Chapter 2
The Warrior's Festival. The Great Colosseum. In this empire built by warriors, the event known by many names is far more than a mere festival. It grants the champion not just honor, but power and wealth. It also reaffirms the empire's very identity. And the only woman who stands at the opening ceremony of such a grand tournament is the current Empress herself.
“The Warrior's Festival is about to begin!”
A thunderous roar erupted from countless warriors, yet Empress Valkyria's voice rang out even louder, shaking the entire plaza. Then came the major announcement.
“For this Warrior's Festival, We have prepared a special gift!”
As if to fan the flames of excitement even higher, the Empress delivered an even greater declaration.
For a single moment, the entire plaza froze solid. But the Empress merely smiled with a hint of mockery and continued.
The cheers exploded even hotter than before. The gazes of the men known as warriors had shifted. What had once been the eyes of fellow fighters now carried a darker, greedier glint. Yet even amid that sea of men, the Empress simply smiled.
“However, We shall also be participating!”
The cheering crowd fell into instant silence.
To solidify her position, she had spread word of her own achievements far and wide. Everyone knew just how difficult it would be to defeat such an Empress.
“Is that not obvious? The greater the reward, the greater the price must be!”
BOOM!
When the Empress struck the pillar, the imprint of her fist remained embedded in the stone.
“If a man who dares to place an Empress beneath him lacks even the spirit to challenge her, then he is not even worth facing!”
The pillar shook violently before collapsing entirely. Whether she had planned it or not, thick clouds of dust billowed up, as if splitting heaven and earth. And there, floating in the sky like the sun itself, the Empress made her final proclamation.
“Come at Us with all you have, warriors!”
“Those who knew My name on the battlefield, approach with courage!”
“Everyone!!! If you believe in yourselves, then come forth!”
She announced the start of the festival with an unmistakable display of dominance. Thus, the greatest Warrior's Festival in history was declared.
“The path is open to all!”
“But only one man shall stand at the end!”
It was a declaration of war thrown at every single one of them. Yet the smile on her face wasn’t born of mere competitive spirit. It was the confident smile of someone whose every plan was proceeding exactly as intended. No matter what others dreamed of, she was certain she would naturally claim victory in this tournament, just as she always had. It was the relaxed smile of absolute certainty.
The opening speech for the Warrior's Festival had always been the Emperor’s duty. So while this wasn’t the first time she had given it, the sight of a woman holding such authority still felt alien to the ruling class.
Well, to be honest, I was more impressed by that woman’s beauty than anything else.
“Wow, now that’s what I call a woman.”
It felt like all the strength in my body was rushing somewhere other than my arms. The servant beside me wore a slightly anxious expression.
“C-can you really win against her?”
“Win—”
“…Well, that’s what I said, but it looks like I’ll need to train even harder from now on.”
“Huh?”
It wasn’t simple arrogance.
“I may not have known the Empress’s face, but I know her exploits.”
“You knew about that?”
“Even a provincial general would know what there is to know.”
She had once shattered the iron chains meant to hitch a carriage and charged straight onto the battlefield. The story of how she gripped those massive chains—ones most warriors could barely lift—with both hands and tore through the enemy lines was known even to orphans at the farthest edges of the empire.
‘The nobles who dislike the current Empress wouldn’t have spread fake rumors.’
Which meant most of those tales were probably true.
“I don’t know exactly which chains or which enemies she crushed, but she’s clearly a woman of real skill.”
I recalled her declaration once more.
‘The path is open to all!’
And that single person at the end.
‘She was clearly talking about herself.’
She was a woman whose confidence came not from arrogance, but from certainty.
“Wait… you’re saying you’ll lose, young master?”
“I’m not saying I’ll lose. I’m saying I need to work hard.”
The power possessed by the Empress was a monstrous strength that defied imagination. Of course, I had monstrous strength too, but she wasn’t the kind of opponent I could simply overpower with raw force.
“For now, since the tournament is open, shall we go take a look?”
The Warrior’s Festival begins fairly for everyone. Even the Empress must start from the very bottom as a participant and climb her way up. However, the stadium was packed to capacity for the match featuring the main attraction. Naturally, the Empress’s match drew more attention than any other.
A single warrior stepped forward to face her.
“Whoa, the Empress is fighting personally?”
“Indeed.”
“So if I beat the Empress here… does that mean I become her husband right away?”
The warrior asked with a sly grin, his eyes gleaming with clear desire. But the Empress simply gave a cold, mocking smile and answered clearly.
“The rules are the rules. If you become the champion, then yes.”
