By Zephyria 
“Isn’t this ending too easily?”
Andreas, barely perched on his buttocks, couldn’t control his forward-leaning upper body as he blurted out. A subtle mix of regret and elation was etched on his twitching lips. As someone who had personally sparred with Ryan before, he knew better than anyone how explosive his abilities were.
However, Hugo, chin propped on his hand, merely stared intently at Leonardo at the very bottom of the arena.
The lens-shaped droplet that formed an image in front of his blue irises grew thicker and thicker. Each time, Leonardo’s figure within his view was gradually magnified.
The restraints binding his arms, the face contorted as he shouted.
Once, he had personally restrained that body himself, but now that he saw it, it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable sight, except when they were alone.
Hugo then sequentially scanned Leonardo’s teammates, who had yet to reach him.
A dry voice escaped from lips pressed down by a long finger.
“We’ll see.”
Andreas glanced sideways at the seemingly misplaced voice. He soon saw the unfamiliar expression on his colleague and superior’s face and let out a sly chuckle.
‘He must be dying of impatience.’
His concentrating blue eyes were more like an optical telescope than opera glasses. Water particles gathered around him, creating a moist, foggy atmosphere.
It was as if he was transparently confessing that there was some kind of relationship that others didn’t know about. Andreas suppressed a rising laugh and pretended not to notice, turning his gaze away.
“Ugh… why won’t this move!”
Ero, gripping the second manual lever, groaned, his whole body trembling. With magic bullets rendered useless, he had to pull his weight, but he was starting to doubt Bell’s superhuman strength, wondering how she could pull such a stiff lever in one go.
Thump―
As he struggled, a heavy footstep landed on the bridge on the third basement floor. Feeling the vibration, Ero turned his head in delight.
“Beast, help me―.”
But his complexion quickly turned pale. The opposing team’s leader, Big Boss, or Toad as his teammates called him, was striding towards him.
<Big Boss is approaching Joker!>
In his hand, he held a flail, a long iron bar connected to two chains. At the end of the chains, a spiked iron ball and a blade the size of Ero were dangling, gleaming menacingly.
<He appears to be a melee weapon user; the closer the distance, the more disadvantageous it is for Joker.>
<Joker immediately draws his pistol!>
Bang, bang, bang― Three gunshots rang out, as weak as the confidence behind them. However, the metal bullets were quickly fired. The shaft of the flail, spun with one hand, instantly deflected all three bullets.
<Ah, it’s not working at all! Ordinary firearms are useless against opponents who have made it to the preliminaries!>
<Moreover, his movements are quite agile. Big Boss is indeed worthy of being the team leader.>
The sparks from the friction quickly burned out, and the heavy steps continued through the dissipating smoke. Ero, at a loss, rolled his eyes and kept backing away. Then, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. The unmoving lever was pressing against his back.
Ero swallowed hard. Although his role was merely nominal, shouldn’t he at least act like a leader?
“Hey, Toad! Come and get me! I’ll make sure you can’t even find your bones!”
He suddenly switched his attitude and shouted boldly.
The unexpected word ‘Toad’ seemed to bother him, as the opponent’s brow twitched. But Toad, not reacting rashly, scoffed as if amused by the puppy’s provocation.
“Yeah, what can’t a dying man say?”
“What? You son of a, ―――.”
What followed was a string of profanities that were hard to repeat. Satan himself would have taken a step back from the back-alley tongue-lashing, and Toad’s eyes rolled back in his head, properly provoked.
“What? This bastard―.”
Ero, realizing he had been caught, flopped down to the ground to survive. The moment he covered his head and lowered his posture, a chilling blade, as if from a guillotine, narrowly grazed the back of his head.
Thwack!
Immediately, the lever handle and the blade collided head-on. The weapon, which had shattered the iron-reinforced wooden pillar, pierced straight through the Boulder pillar behind it. Ero, glancing sideways at the fragments scattering past his arm, confirmed the flashing blue light and jumped to his feet.
<Team Joker has released the second lock! Only one remains now!>
Toad, realizing his mistake, looked down at the prison where Ryan was bound. The double iron bars that caged the lion slid open to the left and right once more with a heavy rumble. All that remained were the Magic Stone handcuffs on his arms and the chains leading to the floor.
“Eheheh! Did you see my skills, Boss?”
Ero, bursting into a frivolous laugh, fell straight down to the floor below. At that moment, Toad, gritting his teeth, pulled the shaft and raised the blade that had returned like a boomerang. Then, he aimed the blade of the flail at the direction Ero had jumped and slammed it down in one swift motion.
Kwaaaang―!
Gillian, who had knocked out the two guys on the top bridge, looked down below. He was strongly pressing the two faces in his hands, crushing their teeth.
