Chapter 118: Shadows Maneuvering in the Dark and Black Armor

◆ ??? ◆

There are few people walking in the town at night.

Even within the town, public order is never good.

Instead of monsters attacking, humans attack humans.

“Uii, did I drink a little too much? Well, whatever. It’s to boost my spirits before the match!”

Perhaps returning from a tavern, a masked man staggers along the night road.

His body, forged like steel, warns us of his threat even over his clothes.

However, that is only if he possesses normal judgment.

With a head drunk on alcohol, he cannot make sound judgments.

“Let’s go.”

I ordered my subordinates in a whisper and attacked the masked man from behind all at once.

“Ugya!?”

Pitifully, the man had his consciousness reaped in an instant.

“Good, now you participate in the main tournament in place of this man.”

“Yes!”

I order the subordinate with the most similar physique to wear the mask the man was wearing until just now.

“Keep him asleep until the ritual is over.”

“Understood.”

If we kill him, disposing of the corpse is troublesome. If we are seen disposing of it, it will be trouble, and if left alone, it will start to smell.

Therefore, we decided to keep him asleep only while the ritual is being held.

Since we reaped his consciousness before our figures were seen, there is no worry about our identity being known.

“Alright, we will target other contestants like this.”

“YES!”

We are a special forces unit that came to assassinate the Dragon Emperor.

However, despite participating in the Dragon Emperor Rite to assassinate the Dragon Emperor, due to bad luck in the lottery, we ended up fighting amongst ourselves, and everyone except for three failed to qualify.

It is an unprecedented blunder.

But we will not give up.

Those of us who failed to qualify decided to ambush the contestants participating in the matches and obtain the right to participate in the tournament.

Fortunately, there were many contestants participating with their faces hidden in this tournament.

“Captain, those who attacked a contestant were beaten back.”

“They didn’t make a blunder that would reveal their identity, did they?”

“It seems they succeeded in escaping with the support of comrades.”

“Then it is fine.”

“Also, one of the contestants hiding their face could not be found anywhere no matter where we searched.”

“Oh?”

I show interest in my subordinate’s report.

“Is he a considerable expert, or perhaps…”

Considering a certain possibility, I order my subordinates.

“There is a high possibility that contestant is the Dragon Emperor. As soon as you confirm his figure, mobilize all personnel and track him. Do not engage. Focus on pinpointing where he is hiding.”

“Yes!”

Receiving my order, the subordinate immediately begins to act.

“Now then, let’s carry out the Dragon Emperor subjugation.”

◆

“Congratulations to everyone on passing the qualifiers!”

“CONGRATULATIONS!!”

Everyone raises their cups filled with drinks and toasts.

“We passed the qualifiers without danger.”

“Well, a natural result!”

“If you get too carried away, you’ll lose easily!”

“Hey, hey, the current me isn’t afraid even of S-rank! Aiming for victory!”

“Good grief, this idiot gets carried away so easily.”

Mina sighs at Jairo’s high spirits.

But perhaps because she passed the qualifiers, Mina also looks in a good mood.

“I did it! Passed the qualifiers! I’ll do my best, Father… Master!”

Ryune is also excited about passing the qualifiers.

“Even so, I never thought we could pass the qualifiers of such a large-scale tournament.”

“Yeah, thanks to Rex‘s special training.”

Norb downs his cup as if swallowing his surprise and excitement about passing the qualifiers, and Meguri agrees in a good mood while reaching for food.

“No, this is everyone’s ability.”

“I won’t become conceited enough to believe that. If we were still as we were back then, we wouldn’t even have been able to come here in the first place.”

I don’t think that’s true, though.

Everyone’s aptitude is genuine; I merely accelerated their growth.

“Ah, even so, I want to fight Big Bro quickly! Who the hell is Big Bro’s disguise?”

“Fufu, that’s a secret.”

Yes, I was participating in this tournament in disguise.

