Chapter 136

Chapter 136

There wasn’t much time left until Anne’s final match, the last match of the tournament. Unfortunately, I headed to the specially prepared seats, separated from my older sisters… no, my friends.

“You’re here early, Saint.”

Considering there was still quite a bit of time before the tournament started, it’s more accurate to say Mariel arrived early.

Looking around, the only people already seated in the staff area were Mariel and myself.

“Y-yes! Hero, you’re early too. Welcome.”

When I spoke to her, Mariel reacted sensitively, perhaps still remembering what happened earlier, and replied.

“So, did you rest well?”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry for making you worry. I’m full of energy now.”

Of course, whenever I tried to recall memories of ‘Zeno Frentz’ before becoming an assassin, my head would throb and react sensitively, but as long as I didn’t deliberately try to recall them, the headache was manageable.

“I see. That’s a relief…”

I was touched by her concern for me, even though she felt embarrassed about her offer being rejected. Indeed, even though she’s usually quite money-minded, she’s still the Saint.

Fortunately, while chatting with Mariel, who had returned to her usual self, I looked around the spectator seats, waiting for the final match to start and for Anne to enter.

As it was one of the biggest events of the Heavenly Saint Festival, there were hardly any empty seats, even though there was still considerable time before the final match began.

“Ah.”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Hero?”

“No, I spotted my friends.”

I saw Celian, Yuri, and Rinne heading towards the designated seats for guests of participants, not the general spectator seats. Unlike me, who entered without waiting in line or identity verification, they seemed to have waited their turn and were just now taking their seats.

Just yesterday, I was also watching from those seats, but now, watching from the VIP staff seats, I was once again reminded of the fact that I am the Hero.

Since the seats of the Hero and the Saint are the most prominent, Celian and Yuri also turned towards me as soon as they sat down.

Feeling our eyes meet, I raised my hand and waved lightly, and they waved back at me. Meanwhile, Rinne was already munching on popcorn she had somehow produced.

“Waaaaah!”

A loud cheer suddenly erupted, filling the stadium. The sound was so immense, it felt as if the air itself was vibrating.

Wondering what was happening, I looked down at the stadium stage and saw what appeared to be an official reconfirming the stage’s condition. A signal that the match was about to begin.

-The match is scheduled to begin shortly, so please be seated, audience members. We announce once again….

As the announcement, amplified by magic, echoed through the stadium, the movements of people finding their seats became more hurried. Those who couldn’t find their seats due to the crowd simply sat on the stairs to settle in.

“Speaking of which, I mentioned before that my friend was participating in the tournament, didn’t I?”

“Hmm… You did, didn’t you?”

“Actually, that friend is about to reach the finals.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. If she’s a friend of the Hero, she must be a first-year, and she’s in the finals. This Heavenly Saint Festival is particularly grand, but there’s another reason for the people’s enthusiasm.”

Mariel’s praise for Anne, even though it wasn’t directed at me, made me feel proud.

“I haven’t really watched the matches except for the first day, so I wasn’t sure how the tournament was progressing. Still, I’m glad I get to watch today’s match.”

“Ah, it looks like it’s starting.”

It seemed they had fully utilized the graduate student assistant mages again, as the stadium interior had become so dark that only the shapes of surrounding objects were barely discernible, despite it still being daytime.

Suddenly, a spotlight focused on the center of the stage, where the tournament announcer stood in a pristine appearance.

The announcer, starting with the rather cliché greeting of “Hello,” explained various details about the final match. Since there was nothing particularly important to pay attention to, I listened with half an ear, and finally, it was time for the awaited player introductions.

“Now, let me introduce the two participants who have reached the finals and are challenging the academy’s strongest!”

As the host dramatically extended their hand and pointed somewhere, the spotlight that had been focused on the host illuminated the far end of the passage connected to the stage.

The person standing in the pillar of light was a woman of imposing stature, about 2 meters tall. She was a mature-looking woman, rather than old, who couldn’t be called a girl, and she stood firmly with a greatsword on her back.

