“[?]”
“[LOL]”
“[What is all-in?]”
“[Lily, what’s going on?]”
“[Damn, that’s intense LOL]”
“[Is Kiki going to take this?]”
“[Wow]”
“W-what in the world is going on?!!”
“What do you mean what’s going on?”
“I just placed a Spirit Stone bet, that’s all.”
“It wasn’t split up, it was all at once.”
“Is there really a need to go back? We don’t have much time, so let’s just do it right away.”
“N-no! We should split the bets! If you lose it all at once, you’ll be broke!”
“Just watch.”
I looked down at the arena, leaving Yena who was in a frenzy.
The outcome of the previous duel between the sorcerers had already been decided, and the next contestants entered the stage.
The sorcerer who came out of the blue gate was Gomon. A Level 5 Sorcerer and a Bear Beastman, his trained body was noticeable.
His size and physique were similar to or slightly inferior to Geonseon’s.
He had greater strength and build than the two sorcerers from the previous match.
“Haha… That guy is my opponent?”
“……”
In contrast, the sorcerer who emerged from the red gate was Ryuin Aban, a Level 6 Sorcerer.
A small boy with gray hair, he didn’t seem special at all, just pulling out a small knife from his waist.
The specs written on paper indicated that he hadn’t learned any extraordinary sorcery or unique techniques from a great clan.
Because of this, many watching the duel looked down at the arena with indifference as if the outcome was already determined.
The announcer inside the arena held a Spirit Stone, raised his voice, placing each of the players in their positions and making them face each other.
The Bear Beastman glared at the boy with wide eyes, but the boy, looking fearful, subtly avoided eye contact.
Winning the psychological battle, the Bear Beastman snorted triumphantly.
“Alright! Is it Gomon from the blue gate? Or Ryuin Aban from the red gate? If anyone wants to place their Spirit Stones, please do so now! You won’t be able to place any more bets once the match starts!”
“Yena, aren’t you placing a bet?”
“It’s obvious… Lily, you bet on that bear, didn’t you? Even if he seems like he’ll win, putting it all on him is risky…”
“Nope! I bet on Ryuin!”
“?”
“Alright, let’s get started! Ready?”
“What did you just say?!”
“It’s starting now.”
“No, no, no! What did you just say?! Who did you pick?!”
“Start!”
“Let’s go!”
As soon as the match began, Gomon charged forward.
His movements didn’t seem like a sorcerer’s, but from his state, it appeared he’d already activated a physical enhancement spell.
A fist the size of Ryuin’s head came rushing in, but Ryuin comically rolled away to avoid the attack.
Gomon kicked the ground again and clenched his fist.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even as powerful blows kept raining down, Ryuin dodged them with nimble rolls.
But he was just dodging. Ryuin was panting heavily, seemingly not even considering a counterattack.
– What are you doing!
– Fight properly!
– Gomon! Finish it quickly!
– That guy is quick.
– This is boring. Let’s just get this over with!
“Wow, you’re fast!”
“……”
“But how long do you think you can keep dodging!!”
Thud.
“!”
Ryuin, dodging skillfully, found himself blocked by the back wall.
Gomon appeared to be swinging his fists haphazardly, but in reality, he was gradually luring his opponent toward the wall to cut off his escape.
Finally, Ryuin’s retreat path was gone.
Unless that guy could teleport or move three times faster than he currently was, he wouldn’t be able to dodge Gomon’s punches.
“How foolish. If you’d just taken the hits calmly, I would’ve ended it with one strike.”
“……”
“You’re going to have to take some hits first, you little rat.”
[Uh oh]
[Is he going to lose?]
[Lily’s going down!]
[We’re screwed]
[???]
[Lily, what about the spirit stone?]
[Why is that guy such a pest?!???]
“Spell deployment. Bear.”
Boom!!
Gomon’s fists ignited with swirling blue spiritual energy.
Most of the audience had already lost interest, glancing at their papers for the next match.
While Yena was making a ruckus with her “Nyaa!” suddenly Gomon’s fist was about to smash Ryuin…
Crack.
…But he didn’t land the hit.
“…Jewel?”
Ryuin drew his sword from his waist and blocked the punch.
The sword, short and gray in color, seemed unremarkable.
Feeling something was off, Gomon pushed with all his might, but couldn’t break through.
Ryuin wasn’t even blocking with trembling hands.
He effortlessly blocked it with one hand, and yet Gomon’s punch couldn’t advance.
Gomon’s eyes widened in shock, and Ryuin’s lips began to move.
“Spell deployment.”
Vroom.
“Iron. Absorption. Spiritual Power Reversal.”
Bam!!
