CH 222

222 – Flame, Water, and Scales

Fenix immediately brandished his Holy Sword.

A fire bursts out as if it was tracing the trajectory of the sword and the flame that resembles a crescent-shaped sword headed toward the Scales of Justice Astrea.

But before it reached her, it was blocked by a wall of earth protruding from the ground.

「…It seems that she can also use the general earth-attribute magic.」

I nodded slightly at Fenix’s words.

If a person has a Contract with a Spirit, he will be able to use Spirit Magic, which is one step higher than magic.

However, in many cases, he would end up not being able to use other types of magic.

For example, Wraith was a versatile type, but after his Contract with the main body of the Water Spirit, he can no longer use other attributes, including the Wind Magic that he was good at.

To be more precise, if he uses it, the Spirit will be in a bad mood and he will not be able to use Spirit Magic for a while.

Even so, in Wraith’s case, since he has a Contract with the main body of the Water Spirit, he can use all water-attribute magic.

The Silver Hero Nicola has a Contract with a Lesser Earth Spirit so she can only create and manipulate Silver, the Frost Hero Bella has a Contract with a Lesser Water Spirit so she can only use Freeze, the Thunderclap Hero Scathach has a Contract with a Lesser Wind Spirit so he can only use Lightning Strike and a part of one attribute as Spirit Magic.

As much as those who have a Contract are strong, they are inferior to those who do not have a Contract in terms of freedom,  

The person who made full use of this freedom is the former 1st Ranked in the world, the Unyielding Hero Altreed that does not have a Contract with a Spirit.

Some people say that he is a jack of all trades but a master of none, however, this is not a world where people who fit into that frame can become 1st Rank.

「Usually, even if they can use other attributes, they can only be used as a support…」

I was a little surprised as well.

For example, Nicola’s older brother, the Diamond Hero Philip, was given the Spirit Magic of Hardening.

If it was used as it is, his appearance will not change and it will be limited to increasing his endurance, but in reality, it’s different.

He can use a skill called Diamond to cover himself with a Golem-like armor and apply  Hardening to it.

He is probably only allowed to use it when it covers his own body.

This is only allowed because the magic is of the same attribute.

There are cases where a Contractor who has been granted Spirit Magic to use magic of the same attribute.

But Astrea has now created an earth wall that is strong enough to block Fenix’s magic.

Since it seems that her main Spirit Magic is Invisible Pressure… that means that she can also use general earth-attribute magic, even though the attribute is different.

She is an unconventional Spirit Contractor.

The position of the 13 Commanders of the Knights Order is hereditary. Those who are connected by blood with the Commanders will inherit the position.

And it’s not only the position of Commander, the Spirit Contract is also inherited.

This is an extremely exceptional and special Spirit Contract and there are many mysteries about it.

I guess we’ll just have to accept it for now.

The Black Magic that I cast just as a trial was resisted by her.

…She is also very cautious about me. I guess I can’t expect her to be negligent.

「I suppose you are the Flame Hero Fenix and the Black Sorcerer Lem.」

Astrea tore down the earth wall, faced us again, and said that.

We nodded, then she continued speaking.

「The two of you will be working together to deal with me, is that correct?」

Fenix nodded with an amiable smile.

「Yes, is there a problem with that?」

「No, I’d appreciate that.」

Fenix looked skeptical for a moment but quickly nodded in agreement.

The Knights Order is an organization that cracks down on criminals.

Although they might grandly announce their achievements to deter criminals, they do not publicize the abilities of each of the knights.

Since doing so would only give the criminals a chance to respond.

Unlike Adventurers and athletes, it is not a job that needs to attract the audience, so it can be said that it is a natural response.

And that Knights Order is now taking the risk to send their excellent knights and commanders to the All-Heaven Festival Contest.

It was probably for the sake of achieving good results in this contest, and if possible, even winning to bring the title of the strongest to the Knights Order and to use that as a deterrent in itself.

Because there’s probably no one who would try to commit a crime if the strongest person in the world might come to capture those who are committing a crime.

「Contestant Astrea seems to be planning to defeat you.」

She will immediately become popular if she can defeat the 4th Ranked Hero in the world.

「That is incorrect. I will send both of you off the field.」

Was her previous attack because she wanted to stop us from crushing each other?

I tried to quickly grasp the situation. I also picked up some information from the live commentary.

First of all, it seems that the other 4 members of the Fenix Party have won against the members of the Garo party.

The Garo party is similar to the Fenix party not only in terms of the leader’s specialty attribute but also in terms of the party’s Clear strategy.

Their strategy is to use firepower to forcibly advance quickly.

To think that they can fight against the 11th Ranked party whose members are all powerful and are all present for the battle… They are really amazing even if I consider the fact that the Frost Hero Bella is there. 

The four of them are heading here to meet up with Fenix.

As for the Wraith Party. The White Sorcerer Josh is sitting on the shoulder of the Miner Melania and it seems that they are also aiming to meet up with the rest of the Party, but they are blocked by two knights and the situation has developed into a battle.