Originally, I have no intention of standing out in this life.

For some reason, I ended up promoted to S-rank adventurer despite not doing anything significant, which can’t be helped now, but if I win a tournament like this, the nobles will definitely mark me.

That would be a repeat of my previous life.

So I had no intention of participating in the Dragon Emperor Rite, but Liliera made a suggestion to me.

“You should just disguise yourself.”

If I disguise myself and change my name, my identity as the S-rank adventurer Rex won’t be revealed to the spectators or nobles.

Indeed, that is a good idea.

The Guild Master who requested my participation showed reluctance, but he was convinced when I gave permission to announce “Actually, an S-rank adventurer was participating” after the Dragon Emperor Rite ends and we leave this country.

If the topic is that the true identity of a mysterious participant of unknown origin is S-rank, they might think it’s another S-rank adventurer, not me.

It’s a compromise with the management side who wants to add prestige to the tournament.

“But why keep it a secret even from us? We’re companions, you could tell us.”

Norb tilts his head, not understanding the reason for keeping my identity secret even from them.

“That must be that. Big Bro is keeping his disguise a secret on purpose so we can challenge him seriously! Right, Big Bro!”

“I see. Certainly, if it’s us who know Rex‘s ability, it wouldn’t be strange if we gave up thinking we couldn’t win against Rex.”

“So Rex is participating hiding his identity even from us so Jairo and the others won’t be intimidated.”

“…Yeah, yeah, if you keep winning matches, you’ll definitely be able to fight me.”

…Actually, I hadn’t thought that seriously about it… but yeah, let’s go with that.

“Uwooo! I’ll definitely fight Big Bro!”

◆ Mina ◆

On the day of the match, the venue was bustling with many contestants.

But the bustling of the spectator seats is even more amazing.

“Man, amazing crowd.”

“That’s natural. After all, that Dragon Princess is participating in this tournament.”

Nearby contestants are also surprised by the sheer number of people.

In fact, there are so many people that there are standing spectators.

“That’s true, but a big part of why there are so many people is also because the Dragon Emperor Rite is being held to decide the role of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor for the ritual.”

“Yeah, it’s the first tournament where men can participate. The prize money is an absurd amount too.”

The Dragon Princess Rite held every year is the centerpiece of the festival partly because prize money is paid to the winner, but since it was a women-only tournament, holding the Dragon Emperor Rite where men can participate seems to have caused a big uproar among the men in town.

In fact, Jairo and the others said there were many ordinary men in the qualifiers.

Though, ordinary people who have never fought monsters couldn’t survive a tournament where those truly proud of their skills gather.

Having two tournaments and men being able to participate is amazing enough, but there was another reason why the townspeople were excited.

“Hey, is it true that His Majesty the Dragon Emperor is participating in the tournament?”

“Yeah, the Golden Dragon incident.”

The incident one month ago where the town of Tatsutron was attacked by a massive horde of monsters.

“The guys who actually fought were saying it was strange they survived.”

“To think that Golden Dragon would appear in such a dangerous battlefield. And I can’t believe it fought as if to protect us.”

“And they say a person was riding on that Golden Dragon‘s back.”

Actually, this story is quite famous.

In the first place, on the day the townspeople saw the Golden Dragon for the first time, it was confirmed that a person was riding on its back.

It was fortunate that faces weren’t confirmed thanks to the sun setting at that time.

“There’s only one human who can ride on the back of a Golden Dragon.”

“Right. Only His Majesty the Dragon Emperor.”

The town residents seem to think the Dragon Emperor came riding the Golden Dragon to protect the town.

For us who know the truth, it’s a sigh-inducing story.

And before anyone knew it, a rumor spread that the Dragon Emperor might be participating in this Dragon Emperor Rite.

Good grief, who spread such a rumor?

“The Dragon Emperor Rite and Dragon Princess Rite will now commence!”

The host’s voice echoes in the venue.

