“Hahaha! Those are no ordinary chains, you know? You’re not going to get out of those unless I let you!”

I threw in some contrived commentary to buy time for Raphtalia and Filo to finish their preparations. The audience was brimming with climactic tension. We would keep going until they had reached maximum satisfaction with the performance. Sadeena was grinning. This wasn’t the time to smile! What if they realized what was going on?!

“You’re in for a big surprise if you think these restraints will work on a girl like me!”

“Muhahaha! Go ahead and struggle all you want!”

We threw in a bit of back and forth like that, and then, finally, Raphtalia and Filo finished preparing their magic. At the very same instant, Sadeena used brute force to break free from the chains that had been restricting her, tearing them to pieces. I responded with a shriek.

“Whaaat?!”

If this had been for real, I probably would have just clicked my tongue in annoyance. Even I had to admit, the whole performance was pretty lame. But the audience seemed to really be getting into it, and they erupted into loud cheers.

“But it’s already too late! Let’s do this!”

“Let’s!”

“Okaaay!”

A huge tornado appeared. Did Filo really understand the concept of putting on a performance? I was a bit worried at first, but she’d produced a cyclone so massive that none of the Zweite Tornado spells she had cast before even came close. At first glance, it appeared to be a super, powered-up version of the magic she had been using so far. Raphtalia fired off a fake skill to go along with Filo’s magic.

“Illusion Blade!”

Immediately after she shouted the name, countless katanas appeared and began swirling around with the tornado. The whole thing was headed toward Sadeena. The katanas hit her dead-on, almost as if they were being sucked in toward her.

“Uuugggghhhhhh!”

She was putting on a real performance over there. I escaped from the chains, but the katanas landed a direct hit! That’s what she was acting out. And that scream sounded like it hurt! I almost thought she might really be in pain, but I couldn’t imagine Raphtalia actually hurting one of her fellow villagers. The tornado and katana onslaught continued for twenty or thirty seconds and then . . . stopped.

“. . .”

Sadeena was just standing there with a well-performed look of shock on her face. Several moments later, she fell backward onto the floor with a loud thud. Apparently that’s not what the spectators were expecting to see, because the whole coliseum fell silent.

“There’s no way I can win this one. I give up!”

Pretending that she had exhausted both spirit and technique, and lacked the physical strength to continue on, Sadeena admitted her defeat.

Chapter Eighteen: Exhibition Match

Chapter Eighteen: Exhibition Match

After a short pause, the audience burst into cheers.

“We win.”