As usual, an extremely cheerful, toothy grin spread across Roterberg's face as he strode vigorously toward the center of the arena.
After unleashing an incredibly powerful burst of laughter, he declared in an equally cheerful voice:
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! The boss kicked off the day with a fantastic show! It only seems fair that I shouldn't be outdone—it would be an insult to my 'kids'!"
As he spoke, he rolled his shoulders to loosen them.
The "kids" the dwarf blacksmith was referring to were, of course, the enormous number of weapons he was carrying on his back for this match.
In fact, compared to his fight against the adventurer Zoe during the preliminaries, there were noticeably even more weapons this time. Most of them were Eastern weapons as well.
The armor he wore, however, was exactly the same. Except for the helmet, which left much more of the lower part of his face uncovered, making his thick beard more visible.
Precisely because of everything he was carrying, each of his steps was incredibly heavy.
So heavy, in fact, that many spectators in the stands could feel the arena floor trembling beneath them whenever he walked. Even though, of course, the ground wasn't really shaking.
A whistle escaped Musashi's lips when he saw just how many weapons his opponent had brought with him.
"Who would have thought that after my death I'd end up challenging the great Musashibō Benkei? Are we sure this isn't the afterlife?"
The Japanese Hero appeared to be in a good mood as well, though his cheerfulness was noticeably calmer and more relaxed than the dwarf's.
Now standing face-to-face with his opponent, Roterberg maintained his jovial grin and asked:
"AHAHAHAHAHAH! Benkei? Who's that? Someone from your world whom I resemble?"
Musashi placed a hand on his chin as though considering the question carefully.
"Not exactly..." he replied.
After a brief pause, he continued:
"Yes, he was a legendary warrior monk from my country, and it's true that when I saw all those weapons on your back, he was the first person who came to mind. But now that I'm looking at you up close, you're quite a bit too short to be compared physically to the giant of a man who was said to be Benkei."
A trace of amusement entered his voice.
"On the other hand, when it comes to comparing your strength, I'll need to see more before making that judgment. Though the mere fact that you can casually walk around carrying all those weapons already makes me think the comparison might not be entirely unreasonable."
His eyes briefly swept over the dwarf's equipment.
"Especially considering that you haven't activated that magic which enhances your physical abilities."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!"
A thunderous burst of laughter exploded from the dwarf's mouth.
The booming sound was so powerful that Musashi instinctively covered his ears with his hands.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about my height!" Roterberg replied between laughs. "We dwarves aren't exactly known for being tall. Believe it or not, I'm actually considered pretty tall by dwarf standards!"
There was not the slightest trace of offense or irritation in his voice.
"Still," he continued, now sounding genuinely intrigued, "I'm surprised you could tell that I'm not using a physical enhancement spell right now. Almost every weapon on my shoulders contains at least a little mana."
Musashi shrugged.
"Honestly, even after spending four years in this world, I still don't understand much about what you people call magic. But from what I've been able to gather, I seem to be unusually good at tracing and distinguishing what you call mana."
He looked slightly surprised that his opponent had not reacted to his earlier provocation in the slightest.
"Ahahahahaha! Interesting!" Roterberg exclaimed.
The dwarf's grin somehow grew even wider.
"Now I'm even more excited to see how my 'kids' perform against a Hero like you, Musashi! So, what do you say? Shall we get started right away?"
His voice was overflowing with enthusiasm.
Musashi shook his head.
"Sure" he replied. "After all, I'm also very interested in seeing whether my Niten Ichi-ryū can pierce that armor of yours."
Then he added to himself:
'In any case, I don't think it matters what I say. It seems completely impossible to make someone like that angry.'
Hearing this exchange, Pinusal realized that it was finally time to begin the second match of the day.
So, more out of formality than necessity—since he already knew what their answers would be—he asked:
"Is there anything else either of you would like to say before the match begins?"
Both fighters shook their heads almost immediately.
"All right then," said the referee. "The match will begin on my signal."
"Ready..."
Musashi placed both hands on the hilts of his two swords.
"Set..."
"Come!" Roterberg shouted in his booming voice as a spear instantly teleported from the collection of weapons on his back into his right hand.
"GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The moment the final command left Pinusal's mouth, Roterberg moved.
With surprising agility for someone carrying such an absurd amount of equipment, the dwarf took a long leap backward.
Then, practically the instant his feet touched the ground again, he hurled the spear with tremendous force.
"Let's start with something simple! Let's see how you handle this little gem!" he shouted gleefully.
The moment the spear left his hand, a sonic boom erupted behind it due to the sheer force of the throw.
Musashi had not yet had enough time to fully draw either of his katanas.
Nevertheless, thanks to his more than superhuman reflexes, he managed to unsheathe the longer of the two in time and swing it toward the incoming projectile.
The blade struck the spear that would have otherwise pierced him directly through the chest. The impact altered its trajectory by only a tiny amount, but that tiny deviation was enough.
The spear missed his vital organs.
Even so, it still grazed his shoulder, tearing a small section of his kimono.
The spear then continued onward until it struck the arena's indestructible wall.
Just as during Roterberg's previous match, neither the spear nor the wall suffered the slightest damage.
Almost immediately afterward, Musashi closed the distance between them.