“But that will not happen.”
Unlike the sneering warrior, the Empress remained icy cold. Or perhaps she was burning with a different kind of heat.
“Are you going to use that weapon?”
It was a steel chain. The very weapon that had once turned her into the true Empress on the blood-soaked battlefield.
“…No. It would be too much for the likes of you.”
She set the chain down. Then, with one hand behind her back, she beckoned with the other.
“Come.”
It was a blatant show of contempt, making it clear she didn’t even see him as an opponent. Any man who called himself a warrior would naturally—
“It’s just a woman after all!!!”
The burly warrior wielding a greatsword charged forward.
‘I wonder how the Empress will move—’
BOOM!
“Too many useless movements. Too slow.”
While he was attacking, the Empress had already thrust her hand forward even faster. She reached for the warrior’s sword, and her hand didn’t look the least bit vulnerable.
CLANG!
“You can’t even control your own blade properly.”
‘She tore the sword apart?’
She had gripped the edge of the greatsword with one hand and snapped it clean in two. The expression “ripping metal apart” was perfectly accurate.
“Uh… what?”
“Your strength is lacking… You are not worthy.”
Then the Empress’s hand moved toward the warrior’s head.
“You fight so disgustingly poorly.”
BOOM!
She grabbed his head and slammed it straight into the ground. With a tremendous crash, the warrior stopped moving, his head buried in the dirt.
“A warrior’s true strength is not recklessness, but knowing oneself and acting accordingly.”
As if she found the man himself repulsive, the Empress turned her head away. She returned to the entrance she had come from even before the official decision was made.
Only then did the referee grasp the situation and declare the result.
Winner: Her Majesty Empress Valkyria!
The match ended in a rather awkward atmosphere. Because of that, even the audience who should have been cheering for the victor couldn’t find the right timing and simply remained silent.
The spectators who tried to cheer belatedly found their timing completely off, and their enthusiasm fizzled out. The overwhelmingly crushed warrior was finally carried away by the healers, and the match came to an end.
A thin smile played on the lips of the departing Empress.
‘They’re even more insignificant than I thought.’
It was a smile of arrogance, as if that was exactly what she was thinking, yet it was also the relaxed smile of someone who had every right to feel that way.
“……”
“Young master?”
“So that’s the strongest female warrior in the current empire.”
It wasn’t a smile born of delusion, but of genuine belief in herself. And the plan to wager everything she had in order to remain the ruler of this empire until the very end.
‘Yes. A being like this should exist in this world.’
An endlessly burning symbol of supremacy. Yet someday, even that symbol would fall and kneel before me. What could possibly be better than that?
“She really loves showing off her strength,” the servant said after watching the Empress’s match.
“Does that look like she was showing off a lot to you?”
“Huh?”
“She was holding back, in her own way.”
At the very least, if the Empress had truly wanted to, she could have crushed that warrior’s head with pure grip strength instead of simply slamming it into the ground.
“So you saw something different, young master.”
“Yes… but……”
Watching a match like that should have given a rough estimate of her capabilities. But when the victory was this overwhelming, it became impossible to measure.
“I need to see her go all out to get a real sense of how strong she is.”
There was no doubt that the Empress was powerful. The question was exactly how powerful.
‘If I lose by a hair’s breadth… I’d regret it for the rest of my life.’
I had to face that woman only after completing every possible preparation. In that case—
“I should go visit my swordsmanship instructor.”
“Y-your instructor, young master?”
“Yes.”
Even though—
“But you hate that woman, don’t you?”
“Don’t interrupt my thoughts.”
He suddenly sounded angry.
“Hey, anyone listening would think it was my fault!”
Anyway, my goal was set. I would go to my instructor and begin training in advance.
“Ah, but your preliminary match is tomorrow, young master.”
“…You really know how to drop bad news at the worst time.”
Schedule change. I would win my first match and then go see my instructor.
“By the way, didn’t your instructor seem to have some kind of family background? Hasn’t she already been taken by someone else?”
“As far as I know, that shouldn’t be the case.”
“Really?”
“I will send a messenger. For now, please focus on preparing for your first match.”
“Got it.”
Suddenly, a rather amusing idea for the tournament occurred to me. I placed one hand behind my back and extended the other, mimicking the exact posture the Empress had used.
“What… are you doing? Surely you’re not…”
The servant seemed to realize what I was about to do and made a slightly horrified face.
“That’s right. I’m going to fight just like the Empress.”
I was going to put on the exact same performance as her, right in a match where she would be watching.