What Should I Do?
Ashytara's mind began to grow increasingly complicated. The arrows still tapping against her sword were impossible to trace back to their origin. She considered channeling her divine power to blast everything around her away, but that wouldn't mean much either. Seia would have slipped away long before then.
Sensing her surroundings? Nothing registered clearly at the moment. Seia was undoubtedly a seasoned hunter. She hadn't made a single sound that a normal person might. It seemed like handling Lanur's divine power allowed her to tamper with the laws of perception itself. Even worse, the twang of the bowstring started echoing from multiple directions.
"Tch…!"
Ashytara judged that she couldn't beat Seia as she was now. As she twisted her body and swung her sword to deflect the barrage of arrows, her gaze flicked briefly toward Ludenberg. There he was, effortlessly blocking Dalia's attacks with remarkable composure. Murmurs of admiration rose from the crowd around them for the mystical duel. Seia's saint law alone held a profound mystery for Ortara's students.
Ludenberg and Dalia's clash was no different. Every time their weapons met, cheers erupted from the Ortara side. It was inevitable—the ground shattered beneath their feet with each impact between longsword and axe-spear. The pressure exploding through the air made it a spectacle of pure thrill, the ultimate entertainment for the Ortara crowd.
Ludenberg, relentlessly pressuring Dalia and gaining a moment's breather, glanced toward Ashytara. He could clearly see she was struggling. That sight made it unmistakable.
Tara's still weak at utilizing her senses fully. Seia-senpai must be using Lanur's divine power since her form isn't visible. To find someone hiding their presence, you need senses sharper than anything else—or blow the whole area away… but Seia-senpai wouldn't allow that.
With that thought, Ludenberg instantly knew what he had to do. He slammed his sword down fiercely on Dalia's axe-spear.
Thud.
Dalia's knees buckled in that instant. The Ortara students watching gasped in surprise.
"Isn't that the girl who crushed us like crazy last year?"
"Yeah."
"He's incredible! We gotta step it up too!"
"We won't win, though."
"Hey, don't jinx it?"
"Hahaha! Just stating facts!"
Such chatter reached Ludenberg's ears, but he showed no reaction. As Dalia recovered her stance, he bolted straight toward Ashytara.
"Hey!"
Dalia realized Ludenberg was abandoning her to go after Seia first and lunged to grab him, but he was already right beside Ashytara. Seeing him approach, Ashytara dropped her guard against the arrows and shifted her gaze to Dalia chasing behind him.
Switching opponents. No words, no signals exchanged—yet in that moment, they perfectly read each other's intent. If the matchup was bad, just swap.
In truth, Ludenberg could have beaten Dalia right then and even taken Seia. But he didn't, for a simple reason: it was practice. In a real match, he would have crushed Dalia without coordinating with Ashytara and then faced Seia. But this was just training. He didn't want to see Ashytara think of herself as a burden, not even in death. Facing strong opponents spurred growth, no matter the type—just as it had for him. He wouldn't rob her of that chance.
Of course, practicing against unfavorable matchups was necessary too, but only when time allowed. With the friendly matches all pitting them against Ortara elites, there wasn't enough time to build matchup-breaking strength.
As Ashytara dropped her defense and charged at Dalia, Seia immediately manipulated her arrows.
Clang!
But Ludenberg deflected them all with his longsword. Unlike Ashytara, he knew exactly how to handle such foes, advancing with casual ease.
This is bad…
Seia, who had hidden herself in the air using one of Lanur's saint laws—Fairy's Prank—lost her leisure against Ashytara and began moving more stealthily to avoid Ludenberg. Hiding her body in the air was possible, but not the faint noises she made. Or rather, she couldn't fully master the saint law yet.
She loosed arrows again, minimizing even the sound of the bowstring. But Ludenberg was someone whose senses were honed to a chilling degree. No matter how mystical the concealment, a mere student like Seia couldn't fool him.
He focused his senses. Even the tiniest noises, imperceptible under normal circumstances, flooded his ears.
Ting.
A faint sound. The bowstring snapping. Amid the overlapping echoes, Ludenberg pinpointed Seia's position precisely. It seemed impossible, but after Raha's trial and rolling through the trial world in Liberatus's body, he had long surpassed human sensory limits. Finding Seia hidden in the air was child's play.
