Bermuda

“Isn’t this ending a little too easily?”

Andreas, perched so precariously on the edge of his seat that only barely his backside touched it, blurted that out as he failed to control the forward pitch of his upper body. A faint trace of both regret and exhilaration clung to the corners of his mouth. Having personally crossed paths with Lion before, he knew better than anyone how explosively powerful the man was.

But Hugo, his chin propped on one hand and his mouth partly covered, merely watched Leonardo at the very bottom of the arena with close attention.

The droplet-shaped lens formed before his blue iris thickened little by little. Each time it did, the image of Leonardo captured in his sight gradually magnified as well.

The restraints binding both arms, the face shouting with veins standing out in his neck.

There had once been a time when he had personally restrained that body with his own hands, but now that he saw it again, it was not a pleasant sight unless they were alone.

Then Hugo’s gaze moved in order over Leonardo’s teammates, none of whom had yet reached him.

A dry voice slipped out from behind the lips pressed beneath his long fingers.

“We’ll see.”

The voice sounded oddly hoarse for the situation, and Andreas glanced sideways at him. The moment he saw that unfamiliar expression on his colleague and superior’s face, a sly smirk surfaced.

He’s anxious enough to lose his mind.

Those blue eyes, narrowed in concentration beyond the opera glasses, were practically no different from an optical telescope. Water particles had gathered around him alone, leaving the air damp around him as if with mist.

The sight of it was practically a transparent confession that there was some kind of relationship there that others did not know about. Andreas suppressed the laugh threatening to slip out and politely turned his eyes away as if he had noticed nothing.

“Ugh... why won’t this stupid thing move!”

Gripping the second manual lever, Ero trembled all over and strained against it with groans. At a time like this, when he could not even use his magic-infused bullets, he at least had to pull his own weight, but just as he was beginning to wonder at Bell’s monstrous strength for having yanked something this stiff in one go—

Kooong—

Heavy footsteps landed on the bridge of the third basement level. Feeling the vibration, Ero turned his head in delight.

“Brother Beast, give me a hand—”

But the color immediately drained from his face. The one coming toward him with slow, deliberate steps was Big Boss, the opposing team’s leader—in his teammates’ terms, the Toad.

<Big Boss is approaching Joker!>

In his hand he held a flail, a long iron haft connected to two chains. At the ends of those chains gleamed a spiked iron ball and a blade as large as Ero’s body.

<He appears to be a close-range weapon user, and the shorter the distance gets, the worse it is for Joker.>

<Joker immediately draws his pistol!>

Bang, bang bang—. Three shots rang out, weak and flimsy compared to his usual confidence. But only metal rounds fired rapidly. The haft of the flail, spun in one hand, knocked all three bullets away in an instant.

<Ah, it isn’t working at all! Against an opponent who has already made it this far in the Preliminary Round, ordinary firearms are useless!>

<And his movements are extremely nimble. Big Boss truly looks every bit the team leader.>

The sparks from friction flared and quickly burned out, and heavy steps followed through the smoke dispersing in the air. At a loss, Ero rolled his eyes wildly and kept stumbling backward. Then he suddenly stopped in place. The lever behind him, immovable as ever, had hit his back.

Ero swallowed dryly. Even if it was a role in name only, did he not still have to act like a leader?

“Hey, Toad! Come at me! I’ll beat you so bad they won’t be able to collect your bones!”

Abruptly changing tack, he shouted that out boldly.

Perhaps the sudden use of the word Toad grated on him in some peculiar way, because the other man’s brow twitched. But the Toad did not react carelessly. Instead, as if amused by the provocation of a yapping runt, he answered with a scoff.

“Sure. A dead man can say whatever he likes.”

“What? You bastard, you fucking—”

What followed was a stream of obscenities too filthy to repeat. It was the kind of gutter-born tongue-lashing that would make even Satan take a step back, and the Toad’s eyes flipped with rage as he was properly baited.

“What the hell? You little shit—”

Sensing at once that he had taken the bait, Ero flung himself flat to the ground to save his life. The instant he lowered his head and covered it, a murderous blade fit for a guillotine swept by the back of his skull by a hair’s breadth.

Tukwaaang!

The next moment, the blade collided head-on with the handle of the lever. The weapon that had smashed apart the wooden post reinforced with an iron core drove straight on through the rock pillar behind it as well. Glancing at the debris scattering past his forearm, Ero confirmed the flashing blue light and sprang to his feet.

<Team JOKER releases the second locking device! Only one remains now!>

Realizing too late what had happened, the Toad looked down toward the prison where Lion was bound. The second layer of iron bars trapping the lion slid aside left and right with another heavy vibration. Now all that remained were the magic-stone shackles around his arms and the chain attached to the floor.

“Wahahah! Boss, did you see my skills?”

Bursting into a giddy laugh, Ero dropped straight down one level. At that moment, teeth clenched hard, the Toad yanked on the haft and raised the blade that came flying back like a boomerang. Then he aimed the tip of the flail’s blade toward the direction Ero had leaped and brought it down in one savage strike.

