The anger that the audience feels will not be used in today’s battle, it will be used in order to burn the ones pulling the strings in the shadows without leaving a single one behind.

But…!

“But there’s no need for Karen-san and the others to tag along with that!” (Haine)

“No, there is. This is all in order to create a system that will allow us humans to go against the Mother Monsters and the Demon Lords. This is an urgent matter. We are…!” (Karen)

The light hero Karen had a pained expression, but continued speaking

“Strong! I want to have everyone know this. To the audience that has come here today, and to all the people in the world as well, and also to the previous generation heroes as well; I want them to know that no matter what monster appears, we are so strong we won’t lose. That’s why, I want to let the contra-reconciliation side do all the underhanded moves they want, and show everyone that, even with that, we can still win!!” (Karen)

Strong light was reflected in the eyes of the injured Karen-san.

Seeing this, no one was able to say anything back.

“Understood. I am always on the side of Karen.” (Mirack)

“Let’s ride on their play then.” (Celestis)

“Sobo-chan told me that dirty conspiracies be things that only weak insects do-dasu!” (Sasae)

“I still have to settle things with Juo too after all.” (Hyue)

The will of Karen-san was transmitted to the other heroes as well. That’s why these girls are strong.

And just like this, the second act of this battle began.

The current heroes vs the previous heroes; 1vs1 matches.

The first match is with the fire heroes; the current hero Katack Mirack vs the previous hero Abi Kyouka.

• 194: Duo

Before the individual matches between the heroes began, I was told this.

“Please be the referee.”

“Huh?” (Haine)

At the time when we were sending off Mina, Yorishiro told me this.

“In the 1vs1 of the heroes, it will basically be a deathmatch with no rules, but even if that’s the case, there’s the need of a person that can judge the ending of the fight and decide the victor. I want to ask Haine-san of this.” (Yorishiro)

She told me something like that.

“But I am a person from the current heroes side through and through. Am I appropriate to stand as a referee that requires fairness?” (Haine)

“If we think of this as creating a balance with the contra-reconciliation side and the previous heroes side, there should be no problem. Also, I might have been underestimating Ates-san.” (Yorishiro)

Saying this, Yorishiro bit her lips.

As if she was holding in her regret.

“To think they would use such a direct method in the middle of the match. I was planning on letting her swim as much as she wanted, and then grasp a lot of evidence regarding their dishonesty, but it would be pointless if it ends up hurting the heroes in the process. In order to protect the girls, Haine-san, it is the safest if you were right by their side.” (Yorishiro)

It is true that if I had been standing at their side in the last moments of the team match, I could have stopped the bomb of Mina.

If I stand at the battle stage as a referee, I can stop most things with dark matter before it happens.

“How about just suspending the matches?” (Haine)

“I thought of that as well, but when I went to visit Karen-san, she stopped me. ‘If we stop here, it would be giving the victory to the other side’, she said.” (Yorishiro)

Isn’t Karen-san a bit too hungry on winning this time around?

Rather than her injury, that issue is beginning to worry me more.

“It is okay. Karen-san and the others will win.” (Haine)

And Yorishiro will win as well.

“No matter what kind of dirty cards they bring out, they will crush them all and win. That’s the etiquette of the truly strong ones. This fight is a fight that will transmit this truth to the whole world.” (Haine)

And after the fight, this will corner the contra-reconciliation side that have been pulling those underhanded tactics.

That’s the reason we are allowing the underhanded tricks this time. In order to have the opponent get ahead of themselves, I understand that there’s the need to act as if we are being defeated, but…

“Depending on the result of the Wind Church’s diagnosis, it is possible that Karen-san’s participation might be banned. The person herself is adamant in participating though.” (Yorishiro)

“It is better to think about winning three with the remaining four, right? Understood. I accept the job as referee. I will hunt all troubles in the location with my dark matter.” (Haine)

“I am counting on you. In that time, I will be opening the mouth of this girl.” (Yorishiro)

Yorishiro hugs the bomber Mina tightly.

Someone that was a mere maid of the Light Church has received a hug from the Founder, and her blue face from a while now has turned into a pale white one.

But I won’t pity her.

Receive the love of the Light Founder that even the heroes fear.

***

And just like this, I stood on the battle stage.

The people in the audience filling up the whole place were also blowing up with the strangeness of this situation and were surprised by it, but the speech of the current heroes that was done just a while ago saying ‘we will definitely win!’ had made them concentrate on the outcome of the battle.

There shouldn’t be a small amount of citizens that are also in the contra-reconciliation side. This is also a fight in order to bring those people to our side.

Let’s begin by calling the participants of the first match.

“Uhm…a-at the red corner, the current fire hero, Katack Mirack! At the blue corner, the previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka!” (Haine)

From the entrance gates, the two past and present heroes appear.

The first fight will be a clash between the fire heroes.

The two are women that have way too fit bodies, and are both tall and muscular. Those two stood in the middle of the stage and were glaring directly at each other.

“…This is how it should have been done from the very beginning.” (Kyouka)

As if doing their introductory remarks, the first one to speak out was Kyouka.

