CHAPTER 33
The Ex–Demon Lord Versus…
After running its course for an entire week, the school festival had come to its final day.
Before anything else, the morning was spent breaking down booths and shops, but then came the final event that would last from afternoon until evening.
The Sword King Battle Tournament.
Once the shops were confirmed to be put away, the guests were invited to enter the stadium…
Back to the present. The seats of the arena swelled with guests, and their fevered excitement was hot enough to reach the heavens, which I was observing from the waiting room on the crystal projector with Ireena and the other participants.
I was accustomed to being on large stages, so I didn’t feel especially nervous. However, Ireena and Ginny were another story. As held by a constant sense of urgency, they hadn’t let out as much as a peep in some time. The other combatants, including Olivia, hadn’t either…
The most surprising part was that even Sylphy was crossing her arms in silence. She always got hyped up at huge festivals, dragging me into her messes…
I knew it. She’d been acting weird since the night before.
Sylphy glared at the scene reflected in the crystal, where the participants of the first match would be announced.
The main tournament had an element of surprise: The matches were all chosen at random. A large crystal floated in the sky at the center of the arena as the names of participants whirled around…before it came to a stop at two names.
The first match would be between Sylphy and an outsider.
“D-do your best!”
“Well, it’s not as if I won’t cheer you on.”
Ireena and Ginny encouraged.
Sylphy just replied: “…Right.”
With not the slightest smile or expression, she left the room with her opponent.
“Something’s off with that girl.”
“Well, she’s got a lot on her mind…thinking about the right time to confess to Ard. I wonder if she can win the match in her state?”
I had to agree that she was rife with worry. Sylphy’s mind was stuck on something.
The way she engaged in her match…was nothing like her.
She was too cold, too silent. I’d never seen her fight that way.
It ended in her dominating victory. It was no question there had been an excessive difference in ability, but her calm movements were steadfast and unbreachable that you couldn’t help but feel sorry for her opponent.
“S-Sylphy is amazing. Like a totally different person.”
“I can feel her fighting spirit… I wonder if she’s got the most cliché situation in her mind—confessing her feelings when she’s become the victor.”
I set Ginny’s comment aside. As Ireena had said, Sylphy was a completely different person. Even after she returned to the waiting room, she didn’t seem the least bit cheery. You couldn’t even tell where she was looking with her blank eyes. This attitude had even Olivia perplexed.
What in the world was going on with her? It couldn’t actually be lovesickness, could it? I mulled this over, churning with ideas.
“The first battle has been decided by an overwhelming power gap! How will the next match unfold? Stop the roulette!”
The names of the next fighters were displayed on the screen.
“Oh? Oh? Ohhhh?! In the second match, we’ve got some big names heeeere!”
My mind went blank, throwing all questions about Sylphy out the window, because the combatants were…
“The Legendary Apostle, Lady Olivia, and—the son of the Great Mages who has been making waves, Ard Meteor! A living legend and the top rookie are about to duke it ouuuuuut!”
The place was ready to boil over in excitement. My dour mood, on the other hand, fell below freezing.
“A clash between a genius and a legend…!”
“I wanted to go up against the two of them… Oh well, what can you do?”
“The kid seems good at magic…but let’s see if his swordsmanship can keep up with Lady Olivia.”
The participants were revved up, including Ireena and Ginny.
“Give it your best shot, Ard! I’m sure you’ll be fine! You can take on Lady Olivia!”
“I’m certain the sight of your surprise victory will be burned into my eyes!”
My opponent’s black cat ears and tail fur bristled as a wondrous smile broke across her lovely features. She fixated on me. “Your desired end showed up early, didn’t it? Riiight, Ard ?”
The look on her face was amicable and spirited…but the thoughts swirling around inside that mind were the exact opposite.
She wanted to clear things up with this battle, and depending on the situation…treat me to a full-course beating from hell, all to her heart’s content. I knew that’s what she was thinking, and it made me sweat buckets.
“Would both participants make their way to the arena?” asked an attendant who’d entered the room.
…How long has it been since I’ve last wanted to book it for good?
Olivia and I stood side by side and set out. As we inched closer and closer to the moment that we would duke it out, my mind spiraled out of control, trying desperately to find an out.
…I didn’t think the worst-case scenario would happen.
I’d wanted to go up against Ireena or Ginny, go easy on them to the extent that they wouldn’t find out, and hand over the victory. But Olivia? It would be hard to fake it without her catching on…!
