Ch.283278 – Last Girl Standing

[As the last competitor, An Ji-won, is eliminated, Altair Academy secures another 2-win streak! The score is 4-3! If they win the next match as well, Altair Academy can guarantee at least a draw in this year’s competition.]

[Cephiron really fought hard, but Altair has returned much stronger than last year! They’ve traded flashiness for destructive wide-area magic, which I’m sure was quite entertaining for our viewers.]

“The difference was in skill, experience, every aspect… Allowing them to cast area-effect magic was our biggest mistake. If we had just interrupted their casting midway, we could have used our mana advantage to turn the tide.”

I expressed my disappointment while interlocking my fingers.

So last year it was barrier magic, and this year Altair’s joker card was area-effect magic.

-How are you supposed to dodge when the magic circle covers the entire arena lolol

-We’ve seen area-effect magic 5 times today alone, which is rare for the entire competition.

-That’s because it’s garbage efficiency. But when it hits, it’s devastating.

Of course, while the students struggled to deal with the area-effect magic, that wasn’t the decisive factor in the outcome.

It was hard to deny that Cephiron Academy was simply outmatched in terms of skill.

“With area-effect magic circles, once they’re activated, you should think about blocking rather than dodging. Don’t you agree, Father?”

“Ahem. Indeed. For laminar flow magic, if you calculate the boundary layer using the given Reynolds number, and integrate the displacement thickness and momentum thickness, you can easily—”

“Hold on, let me stop you there. While that’s one way to counter it, at our level, we should find where the mana output is weakest and minimize barrier damage.”

It’s obvious that breaking a spell is much harder than casting it.

It’s like how multiplying prime numbers is easy, but factoring a large number is difficult.

-Professor, you’re going too fast! (He’s a real professor)

-Now I see where NoName learned from lol

-*dizzy face*

-This seems educational but I can’t understand any of it crying

-We need to study fluid dynamics for just a 2-circle spell? My head hurts;;

As Professor Cheon mixed in technical terms, viewers became confused and flooded the chat with dizzy emojis.

Is this mirror therapy? I should probably restrain myself too.

“Name.”

As I was about to end the stream and put everything from my pockets into my bag, Professor Cheon called my name.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Nothing. I just want you to complete your match without getting hurt. Remember that winning or losing isn’t what matters.”

“I won’t make you worry.”

“Name, if you’re in danger, I’ll stop the match immediately. So you need to make good judgments before it comes to that, understand?”

Professor Cheon straightened my shirt collar, tidying up my appearance.

His eyes were filled with indescribable concern.

It made my heart feel warm to be cared for so much by someone.

‘I’m probably too old to crave this kind of affection.’

And there was a woman watching this scene with a frown.

“My goodness, look at him doting on his precious daughter like she’s the apple of his eye. Name, don’t worry about us—just go compete without any pressure!”

Principal Gu On-yu, who had somehow made her way up to the spectator seats, patted my back and pushed me toward the arena.

“What are you doing?”

Professor Cheon’s expression turned fierce as if suddenly enraged, but the principal responded nonchalantly.

“Overprotecting a child is also a problem. Who knows? Maybe Name could eliminate at least one opponent?”

“The best scenario would be if our daughter doesn’t have to compete at all. Principal Gu On-yu, is this the best Cephiron Academy can do?”

If my seniors win all their matches, I won’t need to compete, which is what Professor Cheon was hoping for.

“Why blame me? The middle school division lost everything, while our elementary division won 3-2. Name, don’t mind us and go! Fighting!”

Following Principal Gu’s encouragement, cheers erupted from Cephiron’s spectator seats.

“NoName! Don’t get intimidated and show them everything you’ve got! You were the best in the game! Don’t be scared, just fight!”

Seo Ma-ru, who took on the role of editor, enthusiastically waved his cheer stick.

“Name! Make sure you win! If you don’t, we’re going to tease you mercilessly, so be prepared!”

My academy friends were jumping up and down, trying to see me for as long as possible.

Watching Professor Cheon and Principal Gu seated until the end, I turned around and went down the stairs.

With each step down, my heart pounded in rhythm.

“Whew…”

I entered the long underground tunnel.

The hard concrete ceiling erased the blue sky.

The faint light from the lamps created an eerie atmosphere.

