Chapter 71 - Is This Really Okay...? (4)

Bitter Cold spread through the arena, and blue sparks began crackling through the air. Anyone could tell this was no ordinary manipulation of mana.

“Decomposition.”

At Alon's command, the sparks burst outward, crumbling into powderlike particles of blue light that scattered in every direction. Despite the midday sun, they shone as vividly as fireflies.

Then—

“Fusion.”

His body, perfectly intact until a moment ago, began wavering wildly like a mirage despite his standing still.

“!”

Pilsion was already right in front of him.

Propelled by crimson flames hot enough to burn everything away, Pilsion leaped forward. Watching Alon's wavering figure, he gripped his lowered sword.

'This isn't what I expected, but I'm still fine!'

The magic was entirely different from the ice spells he had anticipated, and that had certainly rattled him. Yet he took this situation as an opportunity instead. While his opponent prepared his spell, at least, he was defenseless.

'I'd have preferred to put on a spectacular fight before finishing him off, but... I’ll end this right now.'

The moment Alon used a different kind of magic, Pilsion's chances of winning had plummeted. Without hesitation, he began slashing upward.

“All Things Flow,” Alon said.

In that fleeting instant, his face, gazing impassively at Pilsion, and his body, now forming a seal with his index and middle fingers raised—

CRACKLE!!!!

“Form of the Thunder God.”

—became blue lightning itself.

Pilsion's thoughts went no further.

####

BOOM!!

With an explosive report, Pilsion's body slammed into the arena, and lightning streaked across it, leaving an afterimage.

CRACKLE!!

One second—or an even shorter instant.

It happened too quickly for anyone to understand what had occurred, but the spectators witnessed two things. One was Pilsion's body smashing into and shattering the arena wall.

The other was—

CRACKLE!

Alon, wreathed in lightning—no, surrounded by a blue radiance as though his entire body had become lightning.

CRACKLE!

Whenever his ink-black coat fluttered, lightning crackled and leaped in every direction.

HISS...

Then, beginning at the hem, his coat gradually regained its ink-black hue. Before long—

HISSS...

“...”

“...”

The spectators watched the entire transformation as he returned from lightning to Count Pallatio's own form, like a gradual blending of colors.

[“Th-the winner is—Alon Pallatio!!”]

When the commentator, who had been left speechless and blank-faced, finally spoke up—

ROOOOAR!!!

—they rose from their seats with thunderous cheers, clapping so loudly that the arena shook.

Amid that jubilant uproar and frenzied applause, Alon barely had time to register the crowd's voices.

'Fuck—'

The curse escaped him unbidden as he grimaced at the blood beginning to stream beneath his sleeve.

'I nearly died.'

He did not mean that figuratively. Using that spell just now had genuinely almost killed him.

His mana was indeed completely depleted, but that was not what had nearly killed him. The reason lay in the magic he had used—

'Fuck—'

—no, in the sentence itself.

Unlike last time, he had understood the sentence's law the instant he used it. No, he had been forced to understand it. Otherwise, he might not have been here at all: the moment the spell ended, he could have disintegrated into molecules and ceased to exist.

'Twisting the laws to replace the body with mana... Why does such insane magic even exist?'

Arrangement of Thunder literally replaced his body with mana possessing the properties of electricity. Every phrase that followed was part of the process of fusing—or rather, enchanting—it with the lightning magic prepared in advance. The final Form of the Thunder God manifested that fused magical arrangement.

In other words, the Manifestation of One's True Nature Sparrow had taught him was an incredible spell that quite literally turned its caster into lightning itself.

Yet the reason Alon considered the spell insane was its sheer difficulty. Ultimately, Form of the Thunder God temporarily transformed his body into lightning, allowing him to use its properties directly.

The problem was that once lightning's irregular mana arrangement combined with his body, even the slightest movement caused the original arrangement to collapse. Had he lacked a talent for adjusting mana arrangements, he could have vanished after decorating the arena like the gunpowder in a spectacular fireworks display.

'... This hurts like hell.'

Though he had stopped for over a second to hastily reconstruct his body's arrangement, he must have overlooked something. He could feel more and more blood flowing beneath his sleeve.

'Sparrow, did you teach me this to screw me over?'

He suddenly thought of Sparrow's Staff, which would be watching the match in Evan's hand.

'Let's head back first.'

Leaving the thunderous cheers behind, Alon returned to the waiting room.

“My lord...”

“What is it?”

“Nothing... I just don't think anything you show me will surprise me anymore.”

Evan looked at him with a peculiar expression as he spoke.

[“H-how on earth... How did you do that?”]

Sparrow's Staff, which had done nothing but sneer at him, now spoke in a trembling voice as though it could not believe what had happened. Behind his expressionless face, Alon felt a surge of satisfaction.

“It seems I've won our wager.”

####

A day later, Alon's fame once again spread rapidly throughout Coloni. He had become an A-rank gladiator in less than a week.

People in Coloni were now talking far more about him than any other gladiator. Meanwhile, the subject of all those rumors was quietly heading to Coloni's royal castle with Seollang.

