Ranking Tournament (5)

After ninety-nine participants had been winnowed down again and again, only ten remained. Fortunately, every hero-class adventurer I had armed had made it into the top ten.

I swallowed hard as I watched the screen. The names of the fighters who had clawed their way through the brutal duels were lighting up one by one.

Two of them were from the Empire. Then there was a guy draped in some bizarre animal hide, another bristling with rings all over his body, and one whose entire frame was covered in tattoos. Just looking at them, every last one reeked of a hardcore veteran.

This was where it really mattered.

My top priority was to get matching weapons into the hands of people like Kenis, Friga, and Iscal so I could trigger grade-rank upgrades. To do that, I needed to rig the rankings and matchups so they landed exactly where I needed them.

Ten people left. How are they going to rank them from here?

A Swiss system? Or keep going with the winner-bracket format like before? I was turning over various tournament structures in my head when a message appeared on the screen.

"Oh…"

So that was how they were going to rank them. Trials, huh? Actually sounded pretty fun.

I scrolled through the list of trials I could choose from.

The list just kept going and going. The trials were as varied as their names. Escaping a labyrinth of bizarre puzzles, hunting monsters in a swamp, defeating a giant serpent…

"There's a ton of these."

I browsed the list for a while, then let out a long sigh when I checked the tenth-place prize.

"That insane virgin-obsessed unicorn… What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

I absolutely could not give it to Kenis or Friga. I needed to hand them weapons for the grade-rank upgrades, and besides — my gut was screaming that nothing good would come of a unicorn latching onto a female character.

Call it the instinct of a man who had survived as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Iron-rank in the Gorge for a very long time.

I have to give it to a male character. Who would be best…

I studied the list of male contestants, turning it over carefully. I had no idea whether the unicorn would even be okay with a male character, but… well, I'd figure something out when the time came.

Iscal needed a shield, so he was out. That left the other guys…

Hans?

I frowned, wrestling with it. This was the guy who had single-handedly beaten a demon to death and carried the last raid by the scruff of its neck. Dumping a deranged virgin-obsessed horse on him like I was offloading garbage felt a little wrong.

No, wait. Looking at the unicorn's stats alone, isn't it actually pretty good?

Stamina and durability tough enough to tank a Thunderstrike, plus aerial mobility. For something I'd gotten for free, it was honestly solid.

Giving it to some nameless male character felt wasteful. Giving it to Hans felt… weirdly uncomfortable.

Ah, screw it.

I'd find a way to deal with it later.

For now, giving the unicorn to Hans seemed like the least stressful option. It was a white elephant of an item, sure — but if it was Hans, he'd be fine.

To give Hans the unicorn, I needed him in tenth place. As for a trial I could meddle with just enough… ah. This one looked perfect.

A giant stone golem. That looked like the best option by far. I selected the trial and set Hans as the first target.

— Rrrrrumble!!

The floor of the Coliseum heaved, then began to crack and split. Fissures spiderwebbed across it like the shell of a turtle, writhing and buckling — and then—

— "KUUOOOOOH!!"

A golem of solid stone heaved itself upright with a thunderous roar. From the look of it alone, it was a carbon copy of every stone golem that had ever appeared in an old RPG.

"Wh-what in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world…"

Hans, standing before the enormous golem, looked pitifully small. He shuffled a few steps backward. I felt a tiny twinge of conscience.

"Sorry, Hans. You're the one who has to take the unicorn…"

A brief apology was enough to scrub away the faint guilt.

I mean, giving a unicorn to a male character was fine, right? Hans was a pedo, so this was allowed.

To guarantee the golem's victory, I slapped some buffs on it. Thankfully, the golem counted as a valid buff target.

— "KUUOOOOOH!!"

Flames roared across its entire body. The stone golem was now a magma golem. Just looking at it was intimidating enough that Hans seemed about to get turned into pureed meat.

"This should be enough for the golem to win."

I was completely certain of the golem's victory.

— Ding!

"Hm?"

"Ah."

I had completely forgotten about the Rune of Courage I'd given him.

And it didn't stop there.

"Hans! You can do it!!"

From somewhere on the screen, a little girl's voice rang out, cheering for Hans.

— Ding!

Daisy? That little girl from the last boss fight? Wait — why was she even here?

"You crazy pedo bastard!"

The whole board had just flipped on me?

This was a total setup!!!

"Hah…"

Hans worked his fingers along the hilt of his longsword and caught his breath.

At the end of the long festival, ten warriors remained at last.

Ten warriors gathered in the vast arena.

Kenis, the hero who had overcome countless trials and hardships. Friga, said to have hunted a dragon of the mythic age. Iscal, boasting an ironclad defense that nothing could pierce. Even Knight-Commander Tigrius, called the Empire's finest blade.

And beyond them — a muscular man draped in a lion's hide and gripping a club, and another hung with dangling rings all over his body.

Somehow Hans felt shabby among them. He hunched his shoulders, feeling like a sewer rat that had blundered into a gathering of heroes.

