The last day of the Birth Festival.
And now, only one hour remained until the finals.
I was in the waiting room, eyes closed in meditation.
It wasn’t because I needed rest.
Thanks to sleeping deeply and waking up, I was in better condition than ever.
It was just that—
“Can I win?”
It would have been better if I’d seen the boss’s fight with my own eyes, but because I had collapsed yesterday, I had only heard a rough account of how the battle went. Unease had begun to bloom in my heart.
Just then, the waiting room door opened, and Emily appeared.
“How are you feeling? Do you think you can win?”
“Emily? What brings you here?”
“I heard you collapsed yesterday, so I came to check on you. Well, seeing your face, I guess I don’t need to worry.”
“It’s thanks to all the help I received.”
Veronica, Naira, the people who carried me, and even the queen, whose face I hadn’t seen but who had apparently bestowed a blessing on me.
Without their help, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
Once the match was over, I’d have to at least thank them.
Emily had already pulled over a chair and sat down beside me.
“By the way, when did you learn to use a spear like that? Didn’t you lack the time?”
“You know Hakon, right? Hakon, the Great Warrior of Rundel.”
“Of course. He was always hanging around with you. But what about him?”
“I’ve been receiving instruction from Hakon all this time.”
Just as Emily said, in this game where raising even a single level of proficiency was difficult, I had lacked the physical time.
But the weapons Hakon used were the spear and gauntlets.
And I had been able to receive his sincere guidance.
“Apparently, if you receive instruction from an NPC, your proficiency rises well up to a certain point.”
“Is that really true?”
“I don’t have any reason to lie about something like this.”
There was still so much we didn’t know about this world.
Instruction was one of those things.
Until Hakon passed his techniques on to me, I hadn’t known such a system existed either.
Of course, it wasn’t as if you could receive instruction from just anyone. It was a system that only activated when you were taught by NPCs with high proficiency.
“For now, I can only use the second skill, but in just a little while, I think I’ll be able to use the third one too.”
If I hadn’t collapsed yesterday and had received one more lesson, I could probably have surpassed 100 proficiency.
I hadn’t reached it because I’d been forced to rest deeply.
Still, thinking about it now, I believe resting was the right decision.
Having to face Ravana in an even heavier, more exhausted state than yesterday?
I’d be crushed miserably before I could even use a skill.
Emily’s warm smile turned toward me.
“Well, if it’s you, Ian, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
But as if she were anxious, she held my hand tightly.
“Still, you have to be careful. That dark elf named Ravana… I don’t think he’s used all his strength yet.”
“He was that strong?”
“It’s just a feeling, but it didn’t seem like I’d seen his limit. I strongly got the sense that he still had something left.”
If freely using skills even while holding weapons that didn’t suit him wasn’t the extent of it, then what else was there?
Just as I was about to sink into thought, the door opened and an event staff member came in.
“Sir Ian. It is time for you to enter.”
“Is it already?”
It felt like only ten minutes had passed, yet the time had already come.
I let out a deep breath and rose from my seat.
A voice came from behind me.
“Ian, good luck. I’ll be cheering for you.”
“Yes. I’ll make sure to come back with a win.”
After giving Emily a thumbs-up and stepping outside, I saw a long corridor.
Even though the arena was some distance away, the murmuring noise was enough to tell me that the atmosphere of the final day was burning hot.
Before long, the entrance leading into the arena appeared.
I leaned my back against the wall there for a moment, waiting for the signal announcing my entrance.
A little while later, I heard my name from beyond the arena.
I began walking toward the pure white cluster of light.
***
“Ah… my money. My moneeeey… No, why did she lose? I believed in her, I believed in her! Uwaaaah!”
Rosa, Erik’s friend.
Once again, the memory of yesterday’s match surged up inside her, and she tore at her hair.
She wasn’t the only one.
Many people of Staria had never doubted that Emily would become the winner of this tournament.
They had certainly come to enjoy the festival, but last night, the streets of Staria had been shrouded in gloom.