“We're at the royal castle now, Mentor!”

Having become an A-rank gladiator, he now had access to the royal treasury.

'Normally, I'd have had to wait a week before I could even enter the treasury.'

It was thanks to Seollang that he had been able to proceed so quickly.

'I knew a Baba Yaga had considerable power, but I didn't expect her influence to extend to the royal family.'

As Alon marveled anew at her capabilities, his carriage passed through the enormous castle walls.

[“Hey,”]

Sparrow spoke directly into his mind. Rather than answering aloud, Alon smoothly connected his mana to the staff using the method Sparrow had taught him and replied.

'Have you forgotten our wager?'

[“Urgh!”]

Sparrow recoiled in utter dismay. But then—

[“... Excuse me, my lord. There is something I would like to ask you.”]

His voice trembled slightly as he adopted an exceedingly polite, refined manner of speech, entirely unlike that of a few days ago.

“What is it?”

[“W-well, as I mentioned yesterday, would you perhaps consider making a contract with me and becoming my successor?”]

“As I said yesterday, I believe I told you I would give it some thought.”

[“No! I'm telling you, this is a really great opportunity!”]

“Hmm.”

[“... Sir!”]

Belatedly restoring his respectful tone, Sparrow spoke in frustration.

[“Count—no, my lord, you've used my law, so you know how powerful it is. Simply refining it over the generations would be enough to slap the other Magi in the face thirty times over and still have strength to spare! Seriously!”]

Ever since Alon had used his law without inheriting his mental imagery, Sparrow had been urging him to become his successor, just as the dragonkin had said he would.

'His successor, huh...'

For Alon, who needed to learn magic, taking this staff as his teacher was hardly a bad choice. Its knowledge of phrases and sentences alone suggested it possessed considerable magical knowledge.

Even so, he had not answered because of the contract Sparrow wanted to make. Sparrow called it a master-apprentice contract, but Alon had no reason to draw a magic circle and enter into a contract he did not understand.

'I'm going to visit the dragonkin tomorrow anyway. I can ask then before deciding.'

With that in mind, Alon continued brushing off Sparrow's appeals.

[“Please, seriously reconsider it...!”]

“Hmm. By your own reasoning, isn't it impossible for someone who hasn't even inherited your mental imagery to become your successor?”

[“No, I said that because I genuinely didn't know! I'm sorry!”]

“No need to apologize. I'm too stupid to be your successor anyway.”

[“... You really don't let anything go...”]

“What was that?”

[“N-nothing—I mean—”]

Forced to address Alon respectfully as the price of losing their wager, Sparrow desperately urged him to become his successor until Alon set the staff down in the carriage to enter the royal castle.

... All Sparrow learned in that time, however, was that Alon held a stronger grudge than he had expected.

[“... Ha. I shouldn't have lost my temper...”]

Left alone in the carriage, Sparrow muttered bitterly to himself.

... He had brought this upon himself.

####

Coloni's royal castle had a somewhat different atmosphere from the castles Alon knew in other countries. Unlike the typical royal castle one might imagine, its interior felt remarkably rough-hewn. There were no noteworthy sculptures or marble decorations, and in some respects, it almost looked as though little effort had gone into it.

Yet Alon did not consider it inferior.

“...”

That was thanks to the countless pieces of gold and jewels hanging on those plain walls.

Walking beside what seemed an endless stretch of gold, silver, and jewels, Alon eventually reached the king's presence with Seollang. He knelt and greeted the King of Coloni, who looked down at him.

“A gladiator pays his respects to the King of Coloni.”

Ordinarily, he should have introduced himself as a noble. Since he was here to enter the treasury, however, he introduced himself as a gladiator.

“Raise your head.”

At the solemn command, Alon looked up and saw the king's face. He was a hearty middle-aged man with strong features, and his royal authority and confidence were apparent at a glance.

“Count Pallatio, I watched your match with great interest. Truly magnificent!”

Karmakses III, King of Coloni, laughed heartily and continued.

“I hear you wish to enter the treasury. You must have something in mind?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Karmakses nodded several times.

“Then you should take it. Coloni's royal family opens its treasury to anyone who has proven themselves.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“However, I am thinking of giving you one more gift. What do you say?”

“... An offer, Your Majesty?”

“Indeed.”

He spoke as casually as could be.

“I have a daughter.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think?”

“... Pardon?”

Alon's thoughts ground to a halt.

Silence.

But only for a moment.

“Well, whether you accept this gift is entirely up to you. Take your time to think it over.”

Still smiling, Karmakses turned to the guardian knight beside him and gave an order.

“Maksim, escort him to the treasury.”

Watching Alon's retreating back, Karmakses let out a sigh. Then he realized Seollang, who had been glued to Alon's side moments ago, was still standing where she had been.

“... Hmm? Baba Yaga, aren't you going with him?”

Then—

“Hey.”

He saw that Seollang's face, which had been beaming only moments before, had frozen into an utterly blank expression.

Finally, with chilling golden eyes, she delivered a cold warning.

“Don't push it.”