Chapter 74 The End of the Finals and the Roar of Victory
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Well then, let’s get the second round underway.”
My words were the signal. The final battle of the Iron and Blood Festival’s “Abyss Colosseum” resumed. I could feel it through my skin-the murmur and heat of the crowd filling the stands, swirling through the whole colosseum.
”Here we go, combat resumes! This next exchange could decide it all!”
The announcer’s bellow heralded our fight.
The battlefield was split into three fronts.
I stood face-to-face with one of Kerberos’s remaining heads-the one that commanded lightning magic. Pale sparks crackled around us, and with each burst, the faint smell of burnt air drifted past. But as long as the [Magic Seal] field wrapped around me, that lightning couldn’t touch my body.
I calmly deflected the fangs that came with thunderous roars, all while waiting for the chance to slam in another burst of Explosion Magic.
Meanwhile, Kuuko-now a massive black panther-was locked in a fierce fight with the other head, the one that wielded ice magic.
Hail after hail of frozen arrows rained from the sky. The sharp sound of ice pellets hitting Kuuko’s dense fur echoed with each volley. She didn’t flinch. Her strong body absorbed the assault as she tore into the ice head with fang and claw.
”The magic beast Kuuko doesn’t back down from the ice arrow storm! She keeps pressing! Unbelievable-she’s not giving an inch even against Kerberos!”
The announcer’s voice brimmed with excitement.
And Elenor-she was attacking the beast master himself, the heavy warrior Luca, throwing his precise control over Kerberos into disarray.
Cracking through his steel-plated defense with her sword wasn’t easy. But with her flowing, elegant strikes, Luca’s attention was completely focused on her. Each time her blade found the gaps in his armor, a high clang of metal rang out.
”Whooooa!” “Elenor-sama!” “Luca, hold the line!” “I bet everything on you!” “You’d better win!”
Cheers for their favorite fighters bounced from the stands.
Thanks to Elenor’s relentless attack on Luca, I could see Kerberos’s movements grow gradually-but clearly-disjointed.
The lightning head wanted to focus its attacks on me. The ice head wanted to take down the defiant Kuuko first. Between the two heads, their agendas were sliding out of sync. Even something as simple as closing the distance-they couldn’t coordinate.
For instance, if I fell back on purpose, the lightning head would naturally want to chase me. But the ice head, fighting Kuuko, wanted to hold its ground and eliminate the immediate threat. Normally, the command tower-Luca-would decide which priority to follow. But right now, he was too busy fending off Elenor’s attacks. He couldn’t spare that level of control.
”Kerberos is faltering! The ‘Royal Phantom’ team’s coordination is brilliantly toying with the ruler of the ‘Abyss’s Bottom’!”
The announcer described it perfectly.
An opening.
In that moment when the enemy’s rhythm fully broke, I didn’t hesitate. I enhanced my physical abilities, dodged a bite attack, and slid to the enemy’s flank. Then I drove a hand-blade, charged with Explosion Magic, deep into the side of the lightning head.
Crunch!!
A dull sensation-bone splintering-traveled up through my arm.
The explosion would come in one second.
I still wanted to keep the time-delay nature of my magic hidden. And on top of that, I needed to minimize the damage I’d take from the blast. So I’d adjusted it to explode almost the instant I struck. At the moment of explosion, I used short-range Teleportation magic to shift slightly backward, dodging the direct shockwave by a split second.
And then-immediately after the teleport-I deliberately let the blast wash over me, rolling across the ring.
I’d wanted to reduce damage as much as possible, and the fine-tuning seemed to have worked. My body was less battered than last time.
BOOOOM!!
The blast shook the colosseum. The lightning head burst apart from the inside, just like before. The smell of burnt flesh and blood reached the stands, and the spectators’ cheers and screams shook the arena.
The shock and pain of losing one of its two heads threw the remaining ice head into confusion.
And Kuuko didn’t miss that decisive opening.
”GRAOOOOHHH!!”
With a beast’s roar, she sank her massive fangs deep into the throat of Kerberos’s last head.
The mightiest magic beast in this colosseum-Gatekeeper of Hell, Kerberos-finally laid its huge body across the ring and fell silent.
”WHOOOOOA!” “AMAZING!” “Did they actually take it down…?” “No way, man-if this keeps up, I’m losing my whole stash!”
The crowd’s roar shook the venue.
And then-
A brief moment of shock from Luca, the command tower, now that his main combat asset had fallen.
Elenor wasn’t about to miss that chance.
”Haaaaah!”
Her full-force strike found the gap in Luca’s armor, and the last heavy warrior crumpled.
”Luca is finally down!”
The announcer’s cry echoed through the colosseum.
”In an incredible upset, the first-time participant team-‘Royal Phantom’-has defeated the mightiest magic beast and claimed victory! A win for the lovely princess!”
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!!
”WHOAAAAAA!”
The victory gong rang high and clear. And then-the spectators’ roar.
Because the final blow had been landed by the colosseum’s most beloved gladiator, “Princess Elenor,” the excitement and frenzy reached their peak that day.
Our complete victory.
The Iron and Blood Festival’s “Abyss Colosseum” finals-
And so, the curtain fell.
—
Summary:
The protagonist, Elenor, and Kuuko execute a coordinated three-front assault against Kerberos and its master Luca, exploiting the disjointed commands between the lightning and ice heads. The protagonist lands a decisive blow with time-delayed Explosion Magic, Kuuko finishes the beast, and Elenor defeats Luca, securing victory for Royal Phantom. The colosseum erupts in celebration, marking the end of the finals.
—
Trivia:
The protagonist deliberately hides the time-delay property of his Explosion Magic as a strategic advantage.
He takes damage from his own explosion to sell the illusion that he was caught in the blast.
Kerberos has three heads, each wielding different elemental magic – lightning and ice are present in this battle.
Elenor is known as “Princess Elenor” and is the most popular gladiator in the colosseum.
Royal Phantom is a first-time participant team that defeated the reigning champion.
Luca serves as the command tower for Kerberos, coordinating the heads’ attacks.
The Iron and Blood Festival features the Abyss Colosseum as its main event.
Kuuko transforms into a massive black panther during combat.
Notes:
• de – A particle used in the aristocratic name of the Margrave Albion de Blanchefort.
• Kerberos – The mightiest magic beast in the colosseum, known as Gatekeeper of Hell. A three-headed beast with each head wielding different elemental magic – lightning and ice in this battle.
• Kuuko – A cat beastkin infiltration agent and loyal companion to Xenos, she transforms from a tiny black kitten into a massive, physically imposing black panther. A frontline tank with regenerative prowess, she guards her allies and aids in childcare at the Grimlock estate. Doted on by friends, her unwavering bond with Xenos allows her to channel his mana, breaking enemy magic while providing a protective presence.
• Elenor – Princess Elenor, the “Saint of Light,” is a silver-blonde swordswoman with soft gray-blue eyes and refined, butterfly-like grace. Whether fighting as a celebrated gladiator or serving as a party’s primary healer in white-and-gold robes, she combines elegant precision with lethal skill. Though haughty and analytical, she is bound by Xenos’s Magic Seal, masking a submissive devotion beneath her cold facade.
• Luca – Luca, also known as Valuca, is a prideful, scarred noble turned heavy warrior commander of the Iron Beast King. Once a water magic bully and lackey to Xenos, he underwent a personality shift, gaining vast dark Mana and a massive morning star. Now a cold, formidable combatant, he leads the opposing forces against the protagonist in the colosseum and acts as the master of the beast Kerberos.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply