"Wow!"
There were cheers from the audience, but among those who had been watching the tournament since yesterday, some were perplexed.
"What! Why did Reinhardt lose?"
Olivia Lanze seemed unable to understand and blurted out loudly.
Most of the Royal Class shared the same reaction. Even the B-Class was no exception.
Reinhardt, who had been on an undefeated march, repeatedly backed off while struggling against Scarlett, eventually losing the first set after being pushed back.
He couldn't use his Magic Body Strengthening, and he was simply forced to retreat helplessly. Of course, Scarlett's swordsmanship was dazzling, swift, and precise at finding openings.
But Reinhardt was unusually powerless.
Everyone present knew that something was off with the situation, but they didn't know exactly what was wrong.
"He can't use his Supernatural abilities."
Everyone except Ellen.
"What?"
"He can't use his Supernatural abilities."
If there was someone who knew, it was Ellen.
Having crossed swords with Reinhardt to the point of exhaustion, Ellen knew everything about his swordsmanship. The times when he used Supernatural abilities, when he didn't, and even when he used temporary enhancements while employing Supernatural abilities – Ellen had a detailed grasp of it all.
So she could tell that Reinhardt, for some reason, wasn't able to use his power of Self-Suggestion.
"Why can't he?"
"I don't know."
It was Harriet who responded to Ellen's words.
"Well... From what I know, her ability is immunity. Could that be related?"
Ellen didn't care much about B-Class affairs, but Harriet was aware of them because of her involvement in the magic research club. Immunity – a very unique, yet potentially very powerful talent, depending on the situation.
At the mention that it might be in effect, Ellen nodded.
"So, Reinhardt could be prevented from using his Supernatural abilities...?"
"What's that? Reinhardt's Supernatural abilities are his specialty! If he can't use them, that's cheating!"
Olivia snapped, and everyone else refrained from discussing whether Supernatural abilities were already unfair or not.
They knew by now that the senior who was extremely biased towards Reinhardt would defend him no matter what, attaching some reason to justify it.
It was best to just let her rant and leave her be, as arguing would only be exhausting.
The conclusion was clear.
The bizarre talent named Immunity.
It was having an absolute influence on Reinhardt.
Upon hearing this, Saviolin Turner watched Reinhardt, who was summoned back to the arena for the second set.
Charlotte observed Scarlett and Reinhardt.
Scarlett, Reinhardt.
Both were precious to her, albeit in different ways.
Their hearts inclined towards one or the other, feeling sorry for the side not favored.
But this time, the opponent was not so innocent.
"What do you think will happen?"
At Charlotte's question, Saviolin Turner shook his head.
"Reinhardt is in a difficult situation."
Although Saviolin Turner didn't know much about Reinhardt's Supernatural abilities, it was clear who would win or lose if he couldn't use his power enhancement.
'If he could summon Tiamata, it might be different.'
However, that was something he couldn't easily reveal.
Saviolin Turner predicted Reinhardt's defeat.
If he had faced Scarlett in the finals, he might have achieved the runner-up or even won the championship if Scarlett had been eliminated in another bracket of the semi-finals.
In the end, Reinhardt was just unlucky with his matchups.
He had no choice but to concede the next set as well, just like the first one.
"The current set score is 2:0! If Scarlett takes one more set, her place in the finals will be confirmed!"
The announcer's voice rang sharply in everyone's ears.
The screen alternated between a composed Scarlett and my tense expression. Scarlett had promised to give her best, and she was doing just that.
I had done my best in our practice duels, using my full strength.
Scarlett had faced me without using her own power up until now.
In order to show her respect or admiration for me, she was giving her all in this match.
I wanted to ask her to go easy on me, but I didn't say it out loud. I had my abilities, and Scarlett had hers.
We were just using them against each other.
Scarlett neither laughed at my miserable defeat nor worried about me.
You said I'm your idol?
How can I be your idol when I become so weak in front of you?
Of course, I knew she wasn't talking about my skills, but in front of Scarlett's emotionless expression, I couldn't find a way to break through.
I had been using Supernatural abilities as a tool to overcome the glaring skill gap between us.
Now that those tools were unavailable, I had no chance of overpowering Scarlett.
I hadn't anticipated being stopped by Scarlett.
I never considered the possibility that her talent could block my Supernatural abilities. I thought it was impossible because it was impossible in the original story.