The two small fries, dazed by the blood-flavored deep kiss, lost consciousness and slipped from his grasp.
Sensing an unusual aura, Gillian threw the guys away and jumped off the bridge to support his teammates.
<Joker is in danger!>
“Eh?”
Ero, making a dumb sound at the commentator’s voice, turned his head in mid-air. No wonder the temperature felt so hot; wasn’t that a purple Aura covering his back, causing a terrifying ripple?
“Uwaaack!”
He was horrified, flailing his legs, which had not yet reached the ground. A shadow appeared like the wind and snatched Ero up in the blink of an eye.
<No, where did he come from? It’s Orca’s appearance, which we had forgotten!>
<Come to think of it, there were only four shadows that fell from the entrance. This team has five members, excluding the prisoner.>
<Could they have used Bell’s doll to deceive us, pretending to be a participant?>
Four streaks were drawn in the position where Ero had been a second ago. From the streaks, a hazy dust exploded upwards. As a result, the entire bridge crossing the third basement floor shook, and ominous cracks spread in all directions with a cracking sound.
“Hic―.”
Ero, watching the scene, made a shrill noise and shuddered.
Kugugugung―
Subsequently, a series of explosive sounds, like a prelude to collapse, echoed. Vibrations spread throughout the arena, and the severed bridge slowly tilted towards the center. The severed Boulders crashed down towards the lower floors in succession.
<Big Boss’s power is considerable! The high-hardness bridge is destroyed in one blow!>
<Oh, oh, Ryan is in danger if this continues―.>
There was no time to catch his breath. Ero, dangling, urgently shouted to Orca, who was holding him.
“Orca, hurry!”
“I know.”
Orca, taking out a fan from his waist and unfolding it, swung his arm once towards the falling Boulders. Then, the Ultrasound, carried by the Ether, enveloped the falling Boulders. Thanks to that, the speed was temporarily slowed down, but it was only a temporary measure.
‘Damn it.’
A huge shadow gradually loomed over Leonardo’s head, who couldn’t move.
If he was crushed by a Boulder of that size, the impact would be quite significant. Looking up, he lowered his posture, raised his arms, and put up his guard.
At the same time, Gillian, who had appeared in the middle of the bridge on the fourth basement floor, the last bastion, shouted to Beatrice, who was nowhere to be seen.
“Hurry!”
Then, he raised his head towards the first approaching Boulder and stretched out his arms.
<Is he really trying to withstand the Boulder directly?>
<Even if the speed has slowed down, the scale is by no means something one person can block―.>
The anxious voices of the commentators scattered. Nevertheless, Gillian stood firm. His sharp fangs protruded from under his lips, and his rib cage and thighs swelled greatly, as if tearing his clothes. Grrr, the growl of a beast was faintly heard, and at that moment, a heavy impact sound spread across the ground.
Thump, at the same time as the Boulder landed, Gillian’s two feet, with fur and claws sprouting, dug into the stone bridge.
<Oh my god, he’s catching it with his bare arms!>
The forces pushing from both sides collided, and the Ether’s wave spread in all directions, and the spot where he was standing was dented.
<Unbelievable, he really is Beast himself. The teamwork is considerable, someone quickly―.>
Gillian threw the Boulder he was holding to the side. Then, another falling Boulder collided and deviated from its trajectory out of the arena. Meanwhile, Beatrice, who had come down the secret stairs with Morvan, landed on the top floor. Where Leonardo was.
“Ack!”
But in her haste, the thick heel she stepped on faltered. Her ankle twisted nearly 90 degrees, and she let out a nervous scream.
Nevertheless, Beatrice, barely regaining her balance, ran towards the third lock with a venomous expression.
<Bell is approaching the last device! Ah, a defender is blocking her way―!>
A woman holding a thick book appeared in her sight. Judging by her appearance, she was a Mage who knew a few tricks.
Beatrice, annoyed, swung the umbrella, which had only iron bars left, like a sword.
“I’m almost there, don’t you dare mess with me!”
The voices of her teammates echoed from all directions. Despite their arduous struggles, Leonardo’s vision was gradually being filled with a dark shadow.
<You have to withstand the impact, Ryan! If the prisoner loses consciousness, Team Joker will be eliminated!>
Leonardo, even with his Magic Power suppressed, spread an Aura as thick as possible to protect his head. He didn’t know how long he could last, but he maximized its hardness. The spectators watching him all held their breath.
At that moment, the familiar cry of a whale was heard.
A transparent orca with its mouth wide open plunged down like lightning. In an instant, it wrapped around Leonardo’s body with a soft wave, as if protecting him.