Chapter 327
Chapter 327
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 327
Chapter Title: Ping-Pong with Mimesis Phleroma
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We were playing ping-pong with Mimesis Phleroma.
It was easy to predict that Treptower Park—and the surrounding areas—would be advantageous for them. Phleroma had deliberately created a situation that would arouse our suspicions, which told us they knew the "proposition" Mecklenburg had mentioned. After all, they had to find an unpolluted location first if they wanted to take their prisoners, so they must have anticipated we'd figure that out. They expected us to narrow it down to zero-star clean zones and deliberately polluted a lake that had been pristine.
The slight discrepancy between our calculations and theirs was that they might have first set the portal's location and then performed a feint somewhere far from it. In other words... our calculations had been overly thorough. But they might have chosen the portal site and feint location precisely hoping we'd overthink it. Better not to underestimate the enemy, so the latter seems more reasonable.
The conclusion was this.
From our perspective, Treptower Park looked like a perfectly rational choice for Phleroma, but precisely because of that, from their viewpoint, someplace other than Treptower would appear the better option.
Now the choices multiplied. We had to narrow it down to areas that had zero or one star initially. That gave us about nine candidates.
But even so, why had I come to Treptower instead of searching those places...?
Kwaaang—!!
I shook off Leo's hand and unleashed my mana. Amid the ear-shattering roar, I sensed the person in front of me leaping away. He'd anticipated my move the moment he grabbed my collar; before I could even stand, plant stems came rushing at me from all directions. I poured mana into every part of my body touching the ground and gripped my staff.
[Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble—]
Kwoong— Kwaaaang—!!
[And he delivered them from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.]
The grasses charging at me halted, then sank into the ground in an instant. I stomped the earth with my foot, pinning the grasses down from there.
Now upright on both feet, I saw that Leo, who'd been nearby, had vanished. From afar came the sound of him landing in a spot less affected by my mana. Leo showed no displeasure on his face. He simply maintained his usual cool demeanor as he swung his wand. His calm voice rang out.
[For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.]
Chaeng—! Kigik—
I gritted my teeth, blocking his sword from below. His speed was impressive—when had he switched from wand to sword and closed in? Leo stared straight into my eyes over the two blades clashing and continued his incantation.
[So they are without excuse.]
For a moment, I froze at the sight of nature closing in from all sides. Only now did I notice Leo's mana blended into the plants and the mana drifting in the air. Everything seemed to flow in slow motion, as if time had stretched. The sunlight filtering through the Vitriol darkening the midday sky blended with the cool mana, feeling just like standing in a garden at dawn. The grasses' fierce movements no longer felt like attacks.
It was exactly as his chant described. My attention was stolen for a split second by the plants that had only annoyed me before. And such moments were always the signal just before death.
Kwaaaang—....
[My people have been lost sheep.]
As if I wouldn't know. Who taught me that? As I quietly opened my mouth, a strike burst from my sword, shoving Leo's blade aside. He leaped back with seasoned poise. His sword, pushed to the upper right, would now swing left to block my blade heading for his chest. That would lead to another standoff.
Kwang!
Before that.
I had to exploit the split second. I spread a barrier in the air and leaped to land on his opposite side. My sword shifted to a staff as I swung, the green leaves clinging to its tip falling limply away. Beneath my stomping foot, a red glow unfitting for this natural scene spread to the edge of my vision.
[Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them to the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, and have forgotten their resting place.]
The ground writhed beneath me. Leo kept trying to activate his unique ability, but my continued incantation smothered it. If his plants grabbed me, I'd be done for. Even as I hammered shocks into his core, he endured the pain without faltering, retreating then slashing at me in pursuit, over and over.
'All sides are enemy territory....'
Every plant looked like a blade. And that spell he'd used earlier was a pretty successful strategy. The moment he cast it, the plants reaching for me felt perfectly harmonious. Whether it faintly interfered with my mind via general mana or distorted my vision to create an illusion, I couldn't tell. Before the duration of the suppression spells I'd layered ran out, I had to deal with him. Instead of slamming my staff down, I paused and surveyed everything in sight. Mana flowed up my legs, resonating with all the mana in the earth. As euphoria quickened my heartbeat, I exhaled in rhythm and raised my staff to the sky.
[The LORD of hosts will punish them with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.]
Kwoong— Kwaaaang—!!
[Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their course. And I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.]
The world turned red. Whether looking at sky or ground, it was as if a red veil covered my vision, changing all colors. The leaves appeared black. Far off, a pale sky-blue mana like electricity hinted at Leo's position, but an explosion and flames soon swallowed it.
Hwaaak—
[...My brothers, if you meet with trials of various kinds....]
A voice like Leo's echoed from afar, then grew clear.
[Count it all joy.]
