Ishura - Volume 3 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Introduction

Now, at present.

“Sixteen all told. I’ll share the candidates’ information here, too.”

Grasse the Foundation Map, First Minister of Aureatia, continued. Sixteen names. More than half of the Twenty-Nine Officials gathered together in the Provisional Chambers were sponsoring a hero candidate, each one confident theirs was the strongest.

They staked their own futures on the victory or defeat of their chosen candidates, themselves staking their life or death on the true duel stage. Thus was the Sixways Exhibition.

“If there’s sixteen of them, should we do them in the order they applied? Fine if I start?”

“That’d make things easiest to understand. Then, starting with you, Twentieth Minister. Hidow the Clamp.”

In this land, where any and all possible marvels or deviations from the norm were permitted…

…supposing there was just one individual from all the races, from all the combatants out there. That one individual was capable of exhausting all methods at their disposal to survive to the very end, then just what sort of being must that individual be—?

“Alus the Star Runner. Don’t really have to explain all this, right? A wyvern who’s fully conquered every labyrinth and won every treasure… And actually, cutting to the chase here, if there’s anyone out there who’s actually killed the True Demon King, it’s gotta be someone like him.”

Were they a rogue who plundered a multitude of the world’s mysteries, crushing everything beneath his greed, and possessed a nigh omnipotent aptitude for everything?

“…Second candidate. Let’s get this done with first, then. Eleventh Minister. Nophtok the Crepuscule Bell.”

“Ah yes……the Order’s recommended candidate. Kuze the Passing Disaster. Said to have butchered several hundred of the Order’s enemies as their cleaner. Well… I imagine he’ll give it a good run of things.”

Were they a stabber who pierced with a single lethal blade, unperceived by anyone else in the world?

“Next, Twenty-Fifth General. Cayon the Skythunder.”

“Okay now, for starters, everyone understands what’s going on here, right? The main point of this competition is whether these candidates defeated the True Demon King, yes? Why, then it has to be Mele the Horizon’s Roar! The champion who kept back the Demon King’s invasion of the Sine Riverstead and vanquished the Particle Storm! His achievements are on a whole different level, darling.”

Were they an archer who wrought destruction, impossible to defend against, fired from the edge of the horizon, capturing all creation within his range?

“Twenty-Seventh General… Hardy the Bullet Flashpoint. The next candidate.”

“Let me be clear. The story about Nagan Labyrinth City is true. Same with the story of the guy behind it all. A hero no one knows anything about has got to mean it’s a visitor who’s only come to our world recently, right? Sorry to say, Rosclay, but I’m betting on Soujirou the Willow-Sword.”

Techniques that brought a slashing fatal end to any enemy, regardless of their morphology. Were they a blade who strayed from all known laws to the edges of sword heresy?

“Onto the fourth candidate. Thirteenth Minister, Enu the Distant Mirror.”

“…Zeljirga the Abyss Web. Formerly of Obsidian Eyes. I can definitively state that, without her defection, our subjugation of Rehart the Obsidian wouldn’t have succeeded. Simply by manipulating her threads and without touching her enemy, she can bind, manipulate, and tear them asunder. As far as I am aware, she is the strongest master with them out there.”

Were they a scout who controlled a colony of ears, encroaching with intrigue and manipulation from the depths of unknown shadows?

“…Tenth General, Qwell the Wax Flower. Your candidate.”

“Ps-Psianop… Psianop the Inexhaustible Stagnation. Um, well, er… Neft the Nirvana, from the First Party. Everyone knows him, right? He was strong enough to kill him. Oh, um, without using any weapons, too…… He’s strong. Far stronger than my full strength, definitely.”

Were they a grappler whose aberrant physical form was honed into the ultimate weapon from an accumulation of knowledge and training with an obsession harder than iron?

“Next… Seventeenth Minister. Elea the Red Tag.”

“My candidate doesn’t have any of the considerable achievements of some of these other individuals. But he is the head of the Sun’s Conifer guild, Jivlart the Ash Border. Any resident of the city can attest to his skills. A most suitable candidate to round out the numbers.”

Were they a wizard gifted with godlike omnipotence, able to destroy or create all things in nature as they saw fit?

