God's Blessing on this Wonderful Dungeon
By Icura and Special FX
~o~
Chapter 10: Contest
~o~
Ais Wallenstein quietly made her way down the hall to the Eris Familia's captain's room. It was very early in the morning, such that even Riveria hadn't woken up yet. That was a very important detail since she didn't want to get caught again; the old hag had a way of always finding her, especially when she didn't want to be found.
Fortunately, after fulfilling this final request, her debts would finally all be cleared, and she would then be able to challenge Satou Kazuma again. It was for this reason, despite the old hag trying to claim credit for it, that she had pushed to complete her obligations as soon as possible.
And this time, for sure, she'd win.
She had to. She couldn't afford to keep wasting time like this. No matter how much she asked, nobody in Loki Familia would allow her to go any deeper into the dungeon. Riveria wouldn't even let her challenge the dungeon alone, telling her to be patient. How could she be patient? It would be too late by then. She needed to become strong as soon as possible or else something bad would happen.
In the memory that was etched into her mind, she could still feel the terror and helplessness. It was like a scar that refused to heal or fade.
"I hope that, someday, you find a hero—your hero."
Words that were once told to her long ago, but she couldn't simply wait, hoping for a hero who might never appear. The only way left to her was to pick up the sword herself. No matter how painful it was or how scared she felt, nothing would change unless she became stronger.
There was no hero in her story to save her.
Why couldn't they understand?
Riveria always kept a close watch on her after she tried to sneak into the dungeon once on her own. Not only that, but all of the guild employees had been informed to warn a member of Loki Familia if they ever saw her try to enter the dungeon by herself. That made it all but impossible for her to continue to gain strength. Even if she managed to make it into the dungeon, she wouldn't be able to go more than a few floors before Riveria caught her.
But Satou Kazuma could teleport. She had heard about it in passing from Raul and Aki when they were talking with the other members of their Familia. He could bring her into the dungeon without Riveria or the guild ever knowing. Even if they somehow find out, she would already have the chance to fight in the deeper floors before they could retrieve her since Kazuma could bring her there in an instant.
Ais just needed to win against him once.
Then she would be able to fight to her heart's content. She stopped in front of the door to Kazuma's room and knocked. When she heard nothing after a few seconds, she knocked again. It was only after the fifth time she knocked that she finally heard some rustling noises. It wasn't long before footsteps began slowly making their way toward the door.
Satou Kazuma slowly opened the door with a yawn. His hair was a mess and his eyes were still half-closed. It looked like he had just woken up.
"Whaddya want this early in the morning?"
Ais took a deep breath and focused. This was the most important part, she couldn't fail here.
"...good morning, big bro."
There. It was finished. She had fulfilled her part of the bargain, the debt was wiped clean. Now, she could challenge him again.
"..."
"..."
For a moment, no one said anything and a heavy silence hung in the air. Had she made a mistake?
"...can you say that again?" Kazuma suddenly asked with utmost seriousness, breaking the silence.
Ais frowned. Had she really not said it correctly?
"Good morning, big bro…?"
"One more time, please," Kazuma requested. "With more emotion."
Ais didn't understand, but she couldn't afford to give up here. With more emotion? She took a deep breath and raised her voice.
"Good morning, big bro!"
~o~
For once, Kazuma was glad that Aqua always overdid it when it came to her architecture projects. The church was big enough and the walls were soundproof enough that no one had heard Ais shouting 'good morning, big bro' at the top of her lungs. His reputation in the eyes of his group was already trash enough; he didn't need Aqua to start calling him Loli-NEET again.
"...play me again in Rock, Paper, Scissors," Ais Wallenstein demanded.
Kazuma looked down at the girl who barely reached his waist in height and sighed.
From watching her brief exchanges with Riveria, he had a good idea as to why this little girl was so obsessed with wanting him to teleport her into the dungeon. Like any other sane parent–though they didn't seem to be related by blood–Riveria didn't seem to want Ais to go into the dungeon on her own, something that he didn't disagree with.
"Why do you want to go to the dungeon so badly?"
"...I want to become stronger."
Kazuma nodded his head in understanding.
The addiction of progression was a well-known phenomena. In every RPG game he played, the feeling of getting incrementally stronger was something passionate that could drive a player to reach max level even if the content catering ended forty levels back. If he had been isekai'd to a fantasy world as a kid, he would have probably felt the same. Although, while he would have probably done similar things, their motivations were inherently different.
