episode_0030

“Okay! Take it! Oh-hohohoho!”

As soon as the action began, Celdiane swung her fan, and a brilliantly shining golden spear was born around her.

A unique technique of the Elkonja family. Crystal magic.

It was an advanced magic that could be used for both offense and defense, and could produce various structures in the air using magical power.

Seldianne began to indiscriminately rain down long-range bombardments from her golden spear on me, using the abundant magical power characteristic of a noble.

Go go go go go go go go!

“Oh-hohohoho!”

Every time she waved the fan, dozens of golden spears were born and rained down on my head.

I ran around Celdianne with all my might, running away from the golden shower that was chasing me closely behind.

“Black Shadow Armor.”

The black magic that rose from my body as I ran like the wind transformed into a bandage and wrapped around my entire body.

This is the vision of the East that I learned from Heidiera.

It was Heidiera, who had the same shadow-type magic as me, who taught me a precious magic that was only passed down in her family.

The shadow that wrapped around his body greatly increased his physical abilities, and he could absorb shock from the outside and return it to the desired location.

In short, from now on, the right thing to do is the right thing to do.

“Wow!”

Kwajik!

I flew towards the golden shower with the same momentum I had been running, the hem of my shadow fluttering like a cloak.

The crystal structures that collided with the black magic armor shattered into pieces and were replaced by my energy.

“Haaat!”

I raised the longsword with both hands in the air, gathered the magical power along with the shock I had just received into the tip of the sword, and fired the sword technique I had learned from Senior Perjena – Slashing Slash – at Seldianne.

Ppaang!

A huge black aura rushed towards the Seldiane on the ground, and an explosion occurred.

After landing on the ground, I ran around my opponent without stopping and threw a lightning strike.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the explosion of black magic, dust rose up, making it impossible to confirm the opponent’s movements.

However, even I, a beginner, could tell that Seldianne was not a great person who would be affected by something like this.

“Oh-hohohoho! That’s great! I’m getting excited!”

Quaaa!

The black shards of sword energy and dust that were fluttering were pushed away by the gust of wind that rose from the center, and Celdianne was revealed floating between the golden hexagonal structures in the center.

Floating around her was a high-density crystal whose surface split into endlessly small pieces, a fractal shield, an automatic interception technique responsible for Celdiane’s incredible defensive power.

“Let’s wrap up the greetings here and let’s dance together!”

Phew!

Seldianne, with her golden crystals spread out like wings behind her shoulders, flew towards me with magical acceleration.

“How about a waltz?!”

Her rapier accelerated with golden magic and extended its thrust at high speed.

At the same time, the crystal swords born around me poured down on me simultaneously as if they were being directed by Seldianne’s movements.

Kagagagagagagagagak!

“Huh!”

I swung my longsword and tried to parry the fiercely pouring stabs, but the number of movements themselves was so different that the attacks struck the black armor without me being able to react.

The Shadow Armor did protect my body, but it was ultimately also classified as magic, so I had to expend my magic power to counteract the opponent’s magic.

If I were to block all the attacks that Celdiane was pushing with high magical power with my body, it was only natural that I would be the first to lose strength.

“Oh-hohohoho! Your dancing is so bad!”

Go go go go go go!

Celdianne was so excited that she stabbed me all over my body with a bunch of rapiers.

“Oh, really!”

I gave up my defense a bit and held the longsword in one hand, slamming the black magic I had gathered into my hand into the ground.

This is a basic technique of shadow magic that I have been learning for a long time.

Also known as ink bomb.

pop!

“ho… ?!”

Acrid black smoke burst from the floor, filling the stage and blocking the view.

I shot a long shadow running across the floor in that gap, changing its point and position.

Snake Shadow, a movement magic learned from Heidiera.

“Stop playing childish games! Come here and lick my lady’s feet!”

Boohoo!

Celdianne created a giant pinwheel above her head with a golden crystal and blew black smoke into the sky.

“Do you really want that?”

I got down on one knee, took a breath, and accelerated the circuit to its limit, sending magical energy coursing through my body at high speed.

“There will be no more complaints later.”

Tukan!

The pitch-black aura that emerged from my body weighed down the air.

A physical strengthening magic learned from Senior Perjena: Iron Blood Descendant.

This was a strong body technique developed by Senior Perzena, who had little natural magical power, in order to pursue extreme efficiency.

As it is a magic optimized for Senior Perjena, who is a steel-type magician, I think the reproducibility is not even half that of her, but the driving force that helped her rise to 2nd place in the Academy rankings with only swordsmanship has now descended upon me.

