Rampaging white poles of lightning lays waste to the interior of the barrier with a tremendous flash.

A super-destructive force comparable to our simultaneous attack of black-and-white lighting that defeated Fermus last year should have struck Diaz.

I didn’t think that Diaz, who has not much defense, would be able to withstand such magic. He’s someone who excels at using traps and assassination, not the type that would fight head-on in this small arena.

Unlike last year when I let go of the control halfway through and destroyed the barrier, I am firmly in control of it now. And the power should probably be better because the power is not spread out unevenly.

However, because of this, we could not escape outside the barrier and had to use Dimension Shift to escape the blast.

The sound of the thunderbolt’s buzzing sound subsides, and the white flash begins to settle down.

And then, there on the stage, we saw the collapsed figure of Diaz. His entire body was charred and visibly gasping for air.

「Guh… Good, job…」

Immediately after he mutters so, his body begins to glow. We have seen this light many times before. It’s the light of resurrection from the Cradle of Time.

「We won…」

『Yeah. As I thought, even Diaz couldn’t withstand a direct hit of Kanna Kamui』

We somehow managed to win before we fell into his other tricks.

I need to heal Fran’s wounds for now. Letting blood keep on dripping from a girl’s nose just doesn’t sit well with me after all.

『T-This is, could this mean the match is over!? I have no idea what exactly has happened! Just after the white flash subsides, Diaz-sama’s figure that has already fallen is――』

Huh? That doesn’t sound like a victory declaration?

「Kuh!」

Immediately after I felt something was off with the commentator’s words, Fran dashed herself to the side.

「I’m not done yet!」

『Diaz!』

How!? He should’ve―

『An Illusion huh!?』

So that fallen body was an Illusion? He tried to catch us off guard by making it look as if the Cradle of Time had been activated.

What a very sophisticated way of faking his death! After all, being in the arena, we won’t know whether the Cradle of Time has been actually activated or not.

After making it look like he was dead, Diaz moved right next to Fran and thrust his dagger at Fran’s neck.

Luckily, Fran sensed it just in time and avoided a direct hit.

But it was not completely avoided, and blood began to pour out of her neck. She managed to avoid having her artery sliced open, but the wound was quite deep.

「Guh… As expected of Diaz」

「That’s a lot coming from someone who needs to put their all to dodge my strike」

「Your wounds leaked your presence slightly」

「Haha… To get detected from these little wounds, seems like I’ve grown too old…」

Diaz laughs sarcastically at his own failed attempt. But I’m more surprised that he can move properly with that injury.

Diaz’s entire body was blackened and charred, cracked in places and covered with blood. It seems that the wounds on the fake body he made with illusion magic earlier was a reproduction of the wounds on his main body.

It is amazing that he could remain conscious, erased his presence and approached right next to Fran without being noticed in that state.

「To be relying on this thing as a last resort… Well, sorry not sorry!」

『Urushi! Do it!』

The moment I saw the crystal ball that the dying Diaz pulled out of nowhere, I was overwhelmed by its chilling presence. Not only was it filled with terrifying magic power, but I sensed a different kind of danger from it.

Without a second thought, I give the order to Urushi. We had been saving this as a trump card for a long time because of the risk of getting caught in it.

「Ghraa―?!」

「Haha, that’s just an illusion!」

A dagger, that upon appraisal showed that it has the ability to interfere with healing and regeneration, fell onto the stage. It had no space-time attribute, so the thing that disrupted our Dimension Shift must have been another tool.

But since when!? I was sure that the one that attacked us earlier was his real body. So how could an illusion hurt Fran!? When did he switch to an illusion!?

But wait, was it an illusion that attacked us? If that’s the case, then an illusion with substance may have had more physical strength than I could have imagined.

Is this damage even real?

No, don’t think about that now! That’s exactly what Diaz’s aim is!

「O mighty storm, bring all to destruction!」

Perhaps he doesn’t feel the need to hide it anymore, I was finally able to appraise the tool Diaz had. What he has in his hand had the name of Spirit Ball. From the details, it works by putting one’s spirit energy into it, and it seems that it can only exert its power once. Its power apparently comes from a spirit-user that put the power of a spirit into it rather than from a sealed spirit.

A green light then bursts forth from the Spirit Ball. Seeing this, I intuitively knew that if things continue like this, we will lose for sure.

This overwhelming spirit presence… Could this be the power of a Great-Spirit!?

I remember now! This is Klimut’s Great-Spirit! This is really bad then!

『Urushi! Protect Fran!』

「Woof!」

『Uwooooh!』

Urushi became a wall with his huge body and protected Fran. I activated Spirit’s Hand as quickly as I could. I should be able to interfere with the spirit’s power with this skill.

Having used it once before, I know how to properly wield this skill. It was also fortunate for me that it was very similar to the Telekinesis I use all the time.

I tried to wrap the Spirit Ball with my Spirit’s Hand and squeeze its power into it, but I can’t seem to push it back.

Then, what about interfering with its power flow? I should be able to control it that way.

《Shouldering the operation needed to control it is possible. Trying to redirect the flow of power to the individual named Diaz. Individual named Master please concentrate on controlling your power》

『I leave it to you! Announcer-san!』

I could see Diaz’s face contorted in shock.

「No way, even spirit magic…!? Haha, in such short time, just how far you’ve grown…」

Immediately afterwards, the Spirit Ball exploded into a huge explosion. The explosion caused by the power of the spirits even blew us away.

Even though more than half of the power has been directed at Diaz, the aftermath alone is probably comparable to a high-level Storm Magic.

「Ugh!」

「Wroof!」

Urushi chases after Fran, who is blown away without being able to stand her ground, and cushions her with his body. Urushi is in agony, but I think he can handle that level of damage.

After the blast, which lasted for several seconds, had subsided, there lay Diaz, in a terrible state that could only be described as a lump of flesh. His arms and legs were shredded, and his equipment was in tatters.

Diaz’s body, which has no longer in its original shape, began to emit a white glow.

Trying not to make the same mistake we made earlier, we haven’t let our guard down yet.

As the declaration of victory from the commentator echoed through the arena, we finally understood that our vigilance was unnecessary.

『The Cradle of Time has been activated! This time, Fran the Black Lightning Princess has definitely won!』