Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: 17-2. Rivals Resemble Each Other, That's Why They're Rivals.
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"Wooooooah!!"
The arena was packed with spectators, and amid the cheering crowds, the rest of us—everyone except Mardol—waited for our upcoming matches.
"Mardol's up first, huh."
"Tomorrow's me, and the day after is you, Licht, right?"
"Kai...! Tomorrow's me too!"
Mardol had the very first slot, followed by Kainel and Ariel. I was saving the grand finale for myself. It was a perfect chance to gauge my party members' true potential.
'I'll have to take them all with me to take down the Demon King eventually.'
After graduating from the academy, if we formed a party to subjugate the Demon King, maybe we'd get to meet our Saintess in some monastery somewhere.
"..."
But the creator said taking down the Demon King was outdated. Wasn't the point to connect the love lines?
A contradictory feeling made me rest my chin on my hand. If that was the case, there'd be no need to attend the academy at all. To complete the love lines, taking down the Head Ake would have to come first.
No matter how I looked at it, it felt like I was missing something.
Calling it a "contradiction" from the start was odd. My possession alone must have created a massive butterfly effect.
Labeling it a contradiction was flawed from the premise. I was someone who hadn't existed in this world—a foreign contaminant.
'...A world that summons heroes from another world to begin with.'
So it made sense that it glossed over the weird parts to some extent. But I had no intention of exposing this to anyone.
There were plenty of reasons why. Someone who knew about Black Knight Licht might show up, or it'd be like revealing to them that this world was inside a game.
"Hello, Junior Licht!"
That was when a familiar voice approached from the side, interrupting my thoughts.
"...Senior Sharutineth?"
The vampire nun clad head to toe in black—Sharutineth Saintmarriage. She must have come to watch her close little sister's match.
"Ah... Hello!! Second Saintess!"
"Ariel, is that the one you mentioned before?"
"Yeah! Kai!"
The red twintailed elf beamed with a bright smile. Max intimacy, as expected. How does she pull off the tsundere act with her crush?
"Oh my, you're Junior Licht's friends. Nice to meet you!"
Her small fangs and red eyes sparkled, openly displaying her vampire traits. It was still fascinating every time I saw it.
"We've heard so much about you, Saintess! I've wanted to meet you for ages!"
"Is that so? I'm delighted!"
But was it okay for her to be here right now? Worried about the love meter numbers that had plummeted in her status window before, I asked the senior.
"I heard Senior Nex has a match today, but..."
"Nex will definitely win, so it's fine. His opponent's some lady who uses an orca spirit, and she told me not to come."
Ah, that nasty person she'd mentioned last time. He might use this match as an excuse to crush her completely with raw power.
'It's a chance to make a name for himself with the house head, so he'll give it his all.'
Even if it was water-attribute, he could vaporize it. A fully matured phoenix was strong. Its flames could melt magic, swordsmanship, even holy power.
"If Senior says so, I'm relieved."
With the northern spear techniques I'd taught him, he had the edge. A spirit user's weakness was their emotional reliance.
In [Knight Heart], he barely summoned spirits and just used his spear, so Nex might take the second-year championship.
The news could even reach the northern house head, Asha Aureus. If so, she might approve his marriage to Sharutineth.
I nodded in understanding. At that moment, looking ahead, two figures walked into the center of the arena.
"Ah, it's starting!"
"...I'm looking forward to it."
This exam would flip many people's evaluations and sort the strong from the weak. Could I claim Manarose here?
Gazing at the distant sparkling glass armor, I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling gnawing at me for some reason.
In the center of the arena stood two women.
The sky-blue haired female mage and the glass knight faced each other and exchanged greetings.
"I'm Windy, the wind mage. In this grade exam..."
"...Mardol."
A cold demeanor that said no formalities were needed.
Pine tersely stated her name, then drew the sword from her back and assumed a battle stance. Her opponent tensed up at the sight.
Soon, a horn blared across the arena, and the match began.
"Wind Cutter...!"
Raising her staff, Windy unleashed wind magic at the glass knight. Blades of wind pressure flew toward her with a whooshing screech.