For one thing, RPG games didn't exist in this world, so the motivation that drove her to go into the dungeon probably had to be something far more traumatic. Kazuma didn't even want to imagine what kind of screwed up past a little girl had to have in order to end up like that. Tragic backstories weren't his thing, damn it.
In a way, Ais was more like him than Iris. While she did have a passing resemblance to his other little sister, they acted nothing alike.
While Iris was strong, probably the strongest person he knew, she had been more interested in hearing about stories from his time back on Earth than anything adventuring related. Ais, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about anything other than fighting and the dungeon. Iris had been shy at first, but she had a warm and bubbly personality after he broke her out of her shell. From what he had seen of Ais, she was more like an emotionless doll than a person.
"...how about we get something to eat first," he suggested. "You hungry?"
"No. Play me in–" A loud rumble came from her stomach, interrupting her mid-sentence. Ais' face flushed red in embarrassment.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Kazuma replied with a light chuckle. "Come on, I'll make us some breakfast."
Ais looked like she wanted to protest, but when her stomach rumbled again, she looked down in embarrassment and followed after him instead. With how big Aqua had made their new home, it took a bit of walking to get to the kitchen. Now, while Kazuma wasn't the best chef, with the addition of the [Cook] skill, he could make some pretty good dishes. Although, he usually stuck to Japanese style cuisine when he had the ingredients, out of personal preference.
Ais took a seat at the kitchen table while he went to work on making breakfast.
"Hmm…?" Darkness' voice flowed through the air as she walked into the kitchen with a bemused expression on her face. "It's not like you to be up so early when you don't have anything to do, Kazuma."
Darkness wasn't wrong about that; if Ais hadn't woken him up, he would have slept until noon like he usually did on free days. Out of everyone in their group, Darkness was the only one who consistently woke up early. Only a masochist like Lalatina could enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn every morning after all.
"Yeah, well, a little girl came crying to my room because she was hungry. What was I supposed to do?"
"...!" Ais stood up and slammed her little hands on the table, cheeks red in embarrassment. It was far more cute than intimidating. "I did not!"
"Oh, is that so?" Darkness replied as she took a seat next to the angry little girl and gently patted her on the head. "Don't worry, Ais. While Kazuma might look like a useless man, he's surprisingly a good cook."
Oi.
He didn't want to hear that from someone whose cooking skills could only be described as 'plainly mediocre' at best. Out of the four of them, she was barely better than Aqua! And that useless goddess couldn't make anything but tuna mayo rice! He didn't voice any of his thoughts out loud, of course. He didn't feel like running away from Darkness this early in the morning after all.
Lalatina was surprisingly sensitive when it came to girly things like that.
"So this is where you went, Ais," Riveria said as she walked into the kitchen with all the grace of a classroom representative. "I had been looking for you in your room. It's time we head back to the twilight manor."
"...not yet," Ais softly mumbled. "Still need to beat Kazuma."
As Riveria was about to respond, Darkness spoke up first.
"How about after you both have some breakfast first? Kazuma's almost done cooking after all."
"...very well then," Riveria acquiesced. "Thank you for the meal."
Kazuma was used to cooking for their group, so adding in another person or two wasn't a big deal. With his [Cook] skill, it didn't take very long to make a simple breakfast along with an extra side of tater-tots for Ais. They had a bunch of potatoes lying around the kitchen for some reason, so he had decided to whip up a little treat for her. Iris seemed to like his snacks whenever he cooked for her, so he just did the same thing for Ais.
Darkness helped him hand out the dishes while he cleaned up. He would have made something for the rest of his party, but considering how early it was, he didn't foresee them waking up any time soon.
Kazuma took a seat at the table next to Riveria since Darkness was already sitting next to Ais.
Lalatina had always been really good with kids, so he wasn't surprised that she had already taken a liking to the Iris look-alike.
"This is quite delicious," Riveria remarked after a few bites, surprise evident on her face. "Is this a dish from the far east?"
"Yep."
"Compliments to the chef."
"Thanks."
Considering the rest of his party's culinary skills, it was either learn how to cook or be forced to eat mediocre food all the time. It wasn't that the rest of his group couldn't cook, but Aqua only knew how to make junk food; any recipe that included liquid would always have it turned into water, ruining the dish. Megumin was only willing to cook low-budget meals made up of low quality ingredients, and Darkness' meals were so unremarkable that they weren't even worth describing.
