At the corner of the stage.
Truly a battle between monsters!"
Claudia sighed deeply as she swung her sword, shattering Rimcy's school emblem.
Rimcy offered no resistance, allowing Claudia to destroy the emblem on her chest. With all her equipment transferred to Alde, she stood no chance against Claudia. Rather than futile struggle, she chose to concede gracefully.
The arena echoed with storm-like roars as Alde pursued Roy with everything he had. Each hammer strike shook the earth, and every cannon blast unleashed a barrage of light projectiles.
Yet Roy didn't appear cornered. He dodged the crushing hammer blows and sliced through incoming energy bullets. Though still at a disadvantage, his superior speed and agility kept him from fatal peril.
"At this rate, his prana will deplete soon."
Rimcy retreated to the stage's edge—the designated rest area for eliminated participants. Her gaze, cool as ever, settled on Claudia nearby.
"Aren't you going to assist him?"
"Attempting to sow anxiety won't work, you know?"
Claudia responded with an unconcerned smile, tilting her head playfully.
"True, Roy's prana is draining rapidly. But Alde must be under tremendous strain too, no? If this state had no drawbacks, there'd be no need to split functions between two units like you and him. Am I wrong?"
"...You saw through it."
Rimcy exhaled a remarkably human sigh of resignation.
Indeed, Alde's current form imposed severe burdens.
The output from the mana crystal was simply too immense. Even basic energy surges exerted crushing pressure on Alde's frame.
Modern Orga Lux weapons—refined from restructured mana crystals—all took the form of handheld armaments rather than humanoid constructs. This design choice existed for good reason.
Precisely because no single android could safely channel a mana crystal's full power had Ernesta been forced to divide the functions, creating both Alde and Rimcy to share the load.
Now, with their combined power funneled into Alde's maximum combat mode? Even his body—forged from the planet's toughest alloy—could endure mere minutes before catastrophic failure!
Seeing Alde struggle to finish Roy, Rimcy had calculated that surpassing his operational limit would leave Claudia free to claim victory. Her anxiety-inducing ploy aimed to draw Claudia into the fray, letting Alde eliminate both opponents in one decisive assault. Yet the woman's razor-sharp intellect saw straight through the ruse.
"Besides," Claudia raised a finger to her lips, flashing a cryptic smile, "Roy won't lose even without my help."
Her next words made Rimcy's pupils constrict sharply.
"Frankly, I'm not even sure if he's begun fighting seriously yet!"
"—What?"
Center stage.
CRACK!
Alde was about to chase after Roy, who had once again evaded his attack, when he suddenly staggered, nearly collapsing to his knees.
He glanced down at his left foot and saw that most of the alloy around his ankle had somehow fallen off, leaving only the skeletal frame barely supporting it. It was clearly on the verge of complete failure.
"It seems you'll reach your limit first."
Roy stopped about ten meters away, eyeing Alde's left ankle. Thanks to his recent sparring sessions with Wu Xiaofei, his evasion skills had improved significantly—otherwise, he might not have fully dodged Alde's relentless assault.
"..."
Alde fell silent.
Even without words or visible changes in expression, Roy could sense the thick frustration in that silence. It wasn't defeat by strength but by his own body's inability to hold up. Anyone would feel bitter about such a loss.
"Hah! My foot isn't broken yet! Even if I can only fight for one more minute, I'll fight to the very end!"
Alde let out a furious laugh, using his massive hammer to push himself upright. Under the overwhelming surge of energy, the alloy covering his foot cracked apart bit by bit, the skeletal frame beneath sparking with electricity.
It wasn't just his foot—blue energy erupted from every seam across his body, leaking out in flickering waves.
After this battle, Alde would need extensive repairs. He wouldn't recover in a day or two. Even if he won today, there was no way he could win tomorrow's finals.
By now, everyone—Alde, Rimcy, and even Ernesta and Camilla outside the arena—had realized this, sinking into an unspoken silence.
"We were so close!"
Camilla clenched her fists, slamming one against the railing in frustration. Ernesta, however, remained silent, calmly observing everything.
In the arena, Roy looked at Alde, who refused to concede despite the inevitable defeat, and gave a slight nod.
"Impressive fighting spirit!"
"In honor of that spirit, I won't use any more delaying tactics. Let's settle this with pure strength!"
Roy raised his weapon, shifting his stance—one foot forward, the other back—and leveled the tip at Alde's chest.
"Is this pity?"
"Are you an idiot? I'm praising you!"
"...Hmph. Hahahaha! From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Roy!"
Alde laughed, deeply moved, then discarded the cannons on his arms and raised his massive hammer high. Energy surged through his body like the heat of the Earth's core.
"Take this—my final Wolnir Hammer!"
With a roar, Alde swung the hammer with all his might. It flew like a meteor, the resulting storm sending everything around them flying, a blinding light flashing brilliantly.
At the same time, Roy's feet shifted, his figure flickering.
"First step—Soundless—"
"Second step—Seamless—"
Silently, Roy coated his entire body in prana, narrowly dodging the hammer's edge. His skin burned with tearing pain, but he remained unfazed, his gaze sharp as a blade, his weapon aimed straight at Alde.
"Third step—Absolute Blade!"
The moment Alde released his hammer, he layered one defensive barrier after another in front of him, shielding his school emblem with impenetrable protection.
"——Lightless, Three-Stage Thrust!"
The blade flashed like a streak of light.
In the blink of an eye, Roy had already dashed past Alde, appearing mere meters behind him. The massive hammer shattered the defensive barrier at his rear, sending a storm of wind sweeping across the arena.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out.
Alde looked down. The defensive barrier in front of him had been pierced by a blade-width hole, and the school emblem on his chest split cleanly in two with that sharp sound, slowly falling to the ground.
By the time the commotion settled and the dust cleared from the field—
"Hmph!"
Alde crossed his arms, striking a triumphant pose as he let out a hearty laugh.
"Bwahahaha! Magnificent! Far surpassing this one's calculations! In this battle, I concede defeat with utmost admiration!"
"Match over!"
The announcer's excited voice echoed throughout the arena.
"After an unimaginably fierce battle, the first to advance to the finals in the first semifinal match is the duo from Seidoukan Academy—Roy & Claudia! Absolutely incredible!"
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