The Destroyer Fran has joined them now and they are currently fighting on even terms.

If they underestimate Fran just because she is a 10-year-old girl, they’ll be in for a painful experience. She has a special Job, the Destroyer, that specializes in combat and she is a strong person who wields her talent to the fullest.

However, the two knights did not fall apart even with Fran as their opponent.

The other four members are probably quite strong since they are the ones participating in the Festival Contest along with the Knights Order Commander.

The other two knights sent the other remaining contestants off the field and are currently returning to Astrea’s side.

And that’s what I’ve summed up from the information I’ve received in these several seconds, then Fenix said.

「Contestant Astrea seems to be planning to defeat us.」

Why does he look a little happy?

「I’m also included in that “us”, right? Fenix?」

On the opposite side of Fenix, the one that appeared beside me and put me in between them was…the Water Hero Wraith.

Fran went to help Josh and Melania, so Wraith probably came to help me.

「Hi, Wraith.」

「Hello. Thank you for taking care of our Lem.」

「…I don’t mind. It’s all for the sake of fighting to the best of our abilities later on.」

「Ohh, you’ll definitely regret it though. Because we’re strong. Of course, the Black Sorcerer as well.」

「I know that.」

「Hmm?」

I don’t think they’re on bad terms, but I wonder why they seem to be smiling while giving off sparks at the same time…

「…The Water Hero Wraith… the same goes for the Destroyer girl… I don’t want to point my sword at children, but if you choose to stand as my opponent, I won’t go easy on you.」

Astrea broke her expressionlessness for the first time. It seemed difficult for her.

「You’re very kind, lady. But don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’m stronger than you.」

「…」

Fenix and Wraith pushed me back at the same time.

Invisible Pressure struck them while I had retreated a few steps backward.

The two of them put one hand on their knee and the other hand on their Holy Sword.

「…Ah, I made a mistake. I meant that we are stronger than you.」

「…When you said “we”, you are also including us in it, right? Wraith?」

A tremendous amount of Magical Energy is released from the two of them and along with that their posture has recovered.

By releasing high-purity Magical Energy, it temporarily offsets the Spirit Magic.

Only those with high magic aptitude and ability can do this, but it’s not a problem for these two people.

The problem is Astrea’s real ability. It’s certainly very high, but I still can’t measure her limit.

Also, how effective is long-distance Spirit Magic…

She herself, like these two, should be considered capable of offsetting the Spirit Magic with high-purity Magical Energy.

In that case, long-range attacks that require Magical Energy to be devoted to effect range and flying distance are not suitable. Because either the power of the attack needs to be reduced or it would need more Magical Energy to make up for the reduction in power.

It’s also true that it consumes Magical Energy to constantly offset the Invisible Pressure, and these two have been using large-scale magic and Spirit Magic since the beginning of the round.

There is also a way of borrowing the Magical Energy of the Spirits, but this is not infinite. Even if it was, we couldn’t possibly borrow it starting from the qualifying round.

The two of them glanced at me.

I whispered a few words to them that could not even be considered a plan and started running.

They nodded with cheerful smiles on their faces and kicked the ground at the same time.

「They want to have a close combat fight.」

「It’s exactly the same as what the Commander predicted.」

The two knights who have returned to Astrea’s side stepped forward to intercept them.

…The effect range of Spirit Magic is also moving according to the movements of Fenix and Wraith. They have an excellent Magical Energy manipulation ability.

The fact that she chose to pay attention to the manipulation ability even though she could just cast a wide-range magic like how she crushed the forest… means that she is preserving her Magical Energy.

Since even the Contractors of the Four Great Spirits are in a situation where they have to care about their Magical Energy, there is no way that she, who also used Spirit Magic in the same way, would not fall into the same state.

Right now, the three of them are probably consuming Magical Energy as they continue to generate it.

The two of them would be fine. I know that they are strong.

Rather than that…

『Ohhh!! The Fenix party and the Wraith party seem to have formed an alliance!』

『From the situation, I get the feeling that Contestant Lem has joined hands with Fenix while they were in midair. After all, Contestant Lem is a former member of Fenix party.』

『After the battle with Contestant Valac, the situation continued to develop quickly without giving him the opportunity to take a short rest!』

『Rather, did he crash into Fenix after the battle? Then an alliance? I’m surprised because the timing was too perfect. It’s as if everything went according to plan…』

Actually, almost all of it was an impromptu decision, but it seemed like it was planned because the Wraith party executed it so well.

As for Fenix, I’ve always been paying attention to the live commentary, so I just searched for his Magical Energy response after Garo was sent off the field.

The only thing that was difficult was the timing of the airborne slash, but thanks to Wraith’s Water Mirror, I was able to pick the perfect moment.

It was only because Valac was just standing around waiting for my attack that I was able to successfully attack her.

I continued to run while thinking about this.

『The two knights are attacking the approaching two Contractors of the Four Great Spirits!』

『While Contestant Lem is… oh my?』

I was heading in the direction of the 4 members of the Fenix Party.