The second match between Eurel and Lee Sang-Deok was just about to begin.
Alice, sitting in the spectator seats, asked Yu-Han anxiously.
"Lee Sang-Deok… I know he's strong, but are you sure he can win?"
Yu-Han snorted at that.
"Alice, I told you earlier. I honestly didn't expect Employee Yi-Rang to win at all.
So naturally, I hired people who could win the other two matches overwhelmingly, didn't I? Because we need to win."
"…He was that strong?"
While the two of them were talking, Yi-Rang, who had been listening from behind, was raising her middle finger at the back of Yu-Han's head.
"Hold it! I have an objection!"
At that moment, Eurel, standing in the center of the arena, shouted for everyone to hear.
She pointed sharply at Lee Sang-Deok.
"This was supposed to be a friendly sparring match between Cheong-Am Center and us.
So what is this punk elf doing here?
He isn't affiliated with Cheong-Am Center, is he?"
At Eurel's sharp objection, Alice flinched.
But Lee Sang-Deok's expression did not change in the slightest.
"I am an adviser who has been with Cheong-Am Center since its early days.
These idiots lack wisdom, so I've always been giving them advice."
The Cheong-Am group did not particularly agree, but they decided to let it slide.
"Fine, whatever. I just need to end this quickly."
"Oh~ what an obedient bitch. You're saying you'll lose to me quickly?"
"Lunatic…"
[The second match will now begin.]
Once again, the realm unfolded.
This time, the stage was an urban district lined with mid-rise buildings.
"What a perfect location! I'll finish this within three minutes."
Eurel gathered the wind in an instant, leapt upward, and landed on a nearby rooftop.
In her hands were a bow and arrow of light, formed from mana.
It was common knowledge that urban environments were disadvantageous to elves, who drew upon the power of nature. But Eurel was skilled enough to commune with spirits even in a place like this.
In a fight between elf and elf, she was certain she could not lose.
"How dare he say I'll lose quickly…? I'll make him feel the pain of having his limbs torn apart!"
Eurel activated the blessings of countless spirits, along with numerous spells to reinforce her arrow.
Then, one by one, veins began to rise along her beautiful arms.
Her muscle tissue had been optimized through magic. Her arms looked slender, but her actual strength easily surpassed that of an untrained beastkin.
"LIGHTNING and STORM, tear my enemy apart!"
When Eurel released the bowstring, the arrow of light fired at a speed beyond sound.
Wrapped in high-voltage lightning and violent winds, the arrow reached its destination without the slightest deviation and triggered a massive explosion.
Its power was enough to easily crush an armored vehicle.
She knew that from experience.
"If you hadn't run your mouth, I would've ended this cleanly by hitting a vital point. Tch!"
"Really? From what I can see, you don't seem to have any talent for archery."
A chill ran down Eurel's spine when she heard the voice behind her.
She instantly performed a backflip and fired three rapid arrows in midair.
But Lee Sang-Deok dodged them with ease.
"Couldn't land a single shot again? Brings tears to my eyes."
"You bastard… how did you get here…? The spirits clearly told me your position!"
"How stupid. Why should the spirits only tell you the truth?
I told them to lie."
"Don't talk nonsense! I've been close to spirits my entire life!"
"The spirits say otherwise. Apparently, they played along with you for a while, but found you terribly boring."
"Hah!?"
Enraged, Eurel tried to fire another arrow.
But Lee Sang-Deok's expression did not change at all. He was simply appraising her.
"Your arrows are pathetically weak. I'll show you the true power of nature."
Lee Sang-Deok brought his hands together and gathered mana in an instant.
The blue light radiating from his hands was not caused by mana.
It was caused by the Cherenkov effect…!
"PROTONS and NEUTRONS. Erase my enemy without leaving so much as ash behind!!"
Eurel's entire field of vision was filled with light, and before she could even feel pain, the match was over.
"That just now… was the power of nature…?"
Eurel muttered blankly. But the more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she snapped at Lee Sang-Deok.
"That wasn't the power of nature! It was a force created by artificial science and technology, a force that steals life and destroys the cycle!!"
"Oh, is that so? Then why do you wear clothes?
Aren't those made through artificial science and technology too?"
Without even giving her another glance, Lee Sang-Deok returned to Cheong-Am's side.
Eurel was so furious that her face looked like it was about to explode.
"Damn it, after all that arrogant posturing… How the hell did I end up getting involved with women like you?!"
Son Min-Hyeok was irritated once again, while Chae Da-Seon seemed quietly relieved that she was not the only one who had lost.
Shim Yun-Seol, the only one who had not lost yet, tried to reason with Son Min-Hyeok.
"Captain… We've already lost two out of three rounds. That means it's over.
Her opponent was just stronger than she was. There's nothing left for us to do."
Eurel glared at Shim Yun-Seol, but Shim Yun-Seol simply ignored her.
The bad part was, Son Min-Hyeok also ignored her words just as easily.
"No! We absolutely cannot end it like this! Shim Yun-Seol! If you crush your opponent overwhelmingly, we might still restore our honor! Get out there!"
"No, why drag me into this too…"
Naturally, Shim Yun-Seol wanted to avoid getting dragged into this nuisance. But Chae Da-Seon and Eurel both seemed resentful at the thought of being the only ones who had gone through the wringer.
"It's not like the other side would agree to a third match anyway…"
***
And a short while later, Shim Yun-Seol was standing in the center of the arena.
For the battle, she had even put on her family robe and witch hat.
"Yu-Han. Why did you accept a third match too?"
"Because I wanted to smash all of them without leaving any room for controversy.
And it'd be a waste of the hiring fee."
"…Who did you hire this time?"
At that moment, a shabby-looking man with curly hair entered from Cheong-Am's side.
Alice recognized him.
