episode_0063

“Intersection?”

As the crystals on both sides get closer and closer, and the students who can attack from a distance can attack each other, projectiles that are not flashy but have a clear purpose intersect between the two.

“The paths of the two crystals intersect. It is a path that induces a power struggle. ”

I quickly start thinking about the question of the female Nari, Saetbyeol, who asks while blocking the flying flame arrows with her shield.

“Ain, is there a good way?”

Elfin also asked, blocking with his shield a few arrows that were blunt but magically processed to take away the health of the target.

“There is a sharp number, but this is something that requires all of our students to move organically, so the possibility of it actually happening is low. For now, let’s just fight honestly.”

That said, honestly, there’s no way a fight between the two sides would work since the numbers are so much different. Elfin is also a good fighter, and judging by what they do, Saetbyeol, Isul, and Ina are also above average, but that doesn’t mean they’re one against a hundred.

In my case, I have an out-of-standard spell slot, and I have received many spells from Lulu and her father, Lord Anastasia, but I cannot let it be discovered, so I am being forcibly sealed. Even then, I have to lie and say that I used the artifact that Bandine gave me, just like I did during the raid.

So, I do some groundwork to make the plan I have in mind work.

“Elfin, and Morning Star, Ina, and Isul Youngae. Please help me.”

At my words, four females gather around me. I whisper something to them.

“Is it really okay to do that?”

“Okay… I don’t quite understand it like before, but the results will tell you everything.”

“Nari praised you a lot. She said I can trust what you say, so I will follow her.”

“Hmm… I see.”

The three females each responded positively, but they didn’t know what I meant, but Elfin seemed to have a rough idea of what I was thinking, judging by her expression.

“Ain, what you’re thinking of is using ‘no need to choose one crystal’.”

“I guess I should call it Elfin.”

It would be presumptuous to think that no one would understand my intentions, but seeing Elfin understand so immediately shows how outstanding she is.

“Did Her Highness find out about his plan?”

This time, Morning Star, who fired two arrows in succession, asks Elfin.

“Well, roughly.”

Elfin, who answered simply, went back and forth between the students on the rough terrain as I requested and delivered the message I had asked, while Saetbyeol, Ina, and Isul also went back and forth busily.

“What is that? Okay, I got it! If I let my guard down right now, I’m going to get hit!”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

“Huh? What the hell is that… No, I said I’ll do it! Anything will do!”

There were some positive and some negative reactions, but I was relieved to see that the general opinion was to follow. If there were no Elfin, it could have been a fight between the two in an urgent situation. In any case, the position of males in this world is lower than that of females. (Except for females hanging on to males.)

The two crystals were almost at the intersection, but as expected, our side was outnumbered, and the crystal on the plains was almost at the intersection.

Normally, students on the flat side would have pushed the crystal and changed seats to the rough side, but before the exam started, Dean Ivory explained the exam rules, which clearly stated that ‘there was no need to choose only one crystal.’

In other words, depending on the pros and cons of the battlefield, you can choose the crystal. What’s important is the person, not the crystal.

“Get away! Don’t try to protect the crystal! Position yourself so you can get in and out at any time! Don’t be fooled by the crystal! ”

But the rules are far away, and since there is a crystal right in front of us, people tend to give more importance to what they see, and continuity or inertia tends to work to keep the crystal they initially chose.

“Students who are engaging in close combat, focus on pushing away and not getting hit! Don’t engage in a power struggle! The winning condition is to be present when the crystal arrives, not the crystal itself! Push away! ”

This way, students are focused on the crystal and are forced to engage in a power struggle by inserting intersections. It can be seen as a task that is truly worthy of a ‘test of strength’.

“Stop the people, not the crystals! Let the crystals go, but stop the people! Ha Ji-young, is there no wind magic left?!”

So how would this crossroads battle unfold if invisible forces such as intelligence, wisdom, tactics, and charisma were used in addition to visible forces such as strength, stamina, and magic power?

“Ain! It’s just as you said! The crystal over there has already passed the intersection, and this crystal is now at the intersection!”

With Elfin’s cry, the crystals in the plains have already moved quite a bit towards the rough terrain, and the crystals in the rough terrain are tied up at the intersection.

There was a situation where the students from the rough terrain side who faithfully followed my plan were trying hard to tie up the students from the opposite side.

This means, for example, that we are in a position where ‘crystal swapping’ is easy.

“Students on the rough side! Get back!!!!”

