The two boys faced each other.

The gazes of the two childhood friends and classmates met.

“What a terrible face. You scared? If you want to surrender… now’s the time, Yuno. You can’t win against me,” Maro Burn said to Yuno Astario, slightly out of breath.

Not shying away from his opponent’s gaze, a smile appeared on Yuno’s face instead.

“No, I’m going to win. You seem to be in pain though, are you sure you’re okay?”

While it was a provocation, those words were also Yuno true feelings.

Maro couldn’t control his power. No, that was wrong. It was something else. Yuno felt as if there was something else, completely separate from Maro’s will, present.

While he appeared to be facing Maro, he felt like he was actually up against someone else entirely.

Yuno didn’t know if he was overthinking things, but Maro also felt unease at the situation.

“…”

Maro looked up at the deep red sky, at the black shadow gliding through the air with flaps of its large wings.

He didn’t feel like he had been the one to summon it at all.

He had received five Skills when he had made the contract with the god Malphas.

[Summon Familiar] [Build] [Magic Power Improvement] [Physical Ability Improvement] and [Divine Eyes]

Maro himself also knew that each and every one of them was exceptional.

Since ‘Magic Power Improvement’ and ‘Physical Ability Improvement’ were constantly active, his combat prowess had gone up by leaps and bounds. In regards to those two skills, he relied on the power of the god he had made the contract with.

The god Malphas was one of the hero gods whom everyone had heard of; which meant that even amongst others with the same Skills, the benefits Maro had received were incomparable.

With the Skill ‘Build’, he could easily build barriers, for which using earth magic was only the beginning.

With ‘Summon Familiar’, he could summon small-sized familiars used by the god Malphas, and ‘Divine Eyes’ allowed him to predict his enemy’s movements based on their current movements.

Needless to say, Maro was more than conscious of the fact that he had incomparable power to what he had possessed before.

And yet––

(I had no idea something like that would come out of ‘Summon Familiar’…) he thought to himself, desperately trying to get a grasp on the situation, all the while unable to wipe away the distrust eating at him.

In addition to the gigantic familiar circling overhead regardless of his will, Maro was also feeling an unexpected amount of fatigue and exhaustion.

In truth, the moment the huge bird-like monster now flying in the air had tried to attack Tina Barrett on its own, he had been shaken to his very core.

But, the fact that the final would take place like this had paralysed Maro’s thoughts.

His excitement rose with that of the audience’s cheers.

His opponent was his childhood friend, Yuno Astario.

For Maro, who had been brought up as the second son of the Burn family, his childhood friend lazing about and laughing unconcernedly even while being called incompetent was unacceptable.

What was more––

“As if I’d lose…” Maro glared at Yuno, his hands balled into fists.

And while he himself wasn’t aware of it, his eyes and gaze also contained envy.

“Well, you see, I… like Yuno…” his first love smiled. The faint memory from long ago crossed his mind, stirred up from who-knows-where.

“Stop playing with that incompetent child! Weakness is a sin. You’re a member of the Burn family, and my son. With my successor down sick, as my second son, you cannot fail!”

His right cheek began to sting as he remembered his father’s words.

Being at odds.

Repeats of that had made Maro who he was today.

Maro was unaware that behind that unconcerned smile of the Yuno Astario he so hated was a heart scared of hurting anyone.

In the same way, Yuno had no way of knowing that Maro had played with the two of them out of his parents’ sights, even with the out-of-order upbringing and constant scoldings he had received.

And that little happiness had broken apart with the end of his first love and an accumulation of jealousy.

The one his first love thought of wasn’t him, who worked so hard for his betterment, but that incompetent Yuno Astario and his unwavering, unconcerned smile.

“How can things be so stupid!?”

That irrationality that had stuck in his mind only served to strengthen his father’s words.

And so, both the warped thoughts and a hatred towards the weak served as food for Maro’s will to become stronger.

And it had, in fact, made Maro Burn stronger.

Having come this far, there was no going back for Maro. Forcing himself to ignore the unease eating at him, he was going to win the match and seize the word victory, for the Burn family, and in order to show that the path he had walked down until then hadn’t been wrong.

The dice had already been cast.

However, the same went for Yuno.

He would use any means to spread the name of the goddess Athena he had made a contract with.

He had already resolved himself to even have himself reborn in order to achieve that self-imposed goal.

In fact, people’s evaluation of him had changed greatly at him having gotten this far.

The boy who was supposed to have been incompetent had tossed around his opponents with a spear in one hand, surprising the audience, and had made it all the way to the final.

He felt a sense of purpose, which flamed up, fanned by the heated cheers of the audience.

He would make the goddess Athena even more, –– and then even more –– famous.

He was striving to fulfil that goal.

With the magic beast so large it wouldn’t be wrong to describe it as abnormal in front of him, what Yuno felt was joy at being able to fight such an opponent in front of that many people, accompanied by thoughts on how to steal his audience’s breath.

The words retreat and defeat didn’t exist for him anymore.

(I’ll defeat him with my spear and movements alone… that’s all I need, right, me?)

The only thing left was whether it was possible for him to do so with the opponent whose strength he didn’t yet know.

However, Yuno waved that thought away as unnecessary.

It wasn’t a matter of whether he could do it or not; he had already decided he would.

“…”

A countless number of scenes flashed through his mind, disappearing just as fast as they had appeared.

The lonely smile of a silver-haired girl didn’t leave his mind, however.

The sight of Athena, who had been mocked and hurt and yet still smiled wouldn’t fade from it no matter how much time passed.

––So I’ll make you smile from the bottom of your heart.