Kwaaaang—! Ssaek—
"...!"
He dismantled my spell. His mana, wrapping my fire-manifested mana in arrowhead shapes, flew at me from all directions. No incantation, but guided magic formulas were attached. It was clear enough that a hit would ravage my veins, and I couldn't lay a barrier here as Leo had taught me—or as I'd taught Leonard.
Kwagwang— Kwang—!
I switched my staff to a wand and batted away the dozens of incoming attacks while running. One embedded in my forearm, but I couldn't afford to worry about one or two.
The hard parts of facing Leo were, first, that he welcomed my attacks.
I knew he observed every light fragment from shattering my assaults without fear, actively using it. I'd taken plenty of hits from his mana over the past months while he satisfied his academic curiosity, so I knew all too well out of sheer frustration.
Second, he knew me too damn well.
Kwaang—
"......"
Damn. I tried to laugh but gritted my teeth instead.
Weight pressed on my back. Even pinning me down, Leo didn't gloat; he spoke in a strangely displeased tone.
"If you can handle attacks like this without breaking a sweat, you'll sense the third one coming."
I'd fallen near the central warp point of this park. Warp point. I instantly understood how this happened.
Ppak—
He ripped off the communication artifact hooked to my ear.
To others, it might sound like Leo mocking my skills.... But really, it was his teacher mindset scolding me.
I'd already sensed him vanishing far away. I just couldn't defend against his warp in that 0.1-second difference. It was always the hair's breadth that was the issue, the tiny gap keeping me from surmounting my teacher's wall. Securing that tiny margin was skill too, built over a decade of effort, so I had no complaints.
I felt grasses pressing my wrist veins. To avoid repeating the third exam's mistake, he was now properly blocking my leg's mana pathways too. I stared at the white glove that no longer felt like my hand. The burning vein sensation continued, then turned numb.
"At this rate, my veins'll burst."
"Won't happen."
"What do you mean? Ever tried wrapping your wrist in grass?"
Worried I'd absorb it if he crushed me with mana or his unique ability, he didn't budge. I tried kicking off the ground to rise, but he planted his weight on my legs to pin me.
"......"
I turned my head to check; Leo's expression was icy. He wouldn't let me go until I answered. More than that, I was dumbfounded by something else. I'd been stripped of mana or unique abilities in training plenty, but him physically pinning me to block movement was rare. At least since adulthood, I hadn't been overpowered physically in this world—it was ridiculous.
'...This is... a strategy too.... No.'
I'd stripped Leo's mentality before, but he couldn't strip mine here. I intended to keep using the method I'd employed when raiding Mecklenburg's mental reserves.
So, I'd make a concession I wouldn't normally.
"Let me go."
* * *
"......"
Mecklenburg ran like mad. Annoying underclassman or not, this was a test.
[I need to tap even stone bridges, and... there are more things to do, so I'm heading to Treptower Park. Instead, Senior, you shouldn't go there—head somewhere else right away. There's a prime candidate; check it out.]
That was what Ascanien had said.
Annoying? More than his brother.
But he had no intention of complaining. No justification, and he didn't want to waste time on nonsense during the test. Two minutes since start, leaving exactly five minutes. Unless splitting up to hunt spatial magic, five minutes solo was tight. Even with warps.
So, the first-round strategy meeting, botched from the start, had to fully cede to Ascanien.
'Damn....'
Kwaang—
Mecklenburg felt his mana pushing out to unseen distances while rapidly flipping through the coordinate book. Nothing snagged, so warp to the next and check for spatial magic.
'...Shouldn't have gotten swept up in that Ascanien's nonsense.'
He couldn't count the emotions surging then. That Ascanien's brother wasn't the type to say he respected others. He was the one respected. And yet, with a face like his brother, claiming to respect me?
Ridiculous. Of course it was. But what shocked him most was feeling some inexpressible sentiment from those flimsy words, and...
"......"
The anxiety that he couldn't afford to mess up this chance. If he hadn't spouted that respect nonsense with such an expression, or if it were another underclassman, he wouldn't have cared—but what was wrong?
'As expected....'
He didn't like it. No corner to grow fond of, no matter how he looked.
Yet impatience gnawed. Everything ruined, but now he wanted to prove Ascanien's judgment right. Above all, he couldn't stand that. He, no one else...
'Why me.'
Slightly more force entered Mecklenburg's staff on the ground. No spatial magic this time either.
Why did he need acknowledgment from some kid? His head knew it made no sense, but his heart wouldn't obey. It felt like the sensation with his friend Ascanien reviving.
'...Something's off.'
This first round was Ascanien's game, but he could recover from the next. He'd always regained composure. Even if memories of being pushed endlessly by that other Ascanien surged, he wouldn't lose to the brother too. No matter what.