For example, in the original story, when Liana's lightning struck Scarlett, it wouldn't harm her.
Now, Liana wouldn't even be able to use her lightning in front of Scarlett.
I had to admit it.
I was arrogant.
I was thinking about the finals after Scarlett, not about Scarlett herself.
However, reality demanded that I struggle here, conceding two sets and now accepting defeat.
There was no way to win.
In the end, Supernatural powers were the majority of my strength. I had a bad matchup against Scarlett.
The only consolation was that there was only one person in the world with such a level of immunity ability, and that was Scarlett.
Should I accept defeat as the price of my arrogance? While pondering, a voice spoke up.
"Have you given up?"
The start of the third set had already been announced, but Scarlett did not approach, instead asking a question.
"..."
"Is this all there is to it? Relying solely on the chance awakening of your Supernatural powers? Without them, are you just a powerless, pathetic person incapable of Magic Body Strengthening or doing anything else?"
Scarlett calmly uttered those words. Were they meant to criticize me?
Did they imply that I was pathetic, that my credibility had vanished, and that I was nothing more than a dog running away with its tail between its legs?
It didn't quite sound like that.
In a way, I was a student who had only learned how to solve problems. I learned the answers rather than the underlying theories.
On the other hand, Scarlett, having perfectly understood the theories, could comprehend all the problems derived from those theories.
The issue stemmed from the difference in the absolute time invested in swordsmanship. Therefore, I shouldn't have been standing in this position.
If it hadn't been for Ellen, my Supernatural abilities, or my Magic Body Strengthening, I wouldn't have been able to be in this place.
But in the end, I was standing here, and I had to face Scarlett, who held an overwhelming advantage over me in terms of actual skills.
Scarlett, one of the main heroines in the original story and a victim of ostracism due to her ominous reputation, had lost much of her earlier lack of confidence.
In the original story, it was Ludwig who guided Scarlett, while in the present, it was Charlotte.
The red-haired girl looked at me.
"Reinhardt."
"...Huh?"
Before launching her attack, Scarlett spoke first.
The audience couldn't hear our conversation.
"You're my idol."
"...What?"
I couldn't help but be surprised by her unexpected words.
But it wasn't incomprehensible.
Both Scarlett and I shared the background of coming from humble beginnings.
"I was afraid of being kicked out of the Temple, but you always seemed so confident, as if that didn't bother you at all."
Scarlett had also been present during my duel with the third-year, Meiatun.
At that time, she and I had no connections or relationship whatsoever.
Moreover, that duel took place in the A-class dormitory. Even when she was still being bullied, Scarlett had watched my duel until the end, despite Erhi's hint.
After that, there were no significant connections between Scarlett and me, but I was aware that she harbored some sort of goodwill towards me.
When I was injured, she would come to visit and briefly chat about various things.
It was a different feeling than her liking me. We would occasionally encounter each other in different places and exchange trivial stories.
I had an intuition that Scarlett placed some sort of meaning on me.
That meaning, it seems, was the title of "idol."
"I watched you," she said. "I am weak, not because my origins are weak, but simply because I am weak."
"It's possible to live that way, to be allowed to live that way, to not be driven away even when living that way, and even being driven away isn't important."
"Not everyone will like you. But not everyone will hate you either."
"If one leads a life of self-confidence, they can gain something, and even if they incur the hatred of many, it's acceptable to live while doing things worth being hated for. After all, not everyone will hate you, and someone will like you."
"Just as it is impossible to make everyone like me, it's also impossible to make everyone hate me. I realized this by looking at you."
"After seeing you, I've tried to change. I can't change completely, but I'm trying to change little by little. Because you can do it, I thought I could too, that I had to."
Scarlett thought it was Charlotte who changed her.
But it wasn't.
Though Scarlett and I had nothing in common, she realized that it was acceptable to live like me.
So, she was in the process of changing. Scarlett, who had once gone to Miss Temple, was now participating in the first-year tournament.
In the end, both were trying to prove themselves in some way.
Scarlett sought to prove something.
"I apologize. This wasn't the place for a conversation. But I really wanted to tell you."
It occurred to me that the reason Scarlett had entered the tournament was to face me in this very arena.
"It's an honor to be your opponent in this place."
Unbeknownst to me, I had become Scarlett's idol.
Scarlett pointed her sword at me.
Her eyes, once gentle, now darkened, and her expression hardened.
