Shuri's perspective:

Recently, I've been staying overnight at the accommodation facility that Sasha made, and to be honest, the environment is too good. The scent emanating from these tatami mats, the futon, and the bathing facilities all heal my body. I asked Sasha how to make tatami mats, but it would be good if the corresponding plants were in the empire. After defeating Suou, I have to leave here and move to the Emperor's Palace in the imperial capital. If I become emperor, I will refer to Sasha's facility and create a new bathhouse for the citizens. We must provide this healing to the people.

And now, the main event begins today, and the feud with Suou ends here. The problem is when he will make his move. There will be a declaration from the emperor before the start of the main event. He could attack suddenly or after the final match. As a possibility, the latter is likely as the power of the participants in the main event will have weakened.

"Sasha, I'm worried about when the evil tribe will attack. Do you think it's reasonable to attack during the closing ceremony after the main event?"

"Normally, that's the case. However, in this case, I think they'll attack during the opening ceremony before the main event. When we were subjugating the evil tribe around Bilbrem, some of them had notes. The notes contained the adventurer rank of the qualifying participants, with the lowest being C and the highest being S. There were about 30 A-ranked participants, and some of them were even S-ranked in martial arts. However, as the evil tribe doesn't have significant fighting power, it was written that they could attack during the opening ceremony without any problems."

They underestimated us. I'll teach them that rank isn't everything.

"So it's during the opening ceremony, where everyone can fight at their full strength. The problem is how they will attack."

"I don't know that. However, I can't see any signs when they move in large numbers. Like how Sphereart covers the area around Bilbrem with the evil tribe, they could attack the arena in one go with the space-time magic 'Spatial Severance.' I can't say anything for sure right now. Even though it was written in the notes, they may not attack during the opening ceremony. Let's brace ourselves."

That's right. Even though I've trained under the lich and my magic detection and sensing have reached level 8, I can't feel any signs. It's a little creepy.

"If they attack us with 'Spatial Severance,' can you sense any signs?"

"If they attack us with that method, we won't be able to detect any signs until the last moment. Since Suzumi is teaching it to one of the S-rank evil tribe members, there's a high chance they'll use 'Spatial Severance' to teleport all at once."

Spatial Severance, huh?

Short-range teleportation You can move anywhere within a radius of 500 meters around yourself.

Long-range teleportation You can instantly move to any city you've been to, no matter how far away, as long as you remember the coordinates of the place you stopped at.

Space severance You can instantly move anywhere regardless of distance. However, since you forcefully sever the space to move to your destination, you must repair it afterwards. If left alone, a rift will form in space, gradually expanding until it eventually causes a massive explosion. Since the evil tribe only needs to kill people, they probably won't bother with repairs. Well, they'll probably come using this magic.

"My lord, if evil tribe appear in the arena using space severance, what should we do?"

"Is that because of my power?"

"Yes, I don't know how the evil tribe will act after that."

"Hmm, how interesting. If the lich's prediction comes true, Shuri, use your sword to do something about it. Then, let's see how the audience reacts after they recover from shock."

"Hahaha, with my current power, it's definitely possible. The evil tribe would make a great spectacle."

Well, if it really happens, the evil tribe will make a good opening act. Although it's unlikely.

"Sasha-sama, if that happens, may I enter the severed space and exterminate the remaining evil tribe? Please maintain the severed surface during that time."

"Sure, I don't mind Jin. However, if it comes to that... "

Jin, I don't think that'll happen.

"Master, for some reason, I feel sorry for the evil tribe. I mean, you'll solve the problem instantly, but they don't have a position in this situation."

"Onee-sama, you always come up with such outrageous ideas. As expected, it probably won't go so smoothly this time either."

"That idea from earlier was half-joking, you know. S-class and A-class won't be killed so easily. If the evil tribe end up doing what I suggested, it just shows how foolish they are."

Well, that's true. The world is not that kind. Anyway, let's move on!

________________________________________

"We've arrived at the Gold Arena, huh?

