Chapter 367: The start of the disturbance

Henrietta looked around and saw that the audience was the most excited they have ever been. This was normal since this was the final match of the Grand Mage's tournament. This was the highlight of the tournament and it was always filled with a passionate audience. Yet today was filled with wilder fans than in the past years.

Still, that wasn't what Henrietta found weird what she found weird was despite it being the final match the Grand Mage wasn't there to spectate. Usually, during the final match, the current Grand Mage would arrive in a pseudo majestic way to surprise the audience.

He also did the same stunt in the past Grand Mage's Tournaments but this time there was no sign of him. The royal family and the royal guards were here but not the Grand Mage.

'Too many weird things are happening at the same time to be a coincidence. Did something happen to the Grand Mage?'

When Henrietta had that thought she felt a tiny bit of fear crept into her body. One of the biggest reasons that the Serbek Kingdom was able to survive up to now was because of the Grand Mage. The Grand Mage was literally the strongest in the kingdom.

'It can't be... The Grand Mage is one of the strongest of the human race has to offer he's even stronger than most hero class humans... It might be that I'm just being paranoid and the Grand Mage is just deep into his research.' As Henrietta shook her worries away, she looked at Afeus who was sitting beside her.

Even now Layfon and the others still couldn't find any further clues as to what happened to Artifice. 'What could this all mean?'

While Henrietta was feeling a little more anxious many more people started to come. After a while when it doesn't seem like any more people will be coming, Henrietta stopped thinking about the strange happenings and started the show.

"Ladies and Gentlemen today is the day we have all been waiting for! The final match of the Grand Mage's tournament is about to begin. We are here to witness the splendor of the two mages that have battled through all the others to come up on top. In one corner is the handsome and powerful magic swordsman, Valdel!"

Hearing his name being called Valdel stepped foot onto the stage. The sun shone perfectly onto his body as if to show how attractive he was. When the women saw this they started to scream, mixed in with those screams were the sounds of some men.

Valdel stood up straight smiled at the audience and waved his hands. "Thank you everyone for the support." The moment those words came out of his mouth the shrieking ladies and some men grew louder.

"Here stands a man who has fought every battle with overwhelming skill and power. We had witnessed the greatness of his skills in yesterday's match, which was a sight to behold. Also, the secret of Valdel's power was exposed yesterday. Who could've guessed that this man was a hero that can use the famous ability hero's light!" The screams grew louder almost drowning Henrietta's voice which was being enhanced by spells.

"Well now onto his opponent. Adored by the Goddess of luck herself the wandering demon, HIME!"

The moment her name was called Hime set foot onto the stage. She looked at her opponent for a while and sighed. After watching yesterday's match she knew that she was no match for Valdel, but still, she needed to try and win. Also even though he was stronger it doesn't mean she didn't stand a chance. Unlike Valdel she hasn't expended too much power and was in her peak condition. Depending on how much Valdel recovered would determine her chances of victory.

"Up to now we still haven't seen the full extent of this wandering demon's power. Since her battles have been won by forfeit and by disqualification. Now in this final match against an opponent like Valdel, I hope we get to witness her true skill."

"Alright then before we start, in today's match, the restriction of using weapons is removed, and even the death restriction will be removed. As it was since the beginning of the original Grand Mage's tournament the final match will truly be a no holds barred match! Of course if we the judges see that the match can end without bloodshed we will make a call to stop the match. So before the match, both contestants can pick the weapon of their choice."

Some mages entered the stage while pushing two racks filled with different kinds of weapons. Valdel and Hime approached their respective rack and started looking at the weapons.

Valdel tried swinging each of the heavy weapons that were on the rack and after looking at a few he chose the largest sword available. It wasn't as heavy as he wanted it to be but it had to do. On the other hand, Hime picked a towering shield as her weapon.

After they were done choosing their respective weapons the two faced each other and waited for Henrietta's signal.

"Hey, Natasha told me that you joined this tournament to seek some personal justice. I may not know what it is you truly want to do, but I'm going to apologize now. I'm going to win this tournament and see if that guy shows up." Valdel spoke to Hime, who was rather surprised to hear what Valdel had to say. After her initial shock Hime smiled wryly and responded.

"Hmph, you're pretty confident that you're going to win... I guess I must admit that I'm no match for you, in skill or power. Still, there are many other factors in a fight, the stronger one doesn't necessarily become the winner. Even the greatest swordsman can fall to the blade of a novice." Hime held onto the towering shield which was bigger than her own body forward.

"I guess you're right... There are many things that can happen in a fight. Very well, show me how you're going to beat me!" Seeing the two ready to go Henrietta raised her hand and signaled the start of the match.

...

The moment Hime heard Henrietta's voice announcing the start of the match she placed the towering shield in front of her and recited spell words.

Valdel was also quick to react as the moment the match started he dashed forward and without hesitation slashed at the towering shield. The moment he sliced through the shield he was surprised to see that Hime wasn't there. In fact, even with his mana sensing, he couldn't find Hime.

He then saw Hime at the corner of his eye about to unleash a spell on him. Valdel wanted to block the incoming spell, but his instincts were telling him to evade. Valdel evaded the strike as a massive wave of earth passed by him. A wall was formed in front of him, it was then he finally sensed Hime's mana fluctuation. She was hiding behind the wall of dirt.

Valdel raised his sword, gathered a bit of mana, and sliced through the wall. Usually, Valdel would've blown the wall away with a stronger force, but because he wasn't at full capacity he limited his mana output.

As he swung downward he heard a voice behind him. "I knew it!" After that ice started to encroach his legs, he couldn't move as a ball of fire came down from above and engulfed him.

Seeing this scene Hime smiled, her gamble paid off. After watching Valdel's past fights, Hime noticed something. Valdel's movements were weird since he moved as if he could see his opponent no matter if the opponent was in a blind spot or if the opponent's speed surpassed what the naked eye could perceive.

This made Hime think that Valdel wasn't using his eyes to track his enemy's movement, but what else could he use, scent, hearing, or was it something else? After thinking about it Hime came to have various conclusions, but after understanding how much control Valdel and Lara had of their mana, Hime got an answer. She wasn't sure but Valdel and Lara must somehow be able to sense the fluctuation of one's mana. It wasn't impossible but it was hard to do since there was mana everywhere. To find a specific mana fluctuation amongst everything else was difficult especially while in battle.

Even though she wasn't that sure, Hime took a gamble and it paid off. There's no way Valdel could escape her surprise attack. Hime waited for the announcer to stop the match, but when Henrietta didn't, Hime finally noticed something was wrong. Hime wanted to quickly evade but it was too late, a sword was already placed near her neck.

The Valdel that was being roasted by fire turned into a puddle of water. This was the same move the representative of the Fairies Aerwenna used to trick Valdel.

"It looks like I won," Valdel said with a smile on his face. Hime sighed and was about to respond but someone spoke before her.

"Wrong, I'm the one who won." A man's voice echoed through the arena. No one knew where the voice was coming from. It felt like the voice was echoing in their mind. As everyone was looking for the source of the mysterious voice, a violent bolt of lightning descended onto the stage about to strike Valdel and Hime.

Valdel swiftly pushed Hime away and tried to block the bolt of lightning. The mana he had gathered before the attack reached him was barely able to block the lightning strike. Valdel was burnt a bit by the lighting. After successfully blocking the strike, the sound of one person clapping echoed through the arena. A man wearing a pure black suit appeared floating above the stage.

"That was pretty impressive blocking that strike. Well, I was showing you a way out, but it seems like you want to witness the fun things that are about to ensue."