TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 4 Part 2
Finne was warmly welcomed back by me —Haruto— and the rest of the team.
“Finne, you did a great job against such a strong opponent.”
“It’s amazing that you can fight like that!”
“That’s right. From my point of view, he’s a formidable opponent. You fought well against him.”
Me, Iris, Kuzel, and everyone else also gave Finne words of praise.
Finne’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Uh, uh… I’m so frustrated…”
“Finne worked hard. We understand that better than anyone else.”
“…yes.”
The loss must have been too frustrating. Finne hugged me and let her tears fall as she sobbed.
After a while, Finne seemed to calm down, she smiled and left my embrace.
And soon, it was Iris’ turn to fight.
“Iris, there is only one thing I want to say.”
“I know! I’m going to win and surprise everyone!”
“Oh, that’s the spirit!”
We saw Iris off, as she went to the waiting room and returned to our seats.
‘‘Everyone, thank you for waiting so long! It’s the start of the second match! The first match was a heated battle between Reid and Finne! We are excited to see what kind of match the next participants will show us!’’
Nina still couldn’t get over how excited she was about the match.
‘‘Then it’s time for the participants to enter! She moves with lightning speed and overwhelms many fierce fighters with her storm-like attacks! The first princess of the Kingdom of Perdis, but also a wielder of two magic swords, giving her the nickname ‘Thunder Cutter’ – here comes Iris!’’
Iris could be seen entering with cheers and applause.
Now, will Iris win?
◇◇◇
“I didn’t know I had such a title. Well, it’s not so bad♪.”
Iris looked satisfied as she listened to Nina’s commentary.
Then Nina started introducing the contestant, who would be Iris’ opponent.
“And then, one of the first rules of fighting is to ensure you have a good defense! The strongest mercenary who has never had anyone break through his defense! Enter the ‘Iron Wall,’ Haganar!”
A lightly dressed Haganar entered the room, despite his heavy-sounding name.
Iris and Haganar faced each other on the center of the stage.
It was Haganar who opened his mouth first.
“Princess of Perdis, I won’t go easy on you, will you be okay with that?”
“No problem.” Iris said to Haganar, “I’m not going to take it easy on you either.”
Haganar laughed at Iris’s words.
“Hmm, that’s what I want. Then let’s have some fun, Your Royal Highness Princess Iris.”
The two took their positions and readied their weapons.
“Then, let’s start the match!”
The bell rang, and the match began.
Immediately, Iris used her high-speed movement skill, Ground Shrink, to instantly move in front of Haganar.
‘‘Iris is fast! This is exactly what you mean by lightning speed!’’
Nina’s commentary did not reach their ears.
Iris wielded the magic sword Tempest, and Haganar prepared a shield that was as tall as him.
“I’ll cut that shield in half!”
The magic sword Tempest, which she swung down was easily repelled, but Iris quickly slashed into the empty space with the magic sword Tonitrus held in her other hand without skipping a beat.
“―?!”
However, right after that, Iris showed a surprised expression.
The magic sword Tonitrus was blocked by Haganar’s other small shield.
“Who said there was only one shield?”
Haganar repelled the magic sword and struck at her with his shield.
However, Iris retreated using the momentum from the shield strike.
The two faced off again.
“You move fast, but your attacks are light.”
“Ugh.”
“Well, it’s time for me to attack.
“Oh, will you attack with a shield or something? Well, I won’t give you time to attack in the first place!”
Iris ran and approached Haganar.
As Haganar was within range―Iris instinctively squatted down on the spot at that moment.
Then, something passed over Iris’ head.
“Oh, you dodged it, but…”
Iris came to her senses with Haganar’s words, and realizing that a shadow had appeared, she quickly crossed her magic swords over her head.
Instantly, Iris was hit by a huge impact from above.
“I didn’t expect you to be able to withstand this.”
“Ugh, ggh…what?”
Iris said and looked up.
The first thing she saw was a big sword.
(Where did the greatsword come from? He shouldn’t have had something like that..)
Although Iris wondered about it, she soon realized that the shield that Haganar was equipped with was missing.
“No way…”
“You figured it out? Yes, this is a greatsword transformed from the shield earlier.”
“I-I’ve never seen anything like that…”
“Of course. This was custom made.”
Haganar kicked Iris’ defenseless torso.
“Kahah!”
Iris rolled on the ground, expelling the air from her lungs.
“I don’t want to kill a woman. Will you surrender?”
“Ugh, ugh…”
However, Iris did not answer Haganar’s question and stood up using her magic swords as a cane.
“…I won’t. Since you showed me something, I’ll show you something good too.”
“Oh?”
Seeing Iris smiling, the Haganar also lifted his lips.
“Let’s go ― Release.”
At that moment, lightning began to discharge from Iris’s entire body―Iris shifted.
A trail of lightning was left in the wake of Iris’ path.
Haganar was unable to keep up with Iris’ movements in the end.
“What!?”
Iris came up behind the surprised Haganar and swung her magic sword Tempest.
Seeing the wind swirling around Tempest, Haganar instantly transformed his greatsword into a shield and held it up.
“Ggggggghh!”
Yet, the power of the Tempest was so great that Haganar was forced back several meters, leaving footprints on the ground.
“What a powerful force… If I had been hit before I was properly prepared, I could have been sent off.”
Haganar was astonished at the weight of the blow, and once again turned his gaze to the area where Iris had been standing until a little while ago―Iris was already gone.
“She’s gone! Damn it!”
Iris, without delay, was approaching Haganar with her body lowered.
“Take this!”
Haganar, realizing this, raised his shield again and countered, but Iris easily avoided it.
Then she went behind the Haganar and swung her swords in both hands.
Haganar, however, reacted with a speed befitting a legendary mercenary, transforming his shield into a greatsword and swinging it while turning around.
With a loud “Bang” sound, the sword Tempest and the sword Tonitrus collided with the greatsword.
“What?”
That voice belonged to Iris.
She never expected him to be able to keep up with this speed.
Unable to withstand the impact of their collision, the magic sword Tempest and Tonitrus left Iris’ hands and flew into the air, crashing directly into the arena’s ground.
Then, the tip of the greatsword was pointed at Iris.
Cold sweat dripped from Iris’s forehead, and Haganar smiled.
“It’s my victory.”
“…I guess I lost.”
The match ended with Iris’s surrender.
Nina’s signal for the end of the match echoed in the silent arena.
‘‘G-Game over~. At the very end, Iris’ sword was deflected! And Haganar has emerged as the victor!’’
A beat later, loud cheers resounded from the audience.
Everyone was watching the fight between the two.
Haganar raised his fist and responded to the cheers.
“I guess I lost~…”
Haganar turned around at the sound of Iris’s voice.
He approached Iris, and in the next moment, he got down on one knee.
“I am sorry for my rudeness, Princess Iris. But you have fought a splendid battle. It has been a long time since I have had my defenses breached.”
Iris held out her hand to the Haganar, who bowed politely.
“I think I know how to fight a little better now. Thank you.”
“Thank you very much. I am very impressed by your fighting ability even though you are a princess.”
Haganar took the offered hand and stood up.
Thus, the match between the two ended.
Later that night.
Needless to say, Haruto snuck into Iris’ bed and comforted her as she cried.