The Elemental Crossbow that Macro had used to defeat Vala was not the same one he had initially pulled out of his Infinite Bag. The first crossbow had been created using the blood of a common Fire Over Beast, that Macro had already tested extensively. However, the one he had used to fire the final arrow—the shot that struck Vala—was still in its experimental phase and had been created using blood extracted from the Chimera that had attacked the queen not long ago.
Macro had taken advantage of the brief moment when Vala was unable to see him, hidden behind the repeated Earth Walls, to quietly place the first crossbow back into the Infinite Bag and pull out the experimental one instead, doing so without his opponent noticing even the slightest movement.
The blood needles floating above Vala's head, along with the threads of blood connecting them to Macro's wounds, had completely disappeared. Vala was far too focused on the overwhelming pain tearing through his body to maintain control over the spell any longer.
For several long seconds, the arena was filled only with Vala's agonized screams, echoing loudly against the stone walls, until Pinusal finally announced the result of the match.
Pinusal approached Macro and, with a proud and satisfied smile, firmly raised one of the young minister's arms and declared, "The winner of this match is the Minister of Technology, Macro Basento!"
At that moment, a tsunami of applause erupted from the stands, so loud and overwhelming that it completely drowned out the cries of pain coming from the defeated Vala.
Among the many people applauding, there was one individual whose smile matched Pinusal's almost perfectly. That person wore a hood and dark sunglasses, concealing most of their face, but a well-groomed ash-colored mustache was clearly visible beneath the disguise.
Once Pinusal released his arm, Macro staggered forward toward his opponent, who lay writhing on the ground.
Vala continued to mix cries of pain with bitter insults aimed at Macro and his inventions, but none of those words managed to reach the young minister's mind. At that moment, they simply did not matter to him.
The medical team had already rushed into the arena and was running toward both combatants to escort them to the infirmary. Yet as Macro looked down at his former schoolmate lying broken on the ground, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Even after following Archiego's advice to the letter, Macro's life at the academy had, unfortunately, not improved very much. Of course, the young elf had done everything the minister had suggested, but in the eyes of his classmates, Macro had merely transformed from a broken vending machine that gave away items for free into one that actually demanded payment.
Still, business flourished. With the extra money he earned, Macro was able to obtain rarer and higher-quality materials, allowing him to improve the quality, quantity, and variety of his inventions even further. Writing his name on every creation also greatly increased his fame outside the academy. During his remaining two years at school, it became increasingly common for people in the capital—mostly relatives of his classmates who had benefited from his inventions—to stop him in the street. They would ask him to build specific objects and openly compliment him, amazed that someone so young could create such extraordinary tools.
The first time this happened, Macro almost burst into tears of joy, just as he had when Archiego praised him. But he held himself back, doing his best to maintain an aura of professionalism, exactly as the minister had advised. Although this recognition made him incredibly happy, it only worsened his situation inside the academy.
While sales never declined, the way his classmates treated him deteriorated month by month, eventually escalating into outright physical abuse. Macro could not understand why this was happening, but Archiego explained that it was nothing more than jealousy. The minister was more than ready to personally go and "talk" to those responsible, but Macro stopped him. He insisted that it had been his own decision to remain at the academy for those final two years despite the warnings, and that it was only right for him to face the consequences of that choice.
Archiego would have preferred to intervene anyway, believing that the students' behavior had gone far beyond acceptable limits, but in the end, he respected his student's wishes.
Vala never directly participated in these acts of violence. However, he also never lifted a finger to stop them, even when they occurred right in front of him. Strangely enough, this did not particularly bother Macro. His admiration for Vala's magical abilities only continued to grow month after month. From that perspective, Vala was still his aspiration.
Even though the boy was undeniably a genius of magic and clearly full of himself, he never stopped striving to surpass his own limits, training relentlessly every single day. Macro could never bring himself to hate someone like that. Fear, perhaps—but hatred was an emotion that, despite everything Vala had done to him, Macro had never once felt toward the prodigy of magic named Vala.
And now, the very Vala he had admired for so long was lying on the ground in pain, defeated by no one other than himself, while the entire arena cheered loudly for his victory. It was a sight Macro would have expected to witness only in his wildest dreams, not something that could ever become reality.
"I won," the boy whispered in a faint voice filled with happiness and pride. Immediately afterward, his strength finally gave out, and his body began to collapse toward the ground. Before he could fall completely, however, one of the members of the medical team rushed forward, caught him, and gently laid the current Minister of Technology down on one of the two stretchers they had brought with them.
A powerful, booming laugh echoed throughout the royal box. "I knew the boy would make it. The only thing he truly lacks is a little more self-confidence. Those consecutive Earth Walls were excellent, and above all, incredibly difficult to create so quickly, one after another," said Roterberg in a joyful and approving voice.
"I still don't understand much about magic," Caesar added thoughtfully, "but I agree that with a bit more courage, Minister Macro could become an excellent soldier. Although, I believe it would be a real waste to send such a genius to the battlefield," he continued, watching Macro being carried away on a stretcher by the medical team.
Everyone else present in the royal cabin nodded in agreement with Caesar's words.
Taking advantage of the fact that the match was now over, Lucas finally asked a question that had been lingering in his mind ever since he noticed the dwarf's presence. "Sorry for asking, but why did you come here to the royal cabin?" Lucas asked, his tone polite and free of offense, driven purely by curiosity.
