◆? You're not going to be able to do that.

Few people walk the streets at night.
No matter how much of a town it is, the security is not good.
Instead of demons attacking, humans attack humans.

"Hey, I've had a little too much to drink, haven't I? That's okay. It's just to cheer you up before the game!

A masked man walks dazedly down the street at night, perhaps returning from a tavern.
His well-trained, steel-like body warns us of the threat, even through his clothes.

But that's only if he has normal judgment.
Your drunken mind is incapable of making a sound decision.

Let's go.

I ordered my men in a whisper and attacked the masked man from behind in unison.

''Ughhhh!''

Alas, the man was instantly reaped of his consciousness.

'Alright, then you'll take this man's place in the main competition.

Ha!

I order my men, who are most like me in size, to wear the mask that the men have been wearing until now.

Let him sleep until the ritual is complete.

Yes, sir.

If you kill it, it's a pain in the ass to dispose of the body. It would be a nuisance if they were seen disposing of it, and if left unattended, it would smell rotten.
Hence, we decided to let them sleep only while the ritual was being held.
Since we reaped our consciousness before they saw us, they won't have to worry about us revealing our true identity.

''Alright, let's go for the rest of the players as well.

""Ha!"

We are a special task force that has come to assassinate the Dragon Emperor.
But even though we participated in the Dragon Emperor's Ritual to assassinate the Dragon Emperor, we were forced to fight among ourselves because we didn't have luck in the lottery, and all but three of us failed to qualify.
It was an unprecedented blunder.

But we will not give up.
After failing to qualify, we decided to kill all the players who participated in the tournament to get the right to participate in the tournament.
Fortunately, many of the players participated in this tournament with their faces hidden.

''Captain, those who attacked the players have been returned.

You didn't screw up in any way to give me away, did you?

He was able to escape with the help of his companions.

Good.

'And one of the players, who is hiding his face, couldn't find it anywhere.

"Huh?

My subordinate's report interests me.

'Either you're very good at what you do, or...'

Considering certain possibilities, I command my men.

''The player is most likely the Dragon Emperor. As soon as you see him, mobilize all of your men to track him down. Don't touch him. Focus on finding out where he's hiding.

'Ha!

The subordinates who received my orders immediately take action.

''Now then, shall we take down the Dragon Emperor?

You're not going to be able to do that.

Congratulations on qualifying, guys!

Congratulations to the ministry!

Everyone raises their drink cups to toast.

'You made it through the qualifiers without a hitch.

Well, it's no surprise!

If you keep riding your coattails, you're going to lose handily!

"Hey, hey, I'm not afraid of an S-ranked guy now! The goal is to win!

This idiot is getting cocky.

Mina lets out a sigh at Gyro's good mood.
But maybe that's because he made it through to the preliminary round, Mina seems to be in a good mood.

'We did it! You have qualified! I'll do my best, father.......Master!

Leune is also very excited that he was able to pass the qualifying round.

''I never thought that we would be able to get through the qualifying round of such a large tournament.

Yeah, thanks to Lex's training.

As Norbu gulped down his cup to swallow his surprise and excitement at being able to qualify, Megri agreed, reaching for his food in a good mood.

''No, this is everyone's ability,''

'I wouldn't be so smug. If we were the same as we were back then, we wouldn't have even come here in the first place.

I don't think that's true.
Everyone's qualities are real, and I've only hastened everyone's growth.

'Oh, but I can't wait to fight my brother! Who the hell is my brother in disguise?

Yeah, it's a secret.

Yes, I was participating in this convention in disguise.
Originally I had no intention of standing out in my upcoming life.

It can't be helped that I've been promoted to S-ranked adventurer even though I didn't do much, but if I won this kind of tournament, that would draw the attention of the nobles.
Then I'll be following in the footsteps of my previous life.

That's why I didn't want to participate in the Dragon Emperor's ceremony, but Liliera-san made a suggestion to me.

"We can disguise ourselves.

He said that if I disguised myself and changed my name to join, the audience and the nobles wouldn't know that I was Lex, an S-ranked adventurer.
That's certainly a good idea.

The head of the guild who asked me to participate was reluctant to do so, but after the Dragon Emperor's Ritual was over and we left the country, I gave him permission to announce that an S-ranked adventurer had actually participated in the event, and he agreed.

If the topic was that the identity of the mysterious participant of unknown identity was S-rank, they would think it might not be me, but some other S-rank adventurer.
It was a compromise with the administration, who wanted to give the tournament a run for its money.

'But why don't we know about it? You're one of us, you could have taught us a thing or two.

He nodded his head, not understanding why Mr. Norbu would keep his identity a secret, even from them.

'That's the thing. My brother is deliberately keeping who he disguises himself as so that we can seriously challenge him! That's right brother!

''I see. Certainly, knowing what Lex is capable of, we would be willing to give up on Lex if we couldn't beat him.

'So Lex is joining us in hiding his identity so that Gyro and the others won't be cowed.

Well yeah, if you win the game, you'll be able to fight.

........I really wasn't that serious about it.......but yeah, let's just call it that.