With Gomon’s power amplified several times, he struck Gomon back.
I struck Gomon.
Gomon flew straight into the opposite wall and, sprawled out and covered in blood, could not stand again.
[????]
[What the hell, damn it]
[Huh?]
[Eh]
[??????]
[Are you kidding me?]
The arena fell silent.
As Yena and the audience gawked, Ryuin sheathed his sword and looked towards the announcer.
“Winner announcement.”
-What… Ah! The winner is! Red Gate’s Ryuin Aban!!
Waaaaaah!!
-Crazy bastard!
-Aaagh! My money!
-Khahhahaha, the odds were in my favor!
-Damn it! That foolish bear got taken down over there?
-Bear dude! Just die already!
-That guy is a bit useful, huh?
-What are you talking about, it’s just the jewel that’s good!
-Isn’t it that the jewel is useful, not that guy?
-I wanna snag that jewel… Should I sneakily swipe it later?
The audience watching the match started chattering among themselves, each remarking on the unexpected result, with many curious about Gomon’s curse and Ryuin’s weapon.
This made sense since Ryuin’s performance wasn’t that amazing, but that ‘jewel’ certainly had something extraordinary going for it.
If Gomon had been cautious about the jewel, the outcome might have been different, but he had to face defeat without realizing it.
‘…That’s the usual line of thought.’
As soon as the match ended, sorcerers rushed onto the stage to treat Gomon and dragged him out.
Though a tremendous force had struck him, he was still alive.
And I…
Shwaaaaa!
“Oh. Quite a bit came in.”
I could collect my winnings based on the result.
The odds were a whopping 10.15.
With 33 Level 5 Spirit Stones, I managed to rake in around 300 Spirit Stones.
I did lose about 30 in fees, but that was still a pretty good haul.
For reference, 330 Level 5 Spirit Stones were converted to 15 Level 4 Spirit Stones.
It looks like 20 Level 5 Spirit Stones are worth just one Level 4 Spirit Stone.
I noticed Yena looking at me with a gloomy expression.
Could it be…
“Did you bet on Gomon?”
“…Of course, he seemed to have better odds! How the heck did you know I bet?”
“They call it the beast’s heart.”
“…Is that for real?”
“Just kidding. It’s because I know the weapon.”
“?”
How could I forget that weapon?
Though I wasn’t sure about the little kid’s grown-up face or attire, I certainly knew that weapon better than anyone else.
‘Iron Soul Sword.’
“The Iron Soul Sword.”
It was the sword that had sealed the Iron Devourer.
—
“Found it earlier than expected.”
The ultimate goal of this dungeon was to locate the Iron Devourer and any clues related to it.
Therefore, the priority was to find the child from the cutscene who had taken the Iron Soul Sword, believing it was most likely being protected at the top of the Sorcerers’ Association Headquarters or some significant location.
If the Iron Devourer was unleashed as a disaster, it would be catastrophic.
But hilariously enough, the child named Ryuin who took the Iron Soul Sword was fighting in some arena.
And he was casually using the sword’s abilities.
[D-D-D-D-D]
[Why is he here?]
[LOL LOL LOL]
[Isn’t this just sweet?]
[Just take it already.]
“It’s a bit troublesome right now.”
[?]
[Why?]
“What’s troubling, meow?”
“I’m hiding my power. That kid Ryuin.”
In the cutscene, it was said that Ryuin possessed tremendous spiritual power.
No one could deny his spiritual power even among the top sorcerers of the Sorcerers’ Association.
If he had enough spiritual power to replace the seal of the weakened Iron Soul Sword, he would definitely be stronger than a Level 1 Sorcerer.
“Of course, since he’s using his power to maintain the seal, he might be in a weakened state. Still, he would be stronger than us.”
At least at Level 3 or Level 2 Sorcerer.
Considering the abilities of the Iron Soul Sword, a mere Level 6 Sorcerer’s power would struggle to defeat Ryuin.
“First of all, it doesn’t seem like he will leave anytime soon, so we should observe the situation a bit. We should also gather more Spirit Stones.”
Absorbing high-grade Spirit Stones can make one stronger quickly.
Additionally, it would be good to find a way to lift the seal.
Once the seal is dealt with, he could easily overpower not only Ryuin but even the Iron Devourer.
Yena nodded along, thinking, then suddenly tilted her head and looked at me.
“…But why do you want to get the sword, meow?”
“That’s because of my memory—”
“The way you’ve been looking at strange places and talking is odd. You have some suspicious memories for someone who’s supposed to have lost their memory, meow.”
Sre.
Yena pulled out her two daggers from her waist.
Her eyes gleamed fiercely.
“Is my friend Lily really that person, meow?”
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