Prince Lethers found it immensely enjoyable to fight Yuren.

Was it because Yuren was the developer who created the Legend Fighter? No, it wasn’t.

Was it because he had mastered the practical martial arts of the Irene School? That wasn’t it either.

The more they fought, the more the prince understood why he was having fun.

It was because Yuren was genuinely trying to defeat him.

Prince Lethers enjoyed the fight.

To be precise, he had nothing else to enjoy.

Since he wasn’t first, he couldn’t become king.

Being of royal blood, he couldn’t pursue any other profession, not even as a soldier.

Only fighting was the most enjoyable hobby Prince Lethers could engage in.

But even that became dull after a while.

At some point, he had become so strong that sparring had become impossible.

He had refused to spar, fearing that someone as powerful as him could inflict serious injury on the royal family.

As soon as he sensed he could defeat someone weaker than himself, they would surrender right away.

A game where you always win is boring.

But Yuren was different.

Using a variety of martial arts, he would poke at the prince’s weaknesses.

He even employed martial arts that Prince Lethers had only seen in Legend Fighter, forcing him to fight recklessly.

Yuren was a challenger who used all means and methods to try and defeat him, something the prince had never experienced before.

In that moment, for the first time, Prince Lethers felt the joy of fighting an equal opponent.

He felt the vivid thrill he had experienced in Legend Fighter while battling Yuren and expressed his gratitude to him.

However, even the most enjoyable festival has to come to an end eventually.

The prince sensed that both he and Yuren had reached their limits.

Then, at the very least, he thought it proper to end things with a final, respectful strike,
considering it etiquette towards his worthy rival as he prepared his ultimate move.

*

The atmosphere in the Coliseum grew still.

All that could be heard was the crackling sound of lightning gathering in Yuren’s right hand and the roaring flames accumulating around the prince’s legs.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Ha ha! Obviously, it’s that little Yuren! With the speed of the Lightning God’s Spear, he’ll knock that prince down in one blow!”

“But Plema is strong too. The ‘Dance of the Burning Dragon’ that prince uses could actually set Yuren on fire!”

But there are always those pesky audience members who ruin the mood.
Apollon was proud of his specialty, the Lightning God’s Spear, and predicted Yuren’s victory.
But Karen thought Yuren was at a disadvantage.
Just as Yuren’s Zergas was no match against the prince’s overwhelming Plema.

“Here I go.”

“Ha ha! Bring it on, Yuren!”

Yuren assumed a thrusting stance.
Lightning wrapped around his hand, invisible to the eye.
In response, the prince’s foot was ablaze, like the Fire Dragon ascending.

The battle between the Lightning God and the Fire Dragon was imminent and began at this very moment.

“Lightning God’s Spear!!!!!”

“Here it comes! Dance of the Burning Dragon!!!!!!”

The first to move was Yuren,
his fist packed with the power of lightning shot towards the prince like a thunderbolt, transforming into the Lightning God’s Spear.

In response, the prince’s right foot flew forward to swallow the incoming Lightning God’s Spear, clashing in the center of the Coliseum.

Kwaaaaaa!!!
“Whoa!!!”
“It… it’s exploding!!!”

In the middle of the Coliseum, lightning and fire clashed in a fierce struggle,
and it was impossible to tell which side would win as the standoff continued.

“Uwaaaah!!!”
“Haaah!!!”

The prince was overwhelmingly strong in physical power,
but in terms of magical energy, Yuren, being a wizard, had the upper hand.

In that brief moment, yet one that felt eternal, their powers clashed, and the victor was determined.

“Kraaaack!!!”
“Yuren is being pushed back!”
“Did the Lightning God’s Spear break!?!”

A human could not defeat a dragon in a struggle of strength.

Yuren’s Lightning God’s Spear shattered and he was pushed back.

“It was fun! Yuren!! But this is the end!!!”

The Dance of the Burning Dragon was a continuation of kick combo techniques.
The prince prepared for his second strike with a spinning back kick.
In that moment, the spectators from the Kingdom of Ra predicted the prince’s victory.

“Prince Lethers has won!!!”
“Prince!!! Go win!!!!”

