This is just the start

While Sekke and Magna were having their stare off a red-haired man suddenly jumped off from the top of the arena and landed beside Julius.

Sekke and Magna stopped what they were doing and looked at the red-haired man who was casually talking with the wizard king much to the annoyance of the other magic knights.

Soon he revealed himself to be Xerx Lugner, one of Asta's teammates.

A commotion started to happen because of the stunt he pulled and soon all the focus was on the red-haired dude.

'Hm...as far as I remember he used trap magic...Well, let's see how he fares and then plan accordingly.' thought Sekke as he focused on the man as well.

"Now, now...We're all Magic Knights here, so let's get along. All right, everyone. Have you confirmed your teams?" said Julius making all the Magic Knights look around and spot their teammates.

"Is there an Adrian and Willie here?" asked Sekke as he looked around the arena.

Soon two men walked toward him, one belonging to the purple orcas while the other belonging to the green praying mantises.

"Tch looks like it's my bad luck to be paired up with a black bull and a green mantis," said Adrian the man from the purple orca.

"I am Willie, let's get along."

"I am Sekke, let's get along as well."

The fellow commoners immediately bonded leaving behind the noble from the purple orca who started fuming in rage.

The others soon found out their teammates as well seeing which Julius decided to go onto the next step.

"All right, let's head over to the main stage. Cob, I'm counting on you," said Julius as the mage named Cob nodded.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, sir!"

Soon a door appeared out of nowhere and opened revealing a spatial portal to the other magic knights.

Sekke and the rest of the magic knights soon walked through the door and saw the main stage, which consisted of a vast landscape.

"It's huge!!!" yelled Asta.

"That's what she said," replied Sekke as he looked at his fellow rookie squad mate.

"The battlefield has a wide range of different areas. Use them to display your powers to the fullest," said Julius.

"And here's the tournament chart, which we determined by lottery in advance."

A new magic display appeared above Julius's head with the chart of the tournament on it.

"Battle wins and losses won't directly affect whether you pass or fail. That being said, the more you win, the more you'll be able to show your true skills. Since you have the chance, I hope you all strive to win." said Julius.

"Hm...so I will be facing Sekke in the second round and Yuno in the finals, huh," muttered Asta.

"Or you can even lose in round one. Although I hope that you win," said Sekke as he placed his hand around Asta's neck.

"Oh! Sekke! You bet I will win the first round, so if you want to fight me win your match as well." said Asta.

Sekke smiled upon hearing Asta's response and immediately looked to his side.

"Hear that Magna-san! Even Asta believes that I will win."

"Huh! That runt dares to speak about his senpai like that!!" said Magna as he immediately glared at Asta who started making excuses.

"Alright everyone we are about to start our first match." declared Julius making the involved Magic Knights nod as they were teleported to their respective spots on the field.

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Stage-1 Match-1

Winners- Asta, Mimosa, and Xerx

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'...That was a fu*king full counter!! I need to be careful of that.' thought Sekke as he saw the three spells being reflected back at their casters without any difficulty.

"The next match is about to start, participants be ready."

Hearing the announcement Sekke looked toward his teammates who looked back at him and walked toward the spatial magic gate and were teleported to their location.

"Hm? It's a different location from the one the previous team used," commented Sekke.

He then looked toward his other team members and asked, "So, anything you both want to say? Also, tell me about your magic and any strategies that you guys have."

"...I am Adrian from purple orcas, I specialize in water magic. Don't hold me back, you commoners."

"Like I said earlier I am Willie. I specialize in Mud magic."

"Hm hm, I am the dark lord Sekke Bronzaza, I specialize in Bronze and various Debuff magic."

The two of them looked at Sekke with a questioning gaze thinking what the hell did the dark lord even mean?

But they kept the question to themselves as they knew that they didn't have much time to prepare.

Sekke smiled as he proposed an idea to them and started strategizing.

-------------------

On the other side of the field Magna, Sol, and Mimosa's brother Kirsch were talking to Asta and his team.

"Mimosa did you come to admire my beauty, my beloved little sister? Don't let my beauty cause your heart to stop," said Kirsch.

Various tic marks appeared on Mimosa's face but still, her smile never disappeared.

"I wouldn't say you're beautiful. You are so narcissistic that it's creepy. Learn a bit from Sekke-san." said Mimosa.

And immediately a shocked look appeared on Kirsch's face.

