Chapter 26 : Just One Win , No More, No Less

Belimond of the Vulture was a true villain—so much so that someone like Zeke Wolftail, who had a brief scuffle with me before, seemed almost cute in comparison.

His family was ridiculously prestigious too.

As the eldest son of the Deathdoor House, a noble family of necromancers that had worshipped the Witch of the Underworld since its founding patriarch, it was no wonder he was so arrogant.

Unless someone chose him as a playable character, Belimond was the kind of villain who had absolutely no hope of redemption.

And now, that very villain had decided to target me.

“You’re probably thinking, ‘what kind of crap is this?’ But today’s a pretty monumental day.

I, Belimond Deathdoor, have finally been chosen by the Witch of the Underworld and this is my very first Holy War under her name.

I can’t let it end with something boring like a forfeit, now can I?

You understand, right?

No need to answer.

You’re under the Curse of Silence anyway, aren’t you?”

“……”

He was throwing around the term “Holy War” like it meant something during the first round of preliminaries.

So in summary, all he really wanted was to show off the powers he gained from forming a contract with the Witch of the Underworld in front of a crowd.

Belimond’s face lit up like a child who had just received a brand-new toy, but the malice hidden beneath that innocent expression was so intense even demons would reel back.

Because of him, the audience murmured with concern instead of booing, and the instructors acting as referees were on standby, ready to step in at any moment.

Pantheon Academy might reject the idea of raising greenhouse flowers, but that didn’t mean they’d just stand by and let a student die in the middle of the martial arts festival.

So if I just grit my teeth and endure Belimond’s nonsense, he’d probably be disqualified on his own.

But then… why did my chest feel so tight?

Why did it feel like my heart was being crushed?

“That guy’s the one who got first place during the school trip thanks to Iris, right?

And that spear he’s holding is the artifact he got as a reward.

What a waste!

A pearl necklace on a pig.

How did someone like him end up with something so precious?

Belimond, beat that guy until he loses the will to even hold a weapon!

Then when that spear shows up at the academy bazaar, I’ll just buy it myself.”

But what really got under my skin was that big brute of a student cheering for Belimond.

It’s always the meddling by standers that are more annoying than the one throwing punches.

My mood soured immediately, and I had no choice but to completely revise my original plan.

I still had no intention of winning the tournament or aiming for a high rank—but just one win.

I decided I’d go for exactly one win before bowing out.

I would use every tool I had at my disposal to either eliminate Belimond or at least aim for a mutual KO.

‘Byakuya, it’s time. Clear out these pesky spirits next to me.’

“An advance payment?

How amusing.

Well, it’s not really a difficult task anyway.

I was already considering wiping them out just to protect my contractor.

But I suppose it’s better to separate public and private matters—for my own sake too.

Go ahead and use me as much as you want.”

From behind me, two paper talismans inscribed with unknown characters fluttered out and stuck onto the backs of the two Specters with a smack.

Without even a chance to resist, the Specters were instantly purified, and I regained the use of both my hands.

At the same time, Belimond, realizing his connection to the Specters had been severed, frowned and shouted,

“What the hell did you just do?! How did you erase my minions, whose souls were tethered to me by spiritual threads?”

“Maybe even the Specters got fed up with their rotten boss and ran away. You should’ve treated them better.”

“You bastard! How dare you spout such nonsense… Fine. Even a lowborn insect like you has a trick or two, huh? But you’ll regret provoking me. The price for riling me up will be steep. Deathdoor—Open!”

Creeeeeaaak—!

Behind Belimond, an old, rusted iron door appeared—something you’d expect to see in a haunted house.

Its rusty hinges groaned from years of neglect as it slowly opened, unleashing horrifying undead minions one by one.

A Dullahan, a Skeleton Archmage, and even a Bone Drake.

These were far beyond what any student in the junior division should be capable of summoning, and I couldn’t help but wonder—had Belimond borrowed this power from the Witch of the Underworld through some kind of advance?

