Sheila appears in the magic formation before slowly opening her eyes and looking around.

.Ray.?

Mom!

Ray reaches out to Sheila and hugs her tightly.

..Happy.so happy.Mom.I thought Id never see you again.

Rays words turn into tears as Sheila kindly strokes his head.

A dream?.if not, is this heaven?

Of course not. Its the real world. You protected your child by throwing away your life. It was a wonderful thing to see.

I see.

Sheila carries on stroking Rays head whos still crying.

She seems more relieved at being able to protect her son than being alive.

..But, how was her spirit disease cured? If the origin is weakened or gone it cannot be recovered by magic Misa asks me.

It was a simple thing. I spread the rumours that formed Sheilas origin.

Eh? When did you do that Arnos-sama? Youve been fighting in the finals until just now..

A few minutes ago when I talked about how I won. It was transmitted to the various places in Deiruheido by the magic broadcast.

Ah.!

Misa lets out a voice like shes just noticed.

A true master craftsman that forged a sword that can rival a demon sword using something different to magic?

I nod.

That was the rumour that created Sheilas origin.

The impact from me breaking Initeio and winning the championship was great. Something different from magic power dwells in the sword that was forged with all the makers heart. Its a rumour thats hard to believe so it was no wonder that the number of people believing it were few.

Its different now though. The origin of Sheila that was about to disappear was quickly restored so bringing her back with Resurrection <Ingaru> was easy.

.How did you notice such a thing? Misa asks me in a surprised voice.

When I met Sheila yesterday she had recovered enough to talk to us. I wondered if the person managing the rumours and legends at the Lognoss Clinic was not in control as much as I thought but it was actually caused by me saying what I said in the first round.

Something different from magic residing in the sword that a master craftsman had poured his heart into making. That was the random thing I said to Kurt in the first match but several people had believed it and Sheila got slightly better.

Needless to say that was hardly enough to come to any conclusion with. Next was the absorption bracelet that would cause Sheilas death if it was destroyed, however, there was no mention of her dying if my sword was broken or I lost.

They needed to show the audience that my sword was nothing special.

It had to be out of the calculations of Avos Dillheavia that I would spread the rumours that supported Sheilas origin. Healing Sheila would make his plan collapse.

After the finals began did Sheilas condition improve?

Yes. Even though I gave all my magic power via Root Conversion <Lilia> it still wasnt enough, however, all of a sudden Sheilas magic started to recover so we rushed here.

Melheys said he had restored Sheila to take her hostage but he lied. He didnt want me to notice she had started to recover by herself.

Because I was fighting evenly against Initeio with my Kongo Iron sword the audience started to believe more and more in the rumour.

It was probably because of that that Sheila was able to turn into her true body form. Her appearance was also very similar to my sword since a spirits true nature embodies its rumours and legends. The heart includes the origin after all.

In the minds of the audience, they had a clear image of a sword that was forged by a master craftsman not by using magic but by his heart. They were looking at my sword so Sheilas appearance became that of my sword.

If you look at them as a whole then its not hard to deduce Sheilas origin.

Thank you Arno-kun. You really are a great person just like Ray said. I thought Id never be able to see this child anymore. Sheila says while hugging Ray. Thanks to you I can continue to see him growing up even more.

Theres no need to thank me. I was only helping my friend out.

Well then Ray, Ill go on ahead.

Ray answers me in a tearful voice.

I decide to leave first so Ray doesnt have to worry about me seeing his crying figure.

Arnos!

My dad, mom and Misha come down from the audience seats.

What a guy!! You are indeed my son!

My dad rests his fist against my chest.

Dad.

I show my dad my sword which I had sheathed.

I was saved thanks to this.

Dont go saying stupid things to my face. Ill go all shy..

My dads tone is pretty happy despite the tears in his eyes.

Im not lying though.

Certainly, the sword has no magic and was useless in a demon sword tournament but it was still able to save Sheila. My dad may not have intended it and it may have happened randomly but thats not the point.

In the first round, I meant it. My dad did make this sword with all his heart and this lead to Sheila being cured.

This sword that was forged by my dad has bought me nothing but good luck.

Dear, if we dont go soon we wont get a good seat. Arnos-chan has preparations to do as well.

Aah, thats right. Later then Arnos.

My dad raises his right hand so we did a high five.

Later.

Thank you for today Arnos-chan. It was really amazing!! Even though its small its still a demon sword tournament. Whats going to happen in the future?

My moms pretty happy as well.

Are you okay? Youre not hurt are you?

Shes now looking worriedly at my wounds.

Im fine.

Its nothing serious. I quickly heal myself with healing <Ento>.

See? Im fine now.

Im glad.

My mom leans in and whispers in my ear.

Ill say hello to Ray-kuns mother later.

Fumu. This is bad. If Sheila gets swallowed up in my mothers spacetime it will be like getting captured in <Azeishis> and the chances of me stopping it at that point will be very slim.

You should leave it for today.

Really? Is it because you havent told her yet..? I see!! Understood!!

My mom has convinced herself of something again.

See you later.

My parents hurry off to the closing ceremony.

Happy?

Misha was standing next to me before I realised it.

Did you see it?

Misha nods.

Shes looked deep into my abyss with her demon eyes and right into my heart.

Parents are good. I didnt have any in my past life. Someday, when I have a child I wonder if I can be like that too?

Eeeeh!?

I hear a surprised voice from behind.

What are you surprised about Sasha?

Im not surprised about anything..

Fumu. Whats with that painful excuse?

Do you want a child?

Someday it will happen.

II see. Hmph. Someday huh..

The old seven demon emperors inherited my blood and so have all their descendants but when looking at my parents and Sheila Ive realised that alone is not enough for me to consider myself a parent.

Fufufu.

Mishas laughing.

Well I know its probably impossible.

Misha shakes her head.

Arnos will surely make a good father.

Really?

Really.

I dont feel like I will though.

Uneasy?

No. If Misha says its so then Ill believe it.

I look back over my shoulder at the girls that looking down at the floor and thinking.

What are you doing Sasha? Lets go.

I know.

Sasha hurries over to us in a fluster.

That reminds me. Ive won the tournament.

What are you going on about? Wasnt it obvious with your power?

Well, there is that.

Misha speaks up.

Was it fun?

It was.

Looking back it was a tepid tournament and my life was never in danger. I was involved in a proxy battle between the unification faction and the royalists and everyone was being very noisy. Basically, only troublesome things were happening.

It was a bit like a two-day festival I guess. Clashing swords with Ray was quite meaningful though.

Now its over I feel a bit lonely.

What is this feeling? Its one I never experienced 2000 years ago when my life really was in danger at times.

It really was an enjoyable tournament.

Theres hardly anyone in the seats now. Its the tranquillity after a festival.

I looked around and then with great reluctance I slowly left the arena.

TN: With this, the demon sword tournament arc is over. The next volume/arc/chapter is the Hero academy arc.

On a side note, I want to apologise about the ads. At the moment Ive got them being auto managed as Im learning about manual ad creation and placement so Im sorry about them being in the middle of the text which is extremely annoying I know. Once I know what Im doing the ads in the middle will be removed or dramatically culled in number but until then if I can ask for your patience please. Many thanks to all my readers for sticking with me.