Why Do I Feel Like I'm About to Get Beaten Up

"......"

"This is the only trace of the Angel of War within this temple. She never involved herself deeply in its affairs, but she held our devotion in such high regard that she granted us a portion of her power."

"She granted it?"

She?

"Yes. Of course, the power was so immense that no one was ever able to wield it. In truth, one reason this contest of outsiders began in the first place was to find someone worthy of it."

Ria droned on and on with the story of Pretus.

There's no way.

That angel — stubborn as a mule, with an ego that pierced the heavens — giving away her own power? Not a chance.

And not just any power, either. Handing over 'Victory' of all things...

She's dead. At the very least, she's more than half-dead. It has to be.

That thing was tantamount to Pretus's last keepsake. A crystallization created by someone who had driven Pretus to the brink of death and extracted his power from him. Otherwise, there was simply no way this could be sitting here.

He had no idea how the 'undefeatable' could have 'lost' — but if that hypothesis wasn't true, then this was utterly impossible.

Who could it have been? Who on earth had managed something like that?

Sakrum? Sophrus? Orcus?

Who in the world?

"Perhaps one day, you may come to obtain this power yourself."

"...I doubt it. It feels a little too far out of reach right now."

Obtaining the power of Pretus, one of the Eight Seats.

Could that really be possible?

"Then allow me to introduce the next item. This one here is—"

"Phew... So today's the day."

Redberry, the Mage of Scorching Heat, greeted a Sunday bathed in warm sunlight. She wasn't a full-time streamer or a pro, but as a ranker solidly inside the top 100, she was a skilled player with a name people knew.

And today was the day of the Mock Siege team practice she'd been looking forward to.

No — let her correct that statement.

"It's the day I get to see Lily."

The Mock Siege itself was nothing new. She had plenty of experience with siege battles, so it would be business as usual — show up, talk positions with everyone, run scrims against the practice teams. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Simple enough.

But if there was one thing that made this particular siege special, it was Lily herself.

Her overwhelming skill that had crushed rankers who should've been in the palm of her hand was one thing, but the most important thing was that 'mana flow' of hers.

And now the chance to learn it — a technique virtually only Lily used — had come to her.

Of course, Lily might not teach it at all, but...

She did give that whole lecture on her personal stream, after all.

Surely she wouldn't refuse to share it with her own teammates?

That lecture had been so unprecedented that even now, almost a week later, it was still the talk of the town. In particular, the mana stones Lily called 'Condensation Stones' were selling for a thousand each.

For something whose production cost wasn't even twenty.

Because of that, some people cursed Lily as a profiteer.

But Lily had built magical safeguards into the stones from the start so that only the person who received them could use them, and she'd emphasized over and over that they weren't to be bought or sold.

And honestly, for every one person who hated her, there were nine hundred and ninety-nine who loved her, so it hardly left a mark.

Redberry let her thoughts wander like this as she arrived at the meeting place.

The Siege Arena — accessible only to users who had cleared specific quests. It was a battleground you could only enter by progressing castle-related quests or holding a stake in the siege system. These conditions kept the player base smaller than other maps, but the game's sheer concurrent population meant the numbers were still nothing to scoff at.

And everyone participating in the Mock Siege had been granted access.

"Time to take first place... Oh! Devil!"

In front of the arena, Redberry spotted Devil sitting there, looking tense.

So tense, in fact, that his small hands and legs were trembling visibly.

"Excited to see Lily? You're shaking like crazy."

"Wh-what did you say, human?! Don't spout nonsense!"

"Nonsense, nonsense~"

"You little insect!"

FWOOSH.

Black flames roared to life in the blushing Devil's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand. He might look like a little kid, but he was a top-100 ranker in his own right — a genuinely skilled player. Not someone to be underestimated.

"Insect?"

But the same went for his opponent.

Behind Redberry — who had single-handedly saved the Tere Barony from the brink of destruction and earned the title 'Mage of Scorching Heat' — a triple-layered crimson magic circle unfurled. She had merely finished her casting preparation, yet a colossal surge of mana whipped around her.

"Put it out. Unless you want to die."

"You put yours out, insect-human!"

"A pipsqueak getting cocky—"

In that instant, the sky seemed to darken.

