The Fai...ry Lady Uses Magic (3)
The Fai...ry Lady Uses Magic (3)
Cadets were summoned at random, grouped with a few others from the same faction.
At least two, at most five or six.
The moment their hazy senses cleared, the cadets quickly distanced themselves from the presences nearby and drew their weapons.
"...Looks like we're the same group. Green."
A brief standoff. The cadets, scanning their surroundings, soon realized that the armbands made of light were all the same color.
Green. One of the three groups announced beforehand.
At someone's muttered observation, the cadets who had been flaring their mana in alarm let out sighs of relief and lowered their guard.
"Come to think of it, there's no way they'd summon us right next to an enemy from the start."
"If they did, half of us would be eliminated right out of the gate..."
Some remarked they'd been startled, thinking they'd have to fight immediately after being summoned.
[All cadets have entered]
[Before the match begins, we will explain the rules once more]
Soon, a voice echoed from the sky, beginning the explanation again.
But it was the same information they'd already heard in the plaza before entering.
As the explanation played, they swiftly introduced themselves.
"3rd Year, Baengno Class, Combat Major, Claire Lawrence. Are there any 3rd or 4th year seniors present?"
"2nd Year, Daeseo Class, Magic Major, Lin Xin."
"1st Year, Usu Class, Support Major, Emil Franke... It seems you're the only one above the 3rd year, senior."
There were five summoned here, and the orange necktie signifying the 3rd year was worn only by Claire.
Claire nodded.
"Then may I temporarily take command?"
"Yes."
The cadets assented to Claire's proposal without hesitation.
Siyoram grants considerable freedom for external activities starting from the 3rd year.
Since they can experience real combat while under the effects of the Blessing of Growth, many cadets seek external training.
By the 3rd year at Siyoram, they're already skilled enough to be active in the field—meaning they've accumulated plenty of practical experience.
Thus, in such exercises, it's standard for a 3rd-year or above cadet to take command.
[With this, the match will now begin]
[Please do your best]
"First, let's head to the nearest occupation zone. Does anyone have a detection-type unique ability?"
"It's not a detection type, but I can use magic for basic detection."
"Then please report if you detect anything unusual."
The match start announcement rang out. With their simple chain of command established, the cadets quickly formed up and headed out.
"The occupation zones should be unclaimed since the match just started. If we spot others from the same group, we'll join them. If we see an opportunity, we'll quickly secure an occupation zone."
Their destination was the nearest occupation zone.
Since the match had only just begun, all the zones were still unclaimed.
Meaning, whoever claims one first gets an early advantage.
However, with nearly 2,000 cadets in the Tower of Growth, losing a zone by a split second wouldn't be surprising.
"Let's dig in first, hold out, and wait for reinforcements to find us."
It's more advantageous to secure a position early and entrench yourself.
Don't they say that in a siege, the attacker needs at least three times the number of the defender?
There are no absolutes on a chaotic battlefield, but it's true that defending is relatively more favorable.
Especially if mages dig into an occupation zone and start laying down countless spell workshops, the difficulty spikes dramatically.
"What if another group occupies it first? They'd get the zone's buff, too."
"We'll gauge the situation, and if it seems doable, we'll smash through and retake it. If not, we'll head to another empty occupation zone or wait for reinforcements."
But for now, it was still the very beginning of the match.
Mages wouldn't have had time to lay intricate spell workshops. At most, they might have set up a simple workshop offering a bit of magical assistance.
If that's the case, it was more than possible to break through.
*Vwoom...!*
"Oh dear..."
Claire let out a sigh. The pillar of light rising from the occupation zone they were heading toward shifted color.
They'd been beaten to the punch. Claire wore a look of dismay.
Even though it was still early, making it difficult for a mage to set up a spell workshop, dislodging the current occupants and taking the zone would be tough.
The only hope left was that those people belonged to the same Green Group.
They stopped briefly, staring at the changing pillar.
But the pillar was dyed a color different from what they'd hoped.
"White?"
A stark white spread rapidly from the base of the pillar. Soon, as if connected to the clouds, the pure white color rose into the sky.
"White... If it's White..."
At someone's muttering, everyone recalled the rule that had been explained.
[Third, Special Rule]
[A randomly selected cadet will be individually assigned to the 'White' faction]
Each cadet belonged to one of the three groups: Red, Blue, or Green. But one randomly selected cadet would be assigned to the White Faction.
Who that was had not been announced.
"It must be the Special Admission Cadet."
"Then it's Cadet Lee Ha-yul."
"Who else could it be but him."
Even though it hadn't been announced, everyone knew who would be in the White Faction.
Special Admission Cadet Lee Ha-yul. The protagonist of this era, whose name is on everyone's lips right now.