“This tournament will hold the Dragon Emperor Rite and Dragon Princess Rite simultaneously at the same venue. However, the matches themselves will be held separately for men and women.”

Well, that’s natural.

Since it’s the Dragon Emperor Rite and Dragon Princess Rite, if they don’t separate matches by gender properly, it might end up with both Dragon Emperor and Dragon Princess being men or both being women.

“Then, the first match of the Dragon Emperor Rite, contestant Tyran versus contestant Salvar, BEGIN!”

◆

The contestant called Tyran was a full-plate swordsman covered entirely in black armor, and the warrior called Salvar was a lightly equipped spear user.

Tyran has black full plate mail, a black cloak, and a full-face helmet so his true face cannot be seen, making his body lines hard to discern, and his age and gender unknown.

Well, since he’s in the Dragon Emperor Rite, I assume he’s a man.

“Ooh, solidified with full body armor, totally defensive huh.”

“Quite luxurious armor. A noble?”

“Probably a bluff. There’s no way a guy wearing such conspicuous armor wouldn’t be famous.”

The surrounding spectators are also guessing Tyran’s identity seeing his armored figure, but they seem skeptical about Tyran’s ability.

If the townspeople don’t know him, is he not from this country?

“This fight, that contestant Tyran is at a disadvantage.”

Looking at Tyran, Liliera murmurs.

“Given the narrowness of the match venue, isn’t the contestant solidified with hard armor at an advantage?”

True, Ryune‘s opinion has a point.

“If it’s a fight with the same reach, the one with solid defense is advantageous. But the opponent Salvar is a spear user. He can attack from farther away than Tyran. He probably chose light equipment considering the advantage of his weapon. A tactic of always keeping a certain distance from the opponent and attacking from outside their range. Precisely because it’s simple, it’s difficult to deal with unless you surpass them in ability. Furthermore, a full-face helmet has poor visibility. Undoubtedly, Salvar will attack from the helmet’s blind spot.”

I see, Salvar prioritizes mobility to prevent the opponent from attacking.

But doing that in actual combat takes quite a bit of courage.

After all, with light equipment, if hit in a bad spot, you die.

As a mage, I don’t really get a sense for selecting close-combat equipment, so the opinion of a seasoned A-rank adventurer is helpful.

“Match BEGIN!”

With the referee’s declaration, Salvar jumps sideways. As Liliera deduced, it seems to be a strategy to attack from outside Tyran‘s field of vision.

“Hah! In a match like this, full plate armor is nothing but useless weight!”

Salvar circles behind Tyran while throwing provocations.

“Take this!”

And utilizing the momentum of his run, he thrust his spear at Tyran’s back.

The spear is thrust into the gap between Tyran’s armor plates.

That speed is truly lightning-fast.

“Uwah!?”

“Kya!?”

Spectators unrelated to battle scream and cover their faces at the gruesome conclusion so early in the start.

It was at the moment when everyone was convinced of Tyran’s defeat.

“…Wh-What!? Impossible!?”

Surprisingly, the tip of Salvar‘s spear attacking from behind had stopped just before piercing Tyran‘s armor.

“The attack stopped?”

“Why did he stop!? He could have won if he just thrust.”

“Wrong.”

To the spectators’ questioning voices, Liliera mutters a denial.

“He didn’t stop; he was stopped.”

That was the truth.

The spear released by Salvar was caught between two fingers extended by Tyran, completely stopped in its tracks.

“Unbelievable. Stopped a spear with fingers…!?”

“How can such a thing…”

At that scene, Meguri and Ryune roll their eyes.

“Kuh!? It won’t move!?”

And when Tyran moved his hand, Salvar was pulled along and lost his balance.

That movement completely ignored Salvar’s weight, as if he didn’t exist.

Or rather, what kind of strength allows pulling like that?

Then Tyran threw Salvar straight up along with the spear, and Salvar soared high into the sky.

“UWAAAAAAAH!”

