Why Is Song Sia Taking This So Seriously? (1)

The time was just a little earlier.

Song Sia and Lee Junwoo stood facing each other, preparing for their sparring match.

Seong Junhyeok, head instructor of the Holy Knight Department, glanced over their documents once more.

These two… the gap in skill is far too wide. Of all people, the absolute top and the absolute bottom.

Judging an Awakened’s strength from paperwork alone was ridiculous, of course. Still, for freshmen who had only just graduated from high school, their records wouldn’t be that far off from reality.

A photo from the student record caught his eye.

A pretty face, but a cold expression. Those inhuman silver hair and red eyes made it easy to guess what kind of blood ran through her veins.

A half-vampire.

This wasn’t the distant era of medieval witch hunts. Discrimination against demi-humans like vampires wasn’t particularly severe. Even as a Holy Knight, Seong Junhyeok felt no particular aversion.

Besides, even he—head instructor of Theia—had heard Song Sia’s name many times. A member of Aegis, the famous high school hero party. More than anything, she was the daughter of Song Yuhwan, a name no hunter—no Awakened—could possibly not know.

Daughter of the guildmaster of Valhalla’s Apostles. That says everything.

Her grades were top of the class in both theory and practicals. A freshman who had already completed her 2nd Awakening—an elite among elites.

And above all, Marian, the female professor of the Magic Department to which Song Sia belonged, had sat beside him and talked about the girl until his ears nearly fell off.

Well, from the Magic Department’s perspective, a cadet like Song Sia would naturally receive special treatment.

Then there was the cadet named Lee Junwoo.

A perfectly ordinary Awakened who had graduated from Theia High School’s Holy Knight track.

No—calling him ordinary is generous. His grades fall far short of even average.

His theory scores, which actually surpassed Song Sia’s, were impressive. But his attendance and practical evaluations were so abysmal that comparison was almost painful.

He had only completed the 1st Awakening of the Holy Knight class. Nothing special about his skill whatsoever.

His student record isn’t great either.

Somehow his face had cleaned up now, but the photo in the file still looked like a delinquent. You couldn’t judge everything from a picture, of course. Still, his attendance was terrible—tardiness and absences as routine as meals. Hard to call him a diligent student.

A Holy Knight is a noble blade that follows the Goddess’s will. A special class that cultivates strength from a sacred mindset in daily life.

That was the ideal, at least. Modern Holy Knights chased money and fame just like every other Awakened. Fame required results as a hunter, so it wasn’t exactly going against the Goddess’s will… but Seong Junhyeok was still a rather old-fashioned, classical Holy Knight.

And people can always change.

Today, this cadet Lee Junwoo’s uniform was clean and neat. No trace of the thug from the student photo. In fact, even standing opposite Song Sia, his looks stood out. And he had a genuinely kind gaze.

The Goddess loves her shepherds who have repented and reformed.

Seong Junhyeok himself had been quite the hot-blooded man in his youth. A cadet who had repented would only follow the Goddess’s will more sincerely. And someone with actual hero activity experience wouldn’t have truly intended to fall into a bad path.

I’ll have to confirm it myself.

The matchup was absurd from the start, of course. But the evaluation rules were only for a simplified spar—more like boxing sparring, where you didn’t attack with full intent to harm. With a gap this overwhelming, even sparring wouldn’t be easy for Lee Junwoo…

Seong Junhyeok spoke.

“The simplified spar lasts one minute. This is less about deciding a winner and more about demonstrating the proficiency and skills of the authorities you each possess. Focus on showing yourselves.”

Professor Marian chimed in.

“Hmm. No need to force yourself! Knowing your place… no, calmly recognizing your own skill is also a virtue of an Awakened. Against Miss Sia, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Even if you give up from the start.”

A vein twitched. Seong Junhyeok had to force his expression under control. Something rose in his chest.

What a damn irritating way to talk. Mages really are an arrogant bunch.

That Lee Junwoo had put his reckless past behind him and now stood there in a clean cadet uniform. The resolve of a young Holy Knight. No matter how lacking his skill might be, he would naturally enter Seong Junhyeok’s department.

This unfavorable evaluation will be a trial for the cadet as well. But that, too, is a path toward the Goddess’s will.

