Ch.36Chapter 36: Entrance Exam (13)

Interestingly, the most agitated one was Arias.

“Wh-what is she saying!! That stupid dragonkin!!”

Lati completely burst into laughter.

“Kyahaha, I’m dying of laughter. It’s not like she becomes his wife if she loses, but he has to defeat her to become her husband. Balt, aren’t you going to forfeit?”

Lisa also felt a strange emotion.

“Y-yeah! This is weird!!”

***

After his defeat, Elias was watching the match beside the Emperor.

Seeing his daughter’s surprised reaction, the Emperor asked Elias.

“What’s wrong, Elias? Why are you so shocked?”

Flustered, Elias stammered an excuse.

“N-no. Placing such strange conditions on a sacred duel! Doesn’t it corrupt the meaning of the competition? Don’t you think so, Father?”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed lazily.

‘Hmm… this child?’

His youngest daughter had so little interest in men that one might call it misandry.

And now this same daughter was showing curiosity about a gladiator for the first time.

Of course, it was probably just curiosity for now, but from the Emperor’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad thing.

While it’s true that the Emperor cherishes his youngest daughter, he doesn’t shelter her to the point where she can’t meet men.

He even encourages her to meet suitable young noblemen.

But due to Elias’s strict gatekeeping, rumors spread that the Emperor loved his youngest daughter so much that he prevented her from meeting men.

Intrigued, the Emperor called to Elias.

“Daughter.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Have you always liked muscles?”

“!!!”

Startled by the Emperor’s playful tone, Elias began rambling incoherently.

“F-Father, wh-what are you s-saying!! When did I! I’m not interested in that b-barbarian, though I am curious because he’s fascinating! B-but that’s not what I mean…!”

A breathtaking silence fell as the Emperor’s eyes met Elias’s.

“Daughter, I didn’t mention Balt. I simply asked if you liked muscles.”

“…Th-that’s!!”

“Pfft, let’s just watch the match.”

“…Yes, Father…”

The Emperor found his daughter’s reaction absolutely hilarious.

‘Kuk kuk, this is getting really interesting. In-laws with Kwan? Hahaha. In-laws with Kwan!!’

***

Despite having the trait “Impressive Barbarian Attitude,” Balt was considerably taken aback by Solfin’s words.

“Um… doesn’t the condition seem a bit strange?”

Solfin asked in return.

“What’s strange about it?”

“Well, shouldn’t it be the other way around? Otherwise, I feel like forfeiting right now.”

[Ah!! Was this her strategy?! Contestant Balt is considering forfeiting after Contestant Solfin’s public proposal!! What an incredible tactic!!]

After pondering for a moment, Solfin answered.

“Is that so? That won’t do. Let’s do it this way then. Since I’m going to win anyway, if you just hold out decently, you’ll marry me.”

“Could you first explain why we need to get married?”

The impatient Solfin immediately created a fireball and threw it.

As a Red Dragon, Solfin could cast spells like Fireball without incantation.

Whoosh!

Bang!

Balt deflected the fireball with an Anti-Magic Slap, noting that Solfin’s fireball was more powerful than Riduin’s.

“Ah, forget it, explaining is annoying. Let’s fight first!! I’ll explain later!”

Solfin took a stance and drew up her aura and magical power.

“Fighting is fine, but I won’t marry you. Because I’m going to win.”

[Ah!!! What a shame! It was an exciting public proposal, but Contestant Solfin has been rejected by Contestant Balt! A mysterious defeat for Solfin before even starting! Can she defeat Balt and succeed in marriage?! The audience’s attention is focused!!]

‘That bastard…’

Solfin didn’t like the announcer’s words.

She felt like she was being made fun of.

But the citizens’ reactions weren’t bad.

“Waaaa!! Go Solfin!!”

“Have a beautiful love! Solfin, fighting!!”

The announcer’s humorous commentary had the effect of significantly reducing the citizens’ aversion to the fearsome dragonkin.

Hearing occasional cheers of support, Solfin decided to let the announcer off the hook.

She didn’t mind the cheers calling out her name.

But not everyone was cheering for Solfin.

Especially Arias, who had sharp ears and heard their exchange, began to fiercely cheer for Balt.

“Balt! Kill her! Kill her!! What are you doing?! You guys cheer too!!”

Lisa and Lati were bewildered, having never heard such words from Arias with veins popping on her forehead, but they began cheering for Balt under Arias’s forceful presence.

“B-Balt, win…”

Focusing back on Balt, Solfin took a stance and laughed heartily.

“Kyahaha, you think you can beat me? Yes, you’re strong. I know the immense power within your body! But it won’t work against me. I’ll give it my all from the start. Consider yourself lucky. Not everyone gets to see this!!”

With those words, Solfin shouted.

“Dragon Transform!”