In any case.
Erik patted his friend on the back.
“That’s why I told you, why did you bet on her? You should’ve just followed me.”
“You…”
“Well, I guess you couldn’t bet on someone who ‘looked weak.’”
“You little…!”
Rosa’s face flushed red.
Her fists trembled with the urge to punch that infuriating face of his.
But if she swung her fist here, it would be the same as declaring complete defeat.
Besides, she had said what she had said, so Rosa bit her lip hard and barely held herself back.
The contest wasn’t completely over yet.
Rosa pulled one corner of her mouth up into a long smirk.
“Hey, aren’t you getting too cocky? The final match is still left. You never know, right? Maybe he only made it up because the other side was too weak.”
“Wow, now you’re just being stubborn. That’s seriously ugly. Ugly.”
“Just you wait when this is over.”
“Yeees, yeees~.”
“Agh! You’re so annoying.”
Though he had spoken with brimming confidence, Erik was uneasy.
Because he had watched Emily and Ravana’s match yesterday from beginning to end, he could not be all the more certain of victory.
On top of that, yesterday, Ian had collapsed at the moment of victory.
‘Could something have happened to the brain?’
Ian was a player.
And a player’s avatar was a body that did not develop things like illnesses.
If so, that meant something had gone wrong with the brain controlling the avatar.
Even if she appeared here, there was no guarantee she would be in proper condition.
Viewed from that perspective, the outcome of this final was as good as decided.
In truth, not only the dark elves around him, but even most of the humans were leaning toward Ravana’s victory.
Even so, Erik let out a low groan and clasped his hands together desperately.
He prayed that the person he believed in, the player, would seize victory.
Just then, fireworks formed of mana shot into the sky.
Pop-pop-pop-pop!
The final day of the Birth Festival.
The long-awaited finals.
A dazzling display of fireworks announced its opening.
Cheers burst out from all around.
Like the bursting fireworks, everyone held an excited heart, swelling with anticipation.
At last—
“Thank you for waiting, our dear audience!”
The curtain rose on the final match.
***
Amid thunderous cheers, two people faced one another.
Ian and Ravana, Ravana and Ian.
The Captain of the Guard, the previous champion, looked at Ian and smiled.
“I was worried when I heard you had collapsed, but you seem to be in good condition. I am glad.”
“It’s thanks to the help of many people. Including Her Majesty over there, of course.”
“Her Majesty does not wish for the Birth Festival to end in vain.”
“Still, it’s true that I received her help. Whatever her intentions were, it worked in my favor, so that’s enough.”
“Is that so?”
Ravana’s eyes were as warm as a grandfather looking at his grandchild.
If time allowed, Ian felt she would even like to leisurely share tea with him.
However, even he had not expected from the beginning that Ian would climb all the way to the finals.
“To be honest, when I first met you, I did not think we would meet here.”
“Is that so?”
“I know it is rude, but I had my doubts. Whether you people truly returned the World Tree to Mother’s embrace, or whether you had used some sorcery.”
“And now?”
At Ian’s question, Ravana let out a laugh.
“I acknowledge it. Not only you, Sir Ian, but all of the humans.”
Then his gaze turned to Ian before him.
“Among them, Sir Ian, your growth has truly been dazzling. Starting with Malacor, you defeated Damar, and then even Sankaka.”
Ravana drew his sword from its sheath.
“But I will not be easy.”
He planted his sword vertically into the ground.
“Ravana, Captain of the Guard. As the sword that protects the queen, I will defeat you here.”
“You’re the one who’s going down.”
Ian also drew her sword and aimed it at Ravana.
In that moment, hostility—the will to break the other—hovered between the two.
“Thank you for waiting! Then, from this moment on, Ravana versus Ian, Ian versus Ravana. The long-awaited final match will begiiiii…in!”
The floor beneath the two of them exploded as soon as it began.
Clang!
Clashing swords, bursting sparks.