My head throbbed with a mixture of excitement and fear.

But these were feelings I was all too familiar with.

Small echoes resonated as I trudged through the dark underground tunnel.

It was so quiet here that none of the crowd’s cheers that had deafened my ears could be heard.

Nine shadows were waiting for me at the end of the tunnel.

I ran to join them, filling the last spot.

A man in an orange vest passed in front of us, holding a walkie-talkie.

“Looks like everyone’s here. This is E6 standby. Request handover of participants to A3.”

*static*

[This is A3. Continue standby.]

*click*

The man put the walkie-talkie in his pocket and turned toward us.

“Kids, is it too bright? I’ll lower the shutter for a moment.”

His face, which had been hard to see due to the backlight, came into view under the crimson light.

It was a face I knew well.

“Shin Yeon-ho…?”

“Well, someone from Cephiron recognizes me first? I’m a bit disappointed in my juniors.”

The identity of the man who came as a volunteer for the academy competition was Shin Yeon-ho from Korea University’s Theoretical Magic Department.

Seeing this unexpected face here, I greeted him with excitement.

“Is it really you, Senior Shin? Wow, amazing.”

“Wow…”

“What brings you here?”

“What else? I’m here volunteering for free. But why are the 3rd years so cold compared to the 1st and 2nd years?”

“…”

The Altair students just looked at each other, and no one opened their mouth.

When one of them glanced in my direction, I stuck out my tongue and made an intentionally ugly face.

‘Look away. In the old days, you wouldn’t even be able to stand in front of me.’

Shin Yeon-ho brushed it off and offered words of encouragement as a senior.

“I’m never going to tell you guys to be careful and not get hurt. A duel is started to hurt each other, so that would be contradictory. Once you start fighting, go all out so you have no regrets for the rest of your life. Same goes for you Cephiron juniors.”

“Yes.”

The students’ responses came with slight delays.

“And to my beloved Altair juniors.”

“Yes.”

“Think of this as your last chance.”

“Last chance?”

“Your last chance to beat that one.”

Shin Yeon-ho stretched out his arm and pointed at me.

“That one isn’t human like us. I guarantee, if you lose today, you’ll never beat her again.”

“…?”

Shin Yeon-ho gave me a meaningful smile.

Ha, look at this guy.

As expected, someone who’s experienced it firsthand acknowledges my abilities to some extent.

Yes, “to some extent.” That’s far from enough.

I gathered our Cephiron seniors whose spirits had been dampened by Shin Yeon-ho’s appearance.

“Name…”

“Sorry, we tried our best but…”

“No matter what anyone says, you seniors are the pride of our academy.”

Since the competition matches students by grade, opponents continue to face each other until graduation.

Perhaps because of this, the seniors, accustomed to numerous defeats, were already anticipating another loss before the match even began.

“Still, Hwang Ju-young is our strongest…”

“I don’t know much about this Hwang Ju-young person. But you all worked hard to be selected for the competition, right? Didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve lost to those Altair guys. The one who laughs last wins. So let’s definitely win this year. And that graduate brother over there, I’ve fought him before, and he’s weaker than he looks.”

“Pfft! Ah! No, sorry…”

“No, no. That level of trash talk before a match is understandable.”

Shin Yeon-ho waved his hand with a good-natured smile.

Meanwhile, the Altair students glared at us with murderous intent.

“Our juniors grow by watching their seniors rather than their teachers. So as Shin Yeon-ho said, show a match that sets a good example for the academy juniors. If your legs get blown off, crawl with your arms, and if all your limbs are gone, tear flesh with your mouth—”

“Hey, NoName, stop stop! Are we filming a gore movie? Why are you saying such brutal things! I just told you all to do your best…!”

Shin Yeon-ho interrupted my encouragement with a shriek.

As expected of a cunning person, he’s already trying to break Cephiron’s morale.

“Anyway, I won’t accept an easy defeat. The moment you give up, I’ll be truly disappointed in you seniors.”

“That won’t happen. We’ve been doing this for years now. No, I promise right here that we’ll win and end this before it’s your turn!”

“Should we let such a cute kid fight? No, right? So let’s definitely win this year!”

“Let’s go, fighting!”

“Cephiron is invincible! Cephiron is eternal!”

*static*

The walkie-talkie sounded, and the shutter leading to the ground level rose.