Well, technically, he got the cooking skill in the first place when he had–for a short time–wanted to take up that profession, but it still worked out in the end.
As he casually munched away at his meal, Kazuma curiously glanced over towards Ais. She didn't have an expression on her face as usual, but from how quickly she was cleaning up her bowls and dishes, that must have meant that she enjoyed it, right? When she took a bite out of the small side of a tater tot, she suddenly stopped while her eyes went wide, almost comically so.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow in response to the strange reaction.
She then took another bite, finishing off the lone tater tot before her face morphed into a small content smile. Cute! There was no way his little sister was this cute! What a stark contrast to how emotionless she usually looked. Was it the tater tots specifically? Or perhaps she just liked eating potato based snacks?
Perhaps he should try making something else next time? Potato croquettes maybe?
"Ais…?" Riveria asked with a bemused expression on her face.
The young girl in question finished eating another tater tot before she finally responded.
"...can I join Eris Familia?"
Kazuma immediately gave her a thumbs up. "Of course."
"Kazuma!" Darkness looked scandalized. "You can't just poach another party's member like that!"
"What? I'm not poaching anyone. She asked to join."
Riveria pinched the bridge of her nose in response. "Please don't indulge her. She's enough trouble to deal with as it is."
"...old hag," Ais grumbled to herself as she looked away.
"..."
Kazuma suddenly felt a dangerous chill in the air. There was a sudden aura of darkness radiating from Riveria's normally calm visage. The scowl on her face was even worse than the one Darkness had whenever he made fun of her abs. Kazuma instinctively inched his chair a little further away from the angry elf in question.
Sorry, Ais, but calling an older woman an old hag wasn't a train that he was willing to get in front of. Not even for his little sister!
"...it seems you still haven't learned proper respect for your elders," Riveria eventually grounded out. "How about I give you another swimming lesson later, hmm?"
"Eek…!" Ais visibly shook in fright. However, that only lasted for as long as it took for her to look in Kazuma's direction. With a swift leap off her chair, she ran over and grabbed his sleeve, holding his arm in front of her as if to ward off Riveria's gaze.
"What do you think you are doing?" Riveria asked chillingly as she glared at the little girl futilely trying to disappear behind Kazuma.
"Hurry. Let me join," Ais said, pointedly blocking Riveria out of her sight with Kazuma's sleeve. "Before the old hag takes me away…"
"Old hag, am I?!" The elven woman stood up from her seat, her elegant and composed face now scrunched up in even more anger.
"Hurry!" Ais pulled on his sleeve more frantically.
Kazuma looked questioningly at Darkness.
"You already know my answer," the golden-haired knight said in exasperation.
Ais pulled pleadingly on his sleeve. However, Kazuma simply gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry, I really can't–"
"Big bro!"
"–let you go somewhere you don't want to be!" Kazuma shouted, rising from his seat and inadvertently pulling up Ais' hands which were still holding onto his sleeve. "I'll even make an enemy of the entire world for you!"
Riveria watched the entire scene with a frosty gaze.
"It seems we will need some remedial swimming lessons after all."
"Save me, big bro!"
Riveria closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose, willing whatever scene that was in front of her to go away. Though, in actuality, she didn't mind their antics too much; even the anger at being called an old hag–something that Ais hasn't done for the past year after their first swimming lesson–had already somewhat dissipated. What bothered her was that Ais was purposely delaying their departure through less than upright methods.
She didn't mind spending a little extra time, but it wouldn't do to reward the young girl's unruly behavior. Of course, all of this tied back to Ais' single-minded goal of entering the dungeon. While not done maliciously, she was still trying to use the captain of Eris Familia for that very purpose. More than that, it was obvious that Ais knew that if she went in with Kazuma who was the same level as her, she could get away with much more things since it would be difficult for him to stop her. Though, it was questionable if she even consciously realized it.
Even so, that didn't change the fact that Riveria needed to put a stop to such behavior.
"Ais." With a commanding tone of voice, she brought the little girl's attention to her. "It's time to go."
"...I don't wanna."
"If it is about defeating Mr. Satou, it can be done on another day."
"Potato."
"The dish that we had just had? We can ask for the recipe then. That's no reason to inconvenience them any further," Riveria replied. "We can buy some potato croquettes on the way back. Is there any other reason you want to stay or shall we get going?"
"...it's fun."
