The White Flash That Shattered Obsidian
The sharp, high-pitched whine cut through the air. Kiiiing—!
Fifteen minutes earlier, inside the grand auditorium of Lecture Hall 7 in the Basic Tactics Department. The cadets gathered there were watching the screen with rather skeptical eyes. And for good reason—the outcome of the match between the two teams seemed far too obvious to even bother predicting.
It was a foregone conclusion: Max’s team would win. Max, who had inherited the bloodline of the Sigmund family, was not someone to be taken lightly. Everyone was betting on Max’s victory and assuming Ed’s team would suffer a crushing defeat.
“······.”
But that atmosphere was flipped on its head in an instant. Max’s team had fallen into Ed’s trap, and the tide of battle had completely reversed. The once-noisy auditorium fell as silent as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over it. The only sound echoing through the hall was Max’s team screaming through the sound amplification device.
“Not bad at all.”
Isabella’s eyes curved into elegant arcs. She had thought it strange that Ed would struggle against a fool like Max, but it turned out he had been hiding a trump card like this. Especially the way he showed no mercy to his enemies—it was quite to her liking.
The sight of him calmly repeating the words “Block it.” with that indifferent expression. The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes when he said it tugged at something deep inside Isabella. It gave her the feeling that he wasn’t just some righteous, upright person.
‘I knew it. I thought we were the same kind.’
He acted kind and gentle toward everyone, yet he could be more ruthless than anyone when facing an enemy. Isabella saw herself reflected in that stark contrast—the true self one only revealed when it was time to achieve their goals.
In her eyes, this was exactly the side of Ed she was seeing now. Unhesitating. Merciless. Without a shred of compassion or leniency. He was mechanically crushing Max’s team for the sole purpose of victory.
‘I felt it from the moment of his entrance ceremony speech. You and I are the same.’
The entrance ceremony speech. Isabella had felt a powerful pull toward Ed the moment she heard it. She had noticed how he manipulated people’s desires. The vanity of the nobles. Ed had praised each noble house in turn, feeding that vanity. He lowered himself while elevating the nobles to the skies, carefully selecting only the words they most wanted to hear.
As a result, he had achieved exactly what he wanted—winning the favor and recognition of the nobles and earning admission to the academy as a commoner.
In short, Ed was a cunning man. Someone who could see into people’s desires, exploit them, and become utterly ruthless if that was what it took to reach his goals. It was proof that he had a clear objective of his own.
That was why Isabella wanted him by her side even more. No matter how much she exploited him, he was the kind of person who wouldn’t break easily. Just like those three fools who still considered her a friend, he would be able to handle her.
“To think he overturned such a disadvantage····.”
Enya, on the other hand, was focused on a different aspect of Ed. She was in awe of how he had overcome such overwhelming odds. After all, every member of Ed’s team came from pathetic, ruined families. Bonfire Tyler, the gardener Charlotte, and Pio from the back alleys. That was all he had—an absolute ragtag bunch.
Yet Ed had taken only their strengths, come up with a brilliant idea, and completely flipped the situation. He had reversed a fight everyone thought was lost. It was like watching the manga Baldohjae.
‘A spirit that refuses to submit·····.’
Baldohjae, who quietly walked his own path no matter how much the world looked down on him. And at the end of the story, the one who conquered the world of warriors with a single draw of his blade. The image of Baldohjae that had struck such a strong chord in her heart overlapped with Ed.
Not blaming his environment, not blaming his teammates, simply doing his absolute best with what he was given—that was exactly like Baldohjae in the early parts of the manga.
“Edga Fix… this guy’s the real deal, isn’t he?”
The examiners were just as impressed as they watched Ed’s strategy. This was the first match they had ever seen that utilized both the team members’ abilities and the terrain so perfectly.
“The gap in their ranks was enormous, yet he completely overturned it. Look at this.”
One examiner handed the analysis report to his colleague as he spoke. The colleague who read it let out a dumbfounded laugh.
Max’s team’s expected combat power: C+
Ed’s team’s expected combat power: E-
It was an absurd difference in strength.
“As you can see, the power gap is so ridiculous it almost looks like it was rigged. And yet he overturned it using nothing but strategy and tactics.”
“·····Incredible.”
“He exploited the opponent’s psychological weaknesses perfectly. He made them let their guard down twice, even three times. The vine trap failing, the ridiculous escape, the defeat at the cave entrance—every single one was intentional. All to lure Max’s team inside the cave.”
“It’s textbook. The textbook example of using psychological weaknesses as bait.”
Textbook. The examiners had concluded that Ed’s operation was the very definition of a perfect feint. It was such an excellent example that when teaching someone how to use bait tactics, one could simply say, “Watch the match between Ed’s team and Max’s team.”
The examiners unanimously declared Ed's operation the definitive textbook example of psychological bait tactics.
But the match wasn’t over yet.
