I won the third round without any difficulty as well, and was now watching a match not with Athena and Luna on the third floor, but leaning against the wall of the entrance.
“……”
My objective in doing so was to observe Tina’s next opponent, her having also won her third round.
As such, I was now watching someone whose name I didn’t know fighting against Maro Burn.
The one who won would be fighting Tina in the next round.
“Maro…”
My childhood friend stood still, facing his opponent with a sharp look in his eyes.
Instead of his usual smirk he wore, he was glaring at his opponent with an evil glint in his eyes.
Apparently, he had won overwhelmingly in his first two fights by making full use of black, bird-shaped magic beasts he had summoned with magic.
I say ‘apparently’ because I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes yet.
Even while I was curious, I hadn’t been able to watch any of Maro’s earlier fights due to bad timing.
However, since it would be the fight to decide Tina’s next opponent, I had come to watch, alone.
“Begin!” came the signal to start from the referee.
The next moment –– both fighters moved.
Maro immediately placed his right hand on the ground and began murmuring something, probably a spell.
“Haaaaa!”
In complete contrast to him, the boy who was his opponent ran at him with surprising speed, considering he was holding a sword nearly as tall as he himself was in his hands.
“……”
Maro didn’t move.
He held his right hand firmly on the ground, frowning, his eyes closed as his mouth formed the spell he was chanting.
I couldn’t help but feel bad for him for some reason.
Then, his opponent reached Maro.
“Uoooooo!” he shouted, swinging his sword downwards.
But then––
“…!”
Space warped.
No, that’s wrong. A better description would be: a vortex of magical power appeared with Maro in its centre and began to condense into something black.
And that wasn’t all.
“Wh-!?” came the boy’s confused cry.
He had been sent flying up and backwards into the air.
“““Uooooooo!?””” came the excited cheers from the audience.
I, on the other hand, felt a chill sweep across me.
––What is that?
“Whoa! What happened!?”
“Magic? It was quite plain, if that’s what it was…”
“Damis! What do you think you’re doing! Fight back!”
……They can’t see it?
Malevolent magical power was oozing out of Maro.
It stretched out and wrapped around his opponent like some sort of arm.
But more importantly, am I the only one who thinks the huge clump of magical power looks like someone’s shadow…!?
“C-crap! I can’t move!”
The boy wriggled and squirmed, floating in mid-air.
Maro, on the other hand, still had his eyes closed.
I focused on him.
Gently, slowly, I focused my ears and eyes on him.
“––op”
Nearly. Just a bit more.
“––stop”
…Huh?
“stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop”
“…!”
I got goosebumps over my whole body the moment I heard his curse-like chanting.
What the heck… he’s almost like ––
––I was, back then.
Then –– Maro’s shadow began to wriggle and squirm.
Two red eyes appeared in the pitch-black shadow.
I almost felt like they were turning to look towards me––
Reflexively, I looked away to the right.
However, the blackness behind Maro seemed to have moved as well, as I was still looking at it.
“fo un d y ou”
A chill attacked my body.
The moment I heard that voice whispering that into my ear from what had sounded like no distance at all, my heart began beating so fast I almost thought it was going to break.
“Aaaaaargh!” came a scream.
It took me a moment to realise it wasn’t my own, but had come from the mouth of the boy who had been floating in the air until a moment ago.
Maro’s opponent crashed into the ground, and remained motionless.
“Winner: Maro Burn!” came the referee’s voice, followed by an eruption of cheers.
But by that time, the shadow-like shape that had come from Maro had disappeared, leaving only the fact that he would be Tina’s next opponent behind.
“……”
Maro walked away with shaky steps, staring at the ground.
He looked up at me.
““……””
Our gazes met.
Neither of us said anything.
“…Tch,” he clicked his tongue, then walked past me.
I, however, couldn’t leave it at that.
“––Maro. Who in the world did you make a contract with?” I asked him, looking over my shoulder.
“……I told you, didn’t I? A famous god. Unlike the incompetent god you made a contract with.”
I stayed calm. Rather than getting angry, I first had to––
“Is that thing really… a god?” I asked.
He looked over his shoulder at me with bloodshot eyes.
“…!”
I involuntarily tensed up at the intensity of his gaze.
“Are you saying it’s not?” he replied angrily in a low voice.
I glared at the shadow that seemed to have stood up and began floating behind him.
“Maro. I really don’t think the power you acquired is proper at all.”
I had to say it… even though I knew he wouldn’t understand it.
I hadn’t been able to express myself properly, something I found rather frustrating.
“Hah, don’t make me laugh. Sleep-talk when you’re asleep. I acquired power, just as I said I would. You have no chance of winning anymore,” he said, walking away.
His figure as he disappeared into the gloom of the corridor he walked down looked really sad and lonely to my eyes.
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