At any rate, I had to get through it.
I didn’t want to bear the full brunt of a punishment from my big sister. No joke, she would obliterate my psyche. And I’d wanted to savor more days of entertaining fun on campus with Ireena and the others. Which meant that I would pretend to give everything I had in a tight match and intentionally lose without anyone catching on. This way, I could dispel any of her suspicions that I was the Demon Lord.
With my mind decided and determined, I tightened my grip on the blunt sword I’d been provided, and Olivia and I faced each other in the center of the arena.
“A— A petrifying glaring contest! I can feel their extraordinary fighting spirits emanating off them… From the moment they stepped onstage, I’ve been the only one letting out a peep as everyone else has held their breath…!”
I’d hold back. That said, I would have to engage in serious combat to a certain degree so she wouldn’t get tipped off—hence, why I was projecting bloodlust.
Not that I had the slightest ounce of real willpower in me.
“Ah, how nostalgic… Your energy is just like his .”
“…I’m honored by your praise.”
We exchanged a few short words.
And right when we were signaled to begin: “It’s been a while since we played around, you stupid little brother ,” snapped Olivia, releasing a rabid rage that I could feel from her entire body.
In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance between us.
A glint of light. It pierced down to form a vertical line aiming for the top of my head—splitting into a hundred more sparks, starting from my head and going down toward my fingertips, upper and lower arms, torso, gut, thighs. She was intently focused on getting every last one of my vital areas.
Olivia called this move Momentary Long Sword: Full Set, and it unleashed countless slash attacks in a second.
I was familiar with her skills, of course, and it would be easy to dodge them… But I figured I’d intentionally take one out of every ten hits.
“Gweh!”
Geez, that hurt. It fractured the bones in my body in ten places—including my skull. But if that was what I needed to do, so be it. If I could outstep every last one, I would be outing myself as the Demon Lord.
All of this meant I had to receive some of her blows…and let loose some of my own.
“Tsssh!” I exhaled sharply through my teeth, swinging my blade with both hands.
Ripping through the air with my sword, I drew a half circle and slashed with all my might.
“Too slow.”
As I missed my target, I was blasted to the side with a counterattack that sent me flying to the edge of the arena.
“…Huh? Wh-what just happened?! I-it all happened so fast, I can’t even…! I just… Lady Olivia moved in, and Ard was sent flying…! Would I be wrong in saying that this match is in Lady Olivia’s favor?!”
You could count on two hands the number of people who understood that last hit. For that reason, the audience was astounded by us—naturally by Olivia’s advantage…and even some praise for me.
Be that as it may, I couldn’t care less about their reaction. Olivia (and her face) came first.
…Her smile’s clouded over the teeniest bit. Perfect!
This proves she’s having doubts! If I keep this up, I can trick her and totally lose!
Burning with the motivation to give up this battle, I sighed deeply. “You aren’t called the Sword God for nothing. But I’m afraid to tell you… It’s too early for you to judge my abilities.”
I dropped a dumb, cliché line to appear appropriately riled up. Then it was my turn to make a move.
I made an few suitably lazy slashes in her direction…and randomly defended in a way that was befitting of my plan before sending one blow toward Olivia’s face.
A thin red line trickled down her cheek, staining her pale skin.
“Whoa! L-Lady Olivia is—! The Living Legend is—! She’s bleeding! What?! How?! Ard Meteor, age fifteen! Are you telling me he’s gotten within range of the Legennnnnd?!
The stadium roared. It was all going according to plan.
I mean, think about it. It would have been super-suspicious if I’d lost without making any hits, right? And I knew what this situation would bring…
“…Interesting,” muttered Olivia.
One hit was guaranteed to rile her up enough to ratchet things up a notch, since she was the type to bring the heat. As a matter of fact, her aura was more murderous than before…
“Don’t die on me,” she spat coldly—and unveiled a frigidly inexpressive look.
And with that, her aggressive offense began.
Before even a second could pass, Olivia had managed to kick it up another level—a deluge of flurried attacks that passed a hundred million, or a trillion.
She was out with an absolute intent to kill. Up against those fierce attacks, I gave a look of anguish and pretended to be on full defense.
All right. All I had to do was land a few sloppy, relatively safe hits and let myself be blown away. After that, if I legit lost consciousness, my job would be done.