Moving with astonishing speed, he reached the dwarf before Roterberg could properly react and slashed at his right arm with the katana he had already drawn.
However, the blade simply bounced off the blacksmith's armor.
A shower of sparks burst outward, but the armor remained completely unharmed.
An annoyed click of the tongue escaped the legendary swordsman.
"Tch."
Then he said, sounding mildly disappointed:
"I was hoping otherwise, but it seems my ordinary katana isn't capable of piercing that armor of yours."
Yet even as he spoke those words, he moved.
With incredible speed, Musashi drew his second, shorter katana and thrust it directly toward the portion of Roterberg's face left exposed beneath his helmet.
"But your entire body isn't covered by armor."
His voice carried unmistakable killing intent.
Not because he intended to kill his opponent, but because he had decided to treat this battle with complete seriousness.
However, instead of piercing the lower half of Roterberg's face, the tip of the blade struck something invisible.
The sound it produced was identical to the metallic clang heard when his sword had struck the dwarf's armor moments earlier.
"What?!" Musashi exclaimed in surprise.
A grin even wider than usual spread across Roterberg's face.
Then, after unleashing one of his trademark booming laughs, he replied in a voice overflowing with excitement:
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Well, Hero Musashi, there happens to be an extremely rare mineral called Ghost Stone."
The dwarf proudly tapped the side of his helmet.
"When ground into powder and melted at precisely the right temperature, it can be used to create a special kind of paint. If that paint is applied to both sides of a metal plate, the plate becomes completely invisible."
He paused dramatically before adding:
"The downside is that it can no longer block sound."
A bitter smile appeared on the exiled Hero's face.
"So that's what you coated the section of your helmet covering your mouth with."
He glanced toward the invisible barrier protecting the lower half of the dwarf's face.
"And because it isn't magical, I wasn't able to sense it."
The dwarf nodded proudly.
"Ahh… I hope it hasn't been damaged too badly," said Musashi before sheathing his shorter katana.
Meanwhile, he weighed his options, considering how best to proceed and whether the time had finally come to start using that technique.
But before he could reach a decision, he was forced to act.
"Come!" shouted the dwarf.
A massive warhammer materialized in his hands, appearing from the arsenal strapped to his back. Without hesitation, he swung it with tremendous force, aiming to crush the swordsman in a single blow.
But surprisingly, the legendary samurai parried the attack with his longer katana.
Even more surprising was the fact that the blade did not chip in the slightest.
Just before the dwarf's enormous warhammer could strike him, Musashi cast:
"Niten Ichi Ryu: Ring of Earth!"
Chunks of stone and earth immediately tore themselves free from the arena floor and flowed into the katana he was holding.
The blade did not become thicker and remained completely intact. But Its color shifted, taking on the same brown hue as the stadium's soil.
At the same time, a powerful yellow aura enveloped Musashi's body.
"Ohohohohoh! Now that's a surprise..." said the dwarf, studying the transformed katana with obvious interest. Not even the faintest scratch had appeared on its surface.
"I didn't expect to destroy it outright, considering its quality, but I thought I'd at least manage to damage it a little, but it came out of it without a single scratch, huh..." he added.
Then, narrowing his eyes slightly, he asked:
"Also, am I mistaken, or has your strength increased, Hero Musashi?"
"It might have," Musashi replied casually. "Or it might not."
His voice remained completely relaxed as his katana continued to clash against the dwarf's hammer.
"I've never seen an Earth-type spell like this before. Is this your Historyl Magic?" Roterberg asked, his tone carrying equal parts curiosity and excitement.
Once again, as though he had all the time in the world, the Hero answered:
"What do you think?"
Roterberg tightened his grip on the warhammer and grinned.
"I think I'm going to have a lot of fun finding out!!!!!!"
A tremendous amount of mana surged into the dwarf's powerful arms.
Then he thrust forward with nearly all the physical strength available to him at that moment. The force that he was using now was enough to push the exiled Hero backward by a step.
Only a single step.
But even so, Musashi's katana remained completely unharmed.
The swordsman immediately realized that if the clash continued like this, he would eventually be the one to lose.
So, with a subtle yet masterful movement, he flowed with the force of the clash and slipped his katana free from the locked weapons.
At the same time, he barely managed to evade the follow-up swing of the hammer.
Immediately afterward, he gathered all the strength in his body and struck the joint in the dwarf's armor that allowed movement in the right forearm.
A loud metallic clang echoed through the arena.
His katana bounced away once again.
This time, however, the blade—which had become nearly indestructible thanks to his spell—managed to leave behind a tiny mark.
The problem was that he had created that tiny mark using almost all of his strength.
And only by repeating that feat countless times on that exact same spot would he eventually be able to pierce the armor and reach the skin beneath.
"Ahahahahahahah! Nice move, but this is my finest armor. It isn't nearly that easy to penetrate," said Roterberg in his booming voice, his optimistic smile never wavering.
"Just as I expected, even the strength granted to me by this magic isn't enough..." Musashi admitted.
His voice sounded slightly discouraged at first.
But by the end of the sentence, it had returned to its usual calm confidence.
"I'll have to change my approach."
A relaxed smile spread across the swordsman's face, who drew his shorter katana from its sheath once more.
Then he chanted:
"Niten Ichi Ryu: Ring of Water!"