episode_0110

The match continued with a tense atmosphere.

Magic clashed fiercely.

The two people’s speed was so fast it was difficult to follow with the naked eye, and in the empty air, only sparks from their clashes flew wildly.

The only thing visible was faint, fluttering shadows.

And, from time to time, the aftershocks hitting the audience’s barrier were all that remained.

The surroundings stirred.

“What is this? What exactly are we watching…?”

“That’s not a speed you can follow with your eyes.”

“Forget understanding the back-and-forth maneuvers every moment… I can’t even tell what movements those two are making.”

“Weren’t they students like us? Is there such a difference in skill?”

“I can feel the mana density even beyond the barrier…”

It was a match that had already far surpassed their level.

The students could not discuss the scene they were witnessing.

Because for them, even a minimal standard for comparison did not apply.

“What is that power, exactly…?”

It wasn’t just the students.

The professors were the same.

Even if the standard was set not for students but for faculty, there was something about this match that sent shivers down their spines.

It was a close battle, remaining at an incredibly high level.

“Is this situation even possible…?”

“It’s absurd.”

“Even if time has passed since his retirement, he was once called the pinnacle… to not be pushed back at all against such a veteran.”

“Tsk tsk… It’s truly like witnessing the raw talent of a monster.”

Everyone let out dazed exclamations.

It was certainly surprising.

In fact, it would be stranger if they weren’t surprised.

Everyone knew he possessed outstanding talent, but no one had ever properly measured the boy’s limits until now.

That’s because there had rarely been an occasion for him to truly display his skills.

Everyone had a similar reaction.

A settling silence.

Simply.

Awe.

The scene unfolding before their eyes transcended the realm of understanding, so the spectators had no need or desire to comprehend it.

They merely stared blankly at the [genius] who had not existed until now.

The chilling air overwhelmed the audience.

“Is that even possible…?”

“What would I know? And you were the one who said he’d put up a decent fight.”

“No, that was obviously half a joke… Besides, he’s not just putting up a fight, he’s clashing almost equally!”

“Isn’t the professor holding back?”

“Does that look like he’s holding back to you? The other professors are also bewildered and making dazed expressions.”

“Is it really a close fight…?”

“Let’s go!! The underdog bet is gonna hit!!!”

The children’s exclamations were unreserved.

Professor.

Because the name they thought could never be defeated was now showing cracks.

The heat of the arena grew hotter and hotter.

The fierce exchange, intense from the start, reached its peak, and suddenly the snake, catching his opponent from behind, slammed him into the ground.

Against the backdrop of a dull thudding sound, the professors muttered.

“Has a student ever defeated a professor in a challenge match before…?”

“Only once.”

There had been.

Exactly once.

A person who, as a student, had surpassed a professor.

“Red Sword Saint.”

A name known to have reached the highest star.

Undoubtedly, the greatest hero remaining in the Empire, and a superhuman who no one in history has surpassed.

It was a record set when he was still a sixteen-year-old boy.

“……”

The professors thought simultaneously.

Today.

History might be written once more.

《Hoo hoo.》

Dust swirled across the screen broadcast by the magic tool.

The arena, shrouded in shadows.

The boy, who had just been walking in the air, landed on the ground, his black coat fluttering.

And then, with a wry smile on his lips, he asked.

《Do you perhaps intend to continue?》

His narrowed eyes smiled ominously.

***

Faculty Challenge Match.

Originally, I had intended to pass over it lightly.

Because I knew that causing a commotion in a place like this would only attract unnecessary attention.

I thought there was no need to deliberately create more trouble.

However.

-What can you possibly do with mere illusion magic?

Selena, who was being mocked in front of the students.

That moment did not sit well with me.

She was someone who had helped me in various ways… and I inexplicably felt a surge of anger and a desire to step in.

Though the person herself didn’t seem to mind.

She was someone I personally felt fondness for.

Because it was as if I was looking at myself.

More accurately, a version of myself from a time so distant I could no longer remember it clearly.

Perhaps it was a form of reminiscence.

‘Whatever the reason.’

I intended to return as much as my opponent had provoked.

Even if it was merely a formal relationship, he had sullied my teacher’s name.

As a disciple, it was only right to return the favor with revenge.

Yes.

Just like now.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Professor Cadell writhed, kneeling.

Groans were mixed with his breathing.

With my coat fluttering, I asked.

“Do you perhaps intend to continue?”

“……”

My opponent could not give an answer for a while.

Was it due to the lingering impact on his body?

Or was he wavering at the fact that he was pushed back by a mere student?

I surmised it might be both.

“Haa…”

After a brief moment of regaining his breath.

The professor collected himself.

He suddenly raised his bowed head.

Though the young man was still just as confused, he did not easily lose his composure.

As expected of a veteran, his adaptation to the situation was quick.

The professor brushed dust from his collar.

A demeanor of regained composure.

The relaxed look in his eyes was now replaced by a chilling aura.

It seemed he had recognized the difference in level.

“……I admit it.”

Cadell spoke abruptly.

Terrifying masses of mana swirled around him.

His pupils stared squarely at me.

“I never imagined I’d be pushed back this far… I seem to have greatly underestimated you, student.”

“I’m merely pleased that you realize it now.”

“My reputation as a professor is in shambles. I intended to show an overwhelming difference in skill, but instead, I may have only raised questions about my own qualifications.”

