Chapter 115

Both contestants had already taken their positions.

However, the host had yet to announce the start of the match.

Sheffy tilted her head to look—on the audience side, members of the Knight Order were steadily pouring out, forming a protective perimeter around the spectator stands.

It was likely because Sheffy was appearing in this match, which had drawn so much attention. Just in case, the Knight Order needed to deploy in advance to maintain order at any moment.

It seemed the match would still need to wait a little longer~

The burly Woflow shifted the massive axe from his shoulder, the short spikes at the tip embedding into the ground.

The axe’s weight hitting the ground seemed to make the earth itself tremble.

He rolled his neck and spoke with a self-deprecating smile, as if talking to himself.

"Haah... looks like my luck’s pretty bad. To run into Her Highness the Demon Clan Princess in the very first round. I've heard much about your feats—your reputation precedes you."

Oh? Was this the part where people talk tough before the match?

Sheffy loved the pre-match trash talk!

Just like in those old fishing contests—she would brag that she could haul in ten baskets. Just saying it out loud felt incredibly satisfying!

What if she couldn’t catch ten baskets?

Who cared! The thrill came from the talking tough! Just saying it was a win, regardless of whether she could catch even a single basket!

So, Sheffy casually shook her left hand and replied without much concern.

"Heh, so going by what you just said, you're like the rest of those humans up there, thinking about ‘revenge’, huh? Mourning for your comrades who died on the battlefield? Planning to give it your all and play the hero today?"

"Hahaha, no, no, Your Highness, please don’t put it like that. I could never bear such an honor."

There was no falsehood in Woflow’s gaze.

His unconcerned attitude was typical of most adventurers.

"All that national business, those grand rights and wrongs—they’ve got nothing to do with me, right? We adventurers are just a bunch of common folk making money with our lives on the line. The stuff between nations? We don’t get it, and we don’t want to. As long as the Adventurer’s Guild is around, we can go anywhere. So, Princess, we adventurers aren’t fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the word ‘hero’."

"I see that now. Truly no connection at all. Ha... listen to those cheers rising for you—don’t you find them a bit noisy?"

Sheffy smiled with deep contempt.

Woflow furrowed his brows slightly. It seemed he caught the mocking tone hidden within her laughter.

Couldn’t be helped. Sheffy had originally thought that since adventurers had guild branches, they would at least stand for something nationally.

She hadn’t expected it—truly hadn’t expected it. Even a Platinum-rank adventurer held this kind of mindset. No wonder the nation never favored them or granted them any formal rank~

"So, by that logic, Mr. Woflow, you're participating today purely for the money?"

"......"

Due to the noble status of the other party, Woflow felt some anger, but couldn’t lash out.

The match was about to officially begin.

Yet suddenly, Woflow said something that sounded a bit odd to Sheffy.

"Your Highness, as I mentioned, I came here not out of any interest in winning glory or victory."

"Oh? Are you saying you intend to surrender?"

"That’s not it."

Woflow removed the heavy bracers from his wrists and flexed his hands. It was clear he had no intention of surrendering—on the contrary, he seemed ready to go all out and give it everything he had.

"I’m a man who knows his limits. The magic power radiating from Your Highness is awe-inspiring, even terrifying... Even when I once faced a ferocious dragon, I never had the certainty that I was doomed to lose. But this time—this time feels utterly hopeless."

Is that so?

But Sheffy had already suppressed the observable outflow of her magic power to below one percent, hadn't she?

Now she was curious about what Woflow was really trying to say.

Sheffy twirled her fingers, signaling for him to go on.

"My chances of winning are slim, but could I ask Your Highness—once the match begins—to go a little easy on me? Just enough so that I don’t lose too disgracefully? It wouldn’t affect your victory, and if you're willing to do that, we wouldn’t need to really fight it out. That way, you could conserve your strength for future rounds. Furthermore, I could offer you an additional reward of considerable value. You know how we adventurers are—if we’re not short of anything, it's money earned with our lives! What do you say?"

"...?"

Could he maybe stop and think for a moment about what he was even saying?

Seriously, if he didn’t want to fight, couldn’t he just surrender? Why the need to lose gracefully? Didn’t he just say he didn’t care about honor?

Finding his words completely contradictory, Sheffy’s patience was starting to wear thin.

"Oh... If you really believe going all out would tire me out, then by all means, keep thinking that. But let me ask you something—are you saying all this because there’s something wrong with your brain?"

"My brain...! Hiss... I mean..."

Woflow hesitated—he seemed unsure if he should respond.

But just then, the referee in charge of the match was walking up to the judge’s seat, preparing to announce the start of the battle.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Woflow felt he had no choice but to make things clear now.

The burly man, nearly two meters tall, suddenly looked embarrassed, scratching the back of his head with a bitter smile.

The spectators had no idea what they were talking about, but watching Woflow’s behavior, they too found it inexplicably strange.

"Haah... Your Highness might laugh at me for this, but after so many years as an adventurer, I’ve made plenty of money, and my reputation has peaked. I probably have no hope of ever reaching Obsidian-rank. So now, I’ve been thinking—it’s time I found a partner as strong as I am! It’s time for the next step in life! My target is right there in the audience today, and I need this match to show off what I’m capable of, to earn some favor. Just a small gesture from Your Highness—I truly hope you’ll lend me a hand!"

Oh, so that’s what this was about. After all that talk—you came here today to hit on a girl!