Maybe it was the nerves, but his ears had gone razor-sharp — and through the roaring cheers of the crowd, he caught a familiar voice. A tiny cheer, almost lost in the din.

"Hans!! You can do it!!"

Hans's head snapped around and found Daisy in an instant. The distance to the stands was considerable, but Daisy was clear in his eyes.

She had cupped her small hands into a megaphone and was cheering for him with everything she had.

The sight of her made the crushing weight around his body simply… dissolve. His body and mind lightened. The nameless anxiety melted away.

"Hah… All right."

With a body that felt suddenly freer, he bounced lightly on his feet and looked up at the great thrones.

Six enormous thrones.

The gods were watching them.

Ten warriors. Every one of them had clawed through countless bloodbaths to get here. None of them would be easy.

But.

Hans vowed that no matter whom he faced, he would fight with everything he had — so that not a single scrap of regret would remain.

Rrrrrumble—!!

"Whaaaat?!"

"Th-the ground—!"

Barely had Hans finished his resolve when the arena floor cracked, shuddered, and began to come apart. Fissures raced outward; the ground heaved until up and down seemed to reverse. Deep cliffs yawned open as the earth split, and great boulders shattered into countless fragments.

A roar and a shock so violent it felt as though the ground itself were standing up.

The entire arena shook hard enough that the spectators screamed and tried to flee their seats. Hans and the other warriors, caught by the sudden quake, kicked off the ground and scrambled to get clear of the fighting floor.

"Wh… what? Th-that…"

"Hey, what are you doing?! Get out of here already, or—?"

"Let's go, hurry! We're all going to die!!"

"No — look. Look at that…"

At first, only one person turned back. And then simply stood there, staring.

Someone else, puzzled, turned as well.

Two. Four. Ten. Five hundred. A thousand… the number kept growing.

The spectators who had been fleeing in a panic looked back — and every last one of them was forced to stop.

——————!!!

The colossal mountain that had risen from the cracked earth… was moving.

Its body was solid rock, hard as the land itself. Not a living thing, yet it mimicked life and moved — a giant of stone.

Lines were carved through the rock of its body like veins of blood, gathering and dispersing among themselves, painting mysterious patterns across the giant's entire form.

"This… is…"

It slowly opened its mouth and ground out dull, heavy words. It was the sound of stone grinding against stone — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if a deep cave's echo had finally spilled out into the world.

Faced with a sight beyond description, every eye fixed on the giant of rock.

"A… tri…al."

A trial.

The giant of rock shifted its heavy body and declared it a trial. A trial for whom?

"For… the… war…riors."

A trial laid upon the warriors.

"From… the… Sixth… God."

A trial from the Sixth God.

The god had set a trial upon the warriors — a trial that would drive them to their limits, make them cough blood and howl, and shove them to the cliff's edge of suffering.

But suffering…

…had always been the soil from which growth sprang.

"Ha! That thing's got some real bulk to it — this is gonna be fun to cut into. Almost as big as a Frost Dragon, isn't it?"

Friga was the first among the warriors to wipe the shock from her face and step forward with brazen confidence. Standing before the colossal giant of rock she looked tiny and shabby — but the presence she brought to bear did not yield an inch to the giant.

"A trial that cannot kill us will only make us stronger. We will grow once more."

Kenis raised her holy sword and took her place at Friga's side. For a woman who had carved her way through slaughterhouses of monsters and demons, retreat simply did not exist.

"Haha! When the young ladies are stepping up, what kind of old man would I be if I hung back? My pride wouldn't allow it!"

Leon laughed heartily and strode forward. The solid reliability of his massive frame and the weight of long experience rolled off him in waves.

One. Then two.

They stepped forward.

Each drew a weapon, set shoulder to shoulder, and faced the giant of rock.

Hans slipped in among them and gripped his longsword tight. Not a flicker of hesitation showed in the people standing beside him — and that made them feel truly, deeply reliable.

When a god set a trial, it was never a trial that could not be overcome.

If they joined their strength and fought together, they would surely defeat the giant of rock. He believed it.

If we all fight together, we can win…!

And so the ten warriors formed ranks and faced the giant of rock.

An invisible, taut tension filled the space between the warriors and the giant. The air itself felt swollen to the point of bursting.

"Hm."

The giant of rock regarded them for a long moment, then spoke again.

"Hans."

"Huh?"

The giant had called Hans by name.

A chill ran through him — the sensation of an unhappy future waiting just ahead. A future of pure misery.

Hans forced himself to deny the instinct. His heart hammered wildly. His whole body screamed emergency. Cold sweat poured down him, and the world swam before his eyes.

No. It couldn't be.

It mustn't be.

The giant's mouth moved with merciless slowness and declared Hans's future.

"This… is… your… tri…al… a…lone."

"Ah."

The nine warriors other than Hans all turned to look at him as one.

Hans…

…prayed with everything he had that this was only a dream.

O God… why have You set such a trial upon me!!