He dashed straight to her hiding spot. Arrows twisted mid-flight toward him with fierce intensity, but compared to the assaults from erosion beasts in the trial world, they were laughably slow. He batted them aside and sliced through, closing in on Seia in moments.
Before she could even register it, his sword hovered before her throat. Seia raised her hand and released her saint law.
"I lose."
"Good work."
Even after accepting her surrender, Ludenberg didn't head toward Ashytara battling Dalia.
"You don't need to go help?"
"It's just practice. If I handle everything, there's no point in coordinating with Ashytara."
"Fair enough. She wouldn't want to feel like a burden to you either."
"…Exactly."
"By the way, judging the bad matchup and swapping opponents on the spot was a smart move. Especially when Ashytara trusted you enough to drop her guard immediately. You two sync up better than I thought."
For some reason, those words lifted Ludenberg's mood, but he forced down the corners of his mouth threatening to rise.
"We've trained together since we were kids."
"Ah."
Seia nodded. Meanwhile, Ashytara and Dalia continued their fierce exchange, weapons clashing relentlessly. The cross greatsword wreathed in flames met the axe-spear shielded by earth, creating another spectacle. Sparks flew against earthen barriers; at a glance, Ashytara seemed to press Dalia, but Dalia's hands remained unscathed despite meeting Solem's fierce flames head-on.
Most students avoided sparring Ashytara with divine power because of her flames. Dalia clearly knew how to counter it. And in the midst of defending against the swift greatsword barrage, Dalia's eyes sharpened. What looked like desperation was merely setup for a finishing blow.
In the brief gap amid the greatsword flurry, she thrust her axe-spear through. Its tip stopped before Ashytara's throat.
"I lose."
"Good work."
The duel ended cleanly. The Ortara students watching seemed delighted, as if they'd enjoyed a fine show. Some even voiced fervent excitement for the upcoming friendly matches.
Ludenberg and Ashytara thanked Dalia and Seia before heading back to the dorms. Ashytara, looking reasonably satisfied, spoke to Ludenberg.
"We lost, but we figured some stuff out, so it worked out okay, right?"
"Yeah. It's just practice, and Dalia-senpai and Seia-senpai were seriously strong."
"You won, though."
"I'm… a special case."
"Haha, true."
The conversation paused there. Ashytara fell silent, perhaps replaying the practice in her mind. Watching her, Ludenberg glanced over and spoke.
"Tara. Back when we swapped opponents."
"Yeah."
"It just felt right, didn't it?"
"Yeah. I knew exactly what to do."
"Let's do the friendly matches like that too. And we'll practice ranged foes separately later."
"Got it."
"You did great. Really."
"You too."
The Salvation Cult's plan to brainwash and abduct orphans proceeded smoothly. In their starvation, no orphan could resist the promise of abundant food. In a hideout near Ortara, the orphans devoured the feast with joyful smiles.
In the innermost room of the hideout:
"How many so far?"
"About a hundred now."
"…Still short."
"What'll we do, Hector? Gather more, and we'll get caught. Some believers say rumors are spreading. Even orphans out of sight— if they keep vanishing, Ortara will form a subjugation force."
Hector rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought at Daneb's words.
"Gather more."
"…Can we?"
"We must. With Solemnute and Istallin on high alert lately, this is our only option. Excluding those with divine power… we need as many vessels from Ortara as possible. If even that fails… we might head to Abaran later."
Abaran. The word made the other three grimace.
"Ugh."
Daneb's face twisted in genuine disgust. Abaran—west of Solemnute, the nation worshiping Arcada. The Salvation Cult called them fanatics. Even cultists recoiled from a country that devoted everything to their god.
"I can't stand those fanatics."
As Daneb vented, Jepita addressed Hector.
"But Hector, there's a big issue."
"What?"
"Ortara and Solemnute are holding exchange matches right now. Sione Solenute might step in. You heard, right?"
Sione Solenute. Tension flashed in everyone's eyes at the nightmarish name.
"…I know. But we need more. Secure more vessels for the Lord's descent now. The sooner, the higher the chance to overturn the world."
"How many?"
"Two hundred."
"Two hundred…"
"Two days. That's enough time before they suspect. Finish the mission by then."
With Hector's words, the other three executives vanished. Hector, looking slightly anxious, left the room soon after.