episode_0025

“Ugh, ugh…!!”

I almost died.

Eve sensed death as the blade descended towards her head.

She knew it would stop before reaching her, that it wouldn’t slash her face.

Nevertheless, it was enough to fill her with terror.

However, this wasn’t Eve’s first brush with death.

Her survival instincts kicked in before her senses, and she quickly rolled aside. Narias’s descending blade was embedded firmly in the ground.

Kwaang—!

A tremendous shockwave spread out.

“You… almost killed me—”

“No? You dodged it, perfectly like this.”

She laughed nonchalantly, as if it were nothing, after bringing her sword down on someone’s head.

The composure only a strong warrior with countless duels under her belt would possess. Narias exuded that.

Eve immediately leaped high, putting distance between them.

She needed to revise her assessment of Narias in two ways.

One, magic wasn’t her specialty.

Two, she was far stronger than Eve had previously thought.

Perhaps even stronger than herself, Eve unconsciously trembled in fear.

No.

That tremor couldn’t be defined by such a simple word.

A being whose eyes burned with passion, despite possessing such power.

Someone who, despite successfully exploiting a weakness, displayed composure, never making rash judgments.

And yet, that mischievous expression, as if she were mad with excitement over the fight.

Seeing Narias, Eve felt something boil within her.

Thump- thump-

When was the last time she felt this tremor? It was a faded emotion, a dulled sensation, buried in eons of time.

For her, who had only lived a bleak life like running through a muddy road in the dark,

a warm sunlight, like that comfortable dream she’d had just now, started to shine.

“What? You could make that expression too.”

Eve touched her face at her words. Her cheeks were soft but slightly tense. The corners of her mouth were firmly upturned.

Eve was smiling.

“…Right. I’m… starting to enjoy myself a little.”

What else was there to doubt?

A strong warrior like this would never resort to trickery to hide her identity and infiltrate the academy.

She wouldn’t need to approach Eve with sinister intentions. She could simply overpower her with her abilities.

Hu-hut-

Eve chuckled quietly.

‘No, that’s all just an excuse.’

She simply wanted to clash with this woman head-on. To reveal their true selves completely, and just squarely test their strengths against each other.

She wanted to know more.

Eve decided to no longer hide those thoughts.

Strength returned to her body, and she rose to her feet, supporting herself on her knees.

“Oh, finally decided to get serious?”

“Yes. Did you think a Unique-ranked adventurer would be so easily discouraged?”

“Not at all, k-k-k.”

Narias adjusted her grip on her sword and resumed her stance. Eve had already assessed her abilities to some extent.

An invisible mana blade.

It was only invisible to the eye; with a slightly heightened sense of mana, its outline became clear.

The blade’s width was wider than her thigh, its thickness about that of a hefty textbook. It was a greatsword, almost as tall as she was.

‘She wields that thing like a swaying blade of grass…?’

She felt a renewed sense of awe.

Her opponent was a monster.

And Eve had grown, tearing apart countless such monsters. She had naturally fought greatsword users before.

No matter how easily she wielded this sword, the bigger it was, the greater the recoil.

Her movements would slow, creating openings.

‘In this case, I should increase the distance.’

Eve leaped back another three or four steps. Then slowly, she drew mana from her dantien.

“All things, heaven and earth, the flow of time… the seven moons and the spirits of the vast forest…”

The situation completely reversed.

Eve began chanting a high-level spell, and Narias certainly wasn’t going to stand idly by. She immediately lunged toward Eve, swinging her greatsword.

Booong- Hooong—!

However, thanks to her ingrained martial arts, she dodged everything with minimal movement.

“The peak of Tarun Mountain, whose end cannot be measured, the long-accumulated perpetual snow—”

“Hwaaah!!”

Hooong- Hooong-

The blade attacked fiercely.

But even Narias didn’t think her attack would land. It was a massive sword made for counterattacks only; she couldn’t swing it quickly as usual.

‘Then, I’ll change weapons!’

Just as Eve had changed her tactics, Narias had the leeway to instantly switch weapons. She carved away the outer surface of the greatsword like sculpting marble, creating a blade with a thin edge.

‘Yes, this cool, weighty feeling.’

She regained her usual speed.