Kwaaaang—!

From the topmost bridge, Gillian, who had just knocked two opponents unconscious, looked down. He had been pressing the two faces in his hands together so hard their teeth were on the verge of shattering.

The two lackeys, dazed out of their minds by the bloody deep kiss, lost consciousness and slid from his grip.

Sensing something ominous, Gillian flung them aside and jumped beneath the bridge to support his teammate.

<Joker is in danger!>

“Eh?”

At the commentators’ cry, Ero made a stupid noise and turned his head in midair. He had been wondering why the temperature suddenly felt so hot, and then he saw a purple aura bearing down behind him with terrifying force.

“Waaah!”

He went deathly pale and kicked his legs wildly in the air, still not having touched the ground. At that exact moment, a shadow that appeared like the wind snatched Ero upward in the blink of an eye.

<No, where did he come from? It’s Orca, making his appearance after we completely forgot about him!>

<Now that you mention it, only four shadows fell from the entry route. But this team has five besides the prisoner.>

<Did they use Bell’s doll to fake one extra participant and fool everyone?>

At the spot where Ero had been one second earlier, four slashing lines had been carved into place. Pale dust exploded upward from them. In the aftermath, the bridge spanning the third basement level shook as a whole, and with a grinding crack, ominous fractures spread in every direction.

“Hik—.”

Watching that scene, Ero let out a shrill noise and trembled violently in Orca’s grasp.

Kugugugung—

Then a chain of cracking booms rang out like the prelude to collapse. Vibrations spread throughout the entire arena, and the shattered bridge slowly tilted inward from the middle. The broken rocks, severed one after another, came crashing down toward the lower levels.

<Big Boss’s destructive power is immense! He destroys a high-density bridge in a single blow!>

<Uh-oh, at this rate Lion could be in danger—>

There was no time even to catch their breath. Still dangling in the air, Ero urgently shouted at Orca, who was holding him.

“Brother Orca, hurry!”

“I know.”

Pulling a fan from his waist and snapping it open, Orca swung one broad sweep toward the falling rocks. At once, ultrasound spreading widely through the Ether wrapped around the crashing boulders. It slowed them temporarily, but it was only a stopgap measure.

Damn it.

An enormous shadow gradually fell over the motionless Leonardo’s head.

If he got pinned beneath a rock of that size, the damage would be severe. Looking upward, he lowered his stance and raised both arms in a guard.

At that same moment, Gillian appeared in the middle of the bridge on the fourth basement level, the very last line of defense, and shouted toward Beatrice, whose location he did not know.

“Hurry!”

Then he tilted his head up toward the first boulder descending on them and thrust out both arms.

<Surely he’s not planning to stop the rock with his bare hands?>

<Even with its speed reduced, that is far too large for one person to block—>

The anxious voices of the commentators scattered through the air. Even so, Gillian held his ground. His sharp fangs protruded beneath his lips, and his ribcage and thighs swelled so massively it looked as though his clothes might tear apart. A low beastly growl rumbled out, and then a heavy impact slammed into the ground.

Kooong— At the same time the boulder came down, Gillian’s feet, now sprouting fur and claws, dug into the stone bridge.

<My god, he’s holding it with both arms!>

The opposing forces collided, and waves of Ether spread out in every direction. The spot where he stood sank inward.

<I can’t believe it, he truly is Beast itself. Their teamwork is extraordinary. In this opening, someone needs to hurry and—>

Gillian hurled aside the boulder he had been bracing overhead. Another falling boulder slammed into it and was knocked off course, flying outside the arena. In that brief span, Beatrice, who had come down the hidden stairs together with Morvain, landed atop the final level.

The place where Leonardo was.

“Ah!”

But in her haste, the thick heel she stepped on wobbled. Her ankle bent to nearly ninety degrees, and she let out an irritable scream.

Even so, Beatrice barely caught her balance and, face set with venomous determination, ran toward the third locking device.

<Bell is approaching the final mechanism! Ah, but defense is moving to block her path—!>

A woman holding a thick book appeared in Beatrice’s line of sight. Judging by the look of her, she was some sort of mage with a few tricks up her sleeve.

Infuriated, Beatrice swung the umbrella stripped down to little more than metal ribs like a sword.

“I’m already here, so quit your bullshit!”

The voices of his teammates echoed from all directions. But despite their desperate struggle, Leonardo’s vision was being filled with deeper and deeper shadow.

<Lion has to withstand the impact! If the prisoner loses consciousness, the entirety of Team JOKER is eliminated!>

Even with his magic suppressed, Leonardo spread his Barrier as thickly as he could to protect his head. He had no idea how much it could endure, but he hardened it as much as possible. All the spectators watching him held their breath.

At that moment, a familiar whale cry rang out.

A transparent killer whale came plunging down like a bolt of lightning, jaws spread wide. In an instant, it wrapped around Leonardo’s body in gentle waves, as though shielding him.