Chapter 111 - end of the tournament
Luna and I continued jabbing at each other, laughing together.
The people around us, however, had a completely different reaction.
Many of them stared at Luna as she laughed.
Her bright, carefree laughter seemed to mesmerize them.
Even I found myself slightly captivated by it for a moment.
But I quickly came back to my senses.
I looked around and noticed the death glares being directed toward me.
"Hey..."
"Are you trying to start a war?"
I pointed toward the people around us.
"Look at them."
"They’re looking at me like I stole their bride."
Luna looked around.
Sure enough, several people were glaring at me as if they wanted to kill me.
She burst into laughter again.
"Oh?"
"It seems you have to work harder."
I stared at her.
"Hey!"
"What do you mean?"
"You enjoy this way too much."
"You’re the reason they’re looking at me like that."
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"So you’re responsible for this."
Luna looked at me with a teasing smile.
"Oh?"
"Don’t accuse this princess without evidence."
"You might get charged with a criminal offense."
I stared at her completely dumbfounded.
"Wait..."
"Aren’t you the one who told me a moment ago not to call you princess?"
"And now you’re saying ’this princess’?"
"Your attitude changes quicker than Amy chooses clothes for me."
Luna laughed.
"Oh, you’re still thinking about that?"
"Next time, I should join them."
"I can already imagine thousands of different combinations for you."
An expression of genuine horror appeared on my face.
I immediately took a step backward.
"No."
"No matter what happens, don’t do that."
I was practically pleading now.
Luna’s smirk widened.
"Oh?"
"Where did that high-and-mighty Gray go?"
I pointed at her accusingly.
"You’re cheating."
She crossed her arms proudly.
"Hmph."
"You deserve it."
I looked at her with a hurt expression.
"You’re evil."
"One day, I’ll show the entire world how evil this Third Princess really is behind that innocent mask."
Luna laughed and lightly punched my shoulder.
"Oh?"
"I’d like to see you try."
Before I could respond, a familiar voice echoed through the arena.
"Luna von Valtherion!"
Luna’s expression immediately became serious.
She looked at me and smiled.
"Alright."
"This is my last match."
"I’m going in."
I nodded.
"I won’t say good luck."
"I already know you’ve got this."
"You don’t need luck."
Luna’s smile widened.
"Sweet talker."
I simply waved my hand.
"Go."
I watched as she entered the arena.
Her opponent was a boy wielding a long sword.
The moment Luna stepped onto the battlefield, her entire expression changed.
The warmth she showed me disappeared.
Her face became completely expressionless.
It was the same expression I wore whenever I entered a serious battle.
Cold.
Focused.
Calm.
Both participants stated their names.
Then—
The match began.
Luna immediately raised her hand.
"Ice Spear."
Several ice spears shot toward her opponent.
She wasn’t trying to finish the battle immediately.
She was testing him.
Her opponent responded by using Darkness to counter the attack.
Luna’s eyes gleamed.
"Then..."
"Light."
A burst of light erupted from her body.
The darkness was immediately dispelled.
Luna stepped forward and went on the offensive.
Her sword clashed against his.
He managed to block several of her attacks.
Then he suddenly released Darkness, attempting to blind her.
But Luna immediately surrounded herself with Light.
The darkness disappeared before it could affect her vision.
She didn’t hesitate.
Her newly created movement technique activated.
Light surged through her body.
In an instant—
She crossed the distance between them.
Her sword swung toward him.
He reacted quickly.
Lightning erupted around his body.
He used it to accelerate and narrowly avoided her attack before redirecting his sword toward her.
Luna had already anticipated it.
She moved aside.
Then she coated her sword in Ice.
The blade froze over as she prepared another attack.
But before she could continue—
"Gray Starlight!"
My name echoed through the arena.
I looked toward Luna one final time.
Then I turned around and headed toward my own battlefield.
This was my final match as well.
When I entered the arena, I saw my opponent waiting for me.
He was a noble.
Unlike most of the participants I had fought so far, there was a certain sharpness in his eyes.
He looked at me carefully the moment I entered.
Hmm.
This will be interesting.
I drew Eclipse and entered my stance.
The organizers had divided all the participants into five groups and arranged their matches through brackets.
This was my final match.
Which meant my opponent had also fought through several battles to reach this point.
A small grin appeared on my face.
I tightened my grip around Eclipse.
Both of us stated our names.