"Then I suppose we can stay a little longer."
"Really…?"
"Yes. If you're being honest, then I don't mind allowing more time." Riveria pointedly turned her gaze to Kazuma. "Provided that they are willing."
Kazuma just gave her a thumbs up in response. "No worries there, mama bear."
"Just who exactly are you calling 'mama bear'!?"
"Wait, that's not important!" Megumin interjected, barging into the room as if she hadn't been eavesdropping just outside the doorway. Putting a hand on the edge of her pointed mage hat, she tilted it as she pointed at Riveria with her free hand. "What's important is that we now have time to solve the greatest mystery of our lifetime!"
"...and what would that be?" Riveria asked with a heavy slathering of reluctance.
"To find out which magic is the greatest in the world!"
"Not this again," Riveria exasperatedly replied with a hand on her forehead. "I already told you that there's no need for that."
"Why? Are you afraid?" Megumin had a smug look of superiority on her face. "You kept saying that you were too busy, but now that you got time, you're backing out? Well, since you were going to lose anyways, I guess it's obvious even to you that Explosion magic is–"
Riveria slammed her fist down on the table, denting it and rattling the dishes on top. With veins bulging on her forehead, she glared at Megumin who was now shrinking back toward the hallway.
"Very well then, I accept!"
~o~
"I don't see anything wrong with it," Megumin said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You see nothing wrong with firing off large scale magic from the city walls?" At the mage's small shake of her head, Riveria pinched the bridge of her nose once again. Honestly, trying to keep her cool while dealing with these people was harder than dealing with Loki. "What about anyone inadvertently caught in the spell's radius?"
"It would have been fine. The wall's so high that it'd be easy to see if anyone's there."
"What if–"
"Enough nagging! You got what you wanted," Megumin grumbled. "That's why we're here, isn't it?"
They were currently on a very large and partially destroyed field outside of Orario. Due to the location of the training ground, the Guild required a supervisor to be present. That was because this area was situated outside the city, and the only ones who ever needed such a training ground for large-scale magic were typically high levels whose absence from Orario had to be regulated.
The reason for the existence of this training ground was because the areas within the dungeon where large scale magic could be used freely had to be at least as deep as floor ten, but it was often necessary to go deeper in order to avoid having others get caught in the spell. That made it an inconvenience for training. Thus, this training ground was made to bypass those troubles.
Though, on the flip side, it was hardly ever private.
There was even a crowd behind them, consisting of both gods and mortals who had somehow heard about the contest despite it being only a couple of hours since Kazuma teleported to the Pantheon with Riveria's letter. It wasn't just adventurers either; there were even civilians and merchants in the crowd, hawking their snacks at inflated prices.
Despite her grumpy words, Megumin looked pleased, and even excited that she had a large audience. On the other hand, Riveria kept a stoic expression on her face, even though her eye twitched a little. Her magic, by this point, had more or less become common knowledge, but it was still displeasing to her sensibilities. While they may know of her spells, they were unlikely to have experienced her magic before. The more familiar that others were with her spells, the easier it would be for them to counter her.
However, fortunately, she was only using the longest and most powerful variation of her spell today–or rather, its original form. She could only rarely use it due to the lengthy chant required. With her skill to cut the chant short, she was able cast different versions of a single spell depending on chant length. That was how she had gotten her alias, "Nine Hell." It was from the fact that she had three spells–offensive, defensive, and healing–and could derive three different variations from each.
Was it childish to accept a challenge on impulse?
Possibly, but it was also a matter of pride for her. Never had her magic been so insulted by anyone except the young crimson-eyed mage standing in front of her. However, she didn't let it go completely to her head, especially since her counterpart was much younger than her, even if she were to convert her age to the human equivalent. In a way, she allowed the contest to continue partially out of curiosity, and as a way to administer a teaching lesson.
Confidence in one's abilities was all fine and good, but overconfidence was not.
"The contest is simple," Riveria said, speaking loudly for even the people in the crowd to hear. "We will each take turns casting our spell, and the winner will be decided by the Guild employee."
"I will be impartial." A nondescript dwarf man in a well-pressed uniform bowed his head.
"Any questions?"
"I have one." Kazuma, standing at the front of the crowd along with his Familia members and Ais, raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"What's the judging criteria?"
"Chant length, power, and size. While these are the main ones, there are a few others of lesser consideration such as speed, range, and longevity, but they will be judged as necessary," the dwarven guild employee said. "Due to Megumin's persistent demands, there will be no handicap despite the level difference between the two participants."
