Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Eleanor, wearing a cat-shaped mask, had infiltrated the building while Oz distracted everyone. For someone usually overly obsessed with people's attention, it was a remarkably quiet approach.
The power of severance held by the [Key of Understanding]. She had temporarily severed her existence from the world.
Because of this, no one could detect her presence.
However...
“Haha... Who is the intruder? It's student Noah again.”
“Kugh... Professor En. The mask is useless. How on earth did you recognize me?”
“A cute disguise. But the drawback is that it doesn’t hide your hair color and eyes.”
As long as she definitively existed, she couldn't evade magical security systems.
All she could do was erase her presence.
Completely erasing her existence from the world, like when she was in a berserk state in the past, was impossible.
“Haha, this is troubling. Well, I suppose it’s unavoidable that I stand out since I’m so pretty.”
“That confident demeanor. Always a pleasure to see, student Noah.”
En Drode, contrary to his words, pulled out his staff and aimed it at Eleanor. The opponent was a student.
He wouldn't use highly lethal magic. But even with that self-imposed penalty, En Drode was confident he could subdue Eleanor.
“Professor. It seems I’m a bit busy, so would you mind stepping aside?”
“Oh dear, in that case, I’ll have to escort you out quickly. This area is off-limits to students, student Noah.”
“Hahaha!”
Eleanor straightened her posture.
She had already been subdued once by En Drode and thrown outside.
That time, thanks to his kindness, she avoided the iron bars, but this time it was different.
Even Eleanor thought he wouldn't give her a second chance.
'My weakness...'
Oz said it was physical force. But strictly speaking, that wasn't a weakness. It simply meant that only her skill was revealed in that aspect.
She had an absurd trump card, the [Key of Understanding].
It was just that its power faded in the face of pure physical force.
Yes, that was her skill.
'It really makes me want to cry.'
Eleanor was still weak.
Even if she used the key's power, it wasn't entirely her own strength.
Of course, she knew. She knew she was weak.
But she thought she had grown through various recent events. Yet, this situation, where she realized her shortcomings, made her feel utterly disgusted.
“My master said it’s important to make objective evaluations.”
“Hmm? Master, you mean... Ah, you mean student Oz. You’ve heard good advice, student Noah.”
“I can’t defeat you, Professor. The power I possess is insufficient, and I lack the technique to compensate for that inadequacy.”
“Well thought out.”
En Drode nodded with satisfaction at Eleanor’s unconfident words.
It was quite difficult to make an objective self-assessment.
Acknowledging one's shortcomings and backing down like that could be a driving force for growth.
“But you are a professor, and I am a student. That’s natural.”
“That’s right, student Noah. This failure is unavoidable, so don’t be discouraged, and if you keep striving...”
“Then you can’t kill me, can you?”
“Excuse me...?”
En Drode only then noticed something amiss. The fighting spirit in Eleanor’s eyes had not extinguished.
Rather, it was burning fiercely. She intended to win. She intended to win in a situation where she couldn't possibly win.
Then how on earth...?
“Professor, I will break through with the resolve to die.”
“My goodness...”
She was bargaining with her own life.
En Drode felt a chill down his spine at Eleanor’s words, which bordered on madness.
Eleanor shoved all the mana she could into her greatsword and boldly stepped forward.
“I’m coming through, Professor.”
Thump!
Eleanor charged, gripping her greatsword.
But her speed was far too slow. It was like the speed of an ordinary person charging who didn't know how to handle mana.
Yes, she poured all her mana into the attack. Without considering her own safety, she even limited all mana meant to reinforce her body to the attack.
“Oh dear...”
Intermediate Magic
[Stalagmite]
En Drode deployed magic towards such an Eleanor.
An intermediate earth-attribute magic. But the magic he deployed was a little different.
It was too hard to be a mere spear of rock, and it was so widespread that it erupted not only from the floor but from the entire corridor space.
“Haaaah!”
CRACK!
Eleanor cut through the rock spears raining down on her with her greatsword.
It was possible because all the mana that could have been used for defense was instead poured into offense.
