Until now, the Mourning Specter had overcome various hardships.
His opponents had sometimes been Monsters, sometimes Phantoms, sometimes humans, and sometimes the "situation" itself.
A violent tremor struck the venue. The dust settled, and Citry, having confirmed the situation, sprang to her feet and raised her voice.
"Thousand Transformations is holding back the destruction! Please help — if this keeps going, it'll be catastrophic! Catastrophic! I mean it!"
"! Hey, hold it together, will you?! Don't leave everything to Klye!"
"Brother!? Come on!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the elder sister Ridds followed suit. The Mages of Beginning Footprint snapped back to their senses at her voice and began casting their spells.
Creak, creak — the arena, which should have been built to be sturdy, groaned in protest. The waves of destruction pulsing from the center of the venue beat like a heartbeat, as if a monster were waiting for the moment of its awakening.
"Klye is suppressing the Fox!"
She looked down at the venue through rose-colored eyes. There, she could see the Fox mask gripping a sword that had been driven into the ground, alongside the Leader.
Just before the thick cloud of dust rose up, the one who had been holding the sword was the man in the Fox mask. So at first glance, it looked like the Fox mask had been the one to activate the Treasure Weapon.
But — that wasn't right. Citry could tell. Activating a Treasure Weapon of this magnitude in front of a crowd was far too risky. The "Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox" had no reason to activate this Treasure Weapon in this situation.
More importantly, though it was difficult to see from this distance, the hand gripping the sword — Klye Andrich's was the one underneath.
Citry pulled every last Mana Recovery Potion from her bag and set them on a chair.
Lucia's hair rose slightly as she unleashed powerful magic. From the palms pressed flat against the ground, a tremendous force poured into the earth, pushing back against the torrent of destruction.
Time was of the essence. Neither allies nor enemies had anyone who could fully grasp the situation yet.
In that case, the one who would win was — the one who dictated the flow.
Citry felt a thrilling excitement surge through her body.
She absolutely could not let the "Fox" run roughshod!
"I'll relay the message to everyone!!"
"Aww, getting all excited, are we?"
"Oooh, I'm going too!"
"Sure, sure — Luke, you stay here and hold back that destruction."
The elder sister quickly restrained the roaring Luke. This was a matter of role division. Luke Saikol was outstanding when it came to breakthrough power, but in areas like this, he had zero aptitude (well, it wasn't like he could stop this energy with a sword anyway).
Lucia and Anthem were exerting their power to suppress the destruction in the ground as much as possible.
The Mages of Beginning Footprint, faces deathly pale, were canceling out the force radiating from the center.
If anyone faltered, Ridds would rush over and force a Mana Recovery Potion down their throat, one after another.
Citry deftly twisted her body amid the violent shaking and sprinted along the spectator seats.
"Everyone, this is really bad! The Fox is — Thousand Transformations is holding back the destruction! Please help!! If this keeps up, things are going to go very, very wrong!"
§ § § Things had gone bad. That was all I knew.
The Key of the Earth, gripped tight in my hands, was glowing brilliantly. I could feel a power more potent than any weapon Treasure Weapon I had ever used before.
Even with my dull senses, I could feel it — and everyone else in the arena must be feeling the same thing.
Was this... it? Was this the end?
I had made plenty of mistakes up to now, but fundamentally, I was small fry. I had never activated a Treasure Weapon that caused this level of destruction.
In front of me, the person wearing the Fox mask was reaching out, clutching the hilt of the sword.
I couldn't see their eyes because of the mask, but I could tell they were gritting their teeth hard. They seemed angry.
I instinctively took a deep breath.
"Well, stay calm. That's what you do in times like this."
"..."
I raised my head and saw that the arena itself was trembling violently. I couldn't feel the shaking, but this was no small matter. On top of that, the power radiating from the Key showed no signs of stopping.
What do I do? What should I do? If this went on, something terrible would happen to Crito.
Honestly, I'd told them not to give me the Key...
"...I really wish this Key would turn into fried tofu too."
"Ag... uh... nrrgh..."
"Hey? I'm seriously asking... How did you turn that Treasure Weapon into fried tofu?"
"Gu... gah... a... aaaaaaah..."
Hoping against hope, I asked, and the Fox mask let out a voice that sounded like it was rising from the depths of hell.
I couldn't quite make it out, but they clearly didn't have the breath to spare for talking.