He quelled the sudden dungeon rampage in Sipnaha in its early stages, and in China, he was the one who killed the Twin-headed Poison Dragon that had been resurrected as an undead.
Moreover, because of that... absurdly stunning appearance broadcast during the Birth Festival, he'd been a hot topic burning up the internet for days.
"Hmm..."
Lin Xin, who had been periodically deploying detection magic, stared at the white pillar and let out a complicated sound.
Lin Xin was from the Chinese region.
Her hometown had been relatively fine, but she knew how dead the land further afield had become.
Even though decades had passed since the Twin-headed Poison Dragon was subjugated, the diseases and venom it had shed hadn't easily disappeared from the earth.
That's why Lin Xin, and everyone from the Chinese region, loathed and feared the Twin-headed Poison Dragon.
Because of a single monster, that vast land had been turned into a dead land uninhabitable and unusable for people until now.
It possessed such an eerily incomprehensible power, even for superhumans, which was why some people had panic attacks at the mere mention of the Twin-headed Poison Dragon.
That Twin-headed Poison Dragon had almost been resurrected as an undead. The already struggling Chinese region had nearly been completely transformed into a wasteland.
The one who prevented that was Lee Ha-yul.
What if the initial response hadn't been swift? Even if it had been subjugated later, China might have become uninhabitable by now.
With complex feelings toward him, she stroked her staff.
For now, the thought of having to point her staff at the benefactor of her homeland sat uneasily with her.
The others shared similarly complicated feelings.
"Can we even win?"
But the source of their complexity differed from Lin Xin's.
At one cadet's question, Claire fell silent.
Currently, Lee Ha-yul was essentially the most famous person in the world, and his exploits were fairly well-known.
Had it even been only two months since he became a superhuman?
In an isolated space, he slaughtered hundreds of monsters above the 7th Rank while they were under the dungeon's blessing, and single-handedly subjugated an Alpha Individual presumed to be a 6th-Rank Monster.
In China, even though it was an incomplete undead, its estimated threat level was 4th Rank. Considering its venomous nature, the Twin-headed Poison Dragon was even more dangerous, and he annihilated it without a trace.
Just considering those two known achievements, even if the five of them fought, they could only imagine being miserably crushed.
A lottery jackpot far exceeding the prize, Lee Ha-yul was someone even fellow Siyoram cadets could scarcely bring themselves to face.
"...Let's wait for reinforcements."
Claire, taking command, reached that conclusion after much deliberation.
The opponent was that Special Admission Cadet. The gap in ability was overwhelming.
"But this match is centered on occupation battles. One person will eventually have limits."
Logically, that was an obvious statement. No matter how outstanding a person's skills are, there are bound to be limits.
Furthermore, that white pillar was clearly drawing attention among the three colors of pillars slowly rising in the distance.
Looking at the other pillars rising nearby, that was clearly the light of that special flag.
No matter how you looked at it, enemies were targeting him from every direction.
No matter how strong someone is, stamina and mana are expendable resources. This tower entry was structured so that even if you were eliminated, you'd resurrect after a set time, so if they just kept charging, a breakthrough was bound to happen eventually.
"Well, let's think of it as a probing battle. Even if we die, it's not immediate elimination, and we don't yet know the exact occupation process—"
At that moment.
Claire caught a glint of light at the peak of the rocky mountain. Her next action was driven by instinct and the practical experience she'd accumulated.
She covered her upper body with both arms and flared her aura with all her might. A vivid yellow aura blazed fiercely around her arms.
'Manifest.'
Simultaneously, she manifested her unique ability, 'Hardening.' A sturdy mineral layer bloomed over her arms.
*BANG!*
A short, blunt impact rang out. A ringing—*eeee*—echoed through her head. Claire belatedly realized she'd been knocked to the ground.
"—Senior?!"
"Ugh...! I-I'm fine...!"
Her head was ringing, blurring the sounds. But staying sprawled on the ground would be a bad move. Claire gritted her teeth and forced herself up.
'What hit me?'
It had been too fast to properly perceive. Claire looked down at her arms, which had taken the attack.
Upon impact, the aura, fed with ample mana, had burst. The mineral layer wrapped around her arms shattered instantly.
The leftover force drove into her arms, and now, instead of blood, streams of light particles scattered into the air.
A defense capable of withstanding attacks from a 5th-Rank Monster had been destroyed in a single blow.
An absurd strike. She had barely managed to perceive where the attack had come from just before it hit.
The peak of the rocky mountain. Likely Lee Ha-yul, who was at that occupation zone...
'He accurately landed a hit from that distance?'
Claire was astonished, quickly pulling herself together. Beside her, Lin Xin was also shocked as she cast healing magic.
"No, why didn't my magic...!"
