Isekai Adventure in the Dimensional Cube

As the name suggests, the "Combat Festival" refers to a festival of combat.

This is a tradition passed down by the Franzel family for nearly two hundred years.

Originally, it was an annual festival program meant to verify the growth of family descendants, and motivate the younger generations to continuously improve themselves, but over time, this festival gradually became a ritual for the Franzel family to resolve internal conflicts.

Whenever there were significant disagreements or irreconcilable conflicts among important family members, the Franzel family would hold this festival.

At that time, the winner could make any demand within their ability from the loser.

"I see."

In the room, after hearing the whole story and the general situation, Reiger nodded.

"So, you and your father have decided to resolve your differences through this festival?"

Reiger understood Yuri's meaning.

"Sort of," Yuri said noncommittally, "Although the tradition of the Combat Festival had disappeared for decades and during these years, our Franzel family had not held such a festival, my father sees everything from the family's past as the highest standard to be pursued. It's not strange for him to restore the family tradition."

At the council hall, the reason everyone's faces changed when Eredman mentioned the Combat Festival was not due to shock, but because they truly did not expect this man to bring up a family tradition that had not appeared for decades at such a time.

In some respects, Eredman was indeed a frustrating person, not only causing disunity among family members for the sake of the family's greater good, but also obsessively trying to restore all the past deeds of the family, which already felt somewhat pathological.

In any case, Yuri herself completely disdained such so-called family traditions.

Eredman still thought that he could use the results of the Combat Festival to make Yuri compromise, little did he know, Yuri had never thought about such things.

But, that did not stop Yuri from having some other thoughts.

"I am putting it aside for the moment, but my father is a man who values family honor above all, and if he were defeated in the Combat Festival, he would certainly adhere to family tradition and, in the role of the defeated party, accept my demands,"

For this reason, Yuri decided to participate in the Combat Festival.

"What do you plan to make your father do?"

Reiger was somewhat curious.

"I want him to bring back my mother and sister," Yuri said coldly, "whether he needs to kneel and apologize or humiliate himself to gain sympathy. He must beg them to come back."

Hearing this, Reiger could fully imagine how miserable Eredman would be at that time.

The man was known to have a strong sense of self-respect and valued family honor highly, so to have him admit his wrongs to the wife and daughter he had once driven away and beg them to return, it would definitely be more painful than killing him.

Yuri Franzel, this woman indeed held deep grudges, having taken her revenge on the Basoro Family and the major powers of the capital, and now she was about to start taking revenge on her own father.

Terrifying.

Of course, as for Reiger himself, he definitely did not mind.

Since Yuri had needs and requests, he would naturally help if he could.

"How will this Combat Festival be conducted?" Reiger asked this question, saying, "Since it's named after 'combat,' fighting must be its main theme, right?"

"Yes," Yuri affirmed Reiger's words and began to explain.

The victory of the Combat Festival was determined by three one-on-one direct confrontations.

Both sides would send three people into the arena, among which one had to be the person proposing the Combat Festival confrontation. The other two could be chosen from outside, whether they were one's own attendants or other external aids, it was all permissible.

However, in these three confrontations, there were specific restrictions for the first two matches.

In the first match, both sides could only send a Swordsman.

In the second match, both sides could only send a Magician.

In the third match, there were no restrictions, and the last person could go directly into combat.

The final result was based on the best of three rounds; the person who won two rounds first would be the victor of the Combat Festival.

Having understood the rules, Reiger also finally understood why Yuri was seeking his help.

"Because I am both a Swordsman and a Magician, able to participate in any duel at any time, you need me, right?"

Reiger muttered to himself.

"More precisely, you are a strong Swordsman and an excellent Magician, so I need you,"

Yuri chuckled softly, making this addition.

In order to possibly secure victory in the Combat Festival, Yuri needed Reiger as a trump card for her side.

With the capabilities that Reiger had displayed, his chances of winning were very high in any match, especially in the third match, where Reiger's dual expertise in swordsmanship and magic was unparalleled.

At that time, regardless of whether Eredman's side sent a Swordsman or a Magician, Reiger had a great chance of winning.

At least, in Yuri's view, as long as Eredman's side did not send out a Sword Saint, Reiger would likely be victorious.

Could Eredman manage to bring a Sword Saint to assist him?

The answer was, of course, no.

