Alberecht set his foot on the stage, facing his opponent with a harmless smile.

"Wipe that smile off your face, it sickens me!"

"Hm? Am I ugly?" He pointed his finger at his face while tilting his head.

"No...you just annoy me!"

"Sorry about that?"

"Tch! I didn’t fight my way here to hear an apology, Alberecht."

"Of course, it was the money, right?"

"Hey! Don’t mock me!" Theresia then pointed her spear at the innocent-looking Alberecht. "I’m here to beat you!"

"I see..." He closed his eyes. Sparks of yellow lightning appeared around his body. "Unfortunately, I can’t let you beat me." He kept his grin as he spoke. "I lost once in my life and I found out I really hate losing. I just can’t let that feeling strike me again." The once clear blue sky turned dark, with grey clouds forming. Sounds of crackling could be heard from above.

"Enough talking...just get out your weapon already."

Arthur watched carefully. "Amygdala...that commentator said he cleared seven towers."

"He did say that, what about it?" Amygdala asked.

"That’s one more than master..." Arthur kept his eyes completely open, not wanting to miss a single moment. He was shaking in excitement.

Yellow lightning tore through the sky, continuously crashing onto the stage where Alberecht stood. After a few moments, the sky became clear once more. Equipped on his right hand was a black glove with sparks of constant red lightning. Equipped on his left hand was a white glove with sparks of perpetual yellow lightning. Theresia flinched backwards as sweat formed.

"Even at this distance, I can feel his heat..." Theresia thought to herself as she stanced her body, ready to fight.

Alberecht’s eyes were more determined, though he still did not break his smile.

"THE FIGHTERS ARE READY TO B-B-BEGIN!" The commentator then moved his arm in a slicing motion. "F-FIGHT!"

Theresia made the first move, lunging her body forward while twisting her hip, thrusting her spear and making the air between them divide. The compacted air split open, blowing the audience’s hats and other accessories off their bodies. Her spear aimed directly at the head of Alberecht; however, he narrowly dodged with little to no effort. His eyes looked directly into Theresia’s, which made her forehead crease. She became irritated looking at Alberecht’s yellow eyes and thrust her spear again and again, each strike attempting to pierce his vital organs, but it was useless. He merely dodged or parried with his gloves as he saw fit, almost as if he was playing with her. Arthur could barely track Theresia’s attacks, but even more frightening was Alberecht. To him, it looked like he was standing still with sparks flying around him.

"Theresia, you’re going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me." He calmly spoke. Alberecht didn’t intend for his words to come across as mean, but still it ticked Theresia off.

Theresia then stepped back to gain distance. She nervously smirked. "Fine then! Have it your way!" She lifted her arms up while gripping her spear with both hands and then started to spin it around, which caused a huge whirlwind to form around her body. The whirlwind ceased, unveiling Theresia. She held two spears in each hand, half the size of the original spear. However, a perpetual form of wind surrounded the two weapons, and her head formed a helmet made of wind as well.

"Theresia, I’m impressed. You and that weapon truly are worthy of standing at the top." He smiled while his head tilted down, still keeping the same neutral stance.

Her voice sounded a little distorted as she spoke. "That’s not all...fool."

「Перегибающаяся цепочка связывания」

Black chains burst from the ground and an ominous figure appeared behind Alberecht, who still hadn’t done much. The air behind him split, opening two doors that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Hands stretched out from the doors as well as more black chains. They completely wrapped around Alberecht’s body.

Alberecht’s eyes widened. "It’s draining my mana and slowly taking all my abilities, so this is the trick you had up your sleeve...how interesting."

Theresia’s eyes narrowed. "Your tone...it’s still calm." She then spun both her spears and circled around Alberecht. Theresia was creating a vortex of wind around him. "You’ve lost, Alberecht!" She leapt around in the air at high speeds. Her feet propelled off the air as she darted around, creating momentum, and with that force, Theresia charged into Leonhardt with both her spears, stabbing him in both the heart and the head. The vortex soon vanished, making the audience gasp at the gruesome sight of a chained-up Alberecht dripping blood. She turned her back on the corpse with a cold expression and sighed. "I expected more..."

The commentator stood there in shock and then announced, "T-T-THE WINNER IS–" He then suddenly stopped speaking as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

"–Let’s not speak too soon...please, do your job properly. After all, I’m still unscathed."

The commentator turned his head, but there was nobody there. He then directed his gaze back onto the stage. Theresia shuddered and her eyes widened with a grim-looking expression on her face. Immediately, she turned her body back around, but it was too late. All she could make out was a black fist with red sparks before being defeated...

A trail of yellow thunder followed behind Alberecht. He curled his fist up and punched Theresia into the ground, caving in most of the arena. Alberecht then waved his hand, and his gloves disappeared. He stood over her. "I’m sorry for ruining your face...but I refuse to lose." Sparks crackled around Theresia’s unconscious body. His smile faded as he walked off the stage.

"I want to see her again..." He thought to himself while imagining a tall, dark-tanned, muscular woman. Alberecht then shook his head, catching himself in his lecherous thoughts. "What am I thinking about?!" He shook his head and spoke out loud with a sad tone. "There’s no way she’d ever love me..." He had completely forgotten about the fight and his opponent.

"T-T-THE WINNER IS...A-ALBERECHT LEONHARDT!!!"

Theresia gained two things from this battle: the knowledge that she would never surpass Alberecht, as well as a large burn mark on her face, which would serve as a constant reminder of the former.