She had kept detection magic deployed. She hadn't expected to detect everything perfectly, but she'd at least hoped to pick up traces to identify traps or prepare a countermeasure.
She hadn't even perceived it. She only noticed the attack after Claire had hit the ground.
Claire was the commander leading the way. Lin Xin had put great effort into casting a defensive spell on her beforehand.
It had been pierced uselessly. The attack treated the defensive magic like a sheet of paper, striking Claire directly.
Though everyone was flustered by the sudden situation, they steadied their formation in front of the rocky mountain.
"...It's coming again!"
Claire, glaring at the peak, shouted. The light flashed in her vision once more, flying toward them.
'It's bigger than before. But slower.'
A lump of light larger than the previous strike. Perhaps because of that, it was much slower—more than enough time to handle it.
Wiping the light clusters from her mouth, Claire flared her aura again and cast Hardening on both arms.
*Peew!*
"Huh?"
The flying burst of light detonated in midair, splitting into dozens of shards of light.
*Pang!* Then it exploded again. The dozens of light bursts divided into hundreds.
The hundreds of lights adorned the sky like shooting stars. Each was no less powerful than the attack from just moments ago.
"Fuck, retreat!"
Claire screamed at the shooting stars that were precisely aiming for them and raining down.
*BOO-BOO-BOO-BOO-BOOM!*
Hundreds of light clusters accurately smashed into them.
Countless explosions caused the very ground to tremble.
A massive cloud of dust rose.
Five eliminated.
I checked the observed information and nodded. The cadet at the front seemed to hold out for a moment, but in the end, everyone scattered, turning into light clusters.
Intermediate Magic Ray—and the Scattershot Ray, which I'd modified to my liking.
I'd adjusted the spell formula to increase the number and output.
Thanks to that, it was convenient to spray around and use.
It was my first time using it in actual combat, but its performance was unexpectedly good. I'd already caught twenty people with it.
But there were points to improve. Since its speed was slow, it gave them time to react.
So, for now, I used the tactic of slamming a fast Ray into them first, then pouring down the Scattershot Rays on those thrown into confusion.
Of course, that's partly because I'm keeping my distance... anyway.
*Vroom...*
I glanced around with my observation at the sound. Right beside me, a pseudo-drone made of light was filming me, its lens clicking.
'So they show it like this.'
Traditionally, this tower entry even broadcasts the interior of the Tower of Growth.
Especially since they've even given me a role like this, they'll likely focus the camera on me and broadcast it widely.
'This is actually welcome.'
Usually, it's better to hide your strength, but for now, this was welcome.
Before entering the Reverse Side, I needed to show the world the level of my skills in 'Anti-Army Combat.'
This tower entry was a very good opportunity to prove that.
Of course, I had no intention of revealing critical trump cards like Homogenization.
'But when will I test the Potion of Being Hated?'
I wracked my brain over who to give it to, and when.
Drink it myself? I don't have the slightest intention of chugging that down here. I have absolutely zero desire to be hated by others... especially by the people around me.
A fragile sunfish like me might just hang myself if I heard people around me saying bad things about me...
'Should I try catching a monster to feed it to, once the drone disappears...? But I can't just feed it to other cadets.'
As I mulled it over, I flicked my hand. The spell formula blooming at my fingertip completed.
'Ray... and then immediately Scattershot Ray.'
*Pow! Pow!*
With two explosive sounds, the light shot out.
The first beam accurately struck the forehead of the cadet at the front.
Soon, the hundreds of divided light rays poured down over the heads of those who had fallen into an alert posture.
*Kurururung!* A dust cloud rose, and the faint tremor of the explosions reached me a moment later.
Long-distance sniping. As long as they were within my observation range, I could accurately hit them.
'Maybe because it's still early, not many are coming.'
According to my grasp, there were ten occupation zones on this floor.
Meaning, besides this rocky mountain where I'm running rampant, there were nine other zones, so everyone must still be scattered and fighting in a chaotic mess.
'But they'll be swarming here soon.'
In the end, I was alone in the White Faction. I'd look like a much easier target than the zones where hundreds were gathered.
Though for now, they were coming in small, scattered groups, making them easy to pick off, but later, dozens or hundreds would flock here.
This lull was the time to prepare for that.
Having cleaned up all the cadets nearby, I nodded and focused my mind.
'Manifest Authority.'
Knowledge.
*Fwip-fwip-fwip!*
Some of the countless books stored in my mind spilled out—books with various covers—fluttering around me like butterflies.
And then.
'Manifest, manifest, manifest.'
In perfect order, the mana-infused books opened. The complex 'spell formula of the workshop' stored within them manifested.
The books settled down in various places around the rocky mountain, and the spell formulas of the workshop melted into it.