“EHHHHHHHHHH!?”

Salvar’s scream as he was thrown and the surprised voices of the spectators watching overlapped.

And Salvar’s figure thrown into the sky became smaller and smaller.

“H-Hey, hey… exactly how high is he going up!?”

“Or rather, is that contestant okay?”

Nearby spectators raise voices of confusion at the state of Salvar, who continues to rise even now.

Yeah, I understand that feeling very well.

We are also surprised by what Rex does every time…

“Wait, could that contestant be…”

“OOOH!?”

While I was thinking, Salvar, who soared into the sky, finally seemed to start falling.

“He’s coming down.”

“I thought he was going to fly above the clouds like that.”

As Salvar’s figure approached little by little, people who thought he might just disappear voiced relief.

Honestly, it’s clearly misplaced relief, but being shown such a scene, it’s no wonder they react like that.

“By the way, how is he going to land?”

A spectator suddenly voices a doubt.

“Eh? Well, normally feet first… ah.”

There, another spectator who realized the intent of the question raised his voice.

“H-Hey, isn’t that bad?”

Yeah, at this rate, if he lands on the ground, the fall speed will cause something terrible.

Specifically, like dropping an egg on the ground, bright red blood…

“Wait, seriously bad!?”

Realizing the gravity of the situation, we panic about what to do.

Salvar probably can’t fly with magic like us, and that contestant Tyran, if—or rather, undoubtedly so—he is the person we expect, there’s a danger he hasn’t realized Salvar can’t land in the worst case.

“I-In that case, we have no choice but to rush onto the stage and help…”

I didn’t want to stand out before our own match, but this can’t be helped.

“CATCH HIM!!”

At that moment, Liliera shouted in a voice loud enough to echo through the venue.

Of course, the target wasn’t us or the spectators.

“!?”

The person Liliera threw words at, Tyran, moves.

Tyran moved directly under the falling Salvar and spread both arms, preparing to catch him.

“Thank goodness, with this… ah, but is it safe to catch an opponent falling from such a height?”

Even if caught, wouldn’t both of them be in trouble? At least the one falling…

“…!”

Just as I thought that, suddenly Salvar‘s fall speed slowed visibly.

“What!? He suddenly slowed down!?”

Spectators raise voices of surprise at Salvar‘s fall speed suddenly slowing.

“Could that be… magic?”

The moment Salvar’s fall speed slowed, I felt the arena stage fill with magic power.

Probably he used some kind of magic to lower the fall speed.

“But I’ve never heard of such magic.”

Probably that’s his original magic.

And being able to use such magic means Tyran’s true identity is…

Then, Tyran caught Salvar and gently laid him on the ground.

Salvar seems to have fainted, showing no sign of twitching.

“…!”

Tyran immediately knelt on one knee and placed a hand on Salvar’s neck to check something.

Probably checking for major injuries.

Then, seemingly okay, Tyran moved his shoulders and sent a gesture making a circle with his fingers to the referee signaling he was alive.

“U-Umm… Contestant Salvar fainted, Winner Contestant Tyran!”

“……”

Despite the referee declaring the winner, the venue remained wrapped in silence.

And as the figures of Salvar being carried by staff and Tyran disappeared into the back of the venue, spectators finally began to sigh as if the thread of tension had snapped.

And…

“WH-WHAT WAS THAAAAAAAT JUST NOW!?”

Voices of surprise from the spectators who finally recognized reality echoed in the venue.

“That’s Rex‘s disguise.”

“Yeah, no mistake.”

Even in disguise, it’s easy to tell.

Or rather, thinking carefully, if Rex fights, it’s bound to be obvious in one shot even in disguise.

After all, he fights outrageously even normally.

It’s natural that his fighting style won’t change just because he’s disguised.

Well, I didn’t think he’d participate in such conspicuous armor, though.

Even though he usually says he doesn’t want to stand out.

“…Don’t tell me he made that armor himself too?”