Chapter 93: Secret Weapon

Due to the limited time, the second round began immediately.

The first match of Round 2 was between Ren and Lois.

Even though everyone thought Lois was at a huge disadvantage, he managed to land a solid hit and put up a good fight — but in the end, Ren came out on top.

As expected, Ren’s raw strength lived up to his reputation.

In both the first and second rounds, he’d shown a solid and reliable performance, and among all the competitors, his fighting style was the most well-balanced. His basic skills were top-notch, and his use of special techniques at just the right moment was downright brutal.

It’s safe to say he’s the front-runner for the championship.

If Lime had faced him in the first round, there might’ve been a decent chance of winning. But now Ren had already watched the match against Yui, and he’d probably come up with a countermeasure.

It’s always tougher once your tricks have been seen.

While I was lost in thought, wondering how one might beat Ren, the next match — Rozzo versus Mash — began.

“Looking forward to it, Mash! I saw your last match, but just so you know, I don’t block — at all! Let’s see how you plan to stop me!”

Just as Rozzo had declared, he relied on brute-force strikes with his club. Their matchup seemed absolutely terrible for Mash.

It was going to be interesting to see how Mash would deal with him.

Even after the match officially started, neither of them moved an inch from their stances.

Rozzo held his wooden mallet at the ready, waiting for an opening, while Mash stood at a distance, silently watching him.

“…Both fighters, take action! I’ll call this a forfeit if you don’t move.”

Donnie, acting as the referee, couldn’t bear the stalemate any longer and issued a warning. But Rozzo showed no intention of moving.

Mash probably wanted Rozzo to make the first move, but realizing he had no choice, he started walking forward.

Then, Mash tried the same move he’d used against Shoji: a headbutt attack using the cap of his mushroom-like body.

It wasn’t just about spreading paralyzing spores — the attack itself was quite powerful. If it landed, it would definitely hurt.

But the problem was: he’d already used that move in his previous match, and Rozzo knew about the spores too.

As I held my head in frustration at Mash’s seemingly reckless strategy, the inevitable happened — Rozzo timed his swing perfectly and landed a clean hit with his mallet right on Mash as he lunged forward.

Unlike a human head, Mash’s cap was soft and spongy, so the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked, but he was sent rolling across the ground and didn’t get back up.

Rozzo, covering his mouth with his raised arm to avoid inhaling the scattered spores, began walking toward the fallen Mash to deliver the finishing blow.

Seeing that, I was just about to give up hope when —

A sudden gust of wind blew through the arena.

It seemed like nothing more than a random breeze. I didn’t even think much of it at the time.

But once the wind passed, Rozzo suddenly froze in place.

“W-what the…! My body… it won’t move!”

As I stared in shock, Mash, who’d been lying motionless, slowly sat up.

His face twisted into a devilish grin — the look of someone who’d perfectly executed their trap.

In the end, before I could even process what had just happened, Mash landed three decisive blows on the immobilized Rozzo, ending the match.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Sheila leaned in and whispered the explanation in my ear.

“Mash used wind magic. He deliberately took a strong hit, scattered a ton of spores, then used wind magic to blow them away, making it look like the fight was over. But when Rozzo came close to finish him off, Mash used the wind again to blow the spores back at him. That’s why Rozzo couldn’t move.”

“Wha—!? Mash can use magic!? I had no idea…! And that was a pretty clever setup.”

“Me neither. This is the first I’ve heard of it. My guess is he’s been hiding it from all of us, knowing there’d be a mock battle tournament. He’s full of surprises, isn’t he?”

I’d never even considered the possibility of magic, so I’d fallen for it completely.

The wind was so subtle I didn’t even recognize it as magic. If he planned that much in advance, his battle instincts are really something.

And from the look in Sheila’s eyes, the same look she usually gives Lime, I could tell — she’d officially acknowledged Mash as a rival.

With magic now part of his arsenal, his fighting style had just become way more versatile.

Even his upcoming match against Ren had suddenly become unpredictable.

The semifinals were shaping up to be a thrilling battle.

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