"I see." Kazuma turned his head to look at Loki who was standing beside him. "So what will it be?"
"Ten million valis on my Riveria winning!"
"You got yourself a bet!"
"Loki," Riveria spoke in bewilderment. "When did you get here?"
"I'm here too," Finn said with a resigned look from his position next to his goddess.
"You can't possibly expect me to miss out on something this exciting!" Loki raised her wine bottle that she hadn't had just a couple of moments ago. "Ya should've seen how many were yappin' to get front row seats, but the rest of 'em could only bite their lip and watch from the city walls! Bet ya they can barely see a thing from up there."
Riveria pinched the bridge of her nose, willing the pain to stop the growing headache.
"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Megumin excitedly looked toward the young man in question. "Do you know any voice enhancing magic? I want those people on the wall to be able to hear me!"
"Idiot, that's way too many people. Forget it!"
Wait, that boy wasn't denying it. Did that mean that he had that kind of magic? Riveria stared speculatively at him.
"Fine," Megumin said reluctantly. "And the judging criteria should just be in power and size only. Chanting length? Pfft."
"Nonetheless, that is part of the criteria," Riveria exasperatedly replied.
"Winning from that wouldn't look cool at all."
"Appearances shouldn't matter in a contest like this."
Megumin didn't look satisfied, but she didn't argue any further.
"Start it already!" Loki looked grumpy as she shouted that, though that was possibly because she didn't have her wine bottle in hand anymore. Instead, it was in the hands of Aqua who was now standing next to her. It looked like they were sharing the bottle since Aqua took a swig of it before passing it back. Loki's face immediately brightened once the bottle was back in her hands.
The dwarven guild employee clapped his hands to catch everyone's attention.
"The contest will be beginning now. Lady Riveria shall go first on the left side and then Lady Megumin on the right. After that, I shall judge the winner. Are there any who object to these proceedings?"
There was a hand that was about to be raised, but the surrounding people and gods quickly grabbed the person's arm and pulled it down. The guild employee looked on without a change in expression.
"I see that no one has any objections. Then, let us proceed with the contest. Lady Riveria, you may start at your earliest convenience."
"What about–" The old woman who was being restrained in the middle of the crowd bucked the hand that tried to cover her mouth. "What about our safety?!"
"Your safety is your own responsibility. Those who cannot do so were asked to remain at the wall. I apologize, but your presence here means you already consented. The guild maintains no responsibility or liability in the case of injury or death. If you cannot abide by these conditions, I suggest you run quickly back to the city."
"Not even compensation?!"
"Please go away."
After the old woman–who turned out to be Penia, the goddess of poverty–was tossed out of the crowd, they jeered at her until she ran away back to Orario in shame.
"Now, with that out of the way, let the contest begin!"
The audience grew quiet in anticipation as Riveria stepped up to the field with her robes flowing majestically behind her in the wind. The crowd didn't bother her. As someone who had grown up as royalty, she was used to being the center of attention of a large group of people. Her staff, Magna Alfs, was a masterpiece of enchanted crystal and precious metals, and it gleamed in the sunlight as she raised it skyward in a practiced motion.
"Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight. Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters."
Riveria's voice resonated with the elemental forces that she was invoking. The wind picked up and swirled around her figure as a glowing magic circle formed beneath her feet, lifting up her robes slightly. If she stopped here, then what would be released would be a storm that would freeze the field in ice, but instead, she continued her chant.
"The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all."
The magic circle underneath her grew in size, brightening as it did so. An aura of magic emanated from her in waves, proclaiming her as the caster of this magic in everything but words. There was no way for the audience to turn their gazes away, their eyes focused on her like moths to the flicker of a candle's light. If the chant only consisted of this and a later portion, then an annihilating wave of flame and hellfire would rush into existence, but that was not to be.
"Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr–my name is Alf!"
Shockwaves rippled through the area as magical energy crackled in the air. Pillars of fire erupted from the ground, enveloping the target dummy and the area around it in flames. At the same time, a hailstorm of snow and ice rained down from the skies. Instead of canceling each other out on contact, they melded together in a vortex of ice and fire, breaking through the commonsense of the world and delving into the realm of miracles.