“She’s a participant known to many who know! She was famous from the moment she first enrolled in the academy as the mercenary king’s only daughter! However, no one will see her as just the mercenary king’s daughter anymore! The winner of last year’s Heavenly Saint Martial Arts Tournament! One of the names always mentioned when asking who the academy’s strongest is! From the Swordsmanship Department, Year 4, Class 1, Runessa!”

“Waaaaah!!!”

She was a famous figure whose name I had heard multiple times even before enrolling in the academy. I remembered her not just as an academy student, but as one of the individuals on the list of people to be wary of during my time in the assassin guild. At that time, the assessment was based on her being the mercenary king’s daughter rather than on Runessa herself.

Although the cheers for her name filled the stadium, she stood with her arms crossed, looking straight ahead, without even a simple acknowledgment.

“The next participant I will introduce may be unfamiliar to many. And for good reason! This contestant who reached the finals is only a first-year, a freshman! It’s truly a freshman’s rebellion! The sheer destructive power of her greatsword, wielded from her small frame, is unbelievable to behold! From the Swordsmanship Department, Year 1, Class 1, Anne Klain!”

“Waaaaah!!!”

I thought the cheers for Anne might be smaller compared to Runessa due to the difference in established recognition, but surprisingly, the cheers were similar to Runessa’s, and depending on how you heard it, even louder, filling the stadium.

As all eyes in the stadium focused on her, Anne slammed the greatsword she was carrying on her shoulder onto the ground! Then, like Runessa, she crossed her arms and gave a provocative smile to Runessa on the opposite side.

“She’s my friend. Honestly, her actions are so cute.”

“If she’s a friend of the Hero… is she the friend you mentioned who sleeps in the same room, on the same bed…?”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s fine if it’s other friends, but when Anne comes into my bed and sleeps with me, I can barely sleep properly, which is quite troublesome.”

“You can’t even sleep properly…”

When I sleep with Celian and Yuri, it’s just a little warm, and my clothes are only slightly disheveled when I wake up in the morning. But with Anne, she often puts her feet on my stomach or kicks me while sleeping, so I wake up in the middle of the night more than once.

“The confrontation between a first-year and a fourth-year is also an important point of interest, but since both are using greatswords, a battle of strength against strength is also anticipated! Now, players, please enter the stage!”

Following the announcer’s words, Anne slowly started walking towards the stage, dragging the greatsword stuck in the ground. In the process, she kept glancing around and, surprisingly, managed to spot my seat in the dark spectator area and started waving.

I could feel the gazes of the people around me focusing on me as they tried to see what Anne was looking at.

It’s fortunate that my expression isn’t visible in the darkness, otherwise, my face would surely have turned bright red with embarrassment.

Anne seemed to have confirmed my presence in the darkness, even if only as a silhouette, and waved back at me, giving me another smile.

After walking noisily, the two people finally stood facing each other in the center of the stage. The lights had now brightly illuminated the stadium again.

With Anne barely reaching 140cm and Runessa standing at 2m, the height difference felt even more pronounced, like that between a child and an adult.

However, Anne, who was always confident, showed no signs of being intimidated and still looked up at Runessa with a confident smile.

Runessa, rather than being annoyed by the challenge from a freshman three grades younger, slightly raised the corner of her mouth, responding in kind.

As the announcer descended from the stage, the two people on stage also firmly gripped their respective greatswords and stood apart.

The cheers and murmurs that had filled the stadium had now disappeared into silence. Everyone was just waiting for the announcer’s signal to start the match.

“Fight!”

And finally, the announcer’s declaration signaling the start.

CRASH!

In less than a second, a deafening roar, unimaginable for swords clashing, struck the silent stadium.

“…Waaaaaaah!!!”