"Rikka, shall we move to the waiting room?”

“Yeah, Sasha-sama, I'm off to beat Shuri to a pulp."

"Gon!"

"Ouch!”

“Rikka~~ You shouldn't say that in public like that. Do you want to be punished?"

"Eep! Sorry. I'm off now."

Rikka, you can't say that you're going to rig the match in public.

"Shuri, I'm counting on you to look after Rikka.”

“Yeah, I got it. We're supposed to be fighters competing against each other here."

I'm afraid that Rikka might say something unnecessary again. I'll keep an eye on her. When we arrived at the waiting room, six fighters all looked at us at once. They must be nervous because they know about our fight in the qualifiers.

"Everyone seems tense. Let's relax a bit. The match is starting soon."

Most of this tension is because of you, you know. You really don't get it.

"Shuri, do you know that girl over there?" The favorite to win in the qualifiers. This man is bald and has a mustache, and seems combative, but he's a good person at heart.

"Yeah, she's a disciple of my master's younger brother. We're fellow disciples. By the way, I've never won a fight against her. You guys know who she is, but don't be fooled by her appearance."

Both of us nodded. They must have experienced Rikka's strength and fear in the qualifiers.

"Really? She's stronger than Shuri?”

“Everyone, this is Rikka. She won't show mercy to anyone, no matter who they are."

Their eyes changed. Everyone seemed to be in a fighting stance.

shrug, shrug

“Players, your preparations are complete. Please gather at the entrance to the arena."

Here we go. We drew lots for our opponents before entering the waiting room. The announcement for the matchups will be made at the end of the opening ceremony. There's a possibility that the evil tribe won't appear at the opening ceremony. If that happens, we need to conserve our strength. We've discussed the arrangements for the previous fights, but Rikka is unpredictable. Well then, shall we move? The Emperor and Suoh should already be in the VIP seats. The VIP seats are guarded by high-level knights to prevent assassinations, so they will respond immediately if the evil tribe appears.

When we arrived at the entrance for the fighters, each fighter was introduced one by one and went up to the arena.

"Next up is the highly anticipated S-rank newcomer, Rikka-chan, who knocked down all the top-notch fighters in the Gold Arena qualifiers until their spirits were broken."

"Oooooohhhhh!”

“Rikka-chaaannn!”

“You're so cuteee!"

As Rikka entered, a tremendous cheer erupted. Everyone, regardless of gender or age, cheered for her. Thanks to Sasha's advice, it seemed she wasn't disliked.

"Now, introducing the one who blew away the top contenders in the Silver Arena's preliminaries with a single blow, it's Shuri-senpai!"

Wasn't the introduction for Rikka and me too casual? I entered too and waved to the audience.

"Kyaaaaaahhhhh!”

“Shuri-sama~~~~!"

The cheers from the women for me were amazing.

Now, it's time for the emperor's announcement.

As the emperor and Suou appeared in the VIP seats near the arena, the surroundings became quiet. As expected of the emperor, his overwhelming presence could be felt.

"The tournament is also the final day today. We've had good matches in the summoning and magic divisions. I've also heard about what happened in the weapon division preliminaries. Rikka and Shuri, travel companions who have trained daily in the Gardia Empire and become strong enough to defeat those who are also training hard here, with a single blow. Everyone must now realize how vast the world is. Fight with all your might so that you won't have any regrets. And show us your victory! You can fight to your heart's content today, as the main event for the weapon division is starting now---!"

At that moment, nobody knew what had happened. Suddenly, hands came out of nowhere and pierced the emperor's chest. So they were indeed aiming for the opening ceremony. I myself had seen the signs of spatial severance since the emperor's announcement.

Sasha's words had come true. Whether during the opening or closing ceremonies, killing the emperor in front of the audience and the knight order and suddenly having a large number of evil tribe appear was the best way to induce negative emotions such as human sadness, hatred, anxiety, surprise, and despair. I didn't know how Suou would act in this situation, but I would also start taking action!