episode_0067

The test of strength was a back-and-forth affair.

The rough terrain team, focusing on strategy and surprise attacks with me as the leader, and the flat terrain team, with their numbers and above-average skills, constantly clashed to get their crystals moved first.

But it was at the last intersection that the decisive victory was reached.

I intentionally set the speeds of the crystals to be similar, and then bluffed the flat team as if the two crystals were going to collide at the second intersection. Then, right before the two crystals collided, without a moment’s hesitation, I grabbed the red ruby on my necklace and threw it at the flat crystal.

“Eww, it’s a fireball!!”

The thrown ruby instantly became a large fireball, and before the flat-land team could react, it turned the crystal into a fireball. As instructed by me, the rough-land team, who had passed the intersection in advance and were running towards the flat-land, moved around the rough-land crystal that was barely passing by the flat-land crystal.

“Damn, that’s wrong! Now I have no choice but to take your place!”

As the final intersection ends and the destination appears closer, no matter how many people there are, the gap between them becomes too big to overcome, so several of the quick-witted flat team members abandon the crystal and run towards the rough terrain team.

“Stop it! If you let them in, I’ll kill them and feed them to the dogs!”

“Wow, let me in!”

“Go and drink some more breast milk!!”

In the original world where I was, when the ‘Siege Crystal’ appeared during the Test of Strength, people would say, ‘The last 100m is the real fight,’ and the reason for that is now unfolding before my eyes.

The Siege Crystals are so intricately designed that unless there’s a truly overwhelming difference in power, the two teams will somehow arrive at a similarly even finish.

The final 100m fight is the most intense and requires all your might, so this battle could be said to be the true face of Siege Crystal.

“Projectile on the left!”

“I blocked it!”

“Ain, raise your shield!!”

“Eww!”

I belatedly noticed that a large female bull was about to shoulder tackle me with her pole drone, so I quickly raised my shield, but I was thrown back by the overwhelming force and weight, and the students from the flat ground team outside began to aim for the empty space where I had been.

“Haha, I got it! As expected, the male side has the hole!”

“Oh my, it hurts my pride when you say that!”

As I rolled on the floor, I felt my temper tingle at someone’s shout. Then, come and taste the male!

“[Space-time setting current and fantasy dimension, using ‘force field wall’, coordinate values x 3323, 3356, 3379…]”

“Ain!!”

Just as steam rises in his head and he is about to use a level 5 spell, Elfin shouts urgently.

“…Okay.”

I looked at her, startled by Elfin’s call, and she was already blocking the space I had created and shaking her head.

In this place where all the students are fighting, it is obvious that if you use a level 5 spell openly, you will be caught, so it can be seen that Elfin’s restraint is appropriate.

While leaving the empty space to Elfin and assisting with magic from behind, I feel a strange sense of foreboding.

Eyes… giant eyes staring at me. At the finish line.

But the students who are fighting are fighting as if they don’t see it at all, so I’m going crazy because I’m worried.

“Elfin, look at the finish line!”

At my shout, Elfin pushes away two students with his shield and kicks them, then looks at the finish line in great surprise.

“Those eyes! Are they the ones from the mock labyrinth?”

“What’s wrong with the labyrinth? There’s nothing at the finish line!”

Ina and Isul also looked at the finish line during our conversation, but it seemed like they couldn’t see anything.

“Now is not the time to worry about that, Ain!”

“Oh my, I got it!!”

Crystal is getting closer to the finish line, and the sight of fierce magic and weapons being used is amazing. Even though the attacks have lost their killing power, they will still be quite spectacular for the audience to see.

“Hey, hey, I can’t go out!!”

“You get out too!!!!”

Marquis Leila, who had caused great trouble for the rough terrain team at the intersection, was struggling and holding on under the crystal, and the students with outstanding skills among the flat terrain team had also broken through inside and were casting spells.

Fortunately, however, there aren’t many of them, and the students on the rough terrain team are successfully defending the crystal without anyone falling behind.

and…

-Crystal arrived! Test of strength complete!!

A voice from another professor, not Dean Ivory, announces the end of the test of strength in the stadium, and students who realize that the test is over collapse in exhaustion or slump in their seats.

“Haa, haa… I won…”

Elfin drops his sword and shield and takes a deep breath. We were within striking distance of Crystal as she crossed the finish line.

“Oh my, if I do this twice I might die.”