The Franzel family had only revived in these past few years and, although they were now Marquises, they were equivalent to the newly emergent nobility when compared to those Marquis families that had existed for dozens or even hundreds of years—they simply did not have the same depth of heritage.

In the Franzel household, they had managed to recruit a few Swordsmen, but a Sword Saint, a being of such stature, was out of the question; the kind of existence that would only serve the royals and the Duke families, or was themselves a major noble, was not at Franzel's beck and call.

If it was just about inviting someone to attend a ceremony to enjoy the festivities and make an appearance, Yuri could manage that. But asking them to step forward and fight was unlikely.

Even Yuri faced such limitations, so Eredman was out of the question; he simply could not bring a Sword Saint to aid him.

Without a Sword Saint fighting, in Yuri's view, Reiger's chances of victory were significant.

Under such circumstances, Yuri wanted Reiger to step forward, to hold their ground and be prepared to enter the third match, securing the final victory.

"I'll participate in the second match, and my father is likely to do the same,"

Yuri told Reiger.

Both Yuri and Eredman were Magicians; they would either act in the second or third match.

To avoid losing two consecutive matches and directly handing victory to the opponent, Yuri had to act in the second match. Even if they lost the first match, it wouldn't mean an outright defeat.

Yuri was certain that Eredman shared the same concerns and thoughts.

Therefore, this father-daughter duo facing each other in the second match was almost a certainty.

"Can you defeat your father?"

Reiger, frowning, still posed the question.

There was no way around it; in this kind of head-to-head duel, neither Tactical Level Magic nor Strategic Level Magic could be used, nor could they even be deployed.

Their preparation time was too long, utterly impractical in the rapidly changing dynamics of a one-on-one duel.

If it were Reiger, that wouldn't be a problem.

After all, he could use simultaneous chant magic, even while in the midst of combat, so he didn't have to worry too much about not being able to release magic due to excessively long incantations.

Yuri, on the other hand, was not capable of this.

Or rather, people in this world were not capable of it.

Simultaneous chanting required a tranquil mind to calmly, stably handle mental processes, utilizing skills akin to multitasking, fighting while chanting magic on the side.

But magic in this world wasn't much related to spiritual power, nor did the Magicians of this world possess close-combat capabilities; against external enemies, they relied on Attendants to fend off adversaries, striving for time to chant, thus freely manipulating the magic stored in the "Gate," allowing the magic to transmute while being released, forming formulas, and eventually manifesting as spells.

Thus, the technique of simultaneous chanting wasn't suitable for the Magicians of this world who could only use rapidly deployed combat-level spells in swiftly changing battles, leaving no room for Tactical Level Magic or Strategic Level Magic whatsoever.

Although Yuri was a Strategic Level Magician, whether she could beat her father with only Combat Level Magic in the absence of Tactical Level Magic and Strategic Level Magic was truly an unknown factor.

Fortunately, Reiger was worrying needlessly.

"What do you think I've been doing since becoming a Strategic Level Magician?" Yuri looked at Reiger with annoyance, then confidently smiled, "If it were two years ago, just after I'd become a Strategic Level Magician, the outcome would indeed be hard to predict, but now..."

The rest of the sentence didn't need to be spoken; Reiger understood.

Indeed, with Yuri's attitude of skepticism towards a Strategic Level Magician's identity, constantly reminding herself and Reiger not to be complacent, she must have devoted significant effort to mastering Combat Level Magic after becoming a Strategic Level Magician.

Especially with Decomposition Magic—its lethality almost terrifying—Yuri treated it as her specialty. Once deployed, any object would be reduced to nothingness. With such magic, what could Eredman possibly counter with?

"With the two of us here, victory in this War Festival will definitely belong to us,"

Yuri was that confident.

However, Reiger was not as optimistic as Yuri.

The reason was simple.

"That Swordsman who followed behind your father earlier, will he also make a move?"

Reiger scrutinized Yuri.

"Him?" Yuri was momentarily stunned, then surprisingly shook her head, uncertainly saying, "I'm not sure, maybe?"

"How so?" Reiger questioned, "Don't you recognize that person?"

"I don't," Yuri stated frankly, "I had never seen that person before this; he must be a Swordsman recently taken in as an Attendant by my father."

With that said, it was no surprise that Yuri thought victory for her side was certain.

She was utterly unaware that it was the Swordsman who was the truly formidable adversary.

However, a hint of a smile tugged at Reiger's lips.

The opportunity for a confrontation had arrived, hadn't it?