But considering the sheer influence of the Deathdoor family, it was more likely that his family paid the Karma cost on his behalf, rather than it being a personal loan.

Either way, from a practical standpoint, this situation was dire: not just one, but three undead monsters had appeared—each of which I had no chance of defeating in a one-on-one fight.

The only silver lining was that Belimond had merely summoned them; he was still too inexperienced to fully control all three undead at once.

“There’s a limit to using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. Why summon such powerful undead just to deal with a single frail human?”

“Don’t lecture the summoner!

I am the one chosen by the Witch of the Underworld! Rebelling against me is the same as rebelling against her.

No more talking—make that guy suffer as much as possible!!

Just don’t knock him out. I’ll be the one to finish him.”

“Good grief, this heir of the Deathdoor family is a real piece of work.

Well, if he says jump, we jump… but I doubt I’ll even get the chance to step in now that the Bone Drake’s on the move.”

Thud.

Thud.

Some people think a drake is a subspecies of dragon, but that’s actually completely wrong.

A drake is just a large reptilian monster, a big lizard that has no real connection to dragons whatsoever.

Still, when we say big, we mean dump-truck-sized big.

Even as bare bones, its presence was overwhelming.

Every step it took sent tremors through the ground like an earthquake.

When my footing faltered for just a moment, the snow moth perched quietly on my shoulder—Elizabeth—fluttered into the air.

Insect familiars marked with a master’s imprint through parasitic arts typically wouldn’t move without a direct command, but since Elizabeth had a spiritual awareness, she acted on her own to protect me.

Even though she was large for a moth, she was still over a thousand times smaller than the Bone Drake.

But she didn’t seem the least bit afraid.

Calmly, Elizabeth approached the Bone Drake and scattered ice dust, turning the floor into a sheet of ice.

Just like a runaway dump truck with broken brakes, the charging Bone Drake slid straight off the stage.

According to the tournament rules, even summoned creatures couldn’t return to the arena once they were out of bounds, meaning one of the undead trio was taken care of.

“Well… he’s the enemy, but that was kind of unfair to him.”

The catastrophe wasn’t just because the Bone Drake charged in without any sense of formation—it was mainly due to the fact that the preliminary stage was significantly narrower than the main stage.

No, to be honest, if we’re pointing fingers, the biggest blame fell on Bellimond himself, who summoned the Bone Drake just because it looked big and strong without considering the environment of the battlefield.

The Bone Drake, having fallen off, thrashed about wildly as it tried to charge back in, but the instructors quickly cast restraining magic, completely locking it down.

It was a perfect display of the limitations of an undead minion—big and strong, sure, but utterly lacking in magical abilities.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! What the hell is this humiliation?! Skeleton Archmage! Rip that damn moth to shreds already!!”

“This is really becoming a nuisance… Curse of Slow! Bone Spear!”

The Skeleton Archmage, not quite at the level of a Lich but still a high-tier undead servant, demonstrated its skill with a dual incantation.

Elizabeth, who had been flying in figure eights in excitement after messing with the Bone Drake, suddenly slowed down drastically.

Then, dozens of bone-made spears rained down toward her.

I couldn’t bear to just stand there and watch.

I asked Byakuya to wrap me in a paper armor, then even threw away my Moon Glaive to shield Elizabeth with my own body.

Thankfully, one of the bone spears merely grazed the edge of her wing, and it looked like she hadn’t taken any serious damage.

Elizabeth was definitely a spirit-insect with enormous potential, but I judged that she wasn’t yet ready to be involved in a bloody fight like this.

So I sent her out of the arena with a soft whisper.

“You remember Professor Parkelas’s pheromones, right? Go to him and wait there. I’ll bring you some frozen bamboo shoots later.”

Due to the slowing curse, her wingbeats were a bit sluggish, but Elizabeth caught the wind and vanished into the distance.

But now wasn’t the time to be worried about her.

A heavy clanking sound rang out behind me, and when I turned around, I saw the Dullahan—who had been standing by with its arms crossed until now—slowly approaching me, holding the Moon Glaive I had thrown aside.