episode_0214

Spaak—!

Muriyeong Sword, Form 2: Sky Cleave.

A pure white light flickered from Nari’s finger, and a crescent-shaped, razor-sharp sword energy shot out.

Swordsmanship used without swinging a sword. It could be called the utilization of a spirit clone. The spirit body swings the sword in place of her, emitting the sword energy.

The feel of a sword swung over ten thousand times is etched into the soul. If it’s an already mastered technique, a spirit clone can easily reproduce it.

Of course, the power is reduced.

Compared to the power of Nari herself wielding the Muriyeong Sword, the sword strike launched from just one finger is probably only about one-tenth as powerful.

But even that was enough to sever Kannadis’s neck.

His head, rolling on the alley floor, bore a look of terror. Whether he felt pain is unknown due to the instantaneous decapitation, but it was definitely an unpleasant end.

Nari reached out to absorb the magic and ether from Kannadis’s corpse.

Sssuu—

Black and white, two streams of light, maintained a certain distance as they flowed into Nari’s palm.

Her unique body consumed not only mana but also souls and their impurities cleanly.

“…There’s not much of a gain.”

Compared to Persona and Pope Gregorio, there wasn’t much gained from killing Kannadis.

Probably because the [Shadow Domination] he possessed was already a usable magic.

But this gave me some idea.

Even this time, the ‘Seeker’ maintained the same attitude. He treated the attacking soldiers and the named leader; all were disposable commodities, used and discarded. Perhaps he even sent Kannadis, a remnant of Persona’s faction, to be dealt with.

If it had been a fight where he had something to lose, he would have used his characteristically cool head. This attack was simply a game for the Seeker, so he couldn’t read Nari’s intentions.

Because of his usual demeanor, he fell for such a blatant trap.

Taat—

Nari moved towards where Aspi and the knights were.

Second Knights covered in blood were catching their breath in the dark alleys.

“You have arrived, Your Highness.”

“Oh, everyone did well. Rest.”

Even though they used the [Ether Barrier] to prevent the damage from spreading, the knights inside must have endured a difficult battle.

Judging by the blood and body parts scattered everywhere, it seems that those magic self-explosion soldiers were there again.

Out of consideration for their fatigue, Nari left only with Aspi.

Both were unscathed and had not a single drop of blood on them.

In Nari’s case, it was relatively easy; she had a spirit body capable of controlling her interaction with the physical world.

But Aspi is different. It was only possible if she evaded or blocked all the flying blood from the self-exploding soldiers.

And indeed, Aspi was now capable of doing so. Her body had developed further through the recent training. Assuming she wasn’t using magic, she could now keep up with Nari’s speed.

“Good work. I’ll give you a reward when the exams are over, back at the mansion.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“…”

Nari frowned slightly at Aspi’s lukewarm reaction.

Looking around, people were walking along the street, completely oblivious.

‘…I see.’

Finally, she grabbed Aspi’s wrist and pulled her into a nearby alley.

There was no one else around, only the dusky air.

“…When the exams are over, I will give you a reward, back at the mansion.”

Halchak-

This time, she smacked her lips and gave a lingering look.

From the moment they arrived where no one could see them, Aspi had been slowly releasing pheromones.

“Y-yes… My Lady♡”

If Nari’s body had been a physical one, not a spirit body, this short conversation alone wouldn’t have ended their clandestine meeting.

It was something they both knew.

. . .

Ssiik-

Princess Narita smiles.

The information she’d heard, the vicious smile of Princess Narita which she witnessed with her own ‘eyes’.

That final smile held nothing but scorn and mockery.

“Shibal!!!”

Duke Darius saw her final smile lingering before his eyes.

He sputtered out vulgar curses unlike him, and began smashing everything around him.

“Damn bitch, I’ll kill you—!! I’ll cut off your limbs and rip open your belly, even gutting your womb wouldn’t be enough for a vermin like—”

Kwaang- Kwaduk- Kwajik- Kwaang—!!

Splashes of blood flew up, coalescing into the shape of sharp blades, destroying the table, bookshelf, and display case indiscriminately.

Falling into the trap was fine. His game always increased in difficulty gradually. A failure or two was acceptable.

The Duke had nothing to lose. He could easily replenish a few soldiers or named individuals. With his endless coins, he simply enjoyed the steadily increasing difficulty of the game.

