’s so noisy. The fight’s not over yet.”

He was right.

The fight was yet to end.

“He needs to win. He promised us……”

Ruin had always turned danger into opportunity.

And he had always kept his word.

He had absolute faith in Ruin, who had removed the nickname of ‘Acadummy’ from them and made the team come together as a whole.

This resolute faith…

“L-look at that!”

Wasn’t betrayed.

Just one scene.

After that scene, the rising spirit of Altein stadium that was filled with chants and cheers became mute as everybody went silent.

No one could believe what they saw.

“……”

“Wait… Wh-what just…”

Some rubbed their eyes while others started questioning if they were hallucinating.

This wasn’t the scene they were eagerly waiting for.

When the unarmed Ruin Ardell charged towards Doom Prime who had his sword raised.

When he didn’t dodge the sword and faced it head-on.

Everyone thought that the fight had ended like this.

But…

The fight had ended for the opposite reason.

“Th-the Sword of Brilliance… was destroyed? With a fist at that?”

When Ruin’s fist made contact with the Sword of Brilliance.

Half of the blade had shattered.

Simultaneously,

“YEAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Everyone sitting down on Ignit Magic Academy’s bench stood up and cheered.

They were hoping for another miracle.

No.

“Ruin! Go finish it!”

They were certain.

* * *

Swords.

Siege Weapons.

Monsters.

Even ‘Dragonkind’.

There was nothing that World Ender Draka couldn’t destroy.

He destroyed everything that stood in his way.

This was Draka’s fighting style.

I could understand now.

I…

The effect of Ring of Invulnerability activates.

The physical attack has been nullified.

I struck head-on the Sword of Brilliance that looked like it would slice me in two.

But the one that broke wasn’t my fist.

It was the sword.

The blade of the Sword of Brilliance broke with a clang and flew off, nicking Doom Prime’s shoulder.

Sheok!

And it got lodged in the tree behind him.

“……”

Doom Prime was as surprised as I was.

The expression as he looked at his blade was as broken as his sword.

When I saw his face, emotionless face…

This became a scene that I would never see again.

“H-how……”

As he looked at his broken artifact with a pale and shocked face, he groaned, clutching his shoulder that was wounded by the piece of broken blade.

“Ack…… How did you do it?”

“……”

I didn’t answer him.

Rather, I asked him something myself.

“You want to be called a magic swordsman, right? But if a magic swordsman doesn’t have a sword… is he still a magic swordsman?”

“……”

Doom tried to cast a spell, getting surprised at my question.

However, there was no magic sword to keep the gap anymore.

I fired like an arrow towards Doom and kicked his thigh.

Crack!

With the sound of something breaking, Doom flipped once in the air before plummeting to the ground.

Then, I struck his chest and overpowered him so he couldn’t move.

“Euk. Kack…”

“Doom Prime. You who have everything in the world, do you know what you are missing?”

“……”

My smile widened as I lifted my fist into the air.

“ ‘Attention is mine. There’s no match for me. I am the greatest under the heavens.’ The arrogance of certainty that these were true was your downfall.”

At my words, Doom furrowed his brow.

To be able to hit this self-centered kid right in the jaw.

How long had I waited for this day?

I didn’t hesitate as I slammed my fist into his jaw.

Bang!

A dust cloud burst up in an instant and a crack in space formed at the center of it.

It was the forced teleportation gate.

“I’ll see you at the banquet hall.”

Just as I finished speaking, Doom was forcibly teleported away.

He was eliminated.

* * *

* * *

“……I-Is it over?”

Seta Malkir let out a heavy sigh as he slumped to the ground.

He muttered while wiping the sweat off his brow,

“Huah… My heart. I was scared that you were going to lose. If you ended up losing, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

I muttered while looking at the trace left by Doom Prime,

“I got really lucky. I nearly did lose.”

Yeah.

I was lucky.

If I couldn’t obtain this ‘Ring of Invulnerability’ from that Altein antique store.

And if the ring didn’t get hit directly by the blade, forcing the ability to activate.

Without a doubt, the one eliminated would’ve been me.

‘I can’t keep relying on being lucky. I’ll need to practice facing against knights.’

Facing an opponent with a sword.

I had felt an overpowering feeling of intense pressure that exceeded my expectations.

I was fortunate that Doom Prime was a magician and thus couldn’t handle the ‘sword spirit’.

If I was facing a real knight……

There was a chance that I would’ve been defeated without being able to do anything.

