Chapter 51

I waited in front of the waiting room and soon enough the door opened and Ray came out .

“Yo . ”

Ray’s smile seemed a bit troubled after seeing me and Misa .

“I thought you might turn a blind eye Arnos . ”

“I was going to . Whatever your circ.u.mstances are, you have decided not to rely on me and it would have been rude to ask, however, my subordinate wants to know . ”

Misa walked in front of me and spoke to Ray .

“Has the royal faction said something to you?”

“Who knows? Perhaps they offered me enough money to last a lifetime or perhaps they recommended me to be a demon emperor . ”

“……I don’t believe you to be a person that would move for such things . ”

Ray laughs .

“You overestimate me . You should be careful with that . A lot of people say c.r.a.p that the world wants to hear . ”

Misa doesn’t seem convinced by Ray’s words .

“… . I know that . But you Ray-san…………you aren’t like that . ”

“We’ve not long met . I wouldn’t trust me that much . ” Ray says with a gentle smile .

Doesn’t seem like he’s going to say what his real intention is .

Misa bites her lip in vexation . Looks like she’s got nothing more to say .

“The Lognoss magic clinic was built by Elio Roodwell using his own money so it’s basically a facility belonging to the royal faction . ”

“Pretty much . ” Ray answers without breaking his smile .

“Is your mother healthy?”

“Yeah . Like I said before it’s nothing serious . She’s getting better . ”

“I’d like to meet her at least once . ”

“She’ll be leaving the hospital soon . You can meet her then . ”

Fumu . Is that so .

“That reminds me . After looking at the upcoming matches it seems like we’ll be meeting in the finals . ”

“It’s a shame we can’t fight at our full power . ”

Ray looks at my sword .

“You might not be able to feel any magic power but this sword was forged by a true master craftsman . It’s power rivals that of your demon sword so you should challenge me without holding back . ”

Ray laughs .

“Really?”

“Aah . ”

Ray starts heading to the audience seats .

“Ray-san…errrm… . ”

“Sorry . I’m part of the royal faction now . Seem’s like we won’t be able to get along any more . ”

Ray walks past us then stops .

“Oh, I forgot something Arnos . ”

“What?”

Ray looks over his shoulder .

“… . . I’ll kill you . ”

I just laughed .

“If you want to kill me then you’d better prepare yourself for death . ”

“It’s not a threat . I’m already prepared for death . ”

“Hou . If you’re already prepared then want to try?”

As I finished speaking I disappeared and reappeared behind Ray .

“I can see you Arnos . ”

Ray swings Initeio around in a circular strike .

Although I’ve applied anti-magic and magic barriers his sword easily slashes through them and bites into my left arm .

A pure white blade digs into my left arm and blood flows .

“Fumu . To be able to cut my arm . How wonderful . ”

“…… . . I had intended to get your head at the same time as your arm……”

Ray vomits blood due to my right arm that’s pierced his chest .

“And I had intended to crush your heart but your body is pretty robust as well . ”

Misa shouted out after watching our battle .

“Arnos-sama, Ray-san… . ! You don’t have to do this……!!”]

Misa looks really worried .

“Don’t worry . I’m only checking his resolution . I don’t forgive anyone who challenges me no matter who they are . If you’re looking for mercy from a friend then you won’t find it here . ”

“I’m relieved . If you are that serious then I can cut you down with no hesitation . ”

Ray smiles his refres.h.i.+ng smile .

“Well then . ”

Ahh, see you in the finals . ”

Ray left and headed to the audience seating .

“Arnos-sama……”

“It seems he’s been collared somehow . ”

Misa’s eyes rounded as she looks at me .

“I tried to confirm it through direct contact . Some type of magic tool has been embedded in his body . ”

“… . . It was only an instant . Did something like that happen… . ?”

“That was the point of our little exchange . ”

The magic tool buried in his body is synced with his magic so it’s hard to see . I can tell by using my demon eyes that whatever is stuffed into Ray is quite a powerful thing .

“… . . When did you notice a magic tool was embedded in him… . ?”

“Ray gave out some hints like when he said he was already prepared for death . I had thought that he meant he was ready to die when we fought but he meant his actions are being limited by a tool that can kill him . I’m guessing that if he was to ask for help he’ll be killed . ”

Ray is most likely being monitored by magic or by that tool .

If he was to ask for help his observer will probably activate that device in his body and kill him .

“I know he said he was prepared to die but that’s it… . . ?”

“He also said we couldn’t fight at our full power and that he was going to kill me . Those bits bothered me as well . He’s the type that doesn’t get wound up by his enemy and just nonchalantly cuts them down . It was too provocative so I started thinking . Also, when he cut my arm he deliberately left his chest open so I pretended to go for his heart and checked . ”

Due to that, I was able to find the tool .

It must have been the only tactic he could come up with to let me know something was wrong without alerting his observer .

If it had gone wrong would his life have ended?

“…… . I’m amazed…… . . all I saw was Arnos-sama and Ray-san quarrelling…… . . both of you are amazing……”

“These type of things used to happen a lot back in the old days . ”

Things were a lot more sly and tricky 2000 years ago .

“…… . Is it the work of the royal faction… . ?”

“It’s reasonable to think so . ”

Or is it the work of Avos Dillheavia?

“Wouldn’t you have to be a skilled master to embed a magic tool in Ray-sans body?”

There is that possibility, however .

“Ray’s mother must be involved . ”

“I thought she was in that magic clinic?”

“Aah, she is . Thinking about his words though it was probably a message for me to do something . ”

It adds up if you a.s.sume his mother is a hostage and that’s the reason he allowed the tool to be embedded in his body .

That man asked for my help in a very tight situation . There’s no reason not to respond to his request .

“What are you going to do?” Misa asks with words loaded with anger . “I can’t forgive people who act this way . I’ll show them they can’t do what they want just because they are royalty . ”

“Then come with me . I don’t know who they are but they put their hands on my friend . They will not get away with this . ”

“Yes . ”

As I start to head off to the magic clinic I remember something and stop .

“That reminds me, isn’t the second round about to begin?”

If I recall correctly, everything except the final match will be held today .

“Fumu . Please wait a while . I need to clean up the remaining small fry first . ”