The test dummy was made of sturdy material, an old training device made for and left behind by the Hera Familia, that should have been able to withstand even the toughest of strikes. However, the continuous oscillation between being heated as hot as the sun and being chilled to the depths of the moon began warping, melting, and shattering the material.
The area around it had long disintegrated, cratering the land, as the constant rotation of red and blue within the large sphere moved so fast that it became streaks of violet purple, creating a zone where no one–mortal or divine–could step foot in. In spite of that, the sphere–large enough that it could fit a small party in–could expand no further. Eventually, it shrunk on itself, growing smaller and smaller until it winked out of existence, taking everything that was in its circumference with it.
All that was left was an eerie silence as the spectators gawked in both surprise and horror, most too afraid to make a sound.
Except for one.
"Unlike those things on your chest, it was pretty small," Megumin commented. "Thought it'd be bigger since one of the criteria was size."
"It's good that you're not overwhelmed," Riveria praised. "I can only pay respect to your strong will by using my strongest offensive spell. Still, I do feel that you should have taken the handicap to make this contest fair in light of our level differences."
"Stop thinking you won already!" Megumin hotly retorted. "I don't need any handicap."
"Very well." Riveria relented.
The royal elf stared as Megumin marched forward, fuming. However, before the diminutive mage could start casting, Kazuma made his way over and placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder. Speaking a few words, he conversed with her for a little while, possibly to calm her down and encourage her, fulfilling his duty as a captain.
Were her words from before too harsh?
Riveria didn't really believe it to be so, but the little details of social interactions in general had never been her strong point, especially since she had grown up in an environment where her every need and want had been catered to. She would have to ask Finn later if she had said words that she shouldn't have and how to prevent such negative occurrences from happening in future interactions.
Ah, they were starting. Kazuma stepped back, rejoining the crowd of spectators, while Megumin stepped forward and raised her staff, the red orb positioned at its apex shining in the sunlight.
And then Riveria's face nearly collapsed once she heard the first words of the chant.
"Bringer of the end, the black snow. Blow with the ash before the darkness. Drowning light, the faded lands. Nightmare, the three obsidian summers."
Magic filtered into the air in waves, unleashing a torrent that saturated the surroundings. Since the audience was behind them, only Riveria could see Megumin's eyes become crimson glows, bright enough that the rest of her face seemed to darken in contrast. Besides that, was she copying her chant? Why? And how?!
"The fury will soon be unleashed. Ending war, dawning aftermath. The drums of chaos beat low, the carnage of darkness will consume all."
Magic circles appeared in the air above the training dummy, their radiance being practically target signs, but it didn't end with just two. More and more magic circles began appearing above even those initial two, stacking on each other until the latest one disappeared above the clouds, glowing through its white fluffiness.
"Arise, crimson fury, the merciless madness. You are the avatar of destruction! Burn them completely, bring a stop to everything. Raze them down–my name is Megumin! Explosion!"
Like a hammer from the heavens, a strike of magical power fell from the top, dispersing the clouds and spearing through the center of the magic circles. Racing at impossible speed and glowing brighter with each magic circle it went through, the spell crashed into the training dummy with all the might of a meteorite.
In that instant, there was no sound. As if the world had lost its ability to make them, Riveria couldn't even hear herself gasp. Light seemed to suck in at the point of impact, but that was just a moment before there was a bright flash.
All at once. Light, sound, and air came upon them. The blinding light that filled up her vision forced her to squint her eyes, but a rumbling noise like an avalanche invaded her ears even as streams of heavy winds blasted against her body, ruffling her clothes wildly and forcing her to widen her stance. As the light died down, she opened her eyes fully–against the continuous winds–to see a massive plume of hellfire and smoke, hot enough that she instinctively knew that the temperature exceeded even her own spell. It was such that the smoke could flay the skin off an unwary adventurer caught on the outskirts, not even within range of the explosion itself.
The enormous size of the explosion was such that if the spell had been cast within Orario, it was possible that at least a quarter of the city would be cratered with the ones on the edge of the blast radius having the worst fate since their deaths wouldn't be instantaneous. Watching it still growing in size–with the audience in chaos and the mortals protecting the gods from the winds that threatened to fly them away–Riveria had to reorganize her priority list. She had thought there were only two members of notice in Eris Familia, but if Megumin could do this at level one, there was no question that she was also abnormal.
This level of prodigious magical prowess hadn't been seen since Alfia. Did this mean that their knight, Darkness, was the same?