The audience, who had been momentarily stunned into silence, was quickly replaced by cheers that were incomparable to anything heard before.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Even amidst this, the two people swung their swords. When one struck downwards, the other thrust upwards. When one swung from the left, the other swung from the opposite side, their swords clashing.

It was as if the one who dodged first would lose, as the two swung their swords relentlessly without yielding an inch, standing still in their spots.

The impact of their collisions was not light; the stage supporting their legs was cracking with every impact. It felt as if the air currents, trembling from the shockwaves, were visible.

Even the stone stage was being cut like soft pudding every time their greatswords grazed it.

Even so, the faces of both individuals bore smiles of pure joy, as if they had found their worthy opponents.

While the announcer’s commentary should have been the seasoning to enhance the excitement of the tournament, the clash of raw power against power, madness against madness, and the primal against the primal between these two required no commentary.

Even the spectacular display of magic from the previous matches seemed lackluster in the face of pure strength.

How many minutes had it been since they stood in place, clashing swords? Finally, one step back. Just one step, but it was Runessa who retreated, a fact that likely surprised everyone except me and my friends.

Even though Anne had shown her strength throughout the tournament, the audience, who had unconsciously underestimated her due to the prejudice against freshmen, became even more enthusiastic about this unexpected turn of events.

The only ones not enjoying this were probably the gamblers who had bet heavily on Runessa.

Runessa, surprised by her own retreat, didn’t feel her pride hurt. Instead, she leaped back, creating distance.

Anne, instead of pursuing, adjusted her stance.

The two stood in opposition again, with a slight distance between them, just like at the beginning.

However, while Anne was the challenger before, now the challenger was clearly Runessa.

As Anne provocatively tilted her chin, Runessa responded with a smile like that of a wild animal, readjusting her grip on her greatsword.

Her stance was different from before, a stance I had never seen in the tournament. While her previous stance was refined and close to textbook, this new stance was so wild that it was impossible to tell its purpose.

Runessa charged, as if not wanting to give Anne any time to think, and swung her sword with a wide arc.

Anne parried the sword again. However, this time, instead of their swords bouncing off each other, they locked and drew a large circle.

The trajectory was so refined and elegant, it was unimaginable for a greatsword of such immense size. At the end of that smooth arc, Runessa’s sword pressed down on Anne’s, sinking deeply into the ground with a *kwaduk*.

Even though it was deeply embedded, Anne’s monstrous strength could easily pull it out with a slight gap, but Runessa didn’t give her the angle to do so, instead pressing close to Anne.

Simultaneously, Runessa’s head swung down with great force, while Anne tilted her head back as if to say, ‘Come on and try to lift it,’ before lowering her head to meet it.

Due to the significant height difference, there was no angle at which their heads could collide, but Runessa’s stance had shifted to an excessively low center of gravity.

Her back was slightly hunched, and her arms hung loosely, making her look less like a person and more like a wild animal or a monster.

CRASH!

A shockwave, similar to before but with a different weight, echoed through the stadium.

“What a blockhead…”

I stopped myself from uttering the curse, unable to insult my friend, but the two, who had hit their heads together with such force that the sound filled the stadium, seemed unfazed.

The greatswords stuck in the ground were now ignored, and the two were now brawling with clenched fists instead of swords.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

As if watching a déjà vu, the two continued to swing their fists, unfazed even as they struck each other’s flanks, abdomens, and faces.

Although Anne might have been at a disadvantage due to the difference in arm length, she skillfully clung to Runessa, closing the distance so much that it was difficult for Runessa to swing her arms.

The brutal slugfest between the two, who seemed to have inexhaustible stamina, continued for a long time. In the end, the last person standing firm on the stage was the red-haired kid, Anne.

Her eyes were swollen, and blood was trickling from her mouth, but that was the same for Runessa, who lay sprawled on the ground. She couldn’t be called the winner, but she was still standing.

Finally, the winner was confirmed, and amidst the cheers that threatened to lift the stadium, Anne looked at me, gave a foolish, bright smile, and waved her hand grandly.