“And now… for our special, hidden, main event of the evening!” The announcer voiced to the raucous crowd.

“It’s not too late to back out now, you know.” Leresa spoke to me in the tunnel. The two of them had returned, only for Rexir to still be comforting his sister as she sat on his lap. He was also trying to silently placate his brother, who had been released from the void prison following their match.

Leresa, the less busy of the two, was currently speaking for them. “If you are against it, I’m sure Rexir and I could find a way to convince his father to drop it.”

“That’s great.” I said “If we could avoid placing undue suspicion on us, then-”

“Of course we’ll help you!” Vanessa cut in, as she swung her arms around me. “How could we just leave the people who helped us for so long,” she dug her knuckles into me at that point, “to fend for themselves?”

“I am for it as well.” Hazeel said, and threw an arm around Leresa. “The sooner we can get permission from your father to leave, the sooner we can get Eina out of here and into your world.”

My mind thought back to the aftermath of the moon elf summoning the Dimension Eater. Hazeel had thought it too dangerous for both other people and herself for Eina to be awake, so, with the assistance of a local sedative, we had put her to sleep. She was now resting in my dimension storage, since Hazeel didn’t yet have the confidence to use her own.

I turned my gaze from Leresa to Hazeel’s pleading eyes, and sighed. “Fine. But if shit somehow hits the fan, I’m not hesitating to pull us out of here, no matter your opinions on the matter.”

The three of them nodded, and Hazeel let go of Leresa. Vanessa let go of me as well, instead, deciding to follow behind me as I walked out of the tunnel and into the arena.

“His opponent!” I heard, apparently already having missed who I would be fighting against. “Hailing from parts unknown, Leon!”

There was a slathering of murmurs from the crowd, who had absolutely no idea who I was, or why I was in the special main event. Not that I could understand that either.

We had decided to use the name I chose when I was first hiding my identity from the Clairbornes, and the name I had used when I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible from thereon out.

“So, you’re the one who’s led my son astray?” A voice called out from the opposite side of the field, and I turned my gaze from the crowd to him.

He was decked out in full scarlet armor, with matching greaves and gauntlets. An open-faced helmet with two dragon-like horns sat on his head, and sharp, red eyes peered out from underneath.

“Rexir’s father, Emperor Minami I presume?” Hazeel and Vanessa each grabbed one of my hands as I stared down the most powerful man on the continent.

“You would be correct.” He said, placing a hand on his hip. “To think the person who changed Rexir would turn out to be a man in the end… fate does like to play its tricks, does it not?”

I smirked at the ‘Harem Prince,’ that Rexir’s father was implying he was. “Truth be told, I was quite surprised to find a talent like him here as well, but as you said, ‘fate does like to play its tricks.”

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“Indeed.” Emperor Minami spoke, nodding sagely to himself.

“So, is it safe to say that you’re my opponent?” I asked, but the emperor merely laughed off the accusation.

“Truth-be-told, I was going to be. However, someone else has shown up that appears to be chomping more at the bit than I was.” He motioned to the right of him, and I felt the familiar sensation of photons being pulled from the atmosphere as a void portal was opened.

“Leo…” Vanessa muttered behind me, no doubt feeling the photon signature that was coming through the void as well. “It’s unfamiliar.” She whispered, indeed confirming my suspicions that a new adversary was upon us.

A woman stepped through the void, dressed from head to toe in black. Baggy pants hid her legs’ shape, but a tight, cropped shirt exposed her ripped six-pack. A large assault rifle hung from her arm on a strap.

Sitting above that was quite a moderately sized chest… I winced as Vanessa pinched and twisted my arm. “You’re staring.” She replied with a pout.

“Sorry.” I said as I moved my gaze up to her face, which was obscured by a tactical full-face mask. Long, black hair hung loosely behind her.

“Leo, she’s from our world, isn’t she?” Vanessa let go of my arm and whispered into my ear. I nodded, and stood up straight.

“And to what do we owe the pleasure of having our opponent changed before the fight?” I said loudly, directed at the mystery woman.

Instead of answering, she charged in, her feet seeming to glide on the air as she moved. Constant small-scale teleportation? Shit, they really didn’t want to take any chances with our assassin.

“Hazeel, Dantae!” I shouted, and the two women began their chants at my side. After replying with the Hunter’s Oath, and kissing both of their hands, the two’s existences folded into weapons within a fraction of a second.

I took one in each arm, and, despite the crazy difference in size of Morning Glory, and Hazeel’s still unnamed buster sword, the two felt as though they weighed the same in my hands.

I’ll focus on locking down her photon usage. Vanessa, you focus on defense, and Hazeel, go on the offensive.

‘Of course, Leo.’ Vanessa said

‘I wouldn’t have it any other way!’ Hazeel said excitedly in my head.

The mystery assailant swung her rifle around to the front, and fired a volley at me. I charged forward as the assailant opened a portal in front of her bullets, no doubt wanting to use the same trick on me that Leresa had used on Zare.

When they reappeared behind me, I didn’t even have to turn around to sense that Vanessa had opened another portal, and the bullets flew through that one instead of through my body.

That stopped the woman in her tracks, and photons began to gather underneath me. I countered by trying to manipulate the same ones, and effectively cancelled out each other’s commands.

She raised her gun again, but the initial volley she shot crashed into her gun, knocking it off her strap and into a waiting portal below. I was about five feet from her, and in range to strike with Hazeel.

At this moment, I negated her floating spell, and she fell to the ground, seemingly stunned. I swung Hazeel down in an arc, looking to end things there.

‘Don’t kill her! We could use the information!’ Vanessa shouted in my mind. It took all I had to switch to the flat of the blade before it drove into her stomach, and left her in a crater in the ground.

‘That was way too close. You almost killed her.’ Vanessa complained, but I simply shrugged.

I don’t know, it was kind of anticlimactic. Nice teamwork Hazeel, Vanessa. I let go of them, and they remained floating behind me, using the same constant teleportation technique that the woman had shown earlier.

I knelt by the fallen woman, and ignored the loud cheers from those around me. I grabbed her mask, and ripped it off in one motion.

“Who are you?” I asked myself, stupefied as the black hair came away with the mask, revealing an unconscious woman with a blond pixie cut underneath.