It felt like a really short wait before it was our turn, though I would attribute it to the fact that Katsuki was feeding me sweets while we waited so it felt like time flew past.

Our opponent was, of course, the Yoblin's team who tried to negotiate for me to lose to her on purpose before this.

We were intentionally directed to enter the arena from opposite sides of the arena and entered as the announcer called out our team numbers.

As we walked in, I heard several murmurs from the crowd nearest to us.

"They weren't kidding about the odds, were they?"

"It's like they're saying they're really going to win the entire tournament."

"I've never seen odds like that in all my time here though."

"These people must be frauds."

"Shhhhh!! You shut up right now! You don't know what you're talking about, you idiot!"

"Wha... What? What are you talking about?"

"Just shhhh!"

That's a rather odd interaction even if I do say so myself.

I led my team to the arena and they waited below the stage and ascended the steps at the same time as the Yoblin.

The announcer gestured for us to come forward and we stood in front of him, the Yoblin looking up at me and giving a curt nod when we stopped.

The announcer took a moment to address the audience, "And for this matchup, the winner of this match will head directly to the finals! On the left, we have team sixty and the right, team eleven! Who would be the winner of this match?! Who would go on to face the final team tonight?! Let's find out!"

He turned back to us and showed us the same coin that the others have been using to decide who would start first.

"If it lands black upwards, team eleven will start."

The coin was flipped into the air and, for a very small fraction of a second, I noticed that it seemed to wiggle slightly before coming back down again, landing with the black facing upwards.

I frowned a little, obviously suspecting that someone influenced the coin flip.

But then again... Does that actually matter? It's not like it really changes anything much here for me at least...

The announcer then slipped the coin back into his pocket with neither himself nor the Yoblin commenting on the irregularity.

I was then presented a box and since I've already done this multiple times, I didn't need him to tell me anything before I stuck my hand in the box to fish out a piece of paper that would decide the number of support we had.

I wasn't really aiming for anything but then I felt one of the pieces slide in between my fingers for a moment, as though someone was trying to hand it to me.

Ignoring it, I tried to find another piece but then it slid into my fingers again.

Really? Do you even need to cheat on the number of support you get as well?

Although I wonder if this was the Yoblin's doing or someone else wanting her to win because they bet on her?

Fine, whatever.

I pulled out the piece of paper and handed it over to the announcer who immediately unfolded it.

"Oh! What a twist! Both teams shall have zero support during the fight! It would be dependent solely on their slaves to bring them victory!" He announced, showing the mentioned number written on the paper.

Judging by how the Yoblin grimaced when she saw it, I don't think she's behind what was going on here.

Interesting... In that case, who was influencing it and what could the person be aiming for here?

Not that I would be getting an answer anytime soon by just wondering about it so I decided to just step off the stage to begin the fight.

The Yoblin took a moment to decide who to send on stage and when she did, it was just one person.

Hmm... She did ask me to at least help her look good so... I guess I can let her win a few rounds just to show off her skills?

I turned to my party and they were all looking at me in anticipation.

"Hmm... Lisa?"

"Oh~ Lucky me~" She giggled, but I stopped her before she could walk past me.

"Win this round but lose the next round, ok?"

"Oh right, we were supposed to make her look good. Don't worry, I got it!"

As long as she gets it I suppose...

I watched as my Infrid ascended the stage after smoothening the edges of her dress.

The one that she was fighting was a rather thin looking male Mahun wielding a short spear and shield.

He seemed to be focused on defensive fighting and he was already eyeing Lisa warily, as though expecting her to obliterate him any second after the match starts.

I guess he must have seen our fights during the preliminaries earlier on.

The announcer made sure that both contestants were ready before starting the match to the cheer of the crowd.

The Mahun made no move to advance and merely held his ground while watching Lisa.

That was honestly a bad choice on his part and he quickly realised his mistake because she started to chant.

He tried to rush towards her but a ball of fire shot towards him and he was forced to dive to the side to avoid the spell.

Lisa then intentionally moved to create more distance between them and started to chant once more, forcing the Mahun to get back on his feet to try and engage her in a close combat fight.

Unfortunately for him, she knew exactly what he was trying to do and kept her distance from him, continuing to chant to cast her Ember spells that she kept tossing at him.

Lisa was suppressing him with almost no effort and the Yoblin was looking quite restless since there was nothing she could do about it. Even I could tell that this would not look good on her side if Lisa continued like this.

"Are you really afraid of a little fire?! What kind of combat slave are you?! What if your master or mistress is being shot at by a fire mage?! Will you abandon them like this?!" She roared.

That seemed to rouse the slave and he let out a roar before charging towards Lisa.

She fired another [Ember] at him which he raised his shield to block, the small flame quickly igniting it on fire thought it was still small enough that he did not need to be concerned about it for the moment.

She managed to cast the spell one more time which set his shield ablaze and he was forced to abandon it. However, he managed to get her within range of his spear and thrusted the weapon towards her chest.

It looked like she was cornered but unexpectedly, Lisa used the back of her fist to parry the spear thrust, redirecting its path to pierce the space beside her head instead.

Her other fist then shot out and punched her opponent in the abdomen, sending him skidding back a few steps.

I then realised that despite being attacked, she never stopped chanting and she even timed her palm strike perfectly that when the slave was pushed back, her chant also completed a split second later and a ball of fire was shot towards him.

He only had time to look up before it hit him in the chest and set his clothes alight.

The slave wanted to step back to put out the fire but the Yoblin's words must have surfaced in his mind again because he ignored his burning clothes to lunge towards Lisa.

It must have been quite a sight to see a literal guy on fire leaping towards you like that, though I wonder why he wasn't sent out yet despite the fact he was burning at the moment.

Lisa barely reacted and merely leapt to the side to avoid the blow. She had the chance to end the fight right there if she attacked him again but for some reason, she held back.

The slave, who was still on fire, let out another roar and leapt at her to thrust his spear at her again. Once more, Lisa avoided it by ducking her head and letting it pierce through the air above her.

He pulled back before unleashing a flurry of blows at her, literally gritting his teeth through the pain of being burnt just to attack her.

However, try as he might, Lisa simply avoided or dodged his attacks while letting him burn.

Ah, I suppose she's intentionally dragging this fight out to show that the Yoblin managed to train her slaves to even withstand such situations to attack his enemy.

The Yoblin must have also realised that as well as she was looking in my direction with eyes full of gratitude.

Don't look at me, I was half expecting Lisa to simply chant the spell for [Laser] and end the fight immediately by now. Or maybe she might even just be letting the guy burn because she wants to...

Needless to say, that slave eventually got sent outside the arena after being on fire for a good long minute or so.

Of course Lisa won, could there be any other outcome?

I only have one question though... Why did it take so long for the slave to be teleported outside?

Hmm... I guess the threshold to be considered a loss is higher here?

But it also seems like the slaves would be teleported outside with some of the injuries sustained during the fight instead of being completely fine.

I guess I'll have to prepare to heal the girls if they get sent out then.

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