"Ah, thank you, Queen Alberia, I was about to forget…" Roterberg replied, then turned toward Caesar. "Boss, Ativ has woken up, and the rest of the party has already gathered, just as you requested. I came here to let you know, as you told me to, but the match involving young Macro distracted me," the dwarf explained, ending his statement, as usual, with a thunderous laugh.
"Don't worry, Roterberg," Caesar replied calmly yet authoritatively. "Even if you had told me as soon as you arrived, I would still have wanted to finish watching Minister Macro's match before leaving." He then stood up, turned toward the two elves and the beastkin, bowed slightly, and continued, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to watch the final two matches od the day with you. Once Ativ had rested enough, I asked the rest of the party to meet in his room to discuss his role and, above all, to get to know him better. It seems that moment has finally arrived," he said in a gentle and elegant voice.
Lucas shook his head lightly and replied in an equally refined tone, "I understand. It's a shame, but having you with us for most of this afternoon was truly useful and interesting. Please, don't worry about us. You may go."
After Sequoria and Katerina also nodded politely to Caesar, he left the royal cabin together with Roterberg, who waved goodbye energetically as they departed.
"Finally, I can start talking normally again!" Lucas exclaimed as he sank back into his chair.
Of course, being able to speak with such a legendary historical figure as Julius Caesar was an experience Lucas was genuinely grateful for. However, having to maintain his role as queen throughout the entire conversation had been undeniably exhausting. On top of that, for obvious reasons, he couldn't let the hero know that he, too, came from the same world, which meant he couldn't ask many of the questions he truly wanted to ask.
In the end, Caesar's gaze—although almost always calm and composed—had constantly made Lucas feel exposed, as if every movement or word he spoke allowed the hero to see straight through him and uncover all his secrets. Still, Lucas couldn't help but feel relieved and proud when he realized that the etiquette lessons with Katerina seemed to be paying off remarkably well.
"Excellent work, Mr. Lucas. I see you are getting better and better at behaving like a perfect queen," Katerina said with a small, satisfied smile on her face.
"Thank you, Katerina, but I must admit that behaving this way all the time is really tiring. I thought I would be used to it by now, but evidently I still need a little more time," Lucas replied, returning her smile. However, it quickly faded and was replaced by a melancholy expression as he looked straight into Katerina's face, remembering what he had been told earlier about her past.
"My sister Alberia didn't like excessive formalities either, although I must say she was much more natural at it," Aislyra added with a small smirk on her face.
The sun was now setting, and the arena was bathed in a beautiful, atmospheric orange light. Chiacchera had returned to the center of the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen, another one of our six ministers has passed the first stage of the preliminaries. Although Macro managed to win by a very narrow margin, this match also demonstrated the incredible skill of the Count Bordò and the prodigy of the magical unit Sambuco, Vala. But will another one of the ministers of the kingdom of Yggdora also win the next and penultimate match of this first day of the preliminaries? I'd say it's time to find out!" Chiacchera shouted in his ringing voice, filled with excitement that spread throughout the entire stadium.
A river of applause and shouts of enthusiasm shook the stadium once again. It was surprising how, even at such a late hour, the audience was still energetic and eager to witness yet another match.
As usual, Chiacchera pointed toward one of the gates on the right side of the arena. "From this gate is about to emerge the last pillar supporting this country to participate in this tournament. Not only the current master of The Leaf Falling from the Tree style, but also the woman who carries the future of the children of this kingdom on her shoulders, and who is said to have never lost in a pure martial arts contest..."
The gate opened, revealing an elf with long black hair—a rarity among elves—tied back in a neat ponytail, her eyes framed by red-rimmed glasses. She wore a black blazer buttoned completely, beneath which a brownish-red garment could be glimpsed. Instead of the usual black miniskirt Lucas had grown accustomed to seeing her wear, she was dressed in long, elegant black pants. Just above her feet, where the fabric ended, another reddish-brown layer could be seen beneath them.
"The Minister of Education, Aurola Battista!" Chiacchera shouted at the top of her lungs.
As Aurola entered the arena, thunderous applause erupted from the stands, accompanied by countless words of encouragement directed at the minister. In those cheers, one could clearly feel the immense respect the people of Yggdora held for her.
With a blend of kindness and seriousness, Aurola walked toward the center of the arena, giving the clear impression that she was ready to begin the match at any moment, even as she continued her measured steps.
Once the minister was in position, Chiacchera spoke again. "As we are now nearing the end of the first day, I imagine many of you were expecting Minister Aurola to enter the field. However, I am certain that none of you are expecting the arrival of this other celebrity..." Chiacchera continued, pointing toward one of the gates on the left side of the arena.
"The person who is about to enter was a king in his previous world and became king once more after his soul was summoned to this one by the gods. He is the third hero participating in this tournament. He single-handedly defeated a massive army that threatened the kingdom of Avoria, which had summoned him, and for that reason, he was elected king by the very people he saved. Thanks to his leadership, the kingdom of Avoria—once no larger than a single city—expanded and became a force to be reckoned with against its neighbor, the kingdom of Oscura. In his world, he was nicknamed 'Aniketos' ("The invincible" or The "Unconquered")..."
The gate opened, revealing a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with short ivory-white hair and sharp brown eyes. On his head rested an ornate headdress shaped like an elephant's head, complete with a trunk and two long tusks. The only true difference from the snout of a real elephant, aside from its size, was that its eyes were replaced by two silver coins, each bearing the likeness of the hero himself. He wore an elaborate light-gray tunic adorned with silver decorations and a red cloak that stopped just before touching the ground.
"Demetrius I of Bactria!!!"