Today is the day of the finals.

Fran looks thrilled as she makes her way down the corridor leading to the stage.

『Fran, how’s your body feeling?』

(Nn. Perfect, not feeling tired at all)

『I see. What about Urushi?』

(Woof woof!)

It seems that she has almost recovered from the fatigue from the other day battle. I’m in perfect condition, and Urushi is as usual. I’m sure we’ll be able to give it our all today.

『But I didn’t expect to the third place match to get canceled…』

(Nn. Too bad)

To our surprise, both Diaz and Neidhart had abstained, which meant that the third-place match would no longer be held.

It seemed that the reason was that they were mentally drained.

While the physical body can recover, the mental side cannot. Diaz was an old man, and Neidhart had died a shocking death after a fierce battle. It was not surprising that they were still worn out.

But I’m not buying it. Are either of them the kind to abstain just because of that? I’d think they’d force themselves into the arena…

Nevertheless, the decision has already been made. There is nothing we can do about it now.

『Let’s confirm our strategy. We won’t use Potential Release or Skill Taker. Our first move will be teleport. Are we clear?』

(Nn. Hilt is strong. We’ll go all out from the start)

『Urushi, we’ll be counting on you from the beginning this time』

(Woof!)

If I had to guess from the matches so far, I would say that Hilt will take a wait-and-see approach. Hilt is not a battle junkie, but as the heir to the Dimitris-style school, she tends to give away the initiative.

It is probably because of her pride as a strong person and as the heir to the most prestigious signboard. That’s what we’re going to exploit.

『Now, ladies and gentlemen! At last, the fiercest competitor to challenge the finals has revealed themselves! The strongest B-Ranked adventurer! The strongest girl! The strongest black cat-kin! Fran the Black Lightning Princess! She has given us plenty of surprises this year, but what about in the finals?』

Fran stepped onto the stage as the audience, eagerly awaiting the show, erupted in cheers. Her eyes were on Hilt, who had just appeared from the other side.

『Whoa! Now we have all the actors on stage! The heir to the Dimitris-style school and an A-Ranked adventurer herself! Here comes the biggest contender for this year’s tournament, Hiltoria the Piercing Fist!』

I wonder if the crowd cheered as much? While Hilt was originally a celebrity, Fran has been gaining fans from over the last year.

It is likely that both have their own devoted fans.

「…I’ll be taking the win today」

「It will be me」

I could feel that Hilt’s whole body is overflowing with fighting spirit. But it is only natural, since her future is at stake.

The position of the head of the Dimitris-style school doesn’t seem to be her main concern.

As I thought, it must be about Colbert. She is obviously in love with Colbert, and if she becomes the head of the family, she will have the right to name him as her fiancée.

Personally, I would like to support them, but I cannot say so. After all, the championship is at stake.

『Fran, Hilt doesn’t seem to be in her prime』

(Really?)

『Yeah, his status is slightly decreased. Maybe she hasn’t fully recovered from the other day’s match』

(I see…)

Just like what had happened to Fran after her fight with Diaz. She could not fully recover in two days from the exhaustion caused by the large amount of blood she had shed and the use of techniques with heavy backlash.

(I see…)

Normally, this should have been an excellent opportunity, but not so much for Fran. She seemed sincerely disappointed. Did I accidentally lower her motivation before the fight?

『But that doesn’t change the fact that we are up against a stronger opponent. She’s still a formidable foe, remember?”』

(Nn!)

Thank goodness she got her motivation back.

『Will the fangs of the young tiger bite the strongest successor? Or will the fists of the incarnation of the beautiful warrior pierce the strongest challenger! At last, the best of the best will be crowned today!』

Fran, who has already awakened, brings me up to an overhead stance. Hilt takes her stance as well.

「Brilliant Lightning Rush」

「…Garuda」

The two muttered at the same time. Garuda? It must be a Dimitris-style technique. Since it is used here, it must be a technique more suited for support than for attack.

『Now then~! Let the finals, begin!』

Immediately after the start signal was given, I used Short Jump.

We were aiming to use Heaven Judgement at the same time as the teleport, but Hilt was already gone by the time we were out of our teleport.

After a split second, Fran feels a presence behind her and jumps to the side.

Boom!

A mass of magic power ripped through the air as if to snatch Fran’s body.

Almost at the same time, Hilt approaches at a tremendous speed. Her speed is much faster than expected. It is probably close to the maximum speed she showed the other day against Neidhart.

I could see that she was releasing magic power from the soles of her feet to accelerate rapidly. This seemed to be the effect of her technique called Garuda.

Fran still has her back to Hilt. But we’re in no hurry.

「Haaa!」

「Black Lightning Roll!」

In response to Hilt’s attack, Fran launches the Black Lightning roll. With the speed of lightning, Fran, who was right behind Hilt, performed the Sheathes of Wind as if to return the blow.

But it is repelled by an invisible hand. Hilt’s magic arms. Her aim was not only to defend, but also to attack by throwing Fran off balance.

Normally, Hilt would have manipulated the momentum to destabilize Fran’s stance, exposing an opening. But we had anticipated this.

I tried to hold out by supporting Fran’s body with my telekinesis. Hilt immediately gave up her counterattack and jumped away.

「Woof!」

Against Hilt, who moves at high speed almost without stopping, Urushi’s surprise attack from the shadows doesn’t seem to work either.

Perhaps it was the result of analyzing our previous matches and thinking about what to do to block our surprise attack after using Teleport.

Indeed, if she keeps moving at that speed, she will be able to escape because of the lag in teleport. Moreover, she may even try to take advantage of that lag.

「Urushi. Surprise attacks won’t work, switch to magic」

「Woof!」

(Master, use magic to keep her in check and keep watch for invisible attacks)

『Understood』

It’s still early in the game, but I’d say that neither of us can take full control of the match.