'Compared to Licht's Void Slash... this isn't even a breeze.'
But Pine ignored them and pressed forward, taking the hits to wear down her opponent's will and create an opening.
"Wh-what? This cuts rocks too, but how tough is that armor...?"
Thud. Thud. The heavy-armored knight endured the gale, advancing step by step. She moved slowly, but the distance between them shrank.
Masterpiece-grade gear had the durability and traits to block most attacks.
Pine's glass armor, enhanced by Magic Hat's magic, boosted magic resistance to counter spells as much as possible.
'She should use something other than magic.'
To be precise, it was the Truth Demon King who wielded magic to perform illusions. That's why he'd lasted longer than the hero in their previous fight.
"Sorry, but bad matchup for you."
Now just steps away, the wind mage sweated coldly, scrambling for a counter.
"Cyclone Impact...! What, this doesn't work either...?!"
Boom, bang! Explosions rang out, but they did no damage to Pine. Windy could only stamp her feet as the glass knight closed in.
"You done?"
Then, her shadow loomed over the mage's face. Towering like an adult man, the massive knight raised her sword to strike.
"Kyaa, kyaack! Wind Shield!"
In response, the mage conjured a swirling barrier of wind to protect herself. A thread-like shield enveloped her.
"You can't break this either! My specialty wind won't let your sword through...!"
Windy bellowed confidently from inside her opaque shield. Her plan was to stall for a time-out.
She couldn't see out, so she assumed Pine's sword would bounce off her own wind.
"Drake Style, Form 1."
But Pine didn't flinch. Her golden eyes gleamed coldly from within the helmet.
"...Dragon Shadow Slash."
She simply slashed downward, as if cleaving the shadow on the ground.
At that instant—crack!—a sound echoed as the mana-made transparent barrier shattered across the arena.
"Huh...?"
Windy collapsed like a halved apple, her shield split in two. Unable to grasp what happened, she stared up at Pine in a daze.
"...I lost? To a swordswoman...?"
Dragon Shadow Slash struck the real body through its shadow.
Hiding behind the shield was pointless if the shadow was visible. The transparent wind even made Windy's form clearer.
"I win, Windy."
"Bragging about it?! With that cheating armor!"
Pine extended a hand to help her up, but the wind mage bit her lip in frustration.
"..."
In the end, her opponent stood on her own and trudged out. The glass knight just stood there motionless.
'Does wearing this armor really make you stronger than others? But... it's still weaker than the Demon King...'
Her snow-white wolf ears and tail drooped inside the helmet, and in her emptiness, she turned toward the audience.
There, far in the stands, she spotted her close big sister Sharutineth.
'Ah, big sis Shar. Licht's next to her... too.'
She waved reassuringly at the two reliable people who knew her weakness.
The glass knight's fight ended too quickly and simply. Inside my black helmet, I kept breaking into cold sweats.
"Isn't that your technique, Licht?"
"...Yes, Kainel."
She'd mastered Dragon Shadow Slash? I'm dead meat with Master Drake now. I was dumbfounded watching the crown prince wave triumphantly at me.
"Talk about getting owned."
Protagonist correction is real. How does that even make sense? Swordsmanship is the art of will. Did Mardol have the resolve to cleave shadows?
'Probably grew from her duel with Magic Hat.'
Come to think of it, her parents had been taken hostage and rescued, so it fit.
"..."
If anything, it was good. To get Manarose, I'd have planned to throw the match anyway. I'd seen plenty of the masterpiece gear's power.
'Likely nullifies magic. Probably can't block spirit arts, swordsmanship, or holy power.'
Mardol's movements didn't falter under repeated wind spells. Her mana shield didn't even crack.
Human effort rivaling artifacts. True masterpiece. Shame it was made by those perverted dwarves, but I smiled at the cheat item's performance after so long.
"Mardol!! That was awesome!!"
The oblivious senior cheered beside me.
Seeing her bright joy, I suddenly thought even if Master Drake chewed me out later, it'd somehow be okay.