'Whoa! I'll definitely fight my brother!

Mina

On the day of the game, the venue was packed with players.
But more than that, the crowd in the bleachers was amazing.

'Oh no, it's a great crowd,'

Of course it is. That Dragon Princess is participating in this tournament.

Even the nearby players were surprised at how many people were there.
In fact, there are so many people that there are even some guests standing around.

''Yes, but the reason there are so many people is largely because the Dragon Emperor's Ritual is now being held to determine the role of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor in the ceremony.

'Yeah, it's the first tournament a man can attend. And the prize money is a hell of a lot of money.

The Dragon-Hime Rite is held every year, and the prize money is paid to the winner, so it's one of the main attractions of the festival, but since it's only open to women, the men's rite of the Dragon Emperor was held, which apparently caused a big stir among the men in town.
In fact, Jairo and the others said that there were a lot of regular guys in the preliminary rounds.
However, it seems that a civilian who has never fought a demon before couldn't win a tournament full of real bragging rights.

Just having two tournaments and allowing men to participate was great enough, but there was another reason for the town's people to be excited.

''Hey, is it true that His Majesty the Dragon Emperor is participating in the tournament?''

Yeah, it's the Golden Dragon case.

A month ago, the town of Tatsutron was attacked by a large group of demons.

The guys who actually fought it said it was a wonder they survived.

"I never expected that Golden Dragon to appear in such a dangerous battlefield. And I can't believe that he fought to protect us.

I heard there was a man on the back of that golden dragon.

As a matter of fact, this story is quite famous.
First of all, the day the people of this town saw the Golden Dragon for the first time, they knew there was a man on his back.
Fortunately, they didn't see his face because the sun was going down.

''There's only one person who can ride on the back of a Golden Dragon, right?

Right. His Majesty the Dragon King is the only one who can do it, right?

The town's inhabitants seem to think that the Dragon Emperor came on a Golden Dragon to protect the town.
For those of us who know the truth, though, it's a sigh of relief.

And before we knew it, there was a rumor going around that the Dragon Emperor might be participating in this Dragon Emperor's ceremony.
I don't know who spread such a rumor at all.

''We will now hold the Dragon Emperor's Ritual, the Dragon Princess' Ritual!

The presenter's voice echoed in the hall.

''In this tournament, the Dragon Emperor's Ritual and the Dragon Princess' Ritual will be held at the same venue at the same time. However, the matches themselves will be held separately for men and women.

It's only natural.
Since it's the Dragon Emperor's ceremony and the Dragon Princess's ceremony, we should separate the men and women into two groups or else the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Princess might end up being both men and both women.

''Then the first match of the Dragon Emperor's Rite, Tiran vs. Sarvar will begin!

You're not going to be able to do that.

The player called Tiran was a full plate swordsman covered in black armor all over his body, and the warrior called Sarvar was a lightly armed spearman.

Tiran was wearing a black full-plate mail, a black cloak, and a full-face helmet that hid his true face from view, so it's hard to tell the lines of his body and his age and gender.
Well, as long as he's in the Dragon Emperor's Ritual, I think he's a man.

''Oooh, they're wearing full body armor and defending themselves so stiffly.

That's some heavy armor. Are you a nobleman?

It's a make-believe scare. A man in such an obvious suit of armor can't possibly be famous.

The spectators around me have seen Tyran in his armor and are guessing at his identity, but they seem skeptical of his abilities.
If the people in town don't know who he is, he must be from here, right?

This fight's not looking good for Tyrannis.

Liliera muttered as she looked at Tiran.

''With the narrowness of the match hall, wouldn't a player dressed in hard armor have an advantage?

Certainly, Leune has a point.

'If the fight is at the same reach, the better defense is better. But the opponent's Sarvar is a spearman. He can attack from farther than Tiran. He probably chose to arm himself lightly considering the advantages of his weapon. This is a method of warfare where you always open up a certain distance from your opponent and attack from outside the interval. It's so simple, it's hard to deal with unless you're better than him in terms of strength. What's more, a full-face helmet has poor visibility. Without a doubt, Sarvar will attack from the blind spot of the helmet.

I see, so Sarvar is prioritizing ease of movement to keep his opponent from attacking.
But it must be very brave to do that in a real battle.
After all, if you're not wearing light armor, you'll die if you hit the wrong target.

I'm a wizard, so I don't really know how to choose equipment for close combat, so the opinion of an A-ranked adventurer who's been beaten to the punch can be helpful.

Let the game begin!

With the ref's proclamation, Sarvar leaps right to the side. It looks like the plan is to attack from out of Tiran's sight, just like Liliera guessed.

''Ha! A full plate of armor in a match like this is just a useless weight!

Sarvar comes around behind Tyran with a provocation.

'Don't eat it!'

Then, using the momentum of running, he thrust the spear into Tiran's back.
The spear is thrust into the gap between Tiran's armor and his armor.
The momentum of the spear was lightning fast.

''Whoa⁉︎''

Oh, shit!