"Don't let me go, Finn!" Loki was hugging the pallum captain from behind with both her arms and legs as if she was a monkey. Actually, with their size difference, it was more like a spider wrapping around its prey. Finn just had a sheepish smile on his face all the while.
Unlike the other gods and goddesses, Eris was standing firm in the face of the extensive winds. In fact, not even Kazuma, Darkness, or Aqua had really moved from their spots, holding still with her feet planted on the ground. As if destruction magic of this caliber was an everyday occurrence for them.
The immense winds were the first to die down, but the waves of heat and dried air oppressed the surrounding. The fires of the explosion had been obscured almost entirely by smoke with the black trail rising into the sky and forming their own clouds. Even then, the flickers of the raging flames underneath could be sighted now and then, making it seem like a firestorm was still rampaging within.
With the climax finally over, conversations began springing up in the ensuing aftermath with the gods giddy and the mortals cautious. For Riveria, she didn't know quite how to feel. When she turned to speak to Megumin, she found the mage lying facedown on the ground.
"Megumin?!"
At Riveria's cry, Kazuma was quick to rush over and help the young girl stand back up. Riveria patiently waited for Megumin to recover, standing up a bit straighter after being helped by Kazuma.
"Honestly," Riveria said with a exasperated shake of her head. "You shouldn't have gone so far as to get Mind Down. There was no need to do that in a contest such as this."
"I'm used to it."
"That isn't something you should be used to."
"It'll be fine. I have Kazuma with me."
"Very well, I understand; I won't badger you further. Putting that aside, that chant of yours…" Riveria's look soon became stern. "Each spell has its own chant so it's not possible to use another. Why is yours so similar to mine?"
"I wanted to make the contest fair," Megumin replied nonchalantly. "I'd win instantly if it's just chant length, and that wouldn't prove the superiority of Explosion at all."
"Wait, that's not… No, that can't be possible. You can't just change the chant of a spell!"
"Eh, don't worry about it." Not wanting to continue the conversation, Megumin quickly turned her head and shouted, "Referee! Who won?!"
That was when the dwarven guild employee reappeared. His hair and beard were frayed while his uniform was almost entirely wrinkled. Despite that, he looked pretty happy.
"Take a gander over there."
The dwarf pointed over to Megumin's side of the field. By this time, the smoke had mostly filtered out, exposing the entirety of the blast site which encompassed the surrounding lands as well. It has even enveloped Riveria's side of the field. Still, on Megumin's side, the training dummy that was there was completely gone; there was no trace of it left. In the epicenter, there was a large and deep crater, and there was no sign of anything besides dirt ever being there.
Well, dirt and the lingering small fires.
"Nothing there. Without further testing, I can only say that both Riveria and Megumin's spells had the same destructiveness. Full marks to both in power!" He waited for the scattered cheers to die down before continuing. "They had the same chant length–and oddly similar chants–so we can't judge from that, but where they differ is the size. In that, there can only be one winner.
"Megumin!"
Half of the audience present groaned in dismay at the verdict. Those very same people headed over to Kazuma and handed over Valis into the waiting hands of the smirking Eris Famila captain. By the end of it, Darkness–who was by his side–was holding a treasure chest filled almost to the brim with Valis.
"Noooo! Not my booze money!" Loki cried as Finn had to all but drag her away.
"Yay, more bubbly for me!" Aqua cheered.
"You better share!"
Shaking her head at the silliness that her goddess loved to partake in, Riveria turned her attention back towards the young mage who had claimed a victory over her. While Riveria's question hadn't been satisfied by Megumin, the young girl was already being crowded around by various individuals. Airing the question and the answer in that situation would only spread it around, and that could cause various issues if the wrong ears heard them.
The high elf turned her eyes onto the distant walls of Orario. Even though not much of the details could be seen from this far, it was enough. This had been a normal display of power from her, but Megumin's performance had unexpectedly outshined her own.
Riveria's eyes narrowed as she saw–even from this distance–people starting to leave the crowds on the walls. There was only one question left on her mind.
How would Evilus respond to this?
~o~
Authors' Notes:
Icura: For real now, seriously, we aren't going to make these deadlines! Even this one was by the skin of our boots. I don't even know how we are still doing it. I haven't even beaten Baldur's Gate 3 and Armored Core 6, and now there is Starfield. Don't expect us to make these deadlines!
SFX: I got food poisoning last night too, feels bad. Still delivered though, hah.