Hmm... if it was the same Treasure Weapon, then this Key should be able to turn into fried tofu too, if only I could do something about it — I wanted to let go and try various things, but my hand was stuck to the Key and wouldn't come off. With the Fox mask pressing down on me from above, I couldn't even stand up. Everything was working against me.
Seriously, I always had terrible luck. I swallowed down the urge to cry and timidly made my suggestion.
"I'm really, truly sorry about this, but could you get off me? I'd like to try a few things..."
"!? Wh — what —!?"
I had no idea why I was fine while the Fox mask was in so much pain. And it didn't seem like they were going to move.
But I was still — garbage as I was — Level 8, and I couldn't just do nothing in an emergency.
I had handled all sorts of Treasure Weapons up to now. Among them, there were naturally sword-type ones as well. The amount of time I'd spent handling Treasure Weapons was something even my childhood friends couldn't compete with.
So this Key of the Earth — I should be able to control it somehow.
I had to believe in myself. The time I'd spent handling Treasure Weapons would not betray me.
I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness. I shifted my awareness to the sword and, drawing on all my experience and knowledge, attempted to suppress its activation.
— And just then, something warm splashed across my face.
"!?"
I opened my eyes. The Fox mask was coughing up blood.
A rusty, metallic stench filled the air. Even I was used to the smell of blood by now, but — Before my stunned eyes, the Fox mask vomited blood even more copiously. With my hand stuck to the sword, I couldn't even dodge it.
"!?!"
"Ah... gah-guh..."
"Huh?"
The Fox mask slowly moved their free left arm and pressed the Key of the Earth down from above my head. That was when I noticed.
The Key of the Earth, which had been shining brilliantly — its light had taken on a reddish tinge. The power flowing into the ground had only increased.
Huh? Huh? W-wait, I was trying to stop it, but — I tried to control it further. The Key shifted to a deep, heated red, and the arena's trembling intensified even more.
People were sent flying, and screams and roars shook the world.
Huh? Could it be — I couldn't control it?
...I see... So this Treasure Weapon was on a completely different level from the ones I'd handled before?
The Fox mask was still conscious, but thoroughly dazed.
They didn't even have the composure to direct their anger at me, yet their hand still gripped the Key.
Did they want the Key of the Earth that badly? — Wait. Maybe the reason I couldn't control it was because of the Fox mask right in front of me?
This man had tried to use the Key of the Earth earlier.
It had turned into fried tofu (completely incomprehensible), but it was entirely possible his intent to control it still lingered.
Fortunately, the Fox mask didn't seem to have much room to spare either. The Fox mask wanted to activate the sword, and I wanted to stop it. It didn't look like any help was coming. I steeled myself.
"Then it's a contest of strength. I'm going all out."
"!?"
"Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
I poured everything I had into the sword and tried to assert control. The sword blazed like the sun, the arena's trembling grew worse, cracks spread across the ground, and the Fox mask coughed up blood.
It was truly a vision of hell. The light was so blinding I had to squeeze my eyes shut.
All I had inside me was the unyielding belief that I could not lose.
The Barrier Ring was already gone. There was nothing left to protect me. Running away was pointless. All I could do was press forward.
There were tons of members from Beginning Footprint here in the arena too. If I lost this battle of Treasure Weapon control, I could never face Marchis — who had spent so long teaching me about Treasure Weapons — or Tino, who had helped me sell them.
"St — stop —"
"Urgh... what kind of power is this..."
The force flowing from the sword showed not the slightest sign of decreasing. On the contrary, even though I thought we had hit the limit, it was climbing even higher. A terrifying power — impossible to believe it was coming from such a small sword.
My Treasure Weapon control was being outmatched — by the Fox Mask Appreciation Society. What a terrifying group.
I had thought the time I'd spent playing with — handling Treasure Weapons meant I couldn't lose to anyone, but the world was vast. There was always someone above you.
The Fox mask coughed up blood again. You should really give up and get treated. At that rate, I'd probably already be dead.
And yet, even after all that, you still wanted to use the Treasure Weapon?! What are you!!
And then, at that moment — snap. A crisp sound rang out from my hands.
"!?"
I opened my eyes. For an instant, all sound vanished.
And then, right before my eyes, the "Key of the Earth" that I had been gripping with all my strength — shattered into pieces.