“Oh-hohohoho! You’re finally getting your act together, you lowly commoner! Of course, you won’t be able to even reach the lady’s toes!”

Seldianne laughed happily as she rose into the air with her Fractal Shield and Rapier Meteorite.

“You have to stick your tongue out to find out!”

Phew!

I burst through the ground and rushed towards the Celdiane in the sky.

Iron Blood and Steel and Black Armor. Using both magic to strengthen the inside and outside of the body is an unsophisticated way of using up magical power twice as fast, but the synergy effect between them also doubles athletic ability.

“Eww!”

I collided with Celdiane in the air and swung my Lightning Strike wildly over her defensive barrier.

Go go go go!

However, it was difficult to break through. The fractal shield, which constantly regenerated and split from the inside based on her magic power, could not be broken through by just eating away at the outer surface.

“Common people, please cultivate the land like common people! Hohoho!”

As Celdiane waved her fan downward, a huge structure formed in the sky and fell down on her head.

A hexagonal lump of crystal that looks like it was pulled out of a building’s pillars and thrown.

It was a hexagon blast, a reckless mass attack.

“Wow!”

thud!

I was trapped between the falling pillar and the floor, burrowing into the dirt and flattening like a frog.

If it weren’t for the black armor, it would have really turned into a dumpling skin.

“Ugh… Are you bragging about having a lot of magic power?”

Kagang!

After lifting the pillar with my strength and breaking it with a lightning strike, I ran across the ground to avoid the hexagonal pillars pouring down as if they were going to fill the platform floor.

“Gap!”

There was a slight gap between each pillar, so I dug through them and used the pillars as a stepping stone to rush towards Seldiane again.

“It was fun to see you bowing your head to the ground!”

“You have bad taste, you!”

“Oh-hohohoho!”

Despite the annoyed rebuke, Celdianne smiled cheerfully and clashed swords with me.

Tukakakakakakaka!

The slash of the sword, the rapier meteor shower, and the rain of sword energy scattered countless shockwaves in the air.

“Now, something hotter is coming! Let’s spit out every bit of the growth we’ve had so far!”

Kang!

I was thrown backwards by the powerful stab that Celdiane delivered with her rapier, which she had fitted with a crystal.

“Sigh!”

I created a platform in the air with my shadow and charged at her again like a water spring.

The lightness technique that Haidiella taught me – the flying swallow’s wide stride.

Using that technique, I changed direction every time I was hit by Seldianne’s attack, and I flew around her in all directions, raining down lightning strikes.

“Eww!”

Tukagagagagagagak!

I was so out of my mind that I couldn’t even think straight, but I had no time to rest as my magic power was rapidly being consumed.

My only chance of victory was to keep attacking until my opponent collapsed.

“Wow… This is quite… !”

Celdianne began to show some weaknesses in my unorthodox attack rhythm.

But it’s a fractal shield that automatically protects the surrounding area even if you don’t defend it.

All attacks were useless unless it was broken.

At this point, I took out the ultimate sword that I had learned from Senior Perjena.

A sword technique that focuses all of the magical power of the Iron Blood God onto the tip of the sword and swings it with all one’s heart – Sword Magic Cut.

“Taaaat!”

I caught up to Celdianne in an instant with my high-speed movement and fired a blow at the golden crystal standing in front of me.

Tucaang!

The lens shattered and Celdianne’s body was revealed before me.

“How presumptuous of you to break the lady’s shield!”

“Regeneration will take time!”

The moment he swung his sword at the defenseless Celdianne,

visor-!

The rapiers jutting out from both sides crossed and blocked it.

It wasn’t just her weapon copied with modifications.

Holding the golden rapier were crystal dolls that looked exactly like her, emerging from a mirror in the air.

Seldianne smiled arrogantly under the escort of golden crystal clones.

“Kaleidoscope. It’s been a while since I’ve been here!”

Ki-gi-ging!

A large golden mirror appeared around her and me, and crystal dolls in the shape of Celdiane walked out gracefully.

The number of those clones is six.

If you include the main body of Seldianne, there are a total of seven enemies surrounding me on all sides.

They all raised their rapiers, and seven mouths spat out words simultaneously.

“Enough with your petty defense, I will crush you with your overwhelming power! Taste a miserable defeat like a rat!”

“Ah… Damn it!”

From then on, it was the beginning of pure chaos.

He flew through the air, parrying, deflecting, and destroying the attacks of the clones that came at him from all directions, and ran wildly throughout the arena.