“Ugh?!”
En Drode had no choice but to withdraw his magic at Eleanor’s display.
Attacks always had recoil.
Every time her sword cut through a spear of rock, the bones in her entire body creaked, and eventually, blood burst from her grip.
Eleanor, wielding a massive greatsword while disregarding her own protection, was like wielding a hammer made of bombs.
En Drode intended to subdue Eleanor. But looking at Eleanor now, that was difficult.
Subduing that indomitable will, charging forward while abandoning bodily safety, was practically impossible.
“Hoo...”
En Drode ultimately withdrew all his magic. He simply couldn't bring himself to put a student in danger.
“I survived because you’re a kind professor. Thank you.”
“Haha, if only you couldn’t talk...”
En Drode didn’t even think of grabbing Eleanor as she brushed past him.
He didn't look back and quietly lowered his head. A complete defeat.
But it was a pleasant defeat.
If it had just been a prank, she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. It meant something truly important to her.
In that case, he had been overcome by someone with such resolve.
Then it wasn't a disgraceful defeat, but a glorious duel.
“Professor En? You’re already here. It seemed like the defensive magic activated, did you happen to encounter an intruder?”
“...”
En Drode quietly shifted his gaze, seeing the professors who had arrived late.
His gaze fell on the spot where Eleanor’s blood was splattered.
He walked with calm steps and stepped on the blood, covering it.
“Professor?”
“A somewhat large cat had snuck in. It seems the magic’s sensitivity is too high. It would be good to go back and adjust it.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
He is strong.
Discreet is indeed strong.
I haven’t grown enough to allow myself to be overconfident just because I’ve gotten a little stronger. All the SSR-grade characters I’ve fought so far were burdened with penalties.
Alexios had greatly restricted physical abilities.
Arietta never had much combat capability to begin with.
Lustitia's judgment was severely impaired by a curse.
Yes, everything had simply aligned favorably.
I had complained about being unlucky until now, but if I had truly been unlucky, I would have had to endure their full power.
I was lucky.
I had unilaterally obtained information about my opponents, and only after forming a plan could I fight on equal terms.
“Absurd.”
The flames cannot reach him.
Discreet flexibly evades the widely swinging flames.
When I thought I had completely blocked him from escaping, his ultimate skill, [Schrödinger's Cat], erased his form, allowing him to slip through.
Even though I must have sown doubt through our conversation, his mental fortitude is abnormally strong.
“Well, I never thought it would be easy to begin with. Yes, I’ve known you guys were monsters for a long time.”
Discreet’s power is an insight accumulated through countless experiences and a mental fortitude that never breaks under any circumstances.
This is the power of an SSR-grade character unburdened by any penalty.
No... the monster of possibility that Oz rated as SSR-grade.
“It should have been like this from the beginning.”
I increased the firepower of the flames. From the start, he wasn't an opponent I could win against with the thought of simply subduing him.
I should have already realized in the battle with Prudence Roa that such gentleness was arrogance. I haven’t reached the level of mastery to presume to go easy on anyone.
I wanted to be a guide and a good person, but...
“To approach this with such thoughts now would be disrespectful to you, Discreet.”
Discreet was clearly shaken. He was clearly shaken by my words, which were nothing short of vitriol.
But even so, he looked to the present.
He postponed the answer to my words for later and was focusing on this very moment.
He was unhesitatingly pushing forward with the best course of action he believed he had to take now.
“I don’t intend to kill you. But...”
Transcendent Holy Magic
[Challenger of the Divine]
“I must push you to the brink of death.”
I changed the fuel for the uninhibitedly burning flames.
Added to the flames was the light of healing.
“Burn.”
The flames of the [Sacred Flame].
With this, even if it hurts enough to kill, he won't die.
“Now, show me.”
What kind of pure power, unburdened by penalties, you possess.
The crystallization of effort that I must aim for, that I must look beyond.
What kind of oil will ignite my growth.
Show me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Wow...”
