Chapter 728

The rampaging white lightning stormed the inside of the barrier with tremendous flashes of light.

I am sure Diaz is feeling a super destructive power comparable to the simultaneous black & white lightning that defeated Felmus last year.

I doubted that Diaz, who is not particularly good at defense, would be able to block this kind of magic. Diaz's strengths are in decoys and assassination, which are not the kinds of abilities that would allow him to fight head-on in this small arena.

Last year, I failed to keep the lightning under control and ended up breaking the barrier. But this year, it'll be fine since I'm in complete control. In fact, the focused destruction may even be greater than last year because the power is not spread out unnecessarily.

However, that also means we can't escape outside the barrier. I had to use Dimension Shift to avoid the explosion and shock waves.

The sound of the thunderbolts gradually settled down and the white flashes of light subsided.

And then, on the stage, there was Diaz lying on the ground. His entire body is charred, and he is clearly on the verge of death.

「Guh…… Not… bad…」

Immediately after he muttered those words, his body shone brightly. The light of rewinding that I've seen many times.

「We won…… Sniff.」

『Yeah. Even Diaz couldn't withstand a direct hit from Kanna Kamui.』

It seems that we managed to get a victory before falling victim to Diaz's stratagems.

For now I should focus on healing these injuries. It must feel terrible to have a nosebleed all the time. I wonder when the regeneration blocking will wear off?

『Could it be that the match is over? I have no idea what just happened! After the white lightning subsided, Diaz-sama had collapsed to the floor!』

What the hell? It wasn't a declaration of victory?

「Ugh!」

Just as we started to suspect something from the commentator's words, Fran threw herself to the side.

「You're not… getting away!」

『Diaz!』

How! He was over there――

『An illusion!?』

The fallen Diaz was an illusion. He carefully made it look like the time cradle had been triggered to catch us off guard. It was a very elaborate way of faking his own death.

The commentator must have known from the start that the time cradle wasn't activated. Yet, in the arena, Diaz appeared to have been resurrected by the time cradle, which is why he was puzzled.

Diaz, who had moved right next to Fran while he was playing dead, was holding a dagger in reverse grip and thrusting it at Fran's neck.

Just before Fran was about to be hit by the attack, she detected it just in time and avoided a direct hit.

However, she was not able to avoid the attack completely, and blood was pouring from her neck. She managed to avoid having her carotid arteries sliced open, but the wound was quite deep.

Fran turns to Diaz, her blood spattering.

「Guh…… As expected from Diaz.」

「Says the one who just dodged my best hit.」

「That wound caused your presence to leak.」

「Haha…… To think I would be affected by a scratch like this…… Sucks to be an old geezer.」

Diaz laughs sarcastically at his own failure. I'm just surprised that he is able to move at all with such injuries.

Diaz's entire body is charred black, cracked in places, and gushing with blood. The damage that we saw on the illusionary doppelganger was a replica of the injuries to his real body.

It was strange that he even remained conscious in this state, yet he was able to approach right next to Fran without being noticed.

「I have to say my apologies for relying on tools in the end……」

『Urushi! Get him!』

The moment I saw the crystal ball that the half-dead Diaz pulled out of nowhere, I was overwhelmed by its chilling presence. Not only was it filled with terrifying magic, but I sensed a different kind of danger.

Reflexively, I gave Urushi an order. I had been saving him as a trump card this time because I was afraid that he might be caught up in our wide range attack.

「Grrr…?」

「Haha, that's just an illusion.」

The one in front of us disappeared and a dagger clanged down onto the stage, the weapon with the ability to interfere with healing and regeneration. It has no space-time attribute, so that may have been an effect of some other tool.

When!? When you attacked us earlier, it was definitely the real Diaz, wasn't it? How could an illusion hurt Fran? When did he swap himself with an illusion?

Wait! Was it actually an illusion that attacked us? He can make phantom illusions with physical bodies, and they may have more arm strength than I thought.

The Diaz that newly emerged is also charred in the same way as the old. But is that damage even real?

No, don't think about that now! It is Diaz's goal to confuse his opponents like this!

「Great storm, annihilate all!」

I guess since he doesn't have to hide it anymore, I'm able to appraise it: a spirit orb. It's exactly what it sounds like. After a spirit puts its energy into the orb, that power can be wielded by the user a single time.

It looks to be a tool that requires the assistance of a spirit caster to insert a spirit's power into it, rather than one to seal a spirit inside to make use of it.

A green light overflows from the spirit orb. When I saw that, I immediately knew that we would surely lose at this rate!

I felt an overwhelming spiritual presence. Could this be the power of a great spirit?

Oh, it must be Klimt's great spirit! If so, this is really bad!

『Urushi! Protect Fran!』

「Woof!」

『Ooooorgh!』

Urushi uses his huge body as a wall to protect Fran, while I activated my Spirit Hand on the spur of the moment. With this skill, I should be able to interfere with the spirit's power.

Having used it once before, I know how to use Spirit Hand. It is also fortunate for me that it is very similar to the telekinesis that I use all the time.

I use Spirit Hand to cover the spirit orb and push its power back into it. No, it's no use. I can't hold it back. I felt my Spirit Hand was about to be blown away.

Then I'll try to manipulate the flow of power instead. That should allow me to interfere at a deeper level.

《Handling a portion of calculations. Beginning flow modification and redirecting it to the individual named Diaz. Individual named Master, please concentrate on controlling the force.》

『Please do! Announcer-san!』

I saw Diaz's face contort in astonishment.

「Don't tell me, you even have spirit magic……? Haha…… In a such short period of time……?」

Immediately after, the spirit orb exploded with a flash and a roar. The shock wave of the spirit's tempest blasted us as well.

Even though more than half of the power was directed at Diaz, the shock wave alone would be comparable to a high-tier storm magic.

「Ugh!」

「Gar!」

Urushi chases after Fran, who was blown away without being able to hold her ground, and catches her with his body as a cushion. That hurt Urushi quite a bit, but he should be fine with a moderate amount of damage.

The tempest settled down after a few seconds, and Diaz was lying there in a terrible condition that could only be described as 'a lump of flesh'. His arms and legs were broken off, and his equipment was in tatters.

I can see Diaz's body glistening in white.

We still remain vigilant so as not to make the same mistake as before, and I search our surroundings for signs of any presence. Is that Diaz real? But our caution is put to rest as the commentator's declaration of victory echoes through the arena.

『The cradle of time has been activated! This time, Black Lightning Princess Fran is surely the winner!』