When I smiled and held out my palm to her, Elfin smirked and clapped her hands together, giving me a high five.

“Good job, Elfin.”

“Ain, you too.”

While we were high-fiving, Saetbyeol, Ina, and Isul also came up to us.

“Thank you for your hard work, both of you. Thanks to you, I was able to pass the test of strength.”

“Hey, Nari was right. You’re no ordinary bettor, are you?”

“Thank you for this test, I was able to learn a lot. Thank you.”

The three who followed us the best during the test of strength greeted us and dispersed to share this joyful event with their loved ones, while Elfin and I looked towards the finish line.

“Those eyes… what the hell were they?”

I don’t know about that weird eyeball-like monster because there was no such thing in Academy Story 2.

But what is certain is that it is hostile to us, to me to be precise.

“Earthquakes and lava were probably its doings. But, Ain, you don’t know…”

Elfin says so, and cautiously suggests that it might be related to my being from the North and having been on battlefields where liberators and monsters roam.

“Well, I don’t know, but the possibility might not be zero…”

While my head was spinning for a moment, someone approached me loudly, making a ‘hohohohohoho’ sound.

“Your Highness, Ain Youngshik! I admit that your skills are amazing! But isn’t it the outstanding skills of this Layla Violet Storm that led me to victory? Ohohohohoho! ”

Layla, a purple fox female with a short stature and a slender figure, laughs, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, and extends her hand to us.

Elfin and I take her outstretched hand and look at her for a moment.

Layla Violet Storm, her abilities are those of an ordinary wizard, but her family has believed in the Goddess of Storms, so her protection is in her blood.

She is a fairly popular companion with powerful lightning abilities based on divine power, a cute appearance, and a funny way of speaking, but strangely, she has no connection with him.

“Oh my, Ain Youngshik. If you look at it like that, even if it’s Lee Layla, it’s a little embarrassing. Of course, it’ll be hard for males to resist the charm of this body!! Ohohohoho!”

I laughed a little at her characteristic arrogance and funny way of speaking, and Elfin looked uncomfortable.

The point is that while Lulu is rude and shows off unconsciously as if she’s breathing, Layla is open about it and shows it off, which is their similarity and difference.

“Good game, Marquis Leila Youngae.”

“Hehehe, this one was really impressive, Baron Ain Youngsik. I hope Princess Erpeion is also in good health! That’s all for now!”

Layla leaves with her purple ponytail fluttering, and we also head to the VIP room.

“Good job, son-in-law!”

As I entered the VIP room with Elfin, the first person to greet me was surprisingly Lulu’s mother, Marquis Luciola.

“Your rapier skills were impressive! It’s a shame that you didn’t get to show off your Anastasia dueling skills because it was a group match, but whatever. You were flawless! ”

“Haha, in that situation, what was most needed was Anastasia’s dueling skills, Mother-in-law!”

“Of course! That’s right!”

I heard that she was so happy that the vision broadcast that showed me demonstrating Anastasia’s dueling skills was shown on the screens all over the empire. Of course, Lulu, the sole heir to the knight family, is a genius magician, so it makes sense that she would react like that.

But that friendly atmosphere was short-lived, as I heard that the females and their families had all seen the same unidentified eyeballs that they had seen before.

“I heard that you had a hard time because of those eyes when you went to the mock labyrinth.”

Elphin, Lulu, and Ion nodded at Duke Moratium’s words.

“Thanks to Dean Ivory’s intervention from the middle, it was unable to exert any power after the lava. However, you must be careful.”

Sir Knight Sustained then adds that Sir Kino, Lulu’s father, and Sir Nicholas, Bandi’s father, also contributed.

“Thank you, Master. Thanks to you, I was able to pass the test of strength.”

Sir Nicholas smiled handsomely at my thanks, but Sir Kino looked strangely embarrassed.

“I’m embarrassed that I’m acting so reckless at my age, son-in-law.”

“No, it really helped me.”

While Elfin and I were having fun rolling around in the test of strength, I was able to hear in detail what was happening outside, and it was quite touching to hear that everyone else, including me and Elfin, had a hard time. Is this family…

As I was briefly absorbed in the waves of emotion, the VIP room suddenly opened and the palace guards began to rush in.

“Huh?”

“The rightful rulers of the Empire, Her Majesty Emperor Alexandra Le Perion and her consort, Empress Alexei Le Perion, are coming!!”