"Gray Starlight."
"Maximum Diamondridge."
We entered our stances.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
In an instant, I rushed forward.
Eclipse flashed toward him.
But...
He didn’t move.
My attack landed.
Clang!
For a moment, I was confused.
It felt like I had struck a stone.
He stood there completely unharmed.
My eyes narrowed.
I immediately activated my perception.
So that’s what happened.
He had hardened his body at the exact moment my attack landed.
My sword had almost no effect.
A massive grin appeared on my face.
Interesting.
This is very interesting.
You’re my training dummy now.
The smile on my face probably looked slightly frightening.
I took a step backward.
At that exact moment, he rushed toward me.
I reinforced my body with mana and met his attack.
Our weapons collided.
But his strength was overwhelming.
I was pushed backward.
I immediately changed my approach.
I coated my hand in Ice, forming an Ice Gauntlet around my fist.
Then—
Bang!
I punched him as hard as I could.
My fist collided with his hardened body.
He barely moved.
I took a step backward and thought carefully.
How am I supposed to break through his defense?
I could use Space.
But if I used too much power...
I might kill him.
Then an idea came to me.
I combined Space and Ice.
An Ice Spear formed in my hand.
I aimed it toward him.
Before he could understand what I was doing—
Whoosh!
The spear flew forward.
But instead of aiming at his chest or head...
I aimed at his hand.
The Ice Spear struck.
His hand was injured, but the wound was minimal.
He became furious.
He immediately rushed toward me.
I noticed something else.
He’s much slower than me.
I activated Void Step.
My body disappeared from his vision.
I avoided his attack and immediately put Eclipse away.
I didn’t want to kill him.
If I kept testing my limits with Eclipse, I might seriously injure him.
Instead, I combined Space and Ice again.
Then I added a thin layer of Darkness around my hands.
The darkness wrapped around my fists like armor, strengthening them.
I looked at him.
My grin widened.
"Let’s see how much you can handle."
I activated Void Step.
I disappeared.
At the same time, I used my perception to track his movements.
Then—
I appeared beside him.
My fist slammed into his body.
Mana reinforcement.
Ice.
Space.
Darkness.
All of them combined into a single attack.
Bang!
The impact sent him staggering backward.
I stared at him in surprise.
"So..."
"You can handle that?"
My smile widened.
"That’s amazing."
I rushed forward.
Then I began throwing punches one after another.
He tried to draw his greatsword and counterattack, but I easily outsped him using Void Step.
Every time he tried to attack—
I disappeared.
Every time he tried to defend—
I appeared somewhere else.
Then—
He did something unexpected.
Wind suddenly erupted around his body.
He used the wind to accelerate and create distance between us.
My expression darkened.
So that’s it.
This guy has a second element.
Wind.
He could have used it to compensate for his lack of speed this entire time.
But he deliberately didn’t.
I immediately disappeared.
Void Step.
I appeared beside him.
My fist was already prepared.
This time, I poured everything I could safely use into the attack.
Mana.
Gravity.
The strength of my body.
The elemental gauntlet surrounding my fist.
Everything.
His eyes widened.
He barely had time to react.
He reinforced his body again and threw a punch of his own.
Our fists collided.
BOOM!
For a moment, the entire arena seemed to shake from the impact.
But—
I overpowered him.
My fist broke through his defense and slammed directly into his stomach.
"Gah—!"
He spat out saliva as his body was launched backward.
He crashed across the arena.
But somehow...
He managed to get back onto his feet.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Both of us were breathing heavily.
He raised his sword again.
He was preparing for another attack.
I smiled.
"Still standing?"
"Impressive."
I didn’t give him the chance to attack.
Darkness spread from beneath his feet.
Vines of Darkness wrapped around his body and restrained him.
His eyes widened.
I rushed forward.
Then I threw another full-strength punch.
Bang!
The impact sent him crashing to the ground.
This time...
He couldn’t endure it.
His body went limp.
The referee immediately raised his hand.
"The winner..."
"Gray Starlight!"
The arena erupted in cheers.
But mixed among those cheers were whispers.
Some people looked at me with admiration.
Others...
Looked at me as if I were some kind of monster.
I ignored all of them.
I simply looked toward my defeated opponent.
"Good fight."
Then I turned around.
My tournament battle was over.
I walked away from the arena and toward the stands.
And there...
Luna was waiting for me.