Two students from Cephiron and two from Altair went up to the arena, while the rest were guided to the substitution area through the adjacent corridor.

“Wooooooah!”

This passion, this atmosphere.

I hope the seniors maintain it—not just for the match, but for their entire lives.

* * *

“Haa… haa… HAAAAARGH! These Cephiron bastards are so annoying until the end! ARGH! I want to curse so bad!”

Lee Min-young let out a shrill cry of frustration.

Her once-glossy brown hair was completely disheveled.

Her face was covered in dark soot, ruining her makeup.

Her eyeliner had smudged down to her lower lids, making her look like a vengeful ghost on the display screen.

“Are they zombies or what? They’re especially tenacious this year.”

Park Jun-yong, tall as a pole, was relatively less damaged.

“You just do all the easy work from the back! Is it fair for a lady like me to fight on the front lines?”

“Then learn magic instead of using aura.”

“Get lost. Let’s just finish this quickly and go.”

*crunch*

Lee Min-young bit her already torn fingernail once more and thought.

‘Will he keep his promise to erase this?’

When she first met Name, her pride prevented her from properly assessing the situation.

But Oh Deok-jae, who looked unpleasant just by appearance, expressed concern that his interaction with Name could escalate more than expected, and her sanity returned.

“What are you doing? Bring your other four little friends too. I’ll finish you all at once.”

“Ah… ugh…”

Lee Min-young threatened the Cephiron female student with an angry voice.

The girl’s eyes trembled anxiously.

After a year, she had completely forgotten. These people were Altair’s predators.

They were known for enjoying fighting itself and for their cruel techniques.

With aura barriers in place, it was actually more difficult to get injured during a duel.

Yet all three students who had competed earlier lost consciousness and were carried out on stretchers.

One even had their arm bent in a strange direction, causing the display screen to be pixelated by the AI observer.

It would have been better if they were simply unintelligent, but like most academy students, they had inherited brilliant minds from their parents.

“Hurry up and come out! I didn’t even put on sunscreen, how long are you going to make me wait! Referee, isn’t this delay against the rules?”

“Could you shut up? If your mouth is itchy, suck on a candy or something.”

Their aggressive behavior stemmed from anxiety.

How to deal with NoName.

Going all out against a child 7 years younger would be embarrassing, but Shin Yeon-ho’s warning kept ringing in their heads.

Especially Jo Su-yeon and Lee Jae-hwan, who tried to avoid responsibility by staying out of it, which made the situation even more heated.

“Should we switch with Oh Deok-jae?”

“No. If we ruin the perfect record, Su-yeon will throw a fit.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“First, we need to see her skill level. She must be pretty confident to talk like that.”

As she spoke, the shutter door rose.

Blue flames sparked in Lee Min-young’s eyes.

Her aura immediately moved to her legs, and without hesitation, she kicked the head of the female student who couldn’t move a step.

CRASH!

The girl’s body flew dozens of meters and slammed into the arena wall.

Considering the barrier she had left, it was an excessively powerful attack.

“…”

The match resumes the moment Name enters the arena.

Lee Min-young’s action wasn’t fair play, but it wasn’t against the rules either.

“Now it’s just you alone, NoName?”

Name, who had been observing the situation with cold eyes, suddenly stopped walking and fell to her knees.

“What is she doing?”

“No idea. Did she get scared after coming all this way?”

“Huh?”

Name put her hands together and began to pray in a suddenly solemn atmosphere.

The previously restless audience fell silent at her bizarre behavior.

“El Maven Sutra Yekatirium. El Ras Bestial Saleantirumon. Dra Est Asha Subur Kimoshat.”

The first two sentences were recited in Runic language, and the last sentence was muttered in a completely different accent in an unintelligible language.

[Quick Cast: Devil’s Horn]

A magic circle formed around her, and a light brighter than ever before shot up toward the sky.

Lee Min-young and Park Jun-yong lowered their center of gravity and drew their wands, preparing for a sudden attack.

The magic circle gradually reduced in size, rising above Name’s head and settling like a butterfly.

Name lowered her arms and slowly stood up.

“If you really wanted to win, you should have stopped me before I stood up, kiddos.”

Name, who had descended alone to prevent the middle school division’s complete defeat, spat out the words.