"W-What? You can't tell how beautiful I am? And who is this Sekke-san? Are you sick? Let me cure you."

"You are the one that's sick, brother. I actually want you to lose this upcoming round," said Mimosa.

"Haha, you were never good at telling jokes. Me losing... that's really a bad joke."

"Is that so...I hope Sekke-can beat you so badly that your brain starts working properly once again," said Mimosa.

"...I am hearing this name again and again, but who is this Sekke-san?"

"You remember the boy that we met when we went to the forsaken realm?"

"Yes, that not-so-ugly commoner...don't tell me I am fighting him...Haha, you believe that he can beat me? A commoner?" said Kirsch as he started laughing out loud.

And for the first time, Mimosa's ever-present smile twitched a bit in anger.

'...Sekke-san, please slaughter my Brother in this match.' thought Mimosa as she and Asta left the field.

Soon the Wizard King declared the start of the match.

"All right then, let the second match begin!!!"

"Now...let me show you how truly bea-"

Before Krisch could even finish his sentence, a mana beam appears above them immediately destroying half of the crystal.

[Bronze Creation Magic: Weapon Make- Gaster Blaster]

"What?" said Kirsch in disbelief.

"Tch, Sekke you bastard!!" cursed Magna as he recognized the attack immediately.

"Oi you two defend the crystal." declared Magna as his grimoire started flipping and a bat made out of fire appeared in his hands.

All three of them soon noticed a flying animal skull very far away from them and widened their eyes in shock.

"He attacked us from such a distance?!" said Sol as her grimoire started flipping.

[Earth Magic: Mud Wall Partition]

"Phew, that should hold them for a while," said Sol.

"So you specialize in earth attributes as well, too bad though you are late now," said Willie whose head peaked out of the wall while the rest of his body was merged with it.

The three of them nodded their heads in surprise not expecting that their opponents would already be so close to them.

[Mud Magic: Mud shot]

Various orbs made out of mud appeared around Willie and soon shot forward toward Kirsch and his team.

Magna gritted his teeth as his grimoire started flipping as well.

[Flame Creation Magic: Grand Slam]

Various fireballs shot forward and intercepted the incoming mud shots.

Kirsch's mind immediately focused on the battle once again as he flew up in the air along with the crystal.

"Hah! You left yourself open," said Adrian as he jumped out of a nearby water body.

[Water Creation Magic:climbing Coelcanth]

A huge fish made of water appeared out of the water body and rushed towards the crystal.

Kirsch who saw the spell just smiled and said, "It's true that you all took us by surprise...but that doesn't mean that we will not be able to retaliate at all."

His grimoire then started flipping as a large amount of mana spread across the field.

"You're already captives of my beautiful magic."

[Cherry Blossom Magic: Magic Cherry Blossom Storm of Petal Plus my beautiful illusion]

The whole field immediately got covered by the cherry blossoms making all the spectators look at the scene with awe.

"I cannot see anything?!" complained Adrian while Willie thought the same and hid under the ground to protect himself from any incoming attack.

"Haha, now you two. Let me lead you to the beautiful path of victory." declared Kirsch.

"Are you sure about that?"

Suddenly hearing a voice Kirsch looked up only to see his cherry blossoms. But his eyes narrowed as he felt a large amount of Mana gathering behind the wall of cherry blossoms

He turned serious and immediately moved the cherry blossoms out of his path, only to find Sekke riding on top of a giant bronze hand and rushing toward him.

"This is beautiful...but now let's heat it up a bit," said Sekke as his grimoire started flipping.

"You!!"

"Yeah! The great dark lord in person!! Now feel the power!!"

Sekke raised his hand as mana started gathering over it.

[Flame Debugf Mana Bullet: Massive Blaze Rasengan]

A huge mass of spiraling mana covered in flames appeared over Sekke's hand burning any Cherry Blossom that came his way.

"It's...It's....beautiful..." said Kirsch in a trance as he saw the huge spiraling fire Mana Bullet coming towards him.

Sekke smirked and jumped off the giant bronze hand after seeing the scene in front of him and smashed the huge Rasengan into the crystal breaking it apart in an instant.

"Hell Yeah!!!" declared Sekke as all the cherry blossoms around the field caught fire and got burnt out of existence.

"Winner: Team D!!!!" declared the announcer as Sekke landed on the ground and showed a victory sign to his squad mates who started cheering out loud.

'Heh, this is just the start.' thought Sekke as he clenched his fists.