The one who makes the first move is Goldoh.

Right at the moment the fight begins, he closes the distance in one go.

In the same movement, he unleashes a mowing attack with his excessively ornamented sword, aimed straight at Jimina’s neck.

The targeted Jimina has yet to draw his sword. He is just standing in place, not showing any reaction whatsoever.

Sure of his victory, Goldoh flashes his teeth.

That instant, a ‘koki’ sound can be heard.

“Eh?”

The one who exclaims in confusion is Goldoh. But it is not only him, but all eyes in the arena that are straining for a clue as to what just happened.

Goldoh’s sword had missed Jimina’s neck and swung by harmlessly.

When Goldoh comes to, he realizes that his torso is completely unguarded.

“Tch!”

Goldoh’s face stiffens.

Seeing his opponent in such a fatally compromised posture in front of him, Jimina moves.

And then.

Jimina only slowly draws his sword.

That’s it.

Completely overlooking the opportunity presented by Goldoh’s mistake. Jimina’s movements were so slow, it was almost as if he didn’t even notice what had happened.

Goldoh quickly retreats back out of range, then glares at Jimina.

“You making light of me?”

Irritation can be heard mixed into Goldoh’s tone.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Did you see it?”

So Quinton asks Annerose in the audience seats.

“Just barely.”

So answers Annerose while fixing vulture-like eyes on Jimina.

“As expected. I couldn’t see a thing. I really thought that Undefeatable Myth’s sword had gotten Jimina’s neck.”

“It really was a timing that is normally unavoidable. But…… right before the sword hit, Jimina cracked his neck.”

There is unmistakable shock in Annerose’s voice.

“He cracked his neck? The hell does that mean?”

“He just cracked it, like normal. With a ‘koki,’ then another ‘koki.’”

So saying, Annerose also tilts her own head, demonstrating what she’s describing.

“Ok wait, that just made it even more incomprehensible.”

“I don’t get it either, alright? But the instant that he tilted his head, there was a kokisound, and Goldoh’s sword really did miss.”

“Oi oi oi, you gotta be shitting me. You saying that he tilted his head to crack his neck, which just happened to enable him to evade the sword?”

“Yes I am.”

“You pulling my leg?! Like hell such a coincidence happened!”

“What if it wasn’t a coincidence?”

Annerose’s eyes turn sharp.

“What…… are you saying?”

“He had cracked his neck at a speed that even I would have missed if I wasn’t completely focused on him. Can a normal human do something like that?”

This is the logic that a super speed neck crack that bare eyes cannot catch is normally impossible.

“Guh! You’ve a point……”

“Perhaps for him, evading the sword was merely a byproduct. He first wanted to crack his neck, but it just happened that a sword was passing by, and it just so happened that his neck evaded the sword.”

“What the fuck! Now THAT’s a true impossibility! Goldoh’s sword was fast! And you’re saying it was evaded as a byproduct?!”

“I am also feeling extremely incredulous at the moment. Maybe it really was a sheer coincidence. But if it was not a coincidence, then……”

“!! Hell if I swallow that!!”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Goldoh speaks up while still glaring at Jimina.

“You piss me off. Just now, you had let a golden chance slip right through your fingers. That was the single chance in your entire life to defeat me, but you had let it go. And yet, why do you still look so composed!”

Goldoh gnashes his teeth audibly.

“Be more wracked with regret! Wail! Struggle more, in your unsightly way! Otherwise, it would be an insult towards me.”

Jimina merely silently listens to Goldoh’s words.

“Don’t tell me, you didn’t even realize that you had an opportunity? If so, then there’s no helping it, as you are but a small fry with only a battle power of 33.”

Goldoh laughs from the back of his throat.

“To think that a small fry cast shame on me. I’ll beat you down with all I’ve got. Don’t fault me if you accidentally end up dying, alright?”

Goldoh takes up a stance with his sword, then begins accumulating magic.

The air vibrates, and a large amount of magic gathers.

Great furor rises up from the audience.

“I’ll teach you something as a souvenir to hell. My battle power is 4,300!”

With that, he once again closes and swings his sword.

“EVIL GOD・INSTANT KILL・GOLDEN DRAGON SWORD?!”

The golden flow of magic seems to be evoking the image of a golden dragon.

The golden dragon assaults Jimina.

Or so things should have proceeded.

But in actuality, after a weird ‘kshuu’ sound, the golden dragon disappears.

“Bubera!!”

(T/N: Bubera is what people in mangaka Man☆Gatarou’s works reflexively say when they are hit. Kind of like his made-up word for ‘ouch.’)

Then Goldoh flies through the air with a tailspin.

The audience falls silent.

Everyone watches on in shocked silence as Goldoh hits the ground with a splat. He does not show anymore movement after that.

“W-, winner, Jimina Sehnen!!”

So rises the victory cheer as Jimina turns around and leaves.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“To think that Goldoh Kinmekki is actually so strong……”

That is the first thing that Quinton says after the match.

After listening to Annerose, Quinton had somehow been looking down on Goldoh in his heart.

But to think that he can actually materialize his magic to such a degree.

That last attack of his had contained enough strength to easily clear the preliminaries of the Festival of the God of War.

“Turns out he is a lot more skilled than expected. If he had devoted his time to aiming higher and fighting with people stronger than himself, he might have been an even stronger magic swordsman.”

“So, what was it that Jimina did at the end?”

Annerose crosses her arms and sighs while answering.

“If I saw correctly…… he sneezed.”

“Hah?!”

“If I had to venture a guess, it’d be because the golden dragon was too bright. Jimina’s sword fell along with a sneeze, which Goldoh charged into. Thus the collision.”

(T/N: “Reflexive sneezing induced by light, and sunlight in particular, is estimated to occur in 18 to 35 percent of the population and is known as the photic sneeze reflex (PSR)……” [Scientific American])

“Wait, wait, wait, that just sounds absurd. A dragon and a sneeze clashed and the sneeze won?!”

“That’s what actually happened, so what can I do? Goldoh had mentioned a golden chance, but perhaps for Jimina it was nothing at all. Jimina could have defeated Goldoh at any moment. Thus there was no need to exploit a mistake…… no, more like, maybe in Jimina’s eyes, every single motion of Goldoh’s is exploitable……?”

Annerose shivers at her own deduction.

No way.

Indeed, this is only a mere supposition…… simply an overvaluation of Jimina’s strength.

“How retarded.”

Quinton laughs from his nose, then violently stands up.

“I’m the idiot for listening seriously. No way in hell I’d acknowledge such a ridiculous guy. If Jimina continues to win, then he’ll meet me in the finals of the prelims. I’ll unmask his true self for all to see.”

Quinton shoots a glare towards the arena that is now absent of Jimina, then stomps away.

Annerose returns to her own seat, and ruminates over Jimina’s movements.

“Can I do what he did……?”

Still staying in her seat, she cracks her neck and sneezes.

Again and again. Faster each time, and with smaller movements.

Koki, kshun, koki, kshun, koki!

“Kshun, ah……”

When she finally notices the weird looks that everyone nearby is shooting at her, she blushes to the tip of her ears and dashes away.