"How the..." I couldn't form the proper words.
"That's ridiculous", Anya said.
"This is the first time that you saw Captain Noel use her both hands, right? I remembered how shocked I was when I saw it too", Temma told us.
"But that's absurd! She didn't use any magic but she managed to make a swing that powerful?! Is she even human?!" I asked.
"I wonder about that myself. Anyway... I'll see you in the next fight", he left the room.
I thought that Kiara was a powerful opponent. Each and every one of the participants could be considered as monsters. Suzaku could cut through the Spiritual Plane. Temma could use the Mist of Deceit. Kiara was a powerful phoenix. Botan could freely enter Primal Awakening. Captain Noel had monstrous strength.
Not to mention that the next match was going to be an interesting one.
"It's the final match of the first round!" the referee announced and the crowd cheered.
"Representing Izuru, the 5000-year old demon, Oga Aragami!"
Oga walked towards the stage and waved at the crowd. He was grinning like crazy and was really confident.
"And his opponent is Kaoru's champion, the boss of the entire Familiaran, Arurandeisu!"
Arurandeisu walked towards the stage.
"GOOD LUCK, BOSS!" a large group of suited men in the audience cheered.
Like Oga, he was really calm and had a smile on his face. A sword was sheathed on his side and a sling bag was on his body.
"Wow... You have a lot of fans", Oga said.
"Yeah. Can't disappoint them now", Arurandeisu replied.
"I'm looking forward to how strong you are."
"I'm also looking forward to your performance."
"Let your blades dance and magic go wild! The fourth round of the Idol Fan Tournament... Start!"
"Don't mind if I make the first move!" Oga charged at Arurandeisu.
Darkness gathered around Oga's fist and he threw a punch. However, Arurandeisu took out a piece of paper and a white barrier appeared in between them. Oga's darkness-infused punch hit the barrier but the barrier absorbed the darkness in the punch. The paper then burned to ashes.
"Did Oga use Dark Magic?" I asked.
"Yes. That's a spell known as Darkness Enhancement. Dark Mages used the power of darkness to wrap around their weapons and enhance their attacks. In this case, Oga's fists were enhanced", Anya answered.
"So could I do that and enhance you with Dark Magic? Like wrap darkness around your sword form?"
"Yeah. Your strikes would be stronger if you do it."
"I have another question. What did Arurandeisu do? Was that paper special?"
"Oh that? It's called Stored Magic. There are some magics which could be stored in an object and didn't require mana to activate. All it needed was a resolve from the user. They don't even need to form an image."
"I see... And that piece of paper has a barrier magic stored in it?"
"Yep. Stored Magic is really convenient since you could use a complicated spell without worrying too much about forming an image and managing your mana."
"So why won't everyone use Stored Magic?"
"Stored Magic is expensive. The more powerful the magic needed to be stored, the higher quality the materials of the object must be. A B-class magic needed to be stored in an object with rarer materials than C-class magic. Also, storing magic in an object is a hard process and would cost mana. It would be better if you cast that magic yourself rather than store it in an object if we were looking at mana consumption."
"If that's the problem, then why bother using Stored Magic?"
"Like I said, Stored Magic lets you instantly use magic without forming an image and using mana. Also, you can use magic that you don't know provided that someone else stored the magic inside the object."
"I see..."
Arurandeisu took out another paper and a bolt of lightning shot from it. Oga's shadow rose up and formed a wall to block the lightning.
"Why are you using Stored Magic to cast a simple spell like that?" Oga asked.
"Thanks to my circumstances, I'm not good with magic. After all, the place where I came from doesn't have any magic", Arurandeisu answered.
"Is that so? Mikage never really talked about his world."
"Why don't we have a chat in ROBEL after this? A good drink is always appreciated after a good match."
"If you're paying, then I'll gladly accept."
"Why is Arurandeisu using Stored Magic? Why won't he just use simple magic?" I asked.
"It's probably because he was from another world like you", Anya answered.
"What do you mean?"
"Your world is a world without magic or at least, magic is not common. I wouldn't be surprised if the inhabitants have little to no mana capacity."
"But what about me? I could use Dark Magic that easily."
"You're a special case. Only your soul is from that world since you died before coming here. Your current body must be an artificial one that has a mana capacity. Not to mention that you are also the Primordial Dark's vessel... Remember what Arurandeisu said when he was talking about how he got here?"
