Ch.249249 – What? Give me back my ball!

<249 – Hey, Give Me Back My Ball>

Since ancient times, those who occupy the high ground in war have already won half the battle.

This is especially true in dodgeball, where the rule is that you’re out if you get hit by a ball and can’t recover it before it falls to the ground or gets into someone else’s hands.

“Class 981. There are many impressive juniors, worthy of their reputation as one of the greatest classes in history.”

The Four Heavenly Kings of the senior year.

And this is someone who doesn’t even rank among the top four.

Such strength that the absence of the Heugmag princess isn’t even noticeable!

“But let’s show them that our Class 980 is no pushover either!”

The White Paladin Roo.

When facing evil beings, he receives numerous combat bonuses, but against good beings like Northern Archduchess Irene, he must compete purely on skill.

A battle where his strengths are taken away while his opponent’s are specialized.

If we’re talking about advantages, he’s clearly at a disadvantage.

The compatibility doesn’t match.

The terrain doesn’t match.

The distance restrictions don’t match.

A mage versus a swordsman.

A court where lines cannot be crossed.

However, there was one peculiarity of the dodgeball that he liked.

The Blue Metal Ball with high mana conductivity.

The White Metal Ball with automatic shape restoration.

The Gray Metal Ball with tremendous weight.

Among these dodgeballs, each with impressive characteristics, the one that came into his possession was the Gray Metal Ball.

With a weight that would be burdensome even for aspiring knight students with inadequate training, generating proper speed with the strength of an ordinary knight student would be impossible.

<Justice Execution>

[The three aspects of the God of Good evaluate your request.]

[This battle is not a confrontation with minions of evil.]

[This battle is not a step toward a good future.]

[This battle is a transcendental fight where the maxim of will does not violate the principle of universality.]

[The God of Good, Emmanuel, grants you strength.]

Transcendental.

The cognitive ability that is innately possible before experience.

Understanding what is right without having to learn it.

The moment that sense connects to power.

The White Paladin Roo could tell.

That his ball could destroy a significant portion of the pillar even before throwing it.

KWAAANG!

Despite the destructive force that tore away more than half of the pillar, the ice pillar regenerated, emitting a fierce cold aura that glowed white once more.

If this fight had any meaning, it was the clash of wills—the archduchess’s determination not to fall behind in the lead competition and the paladin’s resolve not to back down.

The will of the archduchess, who had been on battlefields from too young an age in the resource-poor North, was no less than that of Roo, who served three gods of good.

Conversely, Roo’s will, steadfast enough in faith and heart to be noticed by three gods, could not overwhelm the archduchess’s will.

As the pillar regenerated, an explosive offensive poured down from the top of the distant pillar.

The wave of Multi Ice Balls that had eliminated many sophomores froze the surface of Roo’s holy barrier, robbing him of vision and eroding the ground beneath him, taking away his stability.

CRACK!

Eventually, the magical formula engraved on the ice balls activated as they burst on the ground, causing ice spikes to shoot up from beneath his feet inside the barrier!

Irene clearly demonstrated that her position as a battle mage was not just a child archduchess’s playful act to boost soldiers’ morale.

“Good. I can already imagine how much that power would help in eliminating heretics and demons if it returns to the North. But not today.”

The White Paladin Roo, who had also built a reputation no less impressive than the Northern Archduchess before entering the academy.

The sophomores who knew his name couldn’t hide their shock as Roo’s momentum blazed even more fiercely.

“Is that the source of his reputation as the Organization Eliminator?”

“You know about Roo’s power?”

“When one of the castles in the Southern Holy City-State Alliance was taken over by drugs using dark mana, there was a paladin who followed a lead found by a companion of the previous generation’s hero and annihilated the organization. That White Paladin Roo achieved such a feat at just 18 years old.”

A drug organization that sold drugs mutated by the destructive properties of dark mana, turning humans into monsters.

On the day he destroyed the darkness that should not exist in the world, the boy who walked the lonely path of transcendence—having only piety and gaining all the justice in the world—earned honor.

The title of White Paladin carried as much gratitude and expectation as there were citizens saved in the rescued city.

“Junior. I know you have people in the North you must protect.”

“Knowing that, do you still intend to stand firm and not fall before me?”

“Stand firm? You’re wrong. I am always moving forward. Toward the future that humanity should rightfully advance to, one step at a time.”

Conviction leads to absolute self-affirmation.

Many people fail to gain conviction in themselves.

For economic reasons.

Due to lack of strength.

Because of racial limitations.