No — it wasn't an illusion. The sky above their heads really had darkened.

A greatsword sculpted in the image of a deep, shadowed moon. Vlack, bearing a greatsword on an entirely different dimension from the one seen in the Mock Siege, was devouring the crimson light of her flames.

"That's enough, you two. What good does fighting before we've even started?"

"...Whoa. Insane."

Shhhk.

The crimson magic circle, which had been ready to incinerate an enemy at a moment's notice, scattered into the empty air. It had been only the briefest of clashes, yet the gap in their strength was unmistakably clear.

"The top-ten rankers really are on another level."

"You're quite impressive yourself, Redberry. Though I'd call that flattery."

"The inside of the top 100 and the inside of the top 10 are different worlds."

Rankers were rankers, but each had their own measure of difference. And among them, the rankers inside the top ten possessed abilities on a different dimension entirely — in both equipment and raw skill.

Lily had beaten Vlack, of course, but what if they'd met in the open field?

She'd lose, nine times out of ten.

That wasn't simple speculation. No matter how skilled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lily was, a difference in equipment and specs that severe was not something talent alone could overcome.

"Lily hasn't arrived yet?"

"No. Doesn't look like it."

"...Well, she'll be here soon enough."

Ahem! Devil tucked his black-flame-wreathed arm behind his back. He didn't say it out loud, but Vlack's aura held a firm dominion over the entire area. Enough dominance to force even the penalized Devil to back down.

Even if Lily arrived, she'd surely have a hard time brushing it off so easily—

"Ah, sorry to keep you all waiting."

"...?!"

Lily walked in as naturally as if she were stepping into her own home, completely ignoring the pressure radiating through the area. Wondering if Vlack had simply turned his skill off, Redberry checked — no, the influence ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was still active.

Faintly visible around Lily's blue hair was... something.

...A mana shield?

She'd brushed off that level of dominance with nothing but a mana shield? With a mana capacity that barely qualified as second-tier?

Lily tilted her head and asked.

"Were you all in the middle of some duel or something?"

"Ah, there was a small commotion. It's fine now."

Vlack answered flatly, as if Lily's behavior were the most natural thing in the world.

Lily remained entirely unaffected. Her mana wasn't destabilizing, nor was it being sapped by the pressure around her.

No — on closer look, it was being drained. Bit by bit.

By such a tiny amount that it's practically invisible.

What on earth...

"Redberry?"

"Ah—! Yes! Hi! It's me, the Mage of Scor— I mean, Redberry!"

Something about throwing around grand titles in front of Lily just felt embarrassing.

Clasp. Lily took her hand.

Her hand was as white as it looked, and impossibly beautiful. Normally, handling a spear or any kind of weapon inevitably left calluses on your hands — the system practically guaranteed it. A hand like this meant one of two things.

Either she deliberately kept her hands pristine using potions or restorative skills, or...

She just started out with that kind of cosmetic from the very beginning.

But more than anything else—

"Whoa. That's incredible."

"Hm?"

"Your mana is moving."

The flow of mana passing between their palms. Lily's faintly radiating mana rippled like flowing water.

She hadn't been able to gauge it through a screen, but shaking her hand made it obvious. From a mage's perspective, this woman was an absolute madwoman.

A faint smile crossed Lily's face.

"I take it you watched the lecture."

"Yes... wow. How do you even do that?"

"Did you happen to receive a Condensation Stone?"

"No, I couldn't even get into that giveaway."

No stone. And here she was — a mage whose whole specialty was handling massive fire, someone deeply invested in mana. And they were on the same team for the Mock Siege.

Redberry used the expression skill 'Twinkle Twinkle' to make her eyes sparkle. At this point, even the most oblivious person alive could read her intent.

"...Shall I give you one?"

"Yes! Please!"

"Sure. I'll bring some for the others too."

Lily agreed with unexpected ease. Given everything she'd seen of Lily's personality on stream, Redberry hadn't expected that.

Well, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Redberry's mood lifted even higher.

"In exchange."

"...In exchange?"

"If we win every single scrim today — afterward, you'll have to go a round with me too."

"...I— I'm sorry, what? Oh. Um. Of course. Sure."

Lily smiled a pretty, satisfied smile at the answer.

Why did it feel like she was about to get beaten up?