The air settled with an unusual stillness.

As if on the eve of a terrible storm.

In the precarious prelude that followed, the professor once again took his stance.

This time, mana erupted from his entire body.

“I have already as good as lost.”

“Hmm?”

“From the moment I was pushed back by a student, I, as a professor, have already lost. However, since things have come to this, I will do my best to utterly crush you.”

“How truly exciting.”

“I will go all out for this last move.”

“Anytime.”

The professor brought his two hands together neatly.

Following this, the mana began to resonate.

A spell of incomparably higher density than before began to fill the arena.

The adult’s pupils gleamed with unparalleled cruelty.

Rumble rumble rumble-!

Soon after, the arena began to tremble.

Unknown rupturing sounds erupted in the air.

A tension that felt as though it could cut consumed the area.

The students, who had been exchanging opinions, fell silent, and the professors, who had been dazed, rose from their seats in alarm.

Truly overwhelming power.

‘Is it coming?’

I knew.

This was a premonition.

A premonition of a great disaster.

“I’ll try to adjust it so you don’t get hurt.”

Crack-!

The professor clapped his hands heavily.

Immediately after.

Waves began to rise from the ground he stood upon.

It was a tidal wave large enough to engulf the entire arena.

It filled the circular space formed by the barrier, and the tips of the foam surged up to a height of nearly 50 meters.

It was the ultimate skill of a man whose destructive power was counted among the best even in the original story.

-Cadell Style Ocean Magic Secret Art-

‘Red Sea’

Waves so immense that no one dared even look up at them.

Even those watching fell into confusion.

Screams expressing concern for the match echoed from all directions.

Even amidst that, the calm professor’s pupils remained serene.

Only his slightly parted lips gleamed amidst the disaster, and the imminent destruction prepared to swallow everything around it.

Only a short incantation remained.

“Oh, sea.”

Cadell commanded as if squeezing out his last ounce of strength.

“Wash away the blood.”

At the same time, the color of the waves turned crimson.

As if soaked with copious blood.

The crimson tidal wave poured down, following the concluding incantation.

Beyond the barrier, the students’ shouts flickered.

-What, what is that! Shouldn’t that be stopped…?!

-How are we supposed to stop something like that?!

-If you’re swept away, you’ll die! You have to declare surrender now!

-It’s already too late because of the barrier…!

The situation unfolded urgently.

Everyone seemed flustered.

Indeed, as it was likely their first time witnessing such a potent spell, the children instinctively screamed.

A typical student would have lost consciousness by now.

Because it was literally a situation where they were being crushed by mana.

“Hoo hoo.”

However.

I did not retreat.

Instead, I stepped forward.

A deep smile spread across my lips.

Even though dark shadows completely enveloped the wide arena, I advanced with fearless steps towards the crashing foam.

At my fingertips, a lie darker than ever before swirled.

“Oh, sea, hear the call.”

I recited the incantation.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

And the Lord said to me, “Why do you cry to Me? Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. The sins shall go into the midst of the sea on dry land.”

And when I stretched out my hand over the sea, the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.

“Thus I proclaim to the false believers.”

Lies swirled around me.

In my hand was a staff woven from shadows.

I slammed the staff I had held high down onto the ground.

Slam-!

“Be broken.”

The concluding phrase.

Immediately after.

The shadow of the tidal wave that had obscured the sky vanished.

The waves, which had threatened to engulf the arena, lost their power, and the Red Sea, now calmly subsided, parted to both sides, revealing a path.

It was a scene truly close to a miracle, defying the laws of nature.

“……”

Everyone was spellbound.

The sea, parted as if by a lie.

It was an incomprehensible sight, as if they had fallen to the boundary of a dream.

However, the foolish lambs could not tear their eyes away.

Click-clack-.

The distinct sound of shoes clicking, whispering in their ears.

I walked through the gap where the tidal wave had parted.

As I traversed through the obedient disaster, my gaze met that of the young man staggering at its end.

He stood there, utterly exhausted.

“Haa, haa…”

Cadell, unable to even breathe comfortably.

It seemed he had suffered mana exhaustion.

His eyes, which had been full of vigor before the match, now held a bewildered and vacant air, as if he couldn’t believe what had happened.

The professor seemed to part his stiff lips, then muttered.

“Th-this… monster, like…”

Thump-.

The young man collapsed, unable to speak further.

His consciousness had already flown away.

“Hmm~ I wonder if I won?”

I questioned the device illuminating the arena.

On the giant screen, only the snake’s smile was being broadcast.

“How about it?”

A brief silence.

And then, the voice of the announcer, who belatedly grasped the situation and made the declaration.

It was the announcement signaling the end of the match.

《Th-the match has ended…!》

《Professor Cadell Evans has withdrawn. The winner is Head Assistant Juda Snakers!》

The students, all with shocked expressions.

Their reactions gradually changed.

From fear to shock, from shock to amazement, and from amazement to fervent cheers.

Just before such thunderous shouts erupted.

The first sound to echo through the arena was a single cry.

-The underdog bet hit!! 200 times the payout!!!

A student danced, waving their betting slip.

Behind such cheers, applause began to pour forth from the entire audience.

Whoaahhh-!!

“Ahem.”

Red Sword Saint.

It was a momentous event, the first time a student had overwhelmed a professor since the achievements set by the hero who represented the Empire.

The snake stood as a part of history, with his characteristic mischievous smile.