Me? I wasn’t a great actor. But our rehearsals might have upped my skills because Olivia seemed to be totally buying it. No problems at all in the foreseeable future.
In the beginning, she’d been piss-your-pants scary, but I guess it was nothing now.
Ha-ha. How simple, this big sister of mine.
……Okay. This is where I let her go for the jugular. It’ll definitely make me faint, but there’s little chance of dying. The perfect attack.
Olivia’s sword came right at me. Time stretched and stretched into forever, and her movements were in slow motion—
As I impatiently waited for the tip of her sword to jab my throat…
“Hey, Ard.”
As we faced each other, Olivia’s face—
“Y’know, battle arenas…”
Olivia’s face was more glorious than ever before.
“…ain’t a great place for acting.”
Her smile became beyond beautiful.
Her expression, casual address, rough speech.
As I tooled it all in, I understood: Ah, I’ve failed.
I hadn’t fooled Olivia at all. She’d only been pretending, waiting to see what I’d do. All the while believing I was the Demon Lord.
As this realization dawned on me, the tip of her drawn sword moved—changing its trajectory. It was nothing like her tepid attacks from before. It was a single attack intended to slice my neck in two.
I’ve told you a million times that I hate when opponents go easy on me. Die, you damn fool , her gaze seemed to tell me.
Whether I willed it or not, this impending sword of death had me worried.
But when I realized it, I had unconsciously cast a magic circle—a defensive mechanism, Reflect Wall . A modified version of the mid-level Mega Wall surrounded my entire body with a translucent barrier—
Within a few seconds, I’d return the force of that direct physical attack right back at her. Her sword had me right at the neck, but my magic would reduce that force to zero—
“Gugh.”
With all that kinetic energy sent back to Olivia, she let out a small cry and went soaring through the air. It would have been great if that’s all there was to it…but by a trick played by a higher will, it reflected off even Olivia’s clothes.
Meaning her light clothing became even lighter.
In other words, she was naked.
I mean, at this point, her clothes wouldn’t interfere with her movement.
Because, well, there wasn’t any yet.
“G-gack…!” She let out a pained cry, skidding to a stop ten paces from me.
And about the same time she realized her own brash appearance, she yipped “Hwah?!” in a voice I’d never heard before, attempting to cover her birthday suit.
With her right arm, her swaying chest. With her left, her secret maidenly garden.
…To me, the sight of my big sister’s naked body was nothing to be excited over. However…
“Whoa?! Lady Olivia? Naaaked?!”
“Wh-what an incredible butt…!”
“And boobs! Her boobs are amazing!”
“Plus, there was nothing growing there! It was a split second, but I saw it! She’s smooth as a baby!”
“Seriously? I was a faithful believer in Lizer, but…I’m an Olivia fan now!”
For the audience, the scene was out of a dream. The deep howls of mostly corrupt degenerates were enough to shake the earth.
“N-nggh…!” Olivia moaned with her cat ears pulled back.
She was as bright red as a ripened apple, looking down at her bare, jiggly body and trembling.
Th-this was no good. What was going on? This had never happened before. Wh-what in the world would Olivia do now…?! Sweating bullets, I held my breath and waited for her to make the first move.
She suddenly snapped her head up. Her eyes were wet with tears, and I was already put off by that point, but…
“Y-y-y-y-you…c-can’t possibly b-b-b-be him…! H-he…he would never! He wouldn’t do something this disgusting! Hmph!”
“Hmph!”?! Did the Olivia I know just go “Hmph!”?!
“I-I’ll n-n-n-never forget this! Just you wait, idiot! Stupid! Mindless! Imbecile! Drop dead, dummy!” she shouted, spewing childish insults before she burst into tears. Cradling her soft, fair skin, she dashed toward the stadium corridor.
“U-um. Since he broke the rules by using magic, Ard Meteor is disqualified. Could it be he’s lost the battle but won the war…?! Against Lady Olivia…?! A-all I can think about is the image of Lady’s Olivia’s bare body… I… He’s seriously a marvel… Incredible… I wish I’d brought a sorcery optical instrument to capture this image…”
Yeah. I felt the same way as the commentator. My head was filled with Olivia. Needless to say, I couldn’t care less about her being buck naked. In any case… I suppose it was safe to say her suspicions were gone.
Well, even if that was true, a huge new problem had cropped up. I wasn’t any happier.
…Seriously. I swear.
How did things turn out this way?
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