So in truth, he was rooting for Lee Junwoo. It wouldn’t happen, of course—but he hoped the boy would show Song Sia the unyielding spirit of a Holy Knight.

A Holy Knight cannot lose to a vampire.

He was about to offer a pointed remark to Professor Marian, who was openly dismissing Junwoo, when another evaluator spoke quietly.

“Is that really so?”

Seong Junhyeok turned his head.

A young instructor named Lee Suyeon. Professor of the newly established Liberal Arts Department.

That instructor…

He remembered the name clearly. Their active periods as hunters hadn’t overlapped much, but the name Weapon Master Lee Suyeon was one he would never forget. She was only in her early thirties, yet she was an A-rank hunter for a reason.

I may not agree with the usefulness of that Liberal Arts track…

Seong Junhyeok looked back at the grade sheet at Lee Suyeon’s words. And on the very last page of Lee Junwoo’s documents, the retest scores for admission were recorded.

Hmm? First place on the retest?

Cadets who entered through retests naturally couldn’t receive high evaluations. Still, placing first on the retest was an unexpected result—impossible according to the indicators in his student record.

What Instructor Lee Suyeon had seen in that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lee Junwoo, he didn’t know.

“Combat between Awakened is like that, isn’t it? You only know once you actually fight. In the last retest, that student Lee Junwoo showed pretty decent skill.”

“My, Instructor Lee Suyeon isn’t being very objective. Even so, you can’t break a rock with an egg! A cadet who only managed a retest…”

“That’s enough of the useless talk, Professor Marian. We will begin the evaluation.”

He wanted to add another word about not casually dismissing a cadet, but the evaluation of the students came first. More than anything, if the outstanding Instructor Lee Suyeon had sensed something from Lee Junwoo… then he wanted to confirm it for himself right here.

He looked at the Holy Knight sword in the boy’s hand.

If Lee Junwoo can land even a single effective hit on Song Sia…

Then the starting signal rang.

Beep—

At last, the two of them moved.

Rrrrrumble—

Holy shit. Why is she this serious?

The moment the spar began, cracks spiderwebbed across the exam hall floor. I quickly pulled my body back.

I have to stay razor-sharp. Even a graze will throw off my balance.

A clean hit from something in the rock-shattering range would drop me instantly.

Dense black mana rippled around Song Sia’s body. The real-time earthquake was enough to make me nauseous.

And the problem is, this is only the beginning.

She had no intention of going easy from the start. She was pouring out her full power.

Song Sia’s main stat, Intelligence, was already over 75. Mine? Strength, my so-called main, was 20. Next was Intelligence at 18. Speed sat at a pathetic 10.

Honestly, she’s not someone I should be picking a fight with.

It wasn’t a spell my body could react to. The only reason I could manage was because, through my time in Aegis, I knew every single one of Song Sia’s attack patterns.

She’s the type who tries to seize the initiative from the very start.

For a mage, that was only natural. Hand over the initiative and allow the enemy to close in, and the mage side became far more disadvantaged.

“At this rate, approach is completely impossible. Even if we end it here, I don’t think it would matter much.”

The Magic Department professor’s voice drifted over. Well, she wasn’t wrong.

If it were the old me.

Unfortunately for her, I had to make it into the Middle Class. So I was going to land one hit.

Kra-crack—

Another crater opened in the floor one step ahead of me. I slipped out of range by a hair’s breadth again.

Her casting speed is faster than I remember. Since the spar is only one minute, is she overpacing from the start?

If she started casting higher-tier spells from here, just dodging like this would become impossible. Right now she was only using her 2nd Authority—the rock-attribute one.

About fifteen seconds have passed. Her main skill should be coming soon.

Even this spell alone was threatening, but the true danger of that half-vampire hadn’t even shown half its face yet.

Song Sia’s 1st Authority of the Dark attribute.

Ominous Blood Binding.

A sorcery that freely manipulated a vampire’s blood. And the signature skill she had created by combining that authority with her rock-attribute 2nd Authority.

Genocide Field.

Crackle— Crackle—

Song Sia’s blood-red eyes grew even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠redder. The writhing pitch-black mana soaked into a bloody hue. No—it actually was a vampire’s blood.

There’s no way to dodge this by any method.