I won’t let anyone deny you, make fun of you, speak ill of you, mock you––

The small question as to what exactly that monster that was his opponent was –– had long since faded from his mind.

With the perfect chance to get one step closer to completing his goal, Yuno too, had been numbed by the excitement and sense of purpose he felt––

Stepping between them, the student council vice president, Lloyd März looked from one to the other, then back again.

“Are you ready?” he asked, and both Yuno and Maro nodded.

Lloyd’s arm slowly rose into the air.

The cheers died out.

In their stead, expectation and a heavy tension filled the arena.

But everyone could tell –– that silence was just a brief intermission before the fierce fight would begin.

–– that it was the calm before the storm.

The goddess Athena put her small hands together in front of her and uttered a silent prayer.

“Please let Yuno-san be safe.”

Luna Flame smiled and narrowed her eyes, looking up at the madder-red sky, feeling slightly melancholy at her knight finally spreading his wings.

And, on the stage, a great amount of expectation and excitement, mixed together.

A new tale was being told––––

––“Begin!”

At the same time as that voice came another.

“––Yuno-san!”

The goddess Athena’s voice was the signal for Yuno Astario to spring into action.

““Uooooooooooooo!”” both fighters shouted, running at each other.

The two’s speeds were equal –– and they collided a moment later, moving faster than the eye could follow.

Yuno Astario made the first strike, stabbing his spear forwards.

Maro avoided it by a hair’s breadth, swinging his right first towards Yuno.

But, his punch didn’t connect.

Instead, Yuno’s right hand, having let go of the spear, buried itself in his stomach.

“Ugh…”

Air left Maro’s lungs, accompanied by spit on its way out of his mouth.

Simultaneously, Yuno kicked the spear that had begun to fall with his left foot and grabbed it again with his right hand as it spun up through the air.

And, as if celebrating the mere moment it had taken all that to happen––

““““Oooooooooh!!””””

Shouts that made the ground itself shake rose from the audience.

Bathed in those cheers, the black-haired boy grinned.

He would show them a fight for the ages.

Those were Yuno Astario’s thoughts, and how he was going to carry out the fight.

He knew he hadn’t been wrong as he heard the cheers.

His only miscalculation had been that he had underestimated by how much Maro’s physical abilities had improved.

But that wasn’t going to stop him.

He was holding back.

He would win with only the spear.

He had decided that using his magical power, with which he could end things in one hit, was unnecessary.

Maro staggered back, holding his stomach.

He could tell just from that one hit that Yuno had the edge when it came to physical combat.

So then, what do I do?

Maro knew the answer to that question.

Looking up at the black magic beast in the sky, he prayed.

(Lend me strength…!) he wished, looking up at the sky with bloodshot eyes.

He was more than well aware of how dangerous it was.

He couldn’t make it act as he wanted, after all. It was a miracle the final was happening like this.

Still, he needed that power to defeat the enemy in front of him.

Maro held his hands up into the air.

“Move, move…! Moveeeeee!” he shouted.

And his wish came true.

The bird-shaped monster spread out its black wings as it circled slowly overhead.

Instantly, the strongest wind so far blasted across the arena.

Up in the sky where black and red mixed together, a pair of red eyes turned towards Yuno Astario.

Then––

“Giiiiiiiii” the monster shrieked.

The cheers and shouts in the arena disappeared, drowned out by its shriek resembling the screeching of metal on metal.

The audience put their hands to their ears in dismay.

Cheers erupted again, as if desperately trying to fool the fear that had risen up from their very cores.

The stage was set.

Yuno held his spear in a low stance.

He knew. The real battle began here.

As for Maro, he placed his right hand on the gravelly ground, pouring strength into his body suddenly fatigued as if something had been extracted from it.

He glared at Yuno Astario.

“…Take thiiiiiis!!” he yelled, relighting the flames of the battle.

Tens of sharp protuberances rose from the ground towards Yuno.

Making full use of his physical ability, Yuno dodged, and dodged, and dodged.

Yuno’s magnificent movements and Maro’s furious onslaught were more than enough to steal the audience’s breath.

“H-hey! Look!”

With that sudden shout from the audience, a large number of eyes looked up at the sky.

“Eh?”

But by the time they had looked up into the sky to see what had happened––

–– the monster wasn’t there anymore.

A loud crash made the ground shake.

At the same time, a huge cloud of dust rose up from the ground, obscuring the spectators’ vision.

All they could see were two shadows, moving inside the dust.

When the dust cloud cleared, the spectators collectively gasped.

“…!”

The raging monster was attacking relentlessly.

Yuno deflected the onslaught from its beak to the left and right, each incoming attack unmistakably a fatal wound, were it to hit.

At that point, nobody doubted his abilities any longer.

But that wasn’t all.

“…Amazing…”

The spectators were fascinated.

Aspiration bloomed inside the chests of not a few people watching.

Yuno was letting of a glow that made one think ‘I too, –– one day––’

Seemingly reachable –– but in truth, not.

An admiration towards pure strength––

“Ugh…!”

Yuno flew through the air, having blocked the monster’s beak with his spear.

Even with Yuno’s physical abilities, when comparing pure power, the monster was stronger.

But that too –– was just as Yuno had expected.

(Good… good…)

It wouldn’t be a fight if he was too strong.

The current Yuno was a student, and only a freshman at that.

So what he needed more was to charm the audience.

In other words, an act.

Nobody present would notice.

Except the pink-haired goddess, watching all that from far up in the sky, smiling down at Yuno.

And thus –– what was bound to happen, happened.