Colosseum Gates
"......What?"
The second prince, half-reclining in the lounge, furrowed his brow and asked again.
"What did you just say?"
"Well...... His Majesty has announced that the First Princess will participate in this duel tournament as the imperial representative."
"......"
Crack!
The glass in the prince's grip shattered into pieces under his strength.
"She's personally entering a tournament where the Executors' participation is already a given...?"
During the Great War, the Republic and the Empire had fought side by side against a common enemy.
As such, the Empire knew full well the might of the Republic's Executors.
'If she enters and loses to one of the Republic's Executors, it'll give them the perfect excuse to tarnish the imperial honor and push her completely out of the race for the throne. That clever girl wouldn't jump in without any preparation. She must have something solid up her sleeve.'
Had she obtained something special inside Luddera?
'Damn it. I don't have the luxury to deal with distractions right now.'
He still needed to catch that bastard suspected of stealing the Saintess!
But if he let this moment slip and she gained the upper hand in the succession race, he'd never achieve his goal of uniting with the Saintess.
"Go. Tell Father right now."
"Yes. What shall I say?"
"Tell him that this Linderrmann will also participate in the tournament."
* * *
Labyrinth Tower, Floor 6
In front of the entrance to the massive Colosseum that Albus had created for the tournament, countless players stood in line across the plaza.
Mithril-grade mercenary groups, elite mages from the Magic Tower, imperial knights— all were here to enter the duel tournament.
Though the continent's top powerhouses had gathered in one place, not a single one caused any disorder; they all maintained perfect order.
Next line applicants, please move this way.
LV 200 Staff Robot
Hundreds of humanoid robots roamed about, managing the lines.
"They look like golems."
"Using golems for tournament staff? That's unusual."
"It's a tournament hosted by GM himself. No way it's ordinary."
"Look at that iridescent sheen. Only pure 100% mithril has that color. He made all those golems from solid mithril!"
"God's soldiers...... perhaps."
"Level 200? Each one has the power of an entire legion."
"It's hard enough to believe such powerful golems exist, but this many...!"
No matter how arrogant players acted outside, none dared cause trouble amid hundreds of robots that far surpassed the Master wall.
"Player Nova. Registration complete. Next player, please step forward."
Beside the blocked Colosseum entrance, one receptionist in a small ticket-booth-like box was handling sign-ups for aspiring participants.
The next in line, a man with a stylish beard, strode confidently toward the booth.
"Lionel von Hresburg. A man who lives for romance and challenges. Pleased to meet you, lovely lady."
"Player Lionel. Will you participate in the duel tournament?"
The man flashed a sleazy smile in greeting, but the expressionless receptionist asked businesslike.
"Indeed. I, Lionel, am a hero among heroes who has never shown his back in a duel! A true......"
"Player Lionel. Registration complete. Next player, please step forward."
"Wait, hold on. The story's not over. Miss Receptionist, care to chat with this sword hero? No woman has ever been disappointed by my charm. You'll love it."
Flustered by her unresponsive demeanor, the man activated his special power.
"Registration complete. Please step aside for the next player."
"Boring small talk is tedious, isn't it? Let this hero Lionel show you a real man."
Lionel's eyes gleamed as a line of mana shot from him toward the receptionist.
'Got her!'
Women unable to handle mana all fell for this innate charm of his the moment he used it.
It didn't work on skilled women, but against an ordinary person like this receptionist with no trace of mana, it was absurdly effective.
Lionel was certain she'd fallen.
'Once my mana touches her, it's over.'
The sole receptionist for GM's tournament.
A woman sent by a god, no less.
How thrilling to claim her!
Lionel grinned and reached for her.
That instant—
BOOM!!
An invisible force crushed Lionel viciously.
Crunch!
Lionel became an unrecognizable lump of meat, splattered on the ground.
Hostile action by player disrupting tournament detected. Eliminating hostile player immediately.
The receptionist's eyes had turned red.
Hostile player Lionel's Labyrinth Tower challenge rights permanently revoked as of now.
LV 999 GM Guide Attendant
"Please maintain order and participate accordingly."
"Next player, please step forward."
The receptionist resumed with a bright smile, but not a single player dared move.
"......Player Vaka? Aren't you signing up?"
When the man at the front, next in line, froze without budging, the receptionist tilted her head slightly.
"The players behind can't sign up because you're blocking. Is it alright to consider this disruption?"
Her emotionless, beautiful face no longer registered amid their fear.
"N-no! I-I am here to sign up!"
The terrified player scrambled forward, knees knocking.
"I-I'm participating!"
"Player Vaka. Registration complete."
The players around, having witnessed renowned powerhouse Lionel perish in an instant, were stunned.
"That playboy Lionel. Sure, he's a womanizer and rude, but his skills are the real deal. To go down without even noticing..."
"I wondered why they picked a mana-less civilian as receptionist. Turns out she's too strong to sense."
The name and level above her head.
Though brief, the powerhouses caught that insane number in the blink of an eye.
"Level 999...... What kind of monster is that?"
"Wasn't this tournament to find apostles? With a beast like that as staff, do they even need apostles?"
"......Good thing I stayed put."
Thanks to that, the sign-up area became even more orderly.
The players didn't know.
That Guide Attendant was merely an NPC Albus hastily created just for this tournament.
And that her level was set to 999 simply because 'Staff need to be at least this strong, right!'
"Hm? Didn't expect this many participants."
Beast King Brigand emerged from the warp gate with numerous subordinates.
"It seems GM's tournament prizes drew even more. Shall I clear a path?"
His adjutant gripped the hilt at his waist.
"No. This is GM's tournament. How could we cause disorder? Hurry and join the line."
"B-Beast King!"
"Even the second-floor ruler is entering?!"
The lined-up participants gawked at Brigand maintaining order.
"Royal Knights are here too!"
"Revolutionary Warriors?"
Top rankers from the Empire and Republic's representative guilds arrived via warp.
"To see so many gathered like this."
"Reminds me of when the Labyrinth Tower first appeared."
But even more shocking figures followed.
"Sword Emperor! Even that butcher is joining?!"
"Frost Giant? Wait, can giants even enter Luddera? Does the head fit?"
Legends from the Great War appeared.
"So many Bell bastards......"
A sword-bearing man grinned.
"Humans plenty! Want smash all! ......What? Hold until tournament? Hard! ......Fine. Hold. Smash in tournament."
The giant, several times human size, meekly joined the line.
"These pests are noisy. I'd love to rip them all apart."
A robed lich in line muttered.
"With that monster here, it'll be tough. Not easy."
"Senior. Do we really have to wait in this line?"
The Republic's female Executor, disguised in a robe as an ordinary guild member, asked Executor Leighton.
"What are you saying?"
"I mean, we're Executors. Ex-e-cu-tors. Can't we just tell the humans ahead to move?"
"......Sigh. Have you forgotten why we're hiding our identities under these robes?"
Leighton scowled at his immature junior.
"Even without hiding, using our status to disrupt order? Is that what Republic Executors do?"
Freedom was the Republic's highest value, but this junior took it to anarchic extremes. Headache-inducing—this strong but empty-headed filly. How to complete the mission with her?
'Why did the council decide to bring her to the tournament......'
He resented the Executors' top meeting's decision.
'......Hm? Valt?'
Amid the crowd, he glimpsed a familiar younger brother's head.
He looked up to confirm, but the throng blocked it; gone.
'Saw wrong? Makes sense. That kid's diligently in class at the academy.'
He couldn't imagine his long-unseen brother as a Luddera addict.