“…Hmph. It’s an elimination tournament. Suppose those sorts are necessary, too. Sixteenth General, Nofelt the Somber Wind. What about your candidate?”

“Mine ain’t here to fill out numbers, that’s for sure. The rumors that he crushed those responsible for the Alimo Row massacre and killed the Belka the Rending Quake are all totally true. Uhak the Silent. Well… I bet I’ll be able to show you all something interesting with him.”

Were they an oracle who rejected the originating curse of the world and killed the mysterious gift of language under one singular principle?

“The ninth candidate is this one, then? Seventh Minister, Flinsuda the Portent.”

“Hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh! My little cutie, Tu! Oh, she is such a sweetheart, that girl. She obediently listens to anything anyone says; she’s always bright and smiling… Oh, silly me, we were talking about strength here, weren’t we? Well, she was strong enough to live in The Land of The End, after all~! Hoh-hoh-hoh! That girl… Mayhap she didn’t find the lingering scent of the True Demon King that scary…? Who’s to say, I suppose.”

Were they a juggernaut who overwhelmed with nothing more than innocent and artless physical abilities, rendering any and all malicious intent meaningless?

“Twenty-Second General, Mizial the Iron-Piercing Plumeshade.”

“Okaaay. But everyone’s already plenty familiar with the name Toroa the Awful, right? I don’t really think anyone needs to hear me introduce him, to be honest. He’s alive and participating! That’s it!”

Were they a grim reaper, a successor to a legendary fear, who wielded a menagerie of enchanted swords with perfect precision?

“…Fine, I guess. Twenty-Fourth General. Dant the Heath Furrow’s candidate. Explain the situation for everyone.”

“…Zigita Zogi the Thousandth. None of the military powers we know were successful in bringing down the True Demon King. In that case, it must have been a military that none of us were aware of until now, that destroyed the Demon King…is one claim to be considered. I… My thought is that Zigita Zogi’s tactics, which managed to destroy the Old Kingdoms’ army without a single casualty, contributed the most to the Demon King’s destruction.”

“I went out of order a bit, but Fourteenth General, Yuca the Halation Gaol… You were the last person I expected to find a candidate.”

“Well, hoo boy, I was surprised I did, too, honestly. Ozonezma the Capricious. He’s a chimera, see? I can’t really introduce him like you all have, but… Welp. He’s a really strong one, that’s for sure.”

Were they a statesman who influenced the larger situation without ever standing on the battlefield, using his genius eloquence to turn numbers into power?

“Next. Fourth Minister, Kaete the Round Table.”

“Yessir! As you’re all aware, the self-proclaimed demon king Kiyazuna the Axle surrendered to Aureatia. Bringing a present with her—the weapon that subdued the Demon King, Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge. I myself have seen and can vouch for its performance. That should stow any objections.”

Were they an architect and a creator constructed by an eminent specialist, whose theory dictated as eternally unable to be defeated?

“Nineteenth Minister, Hyakka the Heat Haze. You’re next.”

“Right! Shalk the Sound Slicer! Since we were able to reconcile peace with the Free City of Okafu a few days ago, I was able to verify the claim that he killed Kazuki the Black Tone! Extraordinary and faster than his own shadow! His ultimate spear technique leaves no time for a counterattack, truly fit for the designation of strongest!”

Godly speed that left everything and everyone in the dust. Were they a spearhead for whom the reach of their spear meant unavoidable death?

“Harghent’s last then. Sixth General, Harghent the Still. How about you?”

“Lucnoca the Winter. Heh, hwah, ha-ha-ha-ha… There can’t be anyone who hasn’t heard the name…… She truly exists! Those claws have shattered champions’ swords the world over, that breath…… Wait…… Ah anyway, she’s the strongest…… The strongest candidate!”

Were they a silencer whose continued dominion over the final moments of champions throughout history and unwavering, unmatched strength brought despair even to herself?

“That makes fifteen. Now, Rosclay.”

“Understood.”

Were they an infallible knight and schemer, enlisting help from the very administrators of the games to create an undefeated idol?

“Second General Rosclay the Absolute. It goes without saying, but I will be victorious.”

The Sixways Exhibition was about to begin.