However, nothing could compare to the unbearable insult to his pride.

He never even dreamed that Princess Narita would design such a trap by sacrificing the chance for her to shine in the Class Competition.

No, that thought itself is abnormal. At this rate, it would be impossible for Princess Narita’s 1-A to win the Class Competition. This is because she left the dungeon.

Naturally, by the time the exam results are released, someone else will take the spotlight. The position of the Student Council President would become ambiguous, and even the royal succession would falter.

“Huuu…”

Duke Darius breathed lightly.

After venting his anger, his head finally cooled.

And his cold rationality began to return.

‘Eve… She knew it would come to this, yet didn’t report it.’

Kkaderuk-

Because he maintained his composure, he only clenched his teeth.

Eve would never betray him. The most important ‘hope’ was in the Duke’s hands.

He hadn’t directly asked about this matter either. As he hadn’t received an order for an operational report, he could simply claim he only did what he was supposed to.

He had prepared a separate stage for her to truly shine. Therefore, he decided to be as merciful as possible for now.

“Kkk…This turned into our failure, but the truth is, we got everything we needed last time.”

During the previous Academy Incident, Duke Darius split his forces. One to attack Princess Narita, the other to steal the Academy’s research data.

They lost much in the process, but ultimately stole the original ‘Mana Superconductor’ and its research data. This is now being used as the technological foundation for Moriarty.

The Duke leaned back into his chair, quietly resting his chin on his hand.

“All that’s left…is waiting. Since Princess Narita herself threw away the opportunity to gain power, our offensive will continue from now on. Kkk-”

And he turned his gaze to the broadcast screen of the Nifrantz Academy’s Class Competition.

The ants fighting amongst themselves were surprisingly interesting to watch at times.

. . .

At the same time, at the first training ground where Nari’s main body was located.

She carefully watched the broadcast screen and used alchemy to give instructions to each squad.

「Let’s move.」 「Understood!」

Even though she wasn’t participating in the battle, Nari had no time to rest.

She had to constantly monitor the changing battlefield situation and make appropriate judgments accordingly. Since she rarely took on the ranger position even during her Acastos days, this was quite unfamiliar work.

‘Kkeung…It’s a bit complicated. I do need a competent strategist.’

She decided to get Nix attached to His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister, or the Minister of Foreign Affairs later on. By having them learn all sorts of experiences necessary for being a strategist, she thought it will be something Nix would like.

Anyway, that’s that, this is this.

Nari needed multitasking capabilities to handle her work in many aspects.

‘There’s just the right magic for that.’

She spread her legs shoulder-width apart and relaxed her body.

“Huuu…”

She slowly drew ether from her toes. A pure white energy flowed freely through her body, making her senses even sharper. She expanded her awareness beyond her physical body, to her soul, and observed herself from a distance.

Soon, she was able to face herself looking at herself—

“Oh my goodness—!! Everyone, while you were momentarily distracted by the inside of the dungeon, Narias cadet has become two!! Which one is real?! The pale one or the sickly one—!!”

Having caught the sight, Mety once again went into rapid fire commentary.

But it was too early to be surprised. Soon, two more clones appeared, making a total of four Naris standing in the center of the training ground.

Cheolperdeok-

Because her power was reduced to a quarter, she lost her balance and sat down on the floor. She hadn’t used this much ether when hunting Moriarty’s named individuals.

“Huuu…This is a bit tough.”

Looking around, she saw a pale figure, identical to herself, watching her.

As they inherited the memories they had just before using the spirit clone magic, they could each understand what was happening. However, this was their first time really seeing each other’s faces.

“Everyone, you know what to do, right?” “Of course.” “I’m you, aren’t I? Of course I know.” “Ah— I want to screw Aspi too—”

Was it because they created four clones at once? The last clone could no longer contain herself and revealed her true intentions.

A raucous voice echoed around.

When it was broadcast, it was clear and loud enough that no one could misunderstand it.

“…Yeah, you know. Let’s get started then.”

Nari and her three clones each looked at the broadcast screen. Due to the main body’s natural response, nothing serious happened immediately.

She didn’t have time to think about the hard work that would be necessary later to clean up the flood of rumors that would inevitably follow. Aspi seemed to be enjoying herself.