“My objective is to beat you into shape from square one. I don’t care about the others. The interlopers have finally disappeared. You are prepared, Mirack?” (Kyouka)

“Sis Kyouka, I have misjudged you.” (Mirack)

The short but sharp words of Mirack made Kyouka falter for a moment.

“Thinking of me as cowardly is just an arbitrary view of Sis. There’s definitely places where I am lacking, but to think that you would even join hands in the conspiracy that’s trying to bring down our master for that sake.” (Mirack)

The current Fire Founder, Enou, was the master of those two.

In this time’s match, there’s also the condition that if the current heroes were to lose, the current Founders have to resign as well.

“What you are doing is returning favor with evil. I can’t overlook this as a pupil of the same master. More so with the unsightliness you showed at the team match before. Just where did the prided fire hero Abi Kyouka of the past go to?!” (Mirack)

“Shut up!!” (Kyouka)

Kyouka pushes out her fist.

“Mirack, if you are a hero, speak with your fists! There’s no worth of existence in a weak hero. I will be teaching you this right now!!” (Kyouka)

The two of them heat up.

It should be fine now.

“Then, begin match!” (Haine)

The two fires that were released in concert to my voice were burning at the same time.

““[[Flame Burst]]!!”” (Mirack+Kyouka)

The fire whirls that occurred at the exact moment from two different places were like spinning tops clashing with each other.

“What’s the matter Mirack?! Do you plan on defeating me with a fire dragon of that level?!” (Kyouka)

“Gugh!!” (Mirack)

But no matter who saw it, they would be able to tell that there was a difference in the strength of the two fire dragons.

The weak one was being steadily crushed by the stronger one.

“Fire Fist Barbarossa! Change my divine power into raging fire!!” (Mirack)

“Too soft! Fire Fist Fernando! Fire Fist Pelarius! Dual Fists, Dual Fire Dragons!” (Kyouka)

Kyouka has fire divine tools in both hands, and the fire that was released from them was obviously twice as much as it attacks Mirack.

Compared to that, the fire divine tool Mirack uses is only the Fire Fist Barbarossa.

In a sense, it could be considered a 2 vs 1, and it was clear who was at an advantage here.

“Damn it!!!” (Mirack)

Mirack was slowly but surely being pushed back.

With the strength of her fire dragon, the most she could do was endure to her best the same attack Kyouka was bringing out.

But that wouldn’t last long.

Is there really that much difference in power? Is it not possible too oppose the previous heroes that have trained for a longer time?

“Learn with that body of yours, Mirack! This is how a hero actually looks like! Stronger than everyone, not losing to anyone! And because of it, there’s no need for the help of anyone either! That’s what a hero is!” (Kyouka)

• 195: A flash of gratitude

The fight was extremely painful to watch.

In terms of basic divine power difference, Mirack was already at a state where she could only stay in the defensive.

At times, her own fire dragon would be destroyed and burns would be left in her body, and every time that happened, she would barely avoid fatal wounds as she withstood at the edge.

On the other hand, Kyouka didn’t have a single wound and wasn’t even out of breath.

Right now the attacks have temporarily loosened. She was looking down at her junior who was letting out steam from her whole body.

“How about you admit your defeat already? Your current self can’t beat me. The current you has forgotten the origin of your strength.” (Kyouka)

“The origin…of my strength?” (Mirack)

Even so, Mirack didn’t forget her will to resist as she stands up unsteadily.

“Even to this day, I still remember the day I first met you. Just how many years has it been already. At the day the Ignis Militant corps were doing the entrance exams, I was in the venue as a test overseer. And that’s when I met you who came to take the test.” (Kyouka)

“…”

“Your fire element numbers didn’t even reach the two hundreds. Normally, it should have already been a fail from that. But even with that, you still clung onto me.” (Kyouka)

‘I definitely want to become the fire hero’, you said.

“I was outpushed by the zeal of a brat! In the end, I asked master, and you were somehow allowed to enter the Ignis Militant corps. But after that, it should have been a living hell for you. Days of training while being several steps behind the others. Shouted by the instructor, being looked down upon by your colleagues, but even with that, you continued working hard.” (Kyouka)

I have heard of that before.

Just how much effort Mirack has put on to become the fire hero.

But for that sake, she…

“And just as you declared, you had become the fire hero. There were many others with more talent than you, and yet, you pushed them all aside and grabbed ahold of the spot of hero. It was a feat that came most of all from effort. But the current you is trying to rot your strongest point by your own hands –by getting familiar with others.” (Kyouka)

Kyouka once again gathers divine power to her dual fire fists.

“As your senior, I have to correct that mistake of yours. For that sake, I have gone as far as participating in this fight that goes against master!” (Kyouka)

“Sis Kyouka…” (Mirack)

“Smear in the shame of defeat once and learn about what position you are in! If it is you, you should be able to reach it. Aim for even greater heights!!” (Kyouka)

Mirack staggered as she took a battle stance. The line of her stance was firm.

