["Thank you for your patience, everyone!"]

The announcer's voice boomed through Tartan's colosseum, amplified by a magical device.

["The Black Dragon Festival is here! Fierce duels with blood flying! I can't wait to see what mighty fighters will appear this time!"]

"Wooooo!"

The spectators cheered in unison at the announcer's words.

["I can really feel your enthusiasm! What fiery, ferocious duels will these competitors show us to set our hearts ablaze? I can hardly wait! And of course! High-ranking priests are standing by so the competitors can fight to their hearts' content! Don't worry if you lose an arm or a leg! As long as you're still alive, you're fine! Oh, and naturally, the organizers will cover the treatment costs, so there's no need to worry about going broke!"]

"Hahahahaha!"

The audience laughed readily at the standard joke trotted out at every Black Dragon Festival.

'Hmm. Looks like they even have high-ranking priests stationed here these days.'

Nellin thought back to her previous visit to Tartan.

Back then, naturally, there had been no Black Dragon Festival, only the colosseum's daily duels. There had been potions and priests as a safety precaution, but no high-ranking priests. If a duel looked likely to result in serious injury, the organizers had to make a quick decision and stop it. If they were too late, they simply treated it as an unfortunate incident.

'I won't need to use the elixir, then.'

The elixir was known as the pinnacle of potions. With no need to worry about using the one she had secretly packed before leaving the forest, she felt a weight lift from her mind.

["Once again, many powerful fighters have entered the Black Dragon Festival! I'd love to watch every single one of their duels! But reality isn't so accommodating! Only thirty-two competitors can advance to the main tournament!"]

SCREEEECH!

The colosseum's iron gate rose, and the competitors in the waiting room entered the arena together. There appeared to be roughly 140 of them. With sixty-four taking part in the main tournament, that meant more than half would be eliminated.

Nellin studied the competitors from the stands.

'Quite a few decent ones here. Not on the level of the boys I put through their paces, though.'

As far as Nellin could tell, there was no need to worry about Godric's Party being eliminated in the preliminaries. So she began observing the other competitors to amuse herself.

'That fellow looks like he can fight. That one's all flash, probably nothing special. Hmm? That girl...'

A girl with whitish silver hair, wolf ears, and yellow eyes like gold caught Nellin's attention.

'Why is she so vicious?'

The girl entering with bandages wrapped around both hands carried a sinister aura of murderous intent. Rather than radiating it indiscriminately, she kept it contained within herself, but to Nellin, it looked ready to spill out at the slightest touch.

'So there are still kids like that even without that calamity bastard around.'

Nellin had met people like the girl before: survivors who had lost family or friends to the black dragon, the calamity. It was an aura commonly found among those consumed by anger and hatred rather than grief.

+++

["Now, everyone! Let the Black Dragon Festival preliminaries begin!"]

As soon as the preliminaries began, Godric's Party stood back-to-back, watching their surroundings. They weren't the only ones. Those who had formed parties in the waiting room to get through the preliminaries also stood back-to-back. Of course, some trusted their own abilities and immediately sprang into action without grouping up.

THUUUD!

"Aaagh!"

"Just go down already."

"What the hell, this little brat—urgh!"

"How is that a Snowflake Fist? It hurts like fu... Aaagh!"

The girl called Snowflake Fist moved fiercely, knocking down the competitors around her. Following her lead, the others in the preliminaries began finding prey and attacking, one after another.

CLANG! CLAAANG!

THUUUD!

WHOOSH!

WHACK!

CRACK!

BOOOM!

Swords clashed with swords, fists collided with fists, and magic erupted all over the arena.

"What lunatic is using explosion magic in a cramped space like this?"

"Bwahahaha! This is true art... Urgh!"

"Die!"

As the brawl began in earnest, the colosseum grew increasingly intense. The audience went wild, cheering at the chaotic spectacle.

"Yes! Go, go!"

"You have to survive! I bet on you to get through the preliminaries!"

"Aaaaargh! Why'd you go down there?"

"O God, please, please, please! Protect my living expenses!"

Once the melee began, Godric's Party didn't simply stand there on guard. However tightly they grouped together, the preliminaries wouldn't end until the numbers were whittled down, so some competitors charged at them too. Amid the fighting breaking out everywhere, Godric's Party calmly watched their surroundings, dealing only with those who approached them.

"Hey! Def, take the left!"

"R-right!"

"Hawein, don't get taken out trying to show off."

"Heh. Compared to my current prowess, they're all so insignif..."

"Then want to take on that silver-haired brat rampaging over there?"

"We should give our all to the task at hand."

CLAAANG!

THUD!

CLAAANG!

With the skills they had honed, Godric's Party steadily brought down every enemy who charged them. As time passed and the competitors dwindled, attention naturally began to turn toward them.

"Who the hell are those guys?"

"Never seen them before, but they're pretty good."

"Are all four in the same party?"

Individual skill aside, their coordination made it easy to tell they had been a party for a long time. That kept the others from rashly picking a fight with Godric's Party. If their enemies worked well together, they could simply face them one-on-one in the main tournament. There was no need to make things difficult by provoking them now.

But there was someone who attacked regardless of who stood in her way.

"Next."

The girl called Snowflake Fist kicked off the ground and lunged at Def, thrusting out a fist. Sgol spotted her and hastily warned him.

"Def, block it!"

"A-aah!"

Holding his axe in both hands, Def thrust its flat side forward and blocked Snowflake Fist's attack.

CLAAAANG!

A sound scarcely imaginable from a fist striking an axe rang out. A powerful shock traveled through the axe into Def's hands. Without Nellin's training, the impact alone would have been enough to make him drop it. But the toughness he had built through her special training allowed him to endure the shock and swing his axe.

"Haaaaah!"

Struck by the flat of Def's axe, Snowflake Fist went flying. But she twisted in midair, broke her fall, and nimbly sprang back up to glare at Godric's Party.

Snowflake Fist's sinister gaze had the power to make anyone shrink back simply by looking at it. Under that stare, every member of Godric's Party had the same thought: why did her eyes look so murderous?

Less-skilled fighters might have faltered just from meeting her gaze, but Nellin's training kept Godric's Party from cowering, even if they were tense.

Seeing their reaction, the girl judged that Godric's Party were no mere riffraff. Just as she was about to attack more fiercely, another competitor swung his sword at her, having seen her get knocked away and taken it as an opportunity.

"Aaaah!"

WHOOSH!

But his sword sliced futilely through empty air. Before he swung, the girl had twisted her body and sprung up. The moment the sword cut through the air—

THUUUD!

"Gurgh!"

Her foot struck the swordsman in the face.

'She's fast.'

'Heh. Incredible footwork.'

'How'd she dodge that?'

'A-amazing.'

For a moment, Godric's Party stared in a daze at the movement that had unfolded in an instant.

After bringing down the competitor who had attacked her, the girl turned her gaze back to Godric's Party. They were next. Bracing themselves, they each took their stance.

Just as she was about to kick off the ground again—

["The preliminaries are oveeeer!!! Competitors, please stop!"]

The announcer's voice rang throughout the colosseum, declaring the end of the preliminaries. At his announcement, all the competitors looked around. Eliminated fighters lay sprawled everywhere. Excluding those on the ground, the number still standing in the vast colosseum had fallen to less than half the original total.

["The thirty-two competitors still standing will advance to the main tournament! Please give a round of applause to encourage and support those who made it through the preliminaries!"]

"Wooooo!"

At the announcer's urging, cheers and thunderous applause rose from the stands. Not everyone joined in, of course. Some sobbed over their chosen competitors' defeat, but those few people's grief was swallowed by the cheering and went unnoticed.

+++

"Congratulations on getting through the preliminaries, boys. Today's meal is on me, so eat up!"

"Thank you, Big Sis Marin!"

Godric's Party and Nellin went into a restaurant for a celebratory meal.

"Tomorrow, just do your basic training and get plenty of rest. That way, you'll be ready for the main tournament the day after."

"Yes!"

The main tournament would be held two days after the preliminaries. Ostensibly, this was to let the competitors get into condition and to draw up the bracket, but it also served to drum up spectator interest and betting money.

Perhaps because of all their physical exertion in the preliminaries and the mental fatigue catching up with them, Godric's Party began eating even faster than usual. Nellin chuckled at the four of them, then spoke.

"You boys really worked hard today. I could see how tense you were plain as day, even from the stands."

"Really?"

"Isn't that something only you could notice, Big Sis Marin?"

"Only me? As if. You pressed your backs together the second it started. It was obvious. Still, you handled things well and put up a good fight. Teaching you was definitely worth it, huh?"

"Your teaching made a huge difference, Big Sis Marin. We took down so many idiots who charged us! Hehehe!"

"Yeah. Sgol, you looked like you were having fun."

"I-I think your training kept me from getting eliminated today too, Big Sis. That girl's punch at the end was really strong."

"Right? I didn't put you through all that toughness training for nothing, you know. Ah, but you got lucky at the end."

"Lucky? What do you mean?"

"You know that girl Def mentioned? If you'd fought her, one of you probably wouldn't have held out and would've been eliminated."

"Really?"

Nellin nodded at Godric's question.

"Yeah. There was some serious venom in her eyes. And she looked like she could fight. I may have trained you boys, but taking her on alone would be a real struggle."

"Heh, then who would win if you fought her, Big Sis Marin?"

"Haaah. Hawein. You stupid, stupid Hawein. Is that even a question?"

TAP! TAP!

"Ow! Aaagh!"

After striking Hawein on the crown of his head with her spoon, Nellin pointed her thumb at herself and declared confidently,

"I'd beat the crap out of her, obviously."

"Hah! I knew it!"

"Of course!"

"Y-you're incredibly strong, Big Sis Marin!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"Well, that girl's glare was creepy, but you're scarier when you put us through our paces, Big Sis Marin."

WHACK!