At the same time, an enormous cheer rang out.
But the sound that reached the two of them was nothing.
After a brief contest of sword guards, Ravana’s wrist flexed smoothly, and he burrowed into Ian’s inside line.
Ravana’s specialty, soft swordplay.
The sword that had defeated Adrian in one move now turned toward Ian.
Ian pressed down hard on Ravana’s sword so that it could not slip free.
His blade was forced far off its trajectory, and Ian’s sword, seizing the moment, surged upward again.
Ravana extended his foot.
Thud!
A kick that was not especially powerful struck Ian in the abdomen.
Because the distance opened, her sword cut through empty air.
Ian immediately stamped her foot.
And light dwelled in her sword.
Two-hit combo, Double Accel.
Light also dwelled in Ravana’s sword.
Ninth swordsmanship skill, three-hit combo, Triple Edge.
He deflected all of Ian’s consecutive strikes, and the one remaining blow fell toward her head.
‘I expected this.’
Ian closed the distance with Ravana just as she was and shoved him with her shoulder.
His sword, its balance shaken, missed Ian.
Ian took out her staff.
“Strike Air!”
An area-control wind spell.
Wind exploded from the center between them, pushing both of them away.
While being pushed back, Ravana raised his sword above his head.
Mid-range slash, Shooting Blade.
The extended sword aura rushed toward Ian.
But at the widened distance, Ravana’s sword aura did not reach Ian.
Instead, the ice spears she created flew back toward Ravana.
Ravana smiled bitterly.
“Do you think that method will work this time as well?”
He unleashed a slash.
All the oncoming ice spears shattered to pieces.
At that moment, thick vapor began to rise around Ian.
‘She created it around herself?’
The ice spears just now had been a feint.
They had been groundwork to hide her body.
Whoosh!
A fireball burst through the vapor.
One with the wind, it headed toward Ravana with fierce momentum.
Mana settled over his sword.
And light dwelled within it.
One-strike skill, Slash.
The blow, a combination of mana and skill, split Ian’s magic in half.
Watching the sight from afar, Ian’s eyes widened.
‘So you can break magic like that.’
But her surprise ended there.
Ian once again fired flame and wind toward Ravana beyond the vapor.
Ravana’s sword swept out again, and the sphere of flame was once more split in half.
But in that instant, Ian appeared from within the split gap.
“Frostbite!”
A vicious chill coiled around Ravana’s body.
‘Was that just to hide her body?’
It was a method possible because Ian was comparatively small in build.
Before he knew it, she had her sword in hand and swung it toward Ravana, who had stiffened coldly.
At that moment, steam rose from Ravana’s entire body.
Ninth axe skill, defensive art, Toughness.
A technique that greatly increased the body’s defense for a fixed amount of time.
Ian’s sword, which reached Ravana, managed to create only a small wound.
Ian clicked her tongue.
‘Is that the technique Emily said she got hit by? It doesn’t seem like he’s using some kind of trick.’
He was using it very naturally, as if it were something he had been capable of from the start.
Ravana, who had already recovered from the frostbite state, swept his sword in a horizontal arc.
Ian bent at the waist to avoid the blade, quickly slipped into his blind spot, and disturbed Ravana’s line of sight.
And so—
Slash!
Ian’s sword grazed past Ravana’s side.
It was only a shallow wound, but if she could keep this state going, she could gain confidence that she could win.
While Ian caught her breath, Ravana ran a hand over the wound on his body and smiled bitterly.
“I have grown quite rusty as well. To think I have already allowed two attacks.”
“I told you. You’re the one who’s going down.”
“There is no shame in losing to the next generation as it grows. However, I do not intend to lose quietly just yet.”
Ravana slipped a hand into his robes.
What emerged from within was a hand axe, about the same size as his sword.
With a sword in one hand and an axe in the other, his expression hardened coldly.
Ian’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t tell me…”
“From here on, things will be very different.”
Blue and yellow light dwelled in the sword and the axe.