It wasn’t that Sheffy was nosy; it was simply that she would never suppress her curiosity.

"Hah? Just to ask—who is your chosen target...?"

"Please don’t laugh, Your Highness! The one I wish to pursue is none other than our kingdom’s Hero herself! The Hero is both beautiful and powerful, and I hear she’s still single! To win over a woman like that—that’s what makes a true warrior! Hahaha, and since the Hero is right here watching the match, this is a rare opportunity for me! So please, I must ask you to... uh... Your Highness?"

"......"

On Sheffy’s side—she suddenly fell silent.

Furious...

Unreasonably furious...

You bastard... do you even realize it?

You’ve set your sights on the wrong person.

Night fell.

No, it was already nighttime to begin with—only now, a darkness deeper than night shrouded the entire arena.

The magic power Sheffy had been suppressing to under one percent was suddenly surging uncontrollably, the chaotic aura swelling and roiling between her six wings.

That ominous sensation...

It was like the wailing of countless undead, the murmurs of a heretical god, the laughter of the abyss.

As the rising concentration of magic was detected across the field, Eclight—responsible for maintaining the barrier—urgently summoned his team to reinforce the wards, only to realize—the dense magic energy was being expertly contained, with no intention of breaching the barrier.

Those outside the barrier were safe.

Those inside... were not so lucky.

Woflow was completely stunned.

Just a moment ago, what Woflow saw before him had still been filled with light—and now, in the blink of an eye, it was as if he had descended into hell... everything in sight was blood-red and pitch-black.

A wave of nausea surged in his stomach.

The very next instant, Woflow dropped to his knees and began vomiting uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down at the same time.

All of this unfolded before the eyes of the audience.

The human spectators who had just been cheering for Woflow were dumbfounded. They had no idea what the Demon Clan Princess had done, but it had somehow reduced a Platinum-rank adventurer to kneeling and vomiting uncontrollably!

No... she was clearly just standing there, not doing anything at all!

Behind the Pope, the invisible golden radiance surged even more rapidly—as if it had seen something fascinating and was brimming with excitement.

Woflow could not comprehend this... After so many years as a Platinum-rank adventurer, he had seen all kinds of things... He couldn’t believe there was something so bizarre in this world!

His trembling hand gripped the massive axe. He was merely trying to stand—and already had to roar just to cheer himself on.

Humans... always full of contradictions.

He had said he didn’t care about honor, didn’t care about applause—but it was all a lie.

It was only when he was forced to kneel before a member of the Demon Clan in front of his fellow humans that he finally realized—who didn’t want to be a hero?

Propping himself up with his giant axe under immense pressure, Woflow was certain—this had to be an illusion spell cast by the Demon Clan Princess.

There couldn’t possibly be magic like this in the world. It had to be some kind of illusion magic.

Just a paper tiger... anyone using illusion magic surely wouldn’t be able to defend against attacks in time.

As long as he poured all his magic into the axe, summoned his courage, and charged forward to cleave down that demon witch—then the outcome of victory or defeat was still uncertain!

In that moment, Woflow’s ambitions went far beyond just being an adventurer. He felt that glory and status were waving at him!

Pursuing the Hero—it was only because he didn’t want to be looked down upon for being an adventurer!

So what if she was the Hero? So what if the Knight Order was noble? Stop looking down on adventurers!

As long as he could cleave the Demon Clan Princess in two right here... then everything would...!

Boom...

He didn’t manage to take even a single step forward.

Because tears burst from Woflow’s eyes—he truly couldn’t understand what it was he was seeing before him...

【Desert】【Purgatory】【Torrent】【Wind Magic】【Extreme Cold】

The pitch-black sky overhead.

Five entirely different yet overwhelming spells formed and condensed into shape.

The demon witch Sheffy, who hadn’t moved an inch from her spot, stood beneath a black shadow—only her pair of purple eyes emitted a radiant glow—so full of scorn.

It was as if the stars of the heavens were looking down upon dust.

In that moment, humanity would come to understand just how minuscule and ignorant it truly was.

The so-called ambition he spoke of—how utterly insignificant it was.

An illusion, still?

But what was this magic blade that had already torn open his skin... just what was this?

Slaying a ferocious dragon?

Ha... hahaha... was that really something worth bragging about, only to make a fool of oneself?

Thud!!

The giant axe slipped from his grip and struck the ground.

His face was full of terror, snot and tears mingled—Woflow, overwhelmed by fright, collapsed heavily to the ground.

He had fallen.

But the magic across from him hadn’t stopped because of that.

Though four of the five distinct magical forces were gradually dispersing, the remaining spell—【Desert】—had fully activated.

The solid arena floor turned, in an instant, into endless flowing sand!

The entire terrain had been altered.

The magic hadn’t directly struck the protective barrier, yet it was as if the barrier itself had sensed the might of the spell—it let out a thunderous roar, as though even the protective magic was afraid of something.

The sand surged.

The unconscious Woflow gradually sank into the quicksand.

In no time at all, only two wretched legs remained jutting out toward the sky—his head and body already slipping beneath the sand, completely buried.

Sheffy pressed her fingers down gently.

The magic halted, the quicksand ceased to churn—everything returned to normal.

Everyone on the scene was still in a daze... but Sheffy had already activated her 【Storage Magic】.

She rummaged through it briefly and pulled out a convenient little shovel.

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