"He said something about being spirited away, right?"
"Yep. In other words, his physical body is the same from when he was in your world. He probably has no mana capacity, that's why he relied on Stored Magic."
Arurandeisu took out a small clay statue. He threw it upwards and the statue grew in size. It began moving as it charged at Oga.
"Is that a golem?" I asked.
"That's right. Unlike your Shadow Companion, the user only has to place a simple command and the golem would obey. It didn't require a conscious effort to control", Anya answered.
"Maybe I should think of using Stored Magic."
"With your salary? I don't recommend it."
"How much is the cost for that Lightning Bolt Stored Magic?"
"Oh... You need around two months of work just to afford one."
"WHAT? Arurandeisu is using expensive items?!"
"Yep... The way he fights just screams out, "Screw the rules, I have money." With the Familiaran's funds supporting him, he could use Stored Magic as much as he wants."
The golem raised its fist and swung it at Oga. However, he just caught it with his bare hands.
"You need a stronger golem", Oga said.
"I know. It's just a distraction", Arurandeisu closed in just a second and swung his sword.
Oga barely avoided it. Arurandeisu's sword strikes were fast and Oga made a sword out of darkness to block his attacks. Arurandeisu took out another piece of paper and a ball of fire shot from it. Oga barely avoided it and backed away.
"You aren't half as bad as I thought", Oga said.
"I'm honored to have a hero praise me", Arurandeisu replied.
"But are you sure you should be using that much Stored Magic? You're wasting too much for a single fight."
"If you know how much the youngsters in my family spend for Kaoru's merchandise and other things, this is just a trivial value", Arurandeisu took out five pieces of paper.
Lightning, water, earth, and ice all shot out from him and Oga avoided all of them. Arurandeisu sheathed his sword and took out a bow from his sling bag.
"How could a bow fit in there?" I asked.
"It's probably an artifact. There are artifacts that can store many things even if it was bigger than the container", Anya answered.
Arurandeisu took a piece of paper and his body glowed. He flew above and then took out an arrow. Arurandeisu shot it. However, Oga avoided the arrow. He shot four more arrows but they didn't hit Oga as they planted themselves in the ground. Arurandeisu landed on the ground.
"You suck at archery", Oga said.
"You're right... I should stick with a sword", he returned the bow to his sling bag and unsheathed his golden sword.
They exchanged strikes and their weapons clashed. Oga's sword that was made from darkness and Arurandeisu's golden sword hit each other.
"I should end this now!" Arurandeisu took out a piece of paper and a strong blast of wind pushed Oga.
"Were you trying to make me go out of bounds? If so, then you need to use a stronger spell!" Oga grinned.
"No... I just need you to be there", he ran towards one of the arrows which were stuck on the ground.
When Arurandeisu touched it, the arrow began glowing. Two glowing blue lines came out of it and connected to the other arrows. They formed a star-symbol on the ground.
"Starlight Destruction!" he shouted and everything inside the star symbol, with Oga being in the dead center, was engulfed in blue light.
"That's Starlight Destruction, an A-class magic", Anya said.
"Is that supposed to be amazing?" I asked.
"Starlight Destruction is a powerful magic that requires 5 mages to activate. They must be in a position that could make them form a huge star-shaped symbol. It's amazing how he managed to turn it into a Stored Magic and activate it on his own."
"So he stored Starlight Destruction into those arrows and shot them to form a star... He was definitely a good archer."
The light died down and Oga was standing at the center. His mouth was bleeding and he stretched his arms.
"Starlight Destruction focuses more on damaging the soul instead of the physical body... It's been such a long time since I felt that much pain", he grinned.
"This is insane... You took it on without getting knocked out? I know you're supposed to be a hero but I hoped to at least make you unconscious."
"Yeah well... If you lived as long as me, then you would have trained your soul to handle attacks of that level."
Arurandeisu sighed.
"Well, that sucks... That happened to be my trump card and nothing good came out of it. I surrender", he raised his hands.
"Arurandeisu surrendered! The winner is: Oga Aragami!"
###
A/N: Hope you weren't too disappointed with this fight. But at least, Aruran put up quite a fight despite his disadvantages. Next match is between Mikage and Temma. Who do you think would win?