For that fleeting moment, even those cheering for Yuren had their thoughts briefly cross their minds.
That Yuren might lose.

“Yuren!”
“Is Yuren going to lose!?”

Julia and Noirin’s faces darkened.
But uniquely, there was still one person who cheered for Yuren in the Coliseum.

“No! Yuren hasn’t lost yet!!”

At that moment, Yuren saw the world in slow motion.
As the Dance of the Burning Dragon flung his right hand away, the prince was preparing for his second attack, the spinning back kick.
For just an instant, the prince’s back was completely exposed, but it seemed like nothing could be done.
His right hand was out of commission, and with his left hand too far away, he couldn’t act.
His stance was faltering, and he couldn’t use Plema, the Black Forest, or any martial arts.
But was that really the case?

Whirrrrr!
“Wait!”
“Could it be!!”

The martial arts that Yuren formally learned were those from Irene, specifically ‘Yudra.’
The issue was that Yudra was a martial art that employed plant magic.
Since it didn’t work well against fire, Yuren fought the prince with other techniques.
Therefore, everyone in the Coliseum thought this way:
Yuren wouldn’t use Yudra when facing Plema.

But could Yuren’s version of Yudra really be so weak that it couldn’t contend with fire?
No matter how strong the fire, it could never burn the roots of a mighty tree, and great plants are capable of taking root in solid rocks.
There certainly was a Yudra whip that could hold its ground against fire.

However, Yuren didn’t reveal that.
He hid it from the prince,
he hid it from the audience,
and even from himself.
Everything was for…
this very moment!!!

Wham!
“Ugh!!!”

As the prince turned his back to launch his second attack,
the Yudra whip fired from Yuren’s left hand wrapped around the prince’s neck.
The prince hurriedly tried to react, but it was already too late.
The whip, thick like a dragon’s tail, had already entwined around the prince’s neck, and Yuren pulled on the Yudra whip, knocking the prince down, bending him backward at the waist.

Kwaaaaa!!
“Grah!!!”

Normally, the prince could have easily freed himself with just his back strength.
But now, he was drained of all his magic and stamina after pouring everything into his final move.

“Whoa, what a ridiculous amount of strength!!”

But Yuren was in the same boat.
Having launched an all-out attack with the Lightning God’s Spear, he realized the prince wouldn’t come at him half-heartedly.
As a wizard, Yuren had a bit more magic left to use the Yudra whip, but that was all he could manage.
This was truly Yuren’s last technique.

“Grahaha!!!”
“Grahhhhh!!!”

The audience began to cheer in unison for Yuren and the prince during their second struggle of strength.
Both kingdoms chanted for their contestants, wishing for their victory.

“Yuren! Hang in there!!”
“Break that prince’s neck!!”
“Go for it, Your Highness!!!”
“Tear that thorn to shreds!!”

From the moment Yuren had seen the information given by the Minister’s Office before the duel, he had judged that he wouldn’t be able to win against the prince in a direct confrontation.
The dragon’s blood coursing through the prince’s body made him strong.
Most attacks wouldn’t affect him, and they possessed a strength beyond that of mere humans.
No matter how abundant Yuren’s magic or skilled his manipulation of magic was, if he charged in head-on, victory was unlikely.
But as Apollon had said, there was no invincibility in this world.
Even with dragon blood, the prince was still human.
Since he was human, he would bleed, and if his carotid artery became blocked, he would faint.
The time it takes for a human to faint after the aorta is constricted is about 5 seconds,
and while the prince had withstood for over 20 seconds, he had ultimately reached his limit.

Thud!
“Wah… Your Highness!!”
“Hah… hah… hah… hah…”

The prince’s body began to lose strength.
Unlike the fierce battles before, he fell like a puppet with all the strings cut.
The referee, who had been watching the fallen prince, rushed over to check his condition.
And…

“Prince Lethers has lost consciousness. Wizard Yuren is the victor.”

The Zephia Coliseum fell silent.
Everyone was unable to accept the reality of the moment.
In just one minute, the victor and the vanquished had swapped places,
everything had flipped upside down in less than a minute.

“Whoa!!!”

The shout that shook the heavens spread through the Coliseum.
Yuren had won!