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By the time everything settled down, the arena was in shambles. Luckily, a powerful barrier created by all IMF staff present protected the audience and the rest of the stadium from damage. I looked around at all the destruction I caused and scratched my head.

"Ah… not using that again."

Peng Yao's body was nowhere to be seen. It had literally gotten disintegrated, vaporized on an atomic level. I had wanted to get some information out of him, but… too bad, I suppose.

"U-Uh… the winner is Xuan Kai! By a mile!" the announcer frantically declared, dutifully sticking to his job. Just kidding, he just didn't want to help the other IMF staff clean up my mess.

I headed off the stage nonchalantly, the gaze of thousands following me. No doubt, they were all seeing me as some kind of monster. So much for staying inconspicuous and not attracting any attention to myself.

When I got back to the room the girls were in, they all looked at me with awkward smiles on their faces.

"Before you say anything, just listen — I wasn't thinking ahead. I thought I would be able to absorb it, but like, clearly that didn't work. So, uh, in a panic, I used Chaos Mirror."

"Master, good work," Mei Gui said with a serious expression. "You finally showed them your power."

"Unintentionally, yeah…" I muttered, sitting down in a chair and sighing. "I just attracted the attention of anyone and everyone who was there just now. And since my real name was used here, they know my identity. This is definitely going to spell trouble later down the line… I can feel it."

"Y-Yeah… you think?" Feng Mian giggled. "I could see the 'oh crap' expression on your face after the fact on the screen, even beneath your mask. That was hilarious."

"Had the IMF staff not been there, we would've died too," Yu An Yan sighed, shaking her head. "Being around you is really seeking death. But hey, I've already gone down the deep end."

I took off my mask and stuffed it into my cloak pocket. "Yeah, uh… my bad."

"Sometimes, too much power is a problem in and of itself, right?" Xiang Peng laughed. "Oh, how I wish I could say that about myself someday."

"Still… that was one hell of an explosion. I wonder if they can fix it for the next match," Lan Xiao Su murmured.

"Time Magic exists," Obsidia said briskly.

As if on cue, displayed on the screen, the arena was being pieced back together one step after another, as if all the damage was literally being reversed and mitigated.

"Hm. Well, that works," I murmured, nodding in amusement. "It would be nice if I had an expert in Time Magic by my side. That way, they can reverse any accidental damage I cause."

"Worry not, Master. I can fulfill any role you wish," Mei Gui saluted confidently. "Even as a nighttime mai-"

"Well, well, well… the next match is about to begin, so shall we watch?" Feng Mian interrupted, an innocent smile on her face, before Mei Gui could finish her sentence.

Mei Gui sent her a look of disdain but didn't say anything further.

However, then, we heard three knocks on our door.

"X-Xuan Kai… the judges wish to speak to you."

"… I see," I stood up and headed for the door.

The girls looked at me in worry, but I waved off their concerns and slipped on my mask once again as I walked through the door.

*****

"I believe you have a good idea of what the judges are going to ask you," the man from the IMF said as we walked down the pitch-black hallway.

"Yeah. What else can it be?" I chuckled.

"I would just like to advise you to answer… truthfully."

"Of course."

We stopped as the walls suddenly slid open, revealing a lighted hallway for me to go through. It was bright yellow, and seemed to lead down, below the ground.

"Just go down there — you'll find them."

Without any hesitation, I did as told. The opaque black walls slid back close behind me as I stepped through, and I glanced back for a brief moment before returning to walking normally, descending down the brightly illuminated staircase.

When I finally arrived at the bottom, I found myself looking at three people - a male elf, a succubus, and a male human.

"Welcome. We are the judges of this year's — and every year's — tournament to enter Fragment," the elf said. "My name is Tarron."

"I'm Fyrsea, heya~" the succubus smiled seductively.

"And I am Wen Ke Yuan," the human concluded. "Time is short for the both of us before the next match begins, so I will keep this brief."

He crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, staring deep into my eyes.

"… How did you do that?"

Before I could even speak, the elf interrupted.

"Do not try to lie or play dumb. You know exactly what we are talking about."

I smiled calmly. "I never had the intention to."

"Glad to see we are on the same page," Wen Ke Yuan said. "Now then, if you will?"

I noticed Frysea's eyes have a pink glint in them as she stared silently into mine, though I quickly averted my gaze from her.

Trying to read my mind? Hmph. Luckily, I prepared for this beforehand, and cast the Level Two Psychic Element spell, Mind Block, on myself. Pair that with my Chaos amplification abilities, and even a Holy Emperor won't be able to see what I was thinking. I knew to do this after meeting Aluna.

I cleared my throat. "The massive damage I did back there was due to an artifact I have. Well, had."

Wen Ke Yuan raised an eyebrow, prompting me to go on.

"It's called the Mirror of Reflections, something a deceased relative of mine passed down to me. Unfortunately, it's a one-time-use artifact, so now it's gone."

"The Mirror of Reflections… I've never heard of such a thing," Wen Ke Yuan murmured, then turned to his fellow judges. "Have you?"

Frysea and Tarron both shook their heads.

"That's probably because it's a family artifact, passed down from generation to generation. It was meant to be used only in emergency situations, on the brink of death, for example, just like I was back there. Since my family's always been in a 'safe' city, more or less, there was never really a need to use this."

I sighed, acting disappointed, then continued.

"Honestly, over the years, it's become more of an ornament of pride and honor rather than a real Magic Artifact."

"Can you tell us about the abilities of this 'Mirror of Reflections?'" Tarron asked.

I nodded. "Well, all I was told by my deceased father was that this mirror could reflect any attack directed at me. I had no idea it also made the attack more powerful and a… weird color scheme."

"The color scheme was black and red, if I recall correctly," Frysea said. "In the battle, prior to using that artifact, your spells were still of the same color."

I shrugged. "Maybe that's a side effect of having the Magic Artifact on me. Either that, or it's just a genetics thing. I mean, my father also had black and red magic."

"…" the three judges turned to each other and began murmuring amongst themselves, far too quietly for me to hear. 

I couldn't be sure if they were convinced by my utter bullshitting or not, and I didn't dare to try and eavesdrop lest they caught me.

"You may return," Wen Ke Yuan said after they were finished discussing with one another. "The next match is about to begin, I trust you will want to gather some intel on your future opponents."

On the surface, I kept a neutral expression, but deep down, I smiled. "Thanks. That's all, right?"

He nodded. "That is all."

"And, uh… it still counts as my win, right?"

Tarron sighed and rubbed his nose bridge in exasperation. "Yes… it does. Now, go back. We have a match to judge."

"Right, my bad," I murmured, quickly turning away and exiting the way I come from, up the staircase.

I purposely added that last bit to make myself seem as transparent and simple-minded as possible. That way, they wouldn't be suspicious of me lying. All in all, I think my bullshit worked. The three judges seemed utterly convinced.

When I arrived at the top of the stairs, the walls automatically slid open. The IMF staff was waiting on the other side.

"All done?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I see. Follow me, I will lead you back."

"Uh… sure."

The hallway was literally just a hallway, leading straight back to our room. This meant it was physically impossible to get lost, but since he offered so kindly… might as well, I guess.

When I returned to my room, I once again scanned it for any sign of cameras or sound-monitoring devices. There weren't any. When I first entered this room, I had discretely put up a sound barrier using Sound Magic as well, just to be safe, so there was zero chance of them exposing me.

Besides, if they did hear everything I've said so far in this room, they would've shown it back down there, when they were talking to me. I was fully convinced they bought my lie.

Well, in any case… it looks like I managed to bullshit my way through yet another troublesome situation. The ability to come up with logical lies on the spot was truly a powerful one.