Tzzzzz-

Tick-tick-tick-

Brrrrr-

Dragon scales began to sprout on Solfin’s body as her form started to change.

Her hands and feet transformed into reptilian limbs covered in hard scales, and even a thick dragon tail burst through her clothes.

The announcer was beside himself with excitement.

[Dragon!! She’s transforming into Dragon Form!! The battle form of the dragonkin!! A fantastical transformation only seen when dragonkin go all out!! To see this in person!! How will Contestant Balt handle the strengthened Contestant Solfin!! Contestant Solfin!! Showing a transformation never revealed before in the semi-finals!! What determination for marriage!!]

At that moment, Solfin thought she should meet this announcer separately later.

Balt waited for Solfin’s transformation and expressed his genuine impression.

“That’s incredibly cool!! Amazing!!”

If it had been the old Balt, he would have been internally screaming ‘A transformation! So awesome!’ at such an impressive sight.

Even the way Solfin swayed her long tail after completing the transformation!

Truly a perfect form!

“Hmph, at least you have an eye for quality. Don’t barbarians have anything? I’ll wait, so show me. In your current state, this fight would end in 10 seconds?”

There was a reason for Solfin’s confidence.

Dragonkin in Dragon Form use a special power.

It’s called Dragon Force, or Dragon Battle Energy.

It’s energy created by merging aura and magical power with the third organ, the Dragon Heart, to produce even greater output.

Solfin, with level 5 aura and level 6 magic circles, transforms into a dragonkin warrior with Dragon Battle Energy approaching level 7.

This is why the Emperor rated Solfin higher than Aileen.

Even Balt, a former user, knew about Dragon Battle Energy.

“Indeed. It would be difficult to face Dragon Battle Energy in this state.”

Solfin was slightly surprised that Balt knew about Dragon Battle Energy.

“Heh… you’re quite knowledgeable for a barbarian? If you’re going to do something, do it quickly. This has a time limit. Though it’ll end before that anyway.”

Dragon Form is powerful but has a time limit.

Solfin’s current limit is about 15 minutes.

But that’s plenty of time for a match.

“Hmm, 20 seconds should be enough.”

“Huh? Do you really have something?”

As far as Solfin knew, barbarians didn’t have transformation abilities.

Transformation should be a specialty of beastkin and dragonkin…

But Balt really does begin to attempt something.

“It’s better than doing nothing. Hup!”

Balt realized he couldn’t defeat Solfin as he was.

Despite not having killed anything in the past month, Balt’s level had risen considerably.

Perhaps due to the barbarian trait, fighting powerful opponents also accumulated experience.

Especially Riman had greatly helped Balt’s level increase.

His level, which was 14, has now reached 20.

So he has many stat points remaining.

Now is the time to invest those stats.

Balt begins to exert himself while investing all his remaining stat points into strength.

Balt’s strength exceeding 270!

Rumble rumble rumble.

Tremendous power converts to magical power, which then converts to elemental power, and rocks begin to envelop Balt’s body.

A defensive and offensive technique that Balt created with the gnomes.

Earth Armor.

But Balt gave it a different name.

Earth Magic Armor.

Because adding the character for “magic” made it look cooler.

“Oh, ohhh? Barbarians have such transformations?”

Rocks gradually envelop and fill Balt’s entire body.

Balt imagined Earth Magic Armor in the form of robot cartoons he was obsessed with as a child.

Eventually, Balt’s appearance transforms into a cool form resembling a robot unseen in this era.

Thud!

Having completed the casting of Magic Armor, Balt stamps his foot once to check the armor’s performance.

‘Very good, the weight feels right too.’

The tightly packed heavy rocks add to Balt’s already heavy weight.

Increased weight? That means increased physical power.

[Incredible!! Contestant Balt has transformed too! Or rather, he’s wearing something!! What is that!! A form I’ve never seen before!! For some reason, it’s heart-poundingly cool!!]

It seems men’s fascination with robots is the same here as on Earth.

At the announcer’s exclamation, Balt recites the name of his technique.

“Magic Technique Second Form: Earth Magic Armor!”

For reference, the first form involves covering just the fists with rocks like knuckle guards.

The already massive Balt becomes even more imposing surrounded by stone.

Wouldn’t that make him slower? Absolutely not.

Balt’s muscles don’t weaken just because they’re covered in some rocks.

Seeing Balt transformed like an impressive golem, Solfin bares her teeth.

“Kyahaha, cool!! Very good! Shall we begin then?!”

“Come.”

Whoosh!

Fire ignites on Solfin’s body as she begins to charge at Balt.

It looks like she’s using Burning Flame all over her body, as seen before.

“Let’s see how strong you’ve become! Kyaaaah!!”

Balt raises his rock-formed arm to defend against Solfin’s attack.

BOOM!!

A thunderous sound erupts as Solfin’s burning fist collides with Balt’s massive arm.