Rising Against Fate

Even though his magical discipline was different, Razak was matching Junpei in the battle of strength. Or at least that's how it appeared to the audience.

However, Tadashi knew that wasn't the case. Junpei was clearly superior when it came to raw power, while Razak was better at assessing his opponent's strength.

To balance that raw power, Razak used his mobility along with the physical enhancements. But despite that, the impact was definitely greater on Razak's side.

"Dark Cocoon!"

Before landing on the ground, he created a Dark Cocoon to reduce the impact of the crash.

As for Junpei, he used a barrier like the one before. It was a spherical barrier like Razak's, but far inferior in comparison.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, both deactivated their barrier and charged forward.

"Monk's punch!"

It looked like Junpei was just shadow boxing, but this attack was powerful enough to cause someone severe damage. With each punch, he was firing some highly compressed air at great speed towards Razak.

"Dark slash!"

Razak countered the three that were unavoidable using the slashes and dodged the rest. The clash of spells created a loud bang intensifying the excitement of the audience.

After they met at the center, Junpei went for a punch like before.

It was a powerful punch, and a hit from it without any defensive spells would obviously mean game over.

However, Razak wasn't foolish enough to charge in without thinking things through. Not after knowing that the opponent specializes in close-quarter physical combat.

Razak ducked to dodge while using the shadow devil to punch Junpei from behind.

It didn't take long for Junpei to notice that devil, but he was in a rather difficult position. Razak — who was in front of him — would likely attack if he tried dodging the devil.

He dodged the attack by bending left and quickly created a barrier around himself, but the next punch from the shadow devil easily broke the barrier.

At this point, Junpei was defenseless. He had already played all the cards in his hand. Now, his only option was to blindly attack in the hopes that he would be able to distance himself.

Junpei punched the floor with everything he had and cracked several cement blocks around them.

He was planning to use this as a distraction, but it didn't work. A roundhouse kick from Razak was coming right at him.

The crack on the floor became even wider from the impact when Junpei crashed.

----

Both Tadashi and Naoki stood up from their seats in astonishment. Tadashi's mouth was wide open in shock, while Naoki was still maintaining his composure.

Naoki was the first one to change that surprise into words.

"What just happened?!"

The old man was gazing towards the stage in awe. He had taken a keen interest in the boy from the first day, and this performance was proof that his instincts were right again.

"This makes me wonder... is this the start of a new era of magic?"

Naoki looked towards the old man. The confusion was clearly visible in his face, but he knew that asking any questions to the old man would yield no result.

"First, he surprises everyone with his shadow magic, and now, he defeated a member of Monku clan using brute force. The boy keeps on getting interesting."

"Sir, I can't fathom why you think there is a need for a new era. You know that will only result in political instability or even a civil war."

The old man looked at the table in disappointment. The excitement that was visible on his face a while ago flew away.

"You youngsters haven't seen what I have. I have been through countless wars, fought thousands of enemies, but never once was I scared of them..."

He lifted his head and looked towards the stage as he continued.

"...I was scared of our own government, can you believe that? Now there is no war; the council of Elders is doing what it's meant to. But we can't ignore the possibility that someday we might tear each other apart. To prevent that, we need a stable authority to govern us."

"But you know that has disadvantages of its own. How can we trust that people will make the right choice? What is there to ensure that they won't be influenced?"

The old man was about to say something, but the crowd started being noisy again. So, all of them looked towards the stage again.

Junpei wasn't standing up or showing any signs of moments. Due to that, people had started creating various theories about it at this point. There were plenty who thought the attack was lethal and aimed inappropriately.

"We aren't able to confirm Junpei's condition. The match is on temporary hold until the medical team evaluates the situation."

After hearing the announcement, the old man turned towards Naoki again.

"Then, people will at least get to choose who they want. Right now, we aren't doing anything except getting in the way of government."

This sort of conversation could last for days without reaching a conclusion. Naoki knew that, so instead of supporting his belief with another argument, he just focused on the match.

The medical team walked up to the stage and checked Junpei's condition. After completing the check, one of the three members looked towards the judges and raised his hand.

"Okay, folks! It's decided. As you can see in the replay, the punch was aimed at the shoulder"—Miza looked at the trans-pad that she was holding— "He was knocked unconscious not by the attack, but when he crashed on the floor. Our medical team has confirmed that there isn't any permanent or long-term damage to Junpei. And that means the attack was within rules."

The screens then showed replays of the attack several times from different angles. After giving the audience enough time to confirm, Miza continued.

"Guess this confirms our winner. The winner of this match is Razak Grace!"

A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena. Even the ones that were doubting Razak a while ago started cheering for him.

Razak just raised his right hand in response as he walked out of the stage.

----

After Razak's match, there were three more matches before it was Yasumi's turn.

In the 10th match of the first round, Homura Matsuda defeated Kanon Takeuchi using his fire magic. This match was a rather close one, but in the end, Homura emerged victorious.

The two matches after that were exactly the opposite. Yamato Hoshu and Ren Ongaku completely dominated the match, making it look one-sided.