The crowd, who had no connection to the fight, fell on their faces, screaming that it was already a horrible decision as soon as it started.
That's when everyone was convinced of Tyran's defeat.

"..........shit shit.......

To my surprise, the tip of Sarvar's spear, which attacked from behind, came to rest just before it pierced Tyran's armor.

''The attack has stopped?''

What the hell did I do to stop him? If I'd stuck it out, we would have won.

No.

At the audience's questioning, Liliella blurts out a denial.

'I didn't stop him, he stopped me.

It was true.
Sarvar's spear had been completely stopped in its tracks by Tyran's two outstretched fingers.

'Incredible. I stopped the spear with my fingers........⁉︎

How did he do that...

Meghli and Leune are stunned by the sight.

d*mn it, it won't move⁉︎.

And when Tyran moved his hand, it pulled him down, causing Sarvar to lose his balance.
The movement completely ignored Sarvar's weight, it was as if he didn't exist.
I mean, with what kind of force would he be able to pull it, how could he do something like that?
Then, Tyran threw Salvar with his spear right above him, and Salvar rose high in the sky.

''Whoa!''

""Yeah, yeah...

The screams of the thrown-off Salvall coincided with the surprise of the spectators who were watching.
And the figure of Salval, who had been thrown up into the sky, became smaller and smaller.

"Oh, hey, hey.......how high does it go....

I mean, is that guy okay?

A nearby spectator voiced his confusion at the still rising salvar.
Yeah, I can understand that feeling very well.
We're always amazed by what Lex does, too....

Is it possible that that player...

Oh, shit!

And as I was thinking about it, it looks like the salvars in the sky have finally started to fall.

It's coming down.

I thought he was going to fly up into the clouds.

People who thought that Sarvar's figure was getting a little bit closer and would just disappear, squealed in relief.
To be honest, it's clearly a misplaced relief, but you can't blame them for that when you're shown a scene like this.

'By the way, how is that thing going to land?'

Suddenly, an audience member raises a question.

'What? That's usually from the foot... oh.

And that's when the other spectator, realizing the intent of the other's question, raises his voice.

"Oh, hey, isn't that bad?

Yeah, if you land on the ground like this, you're going to be in a lot of trouble with the speed at which you're falling.
Specifically, it's like dropping an egg on the ground, with bright red blood...

I mean, seriously, d*mn it...

Realizing the gravity of the situation, we panicked as to what we should do.
Sarvar won't be able to fly through the air with magic like we can, and that player Tiran, if, or rather, I'm pretty sure he is, if he's who we think he is, there's a risk that he doesn't realize that Sarvar can't land on his feet at worst.

'This is the only way I can help him, even if I have to break into the stage...'

We didn't want to show off before our own game, but this was a quandary.

'Take it, ministry!'

That's when Liliella shouted so loudly that it echoed throughout the hall.
Of course, it wasn't us or the audience that shouted at her.

''⁉︎''

Tiran, the person to whom Liliella has thrown words, moves.
Tiran moves to directly underneath the falling Sarvar and opens his hands, preparing to catch him.

'Good, this will be... oh, but is it safe to catch an opponent falling from such a height?

Even if that's the case, even if it's perceived as such, I'm sure neither of you will get away with it for free. At least the fall is more likely to be...

....!

But suddenly, the speed of the monkey's fall has visibly slowed down.

What's going on?

The crowd shouted in surprise at the sudden slowing of Sarvar's fall.

''Could it be... magic?''

The moment Sarvar's fall speed slowed down, I felt a magic power fill the match stage.
Perhaps he used some kind of magic to lower his fall speed.

''But I've never heard of that kind of magic before.

Maybe that was his original magic.
And to be able to use such magic, I knew Tyran's true identity was........

Then Tyran catches Sarvar and gently lays him down on the ground.
Sarbal seems to be unconscious and shows no signs of moving, not even a twitch.

''........''

Tyran quickly gets down on one knee and puts his hand on Salvall's neck to see what it is.
Maybe he's checking to see if he's been seriously injured or something.

And if it was okay, Tyran moved his shoulder and gestured to the referees, making circles with his fingers to indicate that he was alive.

'Well, um ... Sa, Sarvar, you're unconscious, winner Tyran!

"..........

Despite the fact that the referee had declared the winner, the hall remained silent.
Then, when the figures of Salvall and Tyran, who were carried by the attendants from the stage, disappeared at the back of the hall, the tension was finally released and sighs began to escape from the audience.
And then.........

"...what the hell was that?

Surprised by the audience, who finally recognized the reality of the situation, the hall was filled with a wooden spirit.

'So that's Lex's disguise.

Yeah, I'm sure.

It's easy to tell when he's in disguise.
I mean, if you think about it, if Lex fights, of course you can tell in one shot, even if he's in disguise.

Even in normal times, he fights like crazy.
It's only natural that disguise doesn't change the way he fights.

Well, I didn't expect you to participate in a fight wearing such an eye-catching armor.
Normally, you said you didn't want to stand out.

''.......You don't mean to tell me that you made that armor yourself too, do you?