"I'll do my best."
As the inaudible prologue dragged on, the murmuring audience fell silent again as Scarlett took a step forward.
Her determination to do her best was different from before. Different from what I had seen during practice matches.
This was the main stadium.
A place where one could attack with the intent to kill their opponent.
Soon, it would be a place where one could unleash everything they had to overpower their opponent.
"That would be a sign of respect towards you."
Scarlett, the crimson girl, charged at me.
As she rushed towards me, I felt her red eyes seemingly carving a trajectory through the air.
-Clang!
"Ugh!"
With an immense pressure on my wrist, I felt an intense sense of dissonance.
My Self-Suggestion wasn't working.
"Your Supernatural abilities are useless against me."
Scarlett was not a Supernatural.
However, it couldn't be said that she wasn't one either.
Her talent was undoubtedly related to Supernatural abilities.
The crimson swordsman, Scarlett.
Her talent was immunity.
In the original work, her title was Spellbreaker.
Magic and Supernatural powers alike were rendered useless against her.
Scarlett's nickname as a witch was, from the very beginning, an absurdity.
Scarlett was essentially immune to all kinds of mental and offensive magic, capable of withstanding them with her bare body.
Even Supernatural powers were completely nullified.
Calling Scarlett a witch, with her extreme resistance to magic, was nonsense from the start.
Of course, her body was not completely impervious to magic. If it were, she would be able to neutralize the barrier magic of this stadium. She possessed a controllable magic resistance, which, when pushed to the limit, became immunity.
Magic resistance indeed existed and could be trained.
However, in this world, there were only two people with Supernatural resistance.
One was Ellen Artorius, who possessed Supernatural resistance, and the other was Scarlett, whose resistance was overwhelmingly greater.
Hence, Scarlett's ability did not grow. There was no room for growth in immunity-level magic resistance and Supernatural resistance.
Despite that, she had definitely grown.
I kept a stern expression while maintaining distance from Scarlett.
Self-Suggestion was a power that influenced not others but myself.
The fact that Self-Suggestion, which strengthens me rather than attacking Scarlett, wasn't working meant that Scarlett's Supernatural resistance was affecting the surroundings.
No matter how high the magic resistance, it could only resist magic used on oneself.
A mage could not prevent magic cast on the bare ground.
Scarlett was now able to exert influence on Supernatural powers happening around her. Whether it applied to magic as well was uncertain, but it definitely blocked the activation of my Self-Suggestion.
Scarlett's ability had evolved beyond the original work.
Perhaps the reason was me.
Though I could not determine how I had influenced her, Scarlett had undoubtedly changed.
She was not practicing with me as usual but was trying to beat me using her abilities.
So this was what she meant by giving her best.
Had she refrained from using this power during practice with me out of respect?
-Clang! Clang! Clank!
My Supernatural powers were sealed.
"Without the assistance of Supernatural powers, I can't use my Magic Body Strengthening either."
-Clang!
"Ugh!"
Soon, my Magic Body Strengthening, which could only be used with the support of Self-Suggestion, was also blocked.
It was neither Grayden Amorel nor Ludwig.
Scarlett was my true nemesis.
In this place, Scarlett's ability was useless to anyone else.
Scarlett's ability was only effective against me.
Scarlett might lose to Grayden Amorel, and I might beat Grayden Amorel, but...
Against me, Scarlett held an overwhelming advantage.
-Clang! Clang! Clank!
The only reason I could barely deflect Scarlett's relentless sword attacks as I retreated was because my body remembered the fundamentals I had accumulated thus far, as well as the errors I had made along the way, which could be called an "answer sheet of mistakes."
I must defeat Scarlett with pure skill alone.
But is that even possible?
While the quality of the time we spent honing our skills may differ, Scarlett's experience far surpasses mine quantitatively.
Self-Suggestion had become a part of me without my realizing it. Now that it was gone in this battle situation, I felt as though I had lost an arm and a leg.
I hadn't noticed when it was as natural as my own body, but now that it was blocked, I felt an intense sense of powerlessness and emptiness.
Self-Suggestion accounted for the majority of my strength.
Without Supernatural powers, was I truly this helpless?
-Clang!
Scarlett struck my sword upwards and twisted it, directing the blade towards my neck.
"Ugh!"
-Poof!
Counter-summon.
-Royal-class Scarlett takes the first set!
I had lost the first set.