Ignoring countless excuses, people rely on the power of faith to gain unrealistic strength.

Roo was different.

He had walked the path of faith simply because he realized that his path aligned with the path indicated by faith.

“Even if God does not acknowledge it, I have never once stepped into an unvirtuous act that I myself would feel was wrong.”

“So I can be certain. This fight too is a step toward the future. There is no wrong in my path!”

The incoming ice balls were caught in a sphere of dazzling light, enveloped by Roo’s immense holy power.

Some burst in mid-air, reflecting particles of dazzling light in all directions like snowflakes, but the rest became massive restraining spheres that contained Irene’s power.

“Come down. This is not a place you should be looking down from!”

With Roo’s strike that cleaved the air, the spheres of light were unleashed all at once.

Beyond the restraining spheres that battered and finally destroyed the pillar, the released energy traced a diagonal line, determining the path along which the destroyed upper part of the pillar would flow down.

Waiting at the end was the White Paladin.

The owner of that title now emanated a weight and strength of a completely different dimension compared to when this confrontation began.

‘He’s on a different level. I can see why he’s called one of the Four Heavenly Kings.’

Irene realized it.

This senior was truly strong.

Strong enough to make her think he was more powerful than all the upper-class students she had eliminated combined.

But he didn’t know.

The weight of expectations carried by the name Northern Archduchess.

“If we’re talking about the weight of names, the name Northern Archduchess is not light either.”

It’s ridiculous to even be compared.

Irene sneered as she stood on the tip of the falling ice pillar, gathering even more energy.

“!?”

She showed no fear of engaging in close combat against a paladin.

She didn’t leap into the air, retreat backward, or employ magical techniques to endure.

“One hundred.”

Because she knew.

“That was the number of northerners who died every time I took a step back on the front line.”

The Hundred-Man Unit is the basic formation of the Northern Archduchess’s forces.

Every time the front line wavered, one Hundred-Man Unit was crushed and disappeared.

When she advanced, a hundred lives were saved; when she retreated, a hundred died.

She felt that immense pressure on every battlefield, always.

Sometimes she retreated, and there were even experiences of uncontrollable defeat.

Recalling the moment of great defeat when thousands of soldiers died due to her inadequacy is truly close to terror.

The moment when her heart broke and was crushed.

Even from such despair, she rose again.

There is no place for the power of faith here.

The voices of those who remained.

The cries of those who wanted to survive.

Because there were lives she was responsible for.

“If advancing like that is good, then by all means, try to step forward. After you overcome this strike!”

Series – Ice Magic

Activation – Ice Flower

Specialization – Ice Sphere, Stacking, Single-Point Condensation, Massive Explosion

Penalty – Freezing

An extreme strike drawn out even at the cost of a penalty that would leave parts of her body frozen for a week until the mana-induced thawing was complete, making even movement difficult.

The massive ice pillar compressed and compressed again, and by the time it reached the end, it was all absorbed into a single ice ball.

The instructors, tense and ready to rush onto the court at any moment, faced with an energy that should not be unleashed—energy that could easily kill a person and more.

‘This is the moment of conviction.’

Roo realized.

If he could cut through that, he could take one more step forward.

‘This is the moment of growth.’

Irene realized.

If she could freeze Roo’s strike, her bitter cold would ensure that no one would dare take a step beyond her.

Confrontation.

Collision.

At that moment when realizations crossed…

Swoosh

Oknodie, who had been standing stupidly in the path of the charge, made an expression as if a question mark appeared above her head.

‘Why isn’t she running away?!’

‘Is she planning to be cut down too?’

Irene and Roo were bewildered.

Oknodie, who had walked right into the middle of the gap between the two of them, reached out her hand toward Irene in an instant.

Thup!

“!?”

Oknodie snatched the ball.

She said:

“I’ll just borrow this for a moment!”

Borrow? My ultimate strike?

The <Ice Flower>, a deadly technique containing enormous power that no one but herself could stabilize?

Stop it.

It’s going to explode.

Your whole body will be devoured by ice spikes that burst out from the explosion in your hand.

But ignoring Irene’s shocked gaze, Oknodie simply threw the ball.

Toward the infinite repetition zone where three balls were accelerating infinitely through the same section.

“I’ll return it once I get that one out!”

Wait, you’re using that to retrieve a ball…?

Then what about me?

Ignoring Irene’s gaze full of indignation, Roo struck the approaching Irene with his scabbard instead of his sword.

“Ungh!”

Irene, clutching her abdomen and groaning, collapsed with a thud.

As she was transported outside the court, she was filled with indignation greater than the pain.