“I hated you.” (Mirack)

“What?!” (Kyouka)

“You were truly my complete opposite. You had high fire element compatibility from the moment you were born and climbed up to being a fire hero without any difficulties. I thought that the reason why you were always leaving the talentless me by your side was because you wanted to look down on me and bully me to obtain a feeling of superiority.” (Mirack)

“!!!”

I could tell even in the middle of battle; after hearing the declaration of Mirack, the heartbeat of Kyouka was speeding up irregularly.

“When you were defeated by the Fire Cow and retired from your position as a hero, I was silently cheering. I was thinking ‘that woman had finally fallen from her high horse’, ‘well deserved’. But that way of thinking was a mistake.” (Mirack)

“?!”

“There was a person who taught me that my menial prejudice was all a mistake.” (Mirack)

Mirack’s gaze was directed at me for a moment. And then, it moved to the audience seats.

“Mirack-chan!!” (Karen)

Karen-san was at the audience seats.

Did the examination of the Wind Church already finish?

“Do you best, Mirack-chan!! Don’t lose!” (Karen)

“That right-dasu, Mirack-neechan! Push through with guts-dasu!!” (Sasae)

“I won’t forgive you if you lose right at the beginning of our performance!” (Celestis)

“Mirack-dono! It is all in the concentration!” (Hyue)

It wasn’t only Karen-san, the other heroes who were on wait for their own matches were not lacking in the support for their comrade.

“Excessive effort will warp your heart and you will end up forgetting something important from it. Why was I trying to become strong, why I wanted to become a hero; I had recently forgotten about such important things……Along with my gratitude towards you.” (Mirack)

“What?!” (Kyouka)

The first time I met Mirack, it was a completely different Mirack from the current Mirack here.

Seeing every person as an enemy, even rejecting her old friend Karen-san as she held a composed face when pouring her with insults.

This hellish training time that Kyouka speaks of, that overwhelmingly harsh time, had slowly warped the heart of Mirack in exchange of growth.

I don’t know if that was the correct thing to do or not, but the current Mirack is not the same from the one at that time.

A Mirack that has the power she gained from her blood-vomiting experience and has remembered the important memories of her young days.

The never ending affection towards Karen-san is what has completed the current Mirack.

The new Mirack knows that there’s other important people aside from herself.

“I can now clearly tell. It is because you were there that I was able to become a hero. It is because you picked me up that I was able to enter the Ignis Militant corps. Even after that, you always left me at your side and taught me important things and provided me irreplaceable experiences. When you retired, I later learned that you were the one who nominated me as your successor.” (Mirack)

“Mirack…!” (Kyouka)

“It is because you raised me with care that I was able to reach to where I am now. Forgetting something as important as that, I got so prideful thinking I had come all this way on my own, but my comrades reprimanded me. They made me remember a lot of important things……and that gratitude, I will release it all in this fist. Sis Kyouka, I will also be answering you with my all!!” (Mirack)

I could tell that the inside of Mirack was beginning to increase in temperature with fire divine power. It was silent, yet hot.

High temperature was pulsating inside of Mirack.

“You bastard!!” (Kyouka)

On the other hand, Kyouka was furious.

The fire dragon that was released from the dual fists was the biggest until now.

Was this the display of her own mental state? It was so big and violent.

“Mirack! Take this, my ‘Flame Burst’ with the highest output!!” (Kyouka)

It was as if a great fire dragon was attacking Mirack like a fire tsunami.

Won’t a human be turned into cinders if they were to be attacked by something like that?

However, Mirack didn’t show a single sign of running away, and pushed out her right fist that was drawn back to its limits.

“Bear witness to it! My new technique, [Fire Blade]!!” (Mirack)

A thin thin fire sword was released from the fire fist Barbarossa.

The fire sword stretches towards Kyouka.

Isn’t that just like the ‘Holy Light Sword’ of Karen-san?!

The fire sword of Mirack pierced through the fire tsunami of Kyouka and reaches her who is at the other side.

“Guaagh?!”

It reached her chest splendidly and the previous hero was blown away just like that.

But even if the caster was defeated, it doesn’t mean that the fire tsunami will disappear.

The big tsunami, that had simply been punctured slightly, attacked Mirack with its original momentum and swallowed her.

“Watch out!” (Haine)

I hurriedly release dark matter against the fire wave, that was about to reach even the audience seats, and extinguish it.

That was close.

Does that mean they were so hot-headed that they didn’t have the composure to think about how it would affect the audience?

At the battle stage, Mirack, who had been poured from her head down by the fire wave, had all her body thoroughly burned, but even with that, she was still standing –she was firmly standing.

“Mirack…are you okay?” (Haine)

I ask worried, and Mirack answers cheerfully.

“If I were to fall to something like this, I wouldn’t be an opponent for the Mother Monsters.” (Mirack)

Right.

The attacks of the Fire Cow and the Great Sea Dragon were a lot more overwhelming after all.

On the other hand, Kyouka who had taken a direct hit from Mirack’s new technique was lying on the ground.

She wasn’t showing any signs of standing up.

There was a clear difference between her and Mirack who had received big damage.

I announced.

“First match, in the fire hero match; the winner is the current fire hero, Katack Mirack!!” (Haine)