No matter how many times she shattered them, the clones were constantly being born from the mirrors surrounding Celdiane, forcing her into an unfavorable battle of wits.

Any attacks that were not blocked fell directly onto the shadow armor, causing it to consume that much magic power more quickly.

As someone who was consuming magical power threefold from the body technique, armor, and sword technique, I simply did not have enough time to withstand this overwhelming attack.

It seemed as if Celdianne was shouting to me that this was a fundamental battle of skill, where whoever ran out of magic power first would lose.

“Oh-hohohoho! What’s wrong, commoner? Is this the end? You don’t seem to have the courage to overcome your limits! How pathetic!”

Amidst the loud noise and sparks of swords clashing against swords, I gritted my teeth.

“I have something like that!”

If I had been content with what I had, if I had been a person who did not look up, I would not be here today.

Beyond being friends with Tirisia, they may not have even become lovers.

You shouldn’t give up just because you feel like it’s too much effort.

Don’t think logically. Breaking through common sense was the only way to win over everything that surrounded me.

“Eeee!”

Thud!

From my rushing body, shadow fragments burst out and took the shape of a human being.

“Oh no?! That’s your lady’s… ?”

The shadows surrounding me clashed with Celdiane’s clones, annihilating each other.

I ran furiously towards Seldiane through the path they had opened.

The shadow-manipulating technique taught by Heidiera, and the kaleidoscope clone created by imitating Celdianne’s kaleidoscope – Shadow-type Erto.

“I don’t remember teaching you anything!”

“I just learned it over your shoulder!”

I roared and ran like a gust of wind.

He swung countless sword strikes, becoming a flame and a storm.

“This is my will!”

Thud!

And finally, he cut down all the enemies blocking his sight, and flew into the air, swinging crystal shards and black magic.

I reached over Celdianne’s head and flipped over, creating a giant shadow platform.

“Huh… !”

She looked up at me, confusion flashing across her crimson eyes.

“Haaah!”

I gathered all the magical power in my body into the tip of my sword and leaped forward with all my might towards the upside-down world.

“That’s ridiculous!”

Ki-gi-ging!

As Celdiane swung her fan, three layers of fractal shields regenerated between her and me.

This is the final showdown.

I decided to give it my all in one blow without thinking about the future any more.

“Black Armor, Release!”

A look of shock spread across Celdianne’s face as she saw the shadow armor being released from my body.

“Bar, defense…?!”

“Eeee!”

I slam my sword, which contains all the magical power I possess, into the golden shield―

bang!

There was a huge explosion with a flash of light.

Kururur―――

The dust cleared and everyone in the audience saw the outcome of the match.

Me standing in the center of the stage, aiming my sword,

Seldianne lying on the ground with a dejected smile on her face.

“S, the winner! Erto!”

Waaaa …

As the referee’s announcement was made, cheers erupted, as if the podium was about to burst into flames.

Of course, there were nobles among them who were in shock and held their heads.

The commoner Erto defeated the great noble Seldiane Elkonja. This was clearly a major event in the Academy.

“Ahhh… I should have fought more cleverly, but my pride… It’s a bad habit of yours.”

Seldianne, lying on the grass, looked up at the sky and smiled bitterly.

“Surely, if you had used strategy instead of pure skill, I wouldn’t have been able to fight you. However, you can crush a spoiled commoner with force from the front… Isn’t that the pride of a noble?”

I put my sword away and smiled, extending my hand to her.

“Heh… You’re still arrogant to the end.”

Seldianne snorted and grabbed my hand, pulling me up.

Crimson eyes looked at my face with a look of discontent.

“Imitating the lady’s secret in such a short time. Is it true that stealing is ingrained in the common people’s instincts?”

“What, what is it?”

“Haha… I’m joking. At this level, the precious time you spent teaching me was worth it. It’s pretty good!”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. It’s thanks to you.”

Seldianne, who had brushed away the dirt from her bun hair, stepped back and pointed her fan at my face.

“Okay, I admit it! This is Elconza’s defeat! But don’t be satisfied and keep going! This competition isn’t over yet! Oh-hohohoho!”

Celdianne, who coolly admitted defeat, lifted her chin and smiled as she left the stage.

“Anyway, I said it’s good because there’s no aftertaste.”

I was watching her back with a bitter smile.

*

Three days later.

Now, the semi-finals of the Yeonmu Festival have arrived.

As promised to Senior Perjena, I defeated Celdianne in this tournament and succeeded in making it into the top five.

Although I had already achieved my goal to a sufficient degree, I could not feel that it was over yet.