Kwaang—
To do that, first—he had to sync with Ascanien and beat the other team, regardless. Mecklenburg reviewed his words.
[At 10 o'clock, nine places showed zero or one-star pollution. Visiting all is impossible. Pick the prime one and stake everything on it.]
He'd said, simply checking the 10 o'clock status chart.
[ Tiergarten ★☆☆ / Alexanderplatz Rathaus ★☆☆ / Gethsemane Church ★☆☆ / Berlin Cathedral ★☆☆ / Berlin Havel River Southwest ★☆☆ / Langersee-Müggelsee ☆☆☆ / Blankenfeld ☆☆☆ / Tegelersee ☆☆☆ / Karow Pond ☆☆☆ ]
And at 12 o'clock.
[ Tiergarten ★☆☆ / Alexanderplatz Rathaus ★☆☆ / Gethsemane Church ★☆☆ / Berlin Cathedral ★☆☆ / Berlin Havel River Southwest ★★☆ / Langersee-Müggelsee ★★★ / Blankenfeld ☆☆☆ / Tegelersee ★☆☆ / Karow Pond ☆☆☆ ]
Of the nine, Tiergarten to Berlin Cathedral—four—were Old Berlin strongholds, constantly purified evacuation warp points. The other five were Berlin outskirts. Tegelersee and Havel Southwest were upper and lower west Berlin. Central Spree River upstream. The one-star increases were due to the Spree.
More strikingly, two spots unchanged zero pollution at 10 and 12: Blankenfeld and Karow Pond. Likely because they were Berlin northern outskirts, far from rivers.
Ascanien prodded not ten seconds after.
[Found it, right?]
Annoying.
Annoyingly so, his judgment speed calculating the enemy's rational choice was impeccable. Wouldn't yield to Mecklenburg himself. His next words would match Mecklenburg's own answer perfectly.
[Senior, go straight from Tegelersee to Havel River Southwest. In five minutes.]
* * *
"Let you go?"
He repeated my words coldly. Considering the screen, or his usual test seriousness—not that. I glared wide-eyed.
"Yeah. Go do your job. This is for your sake."
"......"
"Can't you see I'm giving you an opening? You don't have time to hold me here."
"True, no time. Every second counts."
Leo shrugged, reciting sarcastically. Wonder where he learned calm sarcasm. I twisted to face him as best I could.
"Don't believe me? When have I ever just tricked you?"
"No. What you're saying is true, even to me. But less than 1 minute 30 left."
Leo rose with a faint smile. Then, plants began covering me from hands and feet upward. Surprised by his words, I squinted briefly, then stared. Leo said calmly, unsurprised.
"So, bluntly: You knew this wasn't it but came anyway."
"......"
"Guessing I'd be here means we reached the same conclusion. You showed yourself to confuse me? So... you want me standing here chatting idly. You mocked if I had to hunt you, but actually.... You deliberately hunted me, to make this seem the answer and tie my feet. Wrong?"
Leo stroked his chin, continuing dryly.
"So from your side, you need me playing along. To keep me from rejoining my teammate."
"Ha...."
Hahaha. I let out a light laugh.
'He saw right through it.'
All correct. I'd come to tie his feet, fought without fleeing to deny the 91st Class Representative scouting manpower. Not because Treptower was right.
Amazingly yet unsurprisingly, he knew my moves and came using the same strategy. Never underestimated Leo, but really.... The best ally is the worst enemy.
Grasses clung over my whole body now; I couldn't lift a knee. Plants crawling skin and clothes felt vivid. Plants shouldn't move—grow—this fast, and feeling them cross me chilled me. Personal feelings aside, I already knew what he aimed for.
Leo glanced around, then down at me. Backlit faintly by sun, his face bore the model smile of a class rep.
"Sorry, gotta go. Lying in grass now and then isn't bad?"
He'd tie my feet here and leave alone. Right, no time to hold. Leo knew checking zero-to-one-star zones with the 91st Class Representative was key.
Stalemate ties both feet. So he'd leave me—entrust me to the plants—and do his part.
Before Leo broke my artifact, no sound of Mecklenburg meeting anyone. Destination fixed, compensating lateness with fast warp hops, yet no encounter with 91st Class Representative. No win announcement either. At this time gap, she'd have found already.
Meaning: Our thinking matched to Treptower, but diverged after. At this level, the divergence was minuscule—a few seconds deciding win or loss.
So....
As Leo chanted coordinates to warp somewhere, I said,
"You shouldn't go."
The moment Leo turned, white light burst in the sky, etching letters. A familiar pleasant voice announced.
Biiik—
[Round 1, Team B's Albert Mecklenburg-Lucas Ascanien wins.]
"...!"
Over. He whipped his gaze from sky to me; I smiled.
"I was a bit faster."