She immediately launched her first strike, stepping forward with her left foot. She relentlessly pursued Eve, who retreated, into the second strike. But Eve, whose reflexes were top-notch, blocked this with a mana barrier.

Narias had anticipated this much.

While chanting magic, she’d been focusing on martial arts, and using a mana barrier would naturally create a gap. In fact, as soon as the barrier broke, Eve stumbled.

The real attack was up to the waist. She caught the rebounding sword, spun around, and launched a powerful blow charged with mana.

Her third attack, with all her strength. Narias swung her sword, narrowly grazing Eve, and unleashed its full force.

[Mana Explosion]!

Pwooong—!

An explosion and another dust storm.

“K-k-kh…!!”

Even Yurias, who was far away, found it hard to maintain her balance. Anticipating victory, Narias quickly swung her sword, searching for Eve, who was lying on the ground.

Hweok- Hweok-

But no matter how much she dispersed the dust storm, she couldn’t see her.

The scattered mana settled, she sensed the surroundings —

“…Gone?”

There was no trace of Eve.

Sae-ae-aek—

No, this is…

Sae-ae-aek—!!

‘Above!’

A powerful flow of mana was felt high in the sky, and when she looked up…

It was too late.

Eve had actually paused her incantation, using the explosion Narias had caused as propulsion to leap into the sky.

Restarting a spell mid-casting consumes a large amount of additional mana. She didn’t have enough, but there was plenty around.

As much as Narias had scattered with all her might.

Using her opponent’s power as nourishment, she finished her chant,

“Reveal the endless resentment that freezes even time!!”

Narias, who was left on the ground with a dumbfounded expression, was no longer visible. Because, below Eve, a large magic circle floated in the air.

[Absolute Zero]!!

Unblockable, uncancellable. Simultaneously, without a sound.

Jjeong—

In an instant flash, everything in the clearing froze.

“Hoo… hoo…”

Narias, along with the surrounding grass, trees, rocks, and even the occasional puddles—

“—Yurias!!”

Even the referee standing beside her.

‘Damn it, that was too much…!!’

Eve immediately descended into the clearing that had become an instant winter.

Even if the opponent was strong, this was a sparring match. There were limits, but overwhelmed by Narias’s fierce attacks, she reflexively unleashed her magic.

It wasn’t originally this powerful… The mana absorbed from Narias during the recasting was stronger than she thought. As a result, instead of being a thin ray of light, the magic spread and struck like a scorching sun.

Eve quickly approached the frozen Yurias.

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?”

A direct blast of that would be dangerous.

She used a hot wind spell, a combination of wind and fire mana, to slowly melt the ice surrounding the referee.

Tit-

Fortunately, since they were some distance apart, the ice surrounding Yurias began to melt quickly.

Tidit-

“But, why is there a cracking sound…”

No. That’s not a sound from here!

Eve immediately turned around, looking at the enormous iceberg frozen in the center of the clearing.

Something was boiling inside it.

Tidi-dit—!

[Muyeonggab]. Attribute addition, Fire.

This only melted the ice touching the surface. But that was enough to create a space.

Attribute addition, Fire. And.

[Mana Explosion]!!

Pwooong—!! Kwakjik- Jjaenggrang—!!

Emerging from the broken iceberg, Eve greeted her with an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

“H-how…!! She should have passed out the moment it hit…”

“It didn’t hit. I had a fire mana barrier.”

“Tch… I got predicted again.”

Actually, she hadn’t predicted it. She’d blocked the magic thanks to the [Muyeonggab], made of attributeless mana, but that wasn’t something she could blurt out, so…

She wanted to brag a little too.

Was it because of the fire attribute Muyeonggab, her body was hot, making her think the duel wasn’t over yet.

Eve, also, showed again that crazy smile. Even her trump card, aimed at the opponent’s weakness, hadn’t worked, but she seemed to still believe she could win.

She walked towards Narias.

“Shall we continue?”

“Of course, it’s not over—”

Taat.

“—No, this is the end.”

Unexpectedly, Yurias stood before them, blocking their way. Her expression… was far angrier than usual, and…

Looking around, it was a chaotic party of ice and fire.

“…I told you to be careful.”