From now on, it’s a fight beyond the goal.

Because I was truly waiting for proof to show how far I could go.

and…

Above all, there was one reason why we could not lose this match.

Opponent in the semi-finals.

He is the only son of the chairman, the owner of this academy.

Because it was a Kelgue Durakal.

He has lived his life as a secretive person so far, without revealing his presence at the Academy, but this year, for some reason, he participated in the Yeonmu Festival.

The matches so far have been won cleanly with one strike.

It was like that originally, but he was an unknown person whose true skills were not revealed even after reaching the semi-finals of the Yeonmu Festival.

If we clash swords in this fight, maybe we can get a little bit of a sense of what kind of person he is.

I wonder if he is the person who can make Tirisia happy.

I wonder if I can ever understand why Tirisia chose him.

With such questions in mind, I headed to the battlefield.

*

As I entered the podium, I saw a large man walking from the other side.

Tall and well-built. Muscular body.

Rather than being tanned, it’s a dark-skinned complexion that seems natural.

A school uniform worn loosely, with the front open and without a tie.

Short blonde hair that is wild and shaggy, and three pointed, spike-shaped piercings on each ear.

A man with a fierce appearance, sharp features, and an arrogant smile, who seems more suited to a back alley than a training ground.

Tirissia’s current boyfriend. Kelg Durakal.

He approached me, striding across the grass with his hands in his pockets, and smiled bitterly as he looked down at me.

“Hey, it’s been a while.”

“That’s right.”

“How did a cowardly weakling like you end up here? Did you treat those noble bitches like slaves?”

“It seems like you didn’t watch my match at all.”

“What are you doing watching other kids having a blast? You’re busy playing with girls at that time.”

“You don’t know your opponent’s power… You must be quite confident in your skills.”

At those words, Kelg furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.

“Ahh? Didn’t I tell you? Your ex-girlfriend… No, you’ll find out anyway. Heh heh.”

“… Get ready.”

I don’t know what he was trying to say, but I kept my distance and pulled my longsword from its scabbard.

There’s no need for exploration. Just go all out from the start.

My opponent didn’t seem to care about my skills, so I had to mercilessly exploit his moment of complacency.

“Get ready, players!”

The referee raised his hand and gave the signal.

Kelg Durakal walked back a little and pulled out the sword on his back.

Sling-

A large, thick, and iron-like greatsword that fits his physique.

He looked at me with dark eyes, one hand still in his pocket.

It was a gaze as if looking at an insect.

“What the… Even if trash flaps its wings, it’s still trash… Try hard.”

like that,

-phut!

Firecrackers explode to signal the start of the match,

Tukan!

I activated Iron Blood, Black Armor, and Non-Active Bow at the same time.

Phew!

My body surged forward, right in front of Kelg’s nose, along with a black shockwave that shook the ground.

Just before the longsword blade touched him,

“As expected, you’re trash.”

I heard a word mocking me.

―――

My memory was cut off there.

*

When I came to, I was lying on a bed in the infirmary.

“Le, Lord Leto! Are you okay?”

Heidiera was sitting in the chair right next to me with a worried expression on her face.

My head felt dizzy as if the shock had not yet subsided.

“Ugh… What the… ”

“You lost, disciple.”

“Ah… Senior.”

Behind Heidiera, Senior Perzena was standing with her eyes wide open.

She said with a disgruntled expression, baring her fangs.

“Listen, don’t be sad. You couldn’t stand the Kelgue and got knocked out.”

“Yes… ?”

It definitely happened, but it sounded unbelievable.

How, in just one shot?

Heidiera also lowered her head and muttered in a small voice.

“Ah, after all… He seems to be stronger than we imagined… Lord Leto… ”

“That can’t be… ”

“There is one more shocking story left, disciple. Prepare yourselves.”

At Senior Perjena’s heavy voice, I swallowed and nodded.

“Kelg, that guy, with the authority of the chairman, continued the finals while you were unconscious. And… ”

The senior sighed deeply, unable to continue speaking.

It was Heidiera who put an end to it, clenching her fists tightly over her knees.

“The Duke of Brouard… was defeated by that man… while the Duke of Leto was unconscious… ”

“What?!”

That was truly unbelievable news.

Even if I do, what about Tirisia?

The strongest wizard in the history of the Brood family?

Why?

How on earth?

“The final winner will soon give his/her congratulatory remarks at the awards ceremony… Shall I bring you?”

“Can you move, kid?”

At their questions, I kicked off the covers and jumped out of bed.

