Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

92 – There Is One Thing That Should Be Done and Should Be Allowed to be Done Before Returning to the Battle

「No way…he ended up winning single-handedly.」

Alba said with an astonished expression.

「I know, I was watching.」

My tone was often misunderstood as an angry one, but that’s not the case.

Alba usually snaps when he hears my irritating tone, but now he’s not even paying any attention to it and just continues to stick to the window to look at the field.

「Lark, wouldn’t you lose as well if you fight against him?」

「Maybe, anyway I was already beaten once because of a certain someone who gave him a Magic Sword.」

「…tch」

Alba often makes people feel irritated, but this time Lark lightly eluded it.

But at the same time, both Lark and I are surprised to hear that Alba mentioned Lem’s victory with his own mouth, albeit jokingly.

But then again, it’s Alba, so it was probably just another whim of his.

「Putting aside Bella, Lily doesn’t seem surprised by Lem’s victory.」

I shook my head at Lark’s words.

「I’m surprised, but it’s fundamentally the same as what we personally witnessed at the Demon King Castle. He researched to get a profound understanding of the opponent, predicted what the opponent would do and how he should respond to it, and then create a strategy.」

The Frost Hero Bella nodded to my words.

I still have mixed feelings about Lem’s withdrawal, but Bella has done nothing wrong.

On the contrary, her calmness and keen opinions that one would not expect from a rookie have helped me a lot.

「Even though it’s as Lily said, I’m still not sure how to react to this. That Holy Paladin is definitely not weak.」

「Yeah, he’s excellent. In addition to magic resistance, he also has White Magic Aptitude, which should make it easy for him to deal with Black Magic. At any rate, I think he did a good job of reducing the effectiveness of Lem’s magic.」

I’m not sure if it’s because he has the same type of Job, but Lark is more talkative than usual.

「You’re right. But what I’m curious about is――」

「Yeah, I also thought about that.」

「…Yes, that’s right. His Black Magic is not just something like that. Even if there’s a reason as to why he can’t muster that much strength as when he’s purely focusing on defense, that’s still way too weak. In the first place, compared to the previous matches… Don’t tell me.」

Everyone seemed to have noticed at the same time.

It was different. However, there was one person who was concerned about something else, Alba.

「Ah, where’d Fenix go?」

We finally noticed it.

The leader of our party was not here.

No-.

「Isn’t that our leader over there?」

The place that Bella pointed to was an ordinary audience seat.

At that place, there was the figure of Fenix.

◇

『Whoa, that was such an intense battle.』

『…Yeah.』

『I think there are various perspectives, but personally I would like to applaud both contestants. Since it’s not often for me to get the chance to watch an Adventurer match with such a fresh feeling.』

『…』

『Although it was a wonderful victory, Lem has also received serious damage. An Avatar leaving the field is caused by a fatal injury or by losing too much simulated blood, as in leaking out Magical Energy, to the point that if the blood was real then that person would have died. He managed to avoid a fatal injury, however, he has lost one hand and one leg. Will the match depend on the one-on-one fight between contestant Philip and contestant Berith?』

『……』

『Sir Aerial?』

Mr. Commentator is saying something.

I was refining my Magical Energy. To be precise, I continued to refine it.

By no means did I go easy on Mark during the fight.

It’s just like how Mark continued to maintain the White Magic cast on Philip for quite some time while fighting me.

It’s exactly because this is a Tag Battle that using your power for the sake of your partner’s victory is not treated with contempt.

Because he was serious about this, he had racked his brains about the distribution of power.

It’s inevitable that there would be openings for Berith’s desired fighting style. That’s because of the super high firepower needed.

Although she can also just avoid using it and fight purely with her nimble hands, this also has the purpose of displaying her fighting style.

As her partner, and as a Black Sorcerer, it’s natural for me to help her.

We fought separately and now that I somehow managed to win, I have to cast Black Magic on Philip before I leave the field.

I ignored the Magical Energy that is leaking out and maximized the operation of my Magical Energy organ.

「Lem!」

Mark was a strong opponent. So I thought that an arm would be a necessary sacrifice, but I didn’t expect to have one arm and one foot severed.

It’s impossible for me to move and distract Philip in this condition.

「Lem!!」

A voice. A stranger’s voice. No, it sounded familiar. I’ve heard this voice countless times before. It’s definitely Fenix’s voice.

It sounded like the voice was pretty close.

When I turned my head, I saw my childhood friend leaning over the railing, further forward than the front seats, calling out to me, to the surprise of the general audience.

His face was a little excited and he looked happy.

What are you doing? You’re going to cause a big fuss. More like, I’m in the middle of a match right now, though?

「It’s okay, Lem.」

What’s okay?

I don’t get what you’re trying to say-.

「You won.」

「…」

Defeating the enemy head-on and helping his allies win.

I admired those kinds of heroes.

However, reality is harsh, and even though I like to contribute to the victory of my friends as a Black Sorcerer.

In the end, I couldn’t throw away that admiration.

The battle with Fenix was extremely enjoyable.

But that was only possible because of my master’s horn, the cooperation of my allies, and my position as Lemegeton.

Ahh, I see. I’m now…feeling happy.

I’m so happy to the point that I’m trembling, but I pretended not to notice it and tried to concentrate on the fight.

I don’t think it’s wrong for me to do that, but Fenix said that it’s okay for me to express it.

『S-sir Fenix seems to be shouting from the audience seats. Is he trying to cheer for his friend…』

The generation of Magical Energy is still continuing.

I have to observe the fight between the other two people and measure the best timing.

I can be happy after finishing-.

『He’s right, Lem. It’s not an emotion that you should get used to stifling. You should express that emotion when it’s at its greatest, even if it’s only for a moment.』

He couldn’t have been close enough to hear that, but it seems like Aerial can understand Fenix’s feelings.

Fenix brought his hand forward.

Since one of my arms was broken and cut off, he’s probably offering his hand as a substitute for it.

「…did you come down here just to do that, you’re such an idiot.」

Okay then, I’ll borrow your hand.

Fortunately, I have a little bit of time. It’s enough time for me to complete my magic.

The torrent of emotions that was eagerly waiting to be expressed was released with my permission.

My voice was raised and he clenched his fist at the same time.

「-Yaaaaa…!!!」

I won. I won.

With my Black Magic and body that was trained by my master.

While leveraging the swordsmanship that was trained by Furcus.

Utilizing all of the experiences and knowledge that I’ve gained so far.

I, against the vanguard of an Adventurer’s party. I, single-handedly, against the Holy Paladin that’s in the 99th rank.

As the Black Sorcerer Lem, I won.

When I realized it, I was already exclaiming in a loud voice, like an idiot.

It wasn’t pointless.

It wasn’t meaningless.

All my efforts, during these 10 years, have steadily allowed me to realize my childhood dream.

To think that I can’t even express my happiness if I’m alone… I still have a long way to go.

I’m no longer looking at my best friend. But I know that, just like me, he was still smiling.

I thanked my best friend and the one who’s in 1st rank and cast the last Black Magic of the semifinals.

Up until now, I’ve always flowed my Magical Energy through the staff to cast magic, even if it took some time. I’ve been doing that, except for the Speed Down at the end.

By doing so, I can save my MagicalEnergy and get a huge magic effect with a small amount of Magical Energy.

However, what is released now is all of my Magical Energy that has been produced in my body since the start of the match and was concealed with Magical Energy manipulation.

Berith, I’ll give you the best moment.

That’s why, with all of your strength, you should-.

「Punch him hard.」

Immediately after the magic was activated, I left the field.

I’m leaving the rest up to you.