It was only my strength that was good. I still lacked training……

I shook my head and stood up from the ground.

At that, Seta walked up to me.

“So Ruin. How’s your injury?”

“……”

Injury.

Maybe it was because the Sword of Brilliance was shattered.

But the ‘Mark of Brilliance’ that was lodged in my shoulder and legs had disappeared.

Since I had wrapped those places with bandages, blood shouldn’t be flowing out.

“I think I’m fine. Yeah.”

“Phew…… What a relief. I was worried about what would’ve happened if the blood didn’t stop flowing.”

“……”

This wasn’t the problem right now.

I turned and looked toward Irene.

She was looking at me with a complicated expression and I walked toward her.

And first of all, I apologized to her.

“I’m sorry… for interfering in your fight.”

I had to.

Winning in a duel against Doom Prime.

This was a goal for Irene that was more precious than winning the Battle Survival.

However, I had muddled her attempt.

“If I was to give you an excuse… I couldn’t just sit there and watch you get eliminated. Since I’m… the team leader.”

“Y-yeah! That’s right. I said to go help, not Ruin. We promised each other we’d survive till the end and fight to decide the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, right? It’s not that far away, so it doesn’t feel right to give up like this… R-right?”

“……”

Seta vouched for me,

And while we expected Irene to get mad at us, she looked at us blankly.

Then…

‘Pft.’

Let out a laugh.

“Did anyone say anything? Why are you explaining yourselves?”

“……Eh?”

“Even though it was the fight I wanted, it really was also your fight too. The one who should apologize isn’t you guys, but me.”

Irene stopped laughing and lowered her head.

“The team was put in danger because of my selfish desire. I apologize.”

“……”

“……”

Seta and I just looked at each other.

Was that my expression too?

‘Huh. I wasn’t expecting that reaction.’

Irene faced me and lowered her head again.

“And, thank you. For helping me. To be honest…… I was a little scared.”

“N-no worries. It was the obvious thing to do…… But what do we do now that you can’t fulfill your goal for this competition?”

At my question, Irene gave a cool smile.

“Don’t worry about it. That goal disappeared just then.”

“Yes?”

“My goal changed. It's not Doom Prime, but you.”

“……”

What was this woman?

“It would be pretty difficult to complete it in this competition. However, I’ll never give up. Even after this competition, even after we return to our schools and graduate, I’ll always chase after you, Ruin.”

“……”

The goal of becoming the best among her peers.

Was this the driving force that made her constantly strive forward?

I talked to her with a humoured expression.

“Hm…… It won’t be easy.”

“Naturally. After seeing that fight just now, I already resolved myself, knowing that it won’t be easy.”

“You might end up chasing my back forever. If you approached me by some amount, I’ll run forward by that much more.”

“I’m pretty good at running, don’t you know?”

“Pah!”

I was laughing.

Why?

Irene had definitely declared her challenge against me just now, but why was my heart beating so fast?

“Yes. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Do look forward, because someday, I’ll definitely overcome you.”

Maybe it was because I felt that my relationship with her wouldn’t end after this competition came to a close?

I felt this not just for Irene, but for Seta too.

“There’s not much left for this competition now. After this event finishes, it’ll be the finale.”

“That’s right. I can see the end.”

“We should start cleaning up the game so that us three can duke it out in the end, right?”

“Seta-ssi, do you really think you are our match?”

“Ah, Seta-ssi this, Seta-ssi that. Are we still strangers? Why do you keep trying to draw the line?”

“Pft. I understand, Seta-nim.”

“Keke… That’s better.”

TL/N: -ssi and -nim are both honorifics with respect, but -ssi is a bit more distant. All this time, Irene had called Seta with -ssi but Ruin with -nim. We usually don’t translate these because they don’t fit the setting, but I couldn’t express how close they are now without TLing it literally.

We were already three comrades in arms that shared life and death together.

There was a sense of energy befitting this bond flowing around us.

I truly felt that this bond wouldn’t break easily.

“Ruin. After this competition ends, come visit Oyota.”

“I will.”

Oyota was famous for their martial arts.

And I had felt that I needed more than basic punching and kicking.

I needed a higher level of martial arts.

There really was a possibility of meeting with Seta and visiting Oyota.

I brushed myself off and stood up.

“Ok! If we’re done resting up, let’s get going.”

“Where to?”

I gestured to the center of the island with a flick of my chin at Seta’s question.

I was pointing towards the Central Village.

“Don’t you think we should start wrapping this event up?”

——