[Kwaaaaaaaaang!]
The side of the cave exploded, revealing Max. Although he had inhaled a massive amount of smoke and looked terrible, the fact that he had come outside meant there was still room for a counterattack. After all, he had inherited the bloodline of the Sigmund family.
[I’ll finish this and come back.]
But at that moment, Ed stepped forward boldly. He was walking straight toward Max, who was holding the Sigmund family’s treasured demonic sword, Obsidian, completely unarmed.
However, a few cadets in the auditorium watching this scene were calling Ed reckless. No matter how bad Max looked, he was still wielding Obsidian, one of the empire’s four great demonic swords.
-Th-this is dangerous.
-Does Sir Fix not know about Obsidian? It was forged by a dwarf blacksmith who earned the title of ‘Master Artisan.’
-If he knew, he wouldn’t be approaching so defenselessly.
Obsidian. One of the empire’s four great demonic swords that had elevated the Sigmund family to its current status. This demonic sword had earned its fearsome reputation especially during the Great War seven years ago. The reason a mere count’s family like the Sigmunds could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with marquesses was all thanks to this sword.
That was why everyone was watching Ed with cold sweat. If he approached so defenselessly, it was obvious what would happen. He would be instantly sucked into the sword’s demonic power and brutally slaughtered.
[-Paaaaat!]
It was the moment everyone’s hearts were clenched in tension.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the air. And from within that crack, a bracelet began to emerge. Ed, who had been walking leisurely with his hand thrust into the rift, snatched the bracelet out of the air with his left hand and immediately slipped it onto his right wrist.
Then—
[Ziiiiiiing····]
The mana stone embedded in the center of the bracelet began to glow, triggering a transformation. Metal extended from the bracelet and started wrapping around Ed’s wrist and hand.
[Chrrrrrrrk··· Clack. Clack. Clack.]
A pleasant mechanical sound rang out as each alloy component locked together with precision. In the blink of an eye, the gauntlet was complete, perfectly fitted over Ed’s hand.
Everyone in the auditorium stared at the scene with wide eyes.
What on earth was that…?
[Kiii—iiiiiiing—!]
At that moment, Ed thrust forward the hand wearing the gauntlet. His palm was aimed directly at the staggering Max. In his perfectly straight palm, a round circle of pure white light was shining.
The white flash grew brighter and brighter, emitting a high-frequency sound—kiiiing.
Kiii—iiiiing─────!
As time passed, the frequency of that high-pitched sound grew higher and higher. Everyone’s tension reached its peak.
And then—
[Puhng!]
It happened in an instant. A white flash of light shot out from the gauntlet. It flew straight toward Max’s abdomen. His body bent into a ‘⊂’ shape and was sent flying far into the distance. He vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only Obsidian behind.
And that was it.
Ed immediately turned his back. Without even needing to check the result, he began walking back toward his teammates.
[Clack··· Clack··· Chrrrrrrrr···]
At the same time, the gauntlet began to retract. Just like a reverse playback of the equipping process, all the metal that had wrapped around his hand was absorbed back into the bracelet.
[Ping!]
Once every piece of metal had been retrieved, the bracelet slipped off Ed’s wrist as if it had a will of its own. It hovered in the air for a brief moment.
[Pazizik!]
Just before it could fall to the ground, another crack appeared in the air and swallowed the bracelet whole. The unidentified weapon that had blown Max away disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Everyone in the auditorium stared at the scene with their mouths hanging open in a daze.
“······.”
And not a single person could speak first. It was as if they had all been put under a group hypnosis.
What exactly had they just witnessed?
Obsidian or whatever—it was a weapon from an entirely different dimension.
“······Ha.”
The same shock had struck Grand Mage Elena as well. She had been staring blankly at the screen and had only just now come back to her senses. She had already known her disciple’s talent was extraordinary, but she never imagined it was great enough to bring about such innovation.
[Um, Supervisor?]
But the person in question was completely calm. With that innocent-looking face, he was urging the supervisor to hurry up and end the match, saying they needed to treat the injured.
[Y-yes, of course.]
The supervisor, who had finally snapped out of it, nodded. Swoosh— His figure scattered and vanished.
Soon after, the unconscious members of Max’s team and Max himself—who now had a massive wound on his stomach—were laid out neatly on the ground. The supervisor healed all of the fainted students with healing magic, then announced the results of the match with a slightly awkward expression.
With that declaration, the supervisor ended the match. The teleportation magic spheres in the arena began to glow, transporting both Ed’s team and Max’s team. And so they returned to the grand auditorium.
“······.”
But the atmosphere in the auditorium upon their return was somehow strange. It was unnaturally quiet. Everyone was staring at Ed in a daze.
Ed found the countless gazes focused on him uncomfortable. He awkwardly looked around, scratched the back of his head, and said,
“Uh… why is the mood like this?”