"Mr. Kang Seung-Cheon! What brings you here? I really liked the wallpaper you put up last time."
"I'm glad you liked it. Interior work is only a side job, though."
He was the man who had come to Cheong-Am Center to do interior-related work.
They were only acquaintances who recognized each other by sight.
"Are you here to cheer us on? Here, sit beside me!"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't come here to cheer.
I was asked to participate in this friendly spar or whatever it is."
"What??"
Leaving the dumbfounded Alice behind, Kang Seung-Cheon walked toward the center of the arena.
Even Lee Sang-Deok looked like he had no idea what was going on.
"Hey, Yu-Han. What the hell is that guy supposed to be? Is he really just an interior worker? What's his actual job?"
"Artist."
"An artist doesn't exactly look like someone who'll win 'overwhelmingly.'"
"It's fine. He's a 'genius.'"
Looking at Kang Seung-Cheon in the center of the arena, Shim Yun-Seol sighed and asked,
"I'll ask, just to be sure. What exactly is your relationship with Cheong-Am Center?"
"If you're asking about an official relationship, then… interior worker?"
"…What is that supposed to mean?"
"Yu-Han asked me to defeat you overwhelmingly.
He also said even an interior worker would be enough."
"...Were you not given any information about me?"
Shim Yun-Seol was a genius who had earned a doctorate in magic abroad as the youngest to do so.
Not only that, she was also the descendant of an orthodox family that had historically used magic since before magic became widely known to the public.
"Ah, I did see it. But looking at your photo, I kept thinking… that hat design is terrible. Should I make you a new one?"
"!!!"
At Kang Seung-Cheon's words, Shim Yun-Seol bit her lower lip and trembled.
The Red Chasers members watching from the side were horrified —Even Son Min-Hyeok.
"Oh. I can count on one hand the number of times Yun-Seol's been that angry."
"That man… does he really want to die?"
Shim Yun-Seol was usually not very expressive, so they could not even begin to imagine how furious she must be to make a face like that.
[The third match will now begin.]
This time, the stage that unfolded was a beach.
It seemed to be a location designed to let them use the surrounding water and rocks, but…
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to play in the water."
When Shim Yun-Seol cast her magic, the surrounding environment vanished entirely, leaving only an empty white space and flat ground.
With her magic, she had hacked the realm itself.
On top of that, Kang Seung-Cheon had been dragged neatly right in front of her.
"You will pay for insulting me…"
Two magic circles appeared before Shim Yun-Seol, and from them emerged a dragon of fire and a dragon of water.
They were not summoned beasts, but beings created purely through her magic.
Moving on their own as if alive, they tried to pounce on Kang Seung-Cheon.
"If you're the only one using them, the symmetry is off. Fine. I'll make a pair of my own."
Two magic circles appeared in front of Kang Seung-Cheon as well, and from them emerged a completely identical fire dragon and water dragon, which collided with their counterparts.
Violent steam and mist erupted as the dragons disappeared.
"How did you use the magic I developed…!?"
"Imitation is one of the basics of art. I saw the magic circles, so I copied them."
"I feel less and less like forgiving you."
Shim Yun-Seol formed a sword of fire in her hand, cut through the mist, and charged toward where Kang Seung-Cheon should have been.
Then Kang Seung-Cheon came into view, looking flustered.
Her close-combat skills were considerable as well. With crisp swordsmanship, she cut Kang Seung-Cheon down…!
"Trick art. Quite an amusing technique, don't you think?"
"A fake…!"
The Kang Seung-Cheon she had cut scattered into particles of mana.
"An ancient painter once painted a pine tree so lifelike that birds crashed into it and died.
Maybe, trick art is quite classical technique."
"Spare me… the art lecture!"
When the mist cleared completely, Shim Yun-Seol was shocked.
The background she had turned into empty space had been filled once again with the sight of the sea.
"It seemed a pity that you had made it so empty, so I filled it back in with the sight of a beautiful sea."
"Damn it… where are you…!"
As Shim Yun-Seol moved, she suddenly bumped into something.
What she had collided with turned out to be a massive canvas, and one side of the background that had looked like the sea fell over.
A canvas counted as a non-weapon item, so it was permitted.
"It seems your intelligence is not much different from those ancient birds. Haha."
'Don't get baited by cheap provocation. Stay calm and trace his mana.'
Shim Yun-Seol took a deep breath and began tracing the mana around her.
But there was no human mana anywhere.
Had he suppressed his own mana?
But then his mana resistance would drop, and he wouldn't be able to attack or defend properly…!?
At that moment, a rock beside Shim Yun-Seol moved.
It was not a rock. It was a performance artist disguised as a rock…!
In his hand was a painting.
"Appreciate this."
Shim Yun-Seol's peripheral vision began to warp and twist.
She started losing even her sense of direction, to the point that standing properly became difficult.
'That painting—is it mental magic!? Impossible. I should have thorough countermeasures against mental magic…!
No, it isn't magic in the first place…!?'
After pursuing art to its utmost, Kang Seung-Cheon had reached a certain state.
A state where the signal known as his artwork could induce specific reactions in the viewer's brain… a state that transcended art itself and could only be called brain hacking.
And a short while later, the realm dissolved, leaving Shim Yun-Seol lying there completely incapacitated.
The light had left her eyes, and she was blankly staring into empty space.
"Like a beautiful doll… This, too, is part of my art."
Her teammates barely managed to support her and bring her back to their side. Only after a few minutes did she regain her senses.
Of course, Son Min-Hyeok had lost his senses instead.
"You useless bitches… I'll go out there myself!
If I win a leader-versus-leader match, the other results won't matter!"
Pointing at Alice, Son Min-Hyeok shouted,
"This whole thing was about you from the start! So let's settle it once and for all in a final match, just the two of us!"