Faster than my perception, a massive fissure tore open across the floor. Cursed blood seeped into the cracks and formed a gigantic curse magic circle.

It meant I had already entered her domain.

In that instant, our eyes met.

“Don’t run from me, Lee Junwoo.”

She wore an expression I had never seen before. Song Sia, lips flushed a vivid crimson, was smiling at me.

She really is a vampire.

An expression that already seemed to sense victory. But I had never seen Song Sia smile like that in the middle of combat.

Is beating me that enjoyable?

Honestly, she was the type who wouldn’t even spare a glance for an incompetent like my former self, so it was unexpected.

But I had prepared in advance. I had assumed every possibility. It was the Academy’s first spar, after all—I had even accounted for the worst-case scenario that she might take me seriously. The current Song Sia was that strong an opponent.

Now.

So when that Genocide Field crashed down on me, I instead decided to aim for a single counterattack timing.

Multi-Mirror Summon.

Papapat—

The moment I used the skill, three mirrors materialized in the air.

Hissssss—

Cursed blood reverse-flowed from the cracked, ruined floor. A three-meter radius. No matter where I went, the spine-chilling smell of blood was closing in.

The light-attribute mirrors temporarily reflected the curse, but of course they weren’t enough to cover every part of my body. At this rate, the blood surging up like a fountain was about to latch onto me like leeches.

But I hadn’t summoned those glittering mirrors without a plan.

Ignite!

The skill I had prepared activated.

The explosion timer I had set was one second.

Exactly the same timing as the moment the reverse-flowing cursed blood surged up to engulf me all at once.

“Fire.”

At the trigger word, the mirrors exploded.

She had seized the timing.

Barely half of the one-minute spar had passed, yet Song Sia was already certain of victory.

Haa… more… push the spell’s power to the maximum…

Even during hero activities, she had never used Genocide Field at this intensity. But right now, Song Sia was attacking Lee Junwoo with every ounce of her full power.

I cannot let Lee Junwoo advance to the Middle Class.

Just yesterday, she had overheard those words in Theia Academy’s infirmary. That because of his exile from Aegis, Lee Junwoo had developed a panic disorder.

Lee Junwoo… did you like An Yumin that much?

All of Lee Junwoo’s activities in Aegis had been for An Yumin. It was even clearer now. The rejection from An Yumin had been such a shock that it gave him a panic disorder.

He hadn’t just liked her—he must have loved her. That An Yumin. Maybe even now.

The expression on An Yumin’s face as she fled the infirmary had been deathly pale as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well.

Right. An Yumin would be the same.

Song Sia couldn’t fully understand that emotion, but if the fact that Lee Junwoo had been hurt was a shock… then whether the feeling was good or bad, it meant Lee Junwoo still remained in An Yumin’s heart.

At the conclusion she had reached on her own, Song Sia’s heart hardened with a coldness that even surprised her.

So she decided. She would keep An Yumin and Lee Junwoo as far apart as possible.

Middle Class is not allowed. There are too many joint training sessions scheduled with the High Class.

She could not permit even a one-in-a-million possibility.

I can’t go easy.

Even the chaos filling her head right now, even the emotion she felt whenever she thought of Lee Junwoo—she still had no idea what it was. But the bloodlust boiling through her entire body was screaming that this was what she had to do.

That she wanted Lee Junwoo to look at her, not at An Yumin.

So Lee Junwoo has to go to the Low Class.

She had seen it again this morning—An Yumin approaching Lee Junwoo. She never wanted to feel that unpleasant sensation again.

Hissssss—

Genocide Field. Blood reverse-flowed within that cursed domain. She wanted to completely trap Lee Junwoo inside that blood domain. She wanted to drink his blood.

I can’t. Just enough to force a retirement…

She suppressed the bloodlust and accelerated her dark-attribute mana even further.

Papapat—

Soon Lee Junwoo summoned mirrors of light, but it was useless.

That level won’t work. Even if light is the opposing attribute.

For a moment she found it odd that his mirrors had increased to three, but right now, even if there were ten of them, she could seal every single gap.

“Oh dear, it’s over!”

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠greasy-voiced female professor’s words reached her. The Magic Department professor. Acting familiar already was disgusting, but just as the professor said—this was her victory.

“Fire.”

But right then—

Lee Junwoo’s mirrors exploded.