“What the hell is going on? I have to go and check it out right now.”

“Le, Lord Leto! It’s dangerous to move suddenly!”

“Okay, it looks good, let’s go together. Isidel kid.”

“Ah, I see… Senior.”

So we hurriedly headed to the stage where the awards ceremony was held and arrived at the end of the auditorium.

The auditorium was filled with all the academy’s students, board members, and faculty, and a stage was set up inside the podium for the awards ceremony.

And the man was also standing on the stage.

“The final winner of this year’s dance festival! Let’s hear a word from the chairman’s son, Kelg Durakal!”

I could also see Celdianne looking at the stage with a serious expression from the audience where the nobles were gathered in front.

“Ahhh―Can you hear me?”

Kelg, who received the microphone from the host, opened his mouth in an unusually neat tone of speech.

“It is all thanks to you that I am standing here. I would like to give this honor to everyone.”

And… standing next to him was a familiar, silver-haired, elegant beauty.

Tirissia Brouard, who also appeared at the awards ceremony as the runner-up of this competition.

She just looked around the audience from next to Kelg with a calm face.

“Tirisia… ”

“―So, I will do my best for this academy in the future… ”

Kelg’s eyes, which had been expressing his thoughts with a refreshing smile, found me at the edge of the audience.

“―”

There was a strange expression on his dark eyes.

And he declared to the crowd looking at him with a bitter smile.

“Oh, I almost forgot. There was something I really wanted to say here… ”

“Huh? What is that?”

“Hey, I’m a little embarrassed to actually say this.”

As he paused for a moment, everyone’s attention turned to him, as if he was about to say something important.

The audience waited silently for his words,

Kelg opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.

Holding the hand of Tirisia next to him.

“Actually, we started dating a while ago.”

Woohoooo …

His one word shook the podium.

The students were astonished and each expressed their own reactions.

Some people cheered, others held their heads in shock.

But unlike when it was me, no one denied the relationship.

Because his origins and his skills were worthy of recognition by everyone.

Who else could possibly be a match for Tirisia Brouard if not the son of the chairman, the owner of this academy, and the winner of the martial arts competition?

Everyone was confused by the sudden announcement, but the mood quickly died down.

A look of understanding began to appear in the eyes of all the students in the audience.

Tirissia was not moved by Kelg’s actions.

Perhaps they had agreed in advance to make their relationship public at this point.

She was silently accepting the attention pouring in with her eyes that were somewhat detached.

“Yeah… I guess so.”

I leaned against the auditorium railing and bowed my head.

There was nothing new about it.

This was definitely something that was bound to happen someday.

Because it was a certain future that Kelg would reveal his presence.

I was neither surprised nor despairing now.

The gap between him and me that I just realized was reality.

The strength drained from my body as I felt like I knew one reason why Tyricia had chosen that man.

This is probably a feeling of resentment.

You have to endure it. This is reality.

For now, I could only silently listen to the man’s arrogant declaration of victory.

“But you know.”

however-

Kelg didn’t stop there.

He plays an honest and pure man for this moment when everyone is watching.

“You may or may not know. There is a student named Erto who was Tirisia’s ex-boyfriend.”

He began to reveal his true intentions.

My head lifted up on its own.

Now, what is that guy trying to say?

“Ahh? What is that kid doing?”

“Le, Leto Gong… !”

The two people standing next to him also couldn’t hide their embarrassment.

“Senior?”

Tirisia also looked at Kelg with a puzzled expression.

From now on, whatever I say will be done at Kelg’s own discretion.

“Oh my, that guy still hasn’t gotten over his obsession, he keeps hanging around me even after I became Tirisia’s boyfriend. To be honest, as her boyfriend, I’m feeling a little uneasy these days.”

“Senior… !”

Tirisia pulled at his hand with a puzzled expression, but Kelg paid no attention.

Her jade green eyes followed where his dark gaze was directed.

At the end of it was my face, Erto’s.

“… !”

Her face turned pale, and her trembling eyes looked back and forth between me and Kelg.

Words that concealed a dagger continued to flow out from her dark lips.

“If you are a man, shouldn’t you forget the woman you sent away cleanly? Unfortunately, it seems that Erto Junior is not like that now.”

Fighting―

I felt my blood run cold.

you,

earthly,

How far―

“So I hope you will give your friends some harsh advice with the intention of encouraging them.”

The man who took Tyrissia from me. Kelg Durakal.

Now, months later, I am once again faced with his endless malice.

“I’m telling you to give up on Tirisia cleanly.”