On the roof of Tenebris’s new building. Ulla, who was patrolling the area, let out an exclamation of awe at the soaring blue flames.
The opponent was serious. If that wasn’t serious, what was?
“The commander must be having a tough time too.”
It was impossible to hold back against such power. Whatever it was, they had to do their best.
Yes, with that, Discreet Punisher was completely tied down.
He couldn't pay attention to this side until the battle with Oz was over.
“Then that child...”
What entered Ulla’s gaze was silver-blue hair and eyes sparkling like jewels.
The girl who was the cause of the incident.
Eleanor von Chrysos.
“I guess I’ll have to handle her.”
Ulla let out a deep sigh, then quickly straightened her posture.
She looked at Eleanor through the scope with cold eyes and placed her finger on the trigger.
“What a shame.”
She wouldn’t kill. The penalty applied to Discreet ultimately applied to the entire group as well.
No, the premise of arbitrarily killing an opponent simply couldn't exist within Scientia in the first place.
The only ones who could handle the aftermath were those who had already given up on their lives.
The bullet was just a tranquilizer dart.
But that would be enough to stop Eleanor.
“I thought you’d be a good friend to Lucia.”
Ulla knew.
She was friends with Lucia, but that relationship was infinitely light.
They were friends simply because they were in the same organization. Of course, that was enough for her.
To her, a friend was just that. They became friends when they met, and when they parted, they were filed away in a corner of her memory.
And if they met on the road, they would greet each other warmly—that kind of relationship.
But Lucia Punisher was different.
Unlike Ulla, she didn't know how to build such relationships.
“Well, there’ll be a next time. We’re young, so there can always be another chance.”
Therefore, this matter couldn't weigh too heavily on Ulla.
Of course, she understood. She understood, but she couldn't empathize.
They simply lived differently.
They simply didn't know desperation.
“Sorry, Eleanor.”
Ulla narrowed her eyes and began to pull the trigger.
This was the end.
Eleanor would fall asleep and when she woke up, she'd be in the disciplinary committee's iron bars.
She would be held for at least three days, and by that time, Lucia would have already withdrawn from Scientia.
Lucia, having shed one identity, would, as always, blend into a new place.
There were always opportunities.
A good friend like this might appear again.
Ulla Stylena was an optimist.
It was easier to believe that things would work out. It was easier to give up on thinking that way.
BANG!
With a loud gunshot, Eleanor’s body began to tilt.
“No...”
But Ulla knew instinctively. She had failed.
She, Tenebris’s best sniper, couldn’t have missed. There was no sign that the opponent had dodged either.
She definitely hit. But...
“Do you know something?”
Eleanor’s firm voice echoed in the middle of the open space.
Eleanor, who had swayed for a moment, straightened her posture again.
“I’m sensitive to people’s gazes. If the Empire was protecting my safety, they would know, right?”
Eleanor pulled out the tranquilizer dart piercing her shoulder.
But she didn’t fall asleep. It was clearly a dart containing a drug strong enough to put an elephant to sleep.
“That from the moment I escaped the palace, I’ve lived in anxiety.”
Eleanor had lived in anxiety. She had gone through moments of intense emotion where she couldn't sleep peacefully for a single moment.
Fearful of being forgotten, she periodically exposed herself to people’s gazes, yet ultimately escaped even the Empire.
“What is that...?”
“I’m afraid. So afraid that I can’t sleep. Afraid that when I open my eyes again, I’ll be forgotten by the people I know, afraid that the world I know will have changed again.”
The drug was clearly circulating.
But Eleanor, with her swaying body and bloodshot eyes, was glaring in Ulla’s direction.
“I just couldn’t sleep.”
She wouldn’t sleep. She couldn't sleep.
That will, born of fear, was overriding even the drug’s effects, awakening Eleanor’s mental state.
“So now, I’ve come to reclaim my world.”
Eleanor wouldn't sleep.
She couldn’t sleep, fearful that the things that existed in her world would disappear.
Therefore, the ordinary, unremarkable daily life she shared with Lucia.
She had come to reclaim that world.