When I shouted with all my might, I managed to get enough volume to echo throughout the battlefield. This was also done with magic, but thanks to that, the students who were prepared started running towards the crystal that was originally on the flat side as promised – now on the rough side, and the bewildered students on the flat side gathered around the rough side crystal that was lost and stuck at the intersection.

“[Ice Wall]!! And… [Wind Wall]!”

As soon as I confirmed that the students were perfectly divided into two, I held out the two artifact rings that Bandi had given me and shouted.

The magic contained in the ring is used, the (enormously expensive) artifact ring is destroyed, and a massive wall of ice and wind appears between the two groups of students.

“Nice, I succeeded!!”

In fact, I was extremely nervous, so when I confirmed that the plan was working perfectly, I cheered and hugged Elfin.

“Elfin, all right! Let’s go!”

“That, that’s right. Withdraw! Withdraw towards the crystal!”

Me, Elfin, Isul, and Ina ran towards the crystal, while Saetbyeol started to escape behind, escorting the students who had not yet been able to move beyond the barrier to escape through the gap in the ice and wind wall.

-Ah, amazing!! The students on the rough terrain side seemed to be giving up on the crystal due to the difference in strength! But it was a deception! They took the crystal on the plains with their eyes wide open!! The mastermind was…

“Artifact! Ain used an artifact!”

People cheer, including Bandi, who was watching from the VIP room. (Even the polite Sir Gold Bunny)

-That’s right, the 4th Princess of Erpeion Le Perion! Also, the young lady of Viscount Ina Foxflame, the young lady of Baron Isul Stelladue, and the young lady of Count Lucid Morningstar, who are assisting in the operation! Next to them is Dark Horse, the young lady of Baron Ain Frostgarm! We can say that they are the key persons of this test of strength!!

“Good!”

“That was a good strategy.”

“The difference is already that big!”

While everyone was talking, the positions of the crystals on the rough and flat terrain were quite large.

Since there were so many students gathered on the flat ground, Crystal, who moved towards the flat ground, was still moving faster, but honestly, it seemed like it would take quite some time to close the gap.

-The flat-land teams also try to make a surprise attack, but it’s not easy because of the difference in terrain! The rough-land team skillfully blocks them! They easily block them with a small number of people!

It seemed that the sides had now completely split up, and the caster was comfortably dividing the two sides into the rough terrain team and the flat terrain team.

“I don’t know what will happen at the end. There will be people who will simply wait for the students within range to pass through when one of the crystals arrives.”

As the night said, the Plains team, who had been dealt a severe blow twice by Ain’s operation, was showing signs of uneasy movement. Although the odds of victory were not yet completely in their favor, they could not help but feel uneasy when their position, which they had thought to be advantageous, was shaken.

“I really hope Ain and Elfin pass…!”

Bandi clasps her hands together and mutters as if praying. In fact, there is no particular need for them to win, but since the male of the group has confidently said, ‘If you do it, you win,’ the female of the group has no choice but to help wholeheartedly.

“…Wait a minute. Turn the screen.”

Bam, who was looking at the screen with a serious face, caught something and said to Hoyo.

“Huh? How much? This much?”

At the sudden demand of the night, Hoyo carefully begins to slowly turn back the time on the screen.

“What is that?”

As the Duke of Sustained said, there was something eerie captured on the screen that Hoyo returned.

“That’s it!”

At the same time, Ion and Lulu jumped up from their seats.

“That’s the eyeball I saw in the labyrinth last time!!”

In Lulu’s outer chamber, high up in the arena, in an inconspicuous place, a floating eyeball that looked exactly like the one in the innermost part of the mock labyrinth that they had barely managed to traverse with Ain was staring straight at something.

“Ion, let’s go! Hoyo, you come too.”

“Ah, yeah!”

Lulu urgently calls Ion and Hoyo, who are capable of fighting, and Hoyo hurriedly grabs the gauntlets and greaves that he had packed in his bag.

“Oh no, I didn’t bring a weapon…”

As Ion muttered with a look of despair on his face, Duke Icarus Moratium gave instructions to the secretary next to him.

Her secretary, who had left the VIP room, came in muttering and carrying an ornate mace and shield.

“Take it, Ion.”

“Thank you, Mom!”

Duke Icarus and Ion looked at each other and smiled, and Ion took the